From Dusk Till Shaun
PART 2
"Liz, can we please talk about this?" Shaun begged. They had returned to their flat hours ago, but Shaun hadn't gotten a word of response from Liz the entire time, she just ignored him and bustled about the kitchen, washing dishes.
"Liz, PLEASE, you have to believe me, I didn't even know you were trying to speak to me, its like the rest of the world just vanished when that woman came on stage…" Shaun said, suddenly realizing just how strange the events of that night had been.
Liz suddenly stopped, slamming a handful of spoons down into the sink. "That's not exactly helping your case here, Shaun. You were acting like I didn't even exist and now your TELLING me that I didn't exist!"
"No, that's not how I meant it, Liz!" Shaun back-tracked as he followed her down the hall to the stairs. "Of course you exist Liz, I love you!"
"Oh?!" Liz said, pausing mid-way up the stairs. "Well let me know when I start existing, THEN you can tell me that." She finished, stomping up the stairs and slamming the door to their room behind her.
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A moment later, Shaun plopped down on the sofa, sighing. He shook his head and snatched up the key-ring from the table before heading out to the shed. Unlocking the door, he entered cautiously, spotting Ed in his usual spot, sitting in his chair, playing Halo 2.
"Hey pal, how's it going?" Shaun asked, Ed just groaned in response as his still living friend took the empty chair next to him.
"Liz is upset, so I figured I'd give her a bit of time to cool off before I tried talking to her again." He explained, even though Ed couldn't respond to what he was saying… Being undead had that disadvantage. Somehow though, Shaun could always talk to Ed, even in his present condition.
As the two friends blazed their way through level after level, figures approached the flat from the street…
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"I don't want any screw-ups bendejo." Santanico ordered, seated in the back seat of a car.
Three of her children were gathered around the outside and Razor Charlie nodded. "Yes mistress, all will go as planned, this chica wont know what hit her…" He said, waving for the others to follow him into the flat.
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"I dunno what's going on with him Di… but something tells me its not entirely his fault…" Liz said sadly.
She was sitting on the bed, tissue box in her lap as she sniffled. She'd called Diane right after her fight with Shaun, but it wasn't the same since Ivan had moved to Wales with her family after Z-Day.
"Well its not like he didn't CHOSE to oogle that woman, I mean, what did she do? Hypnotize him?" Diane said.
Liz was silent a moment as she thought back to the pub. "That's just it though… They were ALL acting that way, it wasn't just Shaun. All the men in that room were sucked right in by her, like she had some kind of power over them all."
"Oh come on Liz, its not like-" Diane started, but suddenly the line cut off and her voice disappeared.
"Di?" Liz asked, checking the phone to make sure it was still hooked to the wall. It was. Something had killed the line. "For fuck's sake…" She said angrily, going to the door. "Something's always-"
Suddenly, a hand zoomed through the doorway and grabbed her by the mouth. "SHAUN!" was all she managed to squeak out.
Her assailant was the burly Mexican from the pub and he flung her back down onto the bed as another man entered, locking the door behind them.
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Out in the shed, Shaun paused the game, turning and furrowing his brow. Ed groaned angrily at the halt of their gameplay and Shaun just swatted him in the shoulder. "Quiet Ed… Did you hear that?"
Ed didn't respond audibly and Shaun got up, quickly moving back towards the flat. He entered the back door and listened, there was only silence. "Liz?!" Shaun called out, but there was no answer. "You alright up there, babe?"
He moved up one step, but before he could reach the next one, a strong hand seized him by the collar, flinging him off the step and into the door behind him. Shaun slammed into the wood, cracking it with his weight.
He groaned in pain, looking up at his assailant, but he was too quick, grabbing him by the front of his T-Shirt and flinging him to the left and into the living room, smashing right through a wooden shelving unit. Shaun slammed into the ground as pictures and his cricket bat crashed down around him.
As the man stalked towards the downed Shaun, he grinned, barring his fangs in anticipation. Just before he reached Shaun however, a loud crashing sound came from the back yard, distracting the vampire.
He tromped over to the window, peering out to see Ed angrily stumbling towards the house to get Shaun to turn the game back on. The vampire's face crunched up, confused at the sight before him, but as he turned to finish off Shaun, he was greeted by a cricket bat to the face.
The vampire spun around like a top, it's jaw cracking from the force of the attack and it toppled to the floor.
Shaun flipped the bat around in his hand. "Didn't anyone ever tell you its rude to come into other peoples' homes?" Shaun inquired.
Without warning, the vampire shot back up to a standing position, Shaun gasped, stepping back wide-eyed as the creature of the night screeched at him viciously. Shaun whacked him across the face once again, but he was ready this time and it had no effect… Other than pissing it off.
He back-handed Shaun, sending him flying through the coffee table behind him. Just as he took a step though, Ed came crashing through the door, toppling onto the vampire, who spun around angrily and chomped into Ed's throat.
"Ed, NO!" Shaun shouted, struggling to his feet once again, searching for something, ANYTHING to fight off the monster with. He spotted Liz's mum's family heirloom, a metal crucifix. "Worth a shot…" He said, snatching it up.
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Liz grabbed the lamp from the night stand and smashed it over Razor Charlie's skull, knocking him off her just as he was leaning in to bite her neck. She dove across the bed and went for the bathroom door, but the other vampire blocked her path, giggling and baring his fangs hungrily.
Liz turned, but Razor Charlie leapt across the bed to tackle her to the floor…
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Downstairs, the vampire spat out the blood from his mouth disgustedly and tossed Ed to the side. "Puta Madre! Your dead!?" He shouted, heaving as though he was about to throw up. He turned around quickly to locate Shaun, or a waste basket, but found himself instead looking at a cross. "AGH!" It shouted, jumping back against the wall, hissing.
"Well I suppose watching movies DOES pay off…" Shaun said, moving forward with a broken coffee table leg at the ready. He plunged the leg straight through the vamp's chest, piercing it's heart. The vampire screamed in agony and began writhing against the wall. Shaun jumped back as he erupted into flames and toppled to the floor as a skeleton.
Shaun coughed at the disgusting stench and looked over at Ed's body. "Oh no…" He said, going over to him. "Damnit… Don't do this to me, Ed… Not again…"
Before he could say any more, he heard a crashing sound upstairs. "Liz!" Shaun shouted, grabbing his bat and the cross quickly and heading for the junk drawer…
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Liz struggled as hard as she could, but her arms were held down tightly as Charlie pushed her head to the side, hissing as he prepared to chomp into her throat. Just before the fangs connected with her neck, the door was kicked in and Shaun stepped through, cricket bat at the ready.
"Kill him!" Charlie shouted, holding Liz around the neck as the other vamp leapt at Shaun.
Shaun however, didn't even flinch, he just held the bat out in front of him, flat-side out. There, Liz's mum's crucifix had been quickly glued to the wood. The vamp, upon seeing this, halted in mid-charge, screeching and stepping back. Shaun didn't give him a chance to retreat though, he swung the bat as hard as he could into the creature's head, knocking it to the ground. He then pulled another table leg from his belt, where he had the other three stashed and staked it through the heart.
As it burst into flames, Charlie threw Liz across the room into Shaun and dove out the window, transforming into a bat in mid-fall and flew off into the night.
Shaun helped Liz up and they rushed to the broken glass, looking out after it.
"Okay… I forgive you now." Liz said, hugging him tightly.
