Sweat ran into my eyes as I forced the upper half of my body through the hole. Immediately I felt my face caressed by a crisp cold breeze. It felt wonderful – like an angel stroking my face. I hoisted my way up onto my elbows and crawled onto the roof. To be out of that cell felt wonderful. At last I felt free and that feeling was incredible.

I looked back down into the darkness and saw Phillips charge into my cell, followed closely by Sparky. Phillips seemed to be momentarily confused, and then glanced upwards. Seeing me standing looking down at him, he screamed with rage. He brandished his fangs and even in the dark, they glowed yellow in his mouth. I watched as he raced across the cell, clattering into Sparky and sending him flying from my view. Phillips grabbed for the broom handle, but I quickly pulled it up through the hole and out of his reach.

“You won’t escape me, Kiera!” he roared from below.

‘You’ve gotta catch me first!” I spat and turning away from the edge of the hole, I ran across the roof of the cell.

Chapter Sixteen

Teetering on the edge of the roof like a tightrope walker, I used the broom handle to balance myself. I looked down below, and in the gloom I could see something huge and white pacing back and forth.

So I was right, that huge white paw did belong to a polar bear! I thought. Just then, the creature looked up at me and howled and I could see that it was actually a wolf that was as big as a polar bear!

Staring up at me, it made a wailing sound in the back of its throat as if alerting everyone else in the zoo that I was making my escape.

“Where do you think you are going?” It called angrily up at me. “You can’t escape!”

Looking all about me, I couldn’t see any way off the roof. I began to panic as I raced along the outer edge of the wall. Running back in the direction I had come from, I saw that there was another building with a flat roof adjacent to the rooftop I was on. I ran towards the edge of the building and estimated the gap between the two to be about ten foot. Taking several paces backwards, I drew in a deep breath and ran as fast as I could towards the gap. A splinter of pain knifed its way up my right leg from the scabby-gash that had now mostly healed. If the pain had been a colour it would have been dark and purple, as it electrified all the nerve endings on its way up to my brain. Then suddenly, my legs seemed to take on a life of their own as they began to quicken. I looked down at them and they seemed almost a blur.

As I reached the edge of the building at an incredible speed, I threw myself into the air and soared across the gap. Landing with a thud on the other side, I rolled onto my back. The other Lycanthrope and Vampyrus in the zoo must have sensed something was up, as they began to roar, shriek, and howl.

I raced across the roof I had just landed on and didn’t stop until I reached the other side. Looking down into the darkness, I could see water. It looked black and velvety, and would make a soft landing.

As I stood on the ledge and prepared to jump, a voice from inside my head screamed, “What’s in the water?”

Then from behind me, came the deep sound of roaring. I looked over my shoulder to see Phillips scrambling onto the roof. But he no longer looked like my old sergeant who had trained me back at training school; he had taken on his true Vampyrus form again. Turning away from him, I looked down at the black water, closed my eyes and jumped, the broom still firmly gripped in my hand.

I plunged in with an almighty splash. It was cold and I felt something large brush up against me. Instinctively, I kicked my legs out beneath the water to push whatever it was away. Holding my breath, I swam to the surface, and using my broom as a float, I paddled to the edge of the pool. As I climbed out, I looked back over my shoulder again to see Phillips leaping from the roof, his giant black wings rippling on either side of him.

“Come back!” he screeched as he swooped towards me.

From all around the zoo, I could hear the sounds of howling, barking, and gnashing of fangs and it was almost deafening. Then, closer to me, I heard the sound of screeching. It was coming from behind me. I whirled around, brandishing my broom in the air. It was then that I realised what it was that had swam along side me in the pool. A vampire was climbing out of the water and it was racing towards me.

Sprinting around the edge of the water in a blur of shadows, I headed towards a door that was set amongst the rocks and boulders that had been built to recreate some kind of sea life area in the zoo. The sound of Phillips’ beating wings was right behind me now and I dared not look back to see that mountain of muscle and black hair swooping out of the night at me.

The door was only feet away as I felt Phillips swipe at me with one of his mighty arms. His fingers ran down the length of my back, as he tried to take hold of my hospital gown. But I was just beyond his reach and I shot through the door and slammed it closed behind me.

The door rocked in its frame as Phillips crashed into it on the other side. I lent against the door as he tried to force it open. My bare feet began to slide across the tiled floor, as he smashed against the door. I turned slightly and barged the door closed with my shoulder. There was a bolt and I frantically fumbled with it in an attempt to lock the door. But Phillips was too strong and he rammed the door open an inch or two. I peered through the gap as he pressed his giant-sized head against it. I looked straight into one of his black eyes and he glared back at me.

“You can’t get away,” he growled and his breath was hot and stank of that same meat I’d eaten.

“I won’t be your prisoner!” I yelled, as I jabbed the end of the broom between the gap in the door and rammed him between the eyes.

Phillips wailed in pain and fell backwards. Seizing my chance, I forced the door closed and locked it. No sooner had I slid the bolt into its housing then Phillips was crashing and banging on the other side again. The door began to bow and splinter under the weight of his pounding claws.

Fearing that the door would soon come smashing down, I ran frantically around the area that I now found myself in, desperately looking for another way out.

I found myself in a large room filled with metal cages. Some of them were stacked neatly on top of each other and some had been thrown across the floor. I raced amongst them and slipped over on several decomposing lumps of flesh that lay stinking on the ground. Ahead of me there was another door. I sprinted towards it and without thinking; I pushed the door open and went tearing out into the grounds of the zoo.

The night had started to fade and the first rays of daylight could be seen slicing through the clouds above. That was good wasn’t it? I screamed inside my head. At least the vampires wouldn’t be able to track me in daylight.

I found myself in a wide, open area, which had animal enclosures built all around it. Nervously, I looked around. To the right of me, I could see empty animal cages and to the left some kind of enclosure that was littered with hay and half-eaten pieces of meat. The huge metal bars, which had once kept the animals locked inside, had now been twisted apart or ripped down.

What had happened to all the animals? I wondered.

Then the sound of the door finally giving way under Phillips’ weight startled me back into action and I ran down the concrete path that ran between the animal cages. I rounded a bend in the path and froze. Standing before me only feet away was a wolf. Its giant snout was buried in the stomach of a human corpse that lay spread across the path ahead of me. Slowly, very slowly I started to back away, not wanting to disturb it and draw attention to my presence. I’d only gone a few feet, when the wolf raised its huge head and glared at me. Its yellow eyes burnt with anger, and its razor-sharp teeth glinted in the early morning light.

“Stop right there!” it boomed in a thunderous voice.

I continued to edge away as the wolf licked the blood from its snout and began to kick at the ground with its front claws.

He’s gonna charge at me! I screamed inside as I continued to shuffle backwards. Although doubting it would offer me any protection against this beast, I raised my broom into the air.

Then, as I had suspected, the wolf lowered its head and brandishing its teeth, it came racing towards me. Wheeling round, I ran back in the direction I had come. I raced back past the empty cages, and as I reached the door that I had only moments before burst through, Phillips came bounding out. He immediately swiped at me with his meaty arms and I dropped to the floor and rolled under them. I clambered to my feet and continued to run as fast and as hard as I could. My right leg began to burn as I propelled myself forward – faster and faster and faster!

There was a fork in the path and I glanced up to see a sign that read, ‘Zoo Exit’. I raced towards it. Souvenir shops, hotdog and ice cream stands looking derelict and unused whooshed past me in a haze.

I stole a quick glance back over my shoulder and could see both Phillips and the wolf were only feet away. I pressed onwards, my arms pumping up and down like pistons, my legs thrusting me onwards, creating a blaze of dust, which trailed behind me like smoke.

At last, ahead of me, I could see the turnstiles that the visitors had once used when visiting the zoo. Beyond these were a huge set of iron gates that towered up into the sky. I could see freedom waiting for me on the other side of those gates – I could smell it and my mouth almost watered at the thought.

Then there was something on my back, its paws were dragging me down by my shoulders. I frantically tried to look backwards expecting to see Phillips but he had slowed down along with the wolf some way back.

The sound of hysterical laughter filled my ears and I knew who it was that had pounced on me. I fell to the ground under the weight of Sparky, as he barked and snarled. I rolled onto my back and he lay across my chest, his huge pink tongue dribbling onto my face.

“Get the fuck off me!” I screamed. “Let me go!”

Sparky just looked at me wildly with his crazy yellow eyes and cackled with laughter and in them, just like I had with Jack Seth and Nik, I could see into his murderous soul. But unlike the others, when I looked into Sparky’s eyes, I didn’t see images of him torturing and murdering me – it was Mrs. Lovelace that I watched him butcher. My head jerked backwards as my mind splintered with graphic pictures of him leading her into Hallowed Manor, believing he was taking her to safety. I could see Sparky pushing open the giant drawing room doors. Then he was tearing at her throat, dragging his claws down the length of her wrinkled neck, her blood spraying his face.