by Peter Glenn
“Whatever.” Tom’s eyes trailed toward the ground as he spoke. The anger in his face was starting to subside.
Looked like I was on the right track.
“Probably just more lies,” he said at last. “Your kind always lies.”
“No, seriously! We could call her right now if you wanted. Ask her yourself.” I tried my best to look paternal and concerned, but I think it came out more condescending. “Come on, let’s put a stop to this and talk to her. Before it’s too late.”
“Too late?” Tom glared at me again, his eyes flaring with a dark glow.
Okay, so that hadn’t worked. I needed something different.
“You think you know everything, don’t you?” Tom continued. “Well I know her better than you do. And she hates your type. Vampire sympathizers.” He spat at my feet. “You sicken her. Sicken me. And that’s why…”
“Why what? What’s going on, Tom? Tell me all about it.”
Tom crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me again. I thought he was going to strike me again, or worse, ignore me, but he did neither.
“You really want to know, don’t you? Your poor, pathetic mind just can’t stand not knowing all my secrets.” He shot me another derisive glare. “Fine. I’ll tell you.” He threw his arms up in the air and shook his head. “You really don’t get it, do you? All the evil vampires have wrought upon the world. And by sympathizing with them, you’re just as culpable. That’s why I have to put a stop to it.”
“You’re right,” I told him. “Stop what?”
“Vampires. All of them. They all have to be hunted and killed, to purge their blight on this planet.” Tom’s features hardened, and I could see his hands balling into fists. “That’s why your friend is still alive. She’s my patsy. When the demons come and ravage the concert, everyone’s going to think she summoned them. I’ve made sure of it. Then the public backlash, well… if you thought the outcry over two humans was something, it’ll be nothing on this.”
“Huh,” I said. “Interesting.”
Now was my chance. “So you admit you killed Donald and that other guy, then?”
“Donald?” There was a hint of confusion in Tom’s eyes. “Oh, that rich guy? Of course I skewered him! Could you believe it? After the meeting the other day, he said he was actually starting to sympathize with the vampires. He… he said we should consider dialing things back.”
Tom snorted. “Dial it back? When I’ve put all this work into my grand scheme? I couldn’t believe he was softening on me, so naturally, I had to kill him. Paul, though, he was just in the way.”
Paul? I guessed that was the other dead body we’d come across.
I had to keep him talking a bit longer. I just needed a bit longer.
And a miracle, but who’s counting?
“So that’s the grand plan, then? I gotta say, I’m a bit disappointed.”
Tom growled. The sound was inhuman. “What do you know? You’re such a simpleton! But you’ll be dead soon enough. I’ll use your blood to light the candle, then the demons can have their fun. And where will you be? Nowhere, that’s where!”
Wow, this guy really was crazy.
“What about afterward?” I pressed. “Are you just going to let those demons run amok all over the world? Who’s going to stop them?”
Tom shrugged and threw up his hands again. “What’s a few harmless deaths in the name of vampire genocide? I could care less what happens to those fools out there.”
I shuddered in spite of my resolve. He was beyond crazy. He was at zealot levels.
Tom moved around a bit more, raving about something or other, but I was only half paying attention. Crazy like that didn’t deserve an audience. Besides, I heard a slight scraping noise coming from outside the building we were in. Was it Charmaine come to save me? I could only hope so.
“Okay, Tom. That’s a solid plan, really,” I said, trying to grab his attention. “But you forgot one thing.”
Tom huffed and glared at me. “Which is?”
“I’m not alone!” I stretched open my palms in that instant, pretending it would do something. But of course, nothing happened. This wasn’t the movies.
“Humph.” Tom sneered. “Was that supposed to scare me?”
“I was kinda hoping it would, actually.” I flashed him a toothy grin.
“You stupid fool.” Tom’s eyes got a wicked glint to them. “I’d smack you around again, but your time is up anyway. Time to die, little man.”
Little? We were the same height! Was his insult game really that weak?
Tom snarled, and a black dagger appeared in his hands. He started walking toward me, going slowly as if to increase my fear or something. I wasn’t really sure, but it didn’t work. Like I said, death wasn’t such a bad thing to me.
But Charmaine and the others, on the other hand, well, I really wanted them to pull through.
“Come on,” I whispered. “Break in here already.”
As if on cue, I heard something crash as glass shattered everywhere and Grax’thor came flying at me through the opening. My heart soared. I’d never been so happy to see that stupid piece of metal in my entire life.
Tom was caught off guard as he turned his attention toward the flying sword, and it buzzed right past him, headed straight for my outstretched hands.
“No, no, no!” I yelped, afraid it would skewer me.
But once again, my little good luck sword was one step ahead of me. It sliced right through the ropes that bound me to the pole, then clattered to the ground just shy of touching my actual skin.
Good luck sword, indeed.
All the ropes went slack then. Apparently, the bonds around my hands and feet had all been part of one long rope. I was saved.
Well, almost saved. I still had a deranged psycho demon mage to contend with.
Tom let out a howl of rage and came at me with his little dagger. Now free of my bonds, I managed to duck underneath the blow and rolled forward, picking up Grax’thor in the process. Part of me wanted to kiss my blade for saving me, but that could wait for later.
I spun around to face Tom, but he was gone again, quick as lightning. I heard more than saw a grunting movement from behind me and spun again, blade held out, hoping to block the blow coming from behind.
But Tom’s dagger was too fast. He managed to slice into my side, leaving behind a nasty gash. Hot blood spurted from the wound, coating the ground near me with its sticky substance.
“I told you I’m too good for you,” Tom huffed. His hot breath was in my ear, once again coming from somewhere behind me.
The sound of a dagger whooshing through the air was my only warning. I ducked rather than spun this time, practically throwing myself onto the ground. I heard the dagger whizz over my head a split second later.
Had I still been upright, it would have gone through my lower spine.
I turned my duck into a roll and slid forward, aiming for the pole that had held me in place. It was near the wall of the structure, and if I were back up against a wall, at least Tom couldn’t teleport behind me.
Normally, being back up against a wall was a bad thing in combat, but this time, I’d go with it.
Tom’s horrible laughter filled my ears, and I danced to the side to avoid another dagger thrust before I finally reached the relative safety of the wall.
Spinning to face the room, I held Grax’thor out in front of me in shaky hands. I was starting to feel a little hazy from the wound in my side, but I was determined not to give in to it.
Looming in front of me was Tom’s waifish figure. Even holding a dagger slick with my own blood and glowering at me like he was, he just couldn’t pull off a respectable villain. I wanted to laugh in his face but thought better of it.
Tom scowled and made a few feints with his dagger. Now that I’d blocked his teleportation trick, he didn’t seem as confident in his chances.
“Come on, little man,” I spat at him, throwing his insult back in his face. “Come a
t me. Come get all that precious blood of mine you wanted.”
“Humph!” Tom cried. “I’ll have it yet, and plenty more besides.”
Tom came at me then with a low swipe of his dagger. I saw the move coming from a mile away and brought my own weapon down to block his advance. Our weapons clanged in the air and clashed several times. Each time, Tom tried to get under my guard, and each time, I forced his own blade backward.
The last swipe of Tom’s left his leg slightly unguarded, so I swiped low with Grax’thor. My blade cut into the tender flesh of his leg, sending a hail of blood droplets flying through the air as my blade completed its devastating arc.
“Damn you!” Tom howled as his leg crumpled underneath him, and he fell to one knee. “Damn you to hell!”
“That’s the idea, yeah,” I fired back.
He slashed at me again, but I was able to ward off the weak attempt and brought my weapon around in time to score another glancing blow along his dagger arm. My blade sunk into his flesh, tearing off a piece of his arm in the process.
The disgorged bit of flesh fell to the ground as blood spurt from this new wound. Tom hissed as he dropped the dagger and clutched his arm with his other hand.
I could see red ichor seeping through the fingers of his good hand as he glared up at me and uttered a few words I couldn’t quite understand.
Once more, Tom disappeared, though he left a considerable blood trail behind this time. He reappeared seconds later near the center of the room, still clutching his injured arm, but it looked different somehow.
The seeping red blood had been replaced by a dark, sinister glow that covered the wound. Tom removed his hand a moment later, and I gasped in shock as I realized that both the hole in his arm and leg had sealed themselves up. A dark energy was oozing out of his wounds and surrounded his hands, casting the room in an eerie light.
“Now you die!” Tom hissed at me.
The glow in his right hand grew brighter until it was almost blinding. I realized at the last minute that he aimed to hurl the dark energy at me.
Groaning, I ducked just as a blast of dark magic shot past my head, singing my hair but leaving me whole. Once again, I’d escaped death by nothing more than a hair’s breadth.
Things had just gone from bad to worse. I’d canceled out his teleportation trick, but he was the only one with a ranged weapon, which wasn’t much better. I came away from the wall, letting loose a battle cry and coming at Tom in a full, berserker-style lunge.
Tom’s eyes bulged, and he blinked out of existence once more, right when I was about to grapple him to the ground. I stumbled forward a half step, almost careening into the giant black candle, then spun again to see where he’d gotten off to.
Sure enough, Tom appeared a moment later, back over by the wall and the pole. His dagger was at his feet. I thought he was going to pick it up, but he kicked it away, toward me, like he didn’t even care if I had it. Or maybe it was to taunt me to get distracted and pick it up.
Another blast of dark energy came for me a moment later. It was coming in low, so I jumped over it. But this time, I wasn’t as lucky. The icy-cold bolt slammed into the bottom of my foot, stealing all the warmth from it in one fell swoop.
Flailing in the air, I hit the ground hard, slamming into it in a jarring heap. My injured leg didn’t want to move, like it was dead to me. It tingled something fierce, but it stayed put.
But I was only inches away from Tom now, and he seemed to be slowing down.
“You just don’t get it!” Tom cried. “None of you understand. I’m stronger than you! I’m stronger than all of you!”
He reared back with his dark fists and punched downward, his arms moving faster than I would have thought possible.
Dark energy rocked my core as one of his fists collided with my sternum. I heard the crack of bones as he punched again and again in rapid succession, slamming into my chest and abdomen with wicked force.
In a desperate attempt to defend myself, I swung my blade around in a wide arc. I heard it slice into something, and then Tom howled and backed away once again.
My head and chest hurt, and breathing felt like fire, but I managed to bring my head up just enough to see what was going on.
Tom had staggered backward and was now leaning against the wall, another wound opened up along his other arm. Dark energy was seeping into this wound, too, consuming it and sealing it over like it had the others.
But the dark magic seemed to be consuming his very life essence more than it was aiding him. Or perhaps that was the cost of its usage taking its toll. Either way, sweat was pouring out of every pore on his body, and he looked cold and even paler than before. I saw his breath come out of his chest in spurts, a plume of ice crystals ushering out with each pump of his lungs.
“I told you!” Tom screamed. “I’m the stronger one. And you… shall… die!”
With each word, he took another step toward me, but his gait was lumbering and weak, not strong and fast like it had been before. I was wearing him down.
Tom used his magic to blink one last time, appearing right above me. He kicked out with his foot, jamming my sword hand beneath his leg. Once more, I thought I heard the sounds of bones cracking as searing pain shot up my arm.
Tom loomed over me once more, holding his fist out menacingly, and glowered at me one last time. His fist came crashing down in a hail of dark energy and hate, but this time, I was faster.
I snatched the dagger off the floor with my good hand and stabbed upward, sending the tip of the blade right into his gut. I pushed up as hard as I could as Tom started to lean over, twisting the blade around and forcing it through his spine.
Tom grunted and finally fell over onto the ground. He was still breathing, and the dark energy was starting to wrap itself around his new wounds, but just like before, it was exacting its price.
“Not… before… you do,” I spat, each word a lesson in pain as my lungs burned.
I put all the energy I could into turning over and getting myself up onto my knees so I could at least watch the guy die like a good villain. That was the most satisfying part.
Tom coughed, and his whole body spasmed violently. I thought it was the end.
Then I heard his evil, sickening laughter reverberate around the room one final time.
I watched in horror as Tom’s body made one final, lurching motion to land on top of the black candle. He turned his head and smiled grimly up at me, then finally, it was over and he fell down in a heap, dead.
“Well, that was awful,” I said, holding my side and cradling my ribs.
I wondered how far away Charmaine was, and what kind of hell she was in. Would I be able to save her, too? At the moment, I wasn’t even sure I could walk out of this room. But I would try.
Coughing and panting, I struggled to get up to my feet. Each movement was like getting punched again, but I managed the task after several agonizing moments and scraped and scuffled my way over to the entrance to this accursed place.
Grax’thor came with me, even though I didn’t have the strength to carry her, scuffling across the ground. Maybe she was curious about the outcome too? I had no way to know.
I ignored her anyway and stumbled toward the door. At least I wouldn’t die alone.
Right before I left the room, I felt the hairs on my neck stand on edge once more. I spun around and watched in horror as Tom’s blood, no longer restricted by the dark energy, splashed and spilled all over that black candle from the stomach wound I’d left him.
Then his body erupted into flames as the dark candle lit, sending a huge gout of flame spearing through the roof of the structure and arcing high into the sky.
From somewhere in the distance, I heard the sound of wood creaking and several people shouting, as other candles in the distance lit up in a similar fashion.
Tom was dead, but he’d had his last laugh after all. With his blood, he’d completed the ritual.
16
“Well, damn.”<
br />
That had so not been how things were supposed to end. Now I’d have to fend off a demon invasion anyway, and here I was, barely able to stand.
Groaning and aching from everywhere, I stumbled out of the small building and took my bearings. It looked like I wasn’t that far from the main stage. And it was a good thing, because that’s where Charmaine was, tied to a giant pole and shrieking as loud as she could, begging people to vacate the premises as quickly as possible.
But no one was listening to her, nor did they seem surprised by her being tied to a pole in the first place. If anything, even more people were piling in from the outside to watch the spectacle.
What kind of people were these, anyway? Couldn’t they tell she was in trouble? Couldn’t they tell they were in trouble?
Granted, it had been some time since I’d been to a metal concert, but the last time I’d been, there hadn’t been anyone tied up on the main stage. Maybe that was normal for this band? Maybe people thought it was a Halloween thing?
Either way, I was clearly out of my element.
I limped over toward the stage, my injured leg still not wanting to move. There were throngs of people in the way, but they all made room for the injured guy dripping blood everywhere with a huge sword following him. It was weird how that worked.
All around me, I could see the eerie black light from five different candles shining bright and high in the air, like beacons of death. I wondered how many dead bodies were at each location, but let the thought go. The only justice for them would be to stop this thing before it spiraled out of control.
Dark energy, and a thick, black smoke billowed out of the candles, surrounding the whole stage area in a hazy fog. I caught a whiff of some of the stuff and instantly coughed it out, my lungs burning and aching even harder than before.
Keep going, Damian. Just a little bit further.
A group of performers came up onto the stage wearing odd, white colored hockey masks on their faces. It looked like something out of a Friday the 13th movie. One of them had a spiked guitar, and another was wearing a massive dog collar on his neck and black leather chaps. They were about the strangest group of people I’d ever seen.