His Vampyrrhic Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

large amounts of banknotes at home these days.
    ‘OK, Runty.’ He sucked on the cigarette. ‘Let’s get ’em done.’
    ‘Go easy on the women.’
    ‘You’ve got to get rough. Otherwise they don’t give up the numbers.’
    ‘Shit, Zip, you nearly killed that old bitch last time.’
    ‘Stop whining and move your stinking backside.’
    After Zip had lobbed the beer can into the bushes, he picked up the rucksack with his tools of the trade – hammers, screwdrivers, tough nylon string to tie up his victims, and gardeners’ secateurs. If he threatened to cut off fingers with the secateurs, that generally had pin numbers spilling from people’s lips in no time.
    The two men headed through the dark.
    Even Zip appreciated this was real darkness. Deep darkness. Total darkness. He had to switch on the flashlight otherwise they’d have both blundered into tree trunks.
    ‘Think about it, Zip,’ hissed Runty. ‘Don’t end up killing those women. I’m not going down for murder.’
    ‘They’re going to die one day, Runty.’ He laughed. ‘Didn’t your mammy tell you that everyone dies one day?’
    ‘Just threaten them, OK? No cutting off fingers.’
    ‘Sensitive soul, aren’t you?’
    ‘What you did to that guy at the pig farm made me puke.’
    ‘He wouldn’t cough the numbers, would he?’ Zip laughed again. He was getting excited about the thought of frightening the women in the cottage. ‘After I’d finished with pig guy he’d got nothing left to pick his nose with, had he?’
    ‘I’m not laughing, Zip. I’m not laughing.’
    Zip shone the light in Runty’s face. A fear sweat bled from his forehead. Strange, that. Zip loved breaking into houses. He got a kick out of tying up the occupants. Runty, on the other hand, got scared. The man looked as if he’d pass out from sheer fright.
    They headed towards an old stone archway. This was the most impressive part of the property. Even Zip could tell it must have been here before the cottage. Medieval? Roman? Who the frick knew. On the massive keystone at the top of the arch some kind of animal had been carved, though the shape was well weathered now.
    ‘See that, Runty? The carving might be worth something, if we could move it.’
    Runty squinted up at the image. ‘What is it? A dinosaur?’
    ‘God knows. It’ll weigh a ton though, so we’ll have to forget it.’
    ‘Suits me.’
    ‘Come on, then. Let’s say hello to the girls.’
    ‘For God’s sake, go easy. Don’t kill anyone.’
    ‘I’ll do what it takes.’ He grinned. ‘After all, you’ll want enough cash to buy something decent for your kid’s wedding present, won’t you?’
    They approached the cottage. Zip could see through the kitchen window. A pair of women sat at a table buttering bread. Yum yum. Supper-time. He was feeling hungry.
    He got even hungrier, although in a different way, when he eyeballed the younger of the two. She was in her early twenties and downright beautiful. She had fair hair that came down her back in sexy waves. Zip’s heart beat faster.
This is going to get interesting.
The older woman would be the one he’d squeeze the pin numbers out of. He’d tickle her toes with the secateurs.
    The thought made him laugh out loud.
    ‘What’s that?’ Runty froze.
    ‘Laughter, Runty. What do you think?’
    ‘
No . . . over there – someone’s stood by the door!
’
    Zip was borderline insane. Prison psychiatrists diagnosed acute behavioural disorder in his psychological make-up. Or so they insisted.
Bastards.
Their tests showed that he suffered from an overinflated sense of his own importance.
The stupid bastards.
And sometimes, they insisted, he genuinely couldn’t tell the difference between reality and daydreams.
    But what he saw standing just five feet from the cottage door was real and most definitely not a figment of his imagination. For Christ’s sake, Runty saw the thing, too; his eyes bulged as he stared at the strange creature. Zip’s eyes darted to