Revenant's Kiss (Chronicles of the Afterlife)

by Robles, Joyce

  Pushing yet another door out of her way Jennifer gave the room a quick survey and again found nothing out of the ordinary, the room was empty and if the bodies were in this room and not another than they had already been stripped, cataloged and refrigerated. As the gun wouldn’t be doing her any immediate favors Jennifer tucked it back into her jeans and made certain that her coat was covering it just in case someone walked in. Moving over to the freezers Jennifer removed her cell phone from her pocket and checked the text there that Zip had sent her indicating the freezer numbers that should contain the bodies she was looking for. With that in mind she made her way to the nearest freezer and pulled the door open, she refrained from flinching fully aware that she could tell this one was a mess even before she pulled the pallet out of the freezer. She didn’t have time to be squeamish so she pulled the body out and tried to distinguish what she was looking at. "Jesus," she felt bile rise and pushed it down, she had seen people ripped limb from limb in front of her, she could handle a mangled body.

  She was no doctor but she had seen more than her fare share of bites in her time, this bodies upper body was destroyed. By the looks of the empty body cavity she was going to assume that its organs were elsewhere and from the condition could presume had not been removed during an autopsy. The neck was the same, not in any condition she’d seen a vampire leave a victim, bites ran along the sides, chunks were chewed out of the shoulders and the front of the throat was completely gone, she was no expert but it looked as though the ends were all frayed from being gnawed on. As if all of that wasn’t proof enough that Dimitri had gone off his rocker half the face looked like it had been chewed off as well. Jennifer looked up and away from the body wishing like hell that she’d had someone come along who was a little more astute in forensics. At the very least she wished that whoever was supposed to be at the desk had been there so she would have some idea what the hell they thought was going on. Jennifer shook her head but pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, she was tempted to call the vampire first just so she could tell him that the bodies might be chewed up but that didn’t make them zombies when the corpse on the table in front of her twitched.

  "You’ve got to be kidding me," she tried to remind herself that a dead body was full of all sorts of gases and chemical reactions, that sometimes they twitched, moved, all kinds of strange things. Then she reminded herself that the current vampire she was hunting was a sick lunatic and that it wouldn’t be beneath him to mangle an innocent person beyond recognition and then turn them into a vampire. If they survived the damage and the process they would heal, but with the word zombie in her head none of that seemed like much of a comfort. She looked down at her phone for a split second in hopes that at least a text message from Tom would be there to greet her but there were no messages for her. That was how long it took for the corpse to grab hold of her arm, she was used to attack, she should have reacted faster, instead she was paralyzed, terrified as that half eaten face lunged up at her. She had time to scream and try to yank back but with the hold it had on her, and her lack of reaction to defend herself she knew that it would take a chunk out of her first.

  Before she could blink there was a sword between the things teeth and in a flash it was slammed back down to the metal pallet beneath it, the sword slicing through the back of it’s skull into the metal beneath, effectively pinning it. She tried to yank her hand out of it’s grip but it wouldn’t relent, at least not until the vampire beside her grabbed it’s wrist and crushed it, which the thing barely seemed to notice. Jennifer didn’t care how pinned down it was she back-pedaled fast enough to fall on her butt. "What is that thing!" As if she had to ask, she knew the answer he would give her, so asking again was pointless.

  "You tell me Miss Ryan, does this look like a vampire to you," he indicated the table but from her position on the floor she could no longer see anything but it’s flailing limbs.

  "It’s.....it’s," but she couldn’t finish the sentence, she didn’t believe in zombies, vampires were the undead, she hadn’t supposed you could get much deader and still be walking around.

  "Maybe you aught to take a second look, just to be certain," he was mocking her inability to say what might be in front of her. Instead of cowering on the floor which was her first instinct, she had no idea why that was, she got to her feet. Just looking at it she nearly fell back over, but she forced herself to take the few steps back to the table.

  "I don’t know what it is," she said trying to convince herself that it was just another vampire gone mad. But she had never seen a human being that was this damaged come back, she assumed it was because they always healed the damage first.

  "Well Miss Ryan, call it what you like, but I assure you it is no vampire," as if to prove him right the thing seemed to be attempting to eat its way back up his sword. Jennifer jumped back away from the table, the thing struck a terror in her that made no sense. "You still don’t remember anything do you, I’m not sure that will do."

  For a moment Jennifer riveted her attention onto Ethan, "what do you know about it?"

  "Not enough to tell you your own story but perhaps your cousin could enlighten you, hiding behind his oh so safe holy walls, but even they can’t protect him against this." He pointed down at the dead thing on the table that was still struggling to try and reach them.

  "Zombies, don’t exist," she tried to ascertain pointlessly because she was pretty certain she was looking at one.

  "Tell me Hunter how unschooled are you, are vampires the only evil that stalk the night." He seemed to be regarding her in a new light, like he just might be dealing with a moron.

  "Maybe it’s just a mad vampire, I’ve never seen anyone turned for all I know this is what it looks like." She could tell that he did not like the answer that she’d just given, like it was the gravest insult to be compared to quite so dead an undead.

  "I suppose it was a mistake for me to imagine that not all Hunter’s could be more then simple minded hill folk with pitch forks." He was not smiling and without explanation he took hold of the sword hilt and pulled it free of the thing. Jennifer was about to go into full panic-mode again, forgetting the gun at her back but he simply brought it back down in an arch, severing the flailing corpses head from it’s body before it could move. "Perhaps the rest will convince you," he simply stood there like the rest was obvious but nothing happened, the body remained lifeless which didn’t tell her anything because a vampire with no head was a dead vampire.

  "What are you talking about," Jennifer asked because she was pretty certain he would just keep standing there if she didn’t.

  "I forget your kind has such pitiful hearing, silence yourself and listen," Jennifer made to tell him to shove it, but stopped. The faintest of sounds making her draw up short, was that what she thought it was. She gave her surroundings a quick once over, but saw nothing, before turning to the vampire.

  "You saved my life so I’m going to do something stupid and trust you to watch my back." He looked like he was going to say something but Jennifer closed her eyes and focused her hearing. It took everything she had not to simply run screaming from the room when she heard it. "Oh my God," she forced herself to stay still but opened her eyes and met the vampires, from inside the freezers there was moaning, and not the kind that indicated any kind of pain or agony, just the kind that she imagined a zombie might make. "What’s going on?" She demanded of the vampire trying hard still to convince herself this couldn’t be what it looked like.

  "Nothing that given the opportunity for us to work together we can’t solve." Ethan pulled something from his pocket and poured it over his sword, there was a flash and then the sword flared red hot, charring the blood from the blade.

  "Is this the zombie apocalypse, this can’t be that," she asked but he did nothing but smile at her.

  "Let’s hope it doesn’t get that far," that was not comforting, that was not a no.

  ‘There is no such thing as zombies, there is no such thing as zombies.’ She wished
that it was the foreign voice in her head saying that but it was only her and that irrational fear, her head empty of anyone but herself. "I can’t deal with the zombie apocalypse," she told the vampire in front of her. She had no idea why that was true, she dealt with murderous, bloodsucking vampires all the time. Creatures that were super strong, super fast, and would kill you as soon as look at you so why couldn’t she do this?

  "We might just have to do something about this memory issue of yours," Ethan informed her all cryptic vampire style.

  "How could that possibly help," Jennifer demanded trying to ignore the sound of nails grating against freezer doors.

  "When you know where the fear stems from it’s easier to confront, easier to control," Ethan informed her like he had loads of experience, "I’ve every confidence you can control your fear."

  Like a lightening bolt struck she suddenly had a sneaking suspicion, "you’re the voice aren’t you?"

  "Voice?" the vampire asked too innocently.

  "The one in my head," Jennifer accused but at this he just looked at her like she’d gone mad.

  "Should I be concerned for your mental stability?" He smirked and it did little to convince her of his innocense.

  "Don’t look at me like that," Jennifer almost yelled but did her best to keep it in check, "don’t pretend you don’t know that vampires can do that kind of thing." She could tell he was going to say something but it was interrupted by a bang from one of the other two rooms down the hall. "What was that," Jennifer barely noticed the fact that the vampire was by her side faster than she could think.

  "Nothing good, I only hear five others still here in this room which means one is likely out there," Jennifer realized that at least she’d reacted by turning towards the door instead of huddling away, she turned to look at him beside her.

  "One of them is out there," she barely contained the urge to go hide in a corner, not that this particular reaction had ever helped anyone.

  "Yes," the vampire gave her a very serious look, "one of them is definitely out there." He seemed to understand that she was not firing on all cylinders at the moment. Before she could react, not that he didn’t give her the chance because he did so slowly, he reached behind her and pulled the 9mm from her jeans. "I believe the next course of action would be to arm yourself," he held the gun out where she could see it, his hand wrapped around the barrel leaving the handle open for her to take. She was pretty certain she stood there longer than was strictly necessary staring at the gun like she’d never seen it before. "At least take it Jennifer and stay here to make certain that no one releases another." This response irritated her enough to let her at least take the gun from his hand.

  "I’m coming," she muttered though she was not at all certain how useful she’d be. Ethan simply nodded and motioned for her to take the lead if she wished, she didn’t but took it anyway. Usually she would in no way trust a vampire at her back but in this case she knew her actions so far had left her with something to prove. Without thinking about what she might be facing she pushed the door out of her path and checked both directions of the hall with gun raised. As if whatever was waiting to be confronted wanted to be found another bang rang down the hall. Jennifer’s senses were by no means as keen as the vampires but she knew which room it had come from. She gave the room between her and the last one a quick once over simply to be thorough before moving to the last where the noise had originated. "You can do this," Jennifer told herself as she hesitated outside the door.

  "If you’re unprepared to deal with this just yet I can take care of it," Ethan offered behind her.

  "Just shut up," she growled over her shoulder and kicked the door in front of her out of the way. She didn’t allow herself to hesitate, she simply shot the first thing that moved in the head, trying not to see what it had been up to before it sprang to it’s feet. But as soon as it was over and the body was on the floor she wanted to vomit. "This isn’t happening," not that saying it could change the fact that there was another body on the floor in a lab coat with it’s guts hanging out. The thing she’d shot had been crouched over that body, eating when she’d interrupted it, eating human flesh not blood. She stumbled into the room prepared to take a better look at the corpse she’d put down when the vampire grabbed the collar of her coat and pulled her back outside the door. "What are you doing," she put up a very minimal struggle, in fact possessed very little fight at the moment.

  The vampire used his sword to point down, " you nearly walked into it’s mouth." Jennifer nearly screamed at the sight of the thing on the floor using bloodied fingers to try and drag itself forward. A quick survey of what was left of the body told her where the security guard had gone. She realized that she was practically holding unto the vampire like a baby monkey but couldn’t force herself to put her feet on the ground.

  "This isn’t happening," but she didn’t think there was any talking herself out of it now.

  "Shush little Hunter," very deliberately Ethan took a step back putting a small amount of distance between himself and the creature on the floor. "I’ll put the security guard out of his misery and then we can simply burn the building down."

  "Burn it down," Jennifer asked stupefied but relieved, when he smiled she almost relaxed but then she realized he was going to try and put her on her feet and she froze up. "No, don’t go in there," she thrust her gun at him, trusting him with it only because she didn’t want to be left alone.

  "Such an inelegant weapon," but Ethan took it without hesitating because he knew it was trust she would not normally instill on one of his kind. It wasn’t until he pulled the trigger and the creatures brain exploded across the floor that Jennifer relaxed her hold on him and put her feet solidly on the ground.

  "How are we burning it down," Jennifer asked as he handed the 9mm back to her. She didn’t think she fully understood how much trust she’d given him until he was arming her with it, again.

  "I always come prepared," he informed her but gave no further reply.

  "So what are we waiting for," Jennifer was loath to leave without putting a bullet in the head of the lab coat corpse but couldn’t muster the courage to walk into the room, what was wrong with her.

  "My calvary," he informed, as if on cue something in his pocket buzzed, he didn’t even bother to pull what she assumed was a phone from his pocket.

  "Whose the calvary," she asked even though she was afraid she already knew the answer.

  "My vampires," he informed with a smile that was more then a little smug, what with her needing their help and all she supposed she’d never live it down.

  "Your," but she never finished the thought because he took hold of her hand and led her out where at least two other visible vampires stood waiting. At this her instincts came back online and she tightened her grip on the Beretta. She was entirely aware that the reaction was ridiculous considering that not only had Ethan saved her twice in a row, he’d put her gun in her hand just as many times making certain she was capable of defending herself. Apparently that didn’t change her instincts because as soon as she thought she saw one of them getting ready to move toward them her impulse was to raise the Beretta. Ethan however seemed to anticipate this move so used his hold on her other hand to pull her behind him. Not a bad move necessarily since he was tall enough that she couldn’t really see past him unless she leaned out around him.

  "Dominik, I trust that everything is set to go," when there was no verbal response Jennifer did lean out past the vampire. "Good, I trust you rigged it with enough to take care of everything."

  "Yes mein Herr, nothing will remain of the building or the remaining occupants," Jennifer did a quick once over of the vampire that Ethan spoke to, cataloguing his appearance, military shaved white-blond hair, blue eyes. Chiseled jaw with a prominent cleft in his chin, he was handsome, no surprise since they all were. The German accent was definitive though and she had a name for him now as well, it was part of her job to make sure the vampires she met and didn’t kill were put int
o their system for future use because eventually they all crossed the line. "The explosives are ready," Dominik confirmed in that thick accent of his, so it took her a moment to pick up on exactly what he’d said.

  "You can’t use explosives here," Jennifer interjected forcing herself to come out from behind the vampire with her gun pointed at the ground.

  "No worries little Hunter, my friend here knows what he’s doing," but Ethan’s confidence in ‘his’ vampires didn’t boost her own.

  "Oh really," Jennifer sarcastically commented, "and how exactly do you intend to control an explosion?"

  Dominik was the one to answer her, "the same way a demolitionist takes out any building, only with a lot more feuer." The German smirked and Jennifer wished she could shoot him, which was the usual when a vampire irritated her.

  "Fire is precisely my problem," Jennifer informed them, "demolition is one thing they bring the building down on itself, I imagine fire combined with explosion tends to spread."

  "It is an event we have to risk Jennifer," Ethan countered, "we can not afford to leave anything that might allow this to spread beyond this place."

  It was a point that Jennifer understood but it was out of their control one way or the other, the thing that had started this was still running around out there. She glared back at the other vampire that was keeping his distance, as apparently tense and ready for violence from her as she was from him. "I can’t let you do this," although what she thought she was going to do to stop them or otherwise she had no idea. Would she go back in there and get rid of the five remaining bodies that were clawing to get out of their confines, it didn’t seem likely. And even if she could talk herself into going back in there how would she dispose of the bodies after. Of course there were clean up crews that she could call but she wasn’t entirely certain they would know how careful to be with potential hazardous zombie materials. "There has to be another way," she insisted regardless.

  "I’m sorry Jennifer, but given the current circumstances, there isn’t the time," she should have guessed what he was going to do, he had after all never relinquished his hold on her hand. She would otherwise have made some other argument, but he nodded to his vampire and used his hold on her to pull her against his chest. Before she could blink he used his inhuman speed to move her a block down.