by Michael Dean
I did a back flip off the stage in order to get some space between me and my rivals. The twins only grinned at one another and leaped way up into the air, landing behind me in a spread out fashion. I quickly turned to face them and they slowly started to approach as they twirled the stilettos in their hands maliciously.
“Shall we, sis?” Molina grinned and came at me from my right.
“We shall,” Sierra replied, tracking me from my left.
I took a defensive stance and waited for them to make the first move. It didn’t take long for them to engage me. The two of them started slashing away with their daggers at the same time. I ducked and pivoted, successfully dodging their initial attack. But just as I thought I was ready to make an offensive strike, Sierra knelt to the ground and swung her leg around at my feet at the same time Molina chopped me across the neck in a clothesline fashion and knocked me to the ground on my back.
Sierra then leaped up off the ground and cocked one of the daggers back behind her in order to stab me with it as she tried to land on me. I was quick enough to roll out of the way before she could hit her mark and she stabbed the dagger into the stone flooring, which made it spark like a loose car battery cable from the force of the impact.
My wings pushed me to my feet just in time to see Molina spinning and twirling next to me. I blocked one of her jabs with the dagger with my forearm, but I wasn’t fast enough to react to another one of her spins and she slashed me through the side with the stiletto from my backside.
I cried out in pain right as Sierra came somersaulting my way. I brought in one of my wings in order to protect myself as she one-two’d me with a couple of kicks. I pulled my wing back to counter her but I was too late and she cut me above my knee with the dagger. This caused me to sink down in pain. They were fast…really, really, fast. By far, they were quicker than anything I had ever come across before; maybe even faster than Christian.
As I tried to rise, Molina kicked me square in the face and it sent me flying backwards, crashing into the lengthy dining table. The section I smashed through buckled and busted. All the fancy plates, lit candles and goblets upon the table either flew into the air and shattered when they hit the ground or fell and busted all over me.
“This…is the great hero that defeated Agrelia?” Molina antagonized me.
“Couldn’t be. He’s much too…slow. This one is no match for our Lord,” Sierra added.
“No, he isn’t.” I made it back to my feet. “Looks like we’ll be able to take care of him ourselves.” The two of them laughed.
“Well…then come finish it.” I waved them over to me as I dusted myself off with my wings. I still wasn’t sure if they had the demon dagger or not, but I had to fight them like they had one in each hand from here on out.
The twins adhered to my request and both of them leaped into the air and came straight at me. I jumped up and met them in the air and they took an assortment of shots at me, which I was able to block or avoid. I was finally able to get my hands on Sierra and tossed her. I sent her crashing to the floor below me and Molina started hacking away at me with her two stilettos, landing stabs with both of them in one of my wings. A few feathers came out and it stunned me, but I was able to grab her by one of her arms as she took another swipe at me. I chucked Molina in the same manner I threw Sierra. It worked in my favor because Sierra had gotten back up and leaped at me, but Molina came crashing into her, which caused both of them to go smashing back to the ballroom floor.
I landed on the floor next to them and bent over to do more damage. But like a pair of break dancers, the two of them spun off their backs by spinning their legs around in the air and both of them kicked me about four or five times all over my upper body.
In no time flat they were back on their feet, swinging, thrusting, and kicking at me as fast as they could deliver. I managed to bob and weave my way out of their offensive strikes, even managing to throw some blows of my own the process. I used my wings and arms to hit them in any manner I could, but they were just as fast, if not faster at blocking or dodging everything I hurled at them.
For a short while it was just one huge flurry of offensive and defensive maneuvers between the three of us. Some hits connected, some didn’t. Regardless, we were throwing them with reckless abandon.
Finally, as odd as it sounds, there was a break in my luck when Molina stabbed me in the chest and couldn’t pull the dagger out right away. I grabbed her and pulled her to me just as Sierra took a stab at me with both of her stilettos. Molina screamed in pain as her sister pierced both daggers into her back. This instantly caused Sierra to hesitate in shock, giving me a second to discard Molina to the ground, pull out the stiletto from my chest, and lunge at Sierra.
My attack was a direct hit. I stabbed her in the neck with the weapon and she let out a blood curdling scream. In one continuous motion, I turned around and slugged the now standing Molina, who was reaching behind her, trying to pull out the daggers in her back. She went flying into one of the stone walls, causing an indention where she hit. Rubble fell from the wall upon her impact. I turned back to see Sierra pulling the stiletto out of her neck and taking another swipe at me. I blocked it with my wing, which caused her to drop it. I grabbed her with both hands, knelt down, and cranked my body around, throwing her with everything I had at her stunned sister. She shot like a cannonball at her sibling and slammed into her with enough force to blow out another section of the wall before they landed outside.
I knew they would be back in the ballroom in a heartbeat, so I leaped to the ceiling and crawled across it until I got to the skull and bone chandelier. A large chain, much like the ones that had held me in the caverns, supported the weight of the enormous light fixture. I pulled it free from the ceiling and started to swing it back and forth. I got some real momentum going by the time I saw the twins enter the room together. They looked around the room for me. This worked in my favor because it slowed them momentarily. They stood so close together that I let the chandelier go with a final swing, hoping it would land on the both of them.
Right before the fixture was about to make contact, they looked up. The expression on their faces was priceless because they knew instantly that the chandelier was much too close for them to make an escape. It hit them hard and knocked them to their knees, but I didn’t get the desired effect I was looking for. I thought it would crush them into the ground and shatter in a million pieces; but it didn’t. Instead it landed around them and trapped them both within the structure of the chandelier. They were standing close enough together that it didn’t smash upon hitting them, but rather just lodged around them.
Knowing it would be merely a few seconds before they would free themselves, I shot off the ceiling and landed beside the struggling siblings. Wasting no time, I grabbed the chandelier and started to spin them around like I was going to shot-put them, and that’s exactly what I did. When I let them go, they rocketed into the stage. They barreled into it, completely knocking out a section of the riser. The three thrones tilted and fell into the crevice that was created from their impact. The chandelier exploded and bones flew in every direction.
I didn’t delay making my next move and flew at the fallen twins. Molina stood up from the rubble, pushing wood, bones, and rock off of her. Her back was to me as she tried to gather her wits. I didn’t give her that chance. I was going in for the kill. I balled up my fist and swung it with all the force I had so I could take her heart. But when my knuckles struck her body, I realized something was quite different.
Upon making contact, I hit something very hard and it actually echoed. At least the punch knocked Molina back into the ruins as I pulled my fist back to look at it. I knew she’d only remain confused for a second, I thought it best to strike again, so I reached down and pulled her out of the mess. I spun her around so she was facing me and punched her again. I met with the same results. I hit something very hard, something very…metal.
I was so distracted, and a little frustrated by
not being able to kill Molina for whatever reason that I forgot about her sister. Sierra had gotten free of the rubble and charged at me. She leaped into the air and hit me square in the chin with a flying kick. This knocked me clean across the room on my butt. I knew they would be coming at me in no time, so I quickly got back to my feet. But what I saw was the twins casually dusting themselves off as they walked out from the pile of bones, rocks, and wood.
Not wanting to give them an opportunity, I charged at them.
“Stop, hero!” Sierra called out to me as she looked at her unsteady sister.
I ignored her command and kept coming at them.
“If you kill us, you condemn your love. She will die tonight if you proceed,” Sierra warned.
“She’s probably dead already,” I pointed out.
“I assure you—she is not,” Molina added.
“How can I possibly believe you? All you’ve done is lie and mislead me. Seems killing you two will help me feel better and hurt Shimmer at the same time. I see that as a win-win.” I power walked up to them.
“But it won’t be a win…will it? Your beloved Shade will be…dead.” Molina kept on.
“When Shimmer sees that we have returned to him, a little worse for wear, but unharmed, then the events for All Hallows Eve will go on as planned,” Sierra promised.
“A slight change in the script, but the opportunity to defeat Shimmer and save your love will still be in play for you, hero,” Molina contributed.
“How do I know that what you say is true after everything Shimmer has pulled? I don’t trust a damn thing you or Shimmer say,” I snarled at the sisters.
“Then you can take your chances and try to kill us in order to find out if what we say is true. Or—”
“Or what?” I interrupted Sierra.
“Or, you can wait until The Ball of the Dead,” Molina finished.
“And if I wait…Shade will not be harmed?”
“We guarantee it,” they both said at the same time.
I stood in silence, unsure what to do. I wanted to kill them, that is, if I could figure out why my punch didn’t penetrate Molina, but I had to take the chance in order to make sure Shade was okay. Chances were that they were most likely lying to me again, but I had to play the fool one last time to hopefully secure Shade’s life for a few more days.
With as much hateful sincerity as I could dish out to them in warning, I let them know I accepted their bargain with conditions.
“Let me put it to you two this way. If I leave, only to come back and discover that Shade was killed prior to my return, I will show you…and Shimmer no mercy when I lay my wrath down upon all of you.” I pointed to them in a menacing manner, “I will kill every last vampire left in existence. Even if it is the last thing I ever do.”
Silence flowed between us for a few seconds as I glared at the half-smirking twins.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Molina replied.
“What do I need to do from this point? Where do I go?”
“You will return to us at midnight on All Hallows Eve,” Sierra said as the two of them started to circle me.
“Where?” I groaned.
“The coliseum known as ‘The Cavity’,” Molina concluded.
“At the highest point of Devil’s Tooth Mountain on the outskirts of Romania?” I made certain.
“That’s the spot,” both of them confirmed in unison again.
“I’ll be there.”
“We knew you would.” They grinned.
“So, for now, relax. Go enjoy your last few days on this earth…in existence.” The twins started to chuckle.
“Same to you,” I warned them, which stopped their chuckling in an instant.
With that, they were gone in a flash. The next move I had to make was to make sure the freed humans, and of course my best friend, were safe in Transylvania. I ran out of the opening in the wall and flew out to find Scruffy and the group that followed him. Hopefully they hadn’t become vampire food by now.
Chapter 4
RETURNED
I landed just on the outskirts of the town. The reason behind that was, of course, so the human population that dwelled within the area didn’t see some winged humanoid flying around in the night. I could have changed into shadow form, but although less noticeable, I was still visible. It’s always best for me to appear human when I can.
After I touched down, I wasted no time in jogging into town as quick as my legs would take me while trying not to attract any attention to myself. I searched a few of the local shops and alleys with just a simple walk by. I found Scruffy and the group of humans at a small local market.
“You made it back.” Scruffy walked up to me in relief just outside of the store.
“Yes, but we don’t have much time to waste. No deal was struck to secure your safety or theirs from the vampires. Have the appropriate calls been made alerting people to their whereabouts?”
I stared at the humans who were flocked together inside the store still, afraid to come out with good reason. They looked dirty, ragged, and worn down due to what they’d been through over the past months.
“Yes. It wasn’t easy, either. No one, except this kind old couple that runs this store, would let us in.”
“I told you. They fear the backlash from the vampire clans.”
“Well, whatever. I’m the only one who hasn’t made my call. I was about to until I saw you.”
“Well, don’t.”
“What do you mean…don’t? How are we going to get back?” Scruffy looked perplexed.
“By flight.” I walked past him.
“You have money for a plane? I still have to call my parents and let them know I’ll be home soon. It’s going to be a long flight,” Scruffy insisted.
“Not really.” I pulled open the door to the market to go in as Scruff followed.
“What do you mean…not really?”
“I’m the plane—and I move fast.” I stopped before going in and turned to grin at my confused buddy.
A look of fear came over his face, “Oh hell no! I’m not doing that again.”
I stopped in the middle of the store before getting to the humans. “Yeah, that’s been eating at me and I haven’t had time to talk yet. That’s how you got here? Someone took you by flight?”
“Pretty much.” He shrugged.
“Who brought you to me?” I was totally confused.
“Argento.” He shrugged again.
He spoke as if I was supposed to be familiar with the name.
“Who’s Argento?”
“You don’t know?”
“No, I don’t know,” I sarcastically replied.
Scruffy placed his hands on his hips and just shook his head. “This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”
“What are you talking about, man?” I urged him.
“Dude, just forget it for now. We can get into that when we get back home. Let’s just get the hell out of here. This place is giving me the creeps.”
I nodded in agreement and turned my focus to the group of anxious people staring at me. “Listen up, your safety still isn’t guaranteed. Wait here as long as you possibly can—”
An old couple interrupted and began speaking in Romanian. “They will be safe here for now, but they can’t stay for long.”
The animated way the old man spoke made me assume that they thought none of us would be able to understand them, but I, of course, did, and answered them in their native tongue.
“Thank you for what you are doing. I cannot repay you for your kindness.”
The couple looked at each other in shock, obviously not expecting anyone to speak their language.
“There is no need, just make it clear that they need to leave this place as fast as they possibly can. We will keep them here until then.”
I nodded at them with a smile and focused my attention on the anxious humans, who were darting their eyes back and forth between me and the old man as we spoke.
&nb
sp; “What did they say to you?” Scruffy inquired.
“Listen, these kind people will allow you to stay here for a little while. But you must get out of here as fast as you can. Keep calling parents, friends, authorities back home, whoever you can, to get you out of this place A.S.A.P. Scruffy and I must leave right now.”
“Where are you guys going?” Scruffy’s friend Meredith spoke up for the group.
“You’ll be fine, hun. I’ll come see you when you get back…all of you that live in Mountainside…I’ll come see you,” Scruffy answered.
“C’mon, Scruff, let’s go.” I nodded in appreciation at the old couple and they returned the sentiment. Then I turned to the embattled group and did the same thing, assuring them that things would be okay from here on out; even though I didn’t know that for sure.
Just as we were about to walk out the front door to the little market, a female voice called out, “Thank you.” I turned to acknowledge the whole group one more time with a smile and then we walked out of the store.
The two of us headed down the street so we could get to the outskirts of the town. People were peeking from behind closed curtains at us. It appeared that the word was out about the strange people in their town. I guess Scruffy, doing the right thing of course, going door to door to find someone that would help them, kind of sped up the process. With all of the suspicion and uncertainty going on with the patrons of Transylvania, a very eerie vibe was in the air. I didn’t sense anything evil, just uneasiness. The streets were dead empty as Scruffy and I continued our walk out of the location.
“You think they’ll be okay, Leo?” Scruffy voiced his concern.
“If there’s one thing that I’ve learned, bro, nothing is certain about this mess we are all in.”
“And what is it exactly, we are into? I mean, vampires, kidnapping, Shade’s diary that says you’re a demon or something like that, flying people…things…whatever.”
“Just like you told me, I’ll answer that when we get home…and when we get a free moment to do so, but right now, we gotta get back as fast as we can.” I stopped when we reached a safe point for me to take off. We were a short distance away from the town now.
