Will. Time. Fate.

by Andrew Yake

  The surge of power that go through me is like a bolt of lightning and I am Zeus wielding it without hesitation. There is no flash of light or bolt that is seen by any other eye, except for hers. The resulting power surge is felt by both of us.

  “Hey what the…” Jane jumps back and stares at me in disbelief for a moment.

  “Be healed bitch.” I say with the mock TV evangelist tone and smile. I feel powerful and playful right now. I will enjoy this while it lasts.

  “What?” Alex comes over and stops cold as I put the books back in their places on the shelves, without moving a muscle.

  “See what I did there?” I say excitedly.

  “Wonderful, just wonderful.” Alex does not seem all that pleased, but simply turns his back to me and walks back toward the desks with the surveillance screens.

  I smile at Jane. “Did you see?”

  “Yes, and it was beautiful. I saw light and warmth and…” She looks perplexed for a moment. “Something else, something darker.”

  “We’ve got company.” Zack yells to us from where he is standing, next to Alex. Alex punches in a code and the room goes completely dark. Now the only light I see is from Alex’s arm and Jane. I find myself wondering how we will be stealthy with these two glowing, but I hope that only I can see it.

  ******

  The room became washed in darkness and the three of them sat in wait for Benny. There was a small stream of light that flooded the entrance to the room from the opening in the wall. Zack posted himself closes to the doorway and waited with his bat in hand.

  Soon enough Benny appeared. He was silent and moved gracefully. It was a gracefulness that did not fit with the hillbilly exterior. His boots made no sound as he stepped forward. Zack waved toward him to get his attention and motion him forward. Zack brought a finger to his lips as if to tell Benny that he needed to be silent.

  Zack motioned for Benny to stop at the entrance and then pointed to the tripwire across the bottom of the entrance. Benny smiled and tipped his hat toward Zack while silently mouthing the words “good job pup”. He stepped carefully over the wire and moved in next to Zack. The light that was coming in from behind them seemed to be messing with his ability to see easily into the dark room. Benny looked down at the bat in Zack’s hand and smiled.

  Zack took a step into the room along the far wall as he had done when he first arrived. He continued to step farther from the light with Benny next to him. Things seemed to be going according to plan as Benny continued deeper into the room with Zack.

  “HA HA HA” Benny started laughing loudly and slapping his own leg as if he had just heard the funniest joke of his life. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’ hep mysef!” He laughed again.

  Zack looked over startled from the loud noise that Benny was making with his laughter. “Shhh!” Zack hunkered down lower as if he was attempting to hid from people who could hear the noise farther in the room. This was an act that he believed would get Benny to stop making noise, but it only served to make Benny laugh even harder. This time he slapped Zack on the back like a friend who had been present for the aforementioned funny joke.

  The slap on Zack’s back reverberated through the room and Zack was rocked forward off of his feet. He landed face first on the ground. Benny continued to laugh for a moment. Then he went silent. His voice became harsh. “Do ya think I’m some sort of igit? I hear all of ya’ll and I know that dis is a trap. Yer understandin’ is faulty. Yer da ones trapped.” Benny took a step forward toward Zack and kicked him with his boot. There was a loud crack as the boot connected with Zack’s ribs. Zack’s body was lifted from the ground and sailed through the air toward Alex.

  Alex was able to move out of the way and started moving in fast. Five more people entered the darkened room at the same time. Two of the individuals tackled Alex as he was rushing toward Benny. “I got me some hepers.” Benny’s voice rang out loud and clear as the true scuffle began. There were screams from a female, one of those who had rushed Alex.

  Jane jumped into the fray from behind Benny while his attention was turned toward Alex. She struck down violently with her blade. Benny moved out of the way before she could make contact. “You’s a feisty one ain’t ya?” Benny spoke from the shadows as he continued to move and circle Jane’s position. “I done found ya. Gods be praised.” Benny lunged toward Jane.

  Jane was surprised that her blow had not connected, but she did not dwell on it and had circled along with Benny as he moved and talked. When Benny lunged at her, she sank down with her blade raised and rolled forward in one fluid moment. The blade sliced along Benny’s chest and caused him to scream in pain. She came out of the roll with her .45 drawn and fired into the dark where she believed he would be. The bullet went into Benny’s shoulder as he started to recover from the cut he had received.

  “Bitch!” Benny screamed in his nasal tone.

  “Fang.” Jane replied evenly. She did not wish to kill him, but she also had to keep him from leaving. She was unable to move to help Alex and she had no idea if Zack was even still alive. Jane kept herself between Benny and any possible chance of escape. She listened to the thumps and screams of the other vampires that had entered. She heard Alex rip into one of them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of his metal arm lift upward and separate the head of one of his attackers. She could not make out exactly what else was going on, but she figured it only be a matter of time before more came for her.

  ******

  I watch the battle with some amount of awe at the fluidity of Jane and Alex. They move and circle their attackers with grace and accuracy. True, the attackers are graceful, but they seem to be relying on brute strength with very little talent for fighting. Their speed far surpasses that of Jane and Alex, but each time they get close to striking, it seems as if the move has been anticipated. I am amazed by the sparks that fly off of Alex’s arm every time he makes contact with one of the attackers.

  I find that I am upset by Zack being kicked across the room, but I am more mesmerized by the lightshow that unfolds before me. Alex grabs a female attacker by the throat and squeezes with his metal hand. Then he violently jerks his arm up and separates her head from her torso. The amount of strength and violence required to accomplish this is staggering. I understand how the human body is put together and I know that the muscles, bones, tendons and other tissues would not give that easily. His feat of strength and rage cost him. There are three others who jump him right away. I have lost track of the fifth vampire and figure that it is probably about to jump on Jane.

  I decide that it is time to stop this. I lash out with my mind. I pull on the strength of the others and cast the spell to cause Benny’s blood to boil. He is the only one that we actually need to keep alive. He screams and falls to the ground. I turn my attention toward the three vampires that have started to subdue Alex and will them to be thrown into the back wall. I feel my legs weaken slightly and pull harder on the life forces that I am connected to as I call forth more power.

  The force is violent and lacks grace. They are thrown and the impact causes blood to spatter in all directions along the wall. I reach out to the closest one to Alex who is on the floor and decide to separate his head from his body in the same way that Alex had, but I am only using my mind. I succeed, but it requires a tremendous amount of will to accomplish this. The vampire screams in agony right before his head is ripped from his body.

  My focus on testing my abilities on these poor defenseless creatures has left me vulnerable. My hubris has cost me I realize only after I feel pulled backwards and thrown against a wall. I feel the fangs bite into me and then immediately pull away after the first suck upon my neck. I am bleeding, but my blood burns in the vampire’s mouth. He screams obscenities at me. “Bite me, ass-hat!” I say weakly. I feel woozy. I have miscalculated how much one bite can take out of me. From the corner of my eye I see a figure, Zack. He rises to his feet and I see him start to change as his colors start shifting violently and I can see a diff
erent type of magic that I have yet to see explode all around him. I know that I can decide to pull on the life forces to heal myself or I can give Zack time to get to me by casting the blood boiling spell on this vampire. My decision is one of self-preservation.

  21

  Beast within

  My last moments of consciousness, I see my life flash before my eyes. The kick from Benny has crushed my ribcage. I can taste blood in my mouth as I sail through the air. Lights flash across my vision as I crash to the floor. I cannot breathe from a rib that has broken and pierced my lung on the left side.

  Pain floods my senses I am only vaguely aware of yelling and the sounds of fighting from somewhere around me. I smell death. I believe it to be my own. I had wondered if I would see my love, Hailey, one more time before the end of my life. I suppose now I have my answer. I only wish that I could have done more. I wish that I had been a better son to my mother. I wish that my father had never left us. I cough blood. It flows freely out of my mouth. All is dark and I fade.

  The pain is unbelievable and I find that I am angry. Angry at Benny for using me. Angry at my mother for abusing me. Angry that I did not have more time with Hailey. Angry at Jane for making me feel like less of a man because I cannot fight as well as her. Angry, I am angry. I don’t want my last thoughts and feelings to be on anger and failure. I think of the last happy memory I have of my family.

  We sit outside at a campsite. My father has just made hotdogs over a campfire. I feel warm and loved. I think of how he puts his arm around my mother and kisses her on the head. I remember the smell of burning wood. I remember how my father had told me stories of monsters that lived in these woods, but he had romanticized the monsters and talked about how they lived in communities in the woods and protected nature. I remember watching the clouds as he spoke. I remember how bright the moon is while he talks.

  The moon. My mind is fixed on the sight of the moon. I feel the strength of the moon and love how it casts light bright enough to overpower our campfire. I cannot think of anything else now. The moon consumes my mind. The pain is drowned out as I picture the moon. The moon light is transformed as I open my eyes again. I can see.

  I feel the pain rocket back to me as I sharply suck in a deep breath of air. I can see again. I can see well. It is like when I was being chased in the tunnels, only clearer. My nerves feel as if they are on fire. Every fiber of my person tingles and pain radiates from every inch of me. The pain in my chest is replaced by the feeling of every bone in my body breaking. I scream out in agony, but my scream is covered by the sound of a large bear or snarling wild dog. I cannot tell if it is one or the other, both at the same time perhaps.

  I push against the ground with one hand and I have thrown myself back from the floor. My back hits the wall. My bones still feel as if they are breaking. The room seems as if it is getting smaller. I feel my muscles tense and my clothes become too tight to hold them. My shirt rips into shreds against the force of my body expanding. Everything is happening so fast that I cannot register everything as my feet burst from my boots and my pants rip the same way that my shirt had just done.

  I see my hands have become monstrous and there are claws on the end of each finger. I scream again as I hear my blood rushing through my veins. I smell everything. My senses are sharp. The pain is now gone. I tower over all those in the room. My head can almost touch the twelve-foot ceiling of this cavernous room. I am a predator and I feel my predatory senses at work. I feel the rage sending me forward to rip apart my enemies. I want to kill and smash everything that is in my way.

  I see a tall dark-skinned predator standing over Allison screaming obscenities. She is hurt, but I do not care about her as much as I care about ripping my target limb from limb. I bound forward. The ground shakes under my approach. I scream again and again it comes out as something other than human, but I know, on some level, I am no longer human. I like it. The strength and power that I have in this moment is tempered by nothing.

  I reach the first of my prey before I need to take another breath. I have come up from behind him and grabbed both of his arms. I yank my arms outward and both of the foul smelling old things come off. He is screaming now in pain. This pleases me. I grab his skull with one of my massive hands and squeeze hard. My palm is over his forehead and my fingers are touching the back of his neck. When I squeeze I feel my fingers sink through his skin as easily as squeezing a tomato. There is an explosion of blood and brain matter. The smell is terrible I rip the head from the shoulders turn and throw the disembodied head at another that is near the one-armed man I call Alex.

  There is a wet splatting noise as the head impacts the head of the other creature. I bound toward the three predators. They are lined up nicely for me. There is a table in the way and I fling it to the side as I bound forward as if it is weightless. One of the creatures lashes out at me with a weapon of some sort. It is a bat with spikes, my bat. I feel pain as it rips into my skin. I break the bat like a child with a twig. I use the broken half that is my hand to skewer the face of the one who swung at me. Again, more blood sprays out. I am even more pleased. The smell that these beings have is offensive to me and I am enraged by their presence and proximity. I am bleeding, but I feel my skin closing over the gash on my chest. I grab the skewered thing and the other one that is closet to me. I swing the two of them to the ground violently and bring my jaws over the arm of the non-skewered thing. It is lashing out at me.

  The arm in my mouth comes off of the thing with ease. It tears off like wet paper when I clamp down on it. I turn my head and spit the arm out. I see it fly across the room and hit someone. I recognize who I have it, Jane. It knocks her to the ground. I do not care. I wish more death and destruction on these things that offend my senses. I tense both of my clawed hands on the faces of these offensive creatures. I can feel my fingers in the softness of their brains. I put my feet upon the chests of these two individuals. I hear gun shots. I feel the impact of bullets. They sting, but it is more of an annoyance than actual pain. Pain is what I am giving to my prey. I pull my hands upward while standing on these things. I hear them scream for a moment and their heads come free.

  I turn, a head in each hand, and face my next victim. This one smells vile and afraid. It smells wonderful. I bask in it and toss the heads to the feet of the one who has fired his gun at me. His hands sake slightly and I can tell he is about to run. Good. I want to chase him. He fires his gun and bears his pointed teeth to me while he does it. The bullets pierce my chest. My body pushes the bullets back out as I flex my muscles and my skin heals. I am on him in the blink of an eye and my right clawed hand goes through his chest. I grasp his spine through his chest and I wrap my fingers around it. I bring his body up so that I can see his face on my eye level. I see his teeth still are still pointing at me. His breath is offensive and he is clawing at my face and punching my nose. I use my other hand to reach into his mouth and rip out his teeth in one swift move. Blood pours out of his screaming mouth.

  I swing him downward and feel his back snap under my grasp. He still screams at me. I know he is in pain and I relish it. This one shot me, many times. He will hurt for his foolishness. I rip into the soft flesh of his belly and start removing his insides. He continues to scream. I remove his head. He screams and fights against me no longer.

  I turn and see one more. I know this one. He had kicked me while I was down. I step toward him. I can tell he is already in pain. He will hurt worse now. I take another step and I am about to jump toward him when I hear the one I call Alex yelling at me and step into my way.

  I swat him away with my hand. His frame is strong and does not give like the others. He is able to move out of the way just enough to keep from receiving the full brunt of my hand. I turn on him as he persists to be in my way. He foolishly rushes me. He wishes for death and I will give it. I scream at him, but my scream is cut short as his shiny arm makes contact with my mouth. I taste my own blood. He does not stop he is on top of me now. He swings his b
ody around me while using his shiny arm to hook around my neck. The touch of the shiny surface on my skin burns. I feel pain. I feel weakness return to me as I am being choked from the strength of his arm. I try to shake him from my body, but I am unsuccessful in my efforts. He is too strong and will not release his hold on me even when I ram myself into several walls.

  My vision starts to darken. I no longer have the strength to fight. Something about this man’s arm is pulling my strength from me. I fall to the floor as the room grows larger. I try to push against the floor one more time and I am able to throw myself and this man against the ceiling, but still he persists. We hit the floor and I take the full force of both our body weights combined. I feel his knee in my back and he is pulling back with his metal arm against my throat as he pushes forward with his knee. I am weakened further. He is heavy and I am weak. I feel darkness descending once again over my eyes. I feel pain once again. I taste blood in my mouth again. I feel myself slipping from consciousness. I try to speak once more as I start to recognize voices and words again.

  “Stop! He is coming down now.” I hear Jane stepping toward me.

  “Please…” I manage to get this word out. The weight of all that I have just done starts to sink in. My following words are the last that I am able to speak in this moment before my vision goes dark. “I’m sorry.”

  ******

  Alex let up from choking Zack after Zack’s body went limp. Alex regarded the unconscious body of the young man as he unhooked his metal arm from around Zack’s neck and stood. Alex looked around the room at the mess. Zack’s clothes were in ribbons from the dramatic transformation that had just occurred. The clothing was strewn in pieces across the room and the young man was completely naked. There was bruising all over his body that was receding to normal colored skin as Alex watched.