by TJ Hines
I had to find a way in. I pushed with all my strength, but I couldn’t get the door to budge. Finally, it dawned on me…the bathroom door. Since our bedrooms shared a bathroom I could get in from that door as long as Addison didn’t think to block it too. I ran for the door hoping it wasn’t blocked with anything. I barged through the unlocked door and looked around for Addison immediately. I didn’t see her at first because Abby was standing in front of her with her back to me. So, it was a shock when she turned around and I saw her face for the first time since Halloween night. Her eyes were solid red, and her skin was so very pale, and that was saying something because I was the palest person I knew. She had black veins cascading across her skin. She looked like death. If it was walking and talking.
“What is wrong with you? Are you doing meth?” I asked trying to distract her from Addison who was tied up and gagged in the corner next to the closet. “Because that is seriously nasty.”
“Funny. You will see what is wrong with me soon when I make you like me.” That's when she charged me, and I went into a defensive position like Caleb and Will had been teaching me to do. I accidentally stabbed her in the chest with a knife. I seriously didn’t mean too.
She pulled the knife from her chest and smiled. “Was that supposed to hurt?” she asked.
“Actually, yeah that was supposed to hurt. For a normal person. You freak!”
She started bleeding black gooey blood. It looked like thick black ketchup oozing from her body.
“That is disgusting. You are sooo disgusting,” I said.
She screamed in a rage. And then tried to bite me with huge canine teeth that were extremely sharp and pointy. Oh My Word! I knew what she was. All the pieces clicked into place.
“You’re a vampire!”
“Duh, Kinsey. Now, why don’t you be a good little friend and let me have a snack? I’m ravenous.”
“Word of the day toilet paper?” I asked. “Because we both know you are too dumb to understand what ‘ravenous’ means.”
“Ahhhh. I hate you!”
“And no, we can’t be friends anymore because I like my friends alive. So, you are going to have to bite someone else.” I shoved her with all the strength I had left in my body and she stumbled away from me. Yes! One point me. Zero points for the bloodthirsty bitch. I was on the ground still but there was ten feet of space between us. Go me! That was until she turned her attention on Addison. I screamed loudly and trying to think of everything Jack had taught me to try to stop her. Volito, I screamed. Abby stopped in mid-stride and started to levitate off the floor a little bit. But without touching her my magic wasn’t strong enough to hold her for long. She managed to get one hand on the chair Addison was in and then the next thing I knew she was lying across the room. Did I do that?
Nope, it was Ensley who looked like an avenging angel standing in the doorway of the room looking at Abby with a glowing ball of light in both of his hands. I figured Ensley could take care of Abby, so I ran for Addison.
“Addison?”
“Is she okay Kinsey?” Ensley asked not taking his eyes off Abby who looked like a kid who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She kept backing up towards the window that she must have come through.
“She seems no worse for wear, Ens. I am going to take her to my room though before you dispose of the trash.” I said sneering at Abby. We were no more than five feet from the chair Addison was tied to when another explosion came from outside. It was enough of a distraction for Abby to take the opportunity to escape. Dammit!
Ensley, Addison, and I made our way down the stairs, which were about the only thing still intact in my house. They were destroying everything. Jack must have healed Emily because they were battling three, from what Ensley called, lower level demons in the living room.
Apparently, lower level demons can pass through the veils between worlds on any new moon and since they were so low on the demon class scale they could remain in the Human realm for up to a year before they started to disintegrate. Demons needed brimstone to live and that meant they had to go back to Hell to recharge or risk dying in the human realm. There were demons out there making synthetic brimstone, but it just wasn’t enough to sustain them for long periods of time. And it usually came with side effects. But from what Ensley said, some demons were willing to take the risk on the synthetic stuff because they didn’t want to go back to Hell.
Drew and Ella were battling what appeared to be a gigantic wolf but from what Ensley said was a Hell Hound, which made sense when you got a look at its eyes and teeth. Glowing red eyes and razor-sharp teeth. I was scared for Ella and Drew but especially Ella because she was so tiny, but I forgot about her fairy abilities. She kept well away from the hound’s mouth by flying above it causing distractions so that Drew could hurt the Hell Hound. It looked like Drew had grown three sizes since that morning when I saw him last. I now understood why Ella always referred to him as her honey bear.
Two of the new Protectors, Peyton and Rhys, were battling a group of what I was assuming were vampires since they all looked like Abby, but with varying shades of hair color. I didn’t see Abby anywhere in the melee. Furthermore, I didn’t see Caleb or Will.
“Ens, I thought Will was your partner?”
“He is but he sent me to check on you two. I don’t know where he is right now.”
We reached the front door, or where the front door used to be, when Caleb ran past us on his way out the once beautiful door. He was taking his shirt off which meant he was going to change into a wolf soon. Natalie, Marshall, and Donte were fast on his heels. They ran together like a pack even if one of them wasn’t a shifter. They must have had years of experience training side by side.
I decided I needed to find Caleb and Will to make sure they were both okay. Especially Will who was MIA at the moment.
“Ensley stay with Addison. You can protect her better than I can, and I’ll go find Will.” I didn’t wait for a reply. I was running before the last word left my mouth. Because I knew what Ensley would say and I also knew that I was right about him protecting Addison better than me.
Once I got outside, I realized my mistake. All these demons, vampires, and hell hounds were after me. To turn me over to my mother’s family and take me to Hell. They all stopped fighting when they saw me, even the Protectors, who must have been wondering why in the hell I was outside unprotected. I ran for the one place they weren’t. The old barn that we practiced in was deserted, so that’s where I went. I never looked back to see who or what was chasing me, but I could hear them gaining on me with every step I took.
I headed for the loft area to try to put a little distance between me and whoever was behind me but someone or something grabbed my arm as soon as I reached the ladder.
“Let me go!” I yelled.
“Kinsey, it’s me,” Caleb yelled. “Stay behind me. Why are you out here? You were supposed to stay upstairs with Addison until we neutralized the situation.”
“Ensley is with Addison and I came to find you and Will. I had to make sure you two were okay.”
“It doesn’t matter if we are okay. It only matters that you stay safe and away from these things.”
I screamed because I was suddenly hit with a wave of mind-numbing pain. I doubled over gasping for air through the pain. It was so intense that I thought my insides were being boiled. It felt as if I was on fire. I had to sit down before I passed out.
Caleb eased me back on some of the hay bales we used for training.
“Sit,” he ordered still in a defensive position around me. Natalie, Marshall, and Donte were positioned in front of him as well as three other Protectors that had come to be with us after Thanksgiving. I didn’t get a chance to know them very well because Jack always kept them on guard duty or patrol to keep them away from me. Always protecting me even from people who were supposed to be protecting me.
The pain became so intense that I thought I was going to vomit. But then I remembered what my mother had told
me in my ritual with her. I would transition during an intense bout of pain and that I needed to be away from all living things when that happened. I looked around and saw so many Protectors near me. I had to get them away from me and soon.
“Go, Caleb. Go now”
“What? No, I am not leaving you.”
“You have to; my mom told me to get away from all living things when I transitioned. So, you and the rest of the Protectors got to get away from me. NOW!” I screamed still doubled over in pain.
“Okay. Get up to the loft and then I’ll see if we can’t lure the majority of the demons away,” He said. “Natalie we are going to need a distraction.”
He went on to explain the plan to the group of Protectors. Natalie was going to create a distraction large enough to allow me time to get to the loft area and then they were all going to take off in hopes that the majority of the legion in the barn would follow them leaving me time to transition.
“You ready Kinz?” Caleb asked holding my hand.
“I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be. Stay safe please.”
“I am always safe. You better stay safe because I can’t lose you.”
Then he kissed me. Not a full-on passionate kiss. This was a kiss of promise and love. A kiss that said I love you without saying the words. It was a kiss that made you feel wanted and needed. It was the most perfect kiss ever. I just wish I wasn’t in so much pain so I could have appreciated it more.
“Okay Natalie, whenever you are ready let’s do this.”
Caleb gave my hand one last squeeze before turning towards the legions of demons, hell hounds, and vampires waiting for me. I knew they wouldn’t hurt me, but it didn’t make the situation any less terrifying. I walked closer to the ladder to the loft still holding my stomach as the pain was still coming in waves. I just had to make it up the ladder. Natalie sent a fireball straight into the horde. There was so much confusion that I was able to get up the ladder without any issues. I noticed when I got to the top that the majority of the group had taken the bait and were following Caleb’s group. However, not all of the Protectors had left the barn. Two of the newbies stayed behind and continued to guard the loft area which was a dead giveaway to the few vampires and demons below that something important was up here.
I did the only thing I could think of to stay safe for at least a little while. I kicked the ladder down so that there was no way up or down. It seemed to be working until one of the vampires jumped straight up and landed in the loft. I scooted as far back in the corner as I could get. Hoping that he wouldn’t be able to sense me. It seemed to be working. The hay was covering my scent and the battle going on below was causing enough of a diversion that he couldn’t hear my heartbeat. He was about to jump back over the rail when it happened.
I screamed in pain. It was excruciating. I was on the verge of passing out when I finally transitioned. A pale blue light surged from my body and surrounded me, wrapping me in its warm glow. I felt like I was snuggled up next to a fire, finally at peace with who I was. When the blue light faded, I noticed the horrific scene around me.
Everyone inside the barn at the time of my transition was lying motionless except for the vampires. They were just standing there as bewildered by what had just happened as I was. The vampires were still staring at the scene while I was trying to find a way down from the loft. I needed to go check on the two protectors on the ground. And then I needed to go find Will and Caleb and make sure they were okay. As I was walking to the wall to see if it was possible to use the railing to swing down to the ground, the vampire in the loft realized I was up there and moving.
He started towards me at the exact time my back legs made contact with a hay bale and I went tumbling backward. Dammit. I kept scooting backward trying to put as much room between me and the vampire as possible. I knew a fireball wouldn’t kill a vampire regardless of what common culture says. The only thing that can kill a vampire, demon, or anything similar is to separate the head from the body. But a fireball would slow the vamp down long enough for me to get away. Maybe.
I hit him with a fireball that was much bigger than the last one I released during training. Cool. I started for the railing. All I had to do was shimmy down the loft posts and I was good to go. Except that there were two other vamps waiting on the ground for me. Dammit! New plan. Find a weapon. I looked around everywhere for something sharp enough to take a vampire’s head off. The only weapon that I could see was a pitchfork. And while that would be normally a very effective weapon it would do nothing but piss a vamp off. The burning vampire was flailing around in the hay so much that the barn had caught on fire.
I had to get out of there and fast. I decided to risk it and I shimmied down the loft posts hoping that maybe a fireball or two would slow the other two vamps down too. As soon as I reached the ground, I threw a fireball at the first vamp who went up like a torch. I threw the second fireball and missed. Apparently, burning his two friends really pissed him off because he was in front of me a split second after the fireball missed him. I did the only thing I could think of. I screamed at him, which caught him off guard. Then I kneed him in his family jewels not knowing if that would actually hurt a vampire now that they were a member of the undead or not. Amazingly, it did. Who knew? He dropped to his knees screaming in pain. I ran over to the two Protectors who were on the ground and tried to feel for a pulse. I knew before touching them that they were dead, but I still had to check.
Did I do that? Did I kill two of the good guys?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I couldn’t think about that at the moment. I had to get out of the barn for two reasons. The first being the massive fire in the loft area that would soon make its way to the bottom. And the second being two very pissed off vamps strolling towards me. I needed help. I closed my eyes and thought about the one person that could help me at this moment that wasn’t battling a legion of Hell sent by my uncles. My mom.
Suddenly, she showed up in some kind of weird blurry form. She was wrapped in a soft blue pale light just like the one that cocooned me during my transition. It caught the vamps off guard, and I hit them with another fireball.
“Kinsey, honey. You need to know how to use your necromancer powers. You need to touch each body you want to reanimate and say the word Resurgemus. Then all you need to do is think for them. If you want them to attack something or someone then you need to think or say the word Impetus. You are in control of their minds. You can do this.”
“Okay, I can do that. I think.”
Then she disappeared. I was hoping that wouldn’t be the last time I would see her. I walked over to the motionless corpses close to me and did exactly as my mom instructed. I said the word Resurgemus and the corpses stood up and then I said the word Impetus and thought that they should attack the vampires still in the barn. And that’s what they did. The reanimated corpses went straight for the vamps and allowed me to jump out the side window. The fire had almost consumed the top part of the barn. I heard a snap and pop before the roof came crashing down onto the ground. I heard Caleb scream my name from somewhere in the distance.
“I’m okay,” I yelled back to him. I had to find him and Will as soon as possible. Please just let them be safe. Please let everyone be safe.
I spotted Caleb first. He, Jack, and a few others were battling a large group of demons from what I could tell down by the pond. There were so many of them and so few of us. I had to do something. I hoped Addison was safe with Ensley. I thought about what my mom said, and I did what she taught me to do. I laid my hand on every creepy corpse I could find and said the word Resurgemus. The corpses rose from the ground and stood there awaiting orders.
I sent the horde of the undead to help my family and friends down by the pond. I had to find Will. I finally spotted him near the boundary line where the wards had been before they were breached. It looked like he was fighting some guy who looked an awful lot like TYLER! That little prick! I started for them. I had a few words I wanted to say t
o that scumbag, and I wanted him to meet my fist up close and personal. I had almost made it down the drive when I was tackled out of nowhere.
Abby! I was slow to get up but thankfully so was Abby. That knife wound I gave her earlier was still giving her some problems. I looked around for any kind of weapon but of course, I would be in an area where there wasn’t one.
“My master wants you. I am to bring you to him, but he didn’t say anything about not having a little fun kicking your ass first.”
“Wow thanks for always thinking about me,” I said trying to stall her until I had come up with a plan. I kept dancing around her. I needed to get to Will and Tyler. I didn’t have time for Abby. I tried to dart past her, but she caught me and body-slammed me to the ground. Well, that didn’t work. I rolled to my feet. Slowly. I threw a fireball at her, but it missed. I was not the best aim yet. If I survived this night, I would definitely get someone to teach me to throw accurately.
She started advancing on me. I was pinned between her and Caleb’s truck. Caleb’s huge truck. A plan formed quickly in my head. It was desperate but at least I would be away from her for a second. I ducked down and rolled through to the other side of the truck. I jumped in the cab as soon as I made it to the driver side and locked the doors. I started looking for a weapon of any kind that could help me take out Abby. Caleb’s truck was spotless which meant his weapons were in the toolbox on the bed of the truck. Which I wouldn't be able to get too. I kept searching and finally found a crowbar. It wasn’t the best weapon against a raging vamp, but it would have to work. About the time I made it back to the front seat, Abby jumped on the hood, crushing it in slightly. Caleb would not be happy about that. Then she kicked the front window in. The glass crashed in on me, some of it slicing my arms and face. I jumped out of the truck and ran for Will as quickly as possible.
Abby was on me within ten feet. She scratched at me causing a gash to open up on my arm. That put her in a frenzy because she wanted my blood. I don’t think she cared much about her master's orders at that point. She snapped at me, but I used the crowbar to slam into her mouth breaking one of her fangs. She howled in pain. That got Will and Tyler’s attention.
