by R. M. Garcia
Death is a funny, strange thing. What people say about seeing your life pass before you as you die is completely true, at least, in Donnie’s case, it was. As the fire tortured him, he roared in anguish, not for him, but for Abbie who could no longer utter a sound. Both their bodies stiffened as the torrent of flames engulfed the lovers. He held on as tightly as he could to her, as the flames danced all around them. He could feel each part of Abbie’s body slowly crumble underneath his embrace, turning into ash and black sand. His knew his heart would truly be dead now, for it had only truly beaten for her. He was sure it wouldn’t be long now and could feel the intense heat in front of him and the sun’s rays on his back. Nox and Espee watched helplessly as Donnie and Abbie burned. They had been so distracted by the scene in front of them that they didn’t notice Hans and Frieda sneak up behind them. “Such a shame,” Frieda said. “You should join them, Espee.” Nox and Espee whirled around, but they were trapped. Hans grabbed Nox by the throat and picked him up, and Frieda kicked Espee in the chest. She was launched onto the roof. She began to burn in midair and was immediately weakened by the sun’s rays. She tried to get up, but all she could manage was to curl up in a ball and scream in excruciating pain.
“Remember me, little man?” Frieda asked Nox as Hans held him aloft.
“Yeah, I remember you,” Nox replied as he kicked and struggled against Hans’s grip in vain. “I remember how you ran like a little bitch. Too bad Captain Maxwell didn’t finish you off. How are the arms by the way?”
“Just fine,” Frieda said as she delivered a punch to Nox’s face. “It’s time for you die now.”
“Not yet,” Hans said. “He needs to tell us where the other dens are, but you may torture him until he gives up the others.”
“It will be my pleasure,” Frieda said. “This little man owes me a debt to be paid in blood.” She began to smile once again when she was struck. The blow sent her careening down the stairwell with incredible force. She slammed into the heavy door at the bottom of the stairwell, and it was ripped it off the hinges. The door had little effect in slowing Frieda’s velocity and continued to echo sounds outward as it bounced off countless surfaces inside the building. Hans was surprised to see Donnie standing before him, holding Espee. He was burned from head to toe and was still smoking. Donnie laid Espee down in the stairwell and looked at Hans. Donnie’s face and chest were healing right in front of their eyes.
“How about you deal with someone your own size?” Donnie said. “You Aryan piece of shit!” Hans looked at Donnie, smiled, and dropped Nox.
“I accept your challenge,” Hans said and took a few steps back down the stairs.
“Take care of her, Nox. I’ll be right back,” Donnie said and turned back to Hans. “Just tell me one thing, why Abbie?”
“Why Abbie you ask?” Hans replied. “Because she was a half Jew bitch and the Führer ordered her death.” Donnie nodded, bared his fangs, and leaped at Hans. Hans and Donnie locked hold of each other and wrestled down the stairwell, violently slamming one another into its cramped walls. They disappeared out of Nox’s view, but he continued to hear them battling one level below. Espee was in bad shape. The burns she received now, coupled with the earlier exposure, left her utterly incapacitated. Nox looked at her and softly whispered into her ear.
“Don’t you give up on me now, you old hag,” Nox said. Espee opened her eyes.
“Fuck you puto,” she replied weakly. Nox smiled as the cacophony of noise continued to come from downstairs. Donnie and Hans continued to wrestle. They each maintained a hold on each other with one hand as they rained blows with their free hands. The fight reminded Donnie of a hockey brawl. Hans was well into his die Mauer state now; his face and fists were as hard as stone and had turned chalk white.
“No Foundling has ever defeated me,” Hans boasted, “and today will be no different.”
“You killed my wife, my love. I’ll not rest until you’re nothing more than a pile of black sand!” Donnie yelled. Frieda ran up carrying the fire door and began slamming it over Donnie’s head and back.
“Stupid Foundling,” she cried out!
“Frieda! Do not interfere in our single combat!” Hans cried out.
“Screw your single combat fantasies,” she yelled back. “Espee is still alive. We need to finish this fast, before she gets a chance to recover!” Donnie backhanded Frieda, and she flew down the hall, crashing once again into the drywall. He then continued exchanging blows with Hans. Hans tried to throw Donnie, but he found that his opponent possessed a vice like grip. Frieda let out some curses as she got up, picked up the door again, and resumed her attack on Donnie. Donnie spotted her out of the corner of his eye, and an instant before, she brought the metal door on him again; he lashed out with a counterattack. He violently shoved Hans back, whirled around, and punched a hole through the door, striking Frieda squarely in the face. The blow launched her violently backward. Donnie felt the bones in her face shatter under his fist.
“Frieda, quit interfering, and go deal with Espee,” Hans ordered as he and Donnie locked up again. Frieda was furious and was not going to let her beatings go unpunished. Having been twice driven into a wall and now blood streamed out her nose and mouth, she was not about to stop now. She picked up the door and charged at Donnie again.
“Frieda!” Hans yelled. Donnie took advantage of the distraction and picked up the vastly larger Hans over his head and slammed him viciously onto the floor. Hans crashed through the floor and did not stop traveling until he had reached the second floor. Frieda continued undeterred and began to hammer Donnie with the door once again. Donnie snatched the door away from her and ripped it in half as if were a piece of paper.
“Impossible . . . ” Frieda said as she stood still in disbelief.
“You killed Abbie! You killed my friends! I’m going to make you suffer, you hate mongering whore!” Donnie yelled and bared his fangs at her. Frieda delivered a quick front kick; it forced Donnie to take a few steps back. He looked up and growled and was foaming at the mouth. Frieda took one wide-eyed look, turned, and began running down the stairs. She looked back at Donnie and saw he was giving chase. He looked crazed; in fact, he seemed more like a beast than a man now. Frieda reached the guard that was stationed in the stairwell.
“Protect me!” she ordered.
“Yes, sir,” the guard said and then burst into screams from behind her. Frieda looked back to see Donnie latched onto the guard’s neck. He had been much closer than she had realized, if it had not been for the guard, it would have been her in his clutches. Frieda watched in horror as the guard struggled helplessly. Donnie was making more growling noises and kept trying to dig his fangs deeper in the guard’s throat. He slammed the guard against the wall and floor as he drained him of every drop of blood. The guard managed to fire off a few shots from his rifle, just before he turned into black sand.
“What are you?” Frieda shrieked in terror and continued running down the stairs. Donnie looked up from his hands and knees; blood was dripping from his mouth and acted more like an animal than a person. He licked the blood around his mouth and then sprung forward, chasing Frieda on all fours. Frieda was panicked when she ran into Hans on the third floor. He grabbed her and tried to calm her.
“Get a hold of yourself,” Hans said as he shook her.
“No! Let me go! We need to run Hans,” Frieda screamed.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It’s him! He’s chasing me, and he killed Fritz,” Frieda screamed. Hans let her go as he noticed Donnie perched on the stairwell handrail, just watching them. She looked back, screamed when she spotted him. She broke free of Hans and continued running.
“Now we get to finish our contest,” Hans said. Donnie replied with a low guttural growl and charged him. Hans struck Donnie as he reached him and drove him to the ground; he followed it up with a bone-crushing kick to the back of his neck. The snap was clearly audible to Hans. “Now little Foundling, time to finish this.” Ha
ns reached down to grab Donnie’s head. Frieda reached the bottom floor and ran to the commander.
“Commander von Bock! Commander von Bock!” Frieda called out in a panic.
“What is it, Frieda?” Fedor asked.
“We need to run!” she reported.
“Did the trap fail?” he asked.
“No, it worked perfectly, sir, but.”
“But what then, what happened?”
“There is something wrong,” Frieda said. “One among them is far stronger than we had been informed.”
“You mean, he is possibly older than Espee?”
“No, maybe, I don’t know,” Frieda said. “He consumed blood from Fritz until he was destroyed.”
“Nonsense,” Fedor said. “It must be a trick. We are not going to retreat under any circumstances. The Führer gave us this assignment, and I mean to see it through.”
There was a snap and Donnie’s neck suddenly healed. He sprung to his feet and tried to bite Han’s neck. Hans was caught off guard by the immense speed of Donnie’s attack. Hans pawed at Donnie and tried to pull him off. He latched onto Hans and started to bite his neck. The first few bites did nothing but break Donnie’s teeth on Han’s stone hard neck, but he kept at it. Every time a tooth broke another one grew in its place immediately.
“What are you doing?” Hans asked a bit disheveled. He managed to pull Donnie off him and threw him against a wall. Donnie got up and again growled at Hans. They locked eyes and Hans could see that there was nothing behind his eyes except hatred, and for the first time since he had become a vampire, Hans felt true fear. Donnie charged Hans with all his might. He brought down a haymaker onto Donnie’s back, but it did little to stop Donnie’s momentum. Donnie drove him back against the wall, and it too failed miserably to stop Donnie’s forward movement. They crashed through the third floor wall and fell out onto the parking lot in front of the building. Fedor, Frieda, and the two soldiers heard the bodies fall onto the ground right outside, along with several heavy cement blocks that were dislodged by the two men crashing though the wall.
“Are they outside?” Frieda asked in disbelief, “in the sun?”
“Apparently, that is how a true soldier fights for the German Fatherland,” Fedor said proudly, “no fear.” Hans suddenly burst into the building.
“Everyone run!” he yelled. He was beginning to burn from the sunlight outside. Donnie grabbed him and dragged him back outside and out of site of the others, “we must fleeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Fedor listened as skin, bone, and tendons were ripped apart. “Help me!” Hans screamed repeatedly as blood sprayed onto the open doors and internal organs bounced into the building just before they turned into black sand. The blood and chilling cries for help were unnerving the Reich. Fedor could not see what was attacking him, but he was sure that Hans, one of the strongest members of the Reich, was being disemboweled just a few feet outside the door.
“To the tunnels,” Fedor ordered as he turned around and suddenly realized someone was missing. “Where is Frieda?” Everyone looked around for her but she was gone.
“Luther said you were a punk,” Donnie said as he entered the building and looked around. Donnie’s appearance was grisly. He was covered head to toe in blood. It was caked in his hair and smeared all over his face. “So who dies next?” Commander von Bock looked at his men and backed up behind them.
“Attack him!” he ordered as he turned and ran. He could hear the ghastly screams of his men, as they met whatever gruesome death Donnie dished out to them. He ran into the basement and watched as the large metal door that guarded their escape route closed before him. “Wait!” he ordered, but reached the door a few moments too late. He heard it latch from the other side, “open this door immediately!”
“Sorry commander,” Frieda said from the other side of the door “I need a distraction; you and the door should give me enough time to make my escape.” Fedor heard the second latch and then her departing footsteps. He turned around and found he was face-to-face with Donnie, no more than a few inches. He tried to back up but only slammed into the door.
“This is how it is going to go down,” Donnie said, “I can kill you quick and painless, or I can drag it out. Either way you are going to answer my questions.” Fedor looked at Donnie and braced himself.
“What do you want to know?” he asked.
“How did you find us this time?”
“It won’t matter now, by the time you make it back to your den, our spy will be gone.”
“Where can I find the rest of you degenerate scum?”
“Go to hell,” Fedor replied bravely. “I will tell you nothing more.” But Fedor did talk, Donnie made good on his threat and two hours later he walked back upstairs. He found Nox tending to Espee. He had carried her down from the roof down to the fifth floor. Nox’s eyes went wide when he saw Donnie’s appearance. He looked like a scene from a horror movie. He was carrying a few odd items as he walked up the stairs, a small vase, a broom and a dustpan. Nox dismissed it and began speaking.
“She’s in bad shape, Donnie,” Nox said. “We need to get her blood.”
“I’m full up,” Donnie said and knelt down next beside her. “She can have some of mine.” Nox looked at him unsure.
“But,” Nox said.
“It will work.” Donnie placed his wrist over her mouth. He cut his wrist on her fangs and allowed a few drops to fall into her mouth. She latched on and began to drink.
“It’s working!” Nox exclaimed and continued, “but how?” Donnie pulled his wrist away after Espee drunk her fill and began walking up to the roof without answering him. “She’s starting to heal.” Nox was very relieved.
“Good,” he replied as he got up and started walking up to the roof.
“Donnie, where are you going?” Nox asked. “The sun is still up.”
“I know,” Donnie replied somberly. “I need to get her.”
“Donnie, you will burn up,” Nox warned.
“No, I won’t,” Donnie said as he walked up the stairwell. Nox watched as Donnie walked up and onto the roof.
“Stop him,” Espee said weakly. “He’s going to kill himself.” Nox followed Donnie up the stairs and up to the edge of the roof door. He watched as Donnie walked over to the wall where Abbie had died. He dropped to his knees. Nox could tell that Donnie was sobbing uncontrollably. He also noticed that he was not suffering from the effects of the sun.
CHAPTER 36
Lost Hope
ESPEE LUMBERED UP the stairs after Nox and Donnie. She was surprised to find Donnie on the roof unharmed. “How?” she asked.
“Don’t know,” Nox replied. “But he’s not burning. He’s been out there for twenty minutes.” Espee and Nox watched as Donnie carefully separated ash from sand and collected Abbie’s remains. He picked up every last grain of sand and found the diamond from Abbie’s ring; the gold had been melted and cooled against the tar on the roof. Donnie just stared at it as it sparkled in the sunlight. He dug the diamond out of the roof and put it in his pocket. He used the dustpan to carefully collect the sand and poured it into the vase.
“Donnie?” Espee called out, but Donnie didn’t answer back. Once he had collected all the sand, he stood up and looked at the wall before him. The blue Star of David that had been painted on its surface was burnt and marred, and one chain remained attached. Donnie grabbed each end of the chain where it was fastened in to the wall. He kicked the wall with all of his force and yanked the chain out in one single motion. The wall crumbled under the force of the kick, and he was left holding the intact chain. Donnie turned around, slung the chain over his shoulder, grabbed the vase, and walked back into the Grassi building.
“I’m so sorry Donnie,” Espee said and hugged him as he reached her.
“Me too Donnie,” Nox said and patted him on his shoulder. They all descended to the fifth floor. Donnie was understandably quiet.
“Donnie, what happened to the other Reich?” Espee asked.
“All dead, ex
cept for that woman,” Donnie replied. “She got away.”
“She got away again,” Nox said.
“Again, what do you mean by again?” Donnie asked.
“She was at Tranquility Donnie,” Nox replied as they continued walking down to the bottom floor.
“Are you sure Nox?” Espee asked.
“Yea, she kicked my ass,” Nox replied. “She was trying to capture Claude, but Maxwell stopped her.”
“He did, how?” Donnie asked.
“Maxwell has a sword,” Espee answered. “It’s a holy weapon.”
“What makes it a holy weapon?” Donnie asked. Espee looked at him and smiled.
“He claims that it once belonged to Pope Julius II,” she replied. “What I know for sure, it’s deadly to all vampires.”
“Yeah, he cut her to ribbons, even after she was transformed and all stone-like,” Nox said.
“So what do we do now?” Donnie asked.
“We wait until nightfall and return to the den,” Espee said. “We need to move and I need to figure out how they outsmarted us.”
“I know,” Donnie said.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“They planted a spy in our midst.”
“Who’s the spy Donnie?” Espee had that determined look once again.
“Doesn’t matter,” Donnie replied. “The Reich said the spy would be gone by the time we got back.”
“Had to be Benny,” Nox declared.
“We need to get to the den as soon as possible then,” Espee said.
“There is an access to the sewers in the basement. We can make our way back underground,” Donnie advised.
“Yes!” Espee said. “The longer we’re away, the more danger the others will be in.” When they reached the basement, the heavy metal door had been ripped off its hinges. Espee and Nox didn’t say a word, but they knew Donnie was responsible the door’s current condition. Espee was able to navigate the sewer system without any problems; she was very familiar with its layout. They arrived at the old theater within an hour. Espee, Nox, and Donnie walked into the den and found that everyone was still there. Los Nomados began converging on the trio. Many had relieved looks on their faces, while others noticed that Abbie had not returned with them. Donnie looked around and then carefully placed the vase and chain down.
