She opened her mouth to hiss, her pearly white fangs reflecting perfectly in the moonlight. I guessed she was either going to attack me or run off into the woods, so I prepared myself for the worst. Using my reserves, I created a shield, taking the time to reinforce the area in front of me since I didn't plan on leaving my back exposed. If she was half as strong as Silas said, the shield wouldn't last very long though it may give me enough time to come up with something else.
She took a few steps to her side, forcing me to turn my body to keep her in front of me. She didn't go far, stopping at the hollowed log to bend over and pick up the knife I left siting on the ground.
"I'll be keeping this," she said, laughing while she took a few steps back.
Part of me was disappointed at losing the knife. Not so much because I had to take off her head to kill her because I had other options for that. Making vines and shrubbery grow was a trick that usually only worked once. As long as she was armed with a blade, she would have an easier time of cutting her self free, guaranteeing that I needed another way to kill her.
She kept circling around, her eyes never once leaving mine. It was hard to tell, but it looked like she was waiting for me to make my move. I was surprised she didn't bolt when I created my shield, but it wouldn't surprise me that she was able to see it now that it had fully formed. One of these days I was going to have to ask a vampire if they were able to see my weaves, not that they would answer truthfully.
Throwing a fireball at her was also out of the question, knowing how fast she is able to move now. Even trying to trap her by creating a fissure beneath her feet would be tricky since she would be able to jump out of the largest ones I've created without much trouble.
The best I could do, without the element of surprise, was to do something to send her into a state of panic and follow her again. The was still a bit of time left before the sun came out to find her one more time. Especially if she is as careless with her tracks as she was before.
When I started swirling my arms in the air, I watch her reaction before making my next move. She studied me intently, but kept circling me while maintaining her distance.
Since she called my bluff, it was time for plan B.
I kept my arms moving in a circle, this time mixing in fire and earth to create another fireball. It wouldn't hurt her in the slightest, but it was worth the chance of scaring her away. The moment the flame sprung to life, she hissed at me before darting off into the woods. The sound of snapping branches following behind her.
Once a spell is created, I have to use it in some fashion or I risk injury to myself. In the case of my fireball, the heat and flame can cause major burns and scarring if you hold onto it for too long. There's a running joke in the wizard community about how you can tell when an apprentice is using fire for the first time. They are usually the ones with burned hands, singed hairs, and damaged clothes.
There wasn't any point of sending the fireball after her as I would only end up wasting more essence trying to fight the fire it creates, so I opted to toss it into the lake. A plume of smoke and steam rises nearly twenty feet tall out of the lake where the fireball entered the water, sizzling in defiance.
Once that was out of the way, I changed my shield to cover all parts of my body equally since I no longer know where she is. It would leave me less protected than I was before, but I'd rather be able to take a hit in any direction instead of just the front.
With that done, I pulled out my walking staff and followed her trail into the woods. With the way she tore out of here, following this one would be easy.
- 12 -
My phone vibrated in my pocket for the last time of the night. With it being five o'clock, I was about out of time to stop her. On the horizon I could already see the blue hues trickling into the air, a sign that dawn was quickly approaching. At best, I had enough forty minutes to find her before the sun was far enough out to kill her or send her sprawling for cover.
If she wasn't already there.
The game trail I'd been following for the last thirty minutes came to abrupt end on the bank of a creek. I turned on the flashlights when I spotted something on the ground, a pair of footprints sunk down an inch or so into the muddy creek bed. I kept the light focused on the trail until I lost it up ahead.
Time was of the essence, but I couldn't afford to get stuck here. Not when she could be anywhere, so I looked around for an easy place to cross. Down the bank, nearly thirty feet, there were a few larger rocks lining the side of the creek. Not seeing any better options, I cut my way through the thick underbrush to reach the spot a few moments later.
The water rapidly washed down stream over what looked to be larger rocks just under the surface of the water. In the darkness I couldn't see how deep it was, so I tried to get a better look with my light. The fast moving water made it difficult to tell, but at it's deepest point the water looked maybe three feet deep. Shallow enough for me to stand in, yet deep enough to get me in trouble if the current was faster than it looked. All it would take to end my fun was getting my foot pinned between a pair of shifting rocks if the current was half as bad as it looked. Thankfully, the creek was only about ten feet across. Not close enough for me to jump across, but I wouldn't be in danger for all that long.
Not wanting to lose it, I took my walking staff and attached it back to my belt. The machete was another story, so I thrust the blade into the side of a tree, hoping it was hard enough that a curious kid wouldn't be able to pull it free.
I stepped up to the edge of the creek, walking on the rocks to stay out of the mud and took a deep breath. This was the point where I wished I was half as strong with air as I was with earth since it would allow me to create a gust of wind strong enough to shoot me across. As it stood, I had to do it the hard way and hope I didn't miss one of the larger rocks under the surface.
My first step was flawless, the second even less so. By the third my foot nearly slipped into the water making me wonder if I should turn around. I decided against it, leaping to the next rock a few feet away. My foot slipped on the algae covered stone, sending me careening head-first into the creek.
The rapid flow of water whisked the walking staff out of my hands, as I pulled my head above the surface. I watched, helplessly, as it continued its way down the creek while I pulled myself onto the muddy bank. Without my sword, I had little hope of taking her down. For a moment I considered walking down the bank to look for the staff, but I knew it wouldn't do me much good without having the sunlight to help me out.
Against my better judgment, I run my shirt and coat out and walked to the mouth of the cave. The one advantage I still had was that daylight was coming soon, limiting her ability to get away again. I stopped before I went in too far and cast a spell on the vines, hoping to create a trap for anyone that tries to escape. Of course, there was a good chance that person could be me, and I would be setting myself up for failure, but if it was her, the vines just might be able to hold her still long enough for the sun to do its thing. Even without my sword, I still had options, as long as I was able to draw her out.
I didn't bother to stand around and watch the spell work. After using it a few dozen times, I trusted it would continue to grow the vines without me.
The stone mouth of the cave was nearly seven feet tall and easily twice as wide, allowing me to walk inside comfortably without needing to duck. I pulled out my Maglite and flicked it on to illuminate the cave once I'm a few steps in, not wanting to walk through the cave blind. With the cave lit up, I noticed a trail of blood drops leading deeper into the cave. I sighed, knowing I had to follow it, even if it led me to something besides Judy. As I followed the trail, a noise that sounded like someone sawing wood grew louder, raising my suspicions even further.
After a few minutes in the cave, the path splits off in two directions, the tail of blood leading into the one on the left, the same direction the sawing noise was coming from. I started to doubt being on Judy's trail, but forced myself down the c
orridor with the trail of blood.
The corridor opened into a wide, circular room easily twenty foot across. The ceiling in the middle of the room pitched up nearly ten feet tall in the center though the areas by the walls were barely three foot high. In the back of the room I noticed the source of the sound, a rather large black bear curled up with three smaller cubs. The blood trail, however, stopped well short of the litter, telling me they weren't the culprits.
I inched closer, careful not to disturb the leaves and branches littering the cave floor. While black bears are usually not aggressive, there was no telling how mama bear might react if she woke up with me a few feet away from her cubs. I was nearly to the center of the room when my light illuminated Judy's pale skin, lying not far away from the bears.
Instinctively, I reached down to pull the blade out of my staff to take off her head before remembering I lost it in the creek. Using the flashlight, I scanned the room for something I could use to take her out without waking up the bears, finding my salvation in the blue-handled machete leaning against the wall not far from Judy.
I continued to inch closer, watching the ground intently to make sure I didn't make a noise. One wrong step right now would be disastrous, leaving me to deal with both the bear and the vampire at the same time. Having to fight one of them was going to be bad enough.
I aimed the flashlight up to the roof of the cave as I got close, not wanting the light to wake either of them up. It made it more difficult to see where I was going, but it was much better than alerting them early.
I smiled when I reached the body of the woman, noticing she was still out for the count. I bent over and grabbed the handle of the blade, careful not to hit my head on the low ceiling. With the blade secured, I took a few steps back to think about how I was going to finish this.
Thanks to the sloped ceiling, it would be impossible to get a good enough swing to take off her head and nothing short of that would do me any good. If I had my staff, I could shove the wooden end into her chest to send her body into shock long enough to finish the task, but I had to lose it before I got here. The only option I saw was to kneel down close and hope I had enough of a swing to finish the deed.
I took in a deep breath and took a few steps forward, mentally preparing to end it here. Not paying attention to my surroundings, my foot slipped on a branch, sending me tumbling off balance. I dropped the machete to the ground, the metal echoing loudly as it hit the cave floor while I placed my hands on the low ceiling to maintain my balance.
"You!" Lucy shouted, waking up from her slumber. Before I could move she darted forward, hitting me in the stomach with a vicious punch that sent me flying back to the other end of the cave. I gasped for air as the force of the impact knocked the air from my lungs. While I was thankful I didn't hit my head, I wasn't in a much better position.
Judy lurched forward, licking her lips. "I'll enjoy feeding on you."
I forced my body upright, but was unable to draw in essence while my lungs fought for air. I closed my eyes, waiting for her bite when I heard the bear roar from the back of the cave. Judy's head spun around when she heard the noise then turned to me with a smile.
"I hate to run, but my friend here is a little upset with us. It's a shame I'll be missing a meal, but I'll just have to find another." She laughed as she walked to the other end of the room, her pale skin vanishing as she walked deeper into the corridor.
The bear roared before putting her body between me and her babies. That was a good sign. As good as I was going to get anyway. As long as I didn't move a move towards her, there was a chance I could get out of here alive.
Slowly, I got to my feet, though kneeling down as to not hit my head on the lowered ceiling. I gasped when the bear moved up a few steps, but my fear subsided when she failed to move any further.
Momentarily I thought about creating a distraction to retrieve the blade, but let it go noticing it on the cave floor a few feet from the bear. Killing the mother bear wouldn't be a problem, but if I did, the cubs' chance of survival goes down to near zero. As much as it pained me to do so, I backed away into the corridor and away from the machete.
After I was in the hall, the mother bear backed up and resumed her position on the floor, huddled around her cubs, giving me a chance to turn around to see where I was walking.
I continued down the corridor to the split I passed just moments ago. I decided against going down the split since I didn't know where it led. At the worst, I knew I could camp out at the entrance until Judy left the cave to feed later this evening. It wasn't an optimal solution, but it beat exploring a cave I didn't know existed before today.
I paused for a moment before continuing to renew my shield, opting to let it cover my body in case she was waiting down the other corridor for me to leave. Flashlight in hand, I followed the trail of blood back towards the mouth of the cave.
Huddled between a pair of boulders to my right was Judy, moving around to get comfortable. Just ahead I saw the light of the morning sun peeking through the mouth of the cave, partially illuminating the corridor ahead. Carefully, I strapped the Maglite to my hip to free up my hands to cast.
The woman's position protected her from nearly anything I could do, which was fine. I didn't need to kill her here, only scare her out of the hole. I drew in as much essence as my body would allow and converted it into yet another fireball. Judy stuck her head out from behind the boulder to look at the source of light before retreating into the cover of the rocks. I know the spell would miss, but I released it right at the hole. The flame exploded as it hit the face of the boulder, searing the white surface of the rock. Judy jumped out from behind her cover and hissed until she noticed me conjuring another ball of fire.
I held my spell a while longer than I liked, the heat singing the hair on my arm as the flame grew larger. She held her position as the heat intensified, waiting for me to make my move. I waited until I couldn't bare the pain anymore before releasing my spell, directing the fireball on the ground right in front of her knowing she wouldn't have enough room to get around it in the narrow corridor.
I forced my eyes shut as the heat from the explosion radiated down the corridor at me, opening them only after it had subsided. When I did, I looked down the corridor and noticed Judy was no longer in front of me which sent a wave of panic down my spine. I threw the spell hoping she still feared the flame, knowing full well it wouldn't do much against her if it hit. If she had been a vampire for more than a few days, she might have learned more about her powers and invulnerabilities, which would have forced me to do something different, not that I had a better plan.
Before I was able to grow the nerve to walk ahead, I heard a scream from up ahead. I sucked it up and forced one leg in front of the other long enough to have mouth of the cave in full view. Just outside of the cave, Judy was wrapped up in vines from head to toe as the sun started peeking over the horizon. Her skin smoked and sizzled as the rays of the sun touched her delicate skin. As I walked closer, I held my nose as the smell of burnt flesh filled the cave. I called upon the wind to push the smell out of the cave and out into the open.
Judy's screams grew louder with every step I took. By the time I reached the mouth of the cave, her face was unrecognizable, all that remained were the bones that comprised her skull and jaw. It made me feel horrible, but I pulled out my phone to snap a picture. Silas would want proof that I finished the deed, I only hoped this would be enough.
I was thankful that her screams had died out long before I reached the bed of the creek to look for my staff. Hearing a creature, no matter how evil, scream out in torment like that never gave me a warm feeling inside. In fact, it usually had the opposite effect, especially knowing it was my spell that caused it.
My thoughts drifted to Max and Stacy as I scoured the creek inch by inch. I knew they would both be worried about me, especially since I hadn't checked in with them since I've been here. If it wasn't for the dwindling power on my phone, I would've called them w
hile I searched, but I opted against it, knowing I'll need the GPS to get out of here in one piece.
I found my staff jammed between two rocks nearly a mile downstream. The water washed over the finely polished wood as I retrieved my sword.
Not wanting to waste another minute inside this hell hole than I had to, I pulled out my phone to get some directions out of here, thankful that Stacy talked me into upgrading this phone just a few months ago.
- 13 -
The next afternoon I woke up around five o'clock thanks to an untimely phone call. I grabbed the phone off the nightstand to see who decided to wake me up.
High Wizard Wade? Why would he be calling?
"This is Raymond."
"Mr. Gilmore, I trust you're working hard on your task?"
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "I have a few solid leads."
"Good," he said. "It seems there has been another development while you were away." Away? Did he try to call me while I was out in the woods? I know I made sure I had a signal before I left, but I could've lost it multiple times while I was chasing Judy and Evan. "It seems there was another murder last night. One Thomas Lewis."
I wondered if he was talking about Tom from the gentleman's club yesterday. He wasn't the most pleasant guy to be around, but that didn't seem like a good enough reason to kill the guy.
"I took the liberty of sending the pictures to your phone though I'm guessing you haven't received them yet since you are still at your hotel room. Sleeping." He emphasized the last word, attempting to scare me no doubt. What worried me more was how he knew what I was doing when he called. If they had feelers in the city checking up on me, why couldn't they have someone else handle the case. The whole thing was starting to feel like a ruse. One I had to put up with if I wanted to survive.
"Send them again," I said, yawning after. "I'll look at them right away."
Vampire for Hire: The Nephalem Files (Book 2) Page 7
