So Jill remained quiet.
Outside, a rustling wind stirred and she could have sworn she heard a voice on it… perhaps the very voice of Red Creek, issuing some sort of warning.
CHAPTER TWO
1
When Kara saw the Old Wright Barn through a break in the trees, her blood went absolutely frigid. She held up a hand to halt the rest of the Marked behind her. She could feel them standing still as they followed directly in her footsteps, as cold as she was. She held her gun out by her side and slowly started to bring it up. Her internal alarms were at full alert, pinging at every turn.
Something was definitely wrong here. She could feel it in the air, thick and electric.
“Kara…?”
It was Ray’s voice from behind her. His tone was hushed but panicked.
“Yeah?”
“Over there,” he said. “To the right…about two o’ clock.”
Kara looked away from the barn and scanned the area to her right. She saw something moving slowly towards them, vaporous and transparent. She could see the movement clearly but she could see no solid shape or form. It looked like some sort of amorphous ghost was coming directly for them.
It was moving extremely slowly, though. It seemed to Kara as if whatever it was did not particularly care about them.
“Head left,” Kara said. “Circle around to the other side.”
She walked to the left, arching around the barn while closing in on it. She heard the timid footsteps of the rest of the Marked following her. One of them—Penny, she was certain—was breathing heavily. Kara was suddenly very uncomfortable with Penny having a gun, especially while walking behind her.
Kara took several strides towards the cabin and then halted once again. Several feet ahead of her, she saw an exact replica of the bizarre sight they had seen to their right. There was another of the transparent shapes, moving slowly, almost like fog. It wasn’t necessarily coming towards them, but seemed to be making a point to cut off their route to the barn.
“What is that?” Paul asked.
“I don’t know,” Kara said.
“I thought it was a ghost at first,” Ray offered. “But there’s no real shape to it.”
“And it doesn’t want us getting to that barn,” Kara said.
“You think it’s some weird sort of force field or something?” Ray asked. “I know it sounds stupid, but—”
He was interrupted by a sharp whistling sound. They all looked towards the barn and saw something in the air, barreling towards them. Kara cocked her head to the side, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. It made no sense, but her instincts didn’t care. She reacted as quickly as she could.
“Down!”
She hated the fear in her voice, but it was all she heard. The thing in the air looked to be a large log, hurling towards them at ridiculous speed. Kara hit the ground just in time, feeling the wind behind the sailing log as it blazed her head. Behind her, she heard Ray cry out. Kara wheeled around and saw that he had not gotten out of the way fast enough. He had almost avoided it completely, but the very end of the log caught his shoulder.
Ray did a partial flip and hit the ground on his back. Kara noted the way the log had splintered when it struck him. It had come apart like cardboard, which let her hope that it had been too rotted and soft to do any real damage.
“Stay down,” Kara said to the rest of the group. She crawled forward, keeping her eyes on the transparent shapes in front of them. She was beginning to think Ray had been right. She thought they were seeing some weird sort of gate that the Guard had put up to protect themselves.
But Kara was currently more worried about where the hell that flying log had come from. It had been thrown with tremendous force and the thought of going toe to toe with something with that sort of strength did not sit well with her.
Kara crawled several feet further, worried about what those invisible shapes might do to her if she touched them. She glanced behind her and saw only Paul trailing behind her; Penny had stayed behind with Ray, propping him up against a tree and checking on his injuries.
When Kara turned back towards the barn, she saw a large shape step out of the trees in front of her. Roughly five feet from the side of the barn, it looked almost human but was far too big. She then remembered Saul and Jill’s description of the Guard. Wasn’t there a member that was basically a giant? Dominiscus, if she remembered correctly.
The giant began to run forward. As he did, Kara watched the wafting invisible forms separate to let him through. He let out a joyous roar as he spotted the humans, the sight seeming to speed up his pace.
“Open fire!” Kara yelled.
Kara aimed and fired with her own gun. Behind her, she heard the loud thunder of the shotgun that she had given Paul. Her ears rang with the noise but it was worth it. Paul’s shot landed true, taking the giant in the left shoulder. It stopped for a moment, as if registering the fact that it had been struck, and then kept coming.
Good, Kara thought. They can be hurt in their mortal forms. But it’s going to take a hell of a lot of ammo to knock this one down.
She fired, watching the giant twitch with each round that struck him. Further back, she heard the twin clatter of Penny and Ray as they began to shoot, as well. The giant seemed to slow a bit and Kara thought she saw the slightest signs of doubt on its face as it closed the space between them to roughly ten yards. Yet he kept coming, determined, and Kara wondered what sort of damage the giant would be capable of if he made it to them. He was taking direct shots like they were barely affecting him.
Kara paused for a moment and got to her knees. The giant named Dominiscus roared and this time, there was no joy in it. Kara aimed for the area directly between the giant’s eyes and fired.
Dominiscus' head snapped back but he still didn’t fall. He stumbled forward and when he did, he delivered a hard, clubbing blow in a downward arc. His hand struck Kara and all she was aware of was how huge it was; his entire hand was the size of her torso. It struck her in the chest and sent her flying backwards. Even before she struck the tree fifteen yards away, she knew that something inside of her was badly hurt. She felt a sharp pinch and something like a slow burning sensation just beneath her ribs.
When Kara collided with the oak that stopped her arc through the air, she heard and felt a few ribs break. Something in her back went numb and she started to taste blood in the back of her mouth.
The sound of a shotgun blast tore through Kara’s pain. She peered out through hazy eyes and saw that Paul had placed a shotgun round into the giant’s head. The beast stopped once more, stumbled, and finally fell.
After that, she heard Penny screaming and sensed the rest of the Marked rushing toward her.
The forest began to grow cold all around and then everything went black.
2
When Saul heard the gunshots start, he wasted no time. He didn’t even flinch. He simply started to run as fast as he could, dodging trees and leaping over anything that got in his way. Sure, it could have been nothing more than some of the final survivors of Red Creek trying to defend themselves against the unknown horrors the Guard had brought with them, but Saul didn’t think that was the case.
In fact, he knew with every sense within him that the gunshots signified something huge – the first stage of the war that the Guard had hoped to wage by coming here.
Behind him, he heard Polyxia panting. “I’m quite magical,” she said, “but I can’t run that fast.”
He turned and saw that he had left her quite far behind. Hating to waste the time, he still had no choice but to turn back and help her. Saul hunched down and allowed her to climb onto his back. Her brittle old arms crossed around his shoulder, then clasped along his chest with her bony fingers.
Polyxia was incredibly light. It felt like he was carrying a limp pile of sticks. Saul could barely even tell there was any added weight on his back as he once again started running in the direction of the gunshots. From what he could
make out, it was mostly small arms fire with the occasional boom of a rather large rifle.
He also heard a roar that was not human. He thought it likely belonged to Dominiscus or Aimon. This certainty put more speed into Saul’s steps as he continued to fly through the woods. He could smell the cordite from the gunfire and he was also picking up the scent of human fear.
He heard another roar, this one not nearly as monstrous and confident. It gave him hope that whatever was going on, the Guard was finding out what it was like to experience pain.
Then, roughly a minute after he’d heard the gunfire start, it came to an abrupt stop with one final blast of a shotgun. Beyond that, and through the smell of what he assumed had been at least three guns—maybe as many as four—he could also smell human blood.
It took Saul another four minutes before he saw the human figures running through the forest. They were moving slowly, one of them being dragged sloppily along. He recognized them right away and he was flooded with anger—at the Guard for hurting Kara and at Kara for so stupidly trying to take the Guard on by herself.
“Saul!” Ray called. “Help us!”
“What happened?” Saul asked as he drew up next to them. He let Polyxia down off from his shoulders as he took Kara from Ray and Paul. Penny looked on in tears, visibly shaken.
“The Guard is holed up in a barn just over this hill,” Paul said, pointing behind them. “There was a giant… it came running right for us. I think we killed it, but it got Kara before it died.”
Saul lay Kara down lightly on the ground and looked her over. “Polyxia, what can you tell?”
The witch came over and rested both hands on Kara. One hand went on her head and the other above her heart. Polyxia closed her eyes and concentrated. As she did, something behind them let out a wail of anguish that shook the trees around them.
“What the hell was that?” Penny asked.
“That was the Guard realizing that they can die now,” Saul said. “I suspect you did kill Dominiscus and that the other members aren’t taking it particularly well.”
Polyxia opened her eyes and frowned. “She’s alive, but she’s not doing well. Without the proper care, she may not last another half an hour. At least three broken ribs. Fractured spine. And something inside of her has burst open. She’s bleeding internally and that’s where the real danger comes from.”
“Can you fix her?” Saul asked.
“Not in this state. She’s just a human. Anything I do to her will only help her to come awake mired in pain. She’ll live for a while, in excruciating pain.”
Saul punched the ground in frustration. He looked towards the place where the Guard’s wail of pain had come from and sneered.
“There is one way to save her,” Polyxia said.
“I know,” Saul hissed.
He looked to Kara, fighting the anger and the most basic urges that came from his very core. He placed a hand under her head and tilted it forward, exposing her neck. He then focused all of his energy on Kara’s scent, smelling her skin and her blood. He looked to her neck and his fangs slid out.
He put his mouth to the pale skin of her neck and sank his teeth in.
3
As the world faded into black for Kara, it began to come into colorful focus for Nikki. It took a bit of effort for her to open her eyes but when she finally did, she felt like she had been reborn. She was well aware of the aches in her body, but they seemed secondary to the fact that she was still alive.
Nikki recognized the interior of Saul’s cabin and felt immediately at ease. Of course, she then saw the large hole in the front wall and grew alarmed. She sat up, wincing at a slight ache that ran along the base of her spine, and looked around.
“Saul?”
There was no immediate answer. Yet the one she got a few moments later reminded her of what had happened to her just before the pain had swept over her in the forest as she had escaped the attack at the Red Creek Library.
“Nikki? Are you okay?”
Nikki turned to her right, towards the hall that led to Saul’s bedroom. She saw Gestalt walking towards her and, for just a moment, she feared him. She remembered him as the Rogue that they had spent several days hunting, and one terrible night – fighting. But she then remembered that it had been Gestalt and Paula who had rescued her in the forests and, presumably, delivered her to Saul’s cabin.
“I think so,” she said. “Just sore.”
And then the totality of the day bowled her over. She literally lost her breath for a moment as she remembered the full extent of what had happened at the library. She grew dizzy for a second and thought she might black out again.
“Oh my God. Jill…where’s Jill?”
“We’re pretty sure the Guard still has her,” Gestalt said.
“What about Saul? Where is he?”
“He left about half an hour ago with Polyxia. They’re going to try to find where the Guard might be hiding out.”
Nikki stood up a bit too fast, getting to her feet with the speed of a spring jack in the box. She had to lean against the arm of the couch to steady herself. She took a deep breath and did everything she could to gather her focus and attention.
“Maybe you should rest a bit more,” Gestalt said. “You still don’t look like you’re feeling one hundred percent.”
“I’m not. But I’m also not going to sit by while Saul tries to fight the Guard.”
Nikki saw Paula slowly approaching from behind Gestalt. It made Nikki slightly angry to think about what these two might have been doing in Saul’s cabin while she had been recuperating and Saul was out there going through God only knew what.
“I told Saul that I would keep an eye on you while he was out,” Gestalt said. “I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be too happy if I just let you stroll out of here.”
“Are you prepared to keep me by force?” Nikki asked. She enjoyed the fact that Paula seemed to go stiff at her defiance. It was clear that she was uneasy. Nikki wondered, if only briefly, if she was really no better than Paula was. Was she just Saul’s slave? She didn’t think that was the state of their relationship, but seeing Paula so blankly subservient made Nikki feel both angry and bad for her.
“No,” Gestalt said. “I’m done with fighting. And I am certainly not going to make you stay. But if you leave this house, it won’t be alone.”
Nikki rolled her eyes. She began to realize that the longer she stood and let her frustration take the wheel, the stronger she was starting to feel.
“Then I suggest you get ready,” she said. “Because I’m headed out. Do you have any idea where they were going?”
“None. They were just hoping to piece it together as they went.”
“Well, if my experience at the library was any indication, I don’t think it would be so hard to find the Guard. They aren’t really much for subtlety.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Gestalt asked. Paula stood behind him, as quiet and useless as ever. For some reason Nikki couldn’t quite pinpoint, she didn’t care for her at all.
“Yes,” Nikki said, feeling her disorientation fading away by the second. “I’m not going to let Saul fight alone.”
“Fine,” Gestalt, clearly not liking her decision. “But if Saul asks, I put up more of an argument. Agreed?”
Nikki nodded, smiling. “You want to be out there fighting, too, don’t you?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
Paula finally spoke up, her voice soft and sweet. “I want to come with you.”
“No,” Gestalt said. “It’s too dangerous. You can’t go.”
“But I can help.”
“Paula, you can’t—”
“You two figure it out on your own,” Nikki said. “I’ll be outside waiting. I’ll give you two minutes and then I’m gone.”
Nikki didn’t wait for either of them to respond. She walked through the doorway and out into the porch where she could already feel something different about Red Creek spreading through th
e air like a virus.
It took Gestalt and Paula less than a minute to come to a consensus. Nikki was surprised to see Paula coming out of the doorway behind Gestalt. There was fear on her face, but something like satisfaction as well.
“You sure about this?” Nikki asked them.
“Yes,” Gestalt said. Paula said nothing; she just looked out into the forests as if she was uncertain of what she was doing.
“Okay then,” Nikki said and headed for the edge of the yard.
The three of them stepped into the forests and when they did, Nikki could clearly sense the danger waiting for them. In that moment, the slight aches and pains that remained within her body seemed to slide right off and all she could think about was fighting—and being beside Saul as she did it.
4
Ray threw open the passenger side of Kara’s police car. Behind him, Paul and Penny were carrying Kara’s body. There was blood around her neck, still wet and dripping down onto the ground in her wake. Ray had watched Saul bite into Kara and his first impulse had been to stop it, to fight the larger man. But there had been something like an unaware relief on Kara’s face as Saul had sunk his teeth in. None of the Marked had said anything; they had simply watched, putting their trust in Saul and Polyxia out of lack for anything better to do.
“Where do we take her?” Penny asked.
“We can go to my house,” Paul offered. “I’ve got more weapons there. Plenty of first aid supplies, too.”
“Yeah, she’s not looking to good, huh?” Ray said.
“I don’t know how she’s looking,” Penny said. “I just know that we watched a vampire bite her. And I’m not too comfortable with carting a vampire victim around town. How do we know how she’ll react after she turns?”
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