Bite This

by Michael Anderle

  The police had been asking more questions than she liked, so she told them that they would be welcome to handle the rest of their problems without her team if they insisted on answers. They quickly backed down.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t understand the Police’s desire to know. They had a tough job dealing with the UnknownWorld without a good background. More than likely, there would be some in their government who knew what was happening, but they hadn’t contacted Frank to open any communications so Bethany Anne assumed they worked for the other side.

  Their helicopter had gotten noticed. Costa Rica has a multicultural respect for languages and while Spanish is the official language, many languages are spoken which included English. So that made it easier to get information from some of their news sites.

  There wasn’t much she could do about others seeing her helicopter. They were going to ride Shelly to their landing site, and they took the Black Hawk fully loaded down. After the first night, it was decided to add Pete to the group that stayed with the helicopter in case someone got the idea that it would be a nice addition to their personal belongings. Bethany Anne never left the area before marking off a quick return zone. If things went to shit, they could call her back if the zone was clear.

  She had seen the report on the police officers who had run into the Nosferatu and had died. Until you fought one, and lived, no one would realize how hard to kill the little bastards would be for humans.

  Gabrielle was coming along well with her fighting and her leadership. After a couple of other snide remarks, Gabrielle came out swinging every time a Nosferatu group was found. The guys protected her very well. Bethany Anne would stand back with the other two and observe the melee. After the fight was over, she would give pointers and Gabrielle had stepped her already impressive abilities up a few notches.

  Shelly could almost make the trip from the Polarus to San Jose and back twice before refueling. So Bethany Anne instructed Bobcat to stay up in the air until they either saw something themselves, or she called them down. Pete was up front with Bobcat. She gave the hand signal for everyone to get ready. She was anxious to get stuck in. Tonight was going to be a slaughter, and she was the Angel of Death. Her eyes started to glow against her will and she felt her fangs starting to protrude. She was having trouble keeping her emotions in check. She made sure Darryl and Eric by the door were safe and then opened the side door, she needed air.

  Eric looked over at Darryl who shrugged his shoulders. If the boss wanted to check out the view better, who were they to tell her she couldn’t do it? It was her helicopter for fuck’s sake.

  She strapped her arm into a hold and hung out the door. She had no skid to step on, as Shelly had three wheels. Some of the armament was in her way as she searched the streets below with her superior vision. It took fifteen minutes before she noticed a disturbance over in a major park to the west of a cemetery. She called to Bobcat over the headphones to head in that direction. She was itching to get into the fight and it was driving her mad. She wasn’t sure what was going on, as she hadn’t felt this kind of influence before.

  TOM, why am I feeling on edge?

  One moment, I don’t know.

  “Bobcat, get me over in that area soon before I decide I need to start kicking something and Shelly is the best choice at the moment!” He didn’t respond, but Shelly dropped suddenly and Bethany Anne’s face lit up in a feral grin. “Fuck YEAAAAAAHHHH!”

  Her attitude was infectious, the team prepped their weapons. Everyone knew, loved and respected Gabrielle and believed she was a kick ass leader for their group. However, going into a battle behind Bethany Anne was an addiction for these men. “Pete!” He turned to look at her as best he could, “When everyone is off, I want you, Killian and Bobcat up top giving us cover. If it gets too much for us on the ground, then use those door guns and fuck everything that isn’t us up. Got it?”

  “Yes ma’am!” He started unbuckling.

  Bobcat had them coming at only a hundred feet above the buildings, no one that night would be able to mistake what was flying through their neighborhoods. Many windows were opened as the ‘protector of the night’ unmistakably came screaming right past them with a woman hanging out, eyes glowing.

  She saw two Forsaken teams coming together, probably over forty bodies down in that mess. “GET ME THERE NOW, BOBCAT!” She was straining, trying to hold in her desire to rip, to tear, to destroy. She hadn’t felt this out of control since she'd destroyed the wall in TOM’s space craft.

  Bobcat came over the teams’ radio’s, “I’ll land in that spot three blocks to the North, I’ll have you down in thirty seconds.”

  “FUCK THAT!” Bethany Anne swung over the edge and disappeared.

  “BETHANY ANNE!” John screamed her name as she disappeared. “GOD DAMMIT! Get us down Bobcat.” The team all popped their safety harnesses and prepared to jump, Killian prepped his rifle.

  “What the fuck happened?” Bobcat pitched Shelly in a tight ass turn and Pete jumped into the back to man the guns.

  “She jumped already, I swear to God if she makes it out of this I’m going to put her over my knee and spank the fuck out of her. I can’t believe this shit.” John was heated, worried about his boss.

  Gabrielle yelled into the group, “C’mon Bitches, let’s go get our fucking Queen or we won’t have shit to do ourselves!”

  Gabrielle jumped from twenty feet up. The men, as prepared as they were, waited until Bobcat was hovering a few feet in the air before jumping off themselves. Bobcat quickly pulled Shelly back up, Killian giving cover.

  —

  Bethany Anne had slipped through the Ether to come out fifty feet behind the Forsaken group coming in from the cemetery side of the park. Her night vision had a red haze.

  Bethany Anne. TOM got no response.

  BETHANY ANNE.

  WHAT?

  I’ve got that answer, what’s going on with you.

  What the fuck is it? She took off after the stragglers in the group in front of her. She could hear Shelly screaming in a tight turn behind her.

  You’re having your period. You can get pregnant.

  WHAT? How the hell was that possible? TOM had told her that wasn’t going to happen. She had figured it was better for her to never have children, so it had only been a relief when she had first learned of her lost cycle. Her anger was making better sense now. She had always been easy to piss off; however, during her cycle she was always upset.

  Now, she was infinitely stronger, vastly more dangerous and utterly and totally enraged.

  Well, it would just suck to be a Forsaken tonight.

  She pulled her pistols and started firing, one shot per head. She didn’t want them dead right away, she needed to get her anger out and so fuck ‘em if you have ‘em and she was going to fuck them up tonight.

  She shot ten right away, and two more turned at the noise. That left eleven continuing on to attack the other team. Those two groups had just started their own attacks against each other in the park.

  She heard Gabrielle catching up with her, “Fucking hell, Bethany Anne. Wait for your backup!”

  “I AM MY OWN FUCKING BACKUP!”

  The first group of five Forsaken running at her broke against the indomitable rock that was Bethany Anne. Gabrielle, who had been training to spar against Bethany Anne when she was in vamp mode, was momentarily shocked at the blurring speed and the destruction in front of her.

  Gabrielle just caught out of the corner of her eye a German Shepherd tearing through the park. The dog tore into a Forsaken that was coming at Bethany Anne from her right side. The dog dragged it down and ripped it’s throat out.

  Gabrielle heard her team rapidly catching up while she watched the dog attack. “Gott Verdammt. She even has dogs following her into this crazy fucking mess.”

  She turned to her team, “Don’t get in her way, this is a contain campaign. There’s no talking to her right now.” The men just nodded and chased after Bethany Anne and the d
og; both were covered in blood.

  Shelly flew over and the heavy thump-thump-thump of the door guns ripped through the bodies fighting in front of them before it flew across. They heard the occasional shot from Killian. That would be the last safe pass for Shelly before Bethany Anne would be right in the middle of the carnage ahead.

  It was later said that the dead rose from the cemetery to fight that night and the screams would infest the dreams of those who lived near the park for months afterwards.

  The fight was swords, scattered gun shots, ripping and tearing of flesh, shrieks, screams and cussing. Lots and lots of cussing. Most of the cussing aimed at the Forsaken. Some of it aimed at their own boss.

  But there wasn’t one face in the Queen Bitch’s Guard that wasn’t smiling during the thrill of the battle. The team fought like a single entity, where everyone knew what would happen next. Scott would duck as Darryl shot over him and then Scott would turn around and shoot a Forsaken in the head. The same head would then be sliced off of it’s neck by Gabrielle almost instantly afterwards. The team killed, they fought, they protected and they contained the Forsaken.

  What they couldn’t do was contain Bethany Anne and the damn devil incarnate dog that had joined her. Eric had been aiming at a Forsaken that had stepped far enough away to be a safe shot when he noticed Bethany Anne rip an arm off of one Nosferatu and then use the arm to beat another Nosferatu before turning in a half circle and kicking in the ribs of the Nosferatu missing it’s arm, knocking it back. Completing the turn she sliced off the second nosferatu’s head. He noticed she suddenly turned her head to look over at a grove of trees and just disappeared.

  Eric screamed to the group, “She’s fucking disappeared again!” Gabrielle had just taken the head of a Nosferatu John had impaled with his knife. John ripped his knife back out of the dead chest and looked around, “Where?”

  Gabrielle pointed to a grove of trees, “Look, the dog is running that way.” All of the remaining Nosferatu turned in the dog’s direction. Gabrielle wanted to go after the crazy woman, but her job was to make sure that every one of the Queen’s Guard made it through this fight. Gabrielle wasn’t sure where or why Bethany Anne left but she doubted anything was going to be able to harm her.

  Gabrielle pulled her pistols and started firing at the Nosferatu as she had been taught. “Target Practice for Hell Boys!” One bullet, one head. She missed her shot on the fourteenth Nosferatu. She was disgusted with herself, “Fuck me! Bethany Anne’s going to laugh her ass off.”

  The guys grinned as Darryl and Scott plugged the last two. Gabrielle put up her pistols as she ran towards the farthest Nosferatu. The guys ran and shot each one of the Nosferatu as they healed until Gabrielle came around and removed their heads. It took a vampires strength to slice through their necks.

  They heard a yelp of pain from a dog and a fierce sword fight going on inside the trees. Finishing up the remaining Nosferatu, Gabrielle led the team into the grove. Twenty yards in, they found the dog deathly wounded.

  Gabrielle didn’t think, she just reacted. She pulled her sword across her wrist and forced the dogs mouth open. John came up to her, “Put the blood into the wounds as well, Bethany Anne helped my chest that way.”

  She held her other wrist and John didn’t hesitate to slice it with his Bowie. She forced as much of her blood on the wound as she could. The dog was having trouble breathing. It was the most she could do at the moment.

  She looked at John, “Detail protection.”

  John pointed to Darryl and Scott and then to the dog and got two nods.

  Gabrielle's wrists were bloody, but they had stopped bleeding. “Let’s go.”

  Gabrielle, John and Eric made up a quick triangle with Gabrielle in the front and ran into the brush. As they came out of the brush into a small glade, Gabrielle was surprised by a large object the size of a soccer ball heading for them in the air. She stabbed it and quickly found out it was a beheaded head. The face had a look of shock. “That’s just gross!” She placed her sword on the ground and used a foot to help her pull the sword out.

  She looked up to see Bethany Anne fighting with a taller vampire.

  Both John and Eric had put their weapons down in the ready position. It was obvious to the three of them that Bethany Anne was toying with this guy.

  The team heard her talking throughout the battle, “Is that,” clang-clang, “the fucking,” clang-clang-clang-clang, “best you got you,” clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang, “cunt lipped bum fucker?”

  The other vampire screamed in frustration and attacked with all he had. Bethany Anne just tightened her concentration up a notch as she started laughing.

  “You will not laugh at me you fucking bitch!”

  The team started yelling into the fight, “Bad form on that over swing. If you’re going to try and hit her, you need to pull your… Nope, not that way fuck-tard!”

  The vampire was not pleased with the help the newcomers were offering, “I will kill this bitch first, then you next!”

  “Oh oh.” Said Eric.

  “Yup,” John agreed.

  “Geez, you would think he would use a different curse word.” Gabrielle opined.

  John and Eric both said at the same time, “Sucks to be him… JINX!”

  The team heard movement behind them and turned around. It was Darryl carrying the dog and Scott coming up behind him. Scott asked, “What the hell, are you guys having a party?”

  The sword fight continued behind them. “No beer near here.” Said John. “We are waiting for Bethany Anne to …”

  They heard a sudden thud and turned around to see Bethany Anne crush the vampire's ribs and then they heard his skull crack from a punch. He was lying on the ground holding his ribs moaning in pain each time he tried to breathe.

  Bethany Anne pulled out a pistol and shot him in both kneecaps. “Stay the fuck down or I’ll do worse.” She holstered her pistol, “You’re just lucky it was the other galactic jizz midget that hurt my dog.”

  She turned to the team, “Gabrielle, detail this ass wipe to bring with us. Call Bobcat and make the update to the police. “ She walked over to the team, covered in blood and guts. Her eyes were back to normal and her fangs had retracted. She went to Darryl and checked on the German Shepherd. She noticed the slow healing. She looked up at Darryl who used his head to indicate Gabrielle.

  She gently took the German Shepherd from Darryl. When she was holding him, he started licking her face. She gently laid him on the ground and lifted an arm in the air. Darryl pulled his Bowie and sliced her wrist. Bethany Anne was able to get more of her blood into his mouth. The dog licked her wrist clean, so she had Darryl slice it once again.

  They heard Bobcat landing Shelly and the police sirens in the distance. She picked up the dog and heard another gun shot behind her, so she turned around. Gabrielle looked up, “The twit-lip mouthed off, so I gave him something to complain about. If he does it again, I’ll shoot his dick off.” Bethany Anne just shook her head and started back through the bushes to get the fuck out of there before they had people to talk to.

  Listening to the approaching police, she muttered to herself, “Am I ever going to be able to tell San Jose to kiss my ass and be able to make it stick?”

  Pete watched as Bethany Anne came up to the helicopter carrying a dog. He looked around and Bobcat told him where the blankets were stored. He grabbed two and laid them on the floor. Bethany Anne jumped into the helicopter and sat on the blankets, cradling the dog.

  The rest of the team jumped into the helicopter with the vampire in tow, Killian closed the door and Shelly rose into the night. The people who lived in the area and had seen the group named them the Protectores del Infierno.

  Giannini had been driving down a street heading north after Super Intendent Rodriguez informed her what area of town was expected to be a hot spot that night.

  She had been driving normally until a black hawk helicopter screamed above her, heading north like they were heading
to battle. Giannini broke the law driving like a wild woman after that happened. She was able to see half of the fight from a nearby roof. She watched as they came out of the trees and headed over to the helicopter. She thought of them as Ángeles Oscuros and that was the name that was printed.

  Twenty minutes later, Bethany Anne called ahead to the Ad Aeternitatem and had them confirm no one was in TOM’s ship. She had Bobcat hover over the boat. She held on to the dog and slipped through the Etheric from the helicopter directly into TOM’s cabin. She made her way into the medical room and awkwardly punched in the sequence to open the pod while holding the dog. She gently placed the dog, who was unconscious, into the pod and hit the sequence to close the pod.

  TOM directed her to enter a new sequence that was to work up a new genetic report on the canine. She sat down, tired, on the little ledge bench. Twenty minutes later, she heard a banging on the outside of the craft. It sounded like metal hitting the door. She got up and went to the door and hit the button to open it. Gabrielle and Ecaterina stood there, Ecaterina had a bag with her. She waved them in and both walked on board. She hit the switch to close the door, she didn’t feel like talking right now, but she appreciated the women coming over.