2 Sean Hayden (24 page)

"It must be gone," Thompson said and walked forward. He landed ten feet back from the door, trapped like the rest of them. I rushed back to him to check on him but he seemed fine. He smelled a little like burnt cat, but wasn't injured.

"What the hell is it?"

"It feels like magic," the vampire next to us said.

Magic didn't affect me for some reason, so his statement made complete sense. I could be killed by magic, but only indirectly. You couldn't cut me in half with a cutting spell, but you could use magic to drop a fifty-ton molten block of magma on me and I don't think I would survive. I could pass the doorway, but nobody else could. I wondered if touching me would make a difference.

"Thompson, come with me."

He extricated himself from the floor and followed me to the door. I faced forward and motioned for him to stand behind me. I took his hand and put it on my shoulder and walked forward. I couldn't feel anything until Thompson's hand hit the threshold. He blew backwards and I flew forward into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway with a sickening thud. Well, so much for that theory.

"You okay?"

"No. Let's not do that again," he replied.

I nodded and pulled myself from the Ashlyn shaped dent in the wall and turned around. A crowd had gathered around to see the results of our little science experiment. Great, I needed a crowd while I figured this out. I stopped at the frame of the door hoping to find some kind of runes or something that could be causing the explosive shield keeping everyone in. I didn't see anything outright and stopped to think.
What is the source of the spell? How can I destroy it? How is he keeping everyone in there? Why?

Panic started to creep along my spine. Maybe how could wait. The why seemed a little more important at the moment. I ran through the door and parted the crowd, looking around. I held up my hands for silence, but couldn't hear anything but heartbeats and breathing from the non-vampires in the room.

"What is it, kid?"

"We're trapped for a reason. Why?"

"So we can't stop him?" Even I could hear the doubt in his voice.

Feedback from the microphone at the podium began low and started building. I looked at Thompson, and he looked at me. "Fuck," I said, earning a nod from my partner. We motioned everyone to get back against the wall while he and I made our way to the ornate wooden structure. Usually when you see a speaking podium, they're made of cheap pressed wood with wood grain laminate glued over it. The one Greer and I used looked like it had been put together with ornately carved pieces of dark oak or ash. I had a bad feeling that multiplied with every step I took toward the thing.

By the time we got to it, I was ready to turn around and run out the door saying, "Fuck everybody." I didn't though. Thompson looked afraid, too. I took a little consolation from that. "You're touching it first," I told him.

"Fuck you."

That made me feel a little better and I gave him a little smile. He hadn't taken his gaze off the four-and-a-half-foot tall podium, so he didn't see it. Oh well, his loss. I walked around the back and looked down. The lower half of the podium was cabinet. I don't know how I knew, but I knew. The root of all the evil in this room, rested inside. "Thompson, I
really
don't want to open those doors."

"I know, neither do I."

I sighed and squatted down, rather than bending or kneeling. If I had to get away quickly, as I imagined I would, I could do it faster if I remained upright on my feet. I gingerly reached out with both hands and grasped the smooth wooden knobs and very slowly pulled the doors open. I was hoping for a ceramic jar, or an artifact of some sort. What I didn't expect was the blackened skull of some sort of animal or monster sitting there. I'm immune to magic, but I could feel the evil pouring off the thing in hot waves.

"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say this is it."

"Ya think so?" Thompson said it like I was some sort of learning impaired grade school student.

"Give me something to grab it with. I am so not touching that thing."

Thompson stood from his leaning position and took off his suit jacket. He held it over my shoulder and I grabbed it. I opened it and gently lay it over the skull. One of the morons by the door must have figured that suit jackets magically dispel all traps in the vicinity and touched the empty space inside the doorframe. He landed with a crash and a groan on top of one of the round tables everyone had been seated at while not dancing. I rolled my eyes at Thompson and turned my attention back to the suit jacket covered dead thing inside the podium.

"I'm going to grab it and smash it. Good plan?"

"I can't think of a better one. Go for it."

I reached in slowly and knocked the skull over, pulling the jacket underneath it like an Armani shopping bag. I didn't want to touch it, even with the jacket. I pulled it out of the podium and stepped back, giving myself some room to work. I set it on the floor and reached over to Thompson's exposed shoulder harness and pulled out his gun. I hardly ever wore mine anymore, and I sure as shit wasn't wearing one with my dress. That would just clash. I cocked the weapon and pointed it at the skull. "I owe you a new jacket," I said and shot the skull from less than three feet away.

The gunshot echoed through the room like a clap of thunder. Everyone stood silent and stared at us. I half expected somebody else to try the door, but they didn't. I looked at Thompson and he nodded once. I reached down, grabbed the corner of the jacket and lifted it, spilling the contents onto the floor. Dust, sand, and chunks of bone poured out in a scattered heap. I stood and turned to check the door when the pile of debris started to smoke.

"Kid!"

I turned, saw the smoke, and stepped back several paces. The smoke continued upward until it stood about seven feet above the floor and started to pool there like some sort of insane lava lamp. It grew in thickness and started to take the shape of some sort of large humanoid. Legs formed, two arms, and then a head. Two large orbs, glowing red, formed into eyes and then a maw full of sharp razor-like teeth smiled at us hungrily. I had Thompson's gun in my hand so I shot it, point blank. The bullets parted the smoky flesh but the wounds it left flowed together like water. I know Thompson packed silver ammunition in his weapon, most FBI agents did, yet it did nothing.

"Your silver cannot harm me, cousin," the thing hissed in a sibilant voice.

"I don't suppose you'll tell me what will?" I said it innocently and he hissed a chuckle before striking.

I expected him to go for me, but he swung his arm in a vicious backhand that knocked Thompson across the room. The humans backed up against the far wall, and surprisingly enough, the vampires closed in around me, facing off against the thing keeping us in the room. I figured if we destroyed it we could leave. Apparently the vampires thought the same thing.

I circled slowly, not wanting to jump in and get my ass kicked like Thompson. One of the other vampires feinted and made a quick lunge before leaping back. He didn't leap fast enough. The monster reached out and grabbed the vampire's wrist. He fought bravely but his strength was no match. I lunged to help, but within seconds, the creature literally tore the vampire apart. I gulped in air, trying to hold back the guilt I felt at the untimely demise of the master of some city I couldn't remember.

The creature did something I didn't expect. He brought one of the vampire's limbs to his mouth and started feeding on it like a human with a chicken leg. One of the other vampires thought that might be a good time to attack, but as soon as she got close enough, the vampire swung the leg like a giant bat. He caught her square in the head and knocked her out.

Two vampires down, didn't leave us much to fight with. Seven of us stepped back while the thing continued to feed. I'd personally had enough. "Everybody circle," I said and started running around the thing in a weaving circle. The vampires helping figured out what I meant and followed suit. We orbited the thing like electrons around a nucleus. The creature wearily watched us as it ate. Even at the speed I traveled I could tell it was getting more substantial. Its skin lost the smoky color and moved a few shades closer to onyx.

I decided to make a move. Closing the ellipse of my orbit, I struck as I passed with my talons. I dug deep rivulets across the back of his leg, causing him to howl in pain and surprise. He swung the remnants of his meal and hit three of the vampires around me with one strike. They didn't go flying, but had to pick themselves up off the ground before continuing with their distraction.

Every time I passed the back of his leg I noticed the wounds weren't closing. He might be immune to silver bullets, but not Ashlyn talons. I leapt and grasped the thing around the neck with both arms digging my talons into his neck to hold on for the wild ride I expected to take. I looked at his neck, and even though I didn't want to, I bit as hard as I could.

I felt my fangs pierce the flesh and their curved structure slid in slowly. They went in, but not like they did through the flesh of a vampire or werewolf. He screamed in pain and reached up to grab me. He could hit my head, but couldn't reach back far enough to get me off of him.

His blood hit my tongue and I closed my eyes. It wasn't a pleasant taste, but I could feel the power in it. I guess it would be like a human eating broccoli. Something that smelled like rancid feet while it cooked couldn't taste good, but it had to be good for you.

He pummeled me as I drank, but decided to switch tactics when he realized the precarious position I had him in. He fell backward and smashed me against the tile floor with all his weight. That fucking hurt.

I felt more than one bone crack and break, but I didn't let go. I couldn't. I'd just begun to drink and his strength hadn't even started to ebb. The other vampires leapt on him to pin him down. I thought the fight to be over, but he kicked and threw the vampires off of his legs and arms and spun on the ground, flipping me around. I tried to hang on, but inertia wasn't my friend. I hit the wall and slid down in a small heap. The strength of the thing impressed me more and more.

The thing stood up off the ground to its full seven foot height and roared to the ceiling, flexing his arms. He shook off the lingering wounds and stomped his foot with a mighty thump, looking for someone to attack. I didn't want to give him that chance. I stood and charged him while he wasn't looking. It was cheap, but it worked. I hit him like a freight train and he stopped me like a concrete barrier. I hit his chest and he didn't budge an inch. I felt his hand close around the back of my neck as he peeled me off him like a wet towel. I watched the ground move away as he lifted me and brought my face to his. "Your attacks are futile, cousin. Join me in my feast!"

"Why do you keep calling me cousin? You're a monster!"

"So are you," he said with a throaty chuckle. I seriously didn't like this guy. The point became moot when he lifted me above his head and threw me across the room like a giant lawn dart.
I need to change my name to Art. I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time hanging on walls today
.

I watched in horror as he grabbed another vampire and tore her throat out in a spray of blood. If the vampire had any vocal chords left, I'm sure the scream would have been horrific. The choking gurgling noises failed to adequately express the vampires torment. I wanted to puke.

I stood to attack when a giant werelion landed on the creature's back, raking claws tearing flesh and spraying blood. The creature dropped the vampire and spun in a tight circle, flinging Thompson off his back and squaring off. Thompson's lion form stood about as tall as the creature, but the creature had a definite weight and muscle advantage. They circled each other twice and after a few feints on Thompson's part, they started grappling like monstrous wrestlers. I saw the vampire on the ground beneath their feet and I ran and pulled her out of the way. I'd turned to join the fight when the creature bit Thompson in the back of the neck. He shook his enormous head and I heard Thompson's neck snap as his body went limp.

The rest of the room went red as a haze filled my vision. I didn't see human or vampire, only the beast. Then he made the most serious mistake of the night, he smiled at me.

I lost control. My talons grew, my fangs elongated, and I felt the wet heat sliding down over my face as the bone like protrusions sprouted from the sides of my forehead. I didn't need to reach up to know they were there. In fact, I welcomed them and the power their presence signified.

I let out a roar that shamed the greatest of his and charged. His movements seemed sluggishly slow as I slapped his hands away when he tried to grab me before I attacked. I ducked under the third strike and raked the talons of my right hand along his ribs. I didn't go down, I followed the contours of them, feeling them slip in between as they finally hit a large bony plate and stopped. I pulled them free and held up my hand in front of him. He looked down at my hand and snarled at me while I licked the blood from my fingertips and talons, never taking my gaze from him.

"I rightly named thee, cousin. I could smell it in you. Welcome."

"Fuck off." I struck him in the stomach with my fingers straight, feeling his flesh part as my hand slid in and grabbed the first warm wet thing I could find. He kicked me and sent me flying away. I watched him look down in surprise when I pulled a length of entrails out of the hole I made. He howled and started stuffing his guts back inside. I wanted more and howled as he ripped what I had from my grasp. I charged again and made it back just as he had stuffed the last bit inside.

He didn't have time to block the full force attack. I launched myself and straddled his neck and shoulders with my legs as I grasped his head in my talons. He'd stopped me like a wall before, but this time I'd caught him off guard and knocked him backward, riding his chest down to the ground. I slipped my talons under his skin and grabbed the back of his jawbone. I pulled with everything I had and twisted at the same time. His jawbone broke free and I ripped it loose, tossing it to the side.