by Stead, Nick
“Such a disappointment. I had expected more from the last surviving werewolf,” he growled, still acting like the lion he believed himself to be.
The internal monstrous form of my rage strained against the chains I’d placed on it and knowing it was my last faint hope, I finally unleashed it in a rush of primal fury, snarling and writhing beneath my opponent. It was no good, the vampire’s strength too great for me to dislodge him through my own brute strength, even with the aid of my rage. Unwilling to add to his enjoyment I reined my anger back in and fell still and silent, waiting for the end. I expected to feel fear again in the face of certain death, but the cold calm remained and there was only acceptance of my fate.
“There is nothing more beautiful in life than the moment of death. I have shared more with you than I ever have with any other creature. It is only fitting I share with you your death.”
His grip tightened but there was no sense of excitement or anticipation from him like he’d described in the memories of his earliest murders. Just that infinite emptiness, completely devoid of emotion. Still, I knew this was it. My time had finally come.
Chapter Twenty Nine – Demonic Intervention
A growl of displeasure rent the thick, putrid air of Hell, causing the tormented souls chained to the stony walls in this lair of horrors to writhe in fear, each praying not to be picked as the latest form of stress relief. Regardless of who they’d been in life and how great or terrible their deeds, each now existed purely for the amusement of the demon who’d claimed them. There was no fate worse than the eternal agony each endured, constant and unending, but their current suffering was as nothing compared with the times when He turned the full force of His anger on any of them.
Beads of blood and sweat rolled down the human souls, the heat from the fire blazing in the corner unbearable. But the demon needed the flames which acted as a window to the mortal realm, where He could watch the happenings taking place on Earth and influence them as needed. Like a puppet master, He pulled the strings of the beings who interested Him, nudging events in the direction He desired. Yet there was more at stake here than the amusement to be had from the suffering of these living souls and the dark emotions to feed on, and the time had come to act again.
Ideally He would have preferred not to have to directly influence events yet but like the rest of His kindred, He dreamt of the day when they would unleash Hell on Earth and revel in the suffering of the living as the world burned. The Demon Slayers had driven them back into Hell all those centuries ago, but one day they would return to the mortal realm in force and no man would stand in their way, Slayer or otherwise. That day was closer at hand than most of the other demons realised, too intent on tormenting the souls of the damned to notice much of what went on in the world of the living. He alone was aware of the coming shift in the balance, and the young werewolf was central to that. So He had no option but to interfere, in order to keep the werewolf alive.
The insane vampire threatened His plans but it wasn’t so easy as simply removing him from the equation. The vampire’s soul had already been claimed by another, one who rivalled His own power and whose wrath He wished to avoid, which meant He couldn’t directly harm the vampire in any way.
The demon fixed His intent on the fire where the images of the world above danced across the flames, focussing on the vampire until it held nothing but his eyes, burning with flames of their own, the fires of madness. Despite the bestial growl He’d made, He currently looked like a mutilated, black haired man, four gashes like claw marks across His left cheek giving Him a lopsided, skeletal grin, and another ran down over His right eye, the bone marked with a long scratch in the middle of each cut. Red slit eyes fixed on the vampire’s and He whispered softly, knowing His voice would be the loudest amongst all the other voices clamouring for attention in the vampire’s skull.
Once He had the vampire’s attention, He raised His hand palm upwards to His shoulder, where a tarantula crouched. The spider crawled onto its master’s hand and at another whispered command it rubbed its abdomen, flicking the bristly hairs into the fire and the image of Leon’s eyes. The hairs didn’t burn in the flames but instead passed through, into the mortal realm, and flew into the vampire’s eyes.
The demon didn’t wait to see what happened next, instead moving the image on to another part of the woodland with a lazy flick of His hand, in the same way a mortal would swipe a touchscreen device. He used His power to search the area until He found a deer nearby, and this time whispered a command to the boa constrictor coiled around His body. The snake slithered into the flames and also passed unharmed into the mortal world, where it reared up and sank its fangs into the deer’s neck before it could bolt, wrapping itself around the animal and squeezing the life from its prey. But instead of swallowing the carcass, the snake’s form collapsed into a shadowy mist, much like the barghest’s had done, reappearing at its master’s side moments later.
Satisfied He had sufficiently manipulated the night’s events to keep them on course, He refocused the fire on the two undead and sat patiently, watching and waiting once more.
Chapter Thirty – Hunted: Part Two
The vampire’s nails were starting to bite into the flesh of my scalp, slowly drawing closer to the vulnerable brain tissue. I had no doubt they would dig through my skull with ease. The pressure was building and I couldn’t help but imagine the death that was surely only minutes away – seconds if he wished. I could see the moment where the bone crushed as if it were no more than an eggshell, blood and brains exploding outward, my life along with it.
Just as the pressure was becoming unbearable, something whispered through the trees – a strange supernatural force. It couldn’t be felt physically and yet the woods were suddenly bursting with life, animals who’d been cowering in their dens in the presence of two unnatural predators now fleeing from an unseen terror.
Leon whipped his head round at the sudden disturbance as he listened to voices only he could hear, probably telling him to kill them all, though his grip on my head remained strong. But then he hissed in pain and his hands released their hold on my fragile skull, suddenly raised to his own face where he pawed at his eyes and shook his head to try and clear them of whatever was causing the irritation, like the animal he still believed himself to be. It was all I needed to break free.
I’d been given a second chance at life and I took it, heaving my body with every ounce of strength I had, enough to throw him off balance and wriggle free. I was up and running again before I really knew what was happening, desperately trying to think of a plan. I didn’t look back but I knew I had only moments before the vampire turned his attention back to me.
Built for endurance as wolves are, my body was running too low on energy and I knew I couldn’t go on for much longer. My muscles were aching with exhaustion, the cold air starting to sting, though my lungs gasped for more. I was beginning to pant heavily, my chest heaving with the exertion, and before long I started to feel a light headedness that probably meant I would collapse if I pushed myself on much further.
I came to a stop behind the thick trunk of a particularly old tree and leaned back, keeping myself as flat against it as I could. If the vampire had followed over the ground this time I should be hidden from his field of vision, though I knew I couldn’t count on that, and it would only be a matter of time before he located me with his other senses. As soon as I caught my breath I had to push on.
Had he been any other creature I could have laid in wait and ambushed him this time, but he was a vampire. He had all the advantages. It wasn’t just his superior senses or speed and strength but the fact that, when it came to hunting each other down, he could evade me far more effectively than I could hide from him. His body didn’t need to breathe like mine did, nor did his heart need to pump. I wasn’t sure if they could control it but their bodies only needed the blood of the living to keep them going, and the usual necessary bodily functions didn’t apply. That meant even when my brea
thing grew much quieter as it returned to normal, my heart becoming calmer, no longer thudding as loudly, he could still listen for these tell-tale signs of life and pinpoint my location with ease, whereas I might as well have been blind to my surroundings again. He could be feet away, utterly silent and downwind, and I would never know he had drawn so close until he struck – again. And I knew there would be no second chance this time.
There was no hope of him brushing against a leaf or snapping a twig either. Vampires just weren’t that clumsy and with his training and centuries of practice, he really was the perfect predator. The wolf in me might have felt we ruled these woods, but we paled in comparison to our adversary.
I wanted nothing more than to collapse right there on the woodland floor but to do so was certain death. With an effort of will I forced my aching body onwards, feeling the last reserves of energy burning up with every movement. I needed to pick the place I would make my final stand or I wouldn’t have enough energy left to fight. Knowing my situation grew ever more desperate, I tried to think of any area in these woods I’d come across before that might offer some advantage in a fight. As I sifted through memories of the lay of the land I began to think it was hopeless, but then I settled on the one place that might offer the advantage I needed.
With a destination now in mind, I pushed myself to a full sprint, praying the vampire wasn’t too close behind. A plan was forming as I ran. Foolproof it wasn’t, but it was the best I could think of in such desperate circumstances. It was the only shot I had at coming out of this alive, since there was no way I could beat the vampire in a fair fight, especially when restricted to my weaker human form and with so little energy left to me. So I forced myself to keep running, vowing to myself that if it was my fate to die that night I would at least take the bastard with me; he who had pretended to be my friend, only to prove as false as the rest of them.
Just when I felt I couldn’t run any further, the mental image of my surroundings indicated I had reached the right place. I sagged to my knees momentarily, grateful for the brief respite, when a welcome smell reached my nostrils.
At first I didn’t dare believe my luck and was convinced my mind was playing tricks on me. But after a quick feel around on the floor my hands passed over it, confirming it was indeed real. I was surprised I’d not noticed the scent sooner, the hunger burning inside as it was. Or perhaps my subconscious had been aware of it all along and it was no coincidence I’d settled on this part of the woods for the fight. If I hadn’t been subconsciously aware of it then it certainly was a hell of a coincidence to find it here waiting for me in the very area I’d chosen to run to. That said, I was too exhausted to be suspicious. If it was some kind of a trap, the odds of me making it through the night alive weren’t that great anyway. I decided it was worth the risk.
I crouched over the carcass which my nose told me was that of a deer. The smell of blood thick in my nostrils, I lowered my face to where I sensed its soft underbelly was and bit into the flesh. The kill was fresh and mostly intact, though there were two large puncture holes in its throat where something seemed to have bitten it. I couldn’t be sure what exactly had killed it but it didn’t seem likely it was the vampire’s doing, at least. He tended to be considerably messier, judging from the state of the victims Ulfarr had found and revealed to us all. I wondered if it was maybe connected to the supernatural force we had felt earlier.
Ripping my way through to the deer’s organs, I knew I didn’t have long to eat with the vampire surely not far behind now – if he wasn’t already here. I ate the liver and kidneys as well as the heart, knowing these organs were the best source of sustenance which is why only the alpha and cubs may feast on them in a natural wolf pack. They would likely give me the greatest amount of strength and energy I needed to defeat the vampire.
As I ate, I could already feel fresh energy flooding through me. Even though my body couldn’t digest the food that quick, I felt better just for having a full stomach. I didn’t know how it worked since the usual laws of nature didn’t exactly apply to the undead – all I knew was that I had to feed between transformations and doing so gave me the energy to change again. Once I’d eaten the organs I knew it was enough to return to my hybrid form, but first I crept into the ditch I’d been searching for, out of sight in the darkness of our surroundings and, I hoped, downwind from Leon. There was nothing I could do to hide the beating of my heart or the inhale and exhale of air through my lungs, but I tried to keep those vital functions going as quietly as possible while I crouched there, waiting for the vampire to come stalking by.
It seemed my luck was in once again. Leon trod so softly over the bed of dirt, twigs and fallen leaves that his approach could easily be mistaken for little more than the stirring of a faint breeze. But with my newly enhanced awareness of my surroundings, I recognised the faint shifting of earth under the pressure of his ‘paws’ for what it truly was, and I bunched my muscles in preparation for the ambush I planned to make.
The vampire came to a sudden stop as if he’d sensed my presence. I held my position, knowing he was just out of reach and if my timing was even slightly off, I would lose the advantage of surprise, which was the only thing currently in my favour. Leon scented the air like an animal while I silently willed him to creep just a little closer to the ditch where I hid, my muscles beginning to burn with the discomfort of remaining tensed up. It seemed my one chance to emerge victorious wasn’t going to work after all, but then the vampire padded nearer as I’d hoped and my moment came.
In a rush of fury, my rage free again and my bloodlust roaring for the brutal death of my adversary, I burst from the shadows and fell on the vampire, taking him by surprise as I’d hoped. The successful ambush meant he wasn’t quick enough to react before we hit the ground, and I was able to sink my fangs into the arm he threw up to protect his vulnerable head. Teeth tore through flesh and blood splattered my body and the surrounding vegetation, but this was no mortal victim and it would take much more than a ruined limb to stop him.
Leon threw me off of him with his three good limbs, sending me crashing into a tree. I yelped from the impact, momentarily winded which meant I was a few seconds slower to pick myself back up. The vampire charged before I could recover and he sank his own fangs into the base of my neck, but my fur offered some protection, his elongated canines not quite as lethal as the lion he imagined himself to be. They were long enough to pierce through flesh and skin, but he only had upper fangs and they would have to nick my jugular vein to weaken and subdue me, which he hadn’t yet managed to do. Until then, the sensation of those two fangs tearing into the back of my muscular neck was merely a painful irritation, and I was able to twist my head round and savage the vampire’s collar bone, on the side of his good arm.
Leon was forced to pull away, the blood gushing from the wounds I’d dealt him making him weaker and evening the odds. But he wouldn’t give up his hunt so easily, and we circled each other slowly in the dance of the two great predators we were, each looking for an opening in the other’s defences to make our next move.
The torn flesh at the back of my neck was also bleeding profusely, but it seemed vampires suffered the effects of blood loss much quicker than creatures with living bodies still capable of producing their own blood. Starving his dead heart of the blood he’d taken from his prey, the very life he’d stolen from his victims, put him in a state akin to if he’d been starved all night. It gave rise to his hunger and the need to feed once more and regain the full might of his vampiric power. Even in his crazed state, Leon was well aware that time was no longer on his side. He needed to subdue me and make the kill he craved before he grew too weak, so he lunged for me, slightly slower than he’d been when the fight began.
I was ready for the attack and braced myself, taking a defensive stance like the one he’d taught me for hand to hand combat as part of the training he’d given me. I stood firm as he came at me, grabbing his thin frame in my monstrous clawed hands. Now evenly ma
tched, he struggled to wrestle me back to the ground so he could pin me down and rip my heart out like he had with his previous victims, or perhaps he’d smash my head open first like he’d been about to do before the strange presence had distracted him. Regardless of what he wanted to do, it was I who succeeded in throwing him back to the forest floor, and this time I was able to pin him down and keep him there. The world around us went quiet, save for my heavy panting.
“Finish it,” a familiar voice hissed from behind me.
“You came back,” I said, with some surprise. After the way I’d treated her over the last year, I hadn’t expected to see her again, especially as she’d already given me a second chance when I’d first left her to feed my rage with more blood.
“Finish it!” Lady Sarah repeated, more urgently.
“No,” I growled, after a pause. Leon remained silent, as emotionless as ever.
“He’s a murderer, Nick. The only way to stop him is through death. If you won’t end it then I will.”
“No. I can’t take back the atrocities I’ve committed, but I can resolve only to kill for survival from now on. If we take his life, how are we any better than him?”
“This is survival! He won’t hesitate to kill us, the next chance he gets.”
“Perhaps, but tonight I choose to spare him. We are not creatures of peace, but we don’t have to indulge in mindless slaughter either. My bloodlust is in check, and I choose not to lower myself to this vampire’s level.”
I released my grip on Leon’s head and stood. Lady Sarah lunged forward as if to finish him herself, but Leon found a last burst of speed in him, slipping away from her and running off into the night. I placed a hand on the female vampire’s shoulder before she could give chase, and she turned on me angrily.
