by T M Linville
“God dammit!” Vincent yelled again, slamming his hand down on the counter.
He hung up the phone and called Erica. He told her what had happened and she was just as furious.
“I’m sending more trackers after him and I’m notifying the Guardians of his actions here last night. They’ll send out their own trackers and they won’t hesitate to put him down when they find him.” Vincent said.
“I’ll go tell Shay and Lily that he’s out,” Erica told him.
“Thanks.”
Erica woke Steven and let him in on what was going on. Then she went downstairs and knocked on Lily’s door. She waited but no one answered. She knocked on Shay’s door but, again, no one answered.
She immediately called Lily. It went straight to voicemail. Then she called Shay. It went to voicemail too. Erica ran to the elevator and waited. When the door opened she ran in, pushed the sub-basement three button and called Steven as she waited.
“They’re gone,” she told Steven.
“Who’s gone?”
“Lily and Shay, they’re not here!” She said frantically. “I’m going to the basement now to see if they went down there.”
“OK, I’ll check the blood bank and let Vincent know they’re missing.”
Steven knew that Erica’s phone would have poor reception in the basement. That’s what Erica was hoping, too. That the girls had gone down to see the cage or see McGoo and just weren’t getting any reception on their cells. She reached the basement and called for the girls. Her call echoed down the empty halls. She went to where they had kept Eric but they weren’t there. She went to McGoo’s lab, but only McGoo was there, working on his blood samples.
“Jack, have you seen Lily or Shay?” Erica asked.
“Nope,” he said without even looking away from the microscope.
Erica ran back to the elevators. She met Steven on the thirteenth floor at the blood bank.
“They’re not here, either,” Steven reported. “I called Vince and he’s going to have Parker check the cameras to see if they left the building.”
Erica decided that she’d be more comfortable waiting with Vincent and Alexa. There was nothing she could do until they figured out where they went. The girls were thinking that Eric was no longer a threat.
Shay had been asking about the Underground and Lily thought that since Eric was locked up, that they would sneak down to the fight club and Lily would show Shay around. Since Shay was a vampire now and had proven she could protect herself, Lily figured that they would lay low, see the club and get back before anyone realized they had left.
They entered the tunnels through a restaurant on Amsterdam. At first they were dimly lit but about fifty yard in, around twists and turns, it got brighter. The farther they walked, it seemed like the brighter it got until they got to the main open space by the fight club. When they walked in, everyone stopped to look at them. Some even took a few steps toward them but Onyx was there to make sure that no one tried to hurt them. Brian’s back was toward them in the sitting area, but he knew who was there. He took out his cell and dialed.
Ellen walked out of the fight club and saw everyone staring at Lily and Shay. She knew that they could make vampires and she forbid anyone from touching the girls or they’d be banned from fight club. After a few minutes, everyone went back to what they were doing.
“So Miss Lily, I hear great things about you. Aren’t you a little frightened to be down here alone?” Ellen asked.
“We have him,” Lily said, petting Onyx on the head. “So, are there any fights scheduled for today?”
“You’re in luck,” Ellen said and looked toward ring number two.
Sid and Walter were climbing into the ring. They squared off and waited for the referee and the buzzer. The ref climbed through the ropes and stood between the fighters. He looked over and the buzzer went off. The ref stepped back and the fighters stepped toward each other. Sid swung a right hook at Walter’s head. Walter ducked and punched Sid in the chest. Sid stepped back to catch his breath but Walter was there with another blow to the chest. Sid gasped and the referee pushed Walter into the ropes.
“No more chest shots,” the ref told him. “We are not trying to kill our opponent.”
Walter nodded and waited for Sid to come at him. Sid came up swinging and kicking. A full round house caught Walter across the face. The kick turned him into the ropes and he grabbed the top one to steady his head. Sid punched him the side twice. Walter turned around swinging. His claws caught Sid across the face and blood splattered the concrete floor of the ring. Sid swept Walter’s feet from under him and Walter went down flat on his back. He rolled out of the way of a stomp to the chest by Sid.
“No chest shots,” the referee repeated loudly.
Sid gave Walter a chance to stand up and shake it off before going at him again. Sid went in swinging again. First a left then a right then another right. Two of the three landed solid on Walter’s cheeks. He came back swinging. An uppercut to the gut then a right jab to the face. Sid kept swinging through the punches. A right was blocked then a kick. Walter landed a rock solid punch to Sid’s nose and he staggered backwards grabbing his face. Blood poured from his nose for a moment before the busted vein in his sinuses healed itself. The buzzer rang.
“Fight goes to Walter,” the referee called.
“Damn!” Sid said under his breath.
“And that my dear, is fight club,” Lily told Shay.
“So that’s it? Two vampires in the ring duking it out. Over what? What’s the incentive?”
“Rank,” Lily said. “Bragging rights.”
When Lily and Shay turned to leave, they saw a group of vampires standing outside Ellen’s door. Onyx stepped in front of the girls and lowered his head. A growl rumbled in his chest as he walked slowly to the front door. The group showed their claws and fangs and didn’t move. Then the group made an opening and Eric stepped through the crowd.
From the back of the crowd, Eric heard Erica’s voice.
“Do you want to fight?” She asked.
Eric turned around and Erica was walking up through the crowd of vampires. They took two steps back from her as she walked through to make room for Apollo on one side and Venom on the other. In the back of the crowd, Eric saw Vincent and Alexa. And behind them, members of the coven were showing up in groups of three and four.
When Erica reached Eric she slapped him across the face.
“That’s for being such an ass hole,” she said.
Then she swung a full hand of claws across his other cheek.
Eric dove into her, knocking her on her back. Apollo grabbed Eric by the arm and threw him into his crowd of vampires. They all moved out of the way and let him hit the floor. He stood up and went for Erica again but Apollo blocked his way.
“Get them!” Eric yelled to his friends.
In an instant everyone was fighting everyone else. Claws cut through clothes and flesh. Vampire blood splattered the floor and storefront. Vincent made his way toward the club doors. Fighting off vampires with swipes of his claws and turning to attack with his spikes. His spikes were a lot longer than Lily and Shay’s and sharper. Vampires would come running toward Vince and he would simply turn around and allow them to run into him. Often the spikes found the vampire’s heart and they went down only to get their chests crushed by Vincent’s booted foot. The wolves would make sure they were all dead.
Eric and Erica exchanged blows again but she was overtaken by four vampires from the crowd. That gave Eric a chance to run inside.
Onyx stayed inside the fight club with Lily and Shay and was waiting for Eric when he came through the front doors. Onyx jumped on Eric, with his paws on Eric’s shoulders, Onyx took bites at Eric’s face. Eric turned just in time for Onyx to bite the side of his head, instead of his face. Onyx bit down and turned his head. A large piece of flesh fell from Eric’s head. The skin was barely connected. Eric threw Onyx off of him and lifted the flesh back onto his skull. It healed
almost instantly but not before blood ran down his neck and onto his white polo shirt.
Onyx was back on Eric right away. This time, Eric grabbed Onyx by his hide on both sides of his chest and flung Onyx through the storefront window. He landed hard on his side outside the fight club. Onyx was cut up pretty badly from the thick window glass, but he was back on his feet and after Eric. He jumped through the broken window and followed after Eric.
Eric had chased Lily and Shay to the second room of the fight club. The room that had two raised rings with concrete floors.
“Get in the ring,” Eric demanded.
“No, I’m not fighting you,” Lily said.
“Oh, yes you are!” Eric told her. “You either fight me, or Shay fights me.”
Eric still didn’t know that Shay was a vampire. Although he should’ve known that Lily would not have brought a human to the Underground.
Onyx limped into the fight room.
“Onyx, wait,” Lily told him.
“If I beat you in the ring, Eric, will you leave us alone?”
“Fine,” Eric smirked.
Shay grabbed Lily as she was stepping up to the ring.
“Lily, you know he won’t fight fair,” Shay said.
Lily only nodded and winked at Shay. Lily wasn’t planning on fighting fair either. Lily knew that Eric wasn’t aware that Shay was a vampire. And if he wanted a fight, he was sure going to get one.
Lily ducked through the ropes and waited for Eric. Erica walked through the doors into the fight room and made her way to the ring.
“Lily, what’s going on,” Erica asked.
“A fight to the death,” Eric said. “We’ll see once and for all who’s the best fighter.”
“Absolutely not!” Ellen and Vincent said in unison at the door.
“Too late,” Eric said and took a swipe at Lily’s face.
Lily wasn’t even looking at Eric when he took the shot. Five gashes lay across the side of Lily’s head. Blood trickled down to her blue and white shirt. It took half a second for Lily to get her bearings. Then she was on Eric. She pinned him against the ropes and continued to claw his arms and side as he tried to block her swings. He was able to get an arm free and grab one of Lily’s arms. He grabbed her and flipped her around. With his free arm he hit her in the side just above her hip. She writhed in pain and swept her right leg under Eric. He fell and barely caught himself before landing on his face. Lily stomped on his back and he gasped for air. She went to stomp again but he rolled out of the way just in time.
He stood and looked around the room. The entire room was packed full. Erica, Vincent, Alexa and Steven all stood just outside the ring. On the opposite side, Eric’s vampire friends were all gathered together. Before Lily was able to get to him, he bent through the ropes and took something from the hand of one of his friends. Eric stood up and waved the small object in front of him, then he pressed the button. Electricity coursed between the tongs of the Taser.
“Eric!” Vincent yelled and tried to get into the ring but Eric’s friends blocked his path then dragged him backwards.
Eric’s friends blocked all sides of the ring and wouldn’t allow anyone near, except Shay. None of them thought that she was a threat. They all still thought that she was human. None of them thought to question the lack of a human scent in the Underground.
Eric and Lily circled each other in the ring. Eric would waive the Taser back and forth in front of his face, daring Lily to come closer. Then he lunged. Lily went down instantly. Every muscle tightened and as she hit the concrete floor. Eric began kicking Lily before she even stopped seizing. When she was able to move, he hit her with the Taser again and down she went. He hit her in the head repeatedly and kicked her ribs and stomach.
Once again he pushed the Taser into her skin. He backed up against the ropes and watched her writhe. Lily was trying to stand up when Eric got a strange look on his face.
Eric felt a sharp pain in his back. He turned around to see Shay standing behind the ropes on the ring platform. He raised the Taser to her waist but before he was able to touch her, the Taser fell to the floor. Eric looked into Shay’s hazel and red eyes before he looked down at himself. Shay had reached into Eric’s abdomen, up through his diaphragm and her hand wrapped around Eric’s heart. She squeezed then pulled. Eric saw his own heart clutched in Shay’s claws just before he hit the concrete.
Shay slid through the ropes and rushed to Lily. She was just standing up when Shay got to her. Eric’s blood covered Shay’s hand and forearm. Lily took Shay’s hand and held it in front of her. Eric’s heart was still clutched in Shay’s claws.
When she realized exactly what she had done, she dropped the heart and looked into Lily’s eyes. Shay was terrified. She hadn’t even realized she had done it. Then she noticed the burn in her eyes and the fangs in her mouth. She turned to look at Eric’s body lying on the ring floor.
The crowd began fighting again. The Underground vampires that had sided with Eric were quickly subdued. Erica and Alexa climbed into the ring with Lily and Shay. Alexa gave Lily a big hug. Erica hugged Shay and rubbed her back.
“Shhh,” Erica cooed. “It’s alright. It’s all over now. You did what any vampire would’ve done”
Alexa and Erica let Lily and Shay go to each other.
“You saved my life,” Lily said and pulled Shay closer.
Shay wrapped her arms around Lily and just held her until she calmed down enough to retract her claws and fangs. When Shay finally let go, the fight club was almost empty. They had already come to get Eric’s body and most of the coven had gone home.
Erica was still in the ring, leaning over the ropes and talking to Steven. Apollo sat on the floor beside Steve. Onyx had healed and was standing by the door. Lily kissed Shay and ran her fingers through her hair.
“Uh hum,” Erica interrupted.
Lily put her pointer finger up and continued kissing Shay.
“OK you two, we’d like to go home now,” Steven said impatiently.
Shay couldn’t help but laugh.
They all walked through the Underground and exited on the corner of West 90th and Columbus. The four of them along with the two wolves walked home with their hats and long sleeves.
Back at the Crown Building, they entered through the main entrance on Central Park West. Shay looked out from under her hoodie and saw a familiar face. Shane was leaving the lobby.
“Shane?” Shay said as he nearly walked by her.
“Shay! Hey girlfriend! What are you doing?” he asked.
“Uh, nothing was just out for a walk. Beautiful day, isn’t it?” she said.
“Don’t know, haven’t been out. Hello On-ix,” Shane said like he was talking a baby, then he scratched Onyx behind the ears.
Surprisingly, Onyx let him.
“So Shane, what are you doing here?” Lily asked.
Just as she said that, Taylor, one of the fighters from the fight club, walked off the elevator and caught up with Shane.
“Are you ready?” Taylor asked Shane.
“What took you so long?” Shane asked.
“Had to do my make-up,” Taylor answered and then winked at Shay and Lily. They knew that he was putting on sunscreen. He was in cargo shorts and a tank top with a white baseball cap.
“Great foundation,” Lily joked with Taylor.
“Thank you,” Taylor replied. “And we are off like a dirty shirt! See you ladies later.”
“Bye,” the girls said.
Lily and Shay both laughed as they watched Shane and Taylor walk hand in hand out of the Crown Building.
“If he only knew,” Shay said as they were waiting for the elevator.
When the elevator doors opened, three men on black suits and black wingtips were waiting.
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