Chasing The Cure: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Caitlin Chronicles Book 5)

by Daniel Willcocks

  A whooping from inside the ship was followed by movement as Kain emerged.

  Kain hopped off the deck and pumped his fist into the air. He immediately fell to his knees and kissed the ground. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

  “Well, don’t thank anyone yet.” Caitlin chuckled. “Looks like we’re not quite out of the woods.”

  Royland tutted. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

  Caitlin winked. “You tell me.”

  Jaxon began barking and running animatedly around Caitlin’s legs. She laughed, then stopped as he straightened, nose pointing directly into the trees ahead.

  “Oh, shit,” Caitlin muttered. She drew Moxie and took her stance. “Not to add more fuel to the fire, but we’ve got company.”

  There were a lot of them. Everywhere Caitlin looked in the shadows, she could see the blazing red eyes of the Mad staring straight at them, drawn by the disturbance the ship had caused as it flew low over the forest.

  “A crash landing, and an encounter with the Mad?” Kain groaned. “I guess that’s one way to sober up.”

  “You’re sober?” Cammie smirked as she reached down, momentarily debating between her pistol or her sword.

  Mary-Anne caught the hesitation. “Go for the sword.”

  Cammie tilted her head.

  “Trust me.”

  Caitlin gave a rallying cry and ran forward to meet the Mad. The creatures were sprinting toward them, foaming at the mouth. Many of them stumbled, and a few of them fell. They were all at various stages of decomposition, some fairly new to the Mad-club, showcasing clothing which still sported some of its original colors, whereas a few were so old and decrepit that they moved as if in slow-motion, their clothes a part of the sores which decorated their bodies.

  Caitlin reached her first victim and swung her sword in a figure-eight before her. The gleaming of the lightning reflected on the blade momentarily confused the Mad, and she took the opportunity to plunge the blade deep into his chest.

  With a wet slurping sound, she withdrew the blade, using her foot on his chest as leverage, before swinging around and driving the blade behind her and through the next Mad’s neck. “Two for me! Strong start for Caitlin Harrison.”

  Royland, whose eyes were now as red as the Mad’s, held a head in his hands and looked at Caitlin. “What are you talking about? Two what?”

  “Count your dead,” Kain beamed. “Whoever makes the most kills wins.”

  “You play games while you fight the Mad?” Cammie asked, a grin appearing on her face. “No way! That’s always been a favorite game.”

  Mary-Anne tore off a Mad’s arm and beat him around the head with it until he fell to the floor. “You’ve got to let the kids play their games. Otherwise, they go stir crazy, and you can’t shut them up.”

  Cammie laughed. “I’m not arguing with it, I’m just surprised to hear it’s not unique to us, is all.” She struck a particularly large Mad with her sword, the blade caught between his ribs. He reached for her with gnarled hands, nails millimeters away from her face.

  “Oh, fuck off,” she cursed, giving a big tug to free her sword. The blade came out, and she hacked again and again. She caught the Mad’s leg, and he folded to one knee.

  “I dub thee Sir Deadsalot of the Square Table.” One more swing of her sword and the Mad’s head was removed from its body. “That’s one for me.”

  “Five!” Caitlin shouted, now surrounded by Mad. She could hardly believe she was outstripping vampires and Weres. With the Unknown stunted by not being able to use their true powers, she discovered that she really shone among them.

  Caitlin ducked out of reach of the three Mad around her. They all fell into each other, arms wrapped around the others’ necks. She slid past their legs and appeared behind them.

  “Naww, I hate to break up this family reunion, but if I don’t, you’ll try to kill me.”

  Moxie sang as Caitlin got to work. She took down the first with a stab through the back, withdrew the blade, and crouched to avoid a retaliatory gesture from the second Mad, who she took care of by driving her blade into the shin.

  The Mad fell to the floor, leaving just one standing who came at her with a speed that took even her by surprise.

  Caitlin jumped backward, surprised to find her path blocked by the bough of a tree. She tried to raise her sword but couldn’t do it fast enough, and now she could smell his vile breath in her face.

  Caitlin made to shove the Mad away when she saw the light extinguish from his eyes. He collapsed onto her, his head resting on her chest, arms draped by his sides. “What the…”

  “You’re welcome.” Mary-Anne grinned, standing behind the Mad. In her hand was a small blade, covered in blood from the hole now left in the back of the Mad’s head.

  “That one still counts as mine.” Caitlin shoved the Mad off of her.

  “How?”

  “I attracted it. I did most of the work. You’re just a glory hunter.”

  “A glory what, now? Okay, fine. I’ll let you have the kill. But with the Matriarch as my witness, I will beat you this time, Harrison.”

  The fight went on in a flurry of blood. The Mad kept coming. Caitlin presumed they must have tracked the crew some distance from their initial descent to the earth. Dozens upon dozens came from the trees, forming a horde larger than Caitlin had seen since Felicia’s cattle drive in the city.

  Every member of the crew got involved in the fight. All around her, Caitlin could see them locked in battle, doing their best to thin the numbers and save each other from a fate worse than death.

  “We can’t keep this up,” Kain shouted after a close shave with a Mad who had appeared from behind the tree near where he fought and scratched at his back, narrowly avoiding the skin and succeeding in tearing his clothing. “There’s too many of them.”

  “Pull back to the ship,” Royland called. “If we can funnel them toward us, we might stand more chance than taking them out in the open. Some of us can take the higher deck and hit with ranged weapons, too.”

  “Sounds like a plan!” Cammie agreed.

  They began to pull back, the crew immediately turning and sprinting to the ship. Caitlin, determined to finish what she’d started, extinguished the lights from her current Mad by kicking it against a tree and slicing open its throat. When it was down, she finished the creature with a sword through the skull.

  Then she ran, determined to catch up with the others. Kain was a little way ahead, but looked back to check that she was still coming. Royland and Cammie had already made it to the boat and were standing in fighting stances, ready for the onslaught.

  But where was Mary-Anne?

  Caitlin looked back at the Mad just at the moment a blur came from nowhere and wiped out the front runners of the horde. One minute they were there, the next minute they were gone.

  What the…

  Another blur of movement and several Mad among the horde also fell. Caitlin tried to focus on the blur, and at that moment, she realized what was going on.

  Ma’s gone full vamp. She beamed, impressed at the vampire’s strength and speed. Red flashes of her eyes streaked behind her, imprinted in Caitlin’s vision like the afterburn of a camera flash.

  Mary-Anne whirled through the horde. Mad exploded into fountains of blood as she ripped out hearts, tore off heads, and destroyed the enemy in a way that was both primitive and raw.

  “Go, Ma!” Kain called through cupped hands.

  Royland and Cammie watched from the belly of the ship, both stunned by what they were seeing. No vampire should risk sprinting through the Mad and ingesting their blood by accident. It wasn’t worth it.

  “Mary-Anne!” Cammie shouted, struggling to be heard above the sound of the rain and the Mad’s shrieks. “Get out of there! What are you doing?”

  At the sound of the calls, Mary-Anne stopped. She was in the middle of a gap she had created in the Mad and now stared back toward her companions.

  Caitlin’s heart dropped as sh
e realized that it wasn’t truly Mary-Anne staring back at them.

  She looked like Mary-Anne, but the sight was a horror to behold. Her body was covered in splatters of the Mads’ blood, decorating her like a gore-streaked canvas. Her fangs were long, jutting over her ruby red lips, and her eyes were red blanks. Her chest heaved heavily from her exertion, and there wasn’t a hint of recognition on her face whatsoever.

  “Ma?” Caitlin asked uncertainly, wondering if she was still in there somewhere. If maybe she would recognize the cutesy nickname her team gave her on occasion and would draw back out of her trance. “Ma, it’s me.”

  “Watch out!” Kain shouted. A Mad had come up behind Mary-Anne, but it passed her without showing interest, confirming Caitlin’s theory that she had finally gone to the dark side.

  Mary-Anne had gone Mad.

  Another Mad passed Mary-Anne and knocked into her shoulder. The movement pushed her back into action, and now she tore around the field, taking out the Mad one by one.

  “At least she’s still on our side,” Kain offered, finding his way to Caitlin.

  “I guess. But what happens when the Mad are gone?”

  Kain sighed. “I’ve got a plan. I’m not sure if it’ll work, though.”

  “Your plans generally don’t work out so well—”

  “Caitlin! Behind you!”

  Roused by Cammie’s words, Caitlin turned. The whole thing happened so fast that it would only be after the fact that Caitlin would remember what had happened, and even then, it would be with the hazy shimmer of a late-night dream.

  Red eyes streaked toward her. Mary-Anne’s face was screwed into a tight rage. Caitlin couldn’t see anything past the vampire’s face, the movement so fast it seemed impossible. In those eyes, she saw her own death. She saw her world turning black and her mission left incomplete. Her time was up, destroyed by the very person she’d once saved, and that was it. Nothing else to concern herself with. Death would be a sweet relief.

  A flash of fur passed by, followed by an ear-shattering howl, and the red lights were gone. Caitlin fell to the floor, knocked over by the force of movement as the creature appeared beside her and locked itself in battle with Mary-Anne.

  Caitlin turned her head and saw that Kain was gone. The sudden realization of it all hit her like a physical force, and now she was watching the pair have at it. A vampire battling alongside the Mad versus a Werewolf who refused to shift unless absolutely necessary for the fear that he might never have the chance to become human again.

  Things really were going downhill fast.

  Cammie moved to race forward, instinctually wanting to help her Were brethren, but was held back by Royland. “Not now. It’s too dangerous.”

  Kain in his wolf form was a monster to behold. Caitlin had only seen it on a couple of occasions, but each time it didn’t fail to impress her.

  Kain’s fur was thick and brown, his frame large, but scrawny as he was in his human form. His eyes raged amber, glowing like yellow lamps. His teeth were sharp, saliva dripping from his maw. Occasionally he’d lash out a long limb and send a Mad flying backward as he cleared the path around him for his tussle with the vampire.

  Caitlin held her sword, debating whether to get involved or not. She could run over and find a way to break it up, but wouldn’t she be risking hurting either of the pair? Did she even have enough knowledge of Weres or vampires to diffuse the situation and make it all stop?

  Kain let out a shriek as Mary-Anne’s claws found his stomach and drew blood. He summoned his strength and hurled her back through the air, where she somersaulted and landed perfectly on her feet.

  She ran in for the strike again. Kain narrowly avoided the collision with a spin on his back paws. He grabbed the back of her neck with furry limbs and clung on tight.

  Mary-Anne thrashed around, a strange sound emanating from her mouth. More Mad came for Kain, but they couldn’t get near. Weren’t able to distinguish between the blur that was vampire and Were.

  And then Mary-Anne twisted sharply and hurled Kain through the air.

  Kain shot back as if pulled on invisible wires, his back cracking loudly as he landed against a tree. He fell slowly to the floor, taking a moment to catch his breath, clearly in pain.

  Which was when Caitlin began to run forward, decision time made for her.

  Mary-Anne felt every single reaction as though she were cast in the throes of a dream.

  It wasn’t her. Couldn’t be her. The reaction to the blood all over the field had toyed with her and reached for her with sentient tendrils, which had triggered the vampire inside. A hungry vampire who craved destruction and wanted nothing more than to stretch the atrophied muscles of her powers and show the world what she was made of.

  The Madness. She understood now why that was its name. The crazed lunacy welled inside of her, controlled by the primitive part of her brain.

  It called to her like a succubus. Caressed her insides like an old lover.

  Words whispered in her ear, telling her of her true power, teasing her to flex her fingers and snap some necks.

  And she had loved it at first, had succumbed to its eroticism as she whipped around the horde of Mad and tore them to pieces. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she was free of the burden of restraint. A caged lion set free in the Serengeti.

  Heads had torn off without resistance. Mad had fallen at her feet. Her power swelled like a tide within her, and soon the numbers were depleted. She was helping her friends. Utilizing the very gift of her bloodline and saving her crew.

  Until it all had grown fuzzy.

  She wasn’t even sure what had happened. At the calling of her name, she had turned, and in the place of the people she had once called friends, all she could see were targets. More Mad with glowing eyes, towering higher than the rest. A morsel of food ready to be destroyed and drained. Nothing more than a promise made to be broken.

  A tiny piece of her still remained. As the Madness threatened to override, she had watched like the pilot of a ship which had gained sentience, and screamed inside her own head, begging for her body to not attack the others. To leave Caitlin alone. If she could only grab hold of the reins, then maybe she could steer the ship into the wilderness and run. Fall back to plan B and hide somewhere else in the world to die.

  Caitlin’s eyes grew wide before the mountain of fur had smacked into her, and now she was tangled in throes with the Were. The stench of his blood was an insult to her nostrils. The blood of an ancient Kurtherian enemy that must be destroyed.

  The Madness threw her body around, launched punches, and scratched at the beast. Amber eyes flashed past her face as they tumbled and fought. The Were was stronger than even she’d imagined he could be.

  Fearsome teeth snapped at her face, Mary-Anne cried out and exerted her strength, finally gaining the upper hand enough to raise the bastard and hurl him through the air.

  And then a strange thing happened.

  At the sound of the Were’s bones smacking against the tree, a tiny glow of something lit within her. The smallest grain of regret and pity at her actions. Something that might be enough to cling onto and lift her out of this pit.

  Now, Ma. Grab hold now. Before it’s too late. Before you’re gone forever.

  Mary-Anne tugged at her own consciousness for power, only vaguely aware now of the woman running toward her, a desperate expression on her face.

  “Nooo!” a voice roared, causing both Mary-Anne and Caitlin to still.

  Mary-Anne’s eyes widened as she caught the Were returning to his feet, rising onto his back legs and looking more like the lycanthrope they’d stumbled across in the forests before they’d reached the Broken City.

  The Were’s eyes blazed. He breathed heavily, clearly in pain. Mary-Anne felt the Madness shrink and recoil inside of her, caught off-guard by the sight of Kain standing before her.

  “Caitlin,” Kain spoke, his voice as rough as gravel. Each word labored. “Run. This is…not…yourrr f
ight…anymorrrre.”

  Kain took a few shaky steps toward Mary-Anne and glared at her. There was something dark in his eyes as he fought his own internal battle now.

  Mary-Anne blinked, the red fading from her eyes. She turned back to see the entire crew watching from the hole in the ship’s bottom, fear and awe on their faces.

  Even Cammie and Royland, who stood as if ready to join in at any moment, were unblinking.

  And then there was Caitlin, Moxie in hand, face creased in confusion and conflict. She seemed to suddenly see the thoughts in Mary-Anne’s eyes, and she shook her head. “Ma. Don’t.”

  But it was too late, Mary-Anne ducked her head and sprinted into the forest, only vaguely aware of the Werewolf tearing after her into the underbrush, thankful that, even though her strength seemed to be on par with the wolf, her speed carried her much, much faster.

  Caitlin called as Jaxon tore after them, but it was too late.

  All three were gone.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Potato Creek State Park, Illinois

  Helena lay in her bed and stared up at the ceiling, her mind doing the thing that it always did best, but which kept sleep as elusive as the cure for which she so desperately hunted: thinking.

  She had lived a long life. She had traveled across the country and searched for the answers. Had written passages and passages in her books—so many pages full that she had lost volumes along her way—and now she thought she had made a huge step in the right direction. Could maybe have found the answer that would unlock everything and bring the whole damn ordeal to a close.

  Or maybe it was her own brain collapsing on itself. Maybe the infected cut on her ankle was toying with her fragile mind and telling her the things she wanted to hear.

  The boy had left some time ago. Well, she thought of him as a “boy” in relation to her own lived years, but she supposed he’d qualify as a man in the eyes of the laws that were as dead and buried as the good old days gone. And now she was left alone in the near-perfect quiet, punctuated only by the occasional gargles of the Mad strapped to the table in the adjacent room.