Chapter 443
Cadence had three Vampires on her while I only had two. I needed to find a way to get through them quickly so I could help my sister. Ashley also had two, but it looked like the pair were the smallest of all of them.
I would have to find a way to use their weight against them. I glanced over my shoulder to see Guardians getting closer to our location, but they weren’t on us yet. I figured Holland had sent these suckers to take us prisoner, to return us to her, but a quick glance in their heads told me they were here for the kill.
As I was invading their thoughts, the woman made it clear she intended to lunge at me, and it occurred to me for the first time, I could use my telepathy to help me anticipate what they were going to do. It wasn’t easy considering I’d have to quickly read two minds simultaneously, but it did give me an advantage. She lunged; I sidestepped, bringing up my knee and sending her into the brute behind her.
He was quicker. Moving her aside, he grappled for my arm, and I managed to bring it up into his nose. He raised his hand to cover it, but it was demolished. I was much faster than either of them, and with a few quick spins and some properly landed kicks, thanks to anticipating where they were moving, I had them tangled up pretty quickly.
The guy was angry. Once he got free of the woman, he came at me again. I brought my knife around, and he grabbed my elbow, twisting and yanking. My blade hit the ground. I would’ve pulled it back with my superpowers, but he put his foot on it. I pulled my Glock.
I opened fire at close range, aiming for his chest. It slowed him, but he still had ahold of me. I kicked him in the gut and then the lady was there, too, so I shot her. Over his shoulder, I saw that my sister was in some real trouble. I needed to hurry. No longer playing around I lifted him up off of my knife, drew it to my hand, and rammed it into his throat. He was still shocked that he was floating when his eyes began to bulge, and then he exploded in a mass of ashes.
The woman came at my back. I threw an elbow, grabbed her hair and dragged her down so that my arm was around her neck. She was strong, but I was stronger. I gave her head a few cranks, and then shot my Glock directly into her elongated neck. She was gone.
My sister almost was, too.
Two guys had her arms, and a third Vampire, a lady, was trying to position her hands so that one was on top of Cadence’s head and the other on her chin. I’ve seen this technique many times in practice but only a few in real life. It’s always us administering it, not receiving it. My sister needed my help, and she needed it now. “Cadence!”
I saw her look at me out of the corner of her eye as I sprinted her direction, but I wasn’t going to make it on time. She wasn’t ready to give up all hope, but she had a look in her eyes that said she was sorry she put us in this position. Just as the woman’s claws grazed her chin, I picked the monster up and threw her across the field, slamming her into a tree.
The distraction was enough so that Cadence could work herself free from the two goons who had her arms. I saw Job sprinting to her aid, so I moved in on the woman on the ground, the one who’d been about to unscrew my sister’s head. But before I could reach her, a boulder rolled me over. Out of nowhere, another Vampire had rocketed into my side. He was stocky and powerful, and I was getting tired. I guess not sleeping for two days will do that to a person.
I kicked up into him, knocking him backward, but not long enough for me to regain my feet. He pounced again. Behind me, the woman had gotten up and was charging my sister. I wanted to help her, not fight this monster. Grappling for my knife, I came up empty, and he took a mammoth swing at my face with his claws. His hands connected with my cheek, which stung, but there was no blood. I thought that was strange and wondered if it was true Vampires couldn’t actually kill me.
I wasn’t going to find out. My Glock was where it should be. I opened fire, and he staggered backward, giving me the chance to jump up. I was just about to holster it and go for his head when he got bowling-balled himself. I thought Job was helping Cadence, but here he was, ripping the Vampire’s head off before the guy even knew what hit him.
When I turned back to Cadence, she’d ended the woman and was catching her breath, ash and blood covering her black leather clothing. A few feet away Ashley and Trina were finishing off another Vampire beneath a tree.
Looking around, I could see we had the upper hand now. Some of the Vampires were starting to run away while Job’s people chased them down. Others were still giving it their all, only to be ended pretty shortly.
I saw my knife on the ground and reached for it before I realized that wasn’t necessary and pulled it over to my hand. Job said, “Wow. I wish I could do that.”
“Yeah, it comes in handy. Thanks for your help.”
He nodded and then hurried off to join the rest of his peeps. I turned back to see my sister headed toward me. “You okay?”
“Thanks to you,” she replied, wrapping her arms around me. “You sure know how to fling a Vampire.” She kissed the top of my head, and I couldn’t help but smile this time, glad to have been able to help. I knew that second dose of Transformation serum was going to come in handy.
“Well, I could hardly let them decapitate you. I don’t want to be the one to tell Aaron you’ve literally lost your head.”
She snickered. “I don’t blame you.” One more hug, and then we headed over to Ashley who was sitting under the tree, panting pretty heavily, her arm still bleeding.
“This is a lot easier when we have Guardians.” She wiped at her bleeding shoulder with a scrap of fabric that looked like it might’ve been a handkerchief but I wasn’t sure.
“You’re telling me,” Cadence agreed. “Come on, let’s get to the airport.”
I pulled Ashley up with my hand instead of my mind and put my arm around her shoulders. She was shaking a little. I’m not sure if it was from the fight or the thought that we were getting back on the plane without the people we’d come here with. I couldn’t let it get to me. We knew the portal opened other places. It wouldn’t do any of us any good to stay in Shepherdstown.
The car was still running, and the song on the radio was a familiar one, a tune Elliott liked to hum from time to time. I couldn’t remember the name of it, so I checked the lyrics using my IAC and almost snickered. “Bad Moon Rising” by CCR. How fitting.
We got in, and I had no problem at all letting Cadence get behind the wheel. I sat in the back with Ash. We all buckled up, maybe out of habit, and Cadence put the car in reverse. It went, and we headed out of the field where everything had changed, heading home to make it all right again.
