by P. T. Hylton
Behind Alex, she saw the male creature grab Chuck and Felix.
She frantically tried to calm her racing mind. She didn’t know what these creatures were exactly, but they were as strong as any vampire she’d encountered. And they had taken out the GMT in mere moments. But if they were some new form of vampire, why weren’t they drinking from the humans?
When they’d reached the room with the dissected vampires, the female stopped. “Put them on the table.”
The male complied, lifting Chuck and Felix onto the large table in the center of the room. He quickly removed their weapons, tossing them across the room as he held the two men in place.
“Going to kill you,” Chuck choked out.
“Shut up.” The male looked at the female. “We’ve got four of them. Can’t we eat one?”
“Not yet,” the female answered as she lifted Ed and Alex and not-so-gently slammed them on the table and removed their weapons. “Delayed gratification, my friend. Let me watch them for a bit.”
For a seemingly endless moment, the room was silent. The female’s eyes darted between them, examining them as if they were lab rats. What she was watching for, Alex did not know. Ed turned and looked at Alex. There was fear in his eyes.
“There!” the female said, pointing at Alex. “Did you see the way he looked at her? She’s the leader.”
“Hmm,” the male said. “Maybe he just has the hots for her.”
She thought a moment. “Probably, but he’s not thinking about that now. He’s afraid for his life and he looked to his commanding officer for guidance.” She looked into Alex’s eyes. “Get up.” Then she hauled Alex off the table and to her feet.
Alex looked back and forth between the two disfigured creatures. The female looked amused, but the male seemed almost bored. His eyes kept flickering back toward Chuck’s and Felix’s necks. As shocked and battered as Alex was, she almost wanted to smile. They were letting her stand there, unbound. Clearly, they didn’t understand who they were dealing with. And they’d missed the knife at the small of her back. She just needed to wait for her moment.
“Now,” the female said, “we’re going to have a conversation, you and I. My name’s Maryana. This is my friend, Stephen.”
“Hello,” Stephen muttered.
“What’s your name?” Maryana asked.
Alex started to move her mouth, as if answering, but then her leg snaked out, sending a vicious kick toward the female’s knee. She intended to follow up by drawing her knife and driving it into the creature’s heart. The kick never even connected.
Suddenly, she found herself flat on her back, the creature staring down at her.
“I’m waiting for my answer,” Maryana said.
“Go to hell,” Alex said, through gritted teeth.
Stephen sighed. “This looks like it might take a bit. Can’t I just—”
“Fine,” Maryana said with the wave of her hand. “But I don’t want you turning him. And I want him alive. No direct contact.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Stephen picked up a knife off the floor and leaned over Chuck. He pressed the blade into the back of Chuck’s leg.
Chuck grunted in pain as the creature dragged him to the edge of the table and crouched below him. As the blood began to flow from the wound, Stephen caught it in his mouth. He let out moans of pleasure as he drank.
Alex kipped to her feet and turned, her hand going for the knife at her back. But fingers closed around her throat before she could complete the motion, and she felt herself lifted six inches off the ground.
“Okay, no names yet,” Maryana said. “You’re concerned about stranger danger. I get it.” She set Alex down again and let go of her neck. “Let’s start with an easier one. What year is it?”
Alex tried to calm her breathing, but the truth was starting to become undeniable. They weren’t getting out of this room alive. There was no way in hell she was going to give this bitch any information.
Ed raised himself up on the table a little. “Listen, we didn’t come here to hurt you.”
“Good,” Maryana chuckled, “because, if you did, you’re very bad at your jobs.”
“No, we just came down here to—”
“Ed, shut up!” Alex shouted.
Maryana tilted her head, a pleased smile on her face. “Down here? That’s an interesting turn of phrase. I wonder if—”
Alex drew her knife and thrust it forward. Maryana flinched to the left, and the blade sank into her right shoulder. She snatched the knife from Alex’s hand, and her eyes widened in surprise. Alex stumbled backward, trying to stay on her feet.
She stared at Alex, and the expression of surprise faded into something else: pure delight.
“My God, look at you!” Maryana shook her head. “You are a marvel.”
It was in that moment that Alex realized she was dealing with a true psychopath.
Then Maryana was in motion, crossing the three feet between them in a fraction of a second. The blade of the knife sank into Alex’s shoulder, and she cried out as fiery pain shot through the left side of her body.
Maryana smiled at her, their faces inches apart. “That’s the suprascapular nerve. I imagine having a blade stabbed through it is particularly unpleasant.”
She gave the knife a little wiggle, and pain racked Alex’s body. The world swam in front of her as she struggled to maintain consciousness.
“Here’s the thing,” Maryana said. “You have information I need. Time was, I would have just turned you and ordered you to tell me. But I’m still figuring out how our new bodies work. For all I know, I can’t even turn you. Or maybe you’d die from the virus the moment I did. It’s a theory I’ll have to test eventually, but for now I’d like to do things the old-fashioned way. By which I mean, pulling off fingers and cutting you open. I’m very good at it. You may have noticed my work.” She nodded toward the eviscerated vampire corpses hanging from the wall.
She pulled the knife out of Alex’s shoulder, and Alex staggered back a few steps, the fiery pain becoming a relentless throb, now.
Maryana gave Alex a long look. “You know, some say torture doesn’t work. They believe the subject will say anything to get you to stop, and you won’t be able to differentiate truth from lies. I disagree. If the subject fears you enough, they’ll be too afraid to lie. Let’s see if we’re there yet.” She took a step forward. “What year is this?”
Alex pressed a hand against her shoulder, and she felt the blood welling up under her palm. “Like I told you, go to hell.”
Maryana smiled. “I was really hoping you’d say that. Where to start?” She thought a moment. “Ah, I think I’ll begin with your team. Seems like you’ve got some type of military deal going on here, and torturing your team to death will probably mess with your sense of honor. That’s my experience, anyway.” Her eyes narrowed and she looked past Alex. “Stephen, you’ve drunk quite enough from that poor man. We’ve got hours of work ahead of us before he can die.”
Stephen stood up, wiping a bit of blood from his face with the back of his hand. “Sorry.” He pulled a rag out from under the table and began bandaging Chuck’s leg.
Maryana turned to Ed, and her eyes brightened. “Let’s start with this one. I wonder what he’d look like without a nose. Maybe—”
Before she could finish speaking, something slammed into her, knocking her to the ground.
Stephen reacted immediately, sprinting toward his fallen boss and the new arrival.
Maryana rolled away from her attacker. It was another deformed creature. Maryana let out a short, high-pitched laugh. “Jaden? Is that really you?”
The creature gave no response. Instead, he raised two familiar swords.
Alex took a step forward, but a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders.
“Alex, we need to get out of here.”
Tears leapt to Alex’s eyes at the sound of her friend’s voice. “Owl! It’s true. You’re alive!”
The creature that sort of looked like Jaden
drew back a sword. Maryana bared her teeth and charged.
17
Alex started toward the pile of weapons by the wall, hoping to grab her pistols. She took one step towards it, but her next footstep didn’t touch the ground. She felt herself being picked up. Owl lifted her up and threw her over a shoulder. Ed climbed off the table, looking for a weapon, and Owl grabbed him with the other arm. Alex had just enough time to look back and see a whirlwind of blades. Jaden moved as elegantly as always, but Maryana anticipated his moves and matched him.
That was the last thing she saw before they stepped out into the sunlight. “Owl stop, we need to help finish her.”
“I’m sorry, Alex. I have to do what Jaden tells me.” Owl held back tears as she ran through the street. “I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.”
“What happened to you? Are you okay?” Alex could only see the side of Owl’s face, but it was enough for her to see that her friend looked like Jaden and the others now, deformed and frightening. Alex held in a gasp when she registered Owl’s appearance.
The corners of Owl’s mouth turned down a bit. “Please don’t look at me.”
“Owl you’re fine, I just didn’t expect—” Before Alex could finish her sentence, they came to a violent stop and Owl set both her and Ed down in front of Jaden’s ship. The ship had moved from its position in the hospital and was now covered in jungle brush. The cargo door was open.
“Get on the ship. I’ll be back with the others.” Owl was out of sight almost as soon as she finished the sentence.
Ed rubbed the back of his head and looked at Alex, his eyes wide. “What the hell is going on?”
Jaden saw Owl grab Alex and Ed as he lunged toward Maryana and thrust his sword at her heart. She dodged right, as he’d expected. His second blade was already in motion, but Maryana surprised him. When Jaden’s sword came down in an arc she reached out with both hands and caught the blade between them. She leapt into the air and flipped over Jaden’s shoulder, the sword still between her hands. Jaden had to spin and bend backward to keep the blade from being torn from his grip.
As Maryana landed behind Jaden, he spun, slicing with his other sword. The blade arched toward Maryana’s neck, but she raised Jaden’s other sword up in time to block. At the same moment, she kicked Jaden in the stomach, sending him flying across the room. Somehow, he managed to hold onto both swords, and the one in Maryana’s grip sliced through her palm as he tore it away.
She grabbed Alex’s sword off the floor and turned toward Stephen, who was still holding Chuck and Felix down. “Can we focus on fighting the ancient warrior vampire, please?”
Stephen immediately let go of his captives and ran toward the pile of weapons. Jaden kicked the desk that was near him as hard as he could. It flew across the room and smashed into Stephen. Both crashed into the wall.
“Get out of here!” Jaden yelled at Chuck and Felix. “Owl will help you.”
Chuck threw an arm around Felix and the two left the room as fast as they were able. Chuck used Felix to support him as he tried to keep the weight off his injured leg.
“Take your time, boys. We’ll pick up where we left off, after I finish with Grandpa.” Maryana held the sword in one hand, her eyes fixed on Jaden. “I see you still like to play with your food, Jaden.”
“You look different Maryana. Did you do something with your hair? I have to say, it really isn’t a good look.” Jaden watched out the corner of his eye as Chuck and Felix made it out of the room.
Maryana touched her misshapen mouth with her free hand. She moved in with her sword and Jaden raised his blades. Neither of them held back. The clashing blades and the hum of metal came so quickly that it almost made a solid note.
As the swords flew, Stephen pushed the desk away and picked up Chuck’s assault rifle. Jaden saw him out of the corner of his eye, holding the rifle steady, waiting for a clear shot.
Jaden attacked with a flurry of blades. Maryana blocked each attack. Jaden waited for her to thrust, and when she did, he caught her blade between his. Before he could finish the move to disarm her, she struck at his face with her free hand. He snapped his head back, but her sharp nails cut across the top of his brow. Blood dripped down from just above his right eye.
He kept her blade locked between his swords and kicked her in the chest. Her sword flew out of her hand as she flew across the room. Before she hit the other wall, the muzzle of Stephen’s rifle flashed. Jaden dove to the left just fast enough to keep the bullet from piercing his heart. Instead, the shot tore into his shoulder.
Jaden watched the barrel of the gun as he raced for the door. Stephen continued to fire as Jaden ran in an erratic path, anticipating the shots and doing his best to avoid them. Stephen focused a burst of fire at the doorway leading to the main part of the warehouse. Jaden charged ahead, and a bullet tore into his thigh as he dove through the doorway.
Stephen followed him through the door, just as Jaden had anticipated. As soon as the barrel of the rifle reached the doorframe, Jaden grabbed it and pulled it through. He brought a sword down with his other hand, and it cleaved through Stephen’s wrist. Stephen let out a howl of pain as his hand fell to the ground. Jaden brought his sword around to finish him off, but Maryana grabbed Stephen, pulling him inside.
Jaden cursed silently as she stepped through the door, Alex’s sword once again in her hand. The blood from his wound blurred the vision in his right eye, and he tried to blink it away. The bullet wounds in his arm and his leg would slow him down too, he knew. At least Owl had succeeded in getting the humans to safety.
He stepped backward toward the bay door, swords raised as he defended himself. Stephen held a knife in his remaining hand, and he wore a look of fury. Maryana approached from Jaden’s right side, attempting to flank him. The two vampires attacked in unison. Jaden focused his gaze on Stephen, trusting his ears to pick up the sound of Maryana’s sword slicing through the air. He blocked her first strike with one sword and knocked Stephen’s knife aside with the other. Stephen spun, using the momentum of Jaden’s strike, and brought his foot around, kicking at Jaden’s head.
Jaden ducked, avoiding Stephen’s kick, but Maryana punched him in the ribs at the same moment. He ignored the blow and rolled toward Stephen, putting a sword through the vampire’s thigh as he sprang to his feet. He heard Maryana’s blade sing through the air, but he couldn’t get his sword around in time to block it, and the blade caught him in the shoulder.
Jaden leaped backward through the bay door and into the sunlight.
Stephen tried to stand, but he fell back to the ground, landing in a pool of his own inky blood.
Maryana stepped through the bay door and shook her head. “Looks like it’s just you and me, pops. What do you say to one last dance with your girl?”
She held her sword at the ready and toward Jaden.
He raised his swords and gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain that screamed at him from a half dozen different wounds. “Come on, then.”
Suddenly, gunfire erupted from above them. Maryana jumped backward and the parking lot where she’d been standing exploded on a hail of bullets. Jaden looked up and saw the transport ship hovering above them, Alex and Ed standing in the open cargo doors, assault rifles in their hands.
Chuck dropped a rope from the cargo door and it dangled there, thirty feet short of the ground. Jaden took one last look at Maryana. He’d waited so long for this moment, but his arm, his leg… He knew he wouldn’t be able to beat her today.
After one more look, he jumped, sheathing his swords as he did. Alex and Ed continued to fire, covering him as he grabbed the rope and climbed hand over hand. The ship flew higher, leaving the bloody scene below.
Just as Jaden reached the cargo door, something whistled through the air, and a sword slammed into him, driving through his back and out his chest. Alex and Ed grabbed Jaden and pulled him inside as Chuck hit the button to close the cargo door.
Jaden struggled to his feet and looked down at
the sword protruding from his bloody chest. Maryana had missed his heart, but not by much. He looked up and saw the GMT staring at him in shocked silence. “Hello, Alex. I got your sword back.”
With that, he collapsed.
18
The GMT stared down at the fallen vampire in silence.
Finally, Felix spoke. “What do we do now?”
“I don’t know,” Ed said. “Push him out?”
Chuck raised an eyebrow. “He just saved our lives.”
“Yeah, and he ended Owl’s. Well, temporarily. Either way, I’m done with this guy. I say we send him back down to see his psycho girlfriend. Let them finish each other off.”
Alex looked around at her team. Ed’s face was a mess of welts that would likely become ugly bruises very soon. Chuck gripped his injured leg, the bandage around his thigh a match for the bandage on his arm from his last encounter with Jaden’s team. Felix was the least injured, but he looked the most shaken. He’d just had his first real vampire encounter, and it was a hell of a lot more violent than Alex’s had been. He may have been a desk jockey before, but he’d seen the harsh reality on the ground now. Once he got back to New Haven, he’d probably ask his uncle for a new assignment.
As for Alex, her shoulder hurt something awful, but she’d managed to escape relatively unscathed otherwise. All because of the vampire who lay at her feet. The same one who’d murdered to keep the virus from being unleashed in the first place.
“We’re not going to push him off the ship.” Alex reached down, grabbed the hilt of her sword, and pulled it out of Jaden’s back. “At least, not if he behaves.” She inspected the blade. “I’m going to have to give this thing a thorough cleaning.”
Jaden rolled over and groaned. “First you stab me in the back, then you pull out the sword. I suppose that makes us even.”
“Not so sure about that,” Alex said. “Appreciate you saving us, though.”
