Hartwell’s group on several occasions.
Hartwell had the feeling that he and Daniel would hold the keys to victory on this night, because he was the only one focused on the fact that Daniel had sired him in his reemergence into the vampirical world. Normally, Hartwell obviously would have had a problem killing his own son, but he had taken the brunt of everyone’s angst for so long that it wouldn’t be so harmful to let the kid step up for a change. Besides, Hartwell thought that nobody called him old and got away with it!
Agent Blake, Sharon and Belinda were all rebuffed as the advanced on Nicole, Carla and Kayla, and instantly communicated the three-wide blockade internally to the rest of the group. Kayla then noticed a shift and moved one of the protections from Nicole to Andrew, who was now battling with three members of the other crew – Cal, Aaron and Maggie. Drew was about to give way right before Kayla made the move and swung his sword confidently and slashed Aaron’s left arm and then Cal’s right leg with the same swing and follow-through.
The fun really started after the initial cells of protection were moved. Everyone was becoming reacquainted with their abilities and also was more comfortable with the possibilities. Daniel set the stage for a flurry of activity as he rushed Hartwell as a vampire and then cycled through a series of changes that confused his father, at least at first. Hartwell was fighting only as a vampire with long nails extended from both index fingers until Daniel went from wolf bear, to Orca killer whale, to hawk, back to vampire with wings unfurled, to grizzly bear taking a swipe and connecting with Hartwell’s back with the force of a thousand whips. Hartwell screamed in pain as Daniel continued to advance, changing into a hippopotamus, which was finally counteracted by Hartwell changing to his own version of the part land/part sea creature. They butted heads as hippos and then transitioned into rams doing the crashing head dance that looked like a tango, if two animals had occasion to dance.
Hartwell knew that the key to victory would be to take out Kayla, because her use of protection was a force that would be difficult to overcome. The implementation of such a plan required the elimination of at least one of the younger tribe, which would create a sense of disequilibrium that Hartwell hoped to capitalize on.
Kayla had switched the protection over to her original trio of her parents and herself, which left Daniel, Andrew and Nicole vulnerable for attack. Hartwell’s first instinct as he continued to battle with Daniel was to take out Nicole, so he instructed Thad, Gary, Cal and Aaron to make a strong play at doing just that. It was perhaps the least conspicuous plan ever attempted in battle history. Sharon and Belinda made sure that Kayla was occupied, thus impairing her protection vision. Aaron turned into a grizzly bear and rumbled behind Nicole and secured her in a big hug. Cal thought about changing into a dolphin but he was much more efficient rapping his arms around Nicole’s legs and impeding her attempts to run away. She desperately tried to escape by cycling through every creature she could think of: Orca killer whale, dolphin, grizzly bear, pit bull, wolf, hippo, hawk, and then back to her human form, which made it easier for Thad’s sword to find the mark in her chest and Gary’s sword to finish the job between her head and her neck.
It was 10 elders against five newbie’s until Drew exited from his protection and squashed Aaron and Cal, who had switched back their human form and were unprepared to deal with the sheer weight of the closing Orca killer whale. Thaddeus and Garrison then attacked Drew, who picked up his sword from the ground and was taking them both on. Eight against five.
Kayla’s group was down to only two levels of protection as a result of Nicole’s death, which meant that Andrew, Daniel and Maxwell were now in play. With Hartwell and Daniel locked in the battle of their vampirical lives, it was up the other 11 fighters to make some headway. Belinda and Sharon continued to hammer away at Kayla and serve as a distraction, while Carla was being confronted by Emily who was blinding her younger, protected counterpart with a series of changes.
Maggie and Agent Blake were trying to penetrate Maxwell’s superior defenses to no avail. By the time Blake had cycled through just about every exterior he could summon, he realized that this kid could not be defeated by conventional methods. He also figured out that he would probably have to risk his life for the greater good on this night. Just before Blake put himself on the chopping block, he imparted a kinder and gentler strategy to Maggie, who also just happened to be Maxwell’s grandmother. Blake stepped toward Maxwell, shielding Maggie from the blinding speed of his sharp nails as sparks flew off the two swords he was defending himself with. Blake tumbled on the ground in order to split Max’s focus between him and Maggie, who was manning the upper fighter quadrant.
Blake changed back into his human form and was sliced in the arm, then leg, and then heart, as Max immediately took advantage of the opening. But, before Maxwell could refocus on Maggie, she softly said, “I love you, Maxie,” invoking his sensitivity and love for his grandma’, which obviously wasn’t buried perhaps as deep as he would have preferred. Maggie took advantage of the sensitive moment and used her extended nail to end Maxwell’s night, her sharp nail interrupting his loving thought process. Eight verses four.
Another level of protection was knocked down, and Carla came out of the gates like a bucking bronco in a rodeo. She took out both Sharon and Belinda on her way to mauling an unsuspecting Emily, who was starting to get bored in fighting her and wasn’t paying close attention to her movements. It was five against four until Thad and Gary wore Andrew down and forced him into changing into a hawk, which Gary consumed as a hippo. Five against three.
That advantage was short-lived as Gary and Thad changed back into their human form, only to have Kayla step out of her protection and finally get to swing her mighty sword. She sliced through both Thaddeus and Garrison with one incredible swoosh, and seemed to be styling during the follow-through, because before she could protect herself again she fell to the ground in two pieces, courtesy of Agent Blake Wallace. Three against two.
Carla piggy-backed her daughter and ended Blake, who also took too long to uncoil from his conquest of Kayla. Two on two. Daniel separated himself from Hartwell, and his father also used the break to be productive. Carla had no chance when Hartwell spun her way and snapped her neck. Daniel only saw a target, and had no emotion when he broke his mother Maggie’s back from behind with her attention temporarily shifted toward Carla. Before the battle could come down to Hartwell versus Daniel, father against son, sire versus sire, the two men took to the air and arced around in a circle before coming at each other with great velocity and power. The action was so intense that neither man realized that they had a long-sharp nail puncture their skin and move clean through their hearts, effectively ending the battle for the night without the benefit of a real clear winner.
SEVENTEEN
Daniel awoke with his head resting on Hartwell’s chest, both men still with their nails in each other’s hearts. The morning sun was completing its bodily restoration but it wasn’t until Hartwell uncoiled his nail that Daniel was able to breathe and return the favor. He gasped like he had just taken his first breath in life and Hartwell looked down at his son with great pride reverence.
He stroked the hair on top of his head and said, “We shouldn’t be fighting against each other. Vampires have to stay together or we are doomed.”
Daniel looked up and smiled as he hugged his father and was suddenly in complete agreement with the sentiment. Maggie, Maxwell and Belinda awoke from their early morning journey and joined the other vampires, who collectively zipped home in the time it would take a mortal to take a breath.
Normally, the protectors would always be close to the vampires but on this morning they were walking side-by-side with the hunters in an unusual display of non-vampire solidarity. The two sides had spent most of their non-mortal lives focused on Hartwell and anything that had to do with his vampire world. Once Hartwell’s thoughts turned inwa
rd in a moment of introspection, the fate of the entire house was signed, sealed and delivered for the day.
The thoughts of the 18 people in the house, including Samuel and Claire Vinson, could not be further from the action in Portland, Oregon where Valerie Winters Justice was about to give birth. Her stomach was growing at such a rapid rate that it made it easy for a few of the people in the house to hearken back to recent days gone by.
“Do you remember how big Kayla got?” Brandon Justice asked his father-in-law.
Joe Winters laughed, “Yeah, we thought she was going to burst.”
Valerie was not amused, “Mah, could you please remind these two that I am sitting here and my skin has expanding beyond its internal capabilities,” she said to her mother.
“Katherine Winters looked over at the two men like they were little boys and scolded them, “She is sitting right there and he skin has expanded beyond its internal capabilities!”
Valerie smiled in approval of her mother’s methods and then the satisfaction was wiped away by wave after wave of searing, mind-numbing pain.
“Daniel! Get Daniel!” Valerie screamed to her husband, as she had seen the