Two Become One
Chapter 11: Maxine
Charley stared at the vampires that were closing on them. They were too close for him to use the crossbow rifle and for Lyra to use her stake gun. He could see that both Tyler and Lyra were reaching for other weapons. No one seemed sure on who should make the first movie.
Charley let out a grunt and kicked at one of the advancing vampires. Two more closed on him and he slammed the front of his weapon in the demon's chest, piercing through the undead flesh and shoving straight into the heart. He didn't even wait for the body to start to decay before he pulled it back out and jabbed it at another vampire. He felt two pairs of hands on him and he turned to see two more of the demonic creatures as they grabbed onto him. He kicked back but they held fast.
Tyler had used his nunchuku weapons against the vampires as he kicked and chopped. He dusted one vampire before he kicked at another ducked the attack from a third, jabbed a fourth that came from behind with his elbow and dusted the vampire he originally avoided.
Lyra was doing even better than they were. She crouched down as two vampires advanced on her and jumped up as they were about to grab her. She slammed her fist into the face of one and slammed her stake into the chest of the other before she dodged another and used a few kicks to knock another off his game. She shot a fourth with the gun and used it to shoot one of the ones that she had blocked. She shot again and missed but used her stake to take care of it.
Charley gathered all of his strength and wrenched his left arm free. He grabbed another stake that was on him and stabbed one in the chest. He was about to stab at the other one when it turned into dust.
"Nice shot," Tyler commented.
"Thanks," Lyra said as she lowered the gun. "Ronnie." She ran to the edge of the pit and looked down. "Ronnie? Ace? Xander? Faith?" Not a single person shouted back.
"Ace, Ronnie," Tyler called down.
Charley crouched down and tried to see into the gap. "Xander!" He shouted down into the pit only to be answered by his own echo followed by something rustling. "Xander? Faith?"
Something large and purple jumped out. Charley threw both kids to the floor away from the pit and narrowly avoided the creature landing on him.
"What the hell?" Tyler asked.
The creature was running towards them. It looked like a spider but with five legs. The beast jumped.
Lyra kicked at it before it could land and she threw herself down onto it and tried to pin it.
"What is that thing?" Tyler asked.
"I have no idea," Charley said as Lyra continued to struggle to keep it pinned. "Help her keep it still."
Tyler grabbed the other end and held down. The two free legs of the creature were still thrashing about. Charley used his stake and slammed it down in the middle of the creature, causing dark purple liquid to burst up and spatter his nose and hair.
"Demon creatures," Lyra said. The juice from the beast and created a fat streak across the upper half of her face. Some it got onto her bangs. "I hope this washes out with shampoo."
"Almost looks like a mask," Tyler commented.
"A mask," Lyra repeated. She smiled for a second before she stood up. "Another one."
Charley turned around to see a vampire coming from a doorway. He aimed his weapon at the creature as Tyler threw several small silver objects at it. The pieces of metal smoked upon impact that monster cried out in pain. Charley fired a bolt into the demon's chest. Killing it instantly.
"Good shot," Tyler said.
"Thank you," Charley told him. "What were those things you threw at him?"
"Ninja star crosses," Tyler explained. "Made them myself. I got the idea from a web comic."
"The others," Lyra said as she stared down the hole. "Anyone got a light?"
"I always bring one," Charley said. He handed her the flashlight. "You look. I'll make sure nothing is coming down." He stared at the entrance where the last vampire came from while the other two used the light to seek out the others.
"They are not there," Tyler said.
"No but there is a hole in the wall," Lyra said. "Maybe they crawled through there."
"Maybe," Charley said. "We need to keep moving."
Xander groaned the second they had landed from the drop. The pain wasn't too bad but the worse feeling was the slippery cool fluid that was soaking his butt and his legs from where he sat. The basement or trap or pit or whatever it was had an inch of fluid covering the bottom.
"Wow," Faith said in nonchalant tone. "An actual trap door."
"Shit man," Ace said. He had already risen to his feet and was splashing around. "What the hell kind of place is this? Their faces change and they open a hole in the floor. What the hell is this shit?"
"Ace," Xander tried to speak calmly to the boy.
"No," Ace said and continued to pace around. "What the hell? What the hell is this shit?"
"Ace as much as I love your Bill Paxton impression from Aliens you need to chill," Ronnie told him.
"I am not going to just chill," Ace said. He was standing still but there was the sound of something crawling around in the water. "There is some weird shit going on and I'm in the middle of it and you guys are acting way too calm."
"Ace, you have to list—aaaah." Ronnie screamed when something jumped on her, setting Ace off into another freak out.
Faith tore the creature off and slammed down onto the floor when she stabbed at it with her stake. The creature stopped moving. Another creature jumped on her.
Xander felt two more of the things land on him. He struggled to get the stake out of one coat pocket and the dagger out of the other. Needle like barbs stabbed at him and he realized it was coming from the mouths of the creatures, wherever that might be located. He grabbed one and stabbed it with his knife. It stopped moving. He stabbed the other one. As another landed on him. Xander disposed of it and kicked at two more that tried to jump on him.
"Ronnie," he called out her.
The poor girl was trying to keep the creatures from landing on her and Ace by smacking them away with her water gun and kicking them.
Xander ran up to her and while he tried keep more of the beasts from jumping on him. He used his knife and impaled another one as it tried to jump on him.
"Shit," Ace cried out and repeated the word several times while he used his arms to shield his head and thrashed out with his legs.
"Take this." Xander handed the stake to Ronnie as two more creatures landed on his back. He spun around and grabbed another and kicked at two others. He used his knife to stab at another. He felt one being removed from his back. He shook around and thrashed and grabbed the last one and stabbed it with his knife.
"My first kill," Ronnie said as she dropped the dead creature that she had stabbed with the borrowed stake.
"First kill?" Ace asked. He screamed when another creature leapt at him. He smacked it down and jumped up at the same time. He landed on the creature while another one landed on him. Still screaming he ripped it off him and pinned it against the wall.
"And now second," Ronnie said as she stabbed at the creature.
Xander did not feel any more on him but he did hear a few more scurrying towards him. He jumped onto one of the creatures and caught the other as it jumped. After he had stabbed both he turned around to face the kids.
"Oh god," Ace was staring at what looked like a pocketknife in his hands. The creature he had killed was only a few inches from him.
"Ignore him," Ronnie said. "How's Faith?"
"Faith," Xander whispered. He nearly forgot about her.
"Don't worry about me," Faith said. "I'm five by five." She was surrounded by several of the creatures corpses.
"What the hell?" Ace asked. He pointed at one of the dead creatures. "What the hell is that thing and what the hell is going on?"
"Ace, I'm sorry," Xander told him. "We didn't want you to really find out. We were hoping you would stick with Ronnie and Tyler and they would keep you preoccupied while the rest of us takes care of Maxine."
"What?" Ace stared at him and blinked.
"Ace look into my eyes." Ronnie grabbed at his head and stared into his eyes. "Vampires are real they turned Cheryl into a vampire and she killed her family and we had to stake her because that wasn't the Cheryl we knew but a demon that killed her and took over her corpse. Lyra recently became a Slayer like Faith. They are both girls with super powers that is capable of killing vampires. We are here to take out the vampire queen." She said it all in a heartbeat.
"Ace, you are going to have to stay close to us," Xander told him. "We need to get out of here."
"Hole." Faith pointed to the opposite wall. "I think it's where those things came in." She stuck her fist into a small hole. "I think I can make it bigger." She tore out chunks of plaster, making the hole even bigger. "Let's go."
"I'll take the rear," Xander said.
"Were they expecting us?" Ronnie asked as she led Ace to the large hole.
"Or someone like us," Xander answered. He followed after the two kids. "Unless they had some really bad customers."
Charley wasn't sure what he had felt when he, Lyra and Tyler walked up the stairway that the employees used. They had already walked up past the second story of the perfume shop and were on their way past the restaurant. Charley felt a little bit of fear. There was also the chill of uncertainty. A part of him wanted to take Lyra's hand, but every time he had thought about getting close to her he could hear Regine in his mind. Charley was not going to kill her, or feed off of her, or turn her.
"So what's the plan?" Tyler asked.
"Don't really have any," Charley said.
"I was thinking we confront Maxine and take out every minion of hers that tries to attack us," Lyra suggested.
"That sounds like a good plan," Tyler said.
"We best keep quiet," Charley said as they neared the apartment at the top of the stairs.
There were three vampires guarding the entrance. All three were quickly taken out. Both Charley and Lyra fired their weapons at the vamps and Tyler took out the third with his sharpened Nunchukus.
"That was a little too easy," Charley said as he pushed open the door.
He was right. As soon as they stepped into the room they could see about fifteen more vampires with their faces set into the demon mugs. They were standing in front of a woman stretched out on a fancy couch. She had long dark hair and full lips and a bored expression on her face. She looked like she was caught in the middle of doing a shoot for Victoria's secret. She was wearing a bra and panties and a semi see through bathrobe.
"Maxine," Lyra addressed her enemy.
"Slayer," Maxine said as she sat up. "About damned time you showed up." She licked her lips. "With such tasty treats." She pointed at Tyler. "Food for my minions." She pointed at Charley. "A new salty goodness to take to bed with me." She smacked the closest minion next to her. "How come none of you told me she's got someone this hot with her?"
"My friends are not food," Lyra said coldly. "Nor are you going to turn any of them into vampires."
Charley couldn't help but to smile. Not a single one of them knew that he was already a vampire, albeit a different kind of vampire.
"Tough shit , Shortcake," Maxine said. "Let her through and take her friends." She pulled a staff out of the stands that had a curved blade at the end that looked like the letter G. "Come get me." Her face shifted.
Lyra dropped the gun and picked up her stake and ran towards Maxine. She dodged the first two strikes while She struck against the weapon with her stake.
Her minions advanced on to Charley and Tyler. The teenager threw both handfuls of his ninja star crosses and holy water balloons on the advancing horde while Charley shot his bolts at them. He knew it wasn't going to be enough.
The demonic vampires came close and he smacked one in the face with the weapon and he dodged two more. He pulled his stake out and struck one of the creatures in the chest. He tried to strike again but was blocked and when he tried to wench free another vampire grabbed his arm. He tried to kick at them but they had a firm hold on him.
Tyler grunted and almost sounded like he was trying to growl as he tried to wrench himself free from the group of vampires that held him.
Lyra was still going head to head with Maxine, but the fight looked like it was a standstill and unless Lyra created one Hail Mary pass of a move they were going to lose.
"Could you possibly not be more annoying or boring?" Maxine asked as she fought.
"I don't know," Lyra said as she deflected another blow. "Could you possibly even dress more like a slut?"
Charley glared into the eyes of one of the vampire's that held him. He felt his canines lengthen into fangs and knew his eyes had also changed.
"Get the hell away from him," the voice of the boy called Ace cried out followed by a crash. Charley retracted his fangs and turned to see the boy land on two of the vampires that held Tyler and began to wail on them with his fists.
A geyser of water shot out of the ceiling and struck several of the vampires that were holding Tyler. Ronnie jumped down and continued to soak the creatures while they burned up.
Faith was the next one to follow. The second she had landed she sprung up and fought. She smacked at another vampire with her cross bow and kicked another in the gut. She ran up to Charley. Grabbed the stake he was holding and used it to dust a couple of the vampires.
Xander dusted another. "Sorry we were late."
Charley grabbed his second stake and used it to dust another. "Don't mention it."
"Lyra," Ronnie gasped. Together with Ace and Tyler they had dusted the other vampires.
"Don't worry," Faith said. "Little Star is getting help from Big F." She aimed her crossbow at Maxine and fired.
The bolt struck the vampire right on her left breast.
"What the hell?" Maxine stared up at Faith. "You shot me in the tits you bitch."
It enough of a distraction for Lyra to disarm her. Lyra pulled out the bolt and shoved it back into her chest, right into her heart.
"You didn't aim for her chest on purpose," Xander accused.
Faith shrugged. "She needs to kill her first Big Bad."
"Ya!" Ace cried. He had his hands balled into fists. "Who are the big bad monsters? Huh? Where are you now? You are dust, that is what you are. You all just had your asses handed to you on a silver platter."
"What the hell?" Tyler asked.
"He's just over stimulated," Ronnie rolled her eyes. "He just needs someone to knock him out and put him to bed."
Charley ignored them. He went straight to Lyra. She was now leaning against the couch.
"Are you out of breath?" Charley asked her.
"No," Lyra said. "It's just now that it is over I feel like I should be doing this."
"I understand," Charley said. "Since it is over will you still continue to slay?"
Lyra shrugged. "If there is evil then I will continue to fight. What about you?"
"Fight if I have to. I would like to see you again. If you feel that you are ready."
"I am." She smiled. "Now their leader is dead. I am going to take on the forces of evil a little bit differently now. Just have to squeeze in some time in my upcoming hectic lifestyle. Especially since I have to tackle something even scarier."
"And that is?"
"School."
"Yeah that was pretty scary." He continued to stare at her face. Even with a few droplets and splatters of monster goo she was still pretty. He wondered if he should kiss her or if he should just hug her.
The sound of a cell phone going off decided for him. He noticed there was one on the floor.
"Is that yours?" Lyra asked.
"I was about to ask if that was yours," Charley said as he picked it up. He pressed the button and held the phone to his ear.
"Maxine," a smooth voice greeted on the other end. "Have you taken care of the Slayers?"
Charley hung up.
"Who was that?"
"Her Calvin Kline supplier," Charley answered. "It's nothing."
"Hey Unicorn Boy, Little Star," Faith called after them. "Are you ready to go?"
"We are ready," Lyra rose to her feet.
"Very," Charley added. He checked the last number to call and saw it had the local area code. He placed the phone into one of his pockets.
"This felt like it was too quick," Xander said as they left the apartment. "It felt like it was more of a mini boss."
"Don't be harshing on our squee," Faith said. "Don't worry guys we won."
"It's just they usually start causing trouble in September and we defeat them around May or June," Xander continued. "I'm not used to it being over this soon."
Charley had felt like he was going to regret the fact that he showed Regine the phone and told her it was the leader of the demonic vamps. He just knew that she was going to do something and he didn't want to alarm Lyra. He wanted her to relax a little bit.
"You have made me proud, Charley," Regine said as they were about to enter the home of the real vampire leader. "I get to meet a legendary magician and take care of a possible threat at the same time."
The door opened and a man wearing a dark red silk shirt and long blond hair. "The enigmatic Regine." The man had a rich and velvety voice. It was the same voice on the phone. "You honor me with your visit. Please come inside."
"I admire your graciousness," Regine said as she entered the home of the magician. "You do have a fabulous home."
"Thank you. I hope I do not seem rude to you, but I do wonder why you are honoring me with this visit tonight."
"I have longed to meet you," Regine held out her hand and he kissed it. "We have something in common."
"We are both entertainers," the magician said.
"That and much more." Her eyes glowed red and her fangs extended.
"What are you?" Strix asked as his face shifted.
"What you claim to be," Regine said. "We could forget this and form a truce."
"I like the sound of that." Strix smiled.
"I do have one question," Regine said as she stroked his chest. "How was it possible that you were able to reflect?"
"Cameras, they projected my image on the mirror, made it look real."
"That is what I needed to know." She leaned forward as if to kiss him. "We may be the same but we are also different." She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close, right into the stake she held. "For example. We can both be killed the same way but we die differently." She said to the figure of dust before it dissipated.
Several minions rushed to attack them. Bosworth killed a handful and Belle managed to stake a few more while Charley took care of the rest. A few more approached them slowly and stopped.
"We had to make an example," Regine said. "Charley you and Bosworth can wait in the car for me."
Charley said nothing, only glared at the three remaining vamps before he followed the ghoul out of the house. He had no idea what Regine was about to do, but he knew he regretted informing her.
