All at once the blur of the swinging chain slowed to a stop as his vision changed to accommodate his heightened speed and reflexes. The roar of the mind-slaves’ attack dulled to a near-silent hum. Knowing he didn’t have much time before exhaustion would set in he lunged, throwing his fist forward and punching into the chain-man’s chest. The force of the attack coupled with his advanced speed drove his hand through his attacker’s torso until his arm burst out of the other side, grazing his spine as it exited. Startled by the effect he yanked his hand away, sneering in disgust at the viscera-coated forearm that emerged. Wasting no time he turned away from the man—already dead but not yet aware of it—to face the boy and the rest of the time-frozen mind-slave army.
The scene lurched as he started to drop out of overdrive; the drones beginning to move forward in slow-motion. Xander shot forward and bent to retrieve his fallen revolver and pulled the trigger, watching as the round crept from the barrel before he leaped into the air. Once off the ground and out of overdrive, he looked down and watched as the explosive round took its toll on the closest of the mind-slaves.
The force of his superhuman jump began to waver and gravity took hold of him then, pulling him back down to Earth. As the ground—and mind-slaves eager to kill him—grew closer with his descent, he fired a round at the base of a large nearby tree; the hollow-point struck the trunk, sending wood fragments spraying like shrapnel into the crowd and they scattered as the tree shuddered and started to topple.
Grabbing the closest branch, Xander steadied himself and began to work his way towards the top, leaping from branch to branch. As the tree became ever more horizontal with its collapse, what had been a steady ascent turned into a full-out sprint up its surface. Moments before crashing to the ground he threw himself off, landing and rolling to his feet several yards away. Behind him, the impact of the fallen tree shook the ground and sent clumps of snow raining down from neighboring trees’ branches.
Xander, breathing hard from the exertion, turned and watched as the mind-slaves that had survived stumbled about in confusion before they stopped and went rigid. Xander frowned, watching as the drones were fed new psychic commands from Kyle and they turned all at once to face him.
“You can’t expect them to hold me off forever,” he shouted towards the crowd.
Kyle’s response came in the form of a lone red-haired woman who stepped forward from the crowd and raised her arm at him. For a moment it appeared she was simply pointing until he noticed the small pistol in her hand.
The first shot grazed his cheek as he dove from its path, scurrying to put himself on the other side of the fallen tree as a line of shots traced his path. At that moment, every gun-toting drone marched to the front of the line and followed the redhead’s example and a barrage of gunfire erupted; bullets filling the air and pelting Xander’s wooden shield and the surrounding forest with their storm of bullets.
“YOU BASTARD!” Xander screamed into the depths of the woods, “I WILL GET YOU!”
Not if you don’t get up. Kyle taunted in his mind as the gunfire became more rapid and narrowed in on his location.
A spray of woodchips rained into his face; like it or not, Kyle was right: he wouldn’t make it any further if he stayed there and allowed himself to get shot up.
Reaching out with his aura and seeking out the closest of the shooters, he yanked the gun from their grip and snared the drone, pulling them behind the tree. All at once the gunfire stopped and the sound of snow crunching underfoot grew nearer. Xander growled and turned to face his captive, finding the redhead who’d started the bullet-storm squirming in his auric binds. As he looked at her, he once again became aware of the blood pulsing under her skin as the exhaustion tugging at his system became more demanding. Overcome with the sudden need to feed he yanked the woman’s head to one side and moved to feed only to have his head snapped back before he could get his fangs in. He growled, struggling, as one of the drones clutched his hair and yanked him away again, keeping him from feeding.
Turning his head towards the drone, he hissed at the man and swiped at his throat. There was a sharp ripping noise as flesh was torn and blood began to gush from the obstructing drone’s neck. Despite the injury and the loss of blood, however, his grip remained tight—Kyle’s hold not wavering in the slightest. Xander narrowed his eyes, looking past the puppet and cursing Kyle’s name.
The redhead—still held in his aura—struggled to get free and more mind-slaves climbed over and around the tree, taking their hold on him and keeping him from his meal. Xander hissed again and snapped his jaws at whatever flesh got close enough but was unable to score a bite as more and more hands took to holding him back. Before he could focus his aura to push the mob away a heavy set drone stepped into sight and leveled a sawed-off shotgun at him and fired it into his stomach.
Crying out, Xander shut his eyes and clenched his teeth as the pain coursed through his guts like a wildfire. Trying to focus his mind, he took several labored breaths, cringing as each inhale tore at his abdomen. Finally, he threw his aura out in a furious, whipping whirlwind that tore the drones from him and pitched them about the forest; scattering them. The shotgun mind-slave sneered, a familiar gleam entering his otherwise empty eyes.
“Having fun yet, son?” Kyle spoke through his puppet as he cocked the shotgun with an abrupt pump of a massive arm.
Xander narrowed his eyes, pushing the pain aside, and leapt like a wildcat, grabbing the barrel of the gun and pushing it away as it went off.
“I’m not your goddam son, you motherfucking bastard!” Xander spat in the drone’s face, his eyes looking past the puppet.
The gleaming eyes remained focused and unwavering as the man gave a sadistic grin and issued out a bellow of laughter. Xander sneered and pushed forward, knocking the bulky body to the ground and pinning it as be began to drink from it. Part of him was disgusted at the source of his meal, but as the first coppery mouthful was swallowed he cast aside the thought and fed as fast as he could, already feeling his injuries start to heal. Even as he tore into the drone’s neck, the laughter continued, though labored and lodged with blood.
“I’ll… take that… as… a ‘yes’,” the mind-slave choked out as Xander dug his fangs deeper and deeper to try and silence the laughter.
He could sense others approaching from behind and wrapped himself and his meal in his aura as the first of them arrived. Though he expected an attack to be made, the drones instead lined up just on the other side and watched; the same sadistic grin and evil eye pasted on each of their faces.
“Aren’t you a clever boy?”
“Like father, like son.”
Xander turned his head, glaring through his auric shield at the twisted ventriloquist act, “Shut the hell up!” he snarled.
All of the mind-slaves let out a roar of laughter. Xander, returning to his meal, split his aura into segmented parts to grab and toss away the cackling annoyances. Once free of the mind-controlled pests, he fed, relishing in the sensation of the warm liquid rolling down his chin and smearing his face. The blood rejuvenated him as it coursed through his system and the snow below him was stained with the excess as his body rejected the buckshot from his stomach. As his body stitched itself back together, the aching exhaustion in his muscles subsided with each gulp, too.
He pulled away from the spurting wound before he’d had his fill—not wanting to sate his thirst before coming face to face with Kyle—and stared down at the still-twitching drone. He watched this for several seconds before crouching down and snapping the man’s neck.
With the task completed he returned to the tree where he’d dropped his guns, finding only Yin. He frowned, lifting the lone revolver and looking around for any sign of its twin.
“Shit!” he muttered, dropping his shoulders and sighing—a cloudy plume birthing from his lips and wafting off with the breeze.
“Quite the toy,” a feminine voice cooed from behind a neighboring tree. As Xander turned the redhead strolle
d forward, still torn and battered from his auric attack, with Yang hoisted against her right shoulder, “But don’t you think it’s a bit too dangerous for a little faggot like you?” her lips curled into an attractive-yet-disturbing copy of Kyle’s own grin.
“Dangerous? Isn’t that the point?” Xander muttered through clenched teeth. He wasn’t worried about the redhead hearing his words; he knew that Kyle would have no problem receiving the message.
There was no witty retort. The drone grinned wider and leveled the stolen weapon with two shaky hands and pulled the trigger.
Xander was in overdrive before the hammer had a chance to drop, stepping out of range and dropping out again. The round rocketed from the barrel—the force of the recoil throwing the woman’s body backwards—and into the woods, exploding soon after with a chorus of falling trees and snapping branches. The young vampire was quick to snatch his weapon back from the woman as she struggled to get to her feet and aimed both barrels at her as she stood.
“Are you really going to make me kill all these people?” he growled, looking deep into the drone’s eyes.
The woman grinned wider. “I don’t see any reason not to,” Kyle answered through her.
Xander scowled and shook his head, “You fucking coward!”
The woman laughed and stepped aside, holding her arms out as an invitation for him to advance, “Oh the mouth on you! I’ll tell you what: I’ll spare you the burden of killing this one. How does that sound?”
Xander narrowed his eyes and held his guns at his side, shaking his head as he walked past, “What does it matter? They’re all dead already anyway.”
“Too true,” the woman’s voice answered, “All too true.”
A soft chuckle served as a twisted end to the conversation and, as Xander moved past, he felt the woman’s aura surge as the control on her mind was lifted. Like a bulb in a power surge it grew brighter and then it dimmed and disappeared. Soon after the soft sound of the body hitting the snow could be heard.
“You fucking coward,” he repeated.
****
The snowy hike deeper into the woods lasted five minutes before he saw Kyle’s final line of defense standing several yards in front of his house. Like the rest of those he had enslaved, they looked like they had been pulled off the streets in the midst of living their lives.
Watching them stand there, unmoving and unresponsive without the auric vampire’s command, Xander couldn’t help but imagine Kyle as the sadistic piper leading an entourage of citizens down the street like hypnotized rats. Several more silent seconds passed before Kyle’s command was given and the last of his slaves moved to attack.
Xander sighed, watching as the drones stumbled through the snow as they closed in, and pulled his backpack from his shoulders. Despite the oncoming threat, he was slow and careful in extracting one of the original rounds that had sat in Yang’s chamber for so many years without his knowing and pocketing it in the battered jacket. When he was sure the bullet was secure, he emptied the chambers of both guns, saving one explosive round from Yang, and filled the bag with the rest.
The closest of the attackers raised a hatchet over his head as he drew nearer and Xander stepped forward, hurling the bag and its cargo of magical rounds at the onslaught. The man with the hatchet swung at the pack, hooking one of the straps on the blade and causing him to stumble back from the drag. He stopped and looked at the hefty weight that had snared on his weapon and began tugging at it in an effort to pull it free as Xander stepped forward and fired the one remaining round into the drone’s torso. As the resulting explosion spread through the mind-slave’s body, it set off the rest of the magic rounds in the bag, activating the dormant spells and creating a concussive and explosive reaction that consumed the clearing and all those within it.
Xander stood and watched as the combined spells took their toll on the army, and when the blast had finally died down he stepped around the resulting crater. The smell of blood was everywhere—though the explosion had left nothing large enough to feed from—and he forced himself to stay focused as he approached the house. He was happy to see, as the last of the dust settled, that the magic had taken out a portion of the nearby wall as well, giving him a clear entrance into the garage.
Come on in, son. Kyle’s voice sounded in his head as he stepped through the makeshift entrance, The little lady and I are waiting.
Xander growled, throwing his fist into an already beat-up pickup truck that was parked inside, “I’m not your son!” he shook with rage and anticipation as the invitation repeated itself again and again in his mind and he sprinted through the door and up the stairs, “I’M NOT YOUR GODDAM SON!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Deadly Reunion
She was more dead than alive; kept breathing by the monster behind her as he fed off her pain and misery. Her naked body shook under its own weight, almost unable to hold itself up, let alone hide its shame. Xander stopped in his tracks at the top of the steps, stunned and appalled by the sight. He recognized the woman from the therion-boy’s visions as she shivered in fear and embarrassment; her dwindling aura shining dull grey and lifeless like a wisp of smoke.
Kyle flashed his wicked grin from behind the dying woman and gave her a quick once-over before turning to face Xander. “Quite the catch, huh son?” he began to laugh and clapped his hand down on her shoulder causing her to wince and stumble, “Quite the fucking catch!” His laugh deepened as he shoved her forward.
Xander caught the woman and stared into her sad, pained eyes as she mouthed her misery. He saw that she knew that he was responsible for the boy—her son’s—death, but didn’t bother to dig deeper to see if she knew why he’d done it. Not sure what sort of comfort he could offer the woman he instead entered her mind and cut the life from her body, refusing to allow another person to suffer any further at the hands of Kyle.
He was appalled with himself. Watching the woman’s body slump to the floor, he knew that it had not been an act of heroism, but rather one of selfishness that he openly accepted as such. He couldn’t allow her to live; couldn’t allow anybody to serve as a reminder to Xander what he had gone through.
He looked up at the monster from his nightmares and scowled as he was greeted by the same terrible grin and the same cocky, sadistic brown eyes that looked at him like he could do anything and never have to face justice for it. The bastard looked just like he did the last night Xander had seen him: his hair was combed and neat and he wore a sports coat and pressed khakis. Xander’s body shook as a growl crawled up from deep inside his chest.
The son-of-a-bitch had tidied up for the moment!
All the collected rage from over the years grew and he tensed, letting his aura coil around him—a burning, electric-red serpent—and pulse like a second heart. The heat from the growing energy made his skin twitch and his nostrils flared as he took a deep breath to cool down his insides.
“What is this?” Kyle clutched his chest in a mocking gesture, “Is this the greeting I get after all these years? Not even a hug?”
Xander shuddered in fury and narrowed his eyes. Focusing on his target, his aura shot out, streaking across the room like a horizontal lightning bolt that forked again and again until it reached like a seven-fingered hand at the auric vampire. As his aura enclosed around its target, a yellow-green orb appeared around him, blocking the attack and sending the auric divisions off their path, three bolts crashing into the ceiling while the other four drove into the adjacent walls—three to the left and one to the right. The ceiling and wall crumbled, leaving behind clouds of drywall dust and cracked beams and dented piping.
“Not the hug I was hoping for, but what should I expect from an ungrateful fucking brat like you?” Kyle grinned wider.
Xander roared at the cocky monster’s tone and lunged forward, dropping both of his empty revolvers behind him to free his hands. Kyle grinned at the advancement, sidestepping to the left and wrapping him in his aura, using it as a sling to rocket him into
the dividing wall between the living room and the kitchen. The wall shattered under the force, raining down plaster and plywood as Xander flew through to the other side. Shaking from the impact, the refrigerator wavered before collapsing to the kitchen floor, almost crushing him as it did.
Groaning and shaking the stars from his head and the dust from his hair, Xander looked up as Kyle marched towards him with the same confidence he’d had all those years ago when he was a child—those same damn boots crunching down on the scattered debris. The sight cleared the weariness from his mind and he snarled, reaching out with his aura again and ensnaring the fallen fridge.
Kyle stopped in mid-stride, raising a questioning brow as the appliance rose from the floor—encased in the semi-transparent neon red aura—and shot at him. The power cord ripped from the socket, spitting sparks into the air and singeing the wall around it as Kyle dropped down and deflected the projectile with his own aura and sending it sailing over his head.
Seeing the attack miss, Xander pulled his weapon back around for a second pass; wielding the fridge as a massive hammer and dropping it straight down towards his old stepfather. Kyle watched this and sneered as he grabbed it and stopped the attack with his own aura and wrestled to pull it away. Refusing to relinquish his hold, Xander focused on getting control again, only to have an auric bolt from Kyle smash into him like a boulder and throw him deeper into the kitchen.
Noir: A Crimson Shadow Novel Page 31
