The lid creaked a bit more. Maeve opened the coffin completely.
Bud raised the wooden stake above his head.
“HELP ME!” Ivy screamed aloud.
Chapter Fifty-Two
VS DRACULA
“Bud! Maeve! Take the cup from me! Oh god!” Ivy fell to her knees next to the small table. She attempted to keep hold of the chalice. Her hands shook. Much of the elixir spilled out onto the floor.
Maeve ran over, secured the cup from Ivy, and put it on the table. Ivy writhed in agony on the floor.
Bud regained his focus and drove the stake down with two hands. He felt immense resistance. Vincentas grabbed Bud’s forearms and threw him to the stairwell. Bud dropped the stake.
Maeve unsheathed her sword and attempted to pin Vincentas into his coffin. He jumped out before she could drive her blade down. He grabbed Maeve and threw her into the curtains.
Bud heard breaking glass. Moonlight poured into the room. Maeve had been thrown through the window.
“Nasty way to wake. Bela and Quint failed me again. I should have hunted you down myself.” Vincentas pounced on Bud who tried to get back up from another painful throw inflicted on him by a vampire.
The back of Bud’s neck pained him. Vincentas picked him up by the shirt collar. Bud’s feet left the ground. The strength of the vampire was more powerful than Bud could imagine.
“Time to make sure you die!” Vincentas shouted.
Bud felt a powerful rush of air through his hair. Vincentas brought him over to the window. Bones crackled, and two giant wings spread from Vincentas’s back.
Bud and Vincentas flew out of the turret through the broken window. The night air filled Bud’s lungs. Bud tried to look down, but Vincentas kept Bud’s head towards him. They flew higher and higher.
“This should be high enough to kill you. You think?” Vincentas moved Bud’s head down for a look.
The overhead view of the castle was stunning, frightening, not a view Bud wanted unless it was on his maps application on his phone.
Vincentas pulled Bud’s head back up. “Goodbye, Bud. Thank you for your tech. Yes, I know who you are. Or were, I should say.” He dropped Bud.
The rush of falling overwhelmed Bud. He fell with his back to the ground. It would be a quick, painless death from this height. He eyed Vincentas’s ever-shrinking winged silhouette juxtaposed with the full moon. A most unsavory last sight to see.
Suddenly, another winged creature attacked him. A spinning, winding struggle of wings ensued. One of the winged creatures lost control and joined Bud on his freefall. The other winged creature dove for him.
Bud! I am coming for you!
Ivy! Dear God, you sprouted wings!
Bud shut his eyes. He actually didn’t want to know how fast Ivy dove or how close the ground was.
He felt a painful grip on his shoulders. He suddenly changed direction instead of going down. He opened his eyes, and Ivy cradled him in her arms and flew over the courtyard below.
“Maeve is waving at us. She seems okay from that nasty fall.” Ivy’s voice sounded above Bud’s head. Her hands were strong enough to maintain a grip over his shoulders.
Bud’s legs dangled. “It’s the elixir. She is basically a superhero now.”
“She’s pointing at something! The window of the tower. There’s Vincentas!”
Chapter Fifty-Three
LIBERATION
Vincentas coughed up the blood he’d drained from the old man. He’d over drunk, then decided to go for a quick flight. His wings furled and partially retreated into his back. He hadn’t the strength to fully transform. Something cut a nasty wound on his back and tore his left wing. Was it Ivy? Who would do such a thing? He hung from the broken window with both hands. A fall would leave him open to more harm. The monk-girl was down there. In fact, she was probably climbing the tower stairs now to end him.
Vincentas pulled with all his might. He struggled but made it into his candlelit room on his hands and knees. He’d noticed something on the table next to his coffin. A chalice. The elixir perhaps. Maybe Bela had finally done something right. He crawled to the table. If he could regain some strength, some power with the elixir, he may have a fighting chance.
Vincentas grabbed the jeweled cup and drank from it.
The burning sensation he’d felt from various alcohols were nothing in comparison to this. He dropped the cup and convulsed violently on the floor. He rolled onto his stomach. Then his back. Again. Stomach. Back. Until she stopped him.
His esophagus numbed and a new, more poignant pain erupted from his gut. Then he saw the yellow sword driven into his loins. The girl-monk held the grip with two hands and pinned him to the ground. A patter of footsteps moved toward him.
“We wanted to make sure you died.” Bud Hutchins stood over him and aimed a crossbow at his heart.
Vincentas smiled.
Chapter Fifty-Four
REGROUP
“Bud! Bud! Enough! He’s dead,” Maeve yelled.
Bud ceased firing bolt after bolt into the heart and torso of the evil vampire who’d killed his grandfather.
Bud walked over to the window and looked out at the courtyard below. Tears welled in his eyes. He then looked towards the night sky.
“Sorry. It’s just that I found him, and now he is gone again. So many questions.”
“He said to go to Rome, Bud.” Maeve put her arm around him and joined him in admiring the view from the castle tower.
“Rome, after we teleport back home and give him a proper funeral. I will head there.”
“Worry about that later. He also said he would always be here for you.” Maeve patted his back.
Bud sighed and turned around. “How are you feeling, Ivy?”
“I am going to go find Bela. He helped me and gave me the poison that Vincentas drank. I need to get back to the infirmary. I still don’t feel right.” Ivy stood with wings still protruding from her back.
“Thank you for saving me, Ivy.”
“Thanks to you two for not leaving me here in this hellhole. A cool hellhole, I have to admit, but still a shitty place.”
The trio shared a laugh.
Ivy called for Bela the entire walk to the infirmary. No answer. The three monster killers stepped over the rubble of the doorframe and Elizabeth’s dead body into the infirmary.
Ivy examined the room. “There was another patient in here. He’s gone and so is Bela.”
“Another patient?” Bud asked.
“Could be one of the students from the dungeon,” Maeve said.
“Hmm, or it could be… Or it could be the shapeshifting monster you injured earlier, Maeve. In fact, it probably was. So, the shapeshifting monster could be loose with Bela? Also, is it possible the shapeshifter was the one responsible for abducting Ivy and terrorizing us in the park? We saw a slasher film-like killer, then the next thing we see is an injured homeless man who subsequently abducts Ivy,” Bud said, utilizing his skills for detection.
“It is possible, I suppose. Nothing we can do now,” Maeve said.
“Ow!” Ivy yelled. Her wings retreated into her upper back.
“We will have to find a cure for vampirism as well. Much to do. Much to do,” Bud said.
Some time had passed. Maeve had called Scotland Yard to inform them of the whereabouts of the missing students: the dungeon of a hidden castle in Loch Eck. Ivy had found a reserve of blood in a small back room of the infirmary.
The three stood alongside Bud’s grandfather’s linen-wrapped body that lay in the courtyard in front of Constantinius. Bud had just retrieved his teleportation tech and the head of his dear friend, Bert, in a small room with a bed in it. Bud surmised the cubby had been where his grandpa slept. Bud booted up the laptop used to spoil Vincentas’s plans and attached Bert’s head to it.
“Bert. Dear boy. Is that really you?”
“Of course, it’s me, Bud. Is that really you?” A robotic voice burst from a speaker near the head’s mouth.
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“Very funny. Can you aid us in getting out of here? We need you to know of any markers left active for us to teleport to.”
“There is no more need of markers, Bud. I made some improvements in your absence. Sometimes your pride stymies my progress.”
“Not surprising,” Ivy said.
Maeve let out a hearty laugh.
“Hilarious. All of you. Let’s go to sweet home Chicago, Bert.”
Bud moved closer to Maeve. He reached for her hand. Before he could grab it, Maeve took his hand, held it tight, and smiled. Bud smiled back.
The monster hunters disappeared from Castle McDougal’s courtyard.
THE PHANTOM OF THE CATACOMBS- The 5th book in the Chronicles Series!
AVAILABLE NOW! Bud, Ivy, Maeve, and Bert’s head venture to Vatican City, Italy to the headquarters of The Order of St. Michael, among the beautiful artwork, benevolent basilicas, and mysterious passageways.
Join a Roman Centurion and Celtic Queen in a high octane, paranormal thriller that reveals the origin of the Order of St. Michael!
Click here for a FREE copy of The Ancient Order
“My creator has requested that I formally query you for your opinion of this chronicle of our travels and experiences in the form of a book review. So please leave a review of The Castle.We thank you very much.
Bert, Bud’s Android Assistant
Contents
“From the opening pages to the final sentence, you are treated to a rollercoaster of fun and frights.”- DT Chantel
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
THE PHANTOM OF THE CATACOMBS- The 5th book in the Chronicles Series!
Join a Roman Centurion and Celtic Queen in a high octane, paranormal thriller that reveals the origin of the Order of St. Michael!
EXCERPT FROM JB’s award-winning Tannenbaum Tailors SERIES
55. Seizure
56. Tailor Traps
57. Shake The Foundation
Also by JB Michaels
Copyright © 2019 by JB Michaels
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
EXCERPT FROM JB’s award-winning Tannenbaum Tailors SERIES
So I have another entire series! I consider it some of my most original work and you just haven’t quite experienced a Holiday story quite like this one. Please enjoy a three-chapter excerpt from the Readers’ Favorite Bronze medal-winning book- “The Tannenbaum Tailors and the Brethren of the Saints”…
55
Seizure
Lily checked the spirit levels and vitality of the tree, something she hadn’t done in a while due to all the other more pressing situations. They checked out just fine, thankfully. She checked in with Billy, Steve, and Tonto, who were all at different sections of the tree double-checking for Brendan. As she pressed her com to get another status report from Irene, she felt a cold hand grasp her neck.
“You will do as I say or be silenced forever.” The mysterious intruder spun her around to greet her face to face. A blue-grey skinned elf dressed in black with dark sunglasses and a crooked nose stood with eleven dark elves behind him.
“Hello, Lillian. You will help us out a great deal in the next few hours.”
“Spiritless...What have you done with the Captain?” Lily managed to speak despite the hand around her neck.
“Ah your Captain is the least of your concerns right now. You will do what I say. If you refuse, then you will never see your Captain again.”
“Let me go!” Lily managed a stern voice.
The Head Spiritless elf eased his grip.
“The first order of business will be to close all internal coms. I want your Tailors to only have the ability to communicate with you.”
Lily closed the coms and a tear welled up in her left eye.
“Next, you will order each of them to go to a separate specific part of the tree, that you think Brendan might be there or ask them to do a normal check related to their individual duties. You decide. Be convincing. Or else.”
“You want me to lure them into traps?”
“I knew I could count on you.”
He made hand signals and the eleven Spiritless split into four groups. Three groups of three males and one pair composed of a male and female. The groups left the command center, in a swift and orderly fashion.
“Let’s get the day after Christmas started right,” the Head Spiritless said as the faint light of dawn hit the tree through the windows in the house.
56
Tailor Traps
“I want your Ornament Tailor up here at the top of the tree,” the Head Spiritless said.
“Billy. Come in. Over,” Lily called.
“Yep. Go ahead, Lily. Over,” Billy answered.
“Could you please check the Icicle on the back of the tree? I think the loading ramp may still be open?”
“Yes, ma’am, still no sign of Brendan. Out.”
“Now, your Water and Needle Tailor, Tonto, I want him in the middle towards the trunk and the Fire Tailor at the bottom. I understand Irene is currently fighting our termites. No worries about her just yet,” the Head Spiritless said.
Billy made his way to the Icicle using his GlimmerLight goggles. He stopped at the ramp.
“Hey Steve. Come in. I could use your muscles with this ramp. Over.”
No response.
“Steve. Come in. Over.”
Still nothing.
“Hey Lily, I can’t get a hold of Steve. Can you reach him? Over?”
“The network is down at the moment. You can only reach me here at tree top. Over.”
About to respond, Billy saw a blinding flash. He felt a hard blow to his head and another before he fell unconscious onto the ramp of the Icicle transport.
Tonto checked the trunk on the middle branches.
“Hey Lily, these branches and needles seem strong.”
A flash. Tonto fell to his knees. He attempted to rip off his goggles when a Spiritless elf kneed him in the face. Two others grabbed him from behind. Tonto fought to get up and nearly pushed the two off his back. The one at his front forced a hood over his head and punched him twice in the face. The two behind him secured him with tinsel. Tonto struggled to break free, but couldn’t move.
Steve checked the hoses and hydrants at the bottom of the tree. He then went down to the tree stand to check the water levels. He reached the st
and when he felt a kick at his back and fell into the water. He looked up. Three Spiritless elves stood at different spots, in a circle around him. He heard one say, “Release!” The three elves dropped tinsel ropes. A large, heavy ornament fell on Steve, who was treading water, and knocked him out.
“Tailors are secured, sir. Just the one female remains. Over,” reported a Spiritless from somewhere in the tree.
“Very good. We have a plan for the female if she makes it out of the tunnels.”
Lily cringed and shook her head in despair.
57
Shake The Foundation
The Castle Page 12