Hello Sportsfans!
Long time no see eh? Here's part 3 of 4. The last chapter should be up shortly once I get a chance to go over it with a fine tooth comb. Enjoy!
Happy Reading
Ring. Ring. Riiiiiiing.
He wasn't picking up.
"Damn it Sam." Edgar growled as he slammed the phone down on the receiver for the third time that night. The sun had set over an hour ago and during that time Edgar had no success in getting in touch with the Emerson. The guy was practically on death row, why the hell wasn't he picking up?
Edgar scowled as he glared down at a tall stack of well-thumbed comic books that sat in a corner on the tiny card table he used to do everything on except sleep. Vampires Everywhere! was lying there open to the page where the busty blond victim in a revealing negligee was sound asleep on a bed and the would-be vampire was hovering outside her bedroom window.
The picture didn't sit too well with Edgar. With a grunt he grabbed the comic and threw it onto the cluttered counter and out of his line of sight.
Okay, maybe he was over-reacting. Maybe Sam was still out cold.
After Sam had collapsed on the beach Edgar had done what his twenty years of training had prepared him for. He had tried to revive Sam but when that didn't work he did what he had to do to keep Sam in the mortal realm. Half a water bottle of holy water to the face was enough to make even the most comatose of vampires sit up and take notice. Sam hadn't been any different. Edgar had been forced to slug the guy in the face a few times to calm him down but once the burning sensation wore off Sam came to his senses.
After that Sam sang like a bird and Edgar hauled his half-dead carcass off the beach and straight into the seedy motel room that the guy had been staying in. It was a roach hole if Edgar ever saw one but at least there weren't any flies. Flies would have been Sam's death sentence.
Flies and the undead go together like bullets and guns.
Edgar snorted as he grabbed one of the two wooden stools in his trailer and sat down. He had done all he could to secure Sam in his room. Holy water on the door and window frames, crucifixes and garlic strands nailed to the wall, hell he even went as far as to bless the place and sanctify it in the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Aside from his trailer and a few churches in town there wasn't a safer place to be.
Of course Sam didn't quite see it that way. Edgar had to put his foot down, literally, when Sam tried to interfere with the holy ritual but Edgar couldn't hold it against the guy. The disease was starting to take a firm hold and Edgar had fully expected Sam to react as he did. Even a half-vampire couldn't stand being on consecrated ground.
After knocking Sam out with a well-placed blow to the back of the head Edgar had dragged the guy into the bathroom, handcuffed him to the base of the toilet and left the phone within easy reach. The plan was to get in touch with Sam once the sun went down but it wasn't working out that way.
He better try again.
Edgar reached behind him, snagged the phone and quickly dialled the number to Sam's room that he had gotten off the motel owner but this time instead of ringing Edgar got the busy signal.
"Oh great." Edgar sighed and placed the phone on the receiver, gently this time. That nagging feeling in his gut was acting up again and Edgar knew what that meant. He had to get over to the motel and he had to do it now.
Closing his eyes for a moment Edgar breathed in deeply and collected his thoughts. He shouldn't have left Sam alone but he had no choice. If what Sam said was true and Alan was on his way to Luna Bay to bring the Second Coming down on his head, Edgar had to make sure that he was damn well prepared to face the fire. It had taken a few hours to get the truck ready with every intention on swinging by the motel to pick Sam up. Edgar refused to wait around for his notorious brother to show up. He was going to bring the fight to the enemy. Only now it seemed that enemy gained a new foothold.
But he had to make sure. He owed Sam that much.
Exhaling loudly Edgar shook his head and his eyes drifted over to a pair of silver dog tags that hung over the tiny sink. They hung there in silent tribute to Edgar's better half that no longer existed. That was all he had that was left of the old Alan. Would another set go up for Sam?
"God damn you Alan." Edgar cursed under his breath and grabbed his utility belt and protective vest. He had no choice. He was going to have to break his own rule and put his neck out to see if Sam was still alive, or better yet still Sam. Strapping on his armour, he quickly patted himself down to make sure that everything was where it should be. Satisfied Edgar pulled a red strip of cloth out of his pocket and tied it around his head.
Father Edgar Frog, Awesome Monster Basher and Surf Board Shaper Extraordinaire, was ready to face his demons.
His footfalls crunched against the dry dirt as he stepped out of his trailer and headed for the truck. The determined expression on his face could have kept Nazis at bay had they been lying in wait to ambush him. But he made it to the truck without incident. No one was going to bother him there but a small part of him wished someone would. He had an itching to put some booted foot to ass right about then. The engine coughed once before the Ford roared to life without so much as a backward glance, Edgar jetted onto the main road and headed to the edge of town.
The night was quiet but that didn't mean it was safe.
Luna Bay wasn't a large town to begin with but Edgar's eyes never stopped peering into the shadows as he drove to the motel. He'd been doing this for so long that it had become just another one of his daily habits. If there was a vampire lurking out there, he'd pick up on it. It was almost like a sixth sense that he had developed. Vamp-radar had its perks even if it was on a permanent code red.
The brakes screeched as he pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine. The half-lift neon sign flickered lazily as a small group of moths flittered around the "air-conditi..." notice. The place was a rat hole but an oddly well-lit rat hole. Edgar scanned the lot for anything out of sorts until he fixed his gaze on room number 66. The lights were still on inside but Edgar was pretty sure he hadn't left the door open.
A growl tickled the back of his throat as he unsheathed a stake and stepped out of the truck. Eyes and ears open and searching the Frog cautiously approached the motel room and scanned for any signs of forced entry.
There were none.
Using the toe of his boot Edgar slowly pushed the door in and blinked as he caught sight of the room. The whole place was trashed. Completely and utterly trashed. It looked like a tornado had ripped through it and demolished everything that wasn't bolted down or made of solid steel. A tornado with a serious set of claws judging by the slash marks along the far wall.
Well this was just great.
"Sam!" Edgar called out and waited for a response. There was none. Checking to make sure that there wasn't anything nasty lurking in a corner Edgar entered and picked his way through the room being careful not to touch anything as he kept his stake clutched tightly in his right hand. He headed for the bathroom and expected to find one of two things. Either Sam was going to be lying in pieces in a pool of his own blood or he was going to be crouched in a corner in full fang ready to tear Edgar's throat open. Steeling himself for both Edgar clenched his jaw and with his stake raised, kicked the bathroom door in.
And the bathroom was empty.
The mirror was cracked and the towels shredded but there wasn't any trace of Sam. The handcuffs were lying on the floor and the phone had been chucked against the wall, having chipped a few tiles. This can only mean one thing.
He's turned.
"Shit."
That one word seemed to sum up the past two days perfectly. He thought he had shit to deal with before, now he found himself to be in an even bigger pile of it.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
Lowering his arm but still keeping a tight hold on the stake Edgar quickly left the motel room. He had been doing this long enough to expect the unexpected. If Sam had gone a-wall, Edgar wasn't going to be caught with his pants down. Not again. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. He hadn't kill Alan when he had the chance and now that mistake had come back to haunt him triple fold.
"Okay Sam. Where are you?" Edgar murmured quietly as he stood alone in the empty park lot. Sam wouldn't have gone far. He would be disoriented and running loose but he wouldn't venture too far from what was familiar. Maybe if he was lucky he hadn't killed anyone yet. Edgar highly doubted that though. Sam was never the lucky type.
Edgar tilted his head to the side, listening closely. He thought he heard something. Could have been anything. A rustle of leaves? Maybe a stray cat. Scowling Edgar sniffed the night air and his nose picked up something so faint he almost missed it. Smelt like...mildew.
"C'mon Sam." Edgar sighed as he headed straight for the nearest streetlight, sheathing the stake as he did so. He was going to have to draw Sam out of the darkness if he was going to have a decent shot of putting him out of his misery. That was the one thing that Edgar envied the bloodsuckers for. Wasn't the immortality, the strength, the ability to fly or manipulate minds. No, it was the night vision. If Edgar could see in the dark his job would have been a hell of a lot easier.
Sam was nearby. Edgar could practically feel his eyes boring into him.
"Cut the theatrics! I know you're out there." Edgar barked as he paused beside an old wooden picnic table that looked like it had been around since the 80s. Someone had carved "MOtlEy CrUe RoCks!" into one of the planks. "Show yourself."
Edgar waited. No vampire can resist a challenge like that. Not even a newly turned one.
Edgar didn't have to wait long. Slowly out of the darkness an outline emerged. The figure stopped just out of his line of sight but Edgar caught a faint blur of movement out of the corner of his eye and instinctively he whipped out a wooden stake. Old habits die hard.
"Good way to get yourself staked Sam." He growled. His tone held a clear warning for Sam to stay back.
"Eeeeasy there compadre. After all the shit that you've pulled? I think you can at least hear me out. I feel like you owe me that." The tone of Sam's voice wasn't right. It was too sly, too slick.
Edgar squinted as he tried to make out Sam's face but Sam remained cloaked in the safety of the shadows.
"I don't have to hear anything. And I don't owe you anything." Edgar warned as his knuckles began to turn white. That bad feeling that he had been carrying around just went from bad to worse. He wasn't liking any of this.
"You sure about that Edgar?"
Sam slowly stepped forward and as he came closer Edgar could make out the prominent ridge of his forehead.
Crap.
"Stay there!" Edgar barked his shoulders tense as the stake remained motionless in his hand, pointed directly at Sam. There were no quivering hands or knocking knees. Edgar was primed and ready to fight to the finish if Sam tried to pull anything.
With a menacing scowl etched onto his face Sam came to a halt when he reached the outer circle of light that was cast by the flickering light bulb. It was all too clear that the vampire in him is winning. The sharp brow and sadistic sneer on his face sent a chill down Edgar's spine. He looked just like Allan did when he was infected.
Sam stared Edgar down before his attention shifted from Edgar's face down to the pointed end of the stake. So this was Edgar's idea of helping out a friend huh?
"You don't want it to go down like this." It was as if Edgar read Sam's mind. It wasn't that hard. Sam's eyes gave him away. Even from where he was standing Edgar could see that despite the facial deformity there was still some human left in the Emerson. His eyes, however piercing, were still they're usual baby blue. He's hasn't fed yet. There was still a chance they could beat this thing. But it was going to be up to Sam to make that decision. Edgar couldn't do it for him.
"Ohhhh it's goin' down like this."
Sam pulled back his lips and bared his fangs at the Frog, giving Edgar a damn good look at a mouthful of jagged teeth. It looked like he wasn't going to take his old friend's work of caution. Sam was too damn hungry to even consider it. At the edge of his rope, any thoughts of self-preservation and reserve were frayed to the point that he wasn't able to control himself even if he wanted to. The urge to maul and feed was just too damn strong. Sam wanted to feed. Edgar stood in his way. Someone was going to get hurt.
"I'm warning you." Edgar instinctively shifted into a fighter's crouch, lowering his center of gravity as he raised the stake at shoulder level, aiming it right at Sam's chest. He didn't want to do this. They still had a chance to save him. But if Sam was going to go off the deep end Edgar had no choice but to take him out before somebody got killed. Sometimes Edgar Frog Vampire hunter really hated his life.
"C'mon Sam don't do this. Please." Edgar mentally pleaded, his eyes locked on Sam's as he waited half a heartbeat for half-vampires reaction. Sam was still in there. Edgar knew it. His brother had gone to the edge but had pulled back in time and ended David's reign of chaos over Santa Carla. Sam could do it to. He had to.
Sam's eyes narrowed as his sneer morphed into an animalistic snarl.
"Man, I'm trembling."
The dice had been cast. There was no going back now.
Edgar's roar of regret met Sam's demonic snarl of hunger head on as the two men threw themselves at each other, each one aiming to kill the other with the first blow.
