by Stead, Nick
“Get up!” Will roared, kicking him again.
Another growl rumbled through my throat. The brutality might only have been to keep up appearances, but knowing that made it no easier to stand by and watch while the spirit I was finally coming to see as friend was bullied and tormented.
“What the fuck was that?” the same guard who’d dragged Gwyn out asked. “There something wrong with your friend here?”
The man addressed his question to Will but his eyes were on me. Somehow I managed to push the anger back down again and let my irises return to their human hazel before he could get more than a glimpse of my lupine nature. A second longer and he might have recognised me as a werewolf, but we were lucky. If he did glimpse anything he probably assumed it was a mere trick of the light.
“I’m fine,” I answered. My voice still had a hint of a growl around the edges, but it was human enough to fool them. “Are we doing this or what?”
Will drew one of his pistols and pointed it at Gwyn. I mirrored him. “Let’s go.”
“We’re right behind you,” the guard said, letting us take the lead.
I don’t know if Gwyn recognised my voice, but he had picked himself up just after I’d growled. He allowed us to escort him from the room, one on either side, with the Slayers not far behind. I felt like their gazes were boring into our backs, all eight of them keeping a watchful eye for any indication that something was amiss.
We’d just started down the corridor when the group of Slayers I’d heard nearby appeared. They came out of a room just ahead of us, five in total. One was a dark, short haired woman in civilian clothing, and the other four were more Slayers. The woman had a t-shirt with the slogan ‘I wish these were brains’ printed over the material covering her chest, which I couldn’t help but stare at. Not out of any kind of lust for the flesh beneath, but because it seemed as out of place in our current surroundings as Gwyn in his guise of a harmless human. There was also a warmth to those brown eyes and a softness to them which appeared to be missing from most other people involved with the Slayers, their eyes hardened by loss and darkened by hatred. Most of them had the eyes of monsters, but hers were still very much human.
Will came to a stop and the rest of us followed his lead. For the first time in all my dealings with him, I heard his heart rate increase slightly, though his face betrayed no emotion. Whoever this woman was, he saw her as a threat.
“What is it?” I whispered, as loudly as I dared.
He shot me a warning look but he did give me a reply, in a voice lower still, inaudible to human ears.
“David’s necromancer. She’s as much a prisoner as Gwyn.”
She didn’t look like a prisoner. There were no handcuffs around her wrists and her entourage of Slayers didn’t have the same wariness about them as ours did. I wanted to ask more, but it would only have raised further suspicions among our enemies. So I held my tongue, watching in silence as the group turned their backs on us and made their way down the corridor, in the same direction we’d been going. We trailed a little way behind.
At the end of the corridor the group turned left. Will began to turn right, but I didn’t follow. A crazy idea had taken root in my mind and I was going to act on it, no matter how dangerous.
“I’m going after her,” I whispered, peeling away from our group before he could stop me.
“What’s he doing?” I heard one of the guards asking. I didn’t turn round. My stride was bold and purposeful, just as Will had advised.
“He has a personal matter he wishes to discuss with Miss Hughes,” Will answered. I assumed that must be the necromancer’s name. “No need to wait for him. We continue on until we have the prisoner secured and ready for transport, and he can either catch us up or make his own way from here.”
“So thoughtful, as always,” Gwyn said. “Don’t worry about little old me. I don’t mind waiting if you want to wait. When you’ve been around as long as I have, a few minutes isn’t even a blink of an eye.”
“We keep moving,” Will insisted. I imagined what he really wanted to do was curse and tell me what a fool I was being, and perhaps even knock me unconscious and drag me outside, but then our enemies would have known we were not truly following orders as we’d claimed.
And why had I gone after this woman I’d never met before? I couldn’t really explain it in the moment, let alone now. Maybe in the back of my mind I was thinking she could be a powerful ally, one it was better to have fighting with us than against us. Lady Sarah might have had some skill at necromancy as well, but I’d witnessed this Hughes woman not just raising corpses as zombies, but taking complete control of vampires too. Her power as a necromancer went far beyond that of Lady Sarah’s. And if she was also a prisoner of sorts, then there was a good chance she might join us if we freed her. Or at the very least I would hopefully be depriving the Slayers of what was surely one of their greatest weapons.
I’m not entirely sure I was thinking that logically in the moment, or how much of that thought process factored into my impulsive decision to rescue her as well as Gwyn. All I know for certain is the idea came to me and I felt it was the right thing to do.
“Wait,” I called out to the group, still striding towards them. Running didn’t seem to fit the image I was trying to present so I kept to a fast walking pace.
“Yes?” one of the men asked, turning to look at me. The others stopped as well, their expressions questioning.
I had no idea what I was going to say. Inwardly I cursed myself, realising I hadn’t thought any of this through before rushing in.
“I need to talk to Miss Hughes,” I answered, taking inspiration from Will.
“What can I do for you?” the necromancer asked.
“In private,” I said.
“Four of us to guard her at all times, you know that,” the Slayer replied. “If you’re another poor sod who’s just been recruited and wants his family resurrected, you’re out of luck. Necromancers raise corpses, not people. And you don’t want to see your loved ones walking about as zombies, trust me.”
“Why so many to guard her when she’s so powerful?” I asked. I turned my eyes back to Miss Hughes. “Surely you can look after yourself?”
The Slayer looked at me like I was stupid. “Because she has a rare gift. Now if that’s all, we have reports of vampires in the area. We’re to escort Lauren over there so she can aid in the capture of them without too much bloodshed. The last test subject just died; we need new specimens.”
“Of course,” I said, inwardly puzzled. She seemed to be doing what they wanted willingly enough, and they were obviously happy to take her out on missions with them. So why had Will called her a prisoner?
They turned away and continued down the corridor. The smart thing to do then would have been to go after Will and make sure we got Gwyn safely out of the base, alive and free to either come with me, back to the coast and then on to Canada, or go his own way. But if I always did the smart thing, I might never have crossed paths with the werewolf who bit me. The smart thing that night would have been to let our parents give us a lift home. Instead we’d insisted on walking back from the cinema, and some of us had paid the ultimate price. And so there I was, cursed to live with my lycanthropy and embroiled in a war I need never have known was raging if I’d stayed human.
I made another split-second decision, more reckless than the first. Lauren couldn’t be allowed to stay with the Slayers, that much was clear to me. And we might never have another chance to get to her, or at least not one as good as the opportunity I had right then. I needed to seize it while I still had the element of surprise.
The gun I was carrying was only ever going to be part of the disguise. Without any training I knew I stood no chance of hitting my enemies, even though it would have been far easier to pick them off with bullets than it was fighting with tooth and claw, or even blades. I knelt and placed it as quietly as I could on the floor, eyes fixed on my targets. They didn’t look back and a moment later I
’d risen up again, dagger in hand and my rage rising to the surface. I let both the rage and the bloodlust drive me as I charged the group, not even stopping to consider what would happen if more Slayers appeared. It was exactly the sort of reckless behaviour I was supposed to have given up, but I was committed to seeing this through now.
They did turn at the sound of my footfalls crashing towards them, heavier for all the armour and the boots I was unaccustomed to running in. If I’d been thinking clearly, I’d have tried approaching them as an ally a second time and dispatched the first two the same way I’d seen Will do outside the base. But the thought didn’t occur to me till afterwards and so I went for my usual method of a fast and brutal attack.
Despite being slowed somewhat by the armour, I was still on my first victim before the group had time to react. I pinned him against the wall and stabbed the dagger into his throat, eyes blazing amber as I locked gazes with him, watching his own eyes widen with shock. There was no time to savour the kill so I withdrew the blade and released him, the attack lasting only a matter of seconds. He slid to the floor where he clutched at his throat and gurgled wordlessly.
The other three were raising their guns and taking aim as I turned to deal with them. I took a step towards my next target and grabbed her wrist in my skinny human fingers, crushing the bone with a strength most people would never have guessed they contained. I could feel the bone splintering beneath my grip, her screams filling my ears as her weapon fell to the floor. Another stab of my knife put an end to her cries, but it was all the alarm her allies needed. There were shouts from behind me, Will’s voice among them.
Chaos reigned then. The other two Slayers were opening fire and I had to dive for cover, not trusting the armour to protect me from their ammo. Unlike the members disguised as a police firearms unit, this was likely designed to stop tooth and claw, not bullets. Maybe it did have some bulletproof qualities as well, but since most undead favoured melee weapons, they probably had little need for bullet proofing, and I didn’t want to risk it.
“You two stay with the prisoner; you six with me!” Will yelled. There was the sound of more footfalls coming my way.
More gunshots came from behind, forcing me to keep moving. Without the means to open any of the doors, I was trapped between the two groups of enemies and unable to take cover. But I had Will in my favour, reluctant to trust him as I was.
To the other Slayers it must have seemed like the attack had come from nowhere, and it all happened too fast for them to put the pieces together until it was too late. I dodged their bullets as best I could, waiting for a gap in the burst in front to make my move.
As they eased off the triggers to take aim once more, I rushed forward again and stabbed my third victim in the throat, then grabbed the fourth for use as another human shield. Will’s group came to a stop a few feet away, forming a deadly wall of gunfire sealing off that end of the corridor.
More bullets than I could count ripped into my shield’s body, blood gushing from the holes and spilling across the floor, where it lapped at our feet in a growing pool of crimson. Three of the Slayers stopped to adjust their aim while the other three prepared to fire off a burst. But without warning, Will turned and fired into them, and as I’d suspected, their armour couldn’t withstand the deadly hail he unleashed. All six went down, but I could hear more rushing to join the fray, from all directions. They’d soon have us surrounded if we didn’t push on.
“Behind you!” Will warned.
In all the confusion, I’d almost forgotten the necromancer. She had a blade in hand, her fingertip shining with a bead of red. That first bead began to fall, dripping to the floor to join the mess we’d already made. Words I’d heard once before formed on her lips, words in an ancient language I didn’t even have a name for, let alone an understanding of what they meant. But I knew what it was she chanted.
My first victim had gone silent, his eyes lifeless, yet at those words they swivelled in their sockets, focusing on me. Obeying a command he was as powerless to resist as I had been with Jaken’s orders, he started to get to his feet. And silently I cursed my mistake. How could I have not seen this coming? She was a necromancer and I’d just given her new servants to call upon. Of course she’d raise as many of the corpses as she could, if only to defend herself. Though I’d yet to see any evidence she was in fact a prisoner as Will had claimed, so she could be helping the Slayers willingly for all I knew.
“Lauren, we’re not your enemies,” I said, backing away from the reanimated corpse. A second began to rise, and a third. Four of the dead were staying that way, but one of the Slayers shot by Will had just succumbed to his wounds, the life fading from his eyes and his body growing still, only to start moving again a moment later. We’d have no way of truly stopping them other than killing Lauren, and with more Slayers on the way, I didn’t want to be held up ripping zombies into pieces too small to pose a threat.
The necromancer didn’t seem to hear me. She continued chanting, two more corpses getting to their feet in answer to her call.
“I was told you were a prisoner here, but you don’t have to be,” I tried again. “Come with us!”
Still she kept up her chant, her voice growing louder and her eyes closed in concentration. Almost all of the corpses were rising with her voice, even though the laws of probability surely dictated a bigger percentage of them should have stayed dead. Lady Sarah had once explained only corpses whose souls were trapped on the Earth could be raised as zombies. From what little I knew of ghosts (and admittedly that was only the bits and pieces of folklore and theories from occultists) they were often created by violent deaths, so I supposed we might have doomed most of the Slayers we’d just killed to an eternity of wandering restlessly across the land. But it seemed equally likely, given what I knew of the Slayers’ methods, that many of them were bound for Hell. Yet here their souls were, back in their earthly remains for as long as Lauren’s necromancy bound them there, and to she as their mistress. Or should that be queen? Given the power she held over the dead, the title of queen seemed far more fitting.
“Nick, we have to go,” Will said.
“No,” I growled. “Not without Lauren.”
“I promised to help free Gwyn. The necromancer was not part of the bargain.”
“Why can’t we free them both while we’re here? She’s the kind of ally we need on our side, and I’d rather not leave her with our enemies.”
“Do you want to get out of here alive or not? We’re going to have to leave her. Now come on!”
As if to drive home his point, Will squeezed off a quick shot aimed at Lauren. I don’t think he really expected it to land. One of the zombies threw itself in the path of the bullet, but his features showed no surprise or frustration or anything like that. His face remained impassive as he turned away.
I took one last look at Lauren, but she still didn’t seem to be aware of anything other than her own power she was channelling through the ancient words. Then the first of the zombies lurched forward to attack, and I needed no further persuading. I broke into a run, allowing Will to set the pace since he knew the way.
It didn’t take us long to run back to where Will had left the two remaining guards with Gwyn.
“What’s going on?” one of them asked.
“Another vampire attack,” Will said. “They’ve come for Gwyn. We need to get him out of here, now!”
They took him at his word. Will grabbed Gwyn’s arm to keep up our cover while we escaped, and together we ran for the exit. It was another hidden passage to the outside world, meant for emergency evacuations. I guessed they must have taken prisoners that way before though, since none of the real Slayers had questioned Will’s desire to use it for transferring Gwyn.
We were so close to freedom – I could smell the fresh air wafting through from the other end of that passage. But there were more Slayers hot on our trail and the two guards with us finally seemed to sense something was wrong.
They
came to a sudden stop and looked to be about to ready their guns. Will never gave them a chance. He fired off two quick shots and they went down, clutching holes in their legs and screaming curses of rage and pain, blood oozing between their fingers. That made them less of a threat, though they were still capable of causing trouble. Gwyn helped himself to one of their semi-automatics and kicked the other out of reach, so at least they couldn’t fire on us the moment our backs were turned.
But more were coming. I’d not particularly noticed any security cameras, but they were bound to have them throughout the building. Someone had probably seen what looked to be one of their men turning on Lauren and her guards, as well as a high valued prisoner being escorted from the base. Will’s story would only hold up for so long. Eventually someone was going to realise he’d never been given orders or authorisation by any of their leaders to move Gwyn elsewhere. No doubt they were coming in force, to recapture the knocker and either kill us or capture us as well.
Will looked at me. “Go.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, surprising myself with the question. It wasn’t like I really owed him anything, especially considering he’d not done anything to help out of the goodness of his own heart. I’d not forgotten what his master had told me, and his apparent desire to kill me if Jaken hadn’t forbidden it. “That’s going to be a lot of guns for one man to face alone, even for a servant of a powerful demon like Jaken. And I think you’re past the point of talking your way out now.”
“My master will see me through this, if He still has use for me up here. If not, then I will face my fate in Hell.”
“I’m not so sure He will. If He truly prefers not to meddle, He’ll probably cut His losses and find a new servant, rather than risk interfering so directly.”
Will shrugged.
“Nick, it’s nice to see you being caring and all,” Gwyn said. “You know, as a change from your usual murderous self. But if he wants to sacrifice himself, then might I suggest we let him get on with it, and make our escape so his sacrifice isn’t in vain?”
