Standing Before Monsters (Vorans and Vampires)

by Donald Wigboldy

  With the vampire leading him with one hand and covering a yawn with the other, they went to the bedroom. Charlotte looked wistfully at the couple wishing that it was her, but knowing that she was the one intruding in their lives. Nick felt her gaze on his back and felt sorry for the young woman. The TV was turned on with Logan and Kate there to talk with her, but Nick could feel her longing to be somewhere else.

  Closing the door, Nicola pulled off her clothing preferring to sleep in the nude normally. She had toned down such behavior when Geni would be around, but knowing the girl wouldn’t return during the day she was emboldened.

  “Lay with me for a little while,” she begged of him. “Charlotte needs you to be on the sheets to help sleep anyway.”

  Pulling at his shirt, the vampire succeeded in getting it off of him and smiled satisfactorily. As her fingers went for his pants, he cautioned, “Just because I need to do this for Charlotte doesn’t mean that you can seduce me... again. Besides I thought you were tired.”

  With a wink at him, the pretty blonde freed him of the last of his clothes before taking his hands in hers. “I told you all earlier. Our quality time seems to be giving me extra energy. Who knows if we could keep doing this all day if we tried?”

  Pulling the covers back, the two came together beneath the sheets. She was beautiful and full of energy like Nicola had warned him, but eventually the vampire did have to stifle a yawn admitting, “I guess even this has its limits. What time is it?”

  “Just after noon,” the man said looking over his shoulder at his alarm clock.

  She pulled him close to kiss him and almost yawned. Giggling at her body’s reaction, Nicola’s eyes began to blink as if she were fighting them closing. “Well, that’s the latest I’ve made it past sunrise in a long time.”

  “Well, you are almost a hundred years old. Most hundred year olds take naps during the day,” he laughed starting to roll out of bed.

  Striking him playfully as her eyes opened clear of sleepiness for a moment longer, she lifted the sheets showing off her body taunting, “How many old ladies do you know that still look like this?”

  Leaning over to kiss her lips, Nick shrugged thinking how her dancer’s body had barely changed since Marek had converted the young woman. “Not too many, I will admit. Now get some sleep and I’ll see you this evening.”

  Once he entered the living room, Nick’s eyes took in Charlotte and the others. Even the television playing wouldn’t keep much from their ears, but he played off the last hour or so with Nicola by ignoring it as he said, “I have some errands to run this afternoon.”

  Charlotte stood from her place on the couch with a little sigh. “If you’re going to be real long, can you give me a rub down before you leave? The wash cloth isn’t enough to stop the itching completely anymore.”

  Leading him back down the hall to the main bathroom, the dark haired girl looked tired even after several hours of being up already. Perhaps tired wasn’t exactly correct as Charlotte closed the door behind them. Worn would have been a better word. She was only tired from her condition wearing her down and he wondered if the woman was holding in more pain and discomfort than she had made known.

  Her shirt was off before he knew it and the woman surprised him by tugging his shirt off as well. “Charlotte...” he started to protest, but realized it was probably too late. His hands had already touched most of the woman and this wasn’t even the first time she had him in this situation. In many civilizations a woman’s naked breasts were no different than a man’s chest; unfortunately he had been raised in a more conservative world.

  With his shirt off, Charlotte hugged herself to him tightly. Nick’s hands rubbed her back and arms asking, “Is it bad today?”

  “Maybe the clothes aren’t fresh enough or didn’t absorb enough sweat and oils. All I know is that the itching is back. It isn’t as bad as the first day, but it’s very irritating. Do you notice any hives?”

  Her head was turned to rest against his shoulder, but he could see the mirror behind her. The scene of the two standing half naked made him want to recoil on one level to be true to Nicola, but on the other he was simply acting like a doctor helping a patient, except that he was the medicine she needed. As he looked, Nick hated to admit that holding the beautiful brunette was also very pleasant. While he enjoyed the cool touch of Nicola and her perfect skin, Charlotte was warm and just as beautiful in her own way.

  It was like comparing the sun to the moon or night to day.

  “I don’t see any hives. It feels that bad?”

  Shaking her head but refusing to move away from her position within the hug, Charlotte informed him, “Not where we’re touching, though if I thought you would do it there are places that are nearly driving me nuts. I’ll just have to rub another wash cloth on you and take care of it myself later.”

  He wasn’t even going to ask where she meant; though there were few spots that would fall under the classification, since her upper body was accounted for already. Instead the man tried to give her hope and said, “The full moon is only a few days away now. If you can make it to that, hopefully Eric is right that it will reset you.”

  “He is only guessing,” Charlotte sighed. “I asked Vanessa if she knew more when we were at the house for Kate. She only knew what had happened when she went into heat, since she took the position of lead female wolf at Eric’s side.

  “She and Eric didn’t need her body to tell them to get together. They were in bed almost from the first moment he smelled her scent, so she didn’t even experience any symptoms or get to the full moon. If Eric has seen any female in heat make it to the first full moon, I would be surprised.”

  Nodding, Nick replied, “I got that impression from Eric as well at the house. He may be a century old or more, but he has let his base instincts rule him, at least when it comes to his mates. We’ll just have to keep the side effects from worsening and wait and see.”

  She leaned back to look in his eyes, and asked, “What if the full moon only makes it worse or doesn’t solve the problem? Do we keep trying to mitigate the symptoms?”

  Grimacing at being put in this position, Nick drew in a breath smelling the sweet scent of the werewolf in heat. It was as intoxicating as any scent he had known, and he feared that it could cloud his judgment as if she was alcohol or some addictive drug. “Let’s hope that the moon works,” was all he was willing to say in response.

  Charlotte lifted on her toes moving close to kiss him on the lips and said breathily, “Whatever your decision is, I’ll follow your lead if I can.”

  Chapter 11- Backfire

  The weekend was beginning and the weather was pleasant. Humanity was out in force on the streets. Galleries had larger crowds. Bars were spilling out onto the sidewalks with tables and chairs, filling them as well. Restaurants remained open late to pick up the extra money from patrons ready to take a break from the work week.

  Working the city more to the north, three hunters tried to be inconspicuous as they dressed casually. Long sleeves hid metal bracers of the men, while Lamassu had shorter sleeves revealing gold gilded versions making them look simply decorative. The lightest of body armor they could buy managed to just make the men look more muscular, while the woman had refused.

  She was the bait and as their senses picked out the smell of the dead and evil, Lamassu moved ahead towards the creature who watched from above. Stopping as if to smoke; the men, who had given the woman space for the last block, let her move through the crowd looking for a place to look more vulnerable.

  “Roof?” Alad asked in their brief way. Hunters didn’t waste time with words and this team had been together for awhile now.

  Nodding, Shedu replied quietly, “You take high. I’ll stay low and follow her.”

  The hunters separated with one ducking into the alleyway while their leader tried to keep his eyes on both Lam and the rooftops for the creature watching the streets for the vulnerable. Meanwhile the girl faked a heel breaking and moved
into the alley a few steps. She was just out of the main light of the street, a girl stopping to use a wall to check her boot making herself more vulnerable without appearing to intentionally.

  Cursing her luck and making sure that her voice was pitched in a bit of a whine about how her night would be ruined. The huntress hoped to draw the vampire into their trap. Shedu tried to use his senses listening for movement or trying to catch sight of the figure above. He walked across the street with his unlit cigarette and leaned against the building drawing frowns from some passersby.

  “You know smoking will kill you and others around you,” a particularly offended young woman said with her boyfriend looking nervous beside her. She wasn’t very tall, though three inches of heels helped give her a bigger image. The boyfriend was fairly tall, but lean and probably not much of a fighter. He had picked one of those girls who might pick a fight and leave him to defend her should it be the wrong person.

  Shedu nodded, “Duly noted, though there are certainly other things to fear more.”

  The girl looked offended, but couldn’t figure out a comeback and was pulled surreptitiously forward by her boyfriend.

  “Come on, Meg. You can’t save everyone,” was his opinion spoken quietly; but was picked up by the slightly larger kasha, who had never moved, and returned his attention to Lam and the alleyway.

  The girl had disappeared from view.

  “Damn it,” he cursed and hurried across the street flicking the unlit cigarette from him.

  “You having trouble there, sweetheart?” a male voice questioned from deeper in the alleyway. Lamassu could smell the scent of death and knew this was no Good Samaritan coming to her aid.

  “I thought my heel had completely broken,” the girl said without fear acting more preoccupied with her boot than the fact that a strange man was approaching her from the darkness of an alley. Letting just a little nervousness come to her voice, she added, “If I had a little superglue, I think that it might make it home.”

  “Hmm, well I don’t have any superglue to borrow, sorry,” the man replied closing the gap. He was of medium build, with light brown hair and his eyes were shadowed but still human looking. Wearing a long coat, which was a bit odd for most of the crowd on this early spring evening; the man reminded her of those old eighties movie teen vampires.

  Backing away, she stumbled with the right foot simulating a heel not functioning properly. Lamassu tried to sense the others from her team, but they were still in human form and even a kasha couldn’t smell another until the change. She wasn’t exactly afraid of one vampire, however; so Lamassu was sure she could take him herself.

  His eyes shifted to white and as he spoke, she noted his fangs extend as he continued to try and get in range of the girl so she couldn’t scream. There were enough people on the main street to risk hearing such a cry. “Don’t worry about your heels, sweetheart. I have another answer for your problem,” he said trying to glamour the woman in his sight.

  If she were a true human, it would’ve worked. Even as a kasha, she could sense the strength of his gaze. Preferring to work in close as well, the woman stopped as if the vampire’s magic had worked on her. “What answer?” she said sounding distracted or dazed.

  His smile was a grin of death and he held out his hand. “Come here and I can show you.”

  Her hand was in her purse as if to pull a can of mace. She had let her limbs go lax, but as the girl closed to just beyond arm’s reach, Lamassu withdrew her mask from the purse in a swift, fluid move.

  His reflexes were such that he leaped back cautiously. In a vampire’s glamour, such movement revealed thought and there should be no thought. A sword appeared in his hand as the woman shifted into a gray striped cat. Claws extended from her hands and teeth chomped down looking ready for the vampire to be her meal.

  “What the hell are you?” the vampire questioned without holding his ground. His voiced changed amplitude and direction as the man retreated by turning and leaping up the walls gaining enough height in just a couple bounds to reach the roof.

  Another figure smelling of feline swiped at the vampire’s head as he topped the rise. The undead man was just a little out of range as his feet found the ledge propelling him back across to the opposite roof’s higher elevation. Twisting his body, the vampire had dodged the second kasha and ran seeing the trap and the unknown creatures as a definite threat to be avoided.

  Lam scaled the walls sinking her claws into the mortar between bricks with each maneuver and followed in Alad’s wake. By the time the female kasha was on the roof, the two men were already putting distance on her and Shedu was even further behind. The trap that should have been so easy had turned quickly. With the speed of the vampire, she was worried that they wouldn’t be able to catch him before he got away.

  Leaping across roofs was easy for the vampire as he seemed to defy gravity, only speed and strong jumping skills kept the kasha in sight of the undead creature. Shedu was in pursuit two buildings behind her. Keeping her eyes on Alad, Lam’s attention kept darting to the buildings around them. Most would be unlikely to notice the night chase across the roofs, but it only took one person looking out of a window to see them. Too many people had cameras at hand thanks to their phones as well, so there was always the fear that they would be discovered. Her clan had kept to the shadows well over the centuries. They didn’t want to be the ones to reveal their existence to the world.

  The vampire changed direction after running in a mostly straight line and jumped down from the roofs to speed through an alley. Buildings rose higher as he suddenly took an easterly path. They couldn’t keep to the heights anymore than the vampire and had to drop down to continue the pursuit. As she followed Alad dropping to the street and running into the alley, the woman felt a knot in her stomach like something was wrong.

  When the vampire suddenly turned to face them in a dead end alley with his sword drawn, Lam began sniffing the air. Alad concentrated on the opponent before them, but the female tapped him on the shoulder in warning as she moved to stand beside him looking up. The man nodded his tiger striped head. He had smelled the new presences around them as well, but too late.

  Her question now was; would Shedu walk into the trap also? As the kasha thought that, movement from above meant more than a half dozen vampires were joining their companion on the ground to deal with the hunters. They had fallen into a more elaborate trap than their own.

  “So what are you? I would call you a werewolf, but a tiger and tabby wouldn’t spread the myths. Then there was that mask. You used it to change,” the vampire spoke hoping the two cornered kasha might give him some information. His cocky attitude suddenly changed as he was forced to sneeze. More sneezes from the others proved the first defense of a kasha was already messing with the undead. “Oh, man, what is that smell?”

  Hands went to the pouches at their waists. Lam’s purse was snapped to her right side and held one of the smoke grenades. Popping the pin, she dropped the metal cylinder at the feet of the vampires behind them. Alad’s own canister hit the ground right behind the girl. With smoke spewing from the grenades, the two kasha prepared to run but there was only one way to go.

  Coughing and cries of pain sounded, as the silver powder blended with the smoke began to sting and burn the undead creatures; signaling the kasha to run. Turning to join Lamassu, Alad struck at the nearest vampire hoping to score a hit on the creature, but it was too fast. In fact, the four blocking their retreat merely leaped back out of the smoke’s radius keeping their swords ready.

  Lam felt stinging pain in her shoulder and her cry was that of a wounded cat. The sound of whirling blades came from above and she noted a handful of the vampires wearing gloves throwing ninja stars tipped with silver. Had they been werewolves, a successful strike might kill a werewolf with the burning silver. They were still kasha being attacked by vampires with powerful arms driving the pointed throwing weapons at tremendous speeds. While silver wouldn’t kill them, the dangerous blades we
re like bullets and just as dangerous.

  Diving into her smoke bomb, the kasha hoped the smoke would obscure them from above while they attempted to break free of those blocking their path. A scream sounded from before them and a vampire toppled over bursting into a weak flame. Lam caught the sound of Shedu’s wood stakes being fired from a wrist launcher designed for distance killing of vampires.

  Caught between two threats, the vampires became unsure and scattered as two more wood missiles fired into the alley. A grunt from Alad, as he caught one that would have struck him as the vampire targeted dodged the stake, warned Lamassu that their leader could not see them through the smoke either.

  It was the time for retreat. Signaling her teammate with a single swing of her hand, Lam bolted for the end of the alley and the street beyond. Their speedy retreat surprised the vampires and the girl lashed out with her claws raking one across the chest. Summoning her power to draw out evil souls, a blue smoke glowed from her claws pulling the creature’s spirit into her even as she continued past. He burned from the inside out as his undead body lost the dark driving force. His consciousness and spirit left the husk strengthening the kasha as her legs propelled the woman past the remaining creatures.

  Feeling his spirit writhing inside her, the feline wanted to throw it up as much as harness its power. It was why they usually broke a vampire’s essence by pulling it between the three. Done this way, Lam would have to recover before she could use such power again. Still it was worth it as the vampires cleared the way leaping up to catch hold of window sills or a fire escape.

  For those above, the kashas’ speed wasn’t enough to let them escape. Another star shaped blade caught her leg slicing through the leather boot like it was nothing. Alad staggered as he took hits, but he continued to run. Two more smoke canisters flew over their heads spewing more of the dangerous gas trying to blind those above and keeping the rest from following.