Strange Days (Bill of the Dead Book 1)

by Rick Gualtieri

  I was tempted to tell the little blob to go find a nice latrine to splash around in, but he’d probably follow us anyway. “It’s cool. He’s with me.”

  “As you wish, my love.”

  Glen began to bubble uncontrollably. “This is so exciting!”

  “Shift it into neutral, blobby,” I said, letting Gan take the lead.

  I wasn’t sure if we could stop whatever Komak had planned, but I sure as hell aimed to try.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  We maneuvered to the fringe of the gathered crowd so as to move more freely. Gan took a right and I followed with Glen in tow.

  “Tell me, beloved, how does it feel to once more have immortality running through your veins?”

  The truth was, it was terrifying – like waking up from a nightmare, only to turn over and fall back into it. But that was only half the story and I knew it. There was definitely a part of me excited to feel this powerful again, to know that I could heal from nearly any injury.

  And then there was the blood. It was both blessing and curse. To have to live off of something else’s life essence was horrific. But the truth was, holy shit, it was good. I mean, it was like every taste bud on a vampire’s tongue was wired to think blood was the best fucking thing ever. Much as I hated to admit it, draining that mage had been like the best Thanksgiving dinner, and that’s not even counting the lack of family there.

  Mind you, there was also a bit of jealousy mixed in, too. Gan and Ed were upgraded models, yet somehow I’d gotten stuck with the old sun and faith allergic downgrade. I mean, I didn’t know that for certain, but Gan’s nose seemed to confirm it and inside I felt the same as before. Talk about unfair.

  However, the last thing I wanted to do was encourage her. So, rather than give voice to any of that, I simply said, “It sucks.”

  I figure that about covered it.

  Rather than be put out, Gan replied, “If I may say so, it suits you, my darling. Do not misunderstand. I would love you no matter how fragile your body. But now, it is as if you are truly whole again.”

  Well, if that didn’t ruin my day, I didn’t know what would. Fortunately, I didn’t have too much time to dwell on it as we rounded the shore of this once infernal lake.

  “Over there, my love.” Gan pointed. “I believe we have found him.”

  Komak was a couple dozen yards ahead of us. He was standing at the edge of The Source away from the main crowd, with Jasper and a few of his other asshole buddies who’d recently been deposed. He was staring intently, a little too intently, toward where Sheila waited in the center of everything.

  “He’s planning something.”

  “Then we should dispatch him before it is too late.”

  “Yeah!” Glen cried. “Just let me find a good spot where I can watch.”

  “Um, okay.”

  He slithered away from us, no doubt to find better seats.

  We were almost upon them – close enough for them to have easily spotted us if their attention wasn’t focused elsewhere – when there came a flash of light from above.

  I looked up and stopped dead in my tracks.

  The twinkling lights in the ceiling, which had been providing modest illumination up until now, began to glow brighter, pulsing as they did and somehow also rearranging themselves.

  Soon I began to see a pattern: lines of light converging on a point on the ceiling that seemed to be directly above where Sheila stood. I took a quick count, knowing what I’d find – thirteen in all, each coming from a different direction on the compass.

  Sheila raised her sword with both hands, white fire engulfing her entire form. Up above, where the ley lines converged, the energy began to slowly swirl, multiple colors shimmering in the growing tempest.

  This was it. We needed to stop Komak now, because whatever he had planned, it was no doubt about to happen.

  VICTORY DANCE

  As Gan and I approached, Komak and his minions continued to pay rapt attention to what was going on up above. I overheard him say, “At last.”

  “At last what, asshole?” I cried, unable to control myself. Stupid. We were still too far away to do anything ... scratch that. I was still too far away.

  Gan bolted before the words had finished leaving my mouth, stopping right in front of Komak in the time it took me to blink.

  It was impressive as all hell, but risky, too. With the power still on, he and his mage buddies could... Oh who was I kidding? This was Gan we were talking about. She could have gutted half the people in this place before the rest noticed.

  “What the hell do you want?” Komak asked, backing up a step. Beside him, Jasper and a few of the Magi tensed up.

  Movement from the direction of The Source caught my eye. Sheila had spotted us. She lowered her sword, concern etched onto her face, but before she could do much else a booming chant cried out in the cavern, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

  “OME LAVERUS GOHED MAELPEREJI!”

  What the fuck?

  The unearthly voices repeated their strange words, almost making me piss myself, but then I glanced across and saw Christy’s circle aglow with power. It was them. The spell was working.

  Much as I didn’t want to take my attention off Komak, it was hard not to. The energy above Sheila began to coalesce into a pinpoint of brilliant light, a miniature sun almost too bright to look at. Risking my retinas burning to a crisp, I watched as a beam of energy slowly began to descend.

  “This is it,” Komak cried.

  The hell with that noise. Impressive as the light show was, I was here to make sure he didn’t fuck with the festivities. I stepped in front of him, blocking his view. “Where’s Tom?”

  “What are you talking about?” Even with my freshly vampirized ears, it was hard to hear him above the chanting, rising and falling in both pitch and cadence as Christy and her makeshift circle continued to wedge open the doorway between our world and what lay beyond.

  “You took him. Don’t try to hide it. I...”

  “What was that?”

  “I said you took him. I saw what was in Calibra’s lair. You can’t deny it.”

  “Calibra?”

  “The White Mother, fucktard!”

  The chanting was now loud enough to make my teeth rattle. The mages standing nearby, rather than fry me for my aggressive stance, were all mesmerized by what was taking place behind me. Oh fuck it. I dared a glance over my shoulder. Sheila had once again raised her sword high. The brilliant beam of light struck it, its power mixing with hers.

  At the convergence point, high above her head, that ball of energy began to grow, white at first but then turning a sickly orange, the same unholy shade The Source had once been.

  It’s only a crack, I told myself, forcing my attention back toward the matter at hand.

  My timing was perfect, as a dome of purplish energy about seven feet in height appeared about ten yards beyond where Komak stood.

  The magic within it swirled for a moment, then began to dissipate, revealing ... fuck me! It was no wonder I hadn’t been able to find Bob’s friend, the one who’d stolen the prism. He’d been hiding behind his magic, concealing Tom with him.

  Backpack in hand, he came running our way.

  “I have it!” he cried. “I have ... URK!”

  Gan, once more proving her power put mine to shame, intercepted the wizard before he could take more than a couple of steps. With one quick move she popped him in the jaw, grabbing the backpack even as he collapsed unconscious onto the ground.

  It was a surprisingly restrained move on her part. Maybe she was learning after all, but we could take stock of her personal growth once we were finished here. The deed done, easy-peasy, she turned toward us backpack in hand.

  “Yeah, you got yours, fucker!” Tom cried, just barely audible over the continued chanting. He tried to kick the mage’s prone form, but his foot flew right through it. Idiot.

  Seeing that was pointless, he hurried to catch up to Gan as she str
olled our way.

  Komak seemed split between what was going on out in The Source and us, but apparently he gauged – correctly, if you ask me – that we were the more pressing matter. “What are you doing?”

  Finally, the chanting began to decrease in volume, thank goodness. So I was fairly certain he heard me when I said, “Fucking up your plans, asshole.”

  “You tell him, Bill,” Tom said, stepping to join us.

  “Are you okay, man?”

  He flashed me a thumbs up. “Yeah, but for a minute there I was worried. Thought that asshole might try to cornhole me in private.”

  I shook my head. “You do realize you don’t have a hole to corn, right?”

  He shrugged as if he hadn’t considered that, but before he could stupid things up further, Gan stepped through him and held the backpack out to me. “I believe this is yours, my love. Use it as I know only you will.”

  “Thanks,” I replied, just as the light began to change.

  It was subtle, not nearly as overpowering as it had been when last I was down here, but the illumination in the cavern began to take on a slightly reddish hue.

  The chanting continued to diminish as if they were nearing the end, so I dared another glance back. Sheila was standing roughly ankle-deep in what appeared to be a puddle of orange goo maybe ten or fifteen feet across.

  The light from above began to dissipate and along with it, too, so did the glow of faith around her.

  Thud thud.

  I nearly jumped out of my skin as there came a pounding in my chest, weak at first, but slowly gaining strength and rhythm.

  Was that ... my heart?

  Thud thud.

  Holy crap, it was!

  I turned to Gan. “Quick. Flash me your fangs.”

  She raised her brows over eyes their normal green color and then smiled, revealing teeth that were disturbingly straight but not even remotely sharp.

  One of the nearby mages held out his hands and chanted something. My instincts screamed that I should react, but nothing more than a small spark of energy appeared between his fingers. It was barely enough to light a cigar, but from the look on his face you’d have thought it was the best damned cigar lighter in the world.

  “It worked,” Komak said.

  “No thanks to you, dickhead.” I pointed a finger at him from outside his reach. He might’ve been mostly human again, but he still had a shitload more combat training than me.

  He glared back. “If you’re through making a fool of yourself, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  I was about to call him out on that, but Gan put a hand on my shoulder and pointed out toward where Sheila still stood. “This can wait. Go, my love. The energies from the ritual have not fully stabilized. If you are to help your friend, it must be now.”

  Her words caught me by surprise. It was rare to hear her say something so ... human. For the barest of moments, I was touched, forgetting she absolutely terrified me.

  But Gan was right. Everything else could wait. We’d achieved a partial victory for almost everyone here, but there was still work to do. We needed to see if we could help Tom ... and then figure out how to get the fuck out of here before anyone changed their mind about our truce.

  I gave her a quick “we’re friends, nothing more” grin, then stepped off the shoreline and waved for Tom to follow – not that he had much choice. “Come on, bro. Let’s see about getting you a body.”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  I turned toward where I’d last seen Christy. It didn’t take long to catch sight of her standing on the shoreline alongside her helpers.

  All four of them looked exhausted, but each was wearing a look of satisfaction upon their face. They knew what they’d accomplished, although Lizabitch would probably be a bit less smug when she learned we’d fucked up whatever scheme her boytoy had planned.

  “Christy!” I shouted. “Over here!”

  “No. Over here!” Tom cried from right behind me.

  “Same difference, asshole.”

  “Yeah, but I want her running to me, not you.”

  Either way, she noticed. A big grin lit up her face and she headed our way.

  Much to Tom’s chagrin, I’m sure, she reached me first, throwing her arms around me.

  “You did it,” I said.

  “We all did,” she whispered back.

  “Hey!” Tom protested. “Save one of those for me.”

  She disengaged and turned to him. “I’ve been saving one for five years. Let’s see what we can do about it.” Gone apparently was her former pessimism, and why not? She’d just done the impossible. Now it was time to see if the universe had one more miracle left for us.

  We turned as a trio toward where Sheila still waited. She, too, looked winded. She stood bent over, with her hands on her thighs, having sheathed her sword.

  As we approached, she locked eyes with me and frowned. “Choose the form of the destructor.”

  I stopped dead in my tracks. “What?!”

  “Psyche! Made you look.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. Guess some of me had rubbed off on her after all.

  There was still a lot to answer for between us, but it was hard to not be happy right at that moment. I doubted we’d ever go back to the way we’d been, but hopefully we could at least salvage our friendship after this.

  Crazy, huh? A few years ago there wouldn’t have been any doubt about my course of action. I’d have thrown myself at her feet and screamed, “All is forgiven, take me back!”

  Guess this was part of that maturity thing I’d heard so much about. Even if my current relationship was still uncertain, it was time I took fate’s hint that Icons and Freewills were at opposite ends of the compatibility scale. And, truth be told, even if we only maintained the barest fraction of our abilities going forward, that’s what we were. There was no denying it anymore.

  Still, this wasn’t the time to depress the shit out of myself. We’d won. Holy shit! We’d actually won.

  Now to see if fate was generous enough to give us one more victory.

  LITTLE PIGS, LITTLE PIGS...

  I unzipped the backpack and gingerly pulled the broken Max Adventure doll out. It was glowing, still charged up with energy from that last pulse, but there wasn’t any question that it was finite. Once it ran out, the Prism would be about as potent as a nightlight and Tom would be left as a mere ghost.

  “Is that...?” Sheila asked, her eyes growing misty. No doubt she was remembering back to when she’d been forced to ram her sword through it – Tom’s body – unleashing the vast energy within.

  “Yep,” he replied with a grin. “I told you fuckers last time that I’d be all right, but none of you listened.”

  “At least we don’t need to stab your ass again.” I turned to Christy. “What do you think? Is it bath time?”

  She took a deep breath. This wasn’t exactly our ideal scenario, and we both knew it. “I think ... it’s our best shot.”

  Sheila raised an eyebrow. “What is?” Then stark realization filled her features. “Oh! You’re going to make him into one of those...”

  “We’re making him whole,” Christy corrected. “Or as whole as we can.”

  “Do you think that’s wise ... err, I mean, will it work?”

  Christy glanced among our quartet. The indecision drained from her face and a look of determination took over. She’d obviously been giving this some heavy thought. “I think so. The teachings of magic tell us that a soul remains tethered to its body for a time after death. Under normal circumstances, that tether quickly fades and the spirit moves on. But I think this place somehow acted as a conduit, breaking the existing tether and reconnecting it to another receptacle – in the case of the Jahabich, the very stones that make up this cavern. It’s much weaker now, but it might still work. And the Prism should be stable enough to not...”

  “Blow us the fuck up?” Tom offered.

  “React badly,” she countered with a sigh.


  “Too bad we don’t have another body to act as the receptacle,” Sheila said.

  I blinked at her. “Would that even work?”

  Christy shrugged. “In theory, but it would need to be undamaged to be viable. A body that died from heavy trauma would simply die again.”

  “But who gives a shit since we don’t have one?” Tom rightfully pointed out.

  Christy nodded. “True.”

  I briefly considered Bob’s corpse, but quickly pushed that thought away. Trauma free was the key phrase here, and that didn’t really apply to him. Pity. If I’d known sooner I’d have ... probably still drained him like a stuck pig. There was no fighting the bloodlust once it took hold.

  And since I doubted anyone here was willing to volunteer for a non-traumatic death, that left us back at square one – turning Tom into a hopefully non-grotesque and far less murderous rock monster.

  Speaking of volunteers, though, I took a quick look around. There was still a lot of activity back at the shore, but many of the groups were beginning to disperse. Guess they realized it was time to wrap things up here.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Gan was still standing with Komak and Jasper. They appeared to be arguing, but my super hearing was currently turned off and I was otherwise too occupied to try making out what they were saying. Besides, Gan could handle herself.

  “Okay, then,” Tom said, drawing my attention back. “Let’s do this shit.”

  That broke the impasse. You could always count on him to not waste time with silly things like sentiment or consequences. I held the doll out to Christy, but Sheila stepped forward.

  “Can I? I was the one who caused all of this. It’s only right I be the one to make it better.”

  “You weren’t...”

  She cut me off. “You’re wrong, I was. All of it. Five years ago and now. Bringing him back won’t erase any of what I did, but maybe it’ll be a start.”

  Christy took a moment to consider this, then she nodded at me.

  I handed Sheila the doll and she stared hard at it for several long seconds.