by D. N. Hoxa
“We’re not going to Brazil. We’re getting out of here,” Hammer said, smiling brightly.
“Fucking…fucking…come on! I’ve got everything prepared!” she cried. It was actually funny to see her so frustrated.
“Man, relax. We’ll be fine,” Hammer tried again.
“Finally, something exciting to do and you go and fall in love!”
Okay, way too far. And I was sure Hammer would tell her. I mean, sure, I was very much aware that I had fallen in love with him the second I felt the last brick of my wall tumble down while I was under him. But it was way too early to say it. Probably.
“And that’s a bad thing, how?” Hammer said instead. Hold your horses…
“I miss adventure, man!” Bugz cried. “I miss going round the world and chasing bad guys. Now you’ll be a soft little lamb for God knows how many centuries.”
“Did you just call him a lamb?” I asked, incredulous. And then I turned to Hammer: “She just called you a lamb.”
“She gets carried away like this every once in a while. She’ll get over it,” Hammer said, looking down at me, smiling.
“Urgh. Now I have to go and hang out with Dublin,” Bugz said as if that was the worst thing she could possibly imagine.
“You could come with us. Who knows where we’ll end up,” Hammer offered.
I didn’t really mind. I mean, Bugz was okay. She made me laugh, and maybe if I stuck around long enough to live through the next century, I’d even laugh up front and tell her she was funny.
“Do I look like I want to be bitten to death?”
“If I wanted to kill you, I’d have bitten you last night.”
Last night she’d pissed me off like no other. I wouldn’t have told her this either, but I’d never hurt her. Ever.
“So you say,” she mumbled.
“You know you’re welcome to come with us. In fact, I think it’s best if you came with us for a while. You know, just until the waters clear,” Hammer said. Being vague was truly not his thing.
“About that…” Bugz said, looking to the side.
“What?”
“I heard some talk,” Bugz mumbled.
“What kind of talk?” Hammer asked.
“About her.” I didn’t even know why I was surprised. “Everyone’s talking about it. The word has spread. Everybody knows,” Bugz continued in a whisper. She didn’t have to say how bad this was. Her face said it all.
“We’ll leave right now,” Hammer said.
“Hammer, relax. It wasn’t like we were trying to hide it,” I said.
“Of course we were trying to hide it,” Bugz said, following us down the stairs. “Everyone sees you as a threat. A virus among the already infected ones.”
“But I’m not going to willingly go around biting them. I only bit those that attacked me first.” It wasn’t fair to be judged like that. I would never hurt anyone unless I absolutely had to.
“Even if they believed you, they’d still take you out of the picture. Just to make sure,” Hammer said.
He opened the door and led us outside. We were far away from Manhattan.
I saw the wall but only barely. The place was just as deserted as everything else outside it.
“Wait here. I’ll just grab the bags,” Hammer said and went back inside. I was at a loss of what to think.
“They’re already after me, aren’t they?” I asked Bugz. I already knew the answer to that, but I still had to hear it.
“If they aren’t, they will be. Very soon. I say we head for Asia,” Bugz said just as Hammer came back out with two black bags hanging on his shoulders.
“Asia should do. We’ll need to be fast,” Hammer said.
I took one of the bags and put it on my shoulder. It was filled with two bottles of alcohol and the few clothing items.
“Hammer, I wouldn’t hurt anyone on purpose. They have to understand that. Maybe if we talk to them…” I said.
I wanted nothing to do with anyone. I just wanted to be on my way with Hammer. I’d leave them alone as long as they did the same.
The hope flew away the next second.
“There’s no talking to them, Morta. They won’t believe any word that comes out of your mouth.”
“What if we go to Mohg?” Bugz said. We both turned to look at her.
“Forget it,” Hammer said.
“No, wait. I mean it. He could tell us what Morta is. He could maybe prove with that hocus-pocus shit that she’s harmless or something.”
“What hocus-pocus shit?” I said.
“No way, Bugz. Forget it,” Hammer insisted.
“What hocus-pocus shit?” I asked again, louder. Bugz sighed.
“Mohg has this weird thing. Connection, if you will,” Bugz said while we walked.
“You mean like magic?”
“Yeah, guess you could call it that.”
My brain refused to take that piece of information in.
“It’s not exactly magic. He can connect to another dimension. He can talk to the dead and that kind of stuff,” Hammer said.
Holy shit. When he said it, I immediately believed it.
“And they say he can see through your soul,” Bugz added.
“That’s bullshit. He can't see through your soul. More than a millennia with all kinds of people around tend to make it easy for you to read body language to a point where it seems like magic,” Hammer said dryly.
“Whatever. But he probably knew or heard about something like Morta. And you know one word from his mouth, and she’d be free,” Bugz said.
My curiosity was throwing fireworks inside my chest.
“Hammer, it’s worth a try,” I said.
It really was. If he could tell me what I was, and if he could tell everyone else that I wasn’t going to flip out and bite my way through the world, we wouldn’t have to run anymore. He was the big guy. The boss. Vampires listened to his every word. Bugz was right.
“No, it’s not. You haven’t met Mohg so you don’t know what he’s like,” Hammer said. He seemed pissed off.
“Well, you’ve never seen him deal with a vampire that can kill other vampires and has a beating heart,” I said.
“Morta, forget it.”
“I’m not going to forget it! If he can do magic or whatever, then at least we can give it a try!” I couldn’t believe how impossible he could be.
“We can't.”
“Why not?”
“Because Everard is with him,” he almost shouted. By vampire standards, that is. And I saw his point. If we went to him and found Everard, my part of the deal would be fulfilled, leaving Hammer’s part next. And if Hammer didn’t keep his promise…
“The whole world will be after you. I hope you know that,” Bugz said, leaving a sour taste on my tongue. Fuck. I couldn’t do this to Hammer.
“What if we made sure not to run into him?” I asked. “Bugz would help us. Right, Bugz?”
“Oh, hell, yeah. Anything except for what we’re doing now.” And I knew she meant running and hiding.
“Morta, I am not going to risk it. It’s not worth it,” Hammer said.
“Of course it’s worth it. I don’t want to spend all my life running. I don’t want you to spend all your life running with me. This is not your fault.”
“Thanks, Bugz,” Hammer hissed, throwing her a mean look. She just shrugged it off. “I don’t even know why we’re talking about this.”
“Damn it, Hammer, I can't do this. Not to you. We’ve already been chased three times, and only a dozen vampires knew about me. What happens when everybody hears? Where the hell will we go then?”
I needed him to see that we had to try. The Mohg guy was a magician. Or not…whatever. But he sounded like a guy who could help us.
“We’ll figure something…” He stopped abruptly. He stopped walking, and we did, too. He turned his head slowly to look behind. I knew exactly what that meant.
“Six…eight…fucking fourteen!” Bugz shouted.
&nbs
p; “Run.”
I didn’t even register the word. I had it clear the second Hammer stopped speaking. I shot forward, regret making a hole in my chest. Fourteen vampires were after us. What the hell were we going to do against them?
And Hammer and Bugz would die completely innocent in all this. Because they decided I was worthy of their company.
“Whatever you do, don’t stop running!” Hammer urged me.
I didn’t intend to stop, but I was already slowing them down. Well, not Bugz. She was a good ten steps ahead of us.
Wind pierced my eyes, because I was fully testing my speed. I never ran this fast. And still, it wasn’t long before they caught up with us.
Not the ones behind us, no. The ones in front.
They were waiting for us on the top of three different four-story buildings. We were still far away when we saw them jump and land directly in front of us.
“Shit!” Hammer hissed, and turned to the side. To the left, two vampires were waiting. Just like to our right. We had to stop if we didn’t want to run straight into their mouths.
We were surrounded on all four sides.
XXII
Hammer grabbed my hand and pulled me as close to his body as he could. Bugz stood a couple of steps ahead with two shiny knives in her fisted hands, looking extremely calm and waiting for hell to break loose. She had the same gleam in her dark eyes as when she stood in front of those lions. She was ready.
I took in all of the faces, each looking no less human than the people inside the RO walls.
The three vampires that had waited for us on the building tops were the biggest. The one in the middle with light brown hair and cold blue eyes seemed to be in charge. He watched me, watched every inch of me with a disgusted smile on his face. If he’d seen the bodies I’d left behind after biting them, he wouldn’t have dared.
But then again, the twenty-one vampires surrounding us on all sides said that he would. Fear was like nutrition to my courage. The weirdest combination in history, I was sure. But nothing grew me a pair of balls like the shards that formed inside my veins from fear. I stepped to the side and leaned my head a little as I stared back at him.
“We will only get the girl,” the vampire said.
He looked at Hammer for only a second. Hammer looked like he was going to kill him with eyes only.
“Touch her and you’re dead, Mitch,” Hammer said. His voice was lower than I’d ever heard it. It brought even more chills to my body. I squeezed his fingers as if to say to shut up.
“Oh!” The Mitch guy said. He seemed delighted. He clapped his hands and smiled widely. “You sure are full of surprises, Hammer. Who would’ve thought…” he sang, his voice a screeching sound that seriously hurt my ears.
“We haven’t broken any rules,” Hammer said coldly.
“She killed six vampires. With a single bite each,” Mitch said and showed us his teeth as they started to grow longer and sharper.
“Self-defense. They attacked us,” Hammer said.
“I see that you don’t agree, but she is a danger to our kind. She must be put down.”
Put down, he said. Like I was a rabid dog.
“I’m not dangerous if I’m left alone,” I hissed, anger bubbling in my throat along with the freezing fear.
“We haven’t survived this long by taking stupid chances, Morta.” Mitch showed his teeth again. I should’ve been surprised that he knew my name, but I wasn’t. Apparently, Bugz had been right. Everyone knew about me.
“Tell Mohg to speak to Dublin. He will explain that we had no other choice but to kill those that attacked us,” Hammer said again.
Mitch let out a loud scream that was supposed to be a laugh and ended up shaking his head. “I don’t want to get into this with you, Hammer. We have orders to bring in the girl.”
“You’re not bringing her anywhere,” Hammer said. The venom in his voice made it clear that he was declaring a fight.
I didn’t know what to think. On one hand, I thought maybe it would be good to be taken to Mohg. That was what Bugz and I were fighting for with Hammer. But on second thought, knowing that Hammer wasn’t going to let me go, I knew we were going to fight. I really didn’t want to kill anyone anymore, but I really wasn’t going to be left with a choice.
“Then I’m afraid we have a problem.” Mitch’s face no longer showed amusement. He looked confused and very curious as he watched Hammer now, the way he’d studied me just a few moments before.
“Very well. She’ll be no use to you,” Hammer said, and I heard the cold smile in his voice while he pointed at Bugz. Mitch turned to look at her.
“Bugz.” He gave her a curt nod. “You’re free to go, of course.”
Bugz didn’t say anything. She turned to look at Hammer for a short second before she turned around and started running. She disappeared before I could blink, leaving us in the mess alone again.
“Now, where were we?” Mitch turned to us again. Hammer put his hand on my arm and pulled me behind him.
“We don’t have to do this.” I merely moved my lips when I was behind him.
“Stay alive,” he mouthed back.
“Oh, yes. Now we take both of you.” Mitch’s voice pierced my ears, and two big silhouettes appeared in front of me. I barely had half a second to lean down when they reached for me. Hammer stepped forward, too. He had his hands full with three vampires immediately.
Arms wrapped around my waist, and another vampire came in front of me to slap me across the face. My teeth grew instantly. I opened my mouth.
If this is how they want it, then this is how I’ll give it to them.
When the vampire moved his hand to slap me again, I turned my face to his palm, teeth ready. His big hand hurt me like a mother, and almost broke my nose, but my teeth sank into the soft skin, and I tasted cold, rotten blood. The next second, the guy fell to his knees. He looked up at me in pure horror. He judged me, cursed me. I saw it in his eyes. He never once thought that he was the one who was attacking me. I guess I shouldn’t have expected that at all.
Seeing his friend fall face first on the ground, already dead, made the guy who held me tightly from behind loosen his grip. At a loss of what to do, I pushed my right arm back and grabbed his crotch. I squeezed until my fingers were numb. The second he began to scream in agony, I turned around and bit without looking. Turned out to be his shoulder.
Cloth tangled in my razor sharp teeth, but I also caught meat. I couldn’t sink them as deep as I wanted to, because two more came from behind me.
They grabbed me by my hair, and they threw me back. I flew and fell on my butt. That hurt like hell, but only for a brief second. I looked up and saw Hammer still fighting the vampires with his kick ass style. I didn’t get to really appreciate the view because both my ankles got grabbed, and I was dragged forward for a couple of steps.
A vampire with hair as long as mine tied behind in a neat ponytail grabbed the front of my shirt with both hands and pulled me up before he pushed me down again. Before I could hit the floor, I saw his leg slip under me. I fell on it with all the strength he’d used to push me. My backbone broke.
I screamed like I never had before. Pain so great, so intense, made my eyes roll in their sockets. I heard Hammer calling me, but all I could think about was the base of my spine. It was so excruciating that my whole body paralyzed. I couldn’t move an inch for far too long.
Strong, big hands pulled me up and held me on air. Finally my pain started to slowly lessen, and I tried to open my eyes. I felt cold iron wrap around my torso, pinning my arms to my side. It wrapped and wrapped seven times before my eyes gave me but a blurry view of what was in front of me. Thick chains enveloped me, blocked me from every movement.
My back was all but healed. I shook my head to clear my vision, only to see a huge face with its teeth bare and sharp, hissing at me.
“Stop it, Marg,” Mitch said.
“Morta!” Hammer called, but I knew it was too late.
I cou
ldn’t move and none of them would be stupid enough to come close to my face. I pushed with all I had against the thick chains, but other than tingling, they didn’t give way. Not a single inch.
“Surrender now, and we will cause no further damage,” Mitch said, waving the hissing giant off from in front of me. Hammer was facing me, three vampires in front of him. His hands were up, but he had stopped. He took me in, chains and all. I tried to tell him with my eyes how sorry I was for being caught. Tears gathered in my eyes, but I blinked them away. I didn’t want them to see me cry.
Complete silence reigned on the dead land. Everyone’s eyes were on Hammer, waiting for his next move. I tried to beg him with my mind to stop. Surrender. Just don’t die.
“For the last time, Hammer—” Mitch started again.
“Fine!” Hammer cut him off and stood straight on his feet again. Immediately, two vampires appeared at his sides and grabbed him. He only had eyes for me.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed to him. He didn’t give any indications that he heard while they pushed him forward with all their strength.
“If anything happens to her before we get to Mohg, I will hunt you down and I will kill you. Slowly. Painfully,” he said to Mitch, so calmly that for a second, I wondered if he’d been pissed at all. “Take my word for it.”
I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I saw Mitch flinch. His fingers pulled into fists, and he looked down at his feet. When he looked up again, I could swear I saw fear written in his expression. But it was gone as fast as it appeared.
“The bitch killed Doug!” Marg said. He looked down at what was left of his vampire friend.
“And Fur,” another said, but I couldn’t see the body of the guy whose shoulder I’d bit.
“Seems your name describes you best,” Mitch mumbled, but he didn’t look at me. He walked ahead to where they were taking Hammer, and Marg pushed me after him.
XXIII
They had cars—and trucks, covered in dirty, grey and brown pieces of cloth to imitate a rooftop. And that’s exactly where they put us. When they threw me inside one of them, Hammer was already in there. A cry escaped me when I saw what they’d done to him. Something like a thick dog collar was around his neck. His throat was all torn and bloody. Silver.
