Vampire Zero (novel)
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''Vampire Zero'' is a
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
written by David Wellington.


Plot summary

After
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
State Trooper State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction ...
and vampire hunter, Laura Caxton's former mentor James Arkeley willingly took on the vampire curse to battle against the regiment of undead
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
-era soldiers when they were reanimated in
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; ) is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the borough had a population of 7,106 people. Gettysburg was the site of ...
. Promising to come back and let Laura kill him. When Arkeley reneges on his promise, Caxton is forced to hunt down the now undead
U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the U.S. federal judiciary. It is an agency of the U.S. Department of Jus ...
. Because Arkeley was the world's best vampire hunter, she finds it impossible to find any clues to his whereabouts. This is until a wannabe vampire, Dylan Carboy—a boy with an unhealthy obsession with Caxton and vampires—tries to kill her. This chance encounter leads to a reunion of sorts at the Arkeley's memorial service with his estranged family: his wife: Astarte, his daughter: Raleigh, his son: Simon, and his brother: Angus. When Caxton starts questioning the family, she quickly discovers that Arkeley is intent on offering them the vampire's curse. His now-warped psychology seeing this as the best way to reconcile his human side's love for his family and his vampire side's loathing of them. When Astarte and Angus refuse the curse, Arkeley quickly dispatches them, leaving Simon and Raleigh. Taking his offspring into protective custody, Caxton is hindered by the Arkeleys’ family history, her new status as a deputized U.S. Marshal, and her new boss, Special Deputy Fetlock. She's pushed to her limits when Arkeley kills his former ally alongside mystic Vesta Polder before turning her into a half-dead. Caxton takes Carboy out of custody and
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
s him- leaving him outside in a winter road with bare feet so that he will be forced to walk home and suffer from frostbite-, until he reveals enough of his hidden relationship with Arkeley for her to learn the location of his lair. Caxton tracks the vampire to an abandoned
coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
in
Centralia, Pennsylvania Centralia ( ) is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough and near-ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Its population declined from 1,000 in 1980 to five residents in 2020 because a Cent ...
, a former company town all but turned into a ghost town from the underground coal fire started in the 1960s. There she is captured by Raleigh, who has accepted the vampire curse and been reanimated, and taken to Arkeley's den to be the first meal for Simon when he accepts the curse. Caxton is able to recapture her gun from Raleigh, shoot and kill the vampire, and escape into the depths of the burning coal mine. Pursued by Arkeley and his half-deads, Caxton kills most of the minions but is all but crippled by Arkeley's attack. Using her own
blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...
as bait, Caxton lures the now blood-maddened Arkeley into a side-shaft of the mine and tricks him into falling down into the burning depths. When Caxton finds her way back to the surface, carrying Simon, the only surviving member of the Arkeley family, she is immediately arrested by Fetlock for violating Carboy's
constitutional rights A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may ...
.


References


External links


The author's website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vampire Zero (Novel) 2008 American novels American horror novels American vampire novels Novels set in Pennsylvania Sequel novels