by Alex Dire
She hissed as seared skin sloughed off her wrists exposing raw, oozing flesh. “Will you stop doing that!” She spun and smashed her forehead into Norman’s.
He reeled and fell to his back. Blood gushed from his nose. Her blurry image shrank with rushed footsteps echoing through the halls. Norman shook it off and pushed himself up.
She receded ahead into the large chamber that had been Norman’s home for a short time.
He sprinted after her, stopping at the domed room with the raised circle in the center.
Two dozen vampires stood before him. At least five were enhanced soldiers. One of them untied Skeete. The brute winced as the silvered roped burned his fingers.
“This is the end for you, Norman. Sorry I can’t take you with me. Now, would you like to give me the map now, or shall I take it off your corpse?” She extended a hand and smiled.
44
Full Circle
Norman lifted the map into the air with two hands. “What happens to this thing if I tear it?”
Skeete laughed a huff through her nose. “Go ahead.”
“You’re bluffing.” Norman pulled at the map’s corners. It was tough, like hide. He pulled again, harder. It tore down the middle, half way. He half expected the lines to disappear like an image on a broken TV. They remained.
Skeet raised a brow and tilted her head. “Finished?”
The parchment vibrated beneath Norman’s fingers. The torn fibers of the map reached across and stitch themselves back together. They behaved like his own skin.
“What the hell is this thing?”
“Not yours,” said Skeete. “Frankly, I didn’t know it still existed.” She turned her head to the side. “Edward, kill him and take it.”
The vampire who’d untied her drew his two assassin’s blades and lurched forward. He flicked one in a blur.
Norman twisted to move his chest out of the way. The blade tore into his rib cage. He felt blood fill his lung. All he wanted to do was yank it out, but Edward would be on him an instant later. Norman twisted and fell. Edward sailed over him. The soldier tumbled and rolled to a crouch.
Norman could vamp him. Maybe. Perhaps he could vamp them all. It had been so difficult lately, and there were so many of them. Perhaps he didn’t need to vamp them all.
Norman shut out the world. The details of the room came into focus. The cool blue wills of the vampires floated about the chamber. They’re smooth tendrils arced casually about.
He singled one out and grasped. It slipped. He kept searching. He knew if he kept trying he could find purchase if Edward didn't kill him first.
Then, friction. He tightened his grip. “You don’t want to hurt me,” said Norman. “You want to call off your friends.”
Skeete’s smile wilted as her eyes gazed somewhere else. She barked at Edward. “What do you think you’re doing? Get away from him.”
“But…” said Edward.
Skeete flicked out her fangs.
Edward hissed at Norman as he rejoined his friends.
“Let’s talk this out” Norman was vastly outnumbered. He prayed he could manipulate Skeete to bending the situation to his favor.
“Yes. Let’s have a word with our guest,” replied Skeete.
Edward grumbled and the enhance vampires exchanged skeptical glances. How long would they take Skeete’s orders?
“Why do you want this map?”
Skeete gazed at the thing.
Edward looked over to Skeete. “What are you doing?”
“It will set me free,” said Skeete.
Edward looked between Skeete and Norman. His brow furled. “He’s controlling her!”
If they disobeyed Skeete, Norman was lost. “Listen to your master,” said Norman, his voice growing frantic
Skeete twitched her head at the soldier. “Do not defy me.”
“Destroy him,” shouted Edward pointing at Norman.
Shit.
The half-ring of vampires closed on Norman.
Edward pushed Skeete to the ground and sprinted past her.
Instinct pulled at him to retreat into the caverns, a losing maneuver. Around the room there was no cover, except the vampire’s themselves.
Norman dropped the map and dashed right into Edward. The instant before collision, he dropped to the ground and rolled, tripping the soldier up. Edward was large and strong, but Norman was much older and a fraction faster.
As Norman wheeled across the floor, two others tripped over him. The tightening ring collapsed to chaos. He crawled through the legs, standing behind a skinny vampire. He gripped a long stake from the vampire’s hands and plunged it through his back. The man screamed and expired.
Norman pushed back into the thicket, point first. The spear ripped through the arm of one vampire and drove into the gut of another. They howled, their wounds painful but not deadly.
Fingernails gripped Norman’s neck from behind and dug in. He lurched away. Skin ripped off. Raw tissue stung and burned at Norman’s neck.
He drove his tip randomly at the thickest mass of vampires. It stabbed through at least one. No death scream.
The vampire cluster began to spread out. Norman’s cover thinned.
He turned his spear and angled it toward the nearest vampire. He crouched for a launch. Before he could spring, a thick arm grasped him around his waist. Norman's feet left the ground. He lurched high into the air and then came slamming back down on his head. His head made a crack and rang. His vision blurred. Black closed in from the sides.
He blinked, trying to keep the darkness at bay. Then Edward was on him. He knelt over Norman’s torso, raising his fist high over his head.
“Now you die,” screamed Edward.
“No!” Could that be Skeete’s voice?
Norman’s skull bones crackled as they realigned and healed. His limbs felt leaden, unmovable.
“He’s mine,” said Skeete. She appeared above Norman, looking down into his eyes. “I told you, Norman. I wish I could take you with me. But your pain ends now.” She took the wooden knife from Edward and knelt beside Norman. “You know. I thought this moment might make me sad.” She stroked his forehead. Her face twisted into a malicious smile. She shook her head. “Goodbye, Norman.”
Norman’s vision cleared. His pain subsided as a tingling pricked his arms and legs. Skeete raised the knife. Norm wriggled, but Edward held him down. The knife hovered for a moment. Norman closed his eyes.
Then the scream. The last horrible sound a vampire makes. It filled his ears. Could he really hear his own scream? Was he witnessing his own death?
A heavy mass landed on his chest. He opened his eyes. Edward lay on top of him, crumpled like some plant left in the sun with no water.
Two more screams. Vampires were dying. But not him. Skeet now stood, knife still in hand. Her minions, Nymphs really, scurried around the room. Some fled through the passage Norman had come through.
A form blurred over and smacked Skeete away. It kicked what remained of Edward off of Norman. “Can you fight?” said Rufus. He extended a hand and pulled Norman up.
“Rufus!”
“Time to fight.” Rufus put Norman back on his feet and sped out in pursuit of the fleeing vampires.
What was happening? Norman stumbled back against the wall. Vampires darted around the room almost too fast to see. Men in silvery chain mail armor stood at the breached wall firing shots from rifles in all directions. Norman remembered finding that breach with his students all those years ago. Vampires screamed and expired.
Skeete stood on the opposite wall. The side of her face was covered with blood. “Get in close, take them hand to hand.”
Two of the remaining enhanced V’s dashed in. One smashed an armored man across the face. The soldier’s hand exploded in fire and blood. He stumbled back, grasping what remained of the stump of his hand.
The man careened to the side, his chain hood tearing free. Another enhanced V leapt toward him and grasped his exposed head. With a twist,
the head snapped off. Blood sprayed out of the neck and the man crumpled to the floor.
Norman counted four more men in armor. They had fanned through the chamber. Three vampires encircled one of them. He fired rapid shots, but the vampires dodged.
One of them got behind the man and charged. The vampire’s flesh erupted in flames on contact. The man flew through the air against the wall near Skeete. His armor had torn away at a shoulder. Skeete grasped the exposed shoulder and ripped it free from his body. Blood gushed and the man collapsed.
The three remaining men came together and backed themselves against the side of the chamber. One shot at the bloody stumped enhanced soldier. The mutant vampire screamed and shriveled.
The other two fired at targets that whizzed and bounced about the room. Eventually, those men would run out of their wooden bullets and mutant V serum.
Norman saw a vampire attack the men from the side. He leapt across the room and intercepted him smashing his head on the floor as they tumbled. He went dizzy for a moment. The vampire scraped at his guts. Tearing away clothing, skin, and muscle.
A muffled crack rang from beside them. The vampire screamed and expired, falling on top of Norman. He pushed the body off. An armored human nodded. Then his chain mail hood tore off. A Super V stood there with the armor dangling from his cloth-wrapped hand. The soldier jabbed a short wooden stake through the man's eye.
Two humans remained. Vampires ran at them and bounced off in bursts of flame and smoke. The men fired their weapons, but the vampires moved fast and dodged about the chamber. Norman pushed himself up the wall. He saw Skeete on the opposite side of the room. She locked eyes with him. An instant later, she was on him.
Her weight pushed him back to the floor. She wrapped her hands around his neck, pushing her thumbs into his trachea. The ring bones in his throat snapped and stabbed at the muscle in his neck. He couldn’t breathe.
“I’m going to take that map, Norman. It’s my destiny.”
Norman gripped at her hands, but they were slick with blood.
An enhanced vampire appeared next to her holding her assassin knife. She positioned it over Norman’s chest.
“No,” said Skeete. “I want this to go slow. Take the map.” Her lips clenched together as she tightened her squeeze.
The soldier ruffled through Norman’s shredded cloths. “It’s not here.”
Skeete fingers suddenly tore from Norman’s neck. Rufus held her high above his head. The soldier with the knife leapt back.
A spear sailed through the air and ran Rufus through the gut. He growled in pain. Skeete tumbled from his grip, smashing her head on the stone floor
Rufus grasped at the spear tip and pulled. He screamed as the wooden shaft tore its way through his body. A much smaller vampire pulled him to the ground from behind.
The startled enhanced soldier shook Skeete, who remained motionless. She crawled over to Norman. “Why don’t I take care of you now. Once and for all.” She once again withdrew her sharp wooden knife from her belt. “No need for drama.” Her eyes thinned, and then her head exploded in a burst of light and gristle.
Norman’s face burned from the flash. A large man stood over him, breathing heavy and holding a war hammer in one hand. The weapon’s heavy metal head sizzled with blood. Declan had arrived.
A vampire sprinted in behind him with a long spike.
“Declan, no!” shouted Norman.
Declan tried to twist around. If he were a hundred years older, he could have dodged the blow, but he was a Nymph. A wooden point burst through the front of Declan’s chest.
45
Wolf Within
Sweat had covered Felicia’s face. She held the wills of the general and soldiers with a tenuous grip. “After you clean up, you’ll forget this place,” said Felicia. “You’ll remember that you fought the vampires and wolves off in the forest.”
The general nodded.
Felicia released her hold on the soldiers and they crumpled. MacManus caught her and cradled her in an embrace.
He was muscular and she could feel his flesh through his torn shirt.
“You’re okay,” he said. “I didn’t think anyone but Norman could do that.”
“I’m never doing it again. It hurts. Even now. It feels like something’s eating me from the inside.”
“What can I do?” said MacManus.
“I need a drink.”
Felicia felt like she was on fire. She’d been practicing with her power. It always took a toll, but this was the worst. She wasn’t like Mr. Bernard. She was weaker. He made it look so easy. He had tried to teach her, but this wasn’t going to be her thing.
The soldiers went about the room and checked their fallen comrades. In twos, they carried out the bodies. They took the dead vampires and werewolves as well.
The fire that seared Felicia from the inside, died to embers. Her strength had left her as well. She needed to feed and to sleep. But Mr. Bernard. Where had he gone?
“We have to go.” Felicia tried to push herself away from MacManus, but her arms quivered like rubber. She fell back into him.
“I've got you," he said. He enclosed her further into his arms. She slipped into the space within them so easily. His body relaxed her. She hadn't felt anywhere near this good in a long time. She nuzzled her head into his chest.
“Thank you,” she said. Her worry and thoughts melted into exhaustion as her world collapsed into the space MacManus had made for her. She looked up into his soft brown eyes. They pulled at her. How could she resist?
She let her breath out and closed her eyes ready to allow the next moment to happen.
A pain stabbed through her chest. She winced and her eyes shot open. She clutched at her chest, screaming and fell to the floor.
“What is it?” said MacManus.
She pushed him away. “Declan.” Energy surged through her body from nowhere.
“Shiite. again?”
“I feel his pain. He needs me." She pushed herself up but crumbled back once again. "I need to drink."
Juda limped over to her, his hand clutching his naked hip. “I want to help. I’ll go. Where is he?”
“No. I can find him, but I don’t know how to show you.”
“Try.”
Felicia looked away. “He’s… It’s…” She shook her head. “It has to be me.”
Juda nodded. “Then I know how I can help.” He reached out a and hand and held his wrist in front of Felicia’s face. “Go ahead.”
“Juda, No,” she said.
“Trust me.”
She looked into those dark blue pools he had for eyes. She'd known this boy since Night School. He and his brothers had saved her more than once. Of course, she trusted him. She just didn't want to hurt him.
Juda nodded and moved his wrist closer to her mouth. She could smell the blood pumping through his brachial artery. She flicked out her fangs, opened her mouth and plunged in. Her teeth penetrated his flesh and sunk deep into his wrist.
Juda flinched in pain.
Felicia withdrew. “Are you okay?”
“It’s my first time. Don’t stop.”
Her teeth found the holes she’d just made and the blood filled her cheeks and oozed down her throat. It was different, warmer than human blood. Her bruises and gashes healed as she sucked at his wrist.
Juda’s whole face crunched toward his nose. But it felt so good. She’d never felt like this when feeding before. She became ravenous. She began to suck at the wound to speed up the flow. She grunted and growled as the viscous fluid filled her stomach.
Juda pulled at his arm. Felicia gripped it. Just a little more.
“Felicia!” said MacManus.
Just a little more.
MacManus grasped at her shoulders and pulled. Her mouth came away from Juda’s wrist. The boy fell back and grasped his wrist.
Felicia hissed at the wolf.
“What are you doing?” said MacManus.
As the last of the blood oozed d
own her throat, she flicked her fangs back in and closed her mouth. “I don’t know. I couldn’t stop.”
Juda pulled over the remains of a piece of clothing and wrapped his wrist. “I’m not supposed to do that.” He tied a knot with his teeth. “It’s forbidden.”
Felicia felt as good as she ever had.
“But since we’re breaking all the rules these days…”
She looked over at MacManus. "I feel so…" Words failed her. How do you describe something so foreign? "Good." Then the pain in her chest returned as if she'd been stabbed by sharpened wood. She clutched her chest again and stumbled back. "Declan."
“Go,” said MacManus. “I’ll follow.”
“I’m sorry, Juda,” she said.
He nodded. “Be careful. You’ll be… more than you were. For a while anyway.”
Felicia dashed out of the chamber, not knowing exactly where to go. But she could feel Declan and the pain in her chest. It pulled at her. She followed.
46
The map
Norman kicked the enemy vampire across the room. Rufus leapt back up and made mayhem among Skeete's crew. Declan roared and growled, twitching on the floor. Norman crawled over, gripped the stake and pulled it out of Declan’s back. His body went limp.
“Declan.” Norman cradled the boy’s face. The hole in his chest quickly closed and the flow of blood stopped. Declan’s eyes shot open. He roared in rage and grasped his hammer, springing up to his feet. The young Nymph lurched forward, smashing a vampire who surged from the chaos at Norman’s back. The flash of light seared Norman’s exposed skin.
Declan swung his weapon in wild arcs, exploding the flesh of vampires with each swipe. Each attack was more berserk than the last. Declan was unleashed, unhinged. Limbs and chunks of muscle and gore spattered away from each swing. Vampires reeled, burning, screaming. Declan’s blackened face smoldered from the bursts of light, a side effect of using a weapon never intended for a vampire’s use.
A vampire avoided Declan’s clumsy swipe and leaped in. Rufus rushed the much smaller vampire puncturing his chest with his knife. He continued to fight by Declan’s side, making up for the Nymph’s berserk attack, finishing off the barely wounded, fending off the ignored.
