Much appreciation to everyone who reviewed my little story, I didn't think it would get as much attention as it has. Thank you MJ Rosemary for bringing my attention to the fact my short summery was cut off from the title page. Here it is in its entirety: AbbigailKing: Possibly an "R" rating in the future...After the destruction and massacre of the Honeycomb. Abby, King, and Zoë try to cope and with new Vampire Cells moving in, it won't be easy. Can King ensure the safety of the one who once saved him? Or will what's left of the Nightstalkers run out of time.
Not much added to it but that's the summery. I promise that the chapter after this will be longer and include more action and violence. Hopefully the story will pick up from there and more of the plot will be explained. Keep tuned in…
For now, I leave you Chapter 2: Breakdown
I met King in the sub-basement of the Honeycomb. I have to force myself to walk past the storage area where I found Sommerfield hanging there like Jesus on the cross. The images that come to mind make my blood run cold. King was at her old desk sorting through designs and prototypes. This one in particular resembled a grenade made completely of silver with a claw-like attachment that also sprayed an atomized silver and garlic mixture. I cleared my throat and picked up my UV arc to inspect it. King brought over a handful of parts and set them on the desk beside where I was standing.
"I need you to reconfigure the UV laser point that attaches to my gun. It kind of shattered when those vampires decided to dog pile me."
He picked up the remains of the laser and smashed it on the side as if it were a flashlight with the batteries going dead, then brought it eyelevel to double check. I looked at him skeptically.
"Are you sure it was the vampires?"
"See, if you press this…"
"King…I wouldn't…."
Too late. The beam came on, shining directly in his eye. He dropped it instantly, let out a scream, and immediately started to cuss.
"Goddamn it! My eye…"
I didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for him because his brief lack of intelligence. I decided to laugh.
"You overzealous son of a bitch…"
I picked up the laser and shut it off and I walked over to King who was rubbing his eye.
"Come here, let me have a look."
"I'm blind!"
"Oh you are not! Now, sit."
He obeyed still groaning and I crouched down in front of him. I pulled his hands away from his face and rubbed them soothingly.
"Can you open them for me?"
He tried and all I got was a wince before they closed and started tear up. I put both of my hands on his face and murmured softly trying to coax him to relax. I found that even with King, being gentle when he's hurt is the most effective way to solve the problem at hand. Not to mention, at times he was so much like a child trapped in a powerful body. I ran my thumb over his brow, leaned in closer, and whispered to him.
"Come on… try again."
He finally opened them and blinked a few times. His voice was gruff and low when he spoke.
"All I see are green fucking dots."
I smiled. Even though he was upset, the anger was gone from his voice and now he seemed a little embarrassed.
"Next time, make sure there is a magnifying lens in front of the laser to refract the light and redirect the beam. I'll tell you what, why don't you go rest your eyes and I'll tinker around with some of the weaponry?"
He just nodded and I led him over to Gidge's old sleeping quarters located just a chair roll away from his computer station. I propped him up in the bed and placed the covers on him. He put his forearm over his eyes. With a ruffle of his hair I turned to leave before he grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
"Thanks Abby."
"No problem, just no more playing with your toys till after your nap."
I fixed the laser and reattached it to King's Beefeater. After that I went back to Gidge's station to pull up the schematic on my bow when some interesting file names caught my attention. I decided to open one titled Abby Archangel. It opened a picture file and I saw Gidge, Dex, Hedges, Zoë, Sommerfield, Me, and King smiling. It was when they gave me my bow. I was aiming it at the camera. I forgot that Gidge took pictures from his digital camera. As I went through the remaining pictures I immediately became overwhelmed with sadness and so violently angry at the same time. I shutdown the computer, grabbed my bow, and headed over to my target practice room. Even though we had killed the one's who took their lives, I still wasn't satisfied. Like them, I wanted blood. I wanted all of them to suffer. I pictured Danica and Drake with every arrow that I pulled. As the hour passed my anger fueled its self as I screamed with rage as the last arrow hit, shattering any power record I held before.
"Whistler?!"
King ran in screaming for me, guns drawn, and body poised, ready to fight. He stared at me confused for a moment while I looked back at him with tears staining my cheeks. He saw that I was in no immediate danger so he relaxed his posture and approached me cautiously. Not a word needed to be said as my body slumped against the adjacent wall, defeated. I crumbled into a ball, shaking furiously. King was at my side instantly, rubbing my shoulders. He stayed silent for ages it seemed as my muffled sobbing echoed off the barren walls. Then he spoke.
"You can't let these demons take you down with them Abbigail. You'll just become a shell of the little Hellion I know and love. And I'll be Goddamned if I'm going to let that happen. Besides I need you....who else is going to put up with me? If you left me with Zoë, she'd kick me out in a week. Tops."
At that comment I laughed a little but knew he was serious because he rarely called me Abbigail. He pulled me to rest my forehead against his and looked me in the eyes with his red and somewhat puffy ones, mine not looking so much different from his.
"See there… What a pair we make huh? Abby, we're a mess without each other. Without you I'd blow myself up, or lose an eye. Not to mention I'd still be a bloodsucking carrion-whore for Danica Talos."
He visibly shuttered at the mere thought of that.
"You're all I have left Sugar tits."
I laughed aloud and socked him in the shoulder and he genuinely smiled. Then he turned serious once more.
"I mean it, you're all I have."
I ran a hand across his cheek under his injured eye and opened my mouth to speak but my voice came out dry and cracked.
"How are your eyes?"
He just shrugged it off.
"They still sting a bit, but I'll be fine. You should ask about my heart. You nearly gave me a heart attack screaming that way. I thought someone was attacking you. Don't you ever scare me like that again."
Without warning the lights began to flash and alarms went off signaling trouble. Zoë ran down with Dash, our new driver right behind her. King and I jumped up and headed over to the security systems. I tapped into the cameras just in time to see 3 guys of medium build jump over our perimeter fence. King picked Zoë up and stood behind me. I could hear him talking beneath his breath.
"Fucking familiars…"
I turned and exchanged a glance with Dash and King handed Zoë over to him. I stood up and looked her in the eye.
"Zoë, Dash is going to take you to the safe place we talked about okay? King and I have to take care of some loose-ends but it won't take long. I promise."
She looked at me with fear hidden in her eyes.
"You promise you're coming back?"
King grabbed his fixed Beefeater, winked thanks at me and put it in his holster.
"You betcha kiddo… I won't let anything bad happen to us. Think of it like we have to go take out the trash."
"We'll be back soon Zoë, I promise."
I grabbed her little pinky with mine and kissed it, sealing the promise. Dash left swiftly with her in his arms. King helped me prepare, since he was already geared up. He slid my quivers onto my back and packed down my UV arc and bow. I however, put my thigh holsters on myself and locked the pistols in. With a final cock of his barrels King said,
"Let's go see who's working for Daddy now…"