Neckbeard Vampire: Nightbeard Rising

by David Morgan

  Chapter 13

  “Wait, what are you talking about, Cruxx?” Fantasia panicked.

  “He’s got to go—he’s become a liability.” And Cruxx tried to pull Dex to his feet.

  Dex threw a right-handed uppercut and caught Cruxx in the jaw, knocking him back a step. Dex stood up, he was expecting a bit more power in his punch. “Strange,” he said to himself.

  “What is?” The doctor asked. “What’s strange, Dex?”

  Dex looked down at his hands, flexing his fists in and out, as though it might help him regain his strength. “Cruxx is still standing.” Dex said with disappointment. “I normally would have been able to knock him out without breaking a sweat.”

  “Then it’s happening,” the doctor added.

  Cruxx moved back into position, ready to fight. “What are you talking about?” Cruxx demanded.

  Fantasia answered, “The mark of the Brony—it’s having adverse effects on him.” She said, then as though an afterthought, “Why do you want him out of here?”

  “The furries. They attacked the shop.” Jaxxon5 said. “We assume they’re after him.” And he pointed to Dex.

  Fantasia whispered in shock, “How do you know it was them?”

  Cruxx walked to the freezer, reaching in and removing a package of frozen vegetables and placing it on his jaw.

  “Dex needs to go or we’re all in danger.” Cruxx held the vegetables tight against his jaw where Dex’s fist had made contact.

  “Okay, okay,” Fantasia paced back and forth across the room, thinking out loud. “Let’s talk this through”

  “No—the shop was attacked last night.”

  “And you think it was furries?” Dex asked. “Why?”

  “They left their mark.” Jaxxon5 spat, disgusted.

  “Did you report it to the police?” Dex asked, “I don’t see why furries are our problem.”

  “’Not our problem’?” Jaxxon5 asked, “You yourself have experienced—and we’ve all seen what the furries are capable of. Sick monsters, they are. You seriously think the police are going to believe that a bunch of perverts dressed in full-length animal costumes came in and destroyed a comic book shop?”

  “No—they won’t.” A voice came from the hallway.

  “Mickey--,” Cruxx said, “The shop was attacked—the door was blown to bits, a few windows broken--and maybe some theft.”

  “Was anything missing?” Mickey asked.

  “Yes, funny thing, they didn’t take anything,” Jaxxon said, “except the large Japanese language shipments we were expecting.”

  Dex sat down, considering the implications of what this might mean.

  “How do you know it was furries?” Fantasia asked.

  “We found a few tufts of bright colored fur around the place, amongst the broken glass.” Cruxx sighed deeply, “…and they left their mark.”

  “What mark is that?” Dex said.

  “The same one that’s on your ass.”

  “Rainbow Dash.” Fantasia said softly.

  “And it gets worse…” Cruxx said.

  Jaxxon5 continued, “The Rainbow Dash—it was a figurine, one of the ones we sell at the store—for the little kids, you know,” his face turned to an expression of regret, “…it was in a jar full of…” He continued. “They left it on the furnace…it boiled…I can’t…it was…”

  “It was disgusting,” Cruxx said. “But that’s what they left.”

  The doctor sat up, “Do you still have it?”

  “Yes,” Jaxxon5 said. “It’s still at the shop.”

  “Eww!” Fantasia grimaced. “Why?”

  “Because we didn’t want to touch it—and the cops didn’t think a plastic pony toy boiled in a jar of semen was worth calling in a biohazard team for.” Jaxxon5 said.

  “Basically, they didn’t want to touch it either.” Cruxx said.

  “We must get it.” The doctor said. “It’s extremely urgent that I access that sample.”

  “Eww! What for, Doc?” Fantasia said again—still grossed out.

  “There’s a possibility…look we just need it as soon as possible. If there’s even a chance it’s still fresh, then…maybe…” The doctor muttered some medical jargon to himself, pulling out a notepad and scribbling down his thoughts in illegible handwriting—occasionally looking up at Dex or staring at the red pill he held between his fingers.

  Mickey began to speak again, “But Dex has got to go. If the furries found the shop, then that will lead them to the guild. It’s only a matter of time that they’ll find Dex and…finish the job. The furries do not forgive and they do not forget.”

  “Okay.” Fantasia agreed. “But Dex is ill. We can’t let him go like this.”

  “Fantasia is right,” Jaxxon5 agreed, “He’s weak—and it won’t be long until he’s unable to fight at all. If the furries find him in this weakened state—he’ll be as good as dead.”

  Cruxx spoke, “This is my place. I say one more night. Then tomorrow: we find him a new safe house. Some place that can’t be traced back to the guild.”

  “Agreed.” The others confirmed.

  “For tonight,” Mickey said, “Cruxx and I are going to head to the store and see what we can do about the repairs—I know a couple of guys who can replace the glass overnight.”

  “In the meantime,” he continued, “You guys need to create a watch and keep an eye on the street out front. We do not need furries creeping up on us tonight…or ever.”

  Cruxx fumed as he thought about the furries, calling them every profanity he could think of—interspersed with terms such as ‘pervert’ and ‘deviant.’

  Dex headed into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. He stripped down entirely and began to examine himself for signs of further transformation. It’d been nearly forty-eight hours since his last dosage, and he wasn’t sure how long he would last.

  He leaned in close to examine his face. “No.” He cursed, reaching up to his neck and plucking a single hair from beneath his jaw. “It’s happening.” With the Red Pill, he had no need to worry about the neckbeard—but now, it was coming in…the changes would be happening quicker within a few days. “A few weeks, tops.” He said to himself as he calculated the rate of change.

  He looked carefully at the hair between his fingers, examining it deeply, wondering if the doctor might be able to do something useful with it. He turned his head to call for the doc, but his voice fell silent as he caught his profile in the mirror. To the untrained eye, it would have gone unnoticed, but Dexx’s sensitivity was keen. Just below his chin, gently overflowing from beneath a well-trimmed beard were the nascent beginnings of a second chin. He cringed, smashed the mirror in fury, and stormed out of the bathroom.