The Mourning Woods - 03

by Rick Gualtieri

I was brought out of my ill-timed reverie by another of Turd’s growls from off in the trees. My friends! Hopefully I wasn’t too late. I turned to where Francois lay. Amazingly, he was getting back to his feet. His leg was still gushing, but even as I watched, I could see the flow beginning to slacken. With the silver bullet out of his leg, Francois’s healing was starting to kick back in. Still, he had lost a lot of blood. He was currently no match for me and he knew it.

  “Enjoy your friends’ funeral, assassin.” He turned and ran. Even with his mangled leg, he was gone from my sight within moments. His speed was now mine as well, though. I turned toward where I had heard the sounds of battle. The world seemed to slow as I accelerated far past my normal limits. Maybe there was still time.

  * * *

  Yep, there was still time.

  “Hurry up and fucking reload!” I heard Sally’s voice from up ahead. “I can’t do this all day.”

  In a blur of motion, I was upon them. Ed was busy jamming shells into his shotgun. Sally, being both faster and more durable, was playing a dangerous game of chicken with Turd, a game she couldn’t win.

  From the look of things, Turd had already bounced her off a few rocks. Her left arm hung at a bad angle, one side of her face was bruised almost beyond recognition, and blood flowed freely from a gash on her scalp. Still, she continued bobbing and weaving, trying to stay just out of Turd’s reach.

  “She-tlunta give up and Turd make death painless,” the chieftain of the Sasquatch growled, taking another swing at her. Sally backed up, but her feet got tangled in the brush. She went down.

  “Turd lie!” he screamed gleefully, then leapt. Sally’s eyes opened wide as he flew at her. Then they opened even wider as a blur of motion (that’d be me) slammed into Turd, mid-leap, driving him into, then through a tree.

  “It’s about time,” I heard her gasp.

  “You’re wel...” was all I was able to get out before Turd backhanded me off of him. I went flying and once more landed ungracefully in the dirt. It hurt a lot more than when he had hit me the day before. I needed to remember that this battle wasn’t going to be as easy. I had Francois’s strength, but for all I knew I was still heavily outclassed by Turd.

  Oh, well, only one way to find out. I got back to my feet and faced the now extremely pissed off Bigfoot leader. I raced forward and drove a fist into his gut. He let out a heavy “Oof!” but then nailed me with his own swing, easily knocking me aside. It felt like being hit by a freight train. Once again, I felt my overcharged healing kicking in to mend bone. That answered things. I was faster, but Turd was definitely stronger.

  Oh, well, I could still use that. I had been in enough scrapes to know a thing or two about facing down a superior opponent. I just had to time things right. If I could bring Turd down to my level, I could maybe stun him enough for us to get away.

  I just stood there as Turd charged forward, opening my eyes wide and trying to look scared (which wasn’t all that difficult to do). He loomed over me, triumph showing on his face, and brought his two massive fists down...into nothing. At the last second, I had put everything I had into one quick burst of speed.

  I sidestepped Turd, and came up behind him. I locked my arms around him and tried to force him off balance. Unfortunately for me, that put my head just about even with his ass. As luck would have it, just then Turd let out a sasquatch-sized fart.

  Holy mother of all that is unholy! Let me tell you, I have been in the presence of some nasty ass stink in my day. Hell, one time Tom ate a whole bowl of beans and then let one loose in my face while I slept. I thought I was going to die then...but this, this was a whole new world of punishment. I backed up coughing, sure that my eyebrows were in the process of melting off. It was a mistake.

  Quicker than I would have thought a creature of his size capable, Turd spun and wrapped his massive hands around me. I was little more than a doll to him and he knew it. He lifted me over my head and, before I could do anything about it, I was airborne.

  I must have flown over ten yards when suddenly - *RIIIP*- I slammed into something and an incredible pain shot through my body. I opened my mouth to scream and nothing but a gurgle of blood came out. No wonder. I looked down to see the jagged end of a tree branch protruding from my abdomen. I was impaled at least fifteen feet off the ground. The branch had missed my heart by inches at most, but unfortunately, it had gotten pretty much everything else. I felt absolutely shredded on the inside.

  “Bill!” I heard a female voice yell. Hmm, she sounded vaguely familiar. Wish I could’ve spared a few moments of thought trying to remember her name. Sadly, there wasn’t much room in my head for anything other than, “HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, THAT FUCKING HURTS!!”

  Oh, no! Not that!

  Amidst the pain, I could feel a glimmer of red rage building up in my head. My involuntary Freewill powers were kicking in. A part of me wanted to give in to it. I knew the change increased my power far beyond what even Francois’s blood could provide. In its grasp, my body would probably shrug off this injury. Even better, my mind would blank out and I wouldn’t feel or remember a thing.

  The rational part of my brain, however, knew that would be a mistake. There was little doubt I could and probably would kill Turd in that state. That would be bad...really bad. It would mean war. Even beyond that, though, I didn’t trust this Mr. Hyde persona hiding deep inside me. So far it hadn’t hurt anyone I cared about, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t. Neither Ed nor Sally would be able to escape if I decided to turn against them. That thought sobered me up.

  I brought up a hand and slapped my own face. My head rocked back from the impact...oh, yeah, I was still amped up on Francois’s blood. That’s the second time I’ve done that. Idiot! Need to remember my own strength. Fortunately, it served its purpose. My head cleared a bit and I felt the rage recede back toward controllable levels.

  I looked down to see Turd standing there, his arms raised in triumph. Asshole!

  No, wait...make that stupid asshole.

  He was either too busy gloating or just didn’t consider my other friends to be a threat. It was going to cost him.

  A shotgun blast rang out through the forest. The slug caught Turd in the side. There was a spray of blood, but the impact itself barely rocked him. It did, however, get his attention, which was apparently the goal.

  Turd didn’t notice that Sally had gotten back to her feet. She tackled him at the knees from behind and he went down hard. She then leapt upon his back and brought her fist down into the back of his head, hitting with enough force to crack a cinder block. It was a hell of a shot, but I doubted it would do much against Turd’s thick skull.

  She looked up at me. “Well, are you going to hang around all day?”

  You gotta love Sally, supreme bitch that she is. But, she had a point. As much pain as I was in, I wasn’t dust yet. As bad as it might be, I would (probably) survive. It was time to extricate myself from this mess.

  Pity it was going to hurt...a lot.

  * * *

  Did I say it was going to hurt? Hurt would have been a pleasant vacation compared to the all consuming agony that transpired. I gripped the end of the branch that was sticking through my front and snapped it off. Unfortunately, doing so vibrated the part still stuck inside of me, which had the effect of making it feel like someone was taking a hacksaw to my internals. Tears streamed down my face from the effort. Sadly, I still wasn’t done.

  Bracing my feet against the trunk, I pushed. Doing so scraped the shit out of my organs, but finally, after what seemed an eternity of pain, I was free...free to land face-first on the hard unforgiving ground, the only cushion being a slurry of my own bodily fluids.

  “Any year now,” Sally growled, still doing her best to keep Turd grounded.

  “Are you all right, Bill?” came Ed’s far more sympathetic voice. I felt his arm loop around mine as he attempted to get me back to my feet.

  “No,” I gasped through a mouthful of blood.

  I looked up at
Ed and suddenly I could hear his heartbeat thumping away. Francois’s power was mine, but so were his heightened senses. Even aside from all the gore I was covered in, I could still smell the blood running through Ed’s veins. Worst of all, I wanted it...badly.

  No! I recoiled from his touch, not even wanting to consider that thought.

  “What?” he asked, worry masking his face.

  “Stay back,” I warned in a slightly stronger voice than before. “I’m having a vampire moment here.” I needed to concentrate on something else. I had never felt so intensely the need for blood. Then again, I had never gotten a six inch hole punched through my gut either. Live and learn.

  I began to realize that I was indeed going to live. With every second that passed, I felt the pain continue to recede. Older vampires are stronger and heal a shitload faster than us newbs. Fortunately, Francois was pretty damn old. I could feel my insides knitting themselves back together. Within a few minutes, I was going to be back in the fight.

  Sadly, I didn’t have those few minutes. Turd suddenly rolled over and brought up a massive fist. He hit Sally full on and she went flying. She landed hard, finally skidding to a stop...unmoving, either stunned or fully unconscious.

  Ed, raised his gun, but I said, “No,” even as I was already on the move again. It hurt like a motherfucker to do so, but I had a feeling it was going to hurt much worse if I didn’t end this now.

  Ignoring the pain, I grabbed one of Turd’s big feet (hah) before he could stand. Using my stolen strength, I began to turn, dragging the oversized monkey with me. He had no leverage save to claw at the dirt and it wasn’t enough.

  I began to spin faster and centripetal force took over. Turd’s body left the ground, just like a kid being swung in a circle by an adult...except for the fact that he weighed half-a-ton, smelled like shit, and the landing I had in mind would be anything but gentle.

  “Let Turd go!” he bellowed.

  “As you wish!” I screamed, bringing my momentum to a furious climax (damn, I really need to watch the porno puns) and letting go. It was a hell of a toss. Turd went careening through the air before smashing headfirst into the base of a tree.

  “And the shit hits the fan!” I yelled, bringing myself to a stop, right before immediately losing my balance and falling on my ass.

  “Nice one, bro,” Ed said, offering me a hand, three of them to be precise (I had been spinning pretty fast). I eventually grabbed the correct one and he hauled me to my feet.

  “Yeah,” I gasped. “That was pretty damn clever.”

  “I meant the throw, not the line.”

  “Everyone’s a critic.”

  “Yeah, well everyone’s going to be a dead critic if we don’t get moving,” he replied, pulling me in the direction where Sally still lay. “I don’t think that’s going to keep him down.”

  Ed was right. There’d be plenty of time for patting ourselves on the back later. We needed to beat feet before Turd got back up.

  We reached Sally and I turned her over. A small groan escaped her split lips, which was good. Unfortunately, the rest of her didn’t resemble any part of good. She looked like she had been run over and then dragged by a team of horses. I could see missing teeth, a broken nose, and God knows how many other contusions, but she was alive...at least in the vampire sense.

  “Still want to bang her?” I asked Ed.

  “What?” he joked. “A little makeup and you’d never notice.”

  “God, I hope she can’t hear us,” I said, hoisting her up and putting her limp form over my shoulder.

  “Me too...hey! What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Sorry, man. We need to move fast, which means you need to shut up and play the bitch.” I grabbed Ed with my free arm, and tossed him over my other shoulder. Fortunately, I still had a little nitrous left in my system. I was carrying two people, but they practically felt like feathers. “Now keep your head down. This could get tricky.”

  Thus, without further ado, I began running, putting as much of my stolen speed to bear as I could...hoping that I was going in the right direction. If not, it could prove to be a fatal mistake for us all.

  Crossing Enemy Lines

  Luckily for me, I’m not a complete idiot. I had gotten only about a hundred yards when I remembered to use all of my senses. I sniffed the air and caught multiple scents. I’m not a bloodhound, so rather than try to figure out which one was what, I simply put the ass-like stench of the Sasquatches behind me and kept all of the others to my front.

  “I think I’m gonna puke,” Ed complained as I ran.

  “Aim for Sally!” I shouted back. “I like these pants.” Whether or not he heard me, I’m not sure. At the speed I was making, there was a lot of wind hitting my face. And damn, I was making good speed. Hadn’t I been impaled only a few minutes earlier? My gut was still tender, but the worst of the damage had already been repaired. Hot damn, elder vampire powers are awesome. To think that one day I’d have that kind of power all the time, well it was a little heady. Of course, that assumed I lived long enough...a big assumption as of late.

  “Don’t look down,” I shouted, spotting a small ravine ahead and having absolutely no desire to go around it.

  “Why...Oh, God!” came the reply as I vaulted the thirty foot crevasse.

  Yep, he looked down. Oh, well, I did warn him. I landed on the far side with a few feet to spare then continued onward. Hopefully, wherever my nose was leading me would be friendly.

  * * *

  Sorta friendly counts too, I guess. I had been hoping to emerge in the vampire encampment and maybe find James. Then I could tell him...hmm, actually I had no idea what I was going to tell him. The whole thing was so stupidly convoluted as to sound entirely unbelievable. I mean seriously, syrup...really?

  That point turned out to be moot, though. I saw a camp up ahead and it was definitely not ours. I didn’t care, however. I could feel the power rapidly draining from me. The impaling and the extra juice required to stitch up my innards had depleted my batteries. I could feel Ed and Sally getting heavier and myself getting slower. As long as I didn’t emerge into the waiting arms of Francois and his buddies, I would be happy.

  “It’s the Freewill,” a female voice screamed. “And he’s carrying victims!”

  Or maybe not.

  I stopped at the edge of the clearing, not wanting to further agitate the white-robed witch who stood there, arms up in a defensive gesture. Great, of all the various life forms here, I had to stumble upon the magical morons who wanted me dead.

  “Relax,” I said, holding up my hands. “We’re all under truce here.” I lowered Ed to the ground. “See, no victims.”

  Her eyes then shifted to Sally, still lying over my shoulder. “The beast has turned on his own kind!”

  Now others of her coven were starting to emerge and they didn’t look happy. I quickly scanned the area. Where the fuck was Christy? If she was off porking my roommate and I got fried because of it, I was gonna be just a wee bit pissed at them both.

  “Open your fucking eyes,” Ed snapped at her. “Stupid is no way to go through life.”

  A confused, if somewhat insulted, look came over the witch’s face as her companions began to gather round.

  “Way to improve the situation, Ed,” I said out of the corner of my mouth. “Help me with Sally.”

  I lowered her to the ground and her eyes fluttered open.

  “Where are we?” she weakly asked.

  “About to get zapped by the mages guild...you know, the usual.”

  I got an eye-roll for that. Beaten to a pulp though she might be, Sally was back in the game. I offered a hand to help her up.

  “You shouldn’t have come here, Freewill,” an older witch said, stepping forward. “You are not wel...”

  “Sorry, they’re with me,” a voice called from behind her. Suddenly Christy and Tom were there, pushing their way to the front. Tom didn’t look so hot...actually scratch that, he did. In fact, he kind of looked like a
boiled lobster. His skin was all red as if he had been repeatedly scalded.

  “They’re here at my...invitation,” Christy said to the older witch. “To help...foster...the peace.”

  “They look like they just stepped out of a slaughterhouse,” the other witch pointed out.

  “Well, you know vampires,” Christy replied in a chipper voice. “Filthy animals that they are.”

  “Fuc...” Sally started to say, when I clamped a hand over her mouth.

  “What my friend meant to say was sorry about that,” I quickly stammered out. “You know us vampires. We just can’t control the ol’ bloodlust.”

  A ripple of tension passed through the assembled coven. For a second I was sure we were about to get fireballed. Finally, the elder witch spoke again, “Just because we are under truce, do not think our mission has changed, Freewill. You would be wise to slink back to whatever foul grave you crawled from.” With that, she waved at the others to disperse. She began to walk away, but not before turning back. “The master will hear of this, Christy. You’re playing a dangerous game.”