by N. P. Martin
“What happened?” Zee was coming down the hallway toward me.
“Where the hell were you?” I asked her. “We could’ve used your help!”
“I was out with that Mac guy, helping him kill the vampires,” she said. “Was he bitten?”
“Yes,” I said. “He’s lost a lot of blood. Where’s Mac?”
“Still outside,” Zee said. “I only came to check on you.”
“Well, you’re a little late, aren’t you?” Sighing, I shook my head. “Shit, I’m sorry, Zee. I didn’t mean—”
“It’s okay, baby,” Zee said. “Let’s get your father somewhere more comfortable.”
Zee and I lifted my father into the study and lay him across a long leather couch. “He needs a transfusion,” I said. “He’ll die if he doesn’t get one.”
“So he needs a hospital?”
“No. He has bags of compatible blood here in the house.”
“He keeps bags of blood? That’s forward thinking, I guess.”
“Yeah. My father thinks of everything.”
“Do you know how to do a transfusion?”
“No, but I’m sure Mac does. Stay with him, I’ll go see if I can find Mac.”
After running outside, I soon found Mac near the front of the house as he stood giving orders to two members of his team, who quickly ran off toward the woods. “What now?” I asked him, knowing something else was wrong.
“We have werewolves in the woods now,” Mac said.
“Jesus Christ,” I said. “This night…”
“Did something happen?”
“My father. He got bit by a vampire. You’d better come inside. He’s in the study.”
Mac bolted into the house ahead of me, and as I ran in behind him, I heard multiple howling noises in the background, followed by a lot of gunshots, and I hoped Mac’s team could stop the werewolves before they could reach the house.
In the study, Mac wasted no time once he had quickly looked my father over. He picked my father up in his arms as if he were made of nothing but straw, and said, “I’m taking him to the medical room down the hall. I can set up a transfusion there.”
“We have a medical room now?” I said.
“Your father is getting on in years. He thought it best to be prepared.”
Zee went to follow Mac out of the study, but I told her to hang back as Mac walked out of the room.
“What is it?” Zee asked.
“If we don’t bring this shit to a close soon, we won’t survive the night,” I said. “We need to put my plan into action.”
“Okay. How do you want to proceed then?”
“I need one of the hunters brought to me alive.”
Zee nodded. “I can do that. There’s another band of mercenaries at the gates. I can grab one of them.”
“More mercenaries? Jesus. What’s next, a fucking army? It’s only a million dollars, for Chrissakes.”
“To you, maybe. To others, it’s a lot of money.”
“Whatever. Just grab me a damn hunter so we can end this.”
Zee came forward and kissed me. “Don’t panic, baby. We’ll get through this.”
25
I went to check on my father to find that Mac had set up the blood transfusion, giving me some relief at least. Despite everything, my father was, well, my father, and I didn’t want to lose him, especially not to the bite of some filthy vampire. Leaving Mac to look after him, I went back to the study where I found a pack of cigarettes hidden away in a drawer. My father was an occasional smoker, though he always denied it. Gratefully, I opened the packet and took out one of the cigarettes, lighting it with the matches on top of the fireplace.
I had taken about two drags of the cigarette before I received a text. Digging out my phone and looking at it, I saw it was from Phillips:
HEY FUCKHEAD! THERE’S A BIG SURPRISE COMING FOR YOU! ENJOY ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
“What the fuck?” I said, wondering what the hell Phillips was talking about.
But I didn’t have to wonder for very long. From outside, I heard gunfire and assumed that Mac’s team were fighting off the mercenaries and werewolves that had showed up. Then I saw a bright flash of greenish light that had the stench of magic all over it, and I knew something or someone far more sinister had shown up to the party.
Phillips’ little surprise.
“What the fuck now?” I said to myself, just as Mac came running into the study.
“Something’s happening outside,” he said.
“Yeah, I can see that.”
Mac and I both stared out the window just as a robed figure came walking up the floodlit lawn holding a long staff with what seemed like a crystal embedded into the top. As Mac’s security team shot at the figure—who almost seemed to amble along in no hurry—their bullets didn’t appear to have any effect, and seemed to bounce off the steadily advancing figure, or rather, the magical shield surrounding them. If any of Mac’s team tried to get near the person, the person simply pointed their staff at the attackers and sent them flying away.
“Who the fuck is this guy?” Mac asked.
“Someone Phillips sent,” I said. “He obviously thought the hunters were taking too long to bring him my head.”
“So he sent this guy? What is he, a fucking warlock or something?”
“Maybe, I don’t know. Who cares? How the hell are we gonna stop him?”
“Maybe your girlfriend could—” Mac stopped when we both saw Zee go charging at the warlock, only to suffer the same fate as the other people who had tried to get near. Zee was sent flying back with explosive force, landing somewhere near the surrounding woods, making me fear for her safety.
“I have to go see if she’s all right,” I said, about to move away from the window when Mac grabbed my arm, stopping me.
“Are you crazy? You can’t go out there.”
I sighed exasperatedly, knowing he was right. “Shit! What the hell do we do then?”
“We get guns,” Mac said.
“Guns won’t do much good against that guy, or haven’t you noticed?”
“Fine. Let’s get you somewhere safe then.”
“Safe?” I laughed. “There’s nowhere safe from that warlock out there.”
“So what do you suggest, Damion? Stand here and wait for him to come in and kill you?”
My fingers felt the sigil cards in my coat pocket, though I knew they’d be useless against a warlock as powerful as the one outside. I might as well have thrown playing cards at him, for all the good my low-level magic would’ve done. “Shit. We’re fucked, Mac.” I paused. “Maybe I can run, lead him away from the house. At least that way, he won’t kill everyone else here.”
Mac shook his head. “I’m not letting you do that.”
“Do you have a better plan?”
“Your father has a panic room upstairs—”
“No, I’m not cowering in a fucking panic room while that guy kills everyone, including you, Mac. And anyway, a panic room will not stop him. He’ll use magic to force his way in, and then I’ll be like a rat trapped in a corner.”
“This is bad, mate,” Mac said as he looked out the window to see that the warlock was getting closer to the house, still using his magic to fend off anyone who tried to get near him. “Very fucking bad.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m gonna make a run for it.”
“Damion—”
“There’s no other choice. I’m going. Maybe I can lose him in the woods, I don’t know.”
Mac stared at me like I was kidding myself. “How’s your fitness these days?”
“Are you kidding? I’m like a fucking machine.”
Mac laughed nervously. “You’re insane, mate.”
“This whole situation is insane, Mac,” I said as I headed for the door.
“Wait,” Mac said. “I’ll see if I can buy you some time.”
By the time we reached the open front door, Mac had partially transformed into his weredingo form, his suit
bursting at the seams with thick slabs of muscle, his face resembling that of a canine’s, with a long snout and massive jaws. He growled at the warlock.
The warlock stopped where he was about twenty feet away when he saw us standing under the porch. Holding his staff, he pulled back his hood to show his face, revealing the fact that he was no warlock at all, and that she, in fact, was a witch, with long blond hair and almost glowing green eyes. “Going somewhere?” the witch said.
Neither me nor Mac answered the woman. Instead, Mac growled and then barked before savagely charging toward the witch. As he did so, I bolted off toward the woods, running as fast as my legs could carry me. Halfway across the lawn, I couldn’t resist looking back, looking just in time to see the witch hold Mac at bay with her staff and then make some motion with her free hand that brought Mac to his knees in front of her. “Down, doggy,” I heard the witch say. “Now stay!”
I didn’t know what she did to Mac, but I wasn’t about to wait to find out. Turning, I started running at full speed again, heading for the woods, hoping I could lure the witch away from the house, and also perhaps, hide from her in the woods somewhere, though I wasn’t holding out much hope on that one.
Before entering the woods, I stopped and called out Zee’s name, hoping she would answer, but she didn’t. “Godammit…” Praying she was okay, I carried on into the woods.
As I plunged into the darkness of the forest, I heard a voice carry to my ears as if on the wind. “You can run, but you can’t hide, Damion.” It was the witch’s voice. “I’ll find you, and then I’ll deliver your head to Mr. Phillips, as I promised I would.”
Ignoring the voice, I carried on running through the woods, my haste making me trip several times as I did my best to see where I was going in the pitch black. After five minutes of frantic running, my lungs were already screaming in protest. A few more minutes after, I could barely breathe.
“Yeah…I’m…a…real…fucking…machine…”
The whole time I was running, the witch’s voice was in my ear, seeming to echo off the trees. “I’m coming, Damion,” her voice whispered. “Stop running. There’s no point. Give in to the inevitable…”
“Fuck you, bitch!” I shouted with barely enough breath left to form the words.
The witch’s callous laughter echoed all around me, and then I tripped and went tumbling down a steep decline, unable to stop myself, rolling forever it seemed like until I finally crashed into what felt like a tree stump, the impact bringing me to an abrupt stop. I tried to get up, but my body wouldn’t let me.
I was fucked.
In more ways than one.
And the witch was still coming.
26
I could hardly move, so I decided not to. Somehow, the idea of staying put, bedded in against the tree stump and surrounding vegetation, seemed like a better idea than trying to run through the dark forest again.
Maybe the bitch will give up on trying to find me. Yeah right…
“I can sense you near,” the witch said, her voice still somehow carrying through the forest to my ears as if she were right beside me. It was unnerving. “It won’t be long before I find you. Perhaps you should run again, give yourself a chance. Or perhaps not. Maybe it’s better that you stay where you are, cowering like a scared little bunny.”
The witch laughed, inciting my anger. Bitch. She was trying to bait me into running again, into giving away my position.
Godammit. Why did I ever think was a good idea?
Despite my frustration, I reminded myself once more that if I had stayed at the house, I’d be missing my head right now. At least this way, I had a sliver of a chance.
“You’re probably wondering about my connection to Mr. Phillips,” the witch said, her voice still sounding near me, though I could hear no movement in the surrounding forest. “The truth is, Damion, I’m not here for the money. Money means nothing to me. I’m more concerned with power, and your father has more power than most. Killing you, Damion, will just be a precursor to killing your father. This is one of those rare times when your father is vulnerable, especially since I know he was bitten by that vampire. Yes, Damion, I saw that. I saw everything that happened here tonight. Your father is weak, and once I kill you, I will kill him and take all of his power for myself and my coven. And not just his inner power, but his entire business empire as well. Anyone who tries to stop me will die.”
Jesus. What a crazy bitch.
“But going back to my connection to Mr. Phillips,” she went on. “Martin dearest is my son, and as much as I despise the little brat sometimes, he is still my son, and I will not have him thrown in prison by you or anyone else. Once this night is over, the charges against Martin will be quashed, because of the power I will hold once I kill your father, Damion.”
I sat shaking my head in disbelief. Phillips had sent his mother after me? His mother was a fucking witch?
Figures. That’s probably how he got to be such a big player in the tech industry, with Mommy’s help.
“I can sense you near, Damion,” the witch said. “I’m closing in on you. Give yourself up and I will make your death quick and painless.”
Why do these psychopaths always say shit like that? As if doing so was going to make me go running to her. Fuck that.
“You know, Damion, I almost admire you,” the witch said, and for the first time, I could hear her footsteps close by as she came to stand at the top of the slope I had tumbled down. “You proved yourself to be most resourceful when you laid bare my son’s illegal activities. Of course, I was aware of you before that, thanks to your website. What is it, Deadson Confidential? You are very dogged in your determination to show people the truth that hides behind the lies.”
Her voice seemed to be above me now, as if she was speaking from the heavens like some dark god, and instinctively, I held my breath as I pressed in harder against the tree stump I was hiding beside.
“What you still haven’t realized, is that people don’t want to know the truth,” she said. “Most people are afraid of the truth. The truth is hard to bear, for it exposes the very nature of the reality we live in. People these days much prefer to live within a fantasy world, an artificial construct, an augmented reality controlled by those who aren’t afraid to face the truth, who revel in it.
“People are sheep, Damion, and they need to be controlled. They want to be controlled, to be lied to, to be consoled with technology that keeps them in a constant state of sleepiness, barely conscious, addicted to the false pleasures the technocracy forces upon them.
“People are there to be used, to be fed upon by the ones whose eyes are fully open. By people like your father, Damion, which is why I’m surprised you have wasted your time for so many years when the truth is staring you right in the face. I can only conclude that you are as deluded as the people you purport to help, just in a different way.”
Jesus Christ, doesn’t this bitch ever stop fucking talking? I can see where Phillips gets it from now.
“Hello, Damion.”
Suddenly, there she was. Hovering right above me in a cloud of bright green light that seemed to emanate from her.
As instinct kicked in, I stood up and tried to run. But as I did, I felt a force stopping me, and suddenly I couldn’t move a muscle. A second later, that same force lifted me off the ground and turned me until I was floating right in front of the witch. She looked younger than I expected her to, beautiful with her large green eyes and wide mouth that looked like it might expand to swallow me whole.
“You didn’t really think you could run from me, did you, Damion?” she said, and then tutted. “Silly boy.”
The force that kept me off the ground suddenly propelled me up the slope at a speed that forced my heart into my mouth, slamming me against a tree before I crashed to the soft forest floor and lay there groaning as I tried to stay conscious.
“Up you get,” the witch said, suddenly standing over me, reaching down as she grabbed me by the neck and painfu
lly hoisted me to my feet, pushing me against a tree and holding me there as her sickly green light continued to glow around her. “I just realized, I haven’t even told you my name. Not that it matters because you’ll be dead in a moment, but I’ll tell you anyway. My name is Morganna, and soon I will kill your father and take the empire that your family has spent so many years building.”
“Wait…” I said as blood spilled from my mouth and pain spread out across my chest from the ribs I’d broken when I got slammed against the tree. “You…you don’t have to do this.”
Morganna laughed as if what I’d said was hilarious. “Oh, my dear boy. Of course I do. Don’t you understand anything yet? And I thought my son was the only dumb one.”
“We can…work something out,” I said as my hand slipped inside my coat pocket and a sigil card slid between my fingers. It was merely a stun spell, but it was all I had. Maybe it would give me a chance to run again.
“The time for talk is over now, Damion,” Morganna said, her hand still around my throat, her fingernails slowly digging further into my flesh. “My fingernails will continue to grow until they pierce your neck completely, and then I will squeeze my hand closed and take your head off. Not a pleasant death, I know, but a satisfying one…at least for me.”
As Morganna’s sharp nails dug deeper, I gritted my teeth and quickly pulled out the sigil card and flung it at her. But the card merely hovered in front of her face for a second before igniting into green flame and turning to ash before my eyes.
Morganna laughed. “Did you really try to use your primitive magic on me? Oh, Damion, you are so pathetic.” She squeezed my neck further, causing me to cry out in pain. “Let me put you out of your misery now.”
She continued to force her fingernails into my flesh, getting dangerously close to the arteries, and all I could do was close my eyes and wait for the inevitable to happen.
But the inevitable never came as Morganna’s fingernails were suddenly ripped painfully out of me, and Morganna herself went flying off to the side with a shout of surprise, and I realized someone had jumped her.