A Time To Survive (Verge of Extinction): A Magical & Monstrous / Supernatural Urban Fantasy.

by J. Axbridge

  “Caelyn, do you think we’ll make it out of this building ok?” Victoria asked as we rolled endlessly trying to get comfortable on our made up beds of clothes on the floor.

  “If that doctor is telling us the truth, then I think we’ll be OK,” I replied, unsteadiness ringing in my voice.

  Ethan suddenly popped up, “Well I have a feeling we’ll be OK, but only if you two loud mouths shut up for the next six hours. So let’s not talk, please. I’m a little scared of the legion of vampires living right above us.” Ethan slid back down to the floor and covered his head.

  *****

  After a restless, sleepless six hours the time finally came for us to leave the safety of the convenience store and go meet Dr. Xavier for our secret departure.

  “Finally,” Ethan huffed, as the sky began to slowly brighten on the horizon.

  The three of us filled our travel bags with as much goodies and supplies as we could carry which mainly consisted of flashlights, batteries, drinks, powdered health mix, candy and canned foods. Then we made our way as quietly as possible to the stairwell lugging our heavy bags with us.

  Opening the stairwell door, we jumped back in startle spotting Doctor Xavier sitting in the shadows on the steps. “Gg . . . gg . . . Good, you’ve made it, we must hurry now,” The doctor said impatiently, “W . . . we don’t have much time,” Swiftly he turned making his way down the musty steps as the three of us raced to catch up with him, our bags bouncing off the railings and walls clumsily.

  “We don’t have much time?” Repeated Ethan as we clambered behind the doctor. “But its daylight for the next six hours, the vamps won’t be up — will they?” He asked, his face turning pale.

  “Most vampires are sleeping, that’s true and they don’t fare well in the light, but this nest’s leader, ‘Law’ is a special, different type of vampire, he can move through daylight almost as well as humans, he’s very old and has adapted to light over time. And somehow he’s managing to train others to go out in the daylight with him.”

  The thought of vampires coming out in the daylight frightened three of us so much that we moved in silence down the remainder of the stairs to the flooded office floor level.

  “We’re here,” Doctor Xavier stood on the last step before the water line. “We’ll need to wade through the water to that office on the corner. There we’ll f… find the boat to take us away from this h . . . hell.”

  Carefully, one by one we stepped down into the cold water, sinking until it rose over our waists then we waded slowly towards the wooden boat waiting for us. Causing ripples in the water as we moved, an array of floating office supplies began to clink and clank off the walls and I couldn’t help but cringe with every noise. I tried to will the noise to stop but it didn’t, it just felt like it was getting louder so I silently prayed we were the only ones who could hear the clatter.

  Reaching the boat, Doctor Xavier helped Victoria and Ethan climb in, and then me, “Aren’t you coming with us Doctor?” I asked, as Doctor Xavier lifted me into the small row boat then stood back in thought.

  “Of course I am. I’ve had enough of this p.., p.., place. I think it’s time to le . . . leave once and for all, life or death I’m le . . . leaving here. This may be my last and on...only chance at escape.” He paused as if something was bothering him, water dripping sullenly from his sleeves. Suddenly it looked as if he wasn’t coming after all.

  “Dammit, I can’t do it,” I heard him mutter under his breath.

  “Can’t do what, we’ll help you up?” I reached out my hand to him.

  “Thank you,” the doctor replied with a conflicted grin as Victoria and I helped pull him into the boat.

  “We must be as silent as possible. It does have a mmm…, motor as you can see but gas is scarce, besides it makes too much noise so we’ll row and only use the mo... motor in case of an emergency.”

  “Seems that’s always the case,” Ethan exhaled.

  Slowly we pushed the small wooden boat around old office shelves and out of the large building windows into the dim daylight of Lake Michigan. As soon as we were clear the doctor began rowing towards land; the only sounds I heard were the slapping of oars on the water and our heartbeats as we left the vampire nest. Looking back one last time in thought about all the food and supplies we couldn’t carry, I swore I saw a rather large figure peering out from the top floor. Blinking to make sure I wasn’t seeing things, the shadow was gone. Maybe I was just seeing things but I had a bad feeling that we were in even more trouble as we seemingly escaped too easily.

  Chapter 36 - The Doctor’s Help

  Adelaide

  “We need to find a way to get out there soon, they may be injured or need our help.” Arthur frustratingly stood, surveying debris in the distance for anything we could use to build a raft.

  “No . . . , no we don’t,” Mayumi held her binoculars close to her eyes, looking into the distance with bated breath at something that caught her attention.

  “What do you mean, NO—WE—DON’T” Arthur enunciated each word with sternness. “Of course we do otherwise who’ll help the twins and Ethan?”

  “Well I am not sure who, but look.” Mayumi ignored Arthur’s outburst pointing into the distance . . . , “It seems someone is helping them row back to land right now. I can see four bodies heading to shore in a small row boat; they’re south of our current position so we will need to move promptly in order to meet them as they make it on land.”

  Arthur, Jax and I jerked our heads around staring out into the nothingness of the dark great lake. Squinting hard, we finally made out an image of a small boat heading towards shore just as Mayumi had said. Without her binoculars we may have never spotted them.

  “Pack up,” Jax ordered, “Grab your gear and have weapons out ready to use.” He carefully took the safeties off both his guns before holstering them back to his sides, “This may be a trick, but we need to find out what the hell is going on. To be safe I’ll change forms, I’m stealthier and stronger as a werewolf anyway and have better sense of smell in the surroundings. Just follow behind at a distance and I’ll howl if there’s trouble.” Jax crouched to leap off the train car then paused, turning, “Once I figure out their exact landing area I’ll back off into cover and one of you three can go meet them. I’ll stay hidden in case it’s a trap and we’ll have a surprise of our own.” Without another word Jax leaped from the train car transforming into a werewolf in high-speed while in midair before landing on all fours and setting off down the shoreline in a fast trot.

  “Holy shit, that was cool.” Arthur chuckled in awe. “Let’s go, let’s follow that dog.”

  “He’s NOT a dog Arthur, he’s a werewolf you dork, and if you haven’t noticed, Jax does have a beautiful coat this time of year.” I grinned, I guess he was growing on me in his werewolf form more than I’d realized. I think I was actually attracted to him in that form too – EEW!

  “OMG Addie-san that is waaay too much information,” Mayumi looked amused. “What have you two been doing since we all split up? Do I even want to know? Any wolf pups in the picture?” Mayumi winked and I felt my face heat up to a beet red.

  “Ha. Ha. Very funny Yu . . . Don’t tell me you and my brother aren’t . . . , well you know . . . , hooking up.” I nudged her in the side; it was my turn to smirk, glancing from Mayumi to Arthur then back to Mayumi before climbing to the ground not giving her a chance for a snarky reply.

  Mayumi though was right on my tail and whispered loudly hurrying after me. “ADDIE, I’VE NEVER HOOKED UP WITH ANYONE. YOU KNOW THAT! WHAT YOUR BROTHER AND I HAVE IS NOTHING REALLY.” She finally caught up to me panting, and began whispering softer. “Maybe it could be something but he is your brother and he’s younger than me. And I am a Huntra, what kind of girlfriend would that make?”

  “Oh boy Yu, aren’t you in deep?” We walked side by side staying a safe distance back from Jax engaged in a little best friend girl talk that we’d sorely missed for so long.

  “Enoug
h of the private stuff, and that means the both of you, let’s just find our missing family members alright,” Arthur was now trailing only feet behind us. “We’re not in high school anymore.” He grumbled causing Mayumi and me to laugh heartily before continuing our whispered talk despite feeling his eyes glaring into our backs.

  Only minutes passed before we met up with Jax in hiding further south down the lake shore. We all watched curiously as a row boat gradually approached the debris stricken land. After the boat ran safely ashore and Victoria, Caelyn and Ethan were standing on dry land, I showed myself, walking guardedly nearer my siblings spying the area in all directions. Jax, Mayumi and Arthur stayed back in coverage, hiding behind what looked to be a large dirty hospital bed twisted on its side with all the remotes and wires still attached, dangling to the ground. It had probably seen better days, but was now a permanent fixture mixed in with the confused landscape of the earth.

  Someone I’d never seen before, obviously an adult by the look of his size, yanked the boat further on land scrapping it over a former piece of city blacktop road as my three young siblings ran towards me, tears of joy forming in the corners of their eyes.

  “Addie—Addie, we thought we’d lost you,” the twins yelled in unison, crashing into me and hugging my body tightly.

  “I’d never leave you three alone,” I wrapped my arms around them lovingly, all the while keeping an eye on the strange man they’d came ashore with.

  “What took you so long?” Ethan complained hugging all of us the best he could. “When we saw the flashes from the signaling mirror we knew you were looking for us,” his voice now raised excitedly. “Thank you for finding us Addie! I knew those mirrors would come in handy someday.” A sense of pride and accomplishment flowed from his young voice.

  “That’s why we love you so much little bro.,” I smiled big. “If it wasn’t for you packing the signaling mirrors who knows what would have happened to all of us . . . Maybe we would have never seen each other again. That was really smart thinking Ethan.”

  The twins suddenly looked happier than I’d seen them in weeks, taking a step back with large grins, “Look Addie, NAIL POLISH,” They yelled giddily together. I don’t know how they did it, but those two always seemed to be on the same page, it was kind of scary how they thought so much alike. Still smiling largely, they opened a back pack full of a variety of supplies and food.

  “Where did you find all that? Is there more?” I said admiring all the supplies along with their colorful pink nails.

  “There is, a lot more, it’s out in the mall.” Victoria pointed, “But . . . wait,” She stopped with concern flashing in her emerald eyes, “Where is everyone? Don’t tell me they’re gone. Don’t tell me they’re . . . I’m not saying the ‘D’ word Addie,” Her eyes widened waiting for my answer.

  “Gone? You mean, dead?” I feigned confusion, “I’m not sure, haven’t seen them in a while. It’s just me.” I answered, continuing to stare at the stranger near the boat. “Who is that guy by the way?” I nodded my head.

  “Oh, that’s Docky,” Caelyn said rather cheerfully.

  “Docky?”

  “That’s not my r…re…real name, I’m Doctor Xavier. My nickname is Docky,” the stranger approached, hand extended to shake mine.

  “And exactly who are you?” I folded my arms, refusing to shake. I was in no mood for tricks.

  “It’s a long s…s…story and definitely one I m…must explain, because all of you and I do not have m…m…much time if you want to survive.”

  “Go on,” I motioned for him to continue and the doctor obliged, frantically explaining about some guy named ‘Law’ and vampires and how he’d lived with them since the showers. He then let us in on his secret about leading the vampire leader directly to us and that the evil being would be here the next darkness. He sympathetically disclosed how he had no choice but to agree with the vamp or he was a dead man. Unfortunately I knew he was telling the truth, as clearly I could see the regret and sadness in his eyes, conveying to us what he’d done.

  “Listen, I’m really s…sorry kids. This isn’t what I wa…wa…wanted to happen, but it was the only way for me to get out of that pr…prison alive. I’ll do whatever I can to help you before I go on my way.”

  “Wait, you’re leaving us here, alone, and the vampires are coming? What kind of man are you?” I scolded, my face hot with anger.

  “You think you had it bad run…ru…running from the vampires? Well I had it w…worse living with them as their hu…human slave. Now, I’m offering h…help, would you like it or not?”

  “How can we trust you? Maybe this is a trap and you’re just trying to keep us here?” I eyed him suspiciously.

  “He saved us Addie, I think he’s alright,” said Victoria, looking over to Caelyn who shook her head in agreement.

  “Do you trust him little bro?” I asked Ethan for confirmation. For some reason he seemed to be a pretty good judge of things lately and I felt his opinion was warranted.

  “Yeah . . . I think he’s OK Addie.”

  I stared at Doctor Xavier sizing him up before committing to his offered help. “OK we’ll accept your help, but first tell us why this vamp wants us? It makes no sense? Who the hell are we to him?”

  The doctor curiously scanned the area behind me. “All I know is he wants you f…f…five children alive and together but it appears that y…you’re missing someone? He did mention s…something about S…SymJin and ma…ma…markings on your fingers or hands and I have no idea what that’s about b…b…but it was geared towards these three and their t…two siblings which would be you and your brother I believe. . .” I continued to stare at the doctor trying to wrap my brain about this new crazy information. “La…lastly, he was interested in some book you may have acquired? Not too sure about that either. I was in the dark m…most of the time but he has a k…keen interest in y…your fa…family. Would you mind letting me in on why he’s interested in you f…five?” The Doctor had a puzzled look on his face obviously trying to piece together all he’d said but all I could do was give him the same confused expression back.

  “We have no idea what that vampire wants? Honestly, we’re just some kids trying to survive the craziness and find our parents’, that’s all. But if you do really want to help, tell us what can we do to protect ourselves from the vampires? You must know more about them than anyone else since you’ve lived with those blood thirsty things.”

  “I do know one thing they’re af…af…afraid of . . . , the ‘Red Eyes’ as your brother Ethan here calls them. W…When the Red Eyes are bit, they don’t ch…change, that is part of what the vamps had me working on recently h…h… how to change Red Eyes into va…vampires. We have yet to succeed though. So my advice to you is, when the vamps come looking for your family next darkness, if you can gather up s…s…some R…Red Eyes, that would keep the vampires b…busy and you’d have a fighting chance at escape. Otherwise . . . , if you just t…t…try and run he will find you, torture you and probably ki…kill you after he gets the information he is searching for.”

  “DID YOU GET ALL OF THAT JAX?” I hollered over my shoulder.

  “Sure did,” he said as he, Mayumi and Arthur strolled out from behind the hospital bed and large pile of earth and debris they’d been hiding behind twenty feet away.

  “YOU’RE ALL ALIVE!” The twins again yelled in unison as Ethan’s face lit up with relief.

  Jax stepped up to the doctor unconcerned and shook his hand firmly, “OK doc, we need a battle plan and we need it now. We only have four hours of daylight left and if what you’re telling us about the Red Eyes is true, it’s like that old proverb, ‘The Enemy of our Enemy, is our Friend.’ So let’s go make nicey-nice with the Red Eyes or at the least get them to chase us down here in order to confuse and beat back the vamps so we can escape this hellhole. . . Chicago isn’t as sweet as it used to be, that’s for damn sure!”

  The doctor described in more detail about how the Red Eyes are imperv
ious to a vampire’s bite and how, as far as he knew, they were the vampire’s worst enemy if not their only enemy that could stay their ground in a fight. When he finished explaining how much of a threat the Red Eyes actually were to vampires, we went to work without hesitation drawing up plans and searching for a good place to defend ourselves and fight back an attack from the vampires if necessary, we also mapped out emergency getaway routes we could take in a hurry.

  In the process of our planning and preparing for a fight, Arthur questioned the Doctor on other possible ways to kill vampires and Red Eyes, while Ethan pelted him with questions about medicine, surviving in the outdoors, herbs, plants and healing wounds of all types. It seemed our group had silently decided to suck as much information out of the good doctor as possible incase we lost such a great resource in the looming night ahead.

  Chapter 37 - The SymJin

  Jax

  Nearing midnight, the first darkness of the new day fast approached. Adelaide, Arthur, Ethan, Caelyn, Victoria, Dr. Xavier, Mayumi and me had been busy preparing the best we could with the little daylight we had left before the vamps impending arrival. Mostly we scoured the area separated into three teams searching for the elusive Red Eyes since it was believed they were our best hope for a victory or at least the best hope for confusion, giving us a better chance of escape in the fighting.

  Arthur took the twins, Mayumi teamed with Ethan, while Adelaide and I paired up with the doctor to keep a close eye on him. As stealthily and carefully as possible, each team searched out groups of Red Eyes hiding throughout the maze. Our plan was simple enough; coax them into a fight with the vampires when the time came, but we had to be extremely careful not to get caught in the fray.

  Thankfully lady luck was on our side and it didn’t take long at all to locate groups of Red Eyes. Then as planned when a group of the once human creatures were discovered, the team that found them would climb up the nearest hill to be as close to them as possible without being noticed. Once on top the team would blink their flashlights four times to let the other teams know they were in position and waiting for the signal to engage.