"We're not doomed, don't be so dramatic," Olivia admonished.
Kara's eyes opened wide and she leaned forward in her seat. "Did you see what they did back there?"
"Yes."
"They're too powerful. Maybe in a one-on-one fistfight, if they didn't have a chance to bind anyone, then we could win. The ten of them together, with their powers combined…" Kara shook her head as she trailed off. "We're no match for that."
Olivia slapped Kara across the face. She was taken aback, and stunned into silence.
"Now you listen here, Kara, because I'm only going to say this once. We're stronger than them, you're stronger than them. You know why I know that? Because just the other day you broke into a police station, and while you were already exhausted you fought another psychic and won. I didn't lose one of my fangs just for us to give up when those bastards come knocking at our door, and you didn't risk everything just so you could run away when things got tough. You fought back, and that's what we're going to do now. End of story." Olivia turned back around in her seat and folded her arms. "Got it?"
Kara could still feel the harsh, throbbing pain on her cheek. She brought her hand up to her cheek and pressed on it to dull the sting. She smiled. "Thanks, Olivia. I needed that."
"You're welcome," Olivia replied, still in a harsh tone. After a moment she turned around and had a sad, concerned look on her face. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to hit you that hard. I'm sorry," she said with an exaggerated, yet still genuine, frown. She placed her hand on Kara's knee.
Kara laughed and gripped Olivia's hand. "I'm fine. I needed the wakeup. I know we can do this, I just don't know how."
"Yeah, neither do I," Olivia said with a chuckle.
"Well… I might have an idea," Raymond announced. "But we're going to need their help."
"Who?" Kara asked.
…
"So as you can see, guys, if we're going to make it through this, we need to work together just like they are. Otherwise, we're as good as dead," Raymond explained.
They had returned to Raymond and Damien's house to try to convince the other vampires to work with them again. This time Raymond headed the argument, with Olivia providing the details of the psychics' powers.
Damien glanced to the four other vampires, and they nodded. "Alright, we're in," he said. "But it's only to fight them. After that, she's not welcome." He pointed at Kara.
"Damien, stop being an ass," Raymond shot. "You can keep your opinions, no one's taking them from you, just keep them to yourself."
Damien pursed his lips and clenched his teeth, but didn't say another word. Raymond glanced over his shoulder at Olivia and Kara with a look of fear on his face, but they replied with a thumbs-up and an impressed look on theirs.
"So, what's the plan?" one of the other vampires asked.
Raymond cleared his throat and explained his idea. "Right, so with the thought of the psychics teaming up to use their powers together, the best plan of attack is to draw them away from each other. If we can separate them, then we can overpower them fairly easily. It's just getting to that point which is the hard part."
"So, how do we split them up?" Damien questioned.
"It depends on how they come to attack us," Raymond explained. "I figure there's only two ways it can go down. First, they could come by foot, which is the easiest for us. If we hide between the houses along the street, as they walk along we can use Kara's powers to bind them, then spirit them away one by one. It wouldn't be long before their numbers dwindle, then we can just ambush the rest."
"What's the hard way?"
"They come by car. If they're in a vehicle it’ll be harder to stop them, and harder to pull them away. If they stay in the car, they could drive off, they could attack us from afar, or they could easily combine their powers. If they come by car, we need to cripple the car, and then wait for them to exit. Stealth is our best and only option, but thankfully it's what we vampires do best."
Kara stepped forward. "If they come by car, it'll have to be at least two vehicles, as there's ten of them. I can take out one of the cars."
Damien glanced at Kara with spiteful eyes. "I'll take care of the other one."
"And, if by chance there's a third, I'll handle it," Olivia offered.
Before they exited to take to the shadows, Raymond handed everyone earbud headphones with a microphone attached to the cord. He then set up a conference call so they could stay in communication with each other, but out of sight.
After everything was ready, they left the house and, in groups of two, hid amongst the buildings along the street. Raymond had told Kara and Olivia earlier about how there were quite a few abandoned buildings on their street due to the owners not being able to pay their mortgages. He pointed them out so that they could hide without notice next to them.
"Everyone in position?" Olivia asked through her mic while standing next to Kara. They were hiding in the bushes between two houses that gave them a good view of both ends of the street, but still provided them cover.
"Raymond and me are in position across from you, Olivia," Damien replied.
"'Raymond and I' dumbass," Olivia scoffed.
"Whatever," he shouted. "We're here."
The other groups reported in from farther down the street, and now they just had to wait for the attack to happen.
Olivia and Kara were kneeling down with their backs to each other as they watched opposite ends of the street, waiting for their marks to arrive.
Kara muted her mic, then reached over and muted Olivia's before returning to her watch. "I feel I have to thank you again, Liv," she said.
"What for?"
"For helping me out back there. I appreciated the confidence boost."
"Well, I know how you can get sometimes, especially when it comes to things like this."
"Things like this?" Kara questioned.
Olivia turned around for a moment to look at Kara. "Remember how we met?"
Kara raised her brow, confused, but then it hit her and she smiled. "I got into a fight but I didn't fight back, and of course I lost. You were there, but you didn't help me."
"That's right, because if you weren't going to fight for yourself, why should I have?"
Kara grinned. "But even so, afterwards you took my arm and scolded me, and then you taught me how to fight."
"I knew you weren't weak, so to see you give up a fight like that… I could tell something was holding you back and making you weak. I wanted to teach you that you could be strong… that you are strong." Olivia grinned as she looked at Kara over her shoulder.
Kara smiled and felt the twinge of a tear forming at the corner of her eye. She wiped it away. "I don't know if I ever told you why I didn't want to fight back," she began. "I didn't want to fight because I couldn't control my psychic powers, and I didn't want anyone to know about them. I was so pathetic," she said with a sad smile. "I was so afraid of letting people see my true self that I would rather get beaten up. You were the first person I felt that I could trust with who I really was. If not for you, I don't know who I would be right now. Thank you, Olivia."
Olivia pushed Kara. "I'm trying to tell you that you don't have to thank me, you dummy," she chided with a smirk.
Kara was grinning, until the two of them heard the noise of a car approaching. Kara turned around to look at the approaching vehicle.
She noticed only one vehicle, but she could immediately tell that psychics were in it. She could feel the psychic energy radiating off the people inside. Only one car? That can't be right. Kara pulled the mic up to her mouth and whispered "Does anyone see another car?"
"Is that them, Kara?" Raymond's voice came over the earbud.
"Yes, that's them, do you see another car?" she asked again.
"Repeat, is that them, Kara?"
Damn it, the mic is still muted! Kara unmuted the mic and confirmed the first car held psychics, and repeated her question. Luckily the car was moving slowly as they were no doubt looking for the r
ight address.
"It's on the other side of the street, on this end," one of the vampires said over the conference call.
Kara and Olivia peered over the bushes to the other end of the street and saw the car in question. It was too far away for Olivia or Damien to attack. "I'll take out the car down the street. Damien, you get the one closest to us afterwards," she suggested.
"Got it," he replied.
Kara imagined her hand hovering over the hood of the farther car. She mirrored the movement of her imagined hand with her real one as she balled it into a tight fist. "Get ready," she said. She punched downwards with all the physical and mental strength she could muster, twisting her hand as she did so to imbue it with more power.
An unseen force crushed the car's hood. The engine and other components were smashed to bits and pieces flew away from the chassis. The impact of Kara's psychic punch, as well as the momentum of the car, caused it to flip forward and onto its hood with a crash.
Not to be outdone, Damien sprung out of the shadows and into action. In one swift motion he used the car’s thrust and his vampiric strength to lift it from the front and perform a suplex on it. He smashed the car down onto its hood just like the other, causing a slight tremor in the surrounding area. Damien took a moment to catch his breath before jumping back into the dark.
"That's how it's done," he bragged, even though it was clear it took a lot out of him.
Kara and Olivia observed the vehicles. Even though they just suffered heavy damage, the roofs were still intact. They probably used their powers to protect them at the last minute, Kara thought.
After a moment, the doors opened and five people crawled out of each car. Kara could see James coming out of the driver's side of the car closest to her. "Where are you, you damn leeches?" he shouted.
"Alright, let's get them separated. If you attack, be sure to move to a new area right away to not get attacked," Olivia advised.
Olivia looked at Kara, and Kara nodded. Kara searched for a target. She was going to use James, but she wanted him to herself. I'll make sure you pay for what you made Liv endure, but she can handle one of your friends. She bound one of James' comrades and pulled him towards the bushes she and Olivia were hiding behind at a high speed. She pulled him through the thick, spiky branches, and straight towards Olivia. Olivia had reared back, ready to strike. She punched him square in the face, sending him flying back through the bush. He fell to the ground, unconscious from one thunderous punch.
Kara and Olivia jumped away from the bushes. Psychic blasts tore the green shrubbery to bits, but they were already gone. They moved behind the house to hide, and then ran farther down the street under cover of the shadows.
They jumped on top of one of the abandoned houses and lay down on the roof to watch. Kara counted the psychics and there were only four on the far side of the street. One of the guys must have taken someone out. The psychics were jumping at shadows and stayed huddled together.
"Come out, you cowards!" James yelled as his eyes flitted back and forth across the street.
A flurry of rocks chucked at high speed hurtled towards James' group. Their barriers protected them from the brunt of the damage, but they still howled in pain. Two of the psychics picked up the rocks with their minds and flung them back to where they’d come from, but no one was there.
More rocks, bigger this time, darted at them from another direction. One of the stones hit a psychic in the jaw. He shouted an obscenity and ran in the direction the rocks came from.
"No, don't separate! That's what they want, damn it!"
James' words fell on deaf ears, and the psychic went around the corner of one of the houses. A second later he tumbled backwards towards the street before falling flat on his face. He wasn't moving.
James gritted his teeth and began searching the shadows more fervently.
Kara glanced over to the other car, and the other group of psychics had lost another man. Now there were three psychics on each side of the street.
We might just be able to win.
Kara looked over at Olivia and caught her attention. "Let's go in for another attack and end this," she suggested.
Olivia nodded, and the two of them began standing up on the roof. "Got you!" Kara heard, turning her attention back to James' group.
Raymond was floating in the air, clutching his neck. James had his hand out in the shape of a claw, like he was choking the air. Kara's instincts kicked in and she moved to get up. Olivia gripped her arm and stopped her from leaving. She gave Olivia a dirty look, but stopped just in time to see Damien running out of the shadows.
Damien rushed towards James, his fist cocked to strike. Damien went for a powerful punch right to James' jaw, but froze in place inches before contact. The other two psychics had stopped him.
James laughed maniacally, and then slammed his hand down. He tossed Raymond down to the pavement face first. Raymond's face broke on the concrete and stone and his glasses shattered to pieces.
Olivia let go of Kara's arm. "Raymond!" Kara shouted as she rose to her feet on the roof.
Kara gritted her teeth in anger and leapt from the building with all her strength. She sent a blast of energy at the two psychics pinning Damien. Their bodies collided violently with the car behind them, and they lost their hold on Damien. Damien's momentum was stunted, and he stumbled forward, catching himself before he fell. Still in the air, Kara reared her arm back, coiled her hand into a fist, and coated it with power.
James lifted his hand to stop her with his mind, but before he could pull his thoughts together Damien was behind him. Damien wrapped his muscular arms under James' arms and around his neck, putting him in a full nelson. Damien then lifted him off the ground towards Kara's collision course.
Kara let out a guttural yell like a lion's roar, and thrust her fist towards James. His face contorted in fear and pain even before the fist made contact. Her punch hit and there was a violent explosion of air. The force of the impact sent James and Damien back twenty feet. They hit the ground and rolled several times before stopping in the middle of a grassy lawn.
Kara landed on her feet, stepping forward a few times before she could control her momentum. She glanced to her right to see the two psychics knocked out and Olivia right there next to them. She was panting, but not the worse for wear. She looked to her left and then ran over to Raymond to check on him. Kara's eyes followed Olivia, and then her feet made to do the same. Olivia turned Raymond over and checked his pulse.
"He's alright," she said.
Kara checked the other end of the street, and could see the other vampires had already won their fights. All the attackers were defeated.
"Go check on Damien," Olivia said.
Kara nodded, and then ran over to where Damien had fallen. "Damien! Damien, are you alright?" she asked as her voice cracked. She turned him over and held him in her arms. He had scrapes and bruises all over his body. His eyes were closed, but she could tell he was breathing. "Damien," she called again, shaking him.
He opened his eyes slowly. "I'm here, I'm here, God." He sat up and brushed himself off.
"I'm so glad, I was worried," Kara said, tears forming in her eyes. She turned away from Damien when she noticed them and wiped her face. "Sorry," she muttered.
Silence pervaded the area, and tension rose. Damien scratched his head. "That's one hell of a punch you threw there. Have you… have you been working out?"
Kara chuckled and turned around as she finished wiping her eyes. "No, I just recently learned how to do that." Kara wasn't sure in the dark of the night, but she thought that she could see the faintest hint of rosiness around Damien's ivory cheeks.
"Well, I'll keep it in mind next time I need a sparring partner," Damien mumbled.
Kara laughed, but deep down she hoped he was serious. "Oh!" she cried, springing to her feet.
Kara ran over to where James was lying on the ground. He was knocked out cold, and she could see a red welt on his jaw from where she’
d punched him. She hoisted him over her shoulder and walked back over to where Olivia and Raymond were.
Raymond was just getting to his feet with Olivia's help. "Are you alright, Raymond?" Kara asked.
"I'll be fine, but my glasses have seen better days," he replied with a slight lisp from an already swollen lip. His face was scraped and bloody, but it was nothing that wouldn't heal.
"Who's that you have over your shoulder?" Olivia asked.
"James Moore," Kara replied with a smile. "We finally got him, and now you can take him back to Vasha."
Olivia smiled. "Right on!" She raised her hand and gave Kara a high five. "Hey Raymond, can I borrow your car so I can take him to Vasha's?"
"Sure," he replied.
"What do we do about the other psychics?" Damien asked.
Before Kara could answer, they heard the sound of blaring sirens approaching from afar. "I think we have our answer," she said. "Just lay low for a while, and everything should be fine."
"We can hide out in one of the abandoned houses until the police leave," Damien said. "We might need to move soon though, since those damn… since the psychics seem to know where we live anyway."
Olivia handed Raymond over to Damien. "Let us know if you run into any more trouble."
Damien nodded and walked away with Raymond in tow. "Talk to you soon," he said.
Kara couldn't be certain, but she thought he might have been extending that to her and not just Olivia. The thought brought a smile to her face, and warmth to her chest despite the cold of the night.
Olivia gave her a gentle nudge and a knowing glance, and they shared a smile together.
The two of them put James in the back seat of Raymond's car and drove to Vasha's. "Well, this is it. You coming in with me?"
"No, I'm going to catch a cab and go home. I'm dead tired."
Olivia laughed. "Alright, talk to you soon." Kara started to get out of the car, but Olivia stopped her. "What about Kalie's?" she asked with an urgent look in her eyes.
Kara chuckled. "I promise we'll get a meal at Kalie's tomorrow as long as Raymond is up to it."
Olivia pumped her fist. "Yes!"
Kara laughed, and the two exited the car. She waved goodbye to her friend, then waved down a cab and took it to her home.
As soon as she entered, the familiar smells and sights brought joy to her heart. She had been through a lot over the past couple of days, and the weight of it all lifting from her shoulders made her feel new again.
"Kara! Kara, is that you?" an elderly voice rang out from one of the rooms.
"Yes, it's me," she replied.
Before long, Mr. Montgomery shuffled out from the back of the apartment. When he saw Kara in the flesh his face lit up with relief. He pointed his cane at her.
"You had me worried sick! You haven't been home for a whole day!" He looked her over. "And what happened to you? You look like you've been through the wringer."
Kara made her way to the couch and lay down in it. "It's been a long couple of days, Mr. Montgomery. I'm sorry I worried you," she said with a yawn.
The old man's face softened. He moved closer to the couch. "Did you find your friend?"
"Yes, she's safe now. Everything's over…" She trailed off as she fell asleep right there on the couch.
"Dumb girl, can't even get in her own bed," Magnus muttered.
He eyed Kara for a moment, then grabbed a blanket and placed it over her before mumbling about how ungrateful she was as he headed back to his room.
Kara slept soundly that night, better than she had in many moons. She hoped that that would be the end of fighting against psychics and using her powers, but little did she know that this was only the beginning.
THE END
See the adventure continue in The Vampire's Rescue!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shawn Wiseman credits his love of reading and writing to his parents, who taught him how to read from an early age, and fostered his creativity.
After almost becoming a boring businessman, Shawn decided to try his hand at writing, and found his passion. He likes strong characters, lots of action, and punchy dialogue. Some of his vices include video games, swearing like a sailor, and fast food.
Shawn gets inspiration from his friends and family who continue to encourage him with his writing. Before trying his hand at self-publishing, a friend was the one who convinced him to try a writing challenge, and he hasn't looked back since then. His biggest goal is to create characters and stories that will inspire others to try their hand at writing, just as he was inspired before.
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