by Helen Bell
“You made it,” Kelly said, her voice relieved.
“Yeah, but I think we’ll call it a day, or night, whatever,” I told her when I caught my breath.
“Sure, but we gotta find a safer place to sleep, somewhere I won’t be exposed in the event the sun comes up. We need to search for a tree house. Can you walk a bit longer?”
“I can but you think we’re gonna run into one soon?”
“Just a sec, let me check.” Like Spiderman, she climbed up a tree and was back on the ground a minute later. “There’s a hut, that way.” She nodded to our left. “We’ll go put our stuff in there and get some rest.”
“We’re not alone in the Jungle, Kelly. We may be welcomed by dangerous vampires,” I said.
“I know, but the area seemed abandoned. We’ll be careful. Turn off the flashlight until we’re sure no one is nearby.”
“Okay, after you.” I gestured with my hand to the left.
We toiled through the forest again. Fortunately, it wasn’t long until she announced, “We’re getting closer. I can see it.”
My eyes, though, saw only curved vines dangling from trees, trunks covered with moss, and grass—not a hut. She led the way with the machete, and as we moved forward, the forest became darker. Its canopy closed over us like a shroud. Here and there, a shaft of moonlight crept through the leafy branches, preventing absolute darkness. When Kelly stopped cutting vines, the chatters and growls of the animals sounded louder, echoing through the forest.
“There it is.” She pointed forward, and I caught sight of a single bamboo hut not far away, camouflaged under the greenery.
We cautiously approached the small shelter. Its palm-thatch roof was rotting, and no one appeared to be inside. Nonetheless, I drew out a dagger as I nudged the door open with my foot.
It was pitch black inside, but Kelly said with confidence, “The room’s empty, not even furniture, just a wooden beam in the middle. Like I told you, it’s deserted.”
I trusted her super vampire senses and stepped inside. I returned the dagger to its place, put down the bag, took out the flashlight, and turned it on. Then, I reached up to massage my shoulder blades. My back hurt like hell, my head felt ready to explode, and my body screamed for rest. I sat down on the thatched floor. It’d be hard to sleep on it, but now was not exactly the time to be picky.
After we ate, we put the heavy wood beam across the steel bars at the sides of the door to secure it and went to sleep.
Chapter 24
My body didn’t renew its energy after my sleep. If anything, I was weaker. My appetite was gone too, and I suffered from a debilitating headache. According to Kelly, we had slept for six hours, give or take; however, the number on my palm had declined by three. My sickness seemed to affect the black magic.
I was tired and wished I had a few more hours to sleep, but time was not on our side. The Jungle’s air was clearly starting to take a toll on me. We had to get out of this dimension. And fast.
Red rain began to fall outside, so I told Kelly, “Go feed on the blood rain. I’ll eat here, then we’ll leave.”
She nodded and stepped to the hut doorway. Careful not to dirty her dress, she reached out and cupped her hands together. Blood pooled within, and she drank it. As she fed, I went to my bag and pulled out food. After I finished eating, I felt a bit better. We waited out a regular storm following the red rain and then resumed our hike.
The ground of the forest was sticky and the air heavy. I fought off the buzzing, biting mosquitoes as we strode through the endless maze of towering trees and small plants. After what felt like a few hours, we stumbled upon three separate hot springs in a row. I hurried to one of them and filled my empty bottles with water before we jumped into another spring to wash ourselves. Then, refreshed and rested, we resumed our walk, hoping the portal was getting closer.
A short distance ahead, I registered something big stuck up in the trees. I shone my flashlight on it and gasped. A plane crash. A small jet broken into two sections hung in the branches of a tree, thirty-ish feet above the ground. Engine parts, gnawed aluminum, and chunks of sheet metal littered the floor. A dead man was sprawled on his back near the debris, a long object protruding from his belly.
“A human,” Kelly said.
“You think he got here from the Bermuda Triangle?”
“He must have. That means the portal is close.”
The man I had presumed was dead moaned. “Help … please, help, help … I have a first-aid box …” He wheezed, his voice a thin thread of whisper.
“Oh, my God, he’s still alive. You stay here. You’re Newborn, and he’s bleeding,” I said and dashed to him. I knelt beside his body. It was bad. His jeans and shirt were torn. Blood streamed down his face, left leg most likely broken. It seemed he’d impaled himself on a sharp piece of debris during the crash, and now it was stuck deep in his abdomen. He was in critical condition and needed a hospital, not a first-aid box. Still, my gaze darted around, searching for it.
“Sir, how did the crash happen? Did you fly into the Bermuda Triangle?” Kelly asked from where I’d left her, raising her voice so he’d hear her.
“Yes, I was flying above the ocean,” he started, then coughed up blood.
“Don’t speak,” I said. “Let me look for the—”
“There was a grayish cloud of electromagnetic fields,” he cut in. “And a tunnel-shaped vortex of sorts … we … we hit a big … huge beast, scary … it looked,” a cough, “it looked like a giant . . .” His breathing became heavy.
“Gargoyle,” Kelly completed the sentence for him. “Sydney, his plane crashed the day the gargoyles last came out to hunt.”
God, he’d been like this since then? But why hadn’t the gargoyle eaten him?
As if reading my thoughts, she said, “The smell of oil probably kept them away. Sir, you said ‘we’. Who else was with you?”
“Buster,” he answered, his voice weak, his eyelids drifting shut.
I glanced back. “Kelly, please search for the first-aid kit. Hurry up.”
“No, wait.” He opened his eyes. “I don’t have much time left but my dog, Buster,” a long cough, “he … ran … he was scared and didn’t come back. I heard him barking, please … find …” His eyes closed again. “Please … find Buster.” His breathing slowed until it stopped altogether.
“Sir? Sir?” I nudged his shoulder with my hand. He didn’t respond. “No, stay with me, sir!” I shook him again.
“Sydney, he’s dead. I don’t hear his heartbeat anymore. I’m sorry.” Kelly stepped to me, a first-aid kit in her hand.
“You found it,” I said.
“Yes, but … too late now.”
“You think his dog is still alive?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “And as harsh as it may sound, we can’t go looking for—”
The sound of a dog barking rang from the trees.
“It’s the dog! Come on, let’s get him.” I shot to my feet, taking the flashlight with me and running toward the source of the sound.
When I reached the edge of a clearing lit with the moonlight and stars, I stopped cold and swiftly turned off the flashlight. The dog, a black, adult Labrador retriever, stood in the middle of a circle of vampires. I counted thirteen of them, four females, nine males, spread out around Buster, harassing him and laughing at his distress and confusion.
“Stop playing with the food. I’m hungry,” said one of them.
A tall vampire near him drew a knife. “I vote we play with him a bit before feeding on him.” He cut the dog’s rear leg. Buster cried out and tried to escape, but they didn’t let him.
I grit my teeth. My blood boiled. I was about to step into the clearing when Kelly’s hand latched onto my shoulder, holding me in place.
“Are you insane?” she whispered harshly. “There are thirteen of them and only two of us. Do the math. Rescuing the dog is a suicide mission. I’m sorry, but we gotta go before they spot us and we’re dead along with the dog.”
> I shook her hand off my arm. “I’m not leaving Buster here with them. They’re torturing him. Look at him; he’s helpless and bewildered. He survived a plane crash, and he’s terrified.”
“Me too,” she said. “I don’t wanna die. How we gonna fight them, huh? It’s just us—a Newborn and a sick human.”
I understood her fear. She was right; the odds were against us even with my weapons. However, there was no way I was letting those monsters kill Buster. I was more angry than sick, and my rage charged my body with energy, causing an adrenaline rush.
“Give me the machete,” I told her, and she handed it over. “You hide here behind this tree while I go over there. If they kill me, run and save yourself.”
She opened her mouth to argue, then closed it when I shot her a don’t-bother-to-talk-me-out-of-it look.
I stepped out into the clearing, and she remained behind the tree blocking her from the prisoners’ view. My fingers flexed around the machete’s hilt as I looked over at them. The bloodsuckers were too busy abusing Buster to notice me. Fury coursed through my veins.
I put two fingers in my mouth and emitted a high shrill whistle. “Hey, dickheads, want fresh meat?” All eyes turned to me. “Come and get it,” I said under my breath as I rolled my shoulders and rocked my head from side to side, ready to kill.
The first two vampires who charged me managed to knock my knife out of my fist. When I turned to glance at the machete, a powerful kick to my belly knocked me to the ground, an agonizing pain ripping through my body. I winced and growled.
Laughter filled the air, and then a female voice said, “Christ, you smell this? She’s human! I can’t believe we’re gonna feast on pure human blood.”
A vampire built with heavy muscles, about six feet tall, leaped on top of me. “First let me enjoy her a little bit.” I felt his erection against my thigh as he caged me between his arms. His friends assembled around us.
“Hurry up, Adam. We’re hungry,” someone told him.
Buster barked at them and then yelped with pain after the vampire holding him by the collar viciously hit him.
My stare moved from the dog back to the leech on top of me. “Sorry to disappoint, but the only thing you’re about to feel is my knee smashing into your balls. Then nothing, because you’ll be dead.” My voice was calm even though I was pissed.
He barked a loud laugh, fangs drawing down. “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you? I’ve got a little confession,” he said, dismissing my threat as if I wasn’t capable of following through with it. His face inched closer to mine, and his sewer breath touched my nose.
I grimaced and averted my gaze. “Don’t tell me, you don’t believe in tooth brushing.”
Before he could respond, my knee shot up, and I kicked his groin with full force, then swiftly plucked the silver dagger from the holster on my thigh and plunged it deep into his heart. His features froze in an expression of astounded disbelief as his face started to turn into ice.
“Hey, can’t say I didn’t warn you.” I pushed his body off me, taking the dagger with me. I rolled over and leaped to my feet, glancing around at my angry opponents. “Which one of you dickheads is next?”
Three sprang at me. I stabbed the chest of the first vamp, icing him while my foot whipped out to kick the second bloodsucker. The blow propelled his body into the third leech. They both stumbled back and landed on the ground, but got up in a blink. With battle cries, they lunged at me again. A fist caught my jaw. Grunting, I leaned to the side and dodged the next punch, and the next, and the next until vampire number three captured me from behind and wrapped his hands around my neck. Almost out of breath, I snapped a back kick right between his legs and slammed my head back, cracking into his forehead. Breaking loose, I pivoted and faced him.
Bent over, he howled with pain, then bellowed, “You cunt! You bitch! You are de—” My dagger silenced him after I swiftly closed our distance and sliced his throat. Blood sprayed all over me. I didn’t care. I thrust the blade into his heart, then released my grip from his hair. The body dropped to the floor as it became ice.
I turned to vampire number two, one eyebrow quirked up in question. “Got any charming last words, too?”
Face flushing red, he darted toward me, his movement a blur of speed. I failed to block his fast blow, which cracked into my hip bone and knocked the knife from my hand. Ignoring the pain, I spun in place and hook-kicked him in the face. It sent him off balance, and he lurched backward. Exploiting his disoriented state, I rushed to him, seized his head by the hair, and smashed his face with my knee. When he hit the ground, I picked up my dagger, crouched, and drove it into his heart.
Back on my feet, I assessed my progress. Four down, nine to go, three females and six males. A few wore alarmed expressions while the rest looked surprised. Obviously, they had anticipated a different outcome. Seeing me as a real threat now, they bothered themselves to deal with me. Luckily, none of them were armed, except the one holding Buster.
I dropped the dagger to the ground and wrenched the gun out of its holster as five vamps charged at me. Brad hadn’t provided me with an extra magazine, so I had to make sure every shot counted. I raised the gun and fired, hitting them in the chest. As five of them turned to ice, three other leeches lined up in front of me. They loped in my direction. I flipped around and sprinted toward the tree twenty feet ahead of me. I sped up as I neared it, then ran up its trunk and did a backflip over them. When I landed on my feet, they were all with their backs to me. Perfect. I held up my gun and fired before they could turn around. Three shots, three dead vamps.
There was one leech left—the monster who had cut Buster in the leg and then hit him. And for that, he’d get special treatment. Squatting, he was holding him by his collar.
The bloodsucker bared his fangs at me. “I’m gonna drink you dry, breather,” he spat out and then lobbed the knife in his hand toward me.
I jolted to the side before the blade whooshed past my ear and stuck in the trunk of a tree behind me. I put my gun back into the holster and went to pull his knife out.
With it in my hand, I gazed over at him. “Has no one ever taught you how to aim properly? Here, let me show you how it’s done.”
His knife flew back at him, landing right in his eye socket. The blade wasn’t silver—which was why it was my weapon of choice and not a silver bullet. I didn’t want him dead, not right away, anyway. He’d suffer before he died.
Screaming with agony, he shot to his feet, and the dog got free of his hold. Bemused, scared, and injured, Buster limped away from his abuser as I marched toward the vampire. He was struggling to pull the knife out without causing more pain.
“Need some help with that?” I offered and reached out to tug the knife out of his face, flicking the eyeball off the blade. His screams echoed through the forest.
“Sucks to be the one who’s getting the abuse, doesn’t it?” I said and stuck the knife into his other eye socket. “Now you know how it feels to be helpless,” I added over his curses and screams.
He tried to hit me, but without his eyesight, he failed. Again and again and again until I broke his legs with two hard kicks to his knees. Then with a blow to the chest, I sent him flying backward. His body slammed against a tree. He shouted with pain, against the base of the trunk, his face a crimson mess.
“Kill him. What are you waiting for?” Kelly’s voice asked at my side.
“How long before his legs heal?” I asked her.
“In his current condition, uh … about three hours.”
“Excellent, it’ll give them enough time to get to his body and eat him from the inside.” I gestured at the four glowing butterflies fluttering not far away from the tree he was slumped against.
I glanced around, searching for Buster. He was outside the clearing, and he looked exhausted. I started toward him.
He shrank back, so I stopped moving, holding my hands up by my shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”
He s
tayed in his place as I sidled toward him again. When I was near him, I noticed he had scratches on his face from the plane crash. I patted his back. He allowed it, letting his guard down. After I gained his trust, I checked his bad leg. Blood seeped from the cut the vampire had given him. I rinsed it, using the water from my bag. Kelly handed me the first-aid box, and I took out a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a roll of gauze.
“Okay, Buster, this might burn a bit but only for a short time,” I promised him, stroking his head. He didn’t move the entire time I treated his wound.
When I was done, I rubbed behind his ear. “That’s a good boy.”
“No, no, no, God, noooooo! Get ’em out of me!” the vampire I’d left at the tree hollered.
“It’s not safe here with the butterflies nearby. We gotta keep going,” Kelly said over the vampire’s shouts of pain, giving me the machete and the dagger. “I’ll carry the dog until we come across someplace we can rest. I won’t even feel his weight. Come on, let’s go.”
Buster permitted her to take him into her arms, and we began to walk. It wasn’t long before we came upon another deserted hut. Inside, Kelly set Buster back on his feet, and after we secured the door, I flopped down on the ground, my body weak, my muscles aching.
“My gosh, you look so pale,” she said, turning on the flashlight.
I hurt everywhere, and not just from the fight. “I feel lousy. It’s the air.”
“Probably. We need to locate the portal as soon as possible—or you’ll die.”
I glanced at Buster. “What does the Jungle’s air do to an animal from our dimension?”
“I’m not sure, but probably the same thing it does to humans,” she replied and then suggested, “You should get some rest before we continue hiking.”
I put my head down on the floor. “Rest sounds good,” I mumbled.
Buster limped in my direction and lay down next to me. I smiled at him. I patted his head until my eyes drifted closed, and I fell asleep.
Chapter 25
