by Jerry Hart
Why is Michael smiling? Les suddenly wondered as he caught a quick glimpse of Michael’s face just before the sword came down, severing Les’s arm at the elbow. He didn’t even register this at first. He continued staring at Michael, then suddenly at his arm. And now at Aslain.
The pain hit him. He screamed, grabbing the bloody stump. Aslain backhanded Les, causing him to fall on the rubble that used to be his desk. Les, too scared to stand, crawled toward the protective circle he’d made earlier. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked back and saw that Aslain had cut off his right leg at the knee. Les screamed again but continued crawling, slower this time.
He was in. Les made sure nothing was poking out of the circle, and replaced all the purple crystals he had knocked out of the way when he crawled in. He looked up at Aslain as he towered over him, sword raised. Les looked over to Michael, who was still smiling.
“But he’s under my control,” Les whined.
Michael crawled to the end of the bed so that he was face to face with Les.
“He was never under your control. When you were busy with Norrack, I tapped him”—he indicated Aslain—“on the shoulder. I told you I had a few tricks up my sleeve. Also”—he reached out and touched Les’s shoulder—“there’s no such thing as magic.”
Les shuddered with fear. Michael had penetrated the protective circle; it didn’t protect Les from him. And it wasn’t going to protect him from Aslain, who was now bringing his sword, with all his might, down on Les’s pitiful, whining body.
* * *
Michael was filled with an unexpected sorrow as he watched Les die before his eyes. He’d had too much fun bringing Les’s beloved replicas to life, something Les had always wished would happen. Michael wondered if he was actually enjoying killing now. With a wave from his hand, Aslain shut down. The mist poured out of the replica and back into Michael, and he instantly felt better. He had been powering the hero like a radio-controlled car with a small portion of his own consciousness. He walked over to Les and pulled the sword out of his head.
He grabbed the orb and put it in the backpack, but as he turned to leave, he froze in place. An unexpected tingling washed over him and his whole body became rigid and numb.
Michael fought with all his might to push his limbs to work again. Slowly, but surely, his legs moved, and he was able to walk into the hallway.
He turned back to Les, who was still on his knees, staring up at the ceiling, mouth open wide in anguish.
What did he do to me? he thought. He’d only been faking earlier to humor Les before he was killed. But now....
Now he actually was having trouble moving. Had there been more to Les than met the eye? Was magic real? Michael had been using the energy inside of him to bring the replicas to life, the energy he now knew was also inside of Owen. The energy from beyond. Science, not magic. Maybe his little trick was causing this unexpected feeling and not whatever Les had done....
Oh, well, it didn’t matter. Owen had a job to do, and Michael would make sure it was done. Whether Owen was willing to help or not.
After retrieving his “supplement” from Norrack in the hallway, Michael grabbed the axe and added it to the sword from Aslain. He then walked outside and, just as expected, saw Jason parked in front of the house with a huge smile on his face. Michael wished he could share in his brother’s enthusiasm, but he just wasn’t feeling it. He couldn’t admit to Jason he didn’t want the same things. Michael only wanted a place to call home, where he wouldn’t have to worry about being hunted and killed by angry, superstitious people.
Of course, Jason had said the orb would provide such a home for them. They could make any world their home with the orb, and on and on. Jason had given the same speech over and over until Michael finally relented. Truth be told, he knew he was turning into a monster, just like his older brother. Only, Michael tried to be different. He’d given his victims a choice: Do this or do that. Doing this will save your life; doing that will end it.
All of Michael’s victims had chosen that. But just because Michael had given them a choice didn’t make him any less of a monster, not after all was said and done.
He was turning into his brother, and he was shocked to find he liked it. Michael had no choice—he had to like it. Jason would soon be in control, and there was nothing Michael could do about it. Sure, he had the strength to oppose his older brother, but he could never actively go against Jason’s wishes. Jason had taken care of him when their foster parents were killed; Michael owed him everything.
Though, Michael couldn’t help but wonder: If Jason had been the one to take on the supplement instead, would he have needed his little brother at all? As Michael walked up to the car, to his destiny, he hoped the answer was yes. He hoped his brother wouldn’t just abandon him if he ever got the chance.
Brothers wouldn’t do that to each other.
Chapter 17. Infiltrated
Daniel wasn’t ashamed to admit he was scared. Alyssa was dead; Michael had killed her. Daniel’s imagination was working overtime as it reenacted her final moments. Why? he wondered. We’re the good guys. We’re not supposed to die like this. If we have to die, we’re supposed go out in a heroic act, and it’s not supposed to be painful. Not like that.
He hoped she didn’t feel any pain, being slammed against a wall. Please, let her death have been quick.
The theme music from the videogame had been turned off minutes ago; it had only made Daniel sadder.
He glanced at D, standing in the middle of the armory. If only he had finished the robot, they could’ve taken it with them. It would’ve protected them—protected Alyssa. Daniel hated thinking of her now that she was gone, but he couldn’t help it. She hadn’t deserved what happened to her. None of them did, but most of all, her. She hadn’t been cut out for this line of work, if you could even call it work.
No, it wasn’t a job. What was it?
A hobby?
No.
Daniel cursed himself for even thinking that. Alyssa didn’t die because of a “hobby.” She died trying to make the world safer, trying to rid it of monsters that should not exist in the first place. She had been trying to do the right thing. She was the reason he had joined in the first place: She had always said he was the smartest person she knew.
Daniel grabbed a screwdriver and went over to D. He was determined to finish this thing. He wasn’t going to let anyone else die if he could help it.
He couldn’t figure out what was wrong, though. Why wouldn’t D respond to any of his commands? The robot just stood there, staring straight ahead. It was a four-hundred-pound paperweight. Daniel couldn’t stand to look at it anymore. He threw the screwdriver across the room, knocking over a bunch of papers from his worktable.
“Crap!”
He went over to pick them up; on the floor were his schematics for D as well as a book on robotics. He had built D using his natural intellect—intellect he’d wanted to apply to making videogames. That’s all he ever wanted to be: a videogame designer. He had barely even glanced at the book while constructing his broken masterpiece. He had wanted to make it look human, but he didn’t have the resources to do so. Also, Alyssa had insisted it wasn’t important to make it pretty, just functional....
Alyssa.
He told himself not to think of her now.
He couldn’t help it. He missed her so much. He loved her. Ever since he saw her for the first time at one of his softball games. He had been too afraid to tell her that, but he’d always complimented her whenever he could. He always looked at her when she wasn’t paying attention. At times he realized it seemed creepy, but he was fairly certain she had noticed him staring once. And he was even more certain she had even smiled at that.
But she wouldn’t smile anymore.
Daniel opened the book he’d just picked up, hoping beyond hope there would be something that would give him a clue as to what was wrong with his creation. He took the screwdriver and went around to the back of D’s hea
d. He was about to unscrew the back panel when he heard a noise. It sounded like a polite knock at the front door.
He put down the screwdriver and headed for the door. Without looking through the peephole, he opened it.
Michael, Alyssa’s murderer, stood there, a smile on his face. Daniel slammed the door shut and put all the locks in place. He ran back to his worktable in the armory and grabbed his cell phone.
Another polite knock on the door!
Daniel tried to ignore it. His heart beat so hard he could barely handle the phone. He couldn’t remember which speed-dial entry Chris was under. He pressed “2” but that was his ex-girlfriend Amy. If he got out of this alive, he’d give her a call and see how she was doing.
He pressed “3.”
* * *
Chris’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He answered, putting it on speakerphone so Owen could hear.
“He’s here, at the front door!” Daniel’s voice sounded tiny through the speaker, but the fear in it was profound.
“Oh god!” Chris screamed. “Don’t fight him. Just hide. We’re already on our way.”
He hung up, his face filled with complete horror.
“You won’t make it,” said Nikki. “You can’t help your friend.” She sounded like she was in a trance.
Chris and Owen left as quickly as possible. Owen’s mind was already at work imagining what Michael was going to do—hell, what he was probably already doing—to Daniel. He had shown no mercy with Alyssa. He and Chris were hauling tail down the freeway a few minutes later, cops be damned. Owen almost hoped a cop would chase them, calling for backup while he was at it. More firepower was welcome when it came to Michael.
* * *
More knocking. No pounding on the door or anything like that. Just polite, patient knocking. But Daniel knew that wouldn’t last long. Sooner or later, Michael would blast his way in here and tear him to pieces. Those locks he’d installed on the door were strong and plentiful, but that’s not what was holding Michael back. He was just toying with Daniel.
Daniel looked back to D rather pathetically. That robot was his only chance of surviving the encounter. But it still stood there, staring blankly....
Wait! Daniel could have sworn he had just seen a flicker of light in the robot’s eyes—
What was that? A noise from outside the front door. It sounded like keys. Did Michael have keys? To the door? But how?
One lock turned. Then another. Then another. Michael was unlocking the door. In a few seconds, Daniel would be face to face with him. What would Michael do to him first? Would he gouge out his eyes? Would he rip off his limbs? Disembowel him? None of those thoughts were the least bit comforting. His heart was pounding so painfully in his chest, he was on the verge of vomiting.
Another lock.
Only one lock left. Daniel wished he’d put a few more on the door at that point.
The last lock.
That was it. Nothing more to do but open the door.
And that’s when the door slowly opened. Michael smiled from the hallway.
“May I come in?” he asked.
This confused Daniel. Could Michael not come in unless he was invited? That rule was so popular with vampires. Daniel doubted it was true for him. And he was right, because Michael slowly walked into the condo.
“I was just being polite.” He closed the door behind him and looked around, whistling to show he was impressed. “Nice place,” he continued. “Who paid for this?”
Daniel didn’t answer. Anger was starting to replace his fear. He felt Michael already knew who paid for it, and it suddenly hit him where he’d gotten the keys.
Alyssa.
Michael walked into the armory, looking around the room. His eyes finally settled on D. His interest was piqued.
“Is that your robot?”
Daniel still didn’t answer. He wondered how long Michael would put up with his silence.
“Why didn’t you just bust down the door?” he finally asked Michael.
“Because I had keys. Besides, I don’t do the busting-down-doors thing. It’s too predictable.”
Michael said all of this without looking at Daniel. His interest was completely on D.
“Does this thing work?” he asked, picking up the remote.
“Yes,” Daniel lied.
“Really? Does it help you guys fight monsters?”
Daniel stayed silent. His fear in his voice would betray his lie.
Michael sat down on a stool by the worktable and stared at him. “Is it going to help you fight me?”
“What are you doing here?” Daniel asked.
“Waiting for your friends.”
“Why?”
Michael didn’t answer. Instead, he just stared, a subtle grin on his face. Daniel stood close by, too afraid to move.
That’s when he suddenly remembered his Rejecter. It was in his pocket. He reached in slowly, grabbing hold of it.
“Why did you kill Alyssa?” he asked in a low voice.
“I was mad, and she was in the way,” Michael said, looking down at Daniel’s pocket, the smile leaving his face.
“You seemed like such a cool guy at the party,” Daniel said. “Why are you doing this?”
“I don’t want to have to hurt you, Daniel; I like you. But if you pull that thing out of your pocket, I’m going to hurt you very badly.”
Daniel stood for a moment, weighing his options.
Then he pulled out the tiny bomb as fast as he could. In a flash, Michael smacked him across the room. He landed hard on the floor, and was still.
* * *
Chris didn’t seem to care for the red traffic light he was approaching. He cared less about it than the last four he’d sped past. Owen glanced at the speedometer; it read ninety miles an hour. They still weren’t going fast enough.
Owen gripped the dashboard. The cars they sped past were merely blurs at this speed. How far were they from headquarters? He looked back—there were no cops following them. This unnerved him. The two of them rode at a dangerous speed and there were no cops around?
They passed Dahlgren Street—six more blocks. At this speed, it wouldn’t take long. Owen hoped Daniel was all right. He was a smart kid, and he had been tinkering with his robot before they’d left. Maybe he had gotten it to work. If so, it would put up a good defense until they got there.
What would they do when they got there? They weren’t much of a challenge for Michael the first time. Owen had thrown a car at him, and yet, he still lived.
But Owen figured if they were going to die, they would do it together. He just couldn’t stand the thought of Daniel dying alone. They were in this together.
Passing Travis Boulevard now. They were almost there.
* * *
Daniel barely hung on. Michael had tossed him around a few more times. Daniel knew it was only a matter of time before he would tire of him and end it all. But soon, Owen and Chris would run in, guns blazing, and take Michael out. They would blast his hide to the underworld.
“I warned you, Daniel!” Michael shrieked as he threw Daniel across the room. “I told you not to do that!”
Daniel landed so hard on the floor, his cast split open a little. The trunk full of Busters was right in front of him. He started to crawl toward it. The Rejecter he’d dropped was practically forgotten. Daniel didn’t want to hurt Michael; he wanted to kill him.
Suddenly Michael lifted him up into the air. “I warned you, Daniel.”
Daniel didn’t feel the floor when he hit it at what felt like a million miles an hour. He was paralyzed. He looked up. Michael’s face was expressionless. Daniel watched him walk away. Where he’d gone, Daniel didn’t know. He didn’t care anymore. He wanted to spend his last few seconds of life thinking of something good.
He thought of Alyssa.
He thought of the day they first moved into the condo. Owen and Chris were carrying the couch through the front door, with Chris leading. Suddenly he stopped walking and set hi
s end down. Owen, standing out in the hall, looked at him quizzically.
Chris grinned, and then Owen knew. He set down his end as well and stood there, waiting for Chris to make the first move. Daniel and Alyssa watched from the living room.
Just then, Chris took off up the stairs. In one effortless leap, Owen was over the couch and right behind him. Daniel and Alyssa laughed as they listened to the two boys run around on the top floor.
Owen said, “Mine!” a split second before Chris yelled, “Mi— Damn it!”
Clearly Owen had picked the best room first. And then the two boys were laughing upstairs. No hard feelings.
Daniel and Alyssa tended to the couch sticking through the doorway. They managed to get it in place in the center of the living room. After positioning it just right, they sat down together.
“You don’t mind Owen getting the best room?” Daniel asked her.
“Not really,” she said, shaking her head. “Besides, in my opinion, all the rooms are equally good. That’s how it is with the condos on the top floor in this building. That’s why I insisted on getting a place all the way up here.”
“All the rooms are equally good?” Daniel scratched his head and screwed up his face, as if thinking really hard. “I guess they’re just that stupid they didn’t realize it.”
Alyssa laughed so hard she had to clutch Daniel’s arm to keep from falling off the couch. Daniel laughed, too. When Chris and Owen finally came back downstairs, they too laughed, though they didn’t know why.
“This is it, you guys,” Chris said after the laughing fit subsided. “This is the beginning of our new lives. As monster hunters.”
“Sounds exciting,” said Owen.
“Sounds scary,” said Daniel.
“Sounds cheesy,” said Alyssa.
And then they were all laughing again. That day, they were all happy. They were together.
Chapter 18. Battle at Montleroy Estates
The Camaro approached the apartment building at a suicidal speed. Normally Chris would’ve parked in the garage, but he knew that wasn’t at all important. He parked right in front of the building, in the middle of the street. If anyone came around complaining, their loudmouth ramblings would fall on deaf ears. Chris and Owen jumped out of the car and ran inside the building. They would knock down anyone who got in their way.