Thanks Zelinia and Lil Cwick for all the feedback. I appreciate all the interest and the reviews. I hope that Chapter 4 keeps the story interesting. Let me know either way. :)
Chapter 4
They'd gotten bold.
This street on the wrong side of LA is swarming with vampires. In a place that hasn't seen human law enforcement in a very long time. If there are humans here they are familiars, or food.
Everything here is meant to be peddled to the undead and it is a display that neither Meg nor Blade ever thought they would see. Not only is Drake calling vampires to him, but he's imbued them with a sense of boldness that is frightening. These vampires are not afraid of anything.
Meg stops at the edge of the street, Blade is a few feet behind her his face expressionless.
"So it's time to make some noise."
"Yes."
A flicker of pain crosses her face. "I'm sorry."
He doesn't say anything. Meg didn't really expect him to. She closes her eyes and takes another step forward. This time she really is the bait and for the first time in her life she's uncertain about why she's agreed to this. She doesn't want to die anymore, and yet, Blade isn't giving her any other choice.
She emerges from the shadows and a few vamps glance up at her, curious.
She's dressed for battle. Black pants hung with silver stakes and leather boots with the shiny tips of her asps peeking out from each side. A sleeveless scarlet top and additional silver stakes around her waist. And on top of all of it, leather sleeves and gloves lined with silver spikes that connect by a slender buckle across her shoulders. She feels ridiculous, she's never hunted like this before, but all the glitter is a distraction and meant to keep the focus on her while the Nightstalkers move into position around the street.
"What have we got here?" A gigantic man detaches from one of the buildings, leering at Meg with a flash of canines. "A little girl with a death wish."
"Something like that." And Meg's first stake buries in the vamp's chest. His ash lighting up the street for a brief moment before the shouting starts.
"Why are you letting him push you into this?" Hannibal followed her into her room. She's not looking at him, not looking at much of anything except the black spots that keep dancing in front of her eyes telling her that she's going to die soon.
"We'll lose this war if Drake lives."
"This isn't the only solution. Dammit, Meg, you don't have to die."
She smiles sadly even though he can't see it. Hannibal always was too nice for his own good, he's never understood how eminently practical Blade could be. "But it's easier this way."
"Meg." He tries to touch her back and she twists away from the caress.
"Don't. You're in love with Abby, not me."
"I…" He wasn't expecting the truth from her. "Goddammit, I…I'm sorry."
"All my life I've never been what anyone wanted. With Cord, I wasn't a vampire. With Blade, I wasn't human enough. And with you, I'm not her. Maybe this is the best way to solve all our problems."
"No." This time he grabs a hold of her and spins her. Meg's never seen Hannibal angry and for a moment she realizes that he might just be growing up. "You can't give up."
The first flood of vampires is almost overwhelming. Meg is faster than she was, faster than any human has the right to be, but she's still staggering under the onslaught. Her asps are secure in the base of her hands and she telescopes them out with a brief snap of the wrist. Now they're a foot and a half of customized silver steel, sharpened to razor points and lethal in the hands of a master.
She spins, slashing at the vampires around her. Her movement leaving a trail of ash behind her. She punches one who gets to close and he staggers, taking several others down. Meg buries one asp in a vamp's chest and throws her stakes as fast as she can. Two miss, but three hit, ashing the vampires who've caught them. She ducks a sword aimed at her head and retrieves her asp, thrusting it up through the abdomen of the sword bearer. He screams and drops the sword as he flickers into fire and dies.
Others are realizing the danger they're in as the Nightstalkers and Blade come in from the sides. Some of Meg's attackers turn to deal with this new threat. Hannibal is wading into the thick of the street with his huge three-barreled shotgun. Blade is using his sword to carve a path and Abby is standing on the top of a truck and calmly picking off vampires with her bow. Every snap of the string is so powerful that Meg can hear it. There are others fighting as well, she can hear them, and see as Twist goes down underneath a horde of women with blood covering his face and chest.
She winces and fends off a hideous looking vampire transvestite. She hits him so hard that her asp punches all the way through him. A blow lands from behind before she can pull free and she goes to her knees in the midst of the battle.
She's dressing alone, Hannibal has given up on talking her out of what they're about to do. He tried and that alone makes Meg sad, no one else had bothered. She's buckling the heavy boots and securing the sheaths when she hears the door open.
"What?" The word comes out harsher than she meant it too.
"Every one who has gotten close to me has died. I don't know why I thought it would be different with you."
"You pushed all of those people away, Blade." She turns slowly to look at him and her heart breaks at the sight. For once he's removed his sunglasses so that he can look at her. Amber on amber. "You pushed me away."
"I told you that you were going to get yourself killed."
Her eyes narrow. "Yes, you did. It was always borrowed time then."
He reaches out for her and for a second Meg thinks that it might a peace offering. It's not. A tiny personal explosive device is nestled within his palm. She remembers that Whistler was working on them, a guarantee if someone was bitten, that they'd never rise to turn. It's obvious what use he intends it for.
"If this doesn't work. You know what you need to do."
"And you'll have me by remote if I don't."
He nods curtly. "Prove me wrong. Fight like you've never fought before."
She slips the bomb into her pocket and tries to think of the words she wants to say, but they slip out of her mind and fall flat on the floor, unspoken.
Her stumble should have been fatal but her attacker shrieks as an electronic bullet slices through his spinal cord and lights him up. Hannibal drags her to her feet and she wavers for a second before regaining her balance.
"No sleeping on the job!" He jokes as they start forward again.
Minutes pass. Yet for every vampire they ash, they are always more, and the humans are starting to get tired.
"Where are they coming from?"
Meg shrugs, which turns into a block and uppercut against another vampire hoodlum whose come against her. "Where are your light grenades?"
"Used 'em all." He grunts as he clotheslines two others.
She is reaching for another stake when she feels everything change.
"Hannibal." The word is said quieter than the ambient noise of the street but he hears her and looks back startled.
"What's…?"
"Run." Her skin crawls with the knowledge that they've been played for the fools. He knew she would come looking for him with Blade and the Nightstalkers at her side. It's a trap.
Vampires boil out of the darkness. Thousands of vampires against twelve humans, one Daywalker, and Meg - who no longer counts as either. The first wave crests against Blade who is fighting faster than the eye can follow. Every movement is utterly brutal and efficient, he kills with the same economy that he breathes.
Hannibal sprays the vampires around them with bullets as they start to retreat. Meg elbows a vampire in the head so hard that she punctures his eye with a silver quill from her sleeves and follows him. Their battle is turning quickly into a rout.
"There are too many!" He shouts at her.
"Go!" She shouts back. "Blade and I have…"
"Margaret." His deep voice chills her and she freezes.
Although it frightens her as much as it thrills her, she turns to look. Drake is walking toward her, brushing through the fighting as though it means nothing. He's abandoned the white shirt in favor of a darker look, black-on-black, and a dark chain around his neck. He looks much more serious now with the touch of grey in his hair, a reminder that this world is truly a threat to him.
"I remember you."
Meg is still frozen as a series of light bombs go off around them, blinding her for a moment. She blinks and when she looks up, he is still there.
"That's not my name." It's barely a whisper of protest but its all she can think to do.
He's already so close to her that he doesn't even have to move to touch her. She trembles as he slices through the leather buckle and peels the sleeves from her arms. His touch is so very gentle as he examines the empty stake sheath around her waist and cuts that free as well. And then, he reaches out and takes the asps from her hands and lets them fall as well.
"Get away from her!" Hannibal charges at them.
Drakes catches him around the throat, casually, without trying as his eyes remain focused on Meg. "You were a sacrifice. Why would he give you up so easily?"
With his free hand he reaches down and retrieves the small bomb.
Distantly Meg can hear Hannibal gasping for air, and the shouts of Blade and Abby as they try to reach her. Blade breaking through a wall of ash as he fights his way toward them.
Drake examines it and then crushes it between his fingers. The tiny metallic remnants falling between them. Then he starts to squeeze his hand around Hannibal's throat and this jars Meg out of her surprise.
"No," she reaches up and tries to pull Hannibal free. "No, not this."
He focuses those eyes on her and Meg realizes that she is losing this battle that was never really a battle at all.
"What do you see when you look at me?"
"A vampire." She hisses.
"I am so much more than that." He loosens his grip on Hannibal as he draws closer to her. His voice getting husky with emotion. "With me, Meg, you will never have to pretend."
The words echo through her skull.
Blade rocks away from her as she finally confesses the truth to him. He already knew it but had to hear it for himself. Meg is shaking as she whispers the words that mean her promise was broken but only at great cost. Her promise or her life, and she had chosen the way.
"After everything." He says quietly. "You would have hid this from me."
"Blade," she protests. "I had no choice. I was dying."
"If you feed the thirst you are no better than they are." He stands abruptly and turns away from her, his bare back covered in the intricate tattoos that are his life. She should have been included in there, but now, that hope vanished as quickly as fire dies without oxygen.
"I love you." It wasn't even a whisper.
"You're just like them. You don't deserve to live."
"What was I supposed to have done?" She screams at him. "You were the one who turned me!"
"You were supposed to be better than me."
Drake's words echo as though there was real weight to them and a tangible substance that she could feel. You will never have to pretend.
"Come with me." He extends his hand to her and Meg reaches for it automatically.
"No. Meg. Don't. Do." Hannibal chokes out.
Drake drops him, and as Hannibal hits the pavement, slashes out with razor edged nails. They cut through the soft tissue of Hannibal's neck and cheek and blood fountains out. He staggers back, grabbing at the wound, trips and falls.
Meg's scream shocks her into action and she dives for Hannibal, her hands pressing against the spurt of blood crashing into her palm. She fumbles for the coag he's carrying and tries to coat the wound with it, but there is so much blood that it's washing the chemical away faster than she can put it on. Blood is oozing between her fingers and she can't hear for the screaming in her head and the terrible fear that she's killed him.
"No. Oh god, Hannibal…"
He tries to speak but only blood pours out of his mouth.
"Shhh." She tries to press harder and feels one finger go through the membrane of his cheek. She fumbles again with the coag trying to get the entire wound as Drake reaches for her.
Hannibal tries to shout at the vampire as Drake draws Meg away from him, but he goes faint with the renewed pulse of blood and clamps his own fingers over the spot in desperation. His hands are too slippery and suddenly everything seems so incredibly difficult. Black dots start burning before his eyes. Blade and Abby are still fighting their way toward him even as the vampire forces begin to withdraw.
He's barely hanging on as he hears Abby screaming his name. He looks toward Meg. Her amber eyes are full of tears and they spill over her cheeks to mix with the blood that is streaked all over her. And in a way, he's glad that she's leaving, as another ounce of blood pushes past his fingers and he collapses into darkness.