For good measure, I broke the arm holding me, then scrambled back to my feet.
It was time to...
Notice everyone had realized I was now the biggest threat on the playing field.
I stood up to find every weapon in sight trained in my direction. Colin stood behind his men, a smug grin on his face as if he was a kid who’d just woken up on Christmas morning. His smile said it all: I’d finally given him an excuse to get rid of me once and for all.
And the day had been going so well up until then.
Dwarf Tossing
I was debating which way to leap: up, to the side, anywhere that would result in the least amount of bullets perforating my body.
I’d been expecting the deafening sound of gunfire, so I was caught by surprise when one of the vamp troopers instead said, “Sir! I think he’s the real deal.”
“What did you say, soldier?” Colin asked, sounding amazed that one of his lowly dogs decided to pick that moment to bark.
“Sir, I think he’s really the Freewill. Did you see what he did?”
Well, what do you know? I had me a fan in the crowd. Maybe if I managed to survive this, I’d autograph his gun.
Colin’s face flushed all sorts of red. Can’t say I didn’t enjoy it ever so slightly. It also gave me a split second to take stock of my friends.
Sally was out of it, but alive. Two vamp soldiers were holding her up, but she appeared to have been worked over pretty good.
Sheila was down on one knee. She didn’t look particularly great either, but she was still with us. I didn’t see any blood, at least. Her shield had held.
“Fuck ’em all up, man!”
Yep, Tom was fine. That left Grulg. I didn’t see him, but maybe that was a good thing. He’d proven a distraction before. With any luck...
“I did not ask your opinion, child,” Colin said to his underling. “I am well aware that he is...”
“The guy who’s working for Lord Alexander?” I interrupted, adding a little extra fuel to the flames.
Doubt flashed in several of the eyes before me. Ah yes, if there was one thing the coven system instilled in the unwashed masses, it was an appreciation for name dropping.
Colin realized it too, because he was quick to add, “By order of the First Coven, I am Prefect here and I declare these ... creatures to be enemies of our great nation.” I almost laughed, because it came out more a whine than an edict. Unfortunately for us, the next part did not. “I ORDER YOU TO EXECUTE THEM ALL, STARTING WITH THIS FOOL!!”
Shit! I’d never known Colin to make with the compulsions. In the past, he’d always been the type to enforce the orders of his betters, not make them himself. Hell, I’d known him as an armchair general, a piss-poor one at that.
All doubt and independent thought faded from the faces of the troops in front of me as their eyes glazed over one by one. I heard movement behind me and glanced back to find the two vamps I’d landed on boxing me in with their guns. I was surrounded. This was Colin’s winning hand, and it was a hard one to...
Hold on. I wasn’t exactly a slouch at the moment either. Some days I am so stupid I even surprise myself.
“NO!! KILL THAT FUCKER INSTEAD!!”
Colin’s compulsion had been a mighty shout, but mine was a fucking bullhorn. Sure, it wasn’t the most eloquent way of putting forth my desires, but sometimes you gotta be direct.
A ripple passed over the crowd of vamps. They swayed on their feet and a few grabbed hold of their heads, but Colin remained irritatingly bullet free. The fuck?
The arrogant cocksucker raised his hands and brought them together in a golf clap. “Nicely done, Freewill. Even I have to admit to being impressed with you for a rare change. Who would have thought you’d ever develop the competence to accomplish ... anything, really?”
The soldiers in front of him appeared to have been knocked for a loop, but they still hadn’t ventilated this asshat. Why?
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already. Ah, I suppose that is to be expected from a lesser mind such as yours. I’ll give you a hint: Insulation.”
Oh crap. He was right. James had told me himself. Prefects, office workers, shock troops, anyone who worked for the vampire hierarchy received a series of compulsions by older vamps. Folks like Vehron or Ib were ridiculously old and could force their way through most of it. Me, I hadn’t quite sucked down enough blood to be that effective. Shit!
Still, even if they hadn’t blasted Colin’s head open like a ripe melon, the power in me – coupled with the doubt some of them seemingly felt – had been enough to slow them down. Which meant...
“Fine, you win the game of compulsion tag. Here’s your prize, asshole.” Fast as I could, I grabbed hold of the vamp nearest me before he could resume his regularly scheduled programming and launched him into the air, over his buddies, and right into Colin’s smug face.
I couldn’t control his troops, but I could scramble their circuits for a couple of seconds. Sadly, in doing so, I had a feeling any lingering doubt they had toward killing my ass was gonna be erased real quick.
We needed an edge and this time one that would stick. We needed...
Grulg!
He stepped back out of the shadows, a few paces behind where Sheila was pulling herself to her feet. I let a smile play out on my face, but it immediately turned to a look of horror as he grabbed her and lifted her from the ground. What the fuck?
Her aura flared to life around her as a look of shock replaced the one of pain on her face. Grulg’s hands ignited, but before the rest of him could, he let out a roar and threw her.
♦ ♦ ♦
My own predicament was forgotten as I watched her tumble end over end through the air from a dozen yards away. What the fuck was that stupid monkey doing? We’d trusted him and he’d...
Thrown her straight at the group of vamps threatening us.
Okay, then.
What he’d done was stupid as fuck and dangerous as all hell, considering how hurt Sheila was, but rational thought wasn’t really a Sasquatch forte. On the other hand, there was probably no better way to protect someone than to take out their enemies. She was basically the living embodiment of the holy hand grenade of Antioch.
And she was heading this way.
I instinctively stepped forward when something plowed into my blindside. It was a weak hit, nothing against my current power level, but it had caught me unaware. I stumbled and went down, my attacker atop me.
My first thought was to remedy that situation. I rolled over and prepared to throw off ... Tom?!
“You’ll thank me for this,” he said, still scrambling to cover me. “Oh, but just in case ... no homo.”
A blaze of white light erupted around us. I couldn’t see much, but I could hear screams, ones that cut off quickly as their owners immolated. Sheila had landed and, though I had no way of knowing if she’d been injured even worse in the impact, it was plain to see her power washing over us.
The exposed parts of my skin sizzled where it touched me, but Tom took the brunt of it, protecting me with his own body.
He truly was the best of friends.
Sadly, he was also a complete idiot. His body was currently made entirely of magic, and if there was one thing the power of faith did, besides turn vampires into charcoal, it was negate other magic.
♦ ♦ ♦
Tom grinned down at me, but it changed into a look of surprise as his form began to shimmer under the onslaught of white light. His face began to droop almost as if he were made of melting candle wax. With some horror, and a serious sense of being weirded out, I realized he was liquefying atop me.
I tried to push him off, but my hands sank right into his chest – an odd sensation: dry yet yielding at the same time. My analysis of his body composition came to an abrupt end, however, when I brushed up against something inside of him that felt akin to touching a live wire.
All thought of being burned by
Sheila’s power fled my mind as a jolt of magical electricity traveled up my arm, causing every muscle in my body to contract way past the point of breaking. Crackles of multi-hued lightning blotted out my vision, and I could smell my tongue beginning to smoke.
A flash of memory stirred in my mind – stepping into the puddle of human fat in our basement. All at once, I understood what had happened. Not a fun way to go.
I blinked steaming tears and saw a figure rise above us. He was wearing body armor and was aflame from Sheila’s power, but he still refused to give up. He raised the gun he was holding, rapidly turning red hot in his grasp. So I did the only thing I could think of.
I shared the love.
Though every muscle in my body felt like it had a mind of its own, I somehow tore one of my arms free, reached out, and grasped hold of his ankle.
The result was nearly instantaneous. Between the power of faith and a generous jolt of Apollo’s junk, the vamp turned white hot from the inside out and immolated.
Sadly, I was going to be next. The only thing saving me was the combined strength and healing of three vamps, but I had a feeling I’d just about reached my limit in this game of pass the shock ball.
I was, quite literally, sinking into my friend as he melted around me ... very likely the weirdest fucking thing I had ever experienced. I couldn’t push him off me; he was too ... err ... goopy for that. The flaming vamp had given me an idea, though, one that was better than anything else that came to mind. I had already stopped and dropped. Now it was time to roll.
Stuck as he was to me, Tom came along for the ride.
The contractions in my muscles were getting worse. Much more and I’d shatter my teeth just by biting down. Adding to it, that first roll exposed my backside to Sheila’s power. Oh yeah, burning and frying, quite the combo.
But I kept going – over and over, across the asphalt, away from her power, until I thought I had enough momentum to give a heave.
Distanced from Sheila’s aura, Tom’s body regained just enough coherency for me to get one hand on his chest and shove with everything I had.
He went flying off me, pulling away with a disturbing schlup sound as if I’d just unclogged a toilet with my fist.
Speaking of which, it was a good thing I was right handed, because my left was a mangled mess of exposed bone and grizzle.
Still, it wasn’t over yet. I’d probably burned through – pun definitely intended – most of the stolen power in me, but there was a bit left. I rolled to my feet, my healing already starting to mend my injuries, and took stock of the situation.
Grulg had engaged the vamps who’d been working over Sally. They were keeping him at bay, but not for long. She was on her knees behind them, but conscious again. She glanced my way through one eye that wasn’t swollen shut and gave a single shake of her head, the meaning clear – these assholes were hers. With Grulg helping her out, I decided to give her this one.
Sheila was likewise down. There was a sizzling aura of white power around her, but she otherwise didn’t look too hot. Thankfully, she’d gotten the job done. All around her, discarded weapons and body armor lay amidst piles of smoking ash.
I hobbled over, feeling my flesh regenerating with every step.
She looked up as I approached, but her eyes had a dazed look about them.
“Hey,” I said gently and a bit slurred as my tongue was still repairing itself. “Turn off the light show. It’s me.”
She blinked, gave her head a shake, and then spat out a wad of blood. Finally, her power fizzled and then collapsed in on itself.
I stepped up and offered her my good hand. “Are you okay?”
“Not really,” she replied weakly. “Wasn’t ... expecting that.”
“Yeah, Grulg played dwarf toss and unfortunately, you got to be Gimli.”
I got the feeling my joke fell flat with her, but she smiled anyway. “At least ... these guys were here to ... cushion my fall.”
“That’s the spirit,” I replied. “Now we just have to...”
I didn’t get a chance to finish. The words were lost in my throat, but even if they hadn’t been, the sound of gunfire this close would have rendered them unheard.
That was okay. What I had to say wasn’t important anyway, especially not compared to the ragged gunshot wounds opening up along my torso and the searing pain that followed. Yes, indeed, Colin’s men had been armed with silver bullets.
Well, at least that question was answered.
A Compelling Argument
I was knocked off my feet and landed roughly on the back of my head. I thought I saw stars, but then realized it was just the fireworks erupting from where the silver touched my blood.
So ... pretty.
I spied Colin standing with a gun in his hands, wearing a look of distaste as if he was irked he’d been forced to get his hands dirty. Poor baby.
He aimed it at Sheila, still on her knees, then seemed to realize the futility of doing so. Instead, he spun the rifle, grabbed it by the barrel, and swung it like a baseball bat.
Her power flared up, but only at a fraction of its normal intensity. The aura appeared to mute the blow, but didn’t stop it fully. I heard the thunk of it connecting with flesh and then Sheila was knocked back, rolling with the blow and holding on to her ribs.
Colin was left slightly singed by the encounter but otherwise got the better end of that deal. At least his suit was in even worse shape than before. Small victories and all.
I lifted my head as best I could to check on Sheila, my insides screaming in pain as the silver worked its magic. She was down on the shattered asphalt. Her aura flared around her, fizzled, then flared again. It was plain to see she wasn’t fully purged of that goddamned Baal blood and that, whatever she’d given in the last few minutes, it was all she had to give.
Thankfully, we weren’t alone.
Sally turned from where she and Grulg were busy dismembering the last of Colin’s troops. Bloodied but unbowed, her eyes turned black as coal as she laid eyes on him. A mix of disgust and hatred crossed her face and she snarled, “I’m gonna enjoy this.”
“Of course you will,” Colin replied, casually sauntering Sheila’s way as if he had all the time in the world. “You’ve always been so adept at following the orders of your betters. KILL THE FREEWILL, MY DARLING LUCINDA!!”
Oh shit.
Sally froze in her tracks. Her eyes glazed over and she turned my way. She took one step, then stopped, her body shaking and her teeth gritting so hard blood began to drip from her lips.
“Well, isn’t this surprising?” Colin raised a finger to his chin as if contemplating the situation. “Don’t tell me you actually have feelings toward this lout.”
Sally struggled, her eyes beginning to slowly clear as she fought against the compulsion.
“Huh. You do, and strong ones at that. And here I thought our mutual friend Jeff had beaten such silly concepts out of you. Your lack of taste aside, I suppose I can work around that. It looks like the Freewill isn’t going anywhere. Perhaps a more suitable target will keep you busy. KILL THAT THING!!” He pointed toward Grulg, who’d just dispatched his last foe and looked eager to leap back into the fray.
Though he was the one Bigfoot we were sorta on amicable terms with, he was far from being on either of our BFF lists. A compulsion to kill a neutral party would be far harder to fight than a friend. Sally’s eyes re-glazed, she turned, and launched herself at the giant ape.
“Don’t ... hurt...” The rest of my words were lost as the breath in my lungs turned to steam. In another couple of minutes, I was going to be fit to be served as Thanksgiving dinner.
My body was just barely keeping up. Accelerated as my powers were, silver tended to fuck with our healing abilities, in addition to flash-frying us from the inside out. There was also the small problem of me running out of gas pretty soon. When that happened, it would be sayonara.
To think we’d come all t
his way, beaten as many foes as we had, and yet, after everything, Colin was the one poised to be our undoing.
Yeah, fat fucking chance of that.
No goddamned way was I going to the afterlife knowing that greasy shit had sent me there.
A dull thud sounded, and I glanced over to see he’d laid into the side of Sheila’s head with a boot. Again, her power saved her, but it was getting weaker by the minute. Soon he’d be able to throttle her with his bare hands.
Gritting my teeth, I extended my claws as an idea formed. This was not going to be fun. The flames escaping my open wounds only added to the thrill that was self-surgery.
Before my rational side could talk me out of it, I dug my fingers into my own flesh, experiencing a pain that made me wish Colin had hit me with a headshot.
♦ ♦ ♦
The beauty of previous horrendous wounds, and I seemed to have gotten a lot of them since turning into a vamp, was that I could mostly concentrate on the important things, like screaming. After all, in most cases, there wasn’t much else to do save curl up in a fetal ball and hope I either passed out or my healing took care of things. Digging around in my own innards, though, required concentration. I needed to be fully aware of every turn my fingers took and every obstruction they encountered so as to make sure I actually extracted a bullet and not, say, my pancreas.
I yanked my hand back with a wince, then let the metal slug slip out of my bloody fingers and onto the ground. That was two. One more to go. I dove back in, touching myself in ways that even I found inappropriate.
Even after I yanked them out, my wounds continued to bleed. Sure, my blood was no longer ablaze, but I was getting pretty goddamned woozy all the same.
Grulg was doing his best to fend off Sally, but I could tell he was getting frustrated. Sally was quick and not averse to taking cheap shots. A few scratches to his arms were one thing, but I had a feeling Grulg was going to be a lot less friendly if she managed to slice his ballsack off.
Colin had picked up a piece of rebar and was using it to work Sheila over. She’d managed to recover enough so as to be able to focus her waning power in time with his strikes. Still, she was barely fending off his attacks. It was only a matter of time. I needed to get this shit out of my body and somehow rejoin the fight.
The Tome of Bill Series: Books 5-8 (Goddamned Freaky Monsters, Half A Prayer, The Wicked Dead, The Last Coven) Page 148
