Kid popped out of nowhere. He leapt on Craetis’s back and wrapped a belt around his neck.
“The fuck?” Craetis asked.
Craetis reached over his shoulder to get a grip on him, but Kid shifted about, evading his stubby fingers while tightening the belt around his neck.
Kid, what the fuck are you doing?
Craetis could easily rip him in two. Kid still didn’t understand how powerful immortals were, especially one like Craetis.
Vera appeared by the couch. She swooped down, her fingers slipping around the hilt of the sword Dedrus had given Kinzer.
She disappeared. Treycore was going to have to take care of himself. Right then, Kinzer’s only concern was Kid.
***
Treycore kept up with Mika’s daggers. A sword rushed him from the side. He caught a glimpse of Vera.
Another sword came crashing down on hers, effectively deflecting it from its course.
Fuck, that was close, Treycore thought.
“Dedrus,” Vera said. “So good to see you again.”
***
Dedrus eyed Vera with contempt. “Not a very fair fight, is it?”
He’d snuck through the front door, having instructed Maggie to slip through the woods behind the house and hide out at the nearby gas station until they were finished handling their current predicament. He had no intention of letting Treycore and Kinzer fight this battle on their own.
“Now it is,” Vera said.
She disappeared.
Oh, here we go, Dedrus thought, acknowledging how fast his attacks were going to have to be to keep up with Vera’s advantageous gift.
As Vera appeared on the opposite side of him, Dedrus whirled around and struck at her.
“So predictable,” he mocked. Their swords clashed again.
***
Maggie crept through the woods. A chill bit at her exposed arms and cheeks. The dim moonlight sparkled off branches and trunks as she navigated her way through the foliage.
What am I doing?
Everything that Kinzer had told her had been insane—the ravings of lunatics.
They had to be. There was no other reasonable explanation. She didn't believe in God. Even if she did, she wouldn’t have believed that He was evil.
That was not the God her mom had told her about.
“God doesn’t like a girl that throws her legs up,” her mom used to say. When Maggie was little, she believed that her mom was talking about cartwheels.
A hallucination, Maggie thought. That must've been how she'd seen the wings. She'd hallucinated plenty of times, writhing in the intoxicating sensations of pleasure and dissatisfaction of her most familiar drug of choice. They must've given her some earlier. It was just a big, long, terrible haze that she was going to wake up from. Although, she felt more lucid than ever before. This wasn't like the days where she met Kirk so he could slip her some dick and G. Then things were blurry. Days and nights would pass like moments, like days when, as a child, she'd woken and fallen asleep repeatedly in a night, surprised by the rapid intervals in which time seemed to pass. Despite their brevity, the most vivid of the moments she experienced were those of enchantment, of delight, of magic—those moments that she so desperately reached for. A night in the back of Kirk's car, her body trembling in the cold, could be better than any night she imagined that she could have had anywhere else in the world.
Maggie was very familiar with the hallucinations associated with usage. Sometimes, they contained meaning that linked to her past. Giant snakes, like the ones her mom used to cradle to demonstrate faith, would slither through nearby halls. They’d watch her through mirrors and windows. Sometimes, she could hear the chanting of her mom’s tongues in the background. She expected her mom to fall out of a closet, trembling and rambling as she collapsed to the floor.
“Don’t give in to the serpent,” her mom had said.
Maggie hadn’t understood that statement until she let Tommy Rager drive her home from school. He’d shown her the serpent on the side of the road, a few miles from her house. The moment was brief and filled with tears, but she wanted Tommy, so she let him give her rides every day from then on. She knew something was wrong when the bleeding didn’t come, and when her mom discovered the reason, she took her to the city to get the abomination removed. Maggie didn’t want to get rid of it, though. That wasn’t right. She ran off and decided to care for it on her own, but life wasn’t so kind to the unwed mother, and she quickly stumbled into obstacles, having to barter with her body in exchange for shelter. A pool of blood among white sheets announced the failure of the pregnancy and birthed a darkness within Maggie that led her down a painful, unrelenting path—desperate to find ease from the sadness she felt about the loss of the baby, her mother, and Tommy.
Some days, when she was being fucked, she'd wished that her mom could see her legs high in the air. Sometimes, she’d work to force them higher. She’d look into her john's eyes, hating him, hating herself. She wondered about their lives, about their families. She wondered what diseases they had, just waiting to spew through a broken condom. Wasn’t that what she deserved? That was what mom always said happened to girls who threw their legs up in the air.
When she’d discovered her new pregnancy, she’d wanted to kick the shit. She'd wanted to do the morally responsible thing, as society would have preferred. She just couldn't bring herself to release the habit, and her life was hardly appropriate for nurturing a child. Based on her calculations, which could have been flawed considering her stunted stint with public education, it could have been one of any number of the boys Kirk had lined up for her. And if it was going to grow up as disgusting as any of its potential fathers, what was the point of existing? Rather than quitting the habit, she had hoped that it would expedite her ultimate goal. Her belly continued to grow, bloating to the point where Maggie was of little use to Kirk, who by way of fist, had tried to assist her in releasing the parasite on several occasions. To their disappointment, it hadn't helped. With her first pregnancy, she had seen murder as a disgusting cruelty. Now, she saw that in life.
Who the fuck are these guys? she thought as she stumbled through the darkness.
She remembered Kirk introducing her to the two men who'd gone by different names than they called themselves after they'd abducted her. They gave her something they said would elicit an incredible experience—a new drug that would send her into a rapture beyond anything she'd ever experienced before. After attempting this allegedly mystical drug, she'd woken tied to that bed. It wouldn't have been the first time. She'd had a similar experience with two of Kirk's clients who'd gagged her and killed cigarette butts on her breasts for three days before abandoning her in a motel near Taco Cabana. Unlike those clients, these men hadn't fucked her, which led her to assume that their motives were far more sinister. Surely, they got their thrills from watching the eyes of their prey deaden, not from rushes from their own cocks (unless the former resulted in the latter).
The men tied her to that bed and gave her such miniscule doses of her luxury that she thought even with it rushing through her veins, she was going to die. She needed more. She always needed more. But Kirk never came. Just these two surely sadistic men. What kind of bastards would abduct a pregnant woman and force her to get clean? Regardless of her attempts at understanding their motives, she couldn't. They didn’t hurt her, and they supplied her with plenty of food. Had it not been for depriving her of something she felt she needed as much as water, the stay in that dirty little room would have been like cruising through exotic locations. However, considering the torment of her deprivation, it felt far from something so delightful.
Where the fuck am I supposed to go?
Cracks harmonized with the crickets and frogs as Maggie stepped on branches and twigs.
She didn't know where she was going or what she was going to do when she got somewhere else. Would this Dedrus guy find her? Did she want him to find her? He had to be insane. All those guys had to be. Didn'
t they? There was no such thing as God or Satan. There was no such thing as any of this!
A series of white lights glistened through slits in the trees.
Was it the gas station Dedrus had mentioned?
CRACK!
She started to turn.
Something snatched her arm.
***
Kid’s biceps burned. His face wrinkled with the stress of his efforts. Red hands clasped the black belt around the juggernaut’s neck.
How fucking strong can this guy be?
The mammoth man threw himself back.
Dry wall exploded around Kid. His arm rammed into a two-by-four.
He screamed out, but he maintained his fierce grip on the belt. It hurt like fuck, but he knew if he let go, he was dead.
“You’re a little rodent, aren’t ya?” the juggernaut said. Leaning forward, he reared back and slammed Kid’s back into the two-by-four again.
“Fuck!”
“Get ready to die, mortal.” He leaned forward again.
I really am going to die, Kid thought.
As the man started to rear back, a baseball bat rammed into his balls.
He groaned and collapsed onto his chest.
***
Kinzer stood before Craetis, a baseball bat in hand. While searching for a weapon to help Kid, he’d managed to find it in a nearby closet.
“Say you like it,” Kinzer sneered.
Kid was still on Craetis’s back, tightening the belt around his neck.
Damn, Kinzer thought, Kid’s a feisty little guy.
***
Dedrus felt like they were back in the war.
Vera disappeared and reappeared all around him, coming and going like camera flashes.
She breathed heavily. Moisture beaded around her lizard eyes. A glistening drop of sweat slid from under black locks of hair that ran down the side of her face.
Dedrus knew that the more she teleported, the less energy she’d have, and the better chance he had at surviving her vicious swordplay.
Treycore and Mika fought just a few feet away, trapped in an endless tit for tat.
“Look at the sweetlips I found trying to get away,” a voice said.
A fallen stepped in from the front hall. He was nearly as tall as Craetis, with broad shoulders and eyes that sparkled in the lamplight even more than the other immortal’s eyes.
It was Deter, another of the Raze’s emissaries.
Fuck, Dedrus thought. Do they know it’s the Antichrist?
“It’s a mortal,” Deter said. “She was sneaking through the woods out back.”
“Let me go, asshole!” Maggie slammed her fist into his chest. She tugged at her arm.
Vera’s eyes fixed on Maggie’s bloated belly.
She must know something’s up, Dedrus thought.
Maintaining her duel with him, her eyes shifted from Maggie to Treycore.
Dedrus knew Treycore couldn’t bluff. She knew him too well. Any little twitch—any slight shake in his pupils would tell her all she needed to know.
Treycore stared back at her, still exchanging blows with Mika.
Vera’s pasty flesh grew a shade whiter. Her eyes returned to Dedrus.
“Well, well,” she said as she blocked a slash from his sword. “You boys have been busy, haven’t you?”
Deter looked around, confused.
“It’s…the Antichrist,” Vera hissed, “you dumb shit.”
“Holy fuck,” he said.
“She’s gonna go for her!” Dedrus warned.
***
Gotta get to Maggie before Vera does, Treycore thought, his sword still in swift battle with Mika’s oncoming daggers.
If she got to her first, she’d teleport her to who-knew-where and that would be the end of the Antichrist.
Vera disappeared from before Dedrus and reappeared next to Maggie. She reached out to snatch her.
Fuck!
SMACK!
Kinzer had come up beside her and rammed a baseball bat into her face, sending her falling backward.
“Fucking dick!” Deter yelled. He released Maggie and pulled a sword from a sheath affixed to his belt. He rushed Kinzer.
Dedrus leapt over the couch and blocked Deter’s sword as they started up their own duel.
Of course, he’d be there for Kinzer, Treycore thought. Fucking doormat.
Maggie fled across the room, toward the study.
Treycore sliced at Mika’s hip. As Mika used both daggers to block the attack, Treycore reared his fist back and decked him. Mika toppled over the couch, rolling across the floor.
Treycore hurried after Maggie.
Vera appeared behind her.
Treycore sliced between Vera and Maggie, but Vera disappeared again, reappearing on the other side of his sword. Treycore snatched her by her scrawny arm, hurled her over his shoulder, and slammed her into the floor.
The sword in her hand broke free and slid across the living room floor.
***
Dedrus’s peripheral vision worked overtime as he maintained his battle with Deter and kept an eye on the action around the room.
Craetis finally managed to get a grip on Kid’s arm. He twisted until Kid caved and released him. Standing back up, he grabbed Kid by his throat and tossed him across the room.
Kid plowed into a table so hard that it snapped in two.
Craetis loosened the belt around his neck and gasped for air.
“Fucking shit,” he said. He fondled his balls and turned to Kinzer. “You!”
Dedrus dropped to the floor, scooped up Kinzer’s sword, which had slid near him just moments earlier. Keeping up with Deter’s attacks, he sliced through Craetis’s shin.
Craetis’s face flashed red. Veins swelled across his temples. He unleashed a howl that echoed across the walls. As his leg was sliced off, he toppled like Goliath.
Blood oozed across the wood-paneled floor.
Dedrus spotted Mika, who’d been lying listlessly on the floor for some time after Treycore had decked him. Mika stumbled to his feet and headed for Dedrus.
Just what I need.
He used Kinzer’s sword to defend himself against Mika and continued using his own to defend against Deter.
Craetis cried like a baby as he nursed his bloody stump.
***
Kinzer raced into the study.
He was right behind Treycore. Maggie headed toward a window behind the desk.
Vera appeared, midair, her wings outstretched, soaring at her.
“Come here, sweetlips!” she exclaimed.
“Behind you!” Kinzer called. “Don’t let her touch you, Maggie!”
Maggie squealed. She ducked and crawled under the desk. Vera landed on top of it as Treycore bounded into the air, swinging his sword violently before him. As the tip of his blade grazed her feathers, she disappeared. Kinzer landed on the desk, his feet dancing about as he struggled to maintain his balance on the stacks of papers and files scattered across it.
As Maggie crawled out the other side of the desk, Vera appeared behind her, covered in sweat, breathing heavily, her eyes savage as she reached for Maggie’s leg. Treycore swiped his sword toward the floor, slicing her hand off.
“Ahhhh!” she wailed and vanished.
Hopping off the desk, Treycore knelt to cover Maggie.
***
Dedrus’s chest vibrated rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. He didn’t know how much longer he’d be able to take on Mika and Deter. They continued swapping attacks when he heard, “Boys!”
Vera stood on the stairwell, cradling a bleeding stump. Her hair was drenched with sweat. Her chest trembled as she breathed. She looked like she was about to shake to the floor.
“We’ve gotta go,” she said.
Craetis limped to the stairs.
“Vera, we can do this!” Mika shouted, not taking his eyes of Dedrus.
Red flashed in her eyes. “Now!”
Mika and Deter pulled back. Dedrus halted his attack as
they exchanged knowing looks, agreeing to have a peaceful retreat.
“We’ll be back,” Vera said. A river of blood rushed down her dress, sparkling in the glow of the lamplights. Her wings fanned around Deter, Mika, and Craetis.
They disappeared.
“Godfuckingdammit,” Dedrus said.
He ran into the study to join the others. Kid, rising from the two halves of the table, followed after him.
“They know we have the Antichrist!” Dedrus exclaimed.
Treycore wiped sweat from his brow. Kinzer fell back against a bookshelf, his penis sliding across his thigh.
Kid hurried to Maggie and helped her to her feet.
“We need to leave…now.” Kinzer approached Dedrus at the door. “Vera could pop in at any second and nab her.”
“Naw,” Treycore said. “Bitch needs to find herself another hand. And she was already getting too weak. Her moves were slowing down. Probably only has a few teleports left in her.”
“And I saved them just for you, sweetlips.”
Vera stood between Kid and Maggie, sweat dripping off her arms and chin. She panted, desperately struggling for air. Stretching her arms out, blood spewed from her stump, across Kinzer and Dedrus’s faces as she lunged at Maggie.
“Stop her!” Dedrus cried.
Kid pounced on her back and wrapped his arm around her neck. Treycore slipped between Vera and Maggie. Vera’s arms wrapped around him, blood spraying across the room. Vera snarled as she, Treycore, and Kid disappeared.
“Fucking cunt!” Dedrus shouted.
“Get her!” Kinzer said, motioning to Maggie. “We’re getting the fuck out of here.”
***
What the fuck? Kid thought.
Blue moonlight illuminated a forest with trees nearly twenty times the size any Kid had ever seen. Foliage surrounded him on all sides. The hum of tree frogs came from every direction.
Kid sprang to his feet. The back of his jeans were soaked from the damp ground.
He glanced around worriedly. Was he alone?
“Fuck.” Treycore popped up from behind a cluster of ferns.
“Where the fuck are we?”
Treycore studied their surroundings. “A jungle,” he said. “Judging by the plant life, I’d say somewhere in South America.”
“Who the fuck was that bitch?”
Clipped (The Clipped Saga Book 1) Page 10
