by Shook, J. E.
Reginald tried to step forward, but again he was stopped.
"Damn," he muttered. "I thought that might work. How about this. Blink once for yes and twice for no. Can I come in?"
The woman rolled her eyes.
"I really am sorry, it just my tick I have to live with. Can I please come in?"
The woman leaned forward as far as she could and focused deeply on Reginald as she blinked once. He got sick again as he tried to step forward.
"Okay, maybe I need to wait. I bet my mind was expecting you to blink again. One more time, can I come in?"
The woman focused even harder on Reginald and blinked once. He slowly counted to thirty as the woman struggled not to blink again. With confidence, Reginald stepped into the room and immediately vomited violently all over the floor. As his eyesight dimmed, he luckily fell backwards out of the room. For a couple of minutes, he sat against the railing and tried to catch his breath.
Once he felt stronger, he slowly stood and looked back into the room. The woman looked at him sadly. She could tell that he was trying.
"Alright," he said, looking up. "Alright, think of something." He struggled to come up with a plan, but nothing new came to mind. Shaking his head, he looked back at her. "You wouldn't happen to know morse code?"
The woman shook her head.
"Yeah, that would be too easy."
The woman made some strange noises that sounded like laughter.
Reginald smiled. "It shouldn't seem easy. You're right."
He stood there for a few more moment staring at the scene. He noticed her grunting heavily. "What is it?" he asked, refocusing on her. She motioned to the side with her head.
She kept moving her head to the side, then she began to alternate between staring at the wall and moving her head. Reginald looked that way and saw nothing of interest. "Is something wrong with the wall?"
She shook her head and began to grunt again. "What are you saying to me?" Reginald asked, trying to focus on her grunts. "Grrrheee? Great? No, umm, grit her? I don't know." The woman began to lose patience and tried more forcefully. Reginald frowned. "Go to hell? I'm sorry ma'am, but I'm trying my best here." She shook her head and tried again. He looked at the wall a moment, then slapped his forehead. "Get help, right?" She quickly began nodding her head.
"Sheesh, why didn't I think of that earlier?" he said. "I'll go get your neighbor. Don't go anywhere"
She rolled her eyes as he stepped backwards. As he turned to go next door, he bumped into what felt like a wall in his path. He shivered for the first time in decades as warm, foul breath washed over him. "Let us not bring more food to the table," a deep voice said in the darkness.
He looked up and saw a lumbering humanoid gazing down at him. The figure was blocking the light, making any attempt to identify the intruder impossible. The only thing Reginald could see was the massive build of the person. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice coming out weakly.
He heard a chilling laugh. "I have gone by many names, but my favorite is Death. That is my gift to most."
Reginald reached for his sword, but before he could draw it, a powerful hand flashed out and pushed him backwards. 'No!' he thought, feeling himself falling into the room. As his body touched the floor, he felt as if his innards were being torn to shreds. He vomited and when nothing was left, foamy bile kept flowing upwards, causing him to gag violently.
"Heh, I believed you smelled of those bloodsuckers," the creature said, stepping inside. "You seem far too young to be any match for me, but your blood will taste most delicious. Let me feed on her so I can relish you." Through hazy vision, Reginald saw the figure walk over him to the woman. He saw the frightened look on her face as it bent over and sniffed of her. Reginald fought against losing consciousness. 'Why am I still so weak?' he asked himself.
Tears flowed from the woman's eyes as the creature licked over her cheeks and face. "Delicious, but not as tasty as I wished," it growled. "To know me, is to know death, girl. Fear death."
'No,' Reginald thought, pushing against the ground with all his might. Every single muscle in his body was quivering through pain and exertion. 'This time, I have the power to defend. I have to.' The increasing pain surged, but he let it feed his anger. Every single throb fueled more pain and more anger as he finally rose to his feet. His eyesight was obscured by tears, but his nose and ears allowed him to hone in on the creature's location. With one last burst of anger, Reginald drew his sword and flew forward.
As he swung downwards with his sword, he felt a giant hand grab his wrist. The horrible breath flooded his senses again. "Perhaps giving you a fighting chance will give me some sport. Making you succumb to fear will make you all the more delicious. A fearful member of the undying, how my stomach yearns."
Reginald was helpless to defend himself as another hand grabbed his face. Still gagging and struggling to breathe, he felt himself lifted off the ground roughly. With a laugh, the creature hurled him forward through the back window of the apartment. Reginald cried out in pain as shards of glass cut into his skin as he fell backwards towards the ground below. He screamed in pain as he landed roughly on his left arm, feeling it break for the first time in three centuries.
'What went wrong?' he asked himself, feeling waves of pain wracking his body. 'Tonight, I was supposed to make things better, not worse.' As the thoughts of defeat traveled through his mind, he felt the ground shake near him. Forcing his head up, he saw a massive shape leaning over him. Reginald felt his breath get caught in his throat. 'He wasn't this big before. What's going on?' In the darkness, all he could see were the eyes glaring down at him. He felt something wet falling over him. 'Drool,' he thought, feeling a cold sensation run down his spine.
"Now, my precious vampire, I will dine," the creature said. It raised its head and prepared to plunge onto its prey.
Reginald jumped as he heard a noise nearby. He turned and saw an older man sitting at a picnic table in the center clearing of the apartment complex. He had his morning paper stretched out on the table before him, but it was quickly catching flame as his lit cigar laid on it. He was struggling to get to his feet, but the belt from his robe had gotten caught up in the chair.
The creature growled. "Tonight is full of interruptions, it seems," the beast said, turning towards the man. "Wait for me, my undying meal." The creature calmly strode over towards the old man, who had frozen with fright. As it neared, Reginald's eyes grew wide. 'If the old man's five feet, that thing has to be at least fifteen. That's impossible though. He was just in the apartment!' Reginald thought.
The old man cried out as he just barely dove to the side as a huge fist crashed down on the table, splintering it to pieces. "Stay still, my food," Reginald heard it grumble. "I have no more time for sport, just feeding." The creature began to raise its arm again.
Reginald felt a tear roll down his face as he looked in the other direction. 'I could run now, and keep living. I can do anything with this life that I want. There is still so much more that I want to do." He bit his lower lip. 'I could run and live.' He took a deep breath as he felt his blood surge through his entire body. 'I could run, and keep living.' He felt his muscles tense up and convulse, waiting for his next command. "I could run, but I won't," he said quietly out loud. He felt his legs begin to move as everything slowed down to a crawl.
The creature slammed his arm down and gasped as it hit something more solid than it had expected. "Run old man!" Reginald yelled, standing over the man and feeling every muscle in his body screaming as he held the large fist at bay with the sword. He felt as if his left arm was being grinded down as the side of the sword pushed into his elbow as both arms forced the creature to a standstill. "I said run!"
The man finally overcame his fear and began to crawl away. With a tremendous growl the beast moved its hand, causing hin to almost fall forward. It slammed its fist down even harder, giving Reginald barely enough time to roll out of the way. 'Good,' he thought, seeing the old man make it inside his apartm
ent from the corner of his eye. The creature roared and picked up the remains of the table, throwing it into the window of the man's apartment.
Reginald blinked as the light from the windows poured out into the yard. 'This thing isn't anything near human,' Reginald thought, finally getting a clear view of the creature. It was a humanoid shape with a head, two arms, and two legs. Its entire body was covered with what looked like light chunks of bone or stone. As it moved, the bones or stones would shift, keeping every inch of it covered and protecting it from whatever creature was foolish enough to attack it. It head was protected just like it's body except for a couple of cracks that let its eyes peer out.
It shifted its attention back to Reginald. "You are going to pay for this, undying one!" it shouted, beginning to slam its hands and feet down rapidly. Each time Reginald barely had time to dodge or dive out of the way as the creature made small craters in the ground all around him. Reginald did manage to get one lucky hit on the monster on one dodge, but groaned as the sword glanced off the hard outer surface.
The beast laughed. "Human swords are no match for me," it said, continuing its attack. "Consent to being dinner, my friend. Nourish me, and as long as I live, a small part of you will too."
Reginald frowned. 'This thing has no weakness,' he thought, jumping back as a fist crashed into the ground near him. 'What on Earth can I do?' He continued to dodge. 'Maybe it can get tired. Maybe I can wear it out.' He darted in the opposite direction, towards a back alley behind the apartments. Glancing back, he saw the beast smile and take chase. 'Who am I kidding? I'm more tired than it is.'
Reginald led the monster through the alley and into a backstreet of the city. From there he would dart in and out of alleys, race along deserted streets, leading the monster further and further away. Luckily it was still too early for many to be out and if anyone witnessed the pair, it was only a blur through the window. Each time Reginald glanced back, he noticed the monster was closer than it was before. He saw teeth glistening in the dim streetlights as it smiled at him each time. 'I can't go much longer. I can't go much longer,' he was repeating in his mind as he turned into an alleyway. He choked on a sob. 'No, no!' he thought, seeing a wall looming at the end of the alley. He heard a loud burst of harsh laughter behind him.
Without hesitating, he pushed on. 'I can't stop now, even if I want to.' He bit into his lip as he pushed his body for more speed. 'If I'm going to die, I won't die standing still.' He strained as his footsteps quickened. As he got to within several feet of the dead end, he leaped up as high as he could and planted his feet on the wall. He let the momentum push his entire body towards his feet, feeling himself getting compressed like a spring. With every ounce of energy he could muster, he used the momentum to leap towards the pursuing beast. He brought out his sword and pointed it towards the beast's face.
In the moment of confusion where his prey had suddenly leaped towards its head, the creature shouted in surprise and tried to dodge to the right. Fortunately for Reginald, that was all the time he needed to jab his sword inside and slash the side of the monsters mouth open. Reginald hit the ground as he heard the beast shriek in pain and fury. He felt drops of something coming down all around him. Looking up he saw blood and spittle flowing from the monster's wounded mouth. He took his sword and carefully aimed the point towards one of the open gaps of bone in its leg. With a heave, he shoved the sword inwards, passing through the armored shell. Blood came spurting out as he withdrew the blade.
"I'rl gek you, you baskard!" the monster shrieked. He barely had time to dodge between its legs as it stomped its good leg down. The beast tried to turn to confront him, but it was too big to move easily in the cramped alley.
'This is my chance!" Reginald thought, drawing up a deep breath. He placed the hilt of the sword in his teeth and jumped up onto the creature's back, grabbing hold of one of the bony plates. The beast flailed its arms around, trying to rid itself of the intruder on his back. Reginald ducked his head down as bricks rained from the crumbling buildings on each side as the beast continued to flail about.
'Damn, this is going to hurt,' he thought, grabbing hold of his sword with his left hand. His lungs emptied as he felt the bones grinding together as his muscles struggled to obey their master. He focused on trying to stay conscious, but he saw his vision beginning to fade. 'Got to fight. Can't stop.' His hand shook as he aimed his sword at the back of the creature's neck. "Fight!" he screamed, beginning to stab downwards.
Just before contact, Reginald felt himself begin to fall forward. 'How?' was all he could think as the beast knelt down and threw him forwards towards the dead end. He screamed as his body hit the hard brick. It felt like years passed by as he slid down the wall into a clump on the ground. 'There went several ribs!' he thought gasping down air as he fought against the pain. He watched as the beast slowly lumbered forward towards him.
As Reginald laid there, motionless, he felt a small smile creep onto his face. 'Three hundred year isn't so bad. I've always believed this day would begin like every other day and end like every pointless day. But today wasn't pointless after all.' The smile grew. 'Today I made a difference. Today I leave no regrets.' He thought about the woman in the apartment and laughed out loud. 'Live as long as you can for me.'
"Have youc lost it at the endc?" the creature asked, his disfigured mouth just inches from Reginald's face.
Reginald's smile grew to its fullest. "No, I've only just found it."
The beast glared at him for a moment, then drew it head back and roared. The ground shook as the cry went up into the air, but Reginald barely felt it. A warm feeling was pulsing through his body. Then the beast drove its mouth straight for Reginald's head. He kept smiling as it neared. He saw the glistening teeth lined up in rows as the mouth opened wider. With a quick breath, Reginald fell to the side, bringing up his sword in his place and thrusting forward. With its mouth wide open, it missed its prey's final move. Reginald kept the blade steady as it plunged upwards through the roof of the beast's mouth, upwards into the brain. With a large boom, the head crashed into the wall, bringing down dozens of bricks onto the two of them. Reginald cried out as the beast fell over onto his legs.
He fought hard not to pass out as the beast uttered its last words. "Heeh, heeh, undyincing one. Youc killedered me, but myc brothersss will avenge mees." Its deformed and broken mouth formed a grotesque smile. "Dies, when they findss youc."
After a few short moments to catch his breath, he pushed his body against the creature's side and slowly released his legs. "Oh, I've never felt this much pain," he said, clutching his side. "Though I'm glad to be alive to feel it, I'm sure its welcome will be worn soon." He grabbed hold of his sword from the monster's mouth and pulled it out. "I'm lucky I didn't lose a hand." Slowly, he began to crawl towards the entrance of the alley. He looked up and swore as he saw the sky beginning to lighten.
"Not now. Anytime but now," he cried. "After all of that, I can't die. I'll not make the day like this."
Reginald noticed a dumpster towards the entrance. He took a deep breath and forced himself to stand. For a moment, he thought he was going to fall, but he managed to keep his balance. As his eyesight switched back and forth from hazy to clear, he hobbled forward. "I can do this," he said to himself. "I stopped two crooks, when no one else could. I slayed a great monster that was stronger than me. I can walk a few more feet. Move!" He stabbed at the ground, using the sword as a cane as he slowly pushed forward. His legs shook from the effort, but he kept moving onward.
Reginald almost fell as he bumped into the dumpster. "Woah, there already," he said, blinking weakly. With some effort, he opened the flap several inches with his teeth and threw in his sword hit his good hand. Then taking hold of the flap, with his hand, he jumped upwards with all of his might.
Reginald Baxter was unconscious by the time he ever hit the layer of garbage covering the bottom of the dumpster. The flap slammed down, shutting him away from the outside world. Despite all the pain and a
nguish he had encountered that night, a smile remained on his face as his first night of vigilante justice came to a close.
Chapter 9
Reginald sat straight up in bed as he heard a loud banging from the door. He reached up and rubbed away some of the crust that coated his eyes. "Just a minute!" he hoarsely shouted as the banging continued. He grunted as he realized any movement made small waves of pain pass through him. Clumsily, he began to untangle himself from the sweaty sheets covering him. As he stood, a small wave of dizziness passed over him. He waited a moment to start walking towards the door.
Reginald peeked through the peephole and grunted. "Again," he muttered, letting himself smile. He took in a deep breath and opened the door. "Hey, he said, waving weakly.
Rachel walked into the room. "I heard last night that you had asked for more time. Are you feeling worse?"
"Um, yeah, I had a little bit of a relapse, but it's going better again," he said, trying to focus his hazy mind.
"What happened to your arm?" she asked, pointing at the sling cradling his arm.
"Oh, um," Reginald started, trying to find his words. "I got dizzy in the shower and fell. It's just sprained so it will be better soon. I'm just trying to keep it still."
"Sheesh," she said, shaking her head. "I told you to call if you needed help."
"I'm fine. I didn't want to trouble you with my problems."
She looked around at the messy room. "You need someone to help you. You can't always do things on your own."
'I manage more than most,' he thought, sadly. "Thank, you, but really, I'm fine.. You don't have to worry."
"This place looks terrible," she said. "You haven't done any cleaning since last time."
Reginald walked into the kitchen. "Yeah, I have been laying around a lot lately." He reached into one of the cabinets and brought down Rachel's bowl from before. "Thanks again for the soup. I think it did make me feel better."
She took the bowl and frowned. "But you got got sicker after eating it."
