Chapter THIRTY SEVEN
Mike
Through the door, I saw Jenny lying on the floor unconscious. Even surrounded in a pool of blood with her hair messed up and scrapes all over her face, she was still the most beautiful creature that I had ever met. I had seen her through her best and worst times and yet I couldn’t remember any time that she wasn’t absolutely gorgeous.
Renaud was slowly trying to crawl into the room. The skin and flesh on his arms had been burned away, leaving only the black bones of his hands. Each time he tried to pull himself forward, they made a clicking sound as they hit the floor. I wasn’t even sure that he was aware that his arms were burned to a crisp from the flames that attacked him as he and Harrow had fought to open the door. Looking back at the wall Harrow had crashed through, all I could see was his legs dangling through the opening in the wall.
Flames burst across opening in the doorway as Renaud’s bone hands reached in. He screamed a loud savage cry as the flames touched his body. He was relentless in his struggle to enter the room. It was the only real constant about him. Self-sacrifice for those he loved and even if he wouldn’t admit it, he still loved Jenny. She had destroyed him and he still came to her rescue every time she needed a hero. That wasn’t merely duty. It was the emotional attachment that he still held in his heart for her being stronger than common sense. His face smashed into the floor and a sizzling sound started that reminded me of bacon in a frying pan. His head caught fire and a bright blue flame engulfed his head until I could barely recognize who he was. I dragged him out of the doorway and threw my jacket over his face, trying to smother the fire. I just hoped that he couldrebuild his body like his brother, but I wasn’t exactly sure what he was. Demon, wizard, or maybe even some kind of ghost. Either way, he was going to be an ugly son of a bitch if he couldn’t.
I stepped through the doorway with a prayer in my heart, expecting the worst to happen. I was relieved when I didn’t burst into flames like Renaud and Harrow did. Of course, I was merely a man with all the flaws and vulnerabilities that came along with it. Luckily, the King seemed to be dead. I never thought that I would say a human being dying was a good thing, but I felt no pity for him. Whatever awaited him in the next life, he had earned it. Any horrors and nightmares that he would face I was sure he earned in spades.
I walked over to Jenny, who was laying there motionless. If it wasn’t for the fact that her chest slightly rose and fell I would have thought that she was dead. I don’t know why I inspected her neck for bite marks, but I did. Luckily there wasn’t anything more than a bruise. Her skin felt softer than I thought it would. It was strange how you could know someone intimately like family and yet never touch them in such a way. She was an absolutely gorgeous figure and seeing her in such a vulnerable way made her seem even more beautiful, like a sleeping fairytale princess instead of a mortal woman.
Carefully,I slid my arms under her body and picked her up. I always thought that in a case like this I would sweep her up like she was paper-light, but I was wrong. I couldn’t imagine such a small girl weighing so much, or maybe it was just me feeling old. It had become apparent to me that I was too old to live such an adventurous life. I struggled to get to my feet, watching her head and arms dangling as I staggered around. Looking to the opening, I thought that freedom and safety were only eight feet away. Those lousy eight feet seemed like such a vast distance.
Something smelled bad. It was like burning pork. An odor that reeks and sticks to you like sweat on a hot day. I hated the smell of burning flesh. Today it seemed like all I did was run from the smell of burning flesh. Well, that and the smell of fresh blood. It seems like all night I was haunted by those two smells. Burning skin and fat and spilled blood. Renaud and Harrow didn’t seem to mind or notice it, but I certainly did. I wasn’t meant for this. I just needed to get out of here and leave this kind of life behind. To go back to being boring Father Mike with his boring uneventful life.
“Mike, run!” A voice hollered from outside the doorway. “He’s behind you!”
I turned and saw him standing there, breathing heavy as his whole body shook. He looked like a giant three-year-old in the middle of a temper tantrum. Flames were dancing along his shoulders and engulfed his whole head.
Pointing at me he snarled, “You disappoint me, Father Mike. I am very disappointed in you and you know what I do to those that disappoint me. You saw what I did to Holland and you will feel a lot worse before I’m through with you.” Slowly, he moved towards me. Each step seemed to be an event in itself. “I would have given her to you as a gift, Father Mike. A sign of friendship. Then you slapped me right in the face.”
“I didn’t mean to insult you. I just couldn’t go through with it. The way you let your men treat her like she was a slave owned and paid for… she isn’t just a pet that can be traded like some kind of object or possession.” I said as I realized that in his eyes Jenny was a gift. That the day I asked for her as the price for my assistance and the betrayal of my friends I had indeed sold my loyalty and friendship in his eyes.
“I bought her from Wilson as surely as she sold that sweet ass to him in the first place. Only I paid more for it. First, it was cold hard cash and now it’s my soul.” The flames were growing larger and the room felt hotter. He smiled and I saw long piercing fangs descend. Opening his arms, he cried out, “You and that bitch cost me my soul! My soul, Father Mike!”
He wasn’t to blame for his actions given the state he was in. It was easier to act like the victim then the monster. It seemed to me that every monster I had ever met or heard of, from street thugs to a serial killer always found a way to make themselves look like a victim scarred by humanity. Most even found a way to justify what they had done. No matter what the monster had done against the world around them, they always found a way justify it or blame someone else.
“So it’s my fault that you are here in this position right now?”
“Don’t confuse the situation, Father Mike. You are a total disappointment. Just because you get the girl without fulfilling your side of the bargain doesn’t make it right. No, it’s not right at all!” He stopped and pointed, “Nothing inlife ever comes free. I didn’t get a single thing given to me. I had to fight tooth and nail to make my way to the top and now it’s gone.”
I’d slowly been making my way to the door, letting him get out every bit of frustration that he had in him. Those flames were growing larger and larger, but for some reason he didn’t seem to feel it like Renaud did. I can only assume that the reason he hadn’t burned away was because the transformation wasn’t complete yet. As the seconds passed I could see it taking hold of him. Like a disease, it was slowly invading what little goodness was left inside him and if I didn’t make my escape now I didn’t think that I ever would.
Renaud was still pleading for me to run away. He looked weak, but the muscle on his arms had started to grow back. It wasn't pretty, but I was happy to see it happen. It didn't look like he'd be able to do much to help us or at least not in time, but it made me feel safer.
He looked up and screamed, "He’s turning Mike! Run."
I burst out of the doorway with Jenny still in my arms. I was trying to move away as fast as I could, but I wasn't eighteen anymore. Hell, even when I was eighteen I wouldn't have been able to out run a mad vampire without Jenny's added weight, let alone now with her in my arms. I was just about out the door when I felt something hit me like a battering ram. I went flying into the wall, knocking Jenny into the wall also with a hollow thud. I fell headfirst into the floor, feeling the bite of a sharp piece of wood being driven through my arm. I cried out as the pain spread like a spider web. I closed my eyes, trying to think of happier thoughts from a calmer time, but it didn't help. Whoever planted the idea in my mind was full of shit. Calmer thoughts didn't help control anything. All it did was waste valuable time.
I looked over and saw Jenny laying there beside me still unconscious, blood flowing from the cut in the
side of her head. If she survived today that cut across her beautiful face would drive her crazy. She valued her beauty more than money and she put money above everything else, including love and happiness.
A hand clamped onto my shoulder magnifying the pain inside me tenfold. I was screaming out when the King licked his lips and snarled.
"Oh the sweet smell of pure blood. Your soul isn't polluted like your dear Mrs. Bailey. There is a stench about her blood. It's been polluted with time."
This wasn't going to end well for me, that was clear. It seemed to me that my blood smelled like a fine wine and Jenny's was like a cheap wine cooler. If Harrow was any indication, he wouldn't just kill me, but Jenny next and so many others. He added more pressure and the pain exploded. I thought that I heard the bones begin to shatter.
Crying, I whined, "What do you want? Do you want me to beg for my life?"
I know we all say that in such situations men aren't supposed to beg for their lives, but as the pain increased I would have begged for anything. It's not so easy to be strong when a vice-like grip is shattering every bone in your shoulder.
"Do you want me to plead for my life or beg you to kill me?"
"No, I don't want you to beg, Father Mike. If I kill you, it means you aren't being punished for disappointing me. You and your belief system would turn your death into a journey to heaven. If I turn you into a monster like me I would be making an enemy I don't want. Who knows, you might end up being more dangerous than I am, like your friends." He dropped me onto the floor sending a whole new variety of pain though my body. I just laid there trying to catch my breath as my whole body trembled. He reached down and snatched up Jenny like a rag doll. "No Father Mike, I am going to take the love of your life away from you. It will be so heartbreaking."
"What is going to be so heartbreaking for me?" The idea of Jenny being murdered to punish me was terrifying. It seemed like such a cruel thing to be forced to witness, even though I was sure he had done much worse to better men.
"No, I am not going to kill her. You are." He reached out and ripped the wood from my arm, laughing as I screamed in agony. Tossing it into the safe room he said, "You will have a choice, of course. Life is full of choices. Kill or be killed,"
"Don't do it," I begged as he slowly moved her hair from her neck.
"Doesn't she smell so sexy? With pampered skin that hasn’t been soiled by disease?" Lifting her hands and examining them he added, "I bet Mrs. Bailey here hasn't ever done a real day’s work." Letting her hand drop, he turned and said, "I bet these hands don’t even have calluses on them. It seems fitting that a woman who has lived such a pampered life should have an eternity to serve me." Pointing towards the empty room he continued, "I will change her and your choice will be to either kill her and set her free, or let her kill you and serve me. Isn't that a disappointment, Father Mike?"
The King had a cruelty about him that dwarfed even Harrow’s, and now Jenny was going to pay a steep price for our failure.
“I won’t kill her,” I said.
“Then she will kill you and I will come back and grab her in a few days. Imagine how much fun I can have with her over the next two or three centuries. I will have to invent a whole series of games to play with her.” Smiling, he taunted, “I will have to bring in consultants to help me create new ways to hurt your darling Jenny.”
He turned towards Jenny again and seemed to have forgotten about me completely. With my one good arm, now trembling so bad I didn't think I had any strength in it, I slowly reached out and searched for something to attack him with. He was preparing to dig those fangs into her neck when I found it. One of the UV flash lights that I had brought with me. I hit the switch and nothing happened. Looking at the end I soon realized that when he threw me against the wall he must have broken it. I kept searching the floor,looking for something to use as a weapon. Lots of small kindling-sized pieces of wood, but they weren't good enough to use to kill him. The movies and books always showed a stake through the heart, but I didn't think on my best day that it would have been possible. I didn't think I had nearly enough strength for that.
I finally found a foot-long piece of wood that had broken away when Harrow burst through the wall. I wasn't even sure that it was thick enough to make it through, but I had to try. I was still breathing heavily and felt like I was going to throw up, but I had to try. I slowly pushed my way up the wall. The King knew he had the upper hand and wanted to make sure I knew it too. Instead of just biting into her, he slowly kissed her neck like he was her lover. He pulled back his head and I saw his fangs pop out again as he prepared to bite down. It reminded me of one of those TV shows where they show you how to remove venom from a rattle snake. That's the way this damned fangs looked to me.
I decided it was now or never. I jumped up, forcing my arm to rise in the air as high as I could then with every ounce of weight I could muster I drove it into his back. The stick snapped in half as it was forced in. His back arched and he screeched like a beast as it entered his flesh. He faltered for a moment and I thought I killed him right then and there.
He turned and laughed. "That's not where the heart is, Father Mike." Pointing to his chest, he said, "It's right here. Like I said before, you have got to have the biggest balls I have ever seen." Lifting his knee, he kicked me, sending me flying down the hall. The force of it smashed my head like a basketball, bouncing down the corridor.
“Truly disappointing,” was all that he before he clamped down on Jenny’s neck. She moaned as he fed on her. Not a painful moan, but a mixture of shock and ecstasy. If it weren’t for the fact that her hands clamped shut I would have thought that she was enjoying the whole experience. I couldn’t let the King loose on the world. I called out to Harrow to help us, but he hadn’t moved since he smashed through the wall and Renaud was still lying face down on the floor. This battle was hard fought and I was beginning to think that we had just lost the whole war.
I forced myself up onto my feet, grabbing the only thing that I could find which was a small metal rod. I didn’t think that rusty steel could kill a vampire, but I couldn’t find anything else and didn’t see any better options. It was better to die like a man fighting evil than just rolling over and becoming a victim of it. It seemed like all I had done lately was either watch the after effects of evil or become a victim of it. A sadness filled my heart as I saw Jenny in his grasp. It was such an overwhelming emptiness. If I would have just stayed in the safe room, Jenny would be alive now. Maybe beaten and bruised, but still alive and given to me.
I ran over to him, expecting this result to be no better than my previous attempt. He was so concentrated on feeding that he had forgotten about me. That little warrior voice inside bellowed out a war cry that this was his last mistake, but my sarcastic voice of reason just laughed. As I ran over, I lifted the small iron bar as high as I could and slammed it down, smashing it into his head. A thudding sound came, followed by a dark stream of blood. He didn’t grunt, groan, or even move a muscle. He just stood there frozen in place, letting Jenny’s lifeless body drop to the floor. My heart raced as I saw her fall. She looked dead and dead took on a whole new meaning here. Dead wasn’t the way to heaven, but where the darkest parts inside you came to life.
On the floor beside him was his smart phone, with a blinking message from an unknown contact. I picked it up and pressed against the screen with my thumb. The message was short and to the point. “Wilson Bailey is dead,” with a happy face and a dollar sign at the end. Another sin I would be forced to face this day. I didn’t just arrange his death, but Jenny’s as well. I killed a family. Not a traditional one or even a happy one, but I had still killed a family. I dropped the phone and wiped my eyes, for the first time realizing that the King wasn’t the only one Hell-bound after this day. We all were, in our own time and in our own ways.
I saw down beside Jenny’s body. Her eyes were open, staring up at me with empty, glassed-over eyes. It was like all the life and sparkle had be
en drained out of her being. Two small holes in her neck made it clear that that the King had indeed stole the life from her soul and soon she would rise again, feeding on and destroying anyone she met. I had been given the punishment that I was promised. The real question was if I had the courage to join her in death, or was I a coward who would kill her now before my memory of her was changed forever. I didn’t want to lose those memories. Looking at Renaud, I realized I was minutes from being just like him. Less than a shadow of the man I was. I didn’t want to be like him. It was better to end this now then to allow life to break me in so many pieces that I would never feel complete again.
I hoped that an iron stake through the heart would be enough to stop Jenny’s transformation. I could give her peace, even if it meant that I would never find it again. I held the cold steel bar in my hand, moving it through the air knowing what I needed to do, but uncertain if I had it in me. I wasn’t even able to kill the annoying mouse that haunted my pantry, yet now I needed to kill the one I loved. I watched her lifeless face with such sorrow, spinning the bar between my fingers and almost weeping at the mere thought of what I was about to do. The verse James 1:2-4 came to mind. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” I kept telling myself to be strong and to give Jenny the peace in death that she refused to allow herself in life.
I kissed her cheek and whispered, “Please, forgive me my sins.” I lifted the bar in the air and placed my good shoulder over it. If I was going to end all her suffering I had to be strong. Stronger than I ever thought I was or ever wanted to be. For Jenny’s mortal soul, I had to be. I threw all my weight onto it and it went sliding through the air like a missile, with Jenny’s heart as its target.
A female’s hand clamped onto the bar and held it in midair. My shoulder felt its full force on the bar as it connected. I cried out in pain as my whole body twisted from the sudden stop. I fell back, more in shock then in terror as I heard, “This isn’t the way it’s supposed to end, priest. Not even close.”
EPILOGUE
Renaud
I thought making peace with those who had wronged me when I was alive would free me from this world and all the complications that came with it. I waited for my master’s cruel touch to come and claim me, but that day never came. My redemption wasn't complete. Just like how the stairway to Heaven was built on the steps of the pure of heart, the highway to Hell was just sin stacked upon sin. That was my journey.
The day after our battle I woke up alone and found the factory completely deserted. Mike swore that the King died that day, yet I had never found a body nor had I found any sign that he escaped. The news reports called it one of Canada’s worst criminal massacres and rumor had it that a local bike gang was responsible for the twelve murders, but I knew the truth. The safe room was sealed shut with a new blood spell and, despite my best efforts, I cannot break the seal again.
Harrow was long gone, taking Mihaela with him. It wouldn't be the last time I saw him, but he was changed that day. He found a new meaning in his life. To rescue his maker from the prison that our brother had designed for him. I guess he felt responsible that his maker was trapped and he still walked the earth.
Mike now sees himself as Jenny's guardian. It seems to be his new obsession in life. I can't quite figure out what changed him, just that he seems to have found a new meaning in his life and it revolved around her. Jenny herself seems like a new person. A troubled soul that can't find peace in the world. At Wilson's funeral, I told her that I forgave her, yet she seemed colder then I remembered her being. Whether it was her way of mourning or something else, I don't know but she had changed.
I, on the other hand, am trapped in the world of the living. I feel like a cheap suit. I don't belong and don't fit quite right. I am searching for Murlin and my soul stone, yet she keeps slipping through my fingers like sand. I will not stop until I find her. There are questions I need answered and I know that she is the only one that has the answers. I won't quit until I have the answers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When J.D. Simser is not too busy 'saving the world' or 'being awesome' he enjoys chasing sunsets and waterfalls. OK maybe he... does not save the world, but he is always dreaming big and chasing those dreams wherever they might lead him.
Monday through Friday, he's an IT ninja, defending "the people and their computers" against nasty viruses and hackers. Wielding his mouse like a set of flaming nun chucks, causing most unwanted applications to shrivel back in shame. By night and weekends he is the king of scary monsters and romance sitting at his computer writing about endless love and those that grab hold of it and never let go, no matter.
Like most writers his goal is to put the pictures that are in his mind on paper and invite his readers on a heartfelt yet terrifying journey between heaven and earth and watch the war between Demons, Angels and a multitude of other creatures. As much as his readers tell him that his characters shock them so do his readers shock him too. The most evil characters are the ones he hears are the most interesting and some of the ones he thinks will be the most beloved characters are the most hated
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