Scary Dead Things - 02 (32 page)

What happened next happened fast.

* * *

Nergui barked something, and Bang let loose with his dagger in my direction. However, right before the knife left his hand, Harry Decker let loose with...well, whatever he let loose with. The red glow leapt from him across the room, directly at Nergui. Cheng-gong uttered a shout of warning and dove in front of Nergui. The blast hit him full on.

The backlash of it ruined Bang's aim. The dagger slammed into the wall not an inch from my face, close enough so that I felt the air it displaced as it flew by. I'd like to tell you that I just stood there rooted to the spot, an arrogant sneer on my face at the pathetic failed attack on me. The first part was true at least. I was rooted to the spot, all right; however, the only thing that kept me from screaming and cowering like a little girl was the spectacle of what happened to Cheng.

Decker's attack enveloped him in the red glow, and Cheng exploded in a shower of sparks and dust. Holy shit, Decker had game after all. I never thought I would be happy that a bunch of assassins had burst in to try to kill me. I had no qualms about admitting that whatever Decker had done to Cheng would have likewise left me little more than dust in the wind.

This was turning serious. Unfortunately, it was almost over, too. The glow left Decker, and he collapsed to the ground with a glazed look in his eye. Guess he had blown his load with that last attack. I'd keep that in mind for later...if there was a later. He had some nasty guns, but apparently limited ammunition. Good to know. If I could figure out a way to keep him from blasting me to ash on the first try, I’d be set.

He was no longer the problem, at least not until his batteries recharged; however, that still left two ancient vampires with a hard-on for some killing. Still, two was better than three. After this was all said and done, maybe I'd send a fruit basket to Harry's office. Or maybe that should be a funeral wreath instead, as he now had Nergui and Bang's full attention. That's the thing with teams. You somehow manage to kill Howling Mad Murdock, and you’ve still got Face, Hannibal, and BA Baracus to deal with. Both assassins faced the dazed wizard and hissed through their fangs. This was not going to be pretty.

Speaking of pretty, a gorgeous blonde projectile suddenly slammed into Nergui and Bang, taking them off of their feet. Way to go, Sally! The wonder twins’ concentration on her bonds must have faltered as the battle started. Sally could have probably easily dispatched both of them; however, she wasn't stupid. She knew who the bigger threat here was.

As the three vampires went down in a heap, I heard Decker's voice wheeze, “This isn't finished, Freewill! (
yeah yeah, haven't heard that one before
) Get us out of here!”

Christy started to repeat the same movements she had made back when she dismissed Gan. Before she could finish, though, I locked eyes with her. “Take them with you...
please
,” I said in a pleading voice. She gave me a hard look back, but then her gaze softened and she looked away. A moment later her, Decker and my two bound roommates disappeared from the room. Thank God. Who knows, maybe she actually had some real feelings for Tom (
for whatever insane reason
). More likely, she knew that two helpless humans in the room stood absolutely no chance of surviving. Whatever the reason, my roommates were out of here at least. The only potential problem was if they all went back to my apartment. A very angry Gan might be there waiting for them. However, there was no time to worry about that now. I had to be content with hoping for the best.

I ran to the pile of tangled vampires just as Nergui flung Sally off him. Bang had still not made it back to his feet, so I, in classic unsportsmanlike manner, kicked him in the face while he was still down. It was a solid connect, and he went flying, but I had no illusions that my strength was anywhere close to what was needed to make him stay down. Then again, maybe I could do something about that.

* * *

I bared my fangs and leapt at Bang. One bite, and I could maybe even the odds a little in this battle. However, unlike my previous fights, I was up against opponents who knew full well what I was capable of. Nergui reached out while I was in mid-leap, grabbed my foot, and swung me so that I flew across the room.

“We know your tricks, Freewill. They will not work on us.”

Well, isn't that just dandy...OOF!!
I thought, slamming into a coffee table.

Having taken my fair share of throws in the past several months, I was able to roll with it a bit and get back on my feet in another second.

“I don't suppose the Khan would like to just, you know, discuss this?” I asked them. Bang was back up and standing at Nergui's side. They both faced me. “I mean, this is really just a big misunderstanding. I wasn't even supposed to go to China.” Yeah, I was babbling, and yes, I figured it was a long shot. However, it was also a distraction.

Sally was also on her feet again and once more going for Nergui's blindside; however, you don't get to become a three-hundred-and-fifty-year-old assassin by being a dumbass. What we were doing was no doubt the oldest trick in their book.

As Sally threw a right cross at him, he turned and casually caught her by the arm. In one quick flick, he brought the dagger in his other hand up and severed Sally's hand at the wrist.

Before her newly unattached appendage could hit the floor or either of us could even scream, Nergui flung her towards me.

“SALLY!!” I finally yelled just as she landed at my feet. Oh God, this wasn't good. I dropped to my knees to help her but wasn't sure what I could do. Her arm was spurting blood all over the place. She made a pained whimper but appeared to be in too much shock to even scream.

“It's OK. I'm here,” I said, but there wasn't much comfort to give. If vampires could bleed to death (
could they?
), she was doing a good job of it.

“Take it,” she whispered. I didn't understand. However, she held up her still spouting arm and repeated herself. She was actually offering her life blood to me.

“No...I can't,” I stammered, feeling tears come to my eyes.

She gave me one of her typical Sally grins, and then whispered something else. I didn't quite make it out, but it sounded like “dumbass.” Then her eyes rolled up in the back of her head, and she stopped moving.

This wasn't happening. Sally and I were supposed to be an unbeatable team. Despite how she usually acted, she was one of the few people on the planet who had ever believed in me. My tears began to flow freely, and then I heard the two assassins in the room begin to advance.

Instantly, my grief extinguished itself, and that dull rage I had felt earlier began to rear its ugly head. This time, I decided to allow it to take me. My humanity be damned; these fuckers were going to pay.

I could feel something nasty inside of me clawing its way up. This thing was far darker than any Dr. Death persona I kept in the back of my head. If demons existed, I felt like one was starting to claim me.

My fangs and claws extended, and I glanced down again to where Sally lay. That was enough to push me over the edge.

The change kept happening, and I could see by the looks on Nergui's and Bang's faces that they saw it, too. Nergui shouted something I couldn't understand, and both vampires came after me almost as quickly as thought itself. The only thing I knew was that it wasn't fast enough.

Unfortunately, I had no idea what happened next, as my vision went entirely to red.

There's nothing like a cool, refreshing breeze on a Fall night. Crisp and carrying just a hint of the winter weather ahead, but still pleasant enough to be outside and enjoy. True, I've never been much of an outdoors type. Anyone with eyes could figure that out by my pasty white skin (
even before I was undead
). However, this time of year was nice. No bugs, no sweating; just nice and comfortable. I wouldn't mind staying here for a while.

Speaking of which, where the fuck was I anyway?

My head started to clear, and with it my vision. I looked around. It was still night. That was good; otherwise, my enjoyment of the breeze would've been quickly cut off by all the burning and screaming. Things like that tended to put a damper on the day trips as of late. Judging by the horizon, it was the wee hours of the morning, maybe an hour or so until daybreak. Still plenty of time to get indoors. Hey, I could actually see the horizon. Come to think of it, the entire view was pretty damn nice.

I tried to stand, wobbled a bit before finally doing so, and then realized why the view was so good. I was standing on the top of some building. From what I could tell, I was at least twenty stories up, maybe more. Odd that I didn't remember stepping out for some pre-dawn stargazing.

There was a slight groan from off to my side. Considering the pitch, I wondered if maybe I hadn't brought some female companionship along. I walked over, still a little wobbly, and looked down to see Sally.

Aw, she looked like she was asleep.

And covered in blood.

And with her right arm ending in a stump.

Oh shit!

The memories of the past...however long ago that was, started to filter into my mind, snapping me out of my daze.

“
Oh God, Sally. Please don't be dead
!” I thought as I knelt down beside her. Well, OK, she's already dead, but I meant really really dead. I reached down and put my hand on her throat to feel for a pulse. After about ten seconds of that, I mentally slapped myself upside the head. Duh! Vampires don't have pulses, regardless of their condition.

OK, need to think this through. Remember your Boy Scout training, stupid! Oh yeah, I was a boy scout for all of two weeks before I got bored with it. Come on, what does one do when somebody's hand gets cut off by trained vampire assassins? OK, pretty sure I didn't read about that one on WebMD. I got it: a tourniquet!

I started to pull off my belt so as to staunch Sally's bleeding stump, when I realized it wasn't doing so any longer. What had been a geyser of blood just a...however long ago, was now nothing. That wasn't good. No blood meant...No! Best not to think of that.

I looked closer. The stump wasn't bleeding because it had started to scab over. Her arm was at least partially trying to heal itself. Corpses didn't usually do that. Maybe there was still hope. Besides, didn't she just groan? Or was that the wind? Only one way to find out.

I thus did the only thing I could think of. If Sally was truly gone, it's not like it would have made things worse. So I turned her head towards me and gave her a hard slap across the face.

“SALLY, WAKE UP!” (
please!
)

Nothing. OK, maybe I shouldn't hit her hard enough to knock her brains out. I tried it again, slightly softer, but still enough to leave a handprint on her face. That time, I got a groan in response. Yes! She was still in there somewhere.

“Come on, Sally! You can do it. Those fuckers can't take you down that easily!” I said, feeling wetness welling up in my eyes. She started to come around. Her eyes were still closed, but I could see her trying to mouth something. I leaned in closer.