Survivor Reborn (Kieran Grey Psionic Hunter)

by R. B. Fivecoat

  Cameras had been following me ever since I woke up as Kieran. I was the butt of Targ’s private sick joke. The cameras showed me at the Archives and around town, but not at my apartment.

  I guess I’m truly safe there.

  “I especially like this one.” He pointed at the screen again.

  The TV switched to a full screen view of me on my knees in the shower at Marsala’s room. One hand cupping my breast, the other between my legs. My head being thrown back with each moan. My first shower in my new body. Every detail captured in full color high-def digital clarity.

  “Does it make your blood boil to know you’ve been used like this? You are a joke, Kevin. You were a joke as a man, and now an even bigger joke as a woman. Come now Kevin, did you really think you could honestly pull off being a woman? Kevin, you spent thirty-four years as a failure. You lost your virginity to a hooker on your thirtieth birthday, Kevin. The only woman to ever sleep with you, and you had to pay double the regular price for it. So, what do you have to say now, Kevin?”

  If this guy was trying to push my buttons, he did a good job. Anger filled my being each time he said my name. I wanted to kill him, slowly, very slowly. And because he was hiding Jacob, I was within my legal right to do so.

  “My name is KEIRAN!!!” I screamed and threw the sword across the room, guided by my shields. I drove the sword into the center of the chest of the old man. He stumbled back against the desk, staring at the blade sticking out of him.

  Then he laughed.

  Of all the things he could do, he laughed with a large grin across his wrinkled face. A laugh that made me cringe. He laughed, pulling out the sword. He held it in his hands and laughed. “Dear child, it does no good to stab someone if you miss the heart.”

  Damn, why hadn’t I thought of that? Stupid idiot! Bad hunter, no cookie!

  “Let me give you another lesson for life. Never, never, never throw away your last weapon until all of your enemies are dead. That way you can still DEFEND YOURSELF!!!” Howling at me, he crossed the room in a unnaturally fast blur.

  He struck me with the sword again and again. My shields barely holding back the force of the blows. Fatigue settled in under the migraine. My shields were starting to fail. I ended up on my hands and knees, fighting with each hit not to collapse to the floor. He kept slamming the sword against my back.

  I scratched at the belt and its weapons. When I had a light grenade in my hand I activated it, then threw it up in the air.

  I got him now!

  His hand shot out lightning fast. He caught the grenade.

  He caught it!?!

  It went off, muffled sound and light pouring from his closed hand. He stood there grinding his fangs as his hand burned. Then the light was gone. He bent down and held out his hand in front of my face. Slowly cracking the burnt fingers open one by one. As soon as the hand was spread open the charred skin began to heal. In only a few seconds his hand was new again.

  “My dear, poor, pathetic, child. I already know all of your tricks. Your toys are no match for me.” His eyes had turned blood red as they glowed.

  He was drunk with his power over me. He stood up laughing.

  Then he began to slam into me with the sword again. My back was giving way under the pressure.

  The pain in my head and my body was too much. I knew the instant my shields fell.

  The next hit of the sword was against my armor. The power of it slammed me to the floor hard enough to knock the wind out of me. Again and again he hit my armor.

  Why doesn’t he just take off my head?

  That was my last thought as the world faded to black.

  * * *

  I hurt.

  Really, really hurt.

  I could barely even breathe. My head was throbbing.

  Strangest of all, I felt sticky.

  Why do I feel sticky?

  I couldn’t feel my armor anymore, and I was suddenly cold. So very cold.

  What happened? Am I dead? Is this hell? Shouldn’t hell be warmer?

  I tried to force my eyes open. They were caked over with some thick sticky fluid that was slowly drying. I finally blinked them open. All I saw was red. Blood red.

  I was lying in a pool of blood.

  But whose blood?

  The pain in my body answered my question.

  It was my blood. I had cuts all over my body. Every small movement pulled against another gash. I glanced down as best I could. The only parts of my body I could see was one bare arm and naked leg without moving my head. They both had dozens of cuts on them. I tried to call forth my shields to act as a bandage on my cuts, but I was too weak. My shields wouldn’t work.

  Where’s my armor?

  I let out a garbled scream. Blood was thick in my throat, drowning me.

  Am I bleeding internally? How much blood have I lost?

  “Oh good, you’re not dead yet. I was afraid I had bled you too much.” Targ grabbed my hair twisting my head to look at him. Pain doubled in my neck and shoulders as cuts rubbed and tore against each other. “Jacob left you a message my dear.” He moved out of the way of the TV.

  Jacob’s head was huge on the wall size TV. He leered at the camera. “Hello again Kieran, or was it Kevin? It doesn’t matter. Targ and I made a deal over you. If he could turn you into a plaything for me, then I would serve him for as long as you lived. By now he has bled you. Your body is weak from the blood loss. The perfect state for accepting the vampire blood into your system. With vampire blood inside you, and no immune system to stop it, you will mutate, evolve into one of us. Then you can be my toy for all eternity. Until then, sweet dreams my pet.” He blew a kiss to the camera before the TV went blank.

  I tried to scream, to curse, to call for help. My voice was lost in the blood coating my throat.

  “Are you trying to plead for your life child. Don’t worry, you will live on. Of course you will be Jacob’s slave for the rest of eternity. But you will live. What is it? Can you tell me what you want?” He leaned his ear to my mouth.

  “Y . . . Yur . . . Yuric. . . .” I finally got the name out in a liquid coated whisper.

  “YURIC!?! You mean the puppet from the Council. He is weak! A fool! He can’t help you. No one can. If you can’t even help yourself, then you don’t deserve to live.”

  He still held my head, twisted to look into his face. I was not going to let him turn me into a vampire.

  I may be antisocial, but I like sunshine.

  I was getting angry. Angry at myself for not thinking ahead and taking a painkiller when I had the chance. Angry at the sick son of a bitch holding my head. Angry at Jacob. Angry that someone close to Kieran had turned against her. All of my life everyone I ever thought was a friend turned against me, stabbing me in the back. I hated everyone that did that to me.

  I hated everyone.

  I wanted them all to die.

  Every single one of them.

  I lifted my hand grabbing Targ’s shirt just below his rib cage.

  “What is this, a pathetic last attempt? Just give up. Kieran did, she was almost as pathetic as you are, Kevin.”

  The world was suddenly bathed in a violet glow. My anger controlled my body. I struggled to my knees with my hand still on his shirt.

  I dug my fingers in under the ribs. Targ let out a gasp. That just gave my fingers more room to dig in. I felt the skin giving way on his chest under the pressure of my fingers.

  My anger changed. . . .

  Rage. It pushed me to my feet. I lifted Targ into the air by his ribs as I stood. I lifted him with my hand above my head.

  This is it. Now I understood what it truly means to go rogue.

  Because I had finally crossed over. I was suddenly a rogue psionic. Only my death would stop me from killing Targ.

  “How! I bled you! You were almost dead! How!” Targ clawed at my arm holding him suspended in the air. Each movement driving my fingers further into his flesh.

  His blood dripped off of my shields to mix wi
th my own on the floor.

  I hadn’t even realized my shields had returned to me. My pain left me. All there was left was anger, rage, and bloodlust.

  I wanted to kill.

  I’d started to float in the room. My shields lifting me and the vampire on the end of my hand into the air.

  “I have lived for over two thousand years! You can’t kill me! I am immortal!” He spat blood at me. It just ran down my shields without touching me.

  I looked up at him, and it was not my pretty look.

  My voice poured through my blood coated throat like poisoned honey, “Three things. Life lessons if you will. One, never leave an enemy alive, especially if you just pissed them off. Two, if it bleeds it can die, nothing is truly immortal. Three, I AM THE PSIONIC HUNTER, THE SURVIVOR REBORN, I AM KEIRAN GREY!!!”

  The shields around my hand sharpened. Turning into a knife blade. Digging into his chest, and piercing up to the heart of this vampire.

  He has to die! They all have to die! They all will die! By my hand they will all die!

  He made gurgling noises as I pierced his lungs. I pushed the shields up, like a giant knife cutting through from the inside. When the blade was cutting his throat, fear finally crossed his face. Horror quickly followed. It was that look that said he finally knew he was going to die.

  “Your eyes–impossible–” he coughed his last breath at me with his wide eyes staring into mine.

  I flexed my shields.

  His body split. Four gashes cut clear through him, one for each finger that had created a shield-blade of their own.

  I dropped him to the floor. He still moved, he still barely lived.

  I raised my hand.

  I poured all that anger, that rage from all of those years into the shields around my hand.

  I flew down and slammed my hand on the floor.

  The shields flattening Targ instantly to the thickness of tissue paper with a great CRASH!

  The power continued to push down.

  The floor gave way under the strain.

  My hand at the edge of the oval of the shields pushed the floor down.

  It fell. A perfect ten-foot-wide oval section of the floor fell. When it reached the next floor it crashed through, and the next, and the next, and the next. It fell, flattening everything down for the next eight floors.

  The pain came rushing back and the anger faded to nothingness. I’d collapsed to the floor, too weak to keep standing anymore. I could see my armor now. My painkillers lay in my armor not more than six feet from my hand.

  Six feet.

  It could have been six miles. I just had nothing left in me. I couldn’t move. My eyes were struggling to keep focus. I’d caught my reflection in the sword on the ground inches from my head. The whites of my eyes were gone along with the liquid-silver contacts. A fiery violet glow filled my entire eyes. It was just like when the vampires eyes went blood red. I was drunk with power.

  CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

  I turned my focus to the clapping. It took a few moments until I recognized that the shape I could barely see was Yuric. He stood in the elevator doorway clapping with a satisfied look on his face.

  “Y-y-you . . . you’re . . . you’re late. . . .”

  “No young one, I am just in time.” He glided over to kneel before me on unseen legs. He placed a yellow colored ration cube in my mouth from his elongated bony fingers. It tasted bitter. “I just gave you a nano-med cube from your sister, Child. Its medicines will keep you alive until we get you some treatment.”

  “I-I . . . I . . . just . . . want . . . home. . . .”

  Chapter 23

  I stirred awake in Yuric’s arms. We were in the hall outside my apartment. Mary held opened the doors.

  “Bring her inside. Her bedroom’s this way.” Mary rushed to lead us inside.

  I felt so much pain, so weak. The world spun too fast. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I felt him place me down. It felt like my bed. Movement barely shook the bed from the other side. I forced my eyes open. Vicki was smiling down at me.

  Is this a dream?

  “Shh. Don’t try to talk. Just rest. I’ve got you. I’ll protect you,” she whispered as she kissed my forehead.

  The bed shook gently on the other side. “We, will protect you Kier-Bear.” It was Emmy’s voice, but I couldn’t see her though the blackness.

  * * *

  I woke up in a bed I recognized for once. I was in my fancy apartment. Cozy warm in my bed, in the buff, with a warm pillow draped around my back.

  Huh?

  I was sore with pain flaring to life as I turned to look over my shoulder. Vicki was naked spooned against me. She looked so peaceful. I wish I could wake up to her every morning. The realization came that I loved her. Really loved her.

  “Are you just going to stare at me, or are you going to say something?” she asked half asleep. Her eyes slowly blinking her awake.

  “You looked so comfortable, I hated to wake you.” My voice was harsh like I hadn’t used it in days.

  She hugged me gently. Then gave me a soft kiss. “Well I don’t mind waking up to your face in the morning. It’s great to see you finally awake now. First dibs on the shower!” She bolted from the bed to the bathroom. I had to laugh.

  Laughing hurt.

  There was a small twinkling Christmas tree next to the desk.

  I guess Mary decorated.

  I moved slowly. I was sore all over. By the time I’d made it to the bathroom door, Vicki was already done with her shower. She opened the shower door then came out dripping wet to help me to the vanity chair. I had light pink, healing cut marks all over my body.

  Vicki caught me staring at the marks. “They should fade with a few more treatments.” Her voice was soft.

  “You saved me?”

  “Well, Yuric actually saved you. I’ve just been helping you heal as much as I could. You were pretty bad. I almost lost you again.”

  “What about your hunt?”

  “Oh that. Well, I didn’t want to run into Tanaka. I’m just not ready to forgive him yet. So, I didn’t go. I just came here and waited to hear from you. And besides, I was worried about you. Especially when Emmy told me you and Ren had gone out, ready for war.”

  “Thank you for caring. That means the world to me.” I hugged her as strong as my painfully weak arms allowed.

  The bedroom door opened. “Vicki, how’s . . . oh my god! EMMY!!! Miss Emmy, Kieran’s awake!” Mary was screaming as she found us in the bathroom.

  There was a loud CRASH from the other room, then Emmy came in running. She threw her arms around me. I was too sore for this much attention, but I didn’t say anything. Emmy was bawling. I just held her and let her cry.

  Epilogue

  Vicki called Ren and she came over, glad to see that I was awake again. I’d been unconscious for a full week since the assault on the Dark Towers. Vicki and Emmy had taken turns nursing me back to health. I owed them a great deal.

  While I was unconscious Mary had decorated the apartment for Christmas. Everything was colorful and festive. Including a giant tree by the balcony doors in the middle of the living room. Mary made a big breakfast. As we sat around the table, I told them what had happened. I’d told them that we had a traitor, but I left out the fact that I believed it was either Tanaka or Marsala, or even both of them.

  No sense spreading rumors without evidence.

  Emmy had also been jammed, so she couldn’t call for help for us. Apparently Yuric had heard me calling him, and showed up with his cavalry in time to save Ren and Marsala from being completely overrun by those guards loyal to Targ. Yuric was also able to be there to watch me finish off Targ. He learned the truth about who I was, or used to be anyway. He did promise to keep that secret. We’d see if he kept his promises or not later.

  By blind luck and the timely return of my shields, Targ had never gotten any vampire blood in my system. There was no risk of me turning into a vampire.

  That was too close a call.
>
  The Vampire Council was impressed with my finding out about, and destroying Targ. They hinted that there may be more gifts for me.

  Goodie, more weapons!

  There hadn’t been anymore murders the past week.

  Douglas wasn’t talking to the police.

  No surprise there.

  The girl that lived through her attack was still in a coma.

  Worst of all, Jacob still ran free.

  Ten days ago I woke up for the first time as Kieran Grey.

  I already have an arch nemesis, at least one traitor, a loving sister, a girlfriend, a best friend, and a friend that takes care of my increasingly messy life at home.

  Switching minds is the best thing that ever happened to me.