Clipped (The Clipped Saga, 1) by Devon McCormack (12 page)

Treycore stared back at her, still exchanging blows with

Mika.

Vera’s pasty flesh grew a shade whiter. Her eyes returned to

CLIPPED 110

Dedrus.

“Wel , wel ,” she said as she blocked a slash from his sword.

“You boys have been busy, haven’t you?”

Deter looked around, confused.

“It’s...the Antichrist,” Vera hissed, “you dumb shit.”

“Holy fuck,” he said.

“She’s gonna go for her!” Dedrus warned.

~

Got to get to Maggie before Vera does
, Treycore thought, his sword stil in swift battle with Mika’s oncoming daggers.

If she got to her first, she’d teleport her to who-knew-where

and that would be the end of the Antichrist.

Vera disappeared from before Dedrus and reappeared next

to Maggie. She reached out to snatch her.

Fuck!
Treycore thought.

SMACK!

Kinzer had come up beside her and rammed a basebal bat

into her face, sending her fal ing backward.

“Fucking douche!” Deter said. He released Maggie and

pul ed his sword from its sheath, rushing Kinzer.

Dedrus leapt over the couch and blocked Deter’s sword as

they started up their own duel.

Maggie fled across the room, toward the study.

Treycore sliced at Mika’s hip. As Mika used both daggers to

111 Devon McCormack
block the attack, Treycore reared his fist back and decked him. Mika toppled over the couch, rol ing across the floor.

Treycore hurried after Maggie. Vera appeared behind her.

Treycore sliced between she and Maggie, but Vera

disappeared again, reappearing on the other side of his sword.

Treycore snatched her by her scrawny arm, hurled her over

his shoulder, and slammed her into the floor.

The sword in her hand broke free and slid across the living

room floor.

~

Dedrus’s peripherals worked overtime as he maintained his battle with Deter and kept an eye on the action around the room.

Craetis final y managed to grip onto Kid’s arm. He twisted

till Kid caved and released him. Standing back up, he grabbed Kid by his throat and tossed him across the room.

Kid plowed into a table so hard that it snapped in two.

Craetis loosened the belt around his neck and gasped for air.

“Fucking dick,” he said. He fondled his bal s and turned to

Kinzer. “You!”

Dedrus dropped to the floor, scooped up Kinzer’s sword,

which had slid near him just moments earlier. Keeping up with

Deter’s attacks, he sliced through Craetis’s shin.

“Ah!” Craetis cal ed out.

As his leg snapped off, he toppled like Goliath. Blood oozed

CLIPPED 112

across the carpet.

Dedrus spotted Mika, who’d been lying listlessly on the floor

for some time after Treycore had decked him good. Mika stumbled

to his feet and headed for Dedrus.

Just what I need
.

He used Kinzer’s sword to defend himself against Mika and

continued using his own to defend against Deter.

Craetis cried like a baby as he nursed his severed limb.

~

Kinzer raced into the study.

He was right behind Treycore.

Maggie headed toward a window behind the desk.

Vera appeared, mid-air, her wings outstretched, soaring at

her.

“Come here, sweetlips!” she exclaimed.

“Behind you!” Kinzer cal ed. “Don’t let her touch you,

Maggie!”Maggie squealed. She ducked and crawled under the desk.

Vera landed on top of it.

Treycore bounded into the air, swinging his sword violently

before him. As the tip of his blade grazed her feathers, she

disappeared.

He landed on the desk, his feet dancing about as he

struggled to maintain his balance on the stacks of papers and files

113 Devon McCormack
scattered across it.

As Maggie crawled out the other side of the desk, Vera

appeared behind her, covered in sweat, breathing heavily, her eyes savage as she reached for Maggie’s leg.

Treycore swiped his sword across the floor, slicing her hand

off.

“Ahhhh!” she wailed. She vanished.

Hopping off the desk, Treycore knelt to cover Maggie.

~

Dedrus’s chest vibrated rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. He didn’t know how much longer he’d be able to take on Mika and

Deter. They continued swapping attacks, when he heard, “Boys!”

Vera stood on the stairwel , cradling a bleeding stump.

“We’ve gotta go,” she said.

Craetis limped to the stairs.

“Vera, we can do this!” Mika shouted, not taking his eyes of

Dedrus.

Red flashed in her eyes. “Now!”

Mika and Deter pul ed back. Dedrus halted his attack as

they exchanged knowing looks, agreeing to have a peaceful retreat.

“We’l be back,” Vera said. A river of blood rushed down her

dress, sparkling in the glow of the lamplights. Her wings fanned around Deter, Mika, and Craetis, and they disappeared.

“Godfuckingdammit,” Dedrus said.

CLIPPED 114

He ran into the study to join the others. Kid, rising from

the two halves of the table, fol owed after him.

“They know we have the Antichrist!” Dedrus exclaimed.

Treycore wiped sweat from his brow. Kinzer fel back against

a bookshelf.

Kid hurried to Maggie and helped her to her feet.

“We need to leave...now,” Kinzer said. “Vera could hop in

any second and nab her.”

“Naw,” Treycore said. “Bitch needs to find herself another

hand. And she was already getting too weak. Her moves were

slowing down. Probably only has a few left in her.”

“And I saved them just for you, sweetlips.”

Vera was suddenly standing between Kid and Maggie, sweat

pouring down her forehead. She panted, desperately struggling for air. Stretching her arms out, blood spewed from her stump, across Kinzer and Dedrus’s faces as she lunged at Maggie.

“Stop her!” Dedrus cried.

Kid leapt on her back and twisted his arm around her neck.

Treycore slipped between Vera and Maggie. Her arms

wrapped around him.

Vera snarled as she, Treycore, and Kid disappeared.

“Fucking cunt!” Dedrus shouted.

“Get her!” Kinzer said, motioning to Maggie. “We’re getting

the fuck out of here.”

~

115 Devon McCormack
What the fuck?
Kid thought.

Blue moonlight il uminated a forest with trees nearly twenty

times the size any Kid had ever seen. Foliage surrounded him on al sides. The hum of tree frogs came from every direction.

Kid sprang to his feet. The back of his jeans were soaked

from the damp ground.

He glanced around worriedly. Was he alone?

“Fuck,” Treycore said, popping up from behind a cluster of

ferns. “Where the fuck are we?”

Treycore studied their surroundings. “A jungle,” he said,

“Judging by the plant life, I’d say somewhere in South America.”

“Who the fuck was that bitch?”

“My ex-girlfriend.”

Ex-girlfriend?
Kid thought.
He total y just jerked off with me
earlier.

“That doesn’t explain why the fuck we’re in the middle of a

fucking jungle.”

“That’s not what you asked. If you had, I would have told

you that her gift is teleportation. She can take us anywhere on earth or between the heavens. It’s a rare power. She’s one of the few

immortals to possess it. While she was teleporting, I managed to sneak us away. That's why we're here.”

“You couldn't have gotten us out somewhere closer?”

“It doesn't work like that.”

CLIPPED 116

“Wel , what are we gonna do now?”

“Listen,
kid
,” Treycore snapped, “I promised Kinzer I’d

protect you, but I’m not your baby-sitter, and—”

“I don’t need a fucking baby-sitter!”

Treycore rol ed his eyes. “Whatever. I’m going to look for

some wood to make a fire.”

He rushed through the foliage, disappearing into the night.

What have I gotten myself into?
Kid wondered.

117 Devon McCormack
Chapter Seven

SCREECH!

The car sped around a corner.

This is insane
, Maggie thought.

She sat in the backseat, her eyes vacillating between Dedrus

and Kinzer.

The scent of pine from a tree air freshener hanging around

the rearview mirror fil ed her nostrils.

She couldn't believe al that she'd just experienced. The

wings. The flying. The woman chasing her. It was more disorienting than waking mid-tweak to hot breath, sweaty palms, and an ever-expanding pain in her twat.

She'd had some bad tweaks, but this was unlike anything

she'd ever experienced. Perhaps this was withdrawal. Yes, that was it.

Those assholes had kept her from her shit for too long, and now she had to deal with the negative side effects. Those fucking bastards!

CLIPPED 118

Her mind was too scattered for her to process al that had

happened. But surely she didn't need to...since none of it was real.

And who were these guys who were driving her off to who-

knew-the-fuck-where?

She eyed the sword that was lay beside her, across the seat.

~

Dedrus pressed his foot against the brake.

The car jolted back as it stopped before a stoplight.

Dedrus and Kinzer thrust forward with the momentum of

the car.

“Can you be a little more careful?!” Kinzer barked.

“I'm doing my best!” Dedrus insisted.

CLICK.

What the fuck?
Kinzer thought. He flipped his gaze behind him. The back door was open.

Maggie was gone.

“Shit!” he exclaimed, undoing his seat-belt.

“What are you doing?” Dedrus asked.

“I've got to get her.”

He lunged out of the car.

An orange glow from the streetlamps lit up the back of

Maggie's flower-print dress as she ran for a kudzu-draped wood, one hand flailing at her side, the other tucking Dedrus's sword close to her.

119 Devon McCormack

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Kinzer cal ed.

He rapidly approached her. She spun around, holding the

sword out before her.

Kinzer stopped, stepped back.

“Get the fuck away from me!” she shouted.

“Maggie, what's wrong?”

“What the fuck do you think's wrong?! I'm seriously

tweaking here!”

“Maggie, we're gonna take care of you. Now, please. Just get

back in the car.”

“No!” she hissed.

“Maggie, please...”

“Quit saying my fucking name! I don't know you. I don't

want to know you. I want you and your friends to take me back to Kirk right fucking now!”

“I can't do that.”

His eyes sank to her bel y.

She pul ed the sword back and pressed it against her

stomach.

“Is this what you fucking want? Huh?”

“Maggie!”

“I didn't ask for this! I didn't fucking want this! I can make

it al go away.”

“Maggie, right now—”

“I said stop saying my name! What are you, a fucking

shrink?!”

CLIPPED 120

“What's in your bel y is the only hope your world has right

now.”

“This isn't real,” she whined. “It isn't real.”

She lowered the sword.

Kinzer stayed back, his arms at his side, signifying that he

wasn't going to attack.

“I know you weren't asked to do this. And I know it's not

fair. But Maggie, if you don't come with us, those guys back there are going to find you and then you're real y going to have shit to deal with.”

Dedrus stepped behind Kinzer. “Do I need to get some

rope?” he asked.

“Leave me the fuck alone!” Maggie barked.

“Can you
not
help?” Kinzer asked, shooting Dedrus a severe glare. Tears rushed down her face. She glanced between Kinzer

and Dedrus, her eyes wild, frantic.

“This isn't happening,” she said. “It can't be.”

“Yes, it is,” Kinzer said in as calm a voice as he could manage

under the circumstances. “It's happening, and we have to get you somewhere safe.”

She shook. Dropping the sword, she fel to her knees in a

patch of grass and weeds.

Kinzer approached her.

“Why me?” she cried, her head sinking into her hands.

He knelt beside her, set his hand on her shoulder.

121 Devon McCormack

“I just need to get back to Kirk. He's gonna be so mad. He

gets mad when I'm gone too long. He gets real mad. Am I being

punished? Why is this happening?”

“I know this might not seem very helpful right now,” he

said. “But what's happening inside you is the most important event in al of creation. We have the power to save your world from the most painful, agonizing apocalypse you can conceive of. We can't do this without you.”