Jerusa tried to get up, but her legs were still pinned beneath a pile of large stones. She sat up and began to dig herself out, spurred on by the dwindling echoes of Taos’s voice. She grabbed the large stones, several weighing more than a hundred pounds and threw them across the room as though they were made of Styrofoam. After what seemed an eternity she had removed enough debris that she could wrench her legs from beneath the rubble. She rolled over and her hand brushed the handle of Ralgar’s skewer.
A surge of power rushed from her hand up into her body. Jerusa brought the skewer up to her chest then rushed with all her speed into the darkness.
There was not even the slightest bit of light for her vampiric eyes to absorb and the echoes of the battle were unreliable, so Jerusa focused her attention on tracking Taos by his scent. The smell of his clothing, of his hair, of his blood, called out to her, leading her through the darkness like a tow rope.
Jerusa turned a corner and had to drop to the floor to keep from being hit in the face by a flying ball of fire. The flames exploded against the wall and blinked out of existence.
Taos stood with his back in a corner, tossing fire at the savages, but was unable to hit his mark. His clothes were shredded and a trail of blood ran down his forehead and dripped from his nose. He was spent, his strength waning. He fell to one knee as the savages sprang from floor to wall, back and forth, rushing in alternating attacks that grew more and more difficult for Taos to fend off.
Jerusa’s face blushed fiery hot. She ran, but didn’t realize it. She screamed, but didn’t hear herself. Bursts of light exploded around her as clusters of ghosts followed beside her. They charged like a silent battalion, but they didn’t have the weapons to wage war. Only Alicia could help her.
The savages turned, startled by her war-cry. Jerusa was on them before they could charge her. She thrust the skewer forward, catching one savage in the throat. With all her strength she brought the weapon up hoping that the beast’s head would tear away, but instead his body followed along. Jerusa had no experience in combat. All she knew were the few moments when she had been lost in blind rage. She misjudged her own strength and drove the skewer up, lodging its sharp point into the stone ceiling. The savage slid down the skewer, its throat catching on the claw-like prongs. It shrieked with rage, lashing out at her, but couldn’t pull itself free.
Jerusa wasted no time on the trapped savage, but instead turned her fury on the other one. They clashed together like a pair of tidal waves. The beast was fast, reaching up to snag her arms while lunging for her throat. But Jerusa was faster.
She smashed the savage’s arms to the side, snapping the bones like dry twigs and spinning him off balance. She stepped to the side, allowing the fiend to stumble by and caught him by the back of the neck.
The flood of hate coursing through her blood burned white-hot when her hands touched the sticky, rotting flesh of the savage. All thought vanished and for time unknown Jerusa was only aware of the spirits surrounding her.
The ghosts encompassed her, watching with silent rapture and bloodlust. Jerusa took in their faces, the looks of satisfied vengeance burning in their eyes and couldn’t understand why this should be so. What were they seeing? Why did they cheer so?
It wasn’t until Alicia appeared beside her, placing her hand on Jerusa’s shoulder, that the fog of fury burned away. Jerusa looked down on what lay at her feet and had to fight the urge to retch.
Jerusa’s hands were slick and shiny with thick, black blood. The gore dripped from her cheeks, painted the front of her clothes. The savage laid at her feet, a smashed, ruined pile of pulp where his skull should have been. The beast’s obliterated brains squished beneath her feet and it felt like mud at the bottom of a shallow stream.
The world seemed to fall off its axis and all Jerusa could think was how embarrassing it would be for Taos to see her faint. Embarrassment aside, she might have dropped to the ground regardless had she not noticed the savage’s body begin to swell.
Jerusa looked down in horror as the savage’s flesh turned the marbled black of an impending thunderstorm. Its body continued to bloat, bursting through the tattered remains of its clothing. Any moment the savage’s body would explode, releasing a cloud of deadly vapor that would be impossible for them to escape.
“Taos,” Jerusa screamed. She scanned the darkness and found him lying face down beneath the feet of the savage pinned to the ceiling. She ran to him, dodging the grasping hands of the savage and lifted him to his knees. His head bobbed listlessly from side to side and she was disturbed to see the wound in his scalp had not yet healed.
Jerusa shook him, but she couldn’t rouse him. She slapped him hard across the face, but he only glared at her with distant, unfocussed eyes. She glanced back at the savage whose skin was now beginning to split from the pressure.
It was over. She had failed the Stewards’ test. The truth of it rose up within her like bitter bile. She didn’t fear death. It was an old friend to her. But this would not be death. She didn’t want to be a savage. She didn’t want to scurry around these darkened tunnels feasting on whatever poor souls the Stewards cast down here. Most of all she hated that Taos would suffer with her.
She pulled him in close. Buried her face in his neck. His hot breath caressed her ear, sent chills down her back. Though it added to her list of things to feel guilty about, she was glad that she wasn’t alone. Against all odds, Taos had become a good friend. She knew that he had hoped for more. That was why he was down here, wasn’t it?
She thought of Thad, lost somewhere in these wretched tunnels. He was either dead or a savage. They never did get the chance to finish their first date. There had been that brief, blissful moment at the prom six months ago, before her thirst had taken hold. Sometimes she dreamt that she had never become a vampire and that he had kissed her on the dance floor.
And what of Silvanus? She whispered his name, but the hope of his appearing died on her lips. Why had he not returned for her? Why did her heart ache so much at the thought of him forgetting her?
She had never felt so sad, so alone. It was a pain far too intense to bear. She just wanted it to be over and done with.
Jerusa took Taos’s face in both hands. His pale blue eyes rolled from side to side as though he tracked the movement of something unseen to her. She brushed the loose strands of blond hair away from his face, then leaned in and pressed her lips to his.
Taos’s lips were warm, soft. She closed her eyes, held her breath, waiting for the moment when the savage would pop like an overfed tick and all that she knew and loved would be washed away.
Taos flinched in her embrace, startling her, but not enough for her to release him. She pressed further into the kiss. Taos thrashed in her arms, grabbing her by the shoulders and casting her aside. She hit the wall just as the room exploded with light.
Taos was up on his knees, a massive ball of fire churning between his hands. He thrust his arms forward and a spinning torrent of flame washed over the headless savage. Its swollen body burst just as the fire covered it, but the black miasma of venomous blood could not escape. Within seconds, all that remained of the savage was a cloud of glowing embers.
The fire continued to pour from Taos’s hands. Jerusa had never seen him produce such an intense conflagration. The heat cooked her face, dried her eyes, made her feel as though her hair would ignite at any moment.
The savage pinned to the ceiling screeched at the fire. Taos flipped over onto his back, slinging the fire around like a whip. Jerusa leapt out of the way just in time to avoid being incinerated. Taos struggled to direct the fire. His eyes were dull and glassy as he searched for the other savage.
The savage tried to scurry up the wall away from the flames. He pulled hard against the prongs of the skewer and finally managed to pry it from the mortar joint. He turned to flee, but Taos brought the fire down on him before he could get too far. The savage turned to cinders, leaving only the skewer glowing red-hot on the stone floor.
&n
bsp; Taos collapsed. Jerusa started for him, but stopped when a noise caught her attention. She stood in heavy silence, listening, hoping she had been mistaken with what she had heard. It came again and this time there was no doubt.
Thad’s voice echoed from some distant point. Though she couldn’t make out his words, she could feel the terror in his voice. Alicia appeared before her and from the look on her face, the news was grim.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Alicia shot down a side tunnel faster than Jerusa had ever seen the ghost move. She chased after Alicia, leaving Taos face down to fend for himself.
Jerusa pushed her speed to the limit. When she caught up with Alicia the ghost began a rapid cycle of vanishing and reappearing just at the edge of Jerusa’s vision. Even though they were traveling at a tremendous speed, it still seemed as though hours were passing, instead of seconds.
She moved through the darkness with the stealth and agility of a bat, leaping over pitfalls or ducking beneath pipework just moments before colliding with them. She had no idea where she was. She didn’t care. Alicia wouldn’t lead her astray.
Thad’s voice grew louder with every step and with it came the unmistakable growl of a savage.
Jerusa rounded a corner and as she did, Alicia vanished, reappearing at the end of a corridor the length of a football field. Jerusa detected movement near where Alicia stood. She rushed forward. Light filled the tunnel around her as the army of ghosts materialized behind her.
Her vampire senses became supercharged, fusing together to show her what the darkness sought to hide from her eyes. Thad was injured. The scent of his blood permeated everything. The injury was not life threatening, however, for his heart beat fast and strong. He had somehow managed to barricade himself behind a door of heavy steel bars, but the savage on the other side crashed vehemently against it, loosening the hinges with every blow.
As she was little more than halfway down the corridor the door exploded inward, missing Thad by inches. The savage—Jerusa could now see it was a woman—barreled in like a spider. Thad stumbled backward and only had enough time to throw up his hands before the savage was on him.
Jerusa caught the savage in the back with all her force, lifting her up off of Thad and forcing her through another steel-bar door, at the other end of the room.
She drove the savage as far forward as she could, but soon their feet tangled and the pair crashed hard to the ground. Jerusa’s arms were wrapped around the savage’s chest and the rough stone floor tried its best to flay the flesh from her forearms. The savage managed to get her hands up and with a solid shove sent the both of them hurtling into a wall.
It was like trying to wrestle a tornado. The beast thrashed from side to side, smashing Jerusa in the face with her elbows. She snagged Jerusa’s hair, tearing out great matted chunks, as she attempted to pull Jerusa’s face into her snapping jaws. Her legs worked like pistons crushing Jerusa against one wall, then another.
Jerusa squeezed harder. Tightened her grip. The savage’s ribs snapped beneath her thin, leathery skin, yet the pain didn’t quench her ferocity.
Jerusa’s knees buckled, her grip slipped and the next thing she knew, she was on her back with the savage on top of her. She had just enough presence of mind to bring her hands up. She caught the savage by the throat just in time to evade having her nose bitten off.
The savage tore at Jerusa’s face with twisted, broken fingers. Her venomous teeth continued to crack together reminding Jerusa of a distant memory of hearing trees snapping under the weight of heavy ice. She tilted her head up and away to protect her eyes from those wretched claws.
That’s when she caught sight of the hatchway set in the ceiling above them.
Jerusa’s strength spilled from her in great gushes. She couldn’t outlast the savage. She knew what she had to do.
“Thad,” she called, though it took her three times before she could draw in enough breath. “In the ceiling! Open that hatch!”
Thad ran to the wall, found a ladder made of steel rungs set in the stone and began to climb. About half way up, he realized what it was she was asking him to do.
“No,” he yelled back to her. “The sun is still up. I can’t open it. You’ll die.”
“I’m dead already.” Each word felt like a porcupine passing through her windpipe. “Open it. Do it now. I’ll hold her.”
Thad stood frozen on the ladder, looking down in horror. He couldn’t do it. She could see by the look in his eyes that he would rather die than be responsible for her death.
He’s so stupid, Jerusa thought. Why won’t he just save himself?
The strength in her arms was spent. Jerusa was now nose to nose with the savage. It occurred to her that is was how she had ended up with Kole. Except this time Silvanus wasn’t going to appear and save her. She closed her eyes, hoping the beast finished the job. She’d rather be dead than become one of them.
Jerusa felt Alicia’s hands slide over her shoulders. A thought, floating like a reflection on a murky lake, told her that she had already died. It was over and Alicia had come to guide her to the other side. But then that familiar molten fire filled her bones, rushed outward into every nerve-ending, out through her fingertips and into the savage.
Jerusa screamed, the savage shrieked and for just a moment it seemed that even Alicia cried out in pain. The three women, all undead in one way or another, writhed upon the ground, bound in spectral chains of agony. Alicia’s electric assault had never been so intense before. Her eyeballs were melting. Her teeth exploding like kernels of popcorn. She would have begged for death had she been able to form words.
The savage tried to escape from this hellish torment, but Jerusa’s hands were clamped down and she couldn’t let go. Jerusa climbed to her feet, or maybe Alicia had lifted her up. She couldn’t say.
The ghost’s hands remained on Jerusa’s left shoulder, but she had moved around beside her. All around them the other ghosts swirled in a maelstrom of phantom lights, flashing in and out in a nauseating strobe effect. Jerusa’s head swam and her legs trembled as though she bore some vast weight. The pain had gone on too long. She could bear no more.
Alicia pushed her forehead against Jerusa’s and the electricity jolted her so hard her heart stopped. The savage lurched from side to side, nearly dragging Jerusa off her feet. Jerusa tried to pull away from Alicia, but couldn’t break free.
Alicia grabbed Jerusa under the chin, forcing her to look at her. There was something in her eyes, something hidden behind her own silent agony. Alicia glanced to the left then up to the hatch in the ceiling.
Jerusa thought she understood.
Alicia mouthed the word “now” then pushed away from Jerusa. At the same moment Jerusa shoved the savage with what little strength she had left. Though the laws of nature would have had them simply fall away from each other, they were not natural beings and instead flew apart as though a great concussive blast erupted between them.
Jerusa landed on her back, once again incased in the miry blackness of the pit. She managed to scream out two words before the power of speech left her: “Thad! Open!”
A square opened in the ceiling, giving Jerusa her first glimpse of sunlight since becoming a perpetual creature. Its beauty was matched only by the ferocious wave of heat that rushed over her. It was a thousand times worse than when Thad had blasted her with the UV lamp. Bathing in sulfuric acid would be a spa treatment in comparison.
Jerusa scuttled backward faster than she thought possible and kept moving until she was buried in the inky darkness. The pain eased, but didn’t go away. When the hatch had opened, she had been off to the side, out of direct sunlight. The savage, however, had fallen right into the intense golden beam.
Jerusa chanced a look around the corner. The bright light seared her brain, but she had to see.
The sun cast a perfect square column of light upon the floor. The savage lay upon her back inside the square, her arms and legs flailing as though she might swim through
the golden light to safety. But there was no escape.
The savage’s skin liquefied and pooled beneath her, exposing the muscles and sinew beneath. Her eyes ruptured. Her tongue slithered out of her mouth like a listless snake. Shufah had once described the sun’s effects on a vampire as cellular deconstruction. Decomposing while still alive would have been a better description.
That was all of it Jerusa could stand to watch. She pulled back into the darkest corner she could find and waited for the pitiful creature’s wails to cease.
It took a long time.
Sometime before the savage completed her journey back to dust Jerusa blacked out. A heavy blanket of darkness, deeper than even the murk of the tunnels, fell over her. Shreds of dreams fluttered in her mind. One moment she was confined inside a rock. The next, all her friends were scattered by the Stewards. Even Alicia had somehow been taken from her. But through all of the visions she heard Silvanus whispering her name.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Jerusa awoke, startled. The sun was still out, but the hatch in the ceiling was closed tight and the tunnels had returned to full darkness. Though she could not see, her other senses told her that she was not alone.
Jerusa sprang from the ground in a moment of predatory instinct and caught the intruder square in the chest. He fell backward with a grunt and she followed him to the ground. The thirst raged inside her, pressed further by the scent of his mortal blood.
“Jerusa, it’s me,” he said in a panicked voice. “It’s Thad. Don’t you recognize me?”
She did recognize him. She just didn’t care. She needed to feed. Nothing else mattered. Not her feelings for him. Not the pain and anguish she would experience after killing him. There was no other choice.
Jerusa thrust her fangs at Thad’s throat.
The room filled with light. Alicia clapped her hands on Jerusa’s head and another jolt of lightning coursed through her. It was enough to rock Jerusa back, but the pain had lost much of its potency. Thad scurried backward. Jerusa rushed for him, but Alicia cast herself between them, wrapping Jerusa up in a tight embrace.
Perpetual Creatures, Volumes 1-3: A Vampire and Ghost Thriller Series Page 55