Burn (Drift Book 3)

by Michael Dean

  I was walking by him as I mentioned this, studying the exit above us as Scruffy absorbed what I said.

  “Wait…vampires? What do you mean…vampires? Those things are real?”

  “Yes,” I whispered, “and if we don’t get you out of here, you’ll become their lunch.”

  Scruff just looked around the cavern with his mouth open.

  “Wait…wait…wait. Argento didn’t say a word about vampires.” He panicked.

  “Well, they’re here…hold on—who’s Argento?”

  “Forget Argento! Get me the hell out of here if there’re really vampires around! First I have to deal with your little attitude, then I get put directly into harm’s way—”

  “Well, if you hadn’t acted like such a spoiled little brat and been patient and waited for me—”

  Then Scruffy interrupted me. “Spoiled brat! If you would have been a big boy—”

  The next thing I knew we were shouting over each other in a very immature and ill-timed little catfight. I started to shush him when I heard the sounds of the steel doors being tampered with.

  “See what you’ve done,” I whispered and smacked him in the chest.

  “What I did? That’s the gratitude I get for saving your butt. I don’t wanna die in here. Let’s fly out the hole up there. Get me as far away from here as possible, Leo.” He began to pace nervously in a circle.

  Then something came to mind. “I’ve got a better idea.”

  “And that is?” He stopped pacing.

  “You’re gonna be the bait.” I grinned at him sadistically.

  “The what?” he shouted. I had to shush him again.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll only be a distraction so I can get the jump on who comes through that door. You’re gonna be just fine.”

  “Why is it every time you tell me not to worry…I worry?”

  I could only smile at him and directed him to stand at the front of the pool facing the steel doors. I flew to a spot on the ceiling just above the door and held on. Scruff stood in place, shaking in anticipation. I knew it was probably Murgit coming through the door. The doors beat and banged a little more and began to slide open. I could tell it was indeed Murgit because he was humming as he started to step foot into the cavern.

  “What’s this? Who are you? What are you doing here?” Murgit shouted at a sheepishly grinning Scruffy who innocently waved at him.

  I watched Murgit shuffle into the room.

  “What is a human doing…?” Murgit glanced behind my friend and noticed the chains were broken and I was no longer there. “What have you done?” Murgit screamed.

  “You mess with my boy, you mess with me.” Scruffy tried to sound tough but it came out more like a plea than an order.

  Murgit shot over to him in a flash and grabbed him by the throat. “I will suck you dry, you ignorant kid.”

  Scruffy’s fearful eyes glared at him as he whispered, “Go for it.”

  I rolled my eyes and shot from my hiding spot. I grabbed Murgit by his jaw, turning his face back to me.

  “Just like you, blood blister, he’s got very powerful friends.” Murgit could only gurgle a response as I squeezed him a little tighter. “You aren’t laughing now, are you…ya little peon.” I reveled in anticipation of my revenge.

  Murgit released his hold and Scruffy started to taunt the odd vampire. “Yeah, take that…mess with me and see what happens.”

  I glanced over at my friend and gave him a dirty look. Just as I was about to plow my fist through Murgit’s body and rip his heart out, I thought about the humans that may be trapped in all those cells I passed up. I wanted to set them free and thought it might be a better idea, for now, to keep our ex-prison guard around and then send him as a messenger back to Shimmer. I unclenched my fist and spun Murgit around, punching him in the face. The force of the blow shot him across the cavern and he crashed into the wall.

  “Yeah! That’s my boy!” Scruffy cheered me on.

  I simply looked at him again and Scruff just shrugged. I marched up to the stunned vampire, picked him up with one hand, and pulled him to me.

  “I could kill you right now…and I should, but I have a better use for you.”

  Scruffy heard what I said and quickly went into a panic. “You’re not gonna kill him, Leo? You gotta! He’s gonna come after us…me!”

  “Don’t worry, man—I got this.” I stared into Murgit’s eyes. “I’m going to release every prisoner in the Caverns of the Forgotten…and you’re going to take me to all of them. After that, I’ll release you and you can let your master know that I’m coming for him…and for Shade.”

  Murgit started laughing. “We’ll just hunt them down and kill them as they scramble through the countryside like rats. You’re dooming them to an immediate death if you do that! Then my master will kill your beloved.” He continued giggling.

  I pulled him closer. “No, he won’t. He’s invited too many of you blisters here for an event. Shimmer is a showman, he’ll come through with his promises…one way or another. And another thing, you won’t hunt the humans we’re about to free, because if you do, you’ll be the first vampire I kill today. Understood?” I grinned at him.

  His eyes just darted from side to side in fear as he stopped laughing and nodded in agreement.

  “Leo, I don’t mean to sound heartless or anything, but I want out of here first. I don’t want any more of these…things to come in here looking for you.” He pointed at Murgit, who I was pulling out of the cavern doors by his neck.

  “I need you to lead them out of here. You can’t leave yet.”

  “What? What do you mean? I’m not familiar with Romania!” He jogged up to me as we approached the first door in the corridor after leaving my cell.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll show you where to go.” I reached over with my free hand and ripped the small steel door off its hinges.

  “It’s okay, you can come out. Don’t fear any harm,” I called out to the cowering person kneeling down in a corner of the darkened cell.

  Very slowly, the figure stood and walked toward us. As she neared, she fully came into view. I realized this girl went to school with us, and apparently so did Scruffy.

  “Meredith, is that you?” Scruffy sounded shocked.

  The girl exhaled in relief and hugged him, “Mark! I can’t believe it’s you! Were you imprisoned here, too?”

  “No, I’m here to help.” Scruffy patted her back.

  “There are more of our friends in the cells. They brought us here after the party that night.”

  It seemed that Scruff’s anxiety subsided about sticking around to aid once he realized that people he knew were trapped in the caverns.

  “What do I have to do, bro?” He looked to me for instruction.

  “Once we free them, take them to the town a few miles away. I’ll show you when we get out of here. Run as fast as you can with them and find a way for them to call their relatives, friends, or whoever from back home. If there are people that aren’t from our town, have them do the same. Don’t count on the local population to help you, they’re slaves to the vampires and won’t help you for fear of backlash. Wait for me wherever you go and I’ll find you.”

  “What if the vampires hunt us down while we’re waiting for you?”

  “That’s precisely why it will be safe for you as you wait.” I shook Murgit. “I’m going party crashing.”

  “What do you mean?” Scruffy looked perplexed.

  “I’m gonna be the distraction you need. A little payback is coming to our captors. They’re gonna be very busy dealing with me. Plus, I’ve gotta find Shade.”

  “Sounds horrifying…let’s do it.” Scruff half smirked.

  I swatted him on the back and we started rushing from cell to cell. I’d rip off the door and another person would come scurrying out. Scruffy was even getting confident enough to go in after some of the more reluctant ones. Some rooms were empty, but that still didn’t stop me from ripping the doors off the hinges in ord
er to make sure. It took a few minutes, but we eventually explored every cell in the caverns. I pressured Murgit to make sure there wasn’t any more to explore.

  Nearly twenty petrified humans tagged along behind us as we reached the final door that led to the outside world.

  Chapter 3

  CRASHER

  “You pathetic humans will never get home alive!” Murgit tried to intimidate the nervous flock that hesitantly stepped into the fresh air after we opened the doors.

  “Shut your mouth.” I smacked him across the face. “No harm will come to you…I guarantee it—just follow Mark and stick together. Call your homes when you get to town.”

  I drug Murgit with me as I led Scruffy and our followers to a point on the cliff where they could see the nearby town.

  “Right there…hurry,” I demanded as I pointed to the town below. Scruffy wished me luck with a handshake and called out for the horde of humans to follow him.

  I watched them get a safe distance away before letting go of the squirming Murgit with a shove. It had taken time for Scruffy to get some space between us and night was setting in. Murgit landed hard on the ground and slid backwards a few feet.

  “I’ll laugh when my master takes your life.” He jumped up and starting giggling.

  “You won’t get the chance because you’ll be dead,” I promised him. “Now go tell Shimmer I’m coming for him and Shade…go!”

  My temper was starting to flare as Murgit took off in a flash towards the castle sitting on the next hill over. I was fully ready to unleash all the fury that had been building up within me since I’d been a prisoner here. But with that anger came patience. I wanted to make sure Scruffy had been given enough time to get to some measure of safety.

  Finally when I deemed it was time for a little payback, I turned my attention to the castle. I started out with a jog that quickly gave way to a dead sprint. I felt like I was moving faster than I ever had before. I turned around to look behind me as I was moving and noticed that I was running so hard and so fast that trees and shrubs that once stood behind me began to uproot, buckle, and break, only to be sucked towards me like they were in a vortex. Even the largest of the trees began to bend like they were in hurricane force winds. Everything was disrupted in the wake of my turbulence. I knew I was growing stronger.

  Once I reached the sharp decline of the very tall, almost mountain-like hill that held the Caverns of the Forgotten, I shot myself off the cliff and straightened my body out. Everything paused and got quiet around me for a moment as I became weightless in mid-air. I focused on a portion of the castle where I would make my entrance; a stone wall at the base. There wasn’t any reason why I chose that particular area to make my entrance. I just trusted my demon instincts that sensed a concentration of evil brewing from that portion of the imposing structure.

  I thrust out my wings as I dove towards my designated target area. I wasn’t going to knock on the front door in order to enter the castle, but I wasn’t going to kick it in, either. I was going to enter in a manner so they knew I meant business.

  With as much brute force and speed as I could muster, I stretched out both arms in front of me and aimed. I was moving so quick I actually sonic-boomed. In seconds, I slammed into the stone wall that surrounded the base. It sounded like an explosion. Dirt and rock fragments flew in every direction as the castle shook like it was hit by a bomb.

  I got to my feet. I didn’t want to go slamming into a horde of vampires and be at an immediate disadvantage, or even worse, slam into some unsuspecting humans that had nothing to do with this fight.

  I couldn’t see a thing as I stood in a cloud of debris, but I heard the sounds of something moving about in the chaos. As the fog from my mess slowly cleared, I could see that I was standing in some kind of ballroom. A gigantic chandelier of bones and skulls lit by candlelight swayed from the ceiling. I could see a couple of bodies picking themselves up from the floor when I entered. Large and small rock had shot everywhere into the room, even landing upon an extremely lengthy dining table that sat in the middle. There were also vampires holding different musical instruments in a corner of the vast room. The rest of the flock appeared to be in mid-dance as their arms and hands were still intertwined around one another.

  My instincts had once again served me correctly as realized I had burst right smack in the middle of their large celebratory ball. All eyes were now resting angrily upon me.

  “Am I overdressed?” I spoke.

  “Leo!” A scream bellowed out from the opposite side of the room.

  My attention was immediately drawn to the scream—it was Shade. I saw an elevated area, almost like a stage, where Shimmer sat on a giant throne of yet more skulls and bones. To his left and right, sitting on much smaller, but identical thrones, sat Sierra and Molina. All three were glaring straight at me. Behind them, in chains, stood my beautiful girlfriend, a little worse for wear, but still clearly human.

  The sight of her being chained completely enraged me. I glanced at all the vampires still standing stationary, peering at me. They were nothing more than weak obstacles between me getting to Shade.

  “You make quite the entrance, Leo. The earth rumbled at our feet before your…magical appearance,” Shimmer declared.

  “What can I say, I enjoy showing up fashionably late.” I glared at him then glanced at my girlfriend, who sported a renewed look of hope upon her face. I also noticed a smirking Murgit poking his annoying face from behind his master’s chair.

  “My friends, most of you have had the distinct pleasure of meeting half of the main attraction at The Ball of the Dead on All Hallows Eve.” Shimmer stood up from his throne and waved a hand around in introduction. “But for those of you that haven’t, let me introduce you to the slayer of Agrelia, the hero who claimed Diccittidel and the recent thorn in my side, Leo Cutler.”

  All the blood suckers in the room peered at me with a snarl. I cracked a half-smirk.

  “Let’s show our uninvited guest how we treat rudeness…shall we?”

  All vampires in the room went on the offensive.

  “Kill him!” Shimmer screamed. It was on. Shimmer slid around his throne and grabbed Shade, freeing her before pulling her, screaming, into a backstage area. Sierra and Molina remained seated, eagerly anticipating the impending battle about to unfold. Murgit followed his fleeing master.

  I didn’t want to wait for the vampires to come to me, so I marched into the ballroom with purpose, swinging and punching anything that came near me. My goal was the stage so I could follow Shimmer and Shade. A slew of blood blisters charged me. They couldn’t touch me. I was in a blind rage. Some of the vampires fell victim to my death punch as I penetrated their cold torsos and pulled out their hearts while others received a punch from either a fist or one of my wings which sent them flying across the room.

  I was carving a straight line across the ballroom, heading right to Sierra and Molina, who were arrogantly watching the fight from upon their perch. Vampires kept coming in waves at me, young and old, male and female. It only took a single punch most of the time to dispose of them. I was taking them out so easily I never took my eyes off Shimmer’s mistresses, who just glared at me with almost an aroused look upon their faces.

  Before I knew it, I was standing at the base of the platform where the beautiful seductresses were sitting. I was taking out the last remaining vampires that still had the courage to come at me. Quite a few of them had fled in terror when they realized they weren’t strong enough to stop me. Before I knew it, only one elder, male vampire remained. He was swinging wildly at me and I dodged every blow he threw. I played with him for a moment before putting him out of his misery. I grabbed hold of him in a bear hug and began squeezing. He gurgled a bit as he turned his head to face his two grinning leaders, who watched on in pleasure.

  His eyes popped out of their sockets and shot on the floor in front of them just before I broke his back and bent him over backwards. I then discarded the broken vamp. I smiled up a
t Shimmer’s twin brides before reaching down to the busted, but squirming body that lay at my feet and punctured it so I could take his heart. Once it was in my hand, still beating, I tossed it up on the stage. It rolled between their feet before it turned to ash.

  “Impressive.” Molina raised an eyebrow.

  “Impressive indeed, sister.” Sierra smiled and turned to her sister.

  “I’m glad you ladies liked what you’ve seen. Now…if you don’t get out of my way, you will quickly join him.” I thrust my wings and landed on stage in front of the still seated vampire queens.

  “You have to admire his courage, eh, sis?” Sierra said, keeping her attention on her twin sister as if I was no threat.

  “I suppose. But you can’t disregard his sheer stupidity…stupidity that will lead him to his doom.” Molina turned away from her sister and gave me a look of condemnation.

  “What a shame,” Sierra said as the two of them stood from their thrones. “Having to destroy such a specimen. No wonder the human loves him.”

  “Mmmm, yes, such a pity, but our Lord’s wish must be fulfilled,” Molina added as four weapons, one for each of their hands, slid out from underneath their skin tight, long sleeves.

  They twirled the weapons around in their hands, preparing to use them against me. Once they were aimed in my direction, I could see that the four daggers were some sort of stilettos; extremely unique. The weapons appeared to be solid silver, from the daggers’ ends to the handles. They were detailed with black inlay to look like snakes with the serpents’ heads adorning the handle with its mouth open and fangs out, looking ready to strike. But the most striking feature that caught my attention about the stilettos were the diamonds reflecting from the eyes of the snakes. They were remarkable.

  Now, these weapons weren’t the demon dagger, of course, and couldn’t kill me, but they sure could do a lot of damage; a perfect remedy to slow me down enough to actually stab me with that very item. How was I supposed to know who currently possessed the demon blade? Not to mention that Sierra and Molina were the most powerful vampires after Shimmer. This battle would be no easy task.