by David Moody
“What the fuck, Sandra!” Maddie rushed the woman, her fist solidly striking her in the cheek, her head rocked back and her knees buckled. Maddie grabbed the gun before the woman could do anything else stupid. Kalandar wrapped his hand around Sandra’s throat and lifted her so they were eye to damaged eye. Her legs were kicking wildly as the oxygen to her brain was being cut off. Maddie contemplated using the weapon to help free the woman, but honestly didn’t think that was in any of their best interests, save Sandra’s, and she’d made this pretty uncomfortable bed to lie in all by herself.
“Stop!” Sam screamed. “She’s my mother!”
“That is not a valid reason,” Kalandar’s voice boomed. “I owe you nothing, and this vile little wretch even less.” He shook her like a spoiled child might a sibling’s favorite toy in the hopes of breaking it. Sandra’s tongue was lolling out, her eyes were rolling into the back of her head, and her face was quickly moving from asphyxiation red to smothered blue. Her feet had begun to stop kicking and still, Kalandar did not ease his grip or let her down. Sam had punched into his side and thigh, her fists as ineffectual as if she’d struck a cinder block wall. She stepped back, fury building up in her. An unseen force pushed her hair back; Maddie watched in amazement, her arms goose fleshed, knowing something unexplainable was happening. Sam placed both her open-palmed hands against Kalandar’s thigh. There was a crackle of energy and a loud snapping noise.
“Ow!” Kalandar roared. A thick ribbon of black smoke rose into the air and the room filled with a smell not unlike burnt Spam and liver. Thistle gagged as the majority of the rank odor drifted her way. Sandra fell to the ground in a heap as Kalandar released his grip. Sandra’s legs were jerking spastically as her body fought to get air into her starved system.
Sam dropped down to hold her mother’s head. “Mom?”
Kalandar had turned so he was looking down at the two women. Maddie was certain he was debating whether he should stomp both of them into nonexistence. His forward leg was quivering in anticipation of getting the order.
“She’s an idiot, but she’s our idiot.” Maddie was trying to protect Sam. She wouldn’t lose much sleep if Sandra got what she deserved, but Sam in no way rated paying for her mother’s sins.
“She shot me in the face! That demands retribution. I could understand that behavior when first I appeared, in fact, I expected it. But we were in the midst of an agreement. These types of transgressions cannot happen during a parley. Killing her seems fitting.”
“I’m sure it does, and she deserves it.” Maddie noticed that Sandra was returning to a more natural color, though she was still unconscious.
“Maddie!” Sam huffed.
“I suppose I don’t have to kill her. If you shoot her in the face like I was shot, I will consider us back on level ground.”
“If I shoot her like she shot you, she’ll die.”
“Right, right…your kind break under the least amount of stress. You have no idea how many humans I have inadvertently killed while trying to extract information. A stab an inch too deep, a punch a fraction too hard, a neck twisted a degree too far, a chest caved in…”
“I get it.” Maddie didn’t want to hear any more about how easily people were killed.
“I have decided.” Kalandar was leaning over to look at Sandra, he stood up. “I shall not spark her inner light. She will fight alongside us outside, on her own pathetic ability. If she should die then, that will be the end of our agreement.”
Maddie wanted to tell him that they had not agreed to anything, but Kalandar held every advantage in the negotiation, and they would have to play the game by his rules.
“Get her up.”
Maddie and Thistle helped Sam to get Sandra to stand. Without their aid, she would not have been able to support herself.
“My head,” she croaked. “My throat hurts so bad.” Huge angry red welts had formed on her neck and chest as if Kalandar’s touch had burned her skin.
“She’s in no condition to fight,” Thistle said.
“That is not my problem. Bring her downstairs now. We fight the bogalites or I fight you. That is the only choice I will give you. I have a bloodlust that must be sated, and I care very little from where I get it.”
“But…”
Maddie hushed Sam up. “Let’s get her outside; we’ll all do the best we can to protect her.”
“Maddie, she can’t even stand.”
“We’ll make a circle,” Thistle offered.
Kalandar strode ahead of them, he was working his way through the panicked crowd as they about dragged Sandra through the lobby. Crazed people were doing everything they could to get out of the way of the demon who was launching those not quick enough into the air.
“Is he fighting people or the bugs?” Thistle asked.
“I don’t think he gives a shit. Sandra pissed him off. People, demons… seems her assholishness has put him in a really bad mood.” Maddie said.
Sam looked as though she wanted to defend her mother, but there wasn’t anything that she could say; the truth of it had been on display for all to see. Thistle pushed the door open and the first thing they noticed was the heat, which was approaching unbearable. Maddie’s shirt immediately clung to her body as sweat poured profusely.
“Worse than Florida,” she muttered as she pulled Sandra along.
“What now?” Thistle asked as they stopped twenty feet from the entrance to the hotel. Maddie shuddered as she looked upon the grotesque monsters. She wondered why the Bleed had manifested itself this way. Was it possibly a vanguard? A softening of the defenders? If so, why? The Bleed had proved its overwhelming strength; it did not need an opening bombardment. Whatever the reason, the thought was fleeting as one of the bogalites had seen the four women as an easy target and changed its trajectory toward them. Maddie and Thistle both let go at the same time to face the threat. Sandra’s dead weight pulled her and Sam to the ground.
Kalandar had grabbed the front legs of a tick. He lifted it clean off the ground and above his head before twisting his body to gain as much momentum as possible and slamming it into the dirt. Its exoskeleton burst upon impact, sending a spray of viscous detritus in a wide circle, clods of material landing close to where the women were going to make their stand.
“I don’t think we can do that.” Sam was standing behind the other two.
The next, he had grabbed an antenna and ripped it free from the beast’s body. The screech was loud enough that the women winced. Then he did something completely unexpected and shoved the injured animal toward their group, laughing as he did so.
“He set us up,” Thistle said grimly as he forced another monster their way. “Get us out here in the open, have a bunch of those bugs kill us.”
Maddie wasn’t sure what to believe; there could be something to what Thistle said, but why go through all the bother? Was he somehow fearful they could have gained the upper hand? That was doubtful. In less than ten seconds, he had neutralized two of them. Then it dawned on her, maybe he wasn’t so much afraid of them, as he was the rings somehow becoming damaged in an encounter. She was about to voice her concern and suggest that perhaps they should go back into the hotel. Kalandar had needed her help to get in; if they went now, she felt he might be locked out. Whether Sandra had been sandbagging her injuries or had made a miraculous recovery, Maddie didn’t know, only that the woman was up and running full speed for the hotel.
“Fucking bitch,” Maddie said. “The going gets rough, she gets going—just the wrong way.” She was a moment away from tapping the other two that they should go as well when she watched Sandra strike something invisible with enough force that she was jettisoned backward a few feet. Blood poured from her broken nose and busted lip. Kalandar had his hands upon his belly and his head thrown back and something which could be construed as walrus sounds emanated from his mouth. He was laughing. Maddie wanted to join him in his merriment; no one deserved a good face busting more than Sandra, but they had three mon
sters to deal with.
“Back up! Let’s go!” Maybe they couldn’t get into the hotel, but she reasoned it would still be a good idea to have a wall to their back. And if anything Kalandar said was true, they still needed to protect the snake in their midst.
“I’mf bleefing!” Sandra had her hands covering her face, blood leaking through her splayed fingers.
Sam could only shake her head as she, Maddie and Thistle stood shoulder to shoulder. The three bogalites were thundering toward them, stampeding, crushing the bodies of the unfortunate ones that had already fallen. Thistle held her hands up and grunted, a super-heated blast of air encompassed them before radiating out. The monsters were mired in the invisible field. Not stopped completely, but as if they were running through a thick fluid.
“Can you hold them?” Sam asked.
“For a little bit, but not for long.” Thistle was struggling from the exertion.
“Sam, what are you doing?” Maddie had lightly grabbed Sam’s shoulder as she moved forward.
“I can’t project my power.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Why would I need to lose it? What’s happening around us seems pretty unreal to me.”
“Can’t argue that. I’m coming with you.”
“To do what?”
“I…I honestly don’t know,” Maddie told her.
“I don’t either.” Sam was looking at her hands.
“Do what you did to him! Burn it, I mean.”
“It just happened; I was trying to help my mother.”
Maddie almost asked why but refrained.
“Pretend you’re helping her again,” Maddie said nervously as the closest animal’s black eyes swiveled atop their antennas toward them. Its mouth was opening slowly; long ribbons of black drool hung down from the roof of its cavernous maw.
“Whatever you’re doing, it had best be quick!” Sweat was running down Thistle’s head in rivulets. In any other scenario, it would have been humorous. Right now, it wasn’t.
“Maddie, nothing is happening!” Sam was balling up her hands over and over.
“What if I slap you?”
“What is that go…” There was a loud smacking sound as Maddie’s palm collided with Sam’s cheek. “Dammit, Maddie!” Red began to spread away from the initial point of contact.
“It always seemed to work in the movies.” Maddie stepped back. “Your hands!” She was pointing, they were glowing a bright yellow.
The creature was moving slowly, but it was still moving. A leg came up, at first to strike out, but when it saw Sam’s hands, it moved to protect itself.
“Oh god, I don’t want to touch it.” Sam had her face turned away and her hands outstretched as she easily ducked under the extremity. “Its hair is like quills.”
“Don’t touch them. Put your hands to the side, there’s plenty of room.”
“Duh.”
“Right now? Do it.”
“So gross. Eww.” There was a loud snapping noise, an acrid odor, and then Maddie found herself covered in goo as Sam had blown two large holes into the thing’s side and it had splurted like a volcano. Its steps stuttered, and it fell into the one next to it, tangling their legs.
“Get back…can’t hold.” Thistle’s words were spoken in a painful, halting way.
Maddie, realizing she was still holding Sandra’s gun, placed two inside the fallen one’s mouth. It jerked spasmodically on the ground before stilling. They had both turned and were heading back to the wall when Thistle’s field let go. The third bogalite streaked past and was headed for the girl who was now on her knees, head hanging down, clearly exhausted.
“Do something, Maddie!”
The slide on the weapon was locked back, signifying she was out of rounds. She tried to pull the trigger anyway, and got the results she’d expected. But these days, who knew? The unexpected was just as likely. She dropped Sandra’s and was reaching for the gun she’d grabbed earlier.
“You are not making this easy!” Kalandar thundered past. The demon launched a moment before the bogalite did. His weight came crashing down on the back end of the monster; there was a sickening crunch as two legs on the left side snapped in half. Bile rose in Maddie’s mouth as she noticed that the meat looked a lot like crab before it was covered in blood. The thing was trying to twist around and attack, its legs slapping wildly at the ground, kicking up great divots of dirt. Kalandar pulled a fist straight back and drove it into the things back, breaking through the shell, the entirety of its body, and out the other side, pinning it to the ground like an etymologist. When he pulled his arm out, long ribbons of glistening material clung to it. “The weapon. Give it to me.” He had his hand out. Maddie did. He closed his hand around it, crushing the plastic and metal into an inoperable ball. “You have cheated with one kill, and this one you cannot claim.” He kicked the beast by his feet. “That should be the conclusion of our contract.” He was talking as if the world around them was not a chaotic killing field with people running around or attempting to defend themselves, more times than not dying extremely violent deaths. “It does not bode well for me. If the four of you cannot kill these lowly beasts.”
“Lowly?” Sam asked Maddie.
“Shh.”
“But I did kill one, so did Maddie. Thistle held them in place.”
“You do not understand, little one. This thing and anything like it,” he let the twisted mass in his hand fall to the ground for effect, “are useless. Less than useless, because they give the wielder a false sense of confidence and security. Physical weapons can do no damage. This exercise is to teach you that, to learn to use what is inside of you, to trust in it. If you cannot do that, I cannot and will not throw my lot in with you. As I’ve said, there are much worse things than death, and that is what will happen to all of us if I choose my side poorly. And just so we are clear, by all of us, I mean me. The risk is all mine to take. I can stay the course, ride the wave (I heard that once, off the coast of Tunisia, I think). But without my help, your end is inevitable. I do not say that lightly or callously or even in a boastful manner, but rather as fact. You can prove your worth or not; I will not intercede again.”
“What’s going on?” Sam asked as Kalandar walked away.
“We just won a free game.”
“What?” she asked as Maddie pulled her back to Thistle.
“How are you doing?” Maddie asked her.
“Better. I’ve got some strength coming back.”
A strangled “ung” came from behind as Sandra had sat and was using the invisible wall to prop herself up.
“Going to be difficult to look down people with that nose.” Maddie grabbed Sandra’s arm and helped her stand. “I mean, with that giant bump you have now.” Maddie rubbed her own nose to show the woman, just in the off-chance Sandra wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
“I didn’t think it possible for you to become any crasser.”
“We’ve barely scratched the surface.”
“How bad can this Bleed be?” Sandra was gingerly wiping blood from her busted lip.
“Are you referring to your injury or our mortal enemy?” Thistle asked. “Well, I suppose both are pretty bad.”
“A piece of advice, girly. Don’t follow her lead. Last thing the world needs is another sarcastic grease monkey,” Sandra sneered.
Kalandar was more than a few hundred yards away but was still easily discernible as he strode confidently. He was redirecting monsters toward the group, again.
“Here we go,” Maddie said as three beasts began their deadly gallop. Kalandar paused, seemed to make up his mind about something and sent a fourth.
“I’m not going to be able to hold them all.” Thistle had a quaver in her voice.
“Get us in this shell!” Sandra yelled as she beat her fists against the wall.
“Is that even possible?” Sam asked.
“You tell me,” Maddie said.
Sam placed her hands against it and sen
d a jolt of power out. She immediately recoiled as her arms reverberated from the extreme feedback. “My arms are numb! I can’t feel anything!” They flopped wildly as she shook her upper half.
“I don’t know what to do.” Thistle was on the edge of panic.
“Come on, monkey, what do you have?” Sandra wore a sneer, Maddie thought it was safe to say the woman was not going to die with grace.
“Maddie?” Thistle asked.
Maddie was staring at her hands. “I don’t feel anything. I didn’t feel anything, except a shock, when he touched me. Whatever Kalandar thought he saw in me, he was wrong.”
“Does he seem like the type of demon that is wrong often?” Thistle asked.
“There’s nothing there!” Maddie was panicked as she looked from her hands to the leaping bogalites.
“Not there, here!” Sandra thumped the side of Maddie’s head hard.
“Okay, sensei, do that again and these grease monkey hands will show you exactly what they have in them.” Maddie couldn’t be sure if Sandra’s tap to the side of her head had dislodged something, or, more likely, the anger she had incurred did the trick, but there was something there, somehow tangible and intangible at the same time. It was a situation Maddie could make no sense of.
“You found it?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know what it is.”
“The damn shell Madeline!” Sandra shrieked.
Maddie had no idea if what she wanted to do would work or not, but inaction, in this case, would yield the same results as action without effect, namely, death. There was a crackle of energy as she touched the force field. She spread her hands as if she was opening curtains in a long-disused room.
“What happened?” Sam asked.
Sandra placed her hand where the wall should have been. Without a word of thanks, she stepped through to the other side.
“Is it completely gone?” Sam reached out where she was and came into contact with it.
“In!” Maddie grabbed Sam’s shoulder and pushed her. Thistle was next. Maddie followed, an idea of what she was going to do came to her as she did.
Kalandar was watching with great interest; he didn’t think what the woman had accomplished should be possible. It would not matter much what she had done, though, if they attempted to hide in the structure, he would kill them.