Heya fans.
We're approaching my favourite time of the year once again! Halloween! I always look forward to it! Love it when things get scary!
Anyway, sorry for the wait on a cliffhanger, hope this was worth the wait!
Chapter Thirty
Saving You
Ten minutes earlier...
Annie Rice drove her white car as she listened to the radio, she was feeling really tired and couldn't wait to get home after her shift.
Maddie had taken over the night shift in the diner and had brought a sleepy Claudia with her, and taking care not to wake the child, had helped Annie place her in the back seat so they could drive home.
Annie sighed.
Once again it had been a long stressful shift and if her boss wasn't shouting orders at her, she was trying to do as well a service as possible so she could gather as many tips as she could on top of her wages.
Luckily she had managed to get a generous helping of tips and she decided to put that money aside so she can Claudia could have a day out when she wasn't working.
Looking in her rear view mirror, she could see Claudia sleeping in the back, clutching her teddy bear, her golden curls framing her pretty face as she slept.
"It was such a long shift." she said "Sometimes they get unbearable, but everytime I think of you, I know the reason I do it!"
She smiled lovingly at her child then looked back through the windscreen, trying focus hard on getting home so she could get Claudia and herself to bed...
The Present...
Rex and Tyroth watched in horror and helplessness as they saw the Van start to swerve then head towards the white car as it cruised towards them around the corner.
"Oh Fuck!" Rex whispered.
"By the Gods!" Tyroth breathed.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the lorry and the car collided head on with each other! The the White Car flipped over before doing a couple of spins and landed upside down on the side of the narrow road!
At the same time the lorry slammed into a lamppost and Diablo was thrown off the bonnet and into a dark alleyway.
"Diablo!" Rex shouted as he jumped down and looked around at the chaos! "Holy shit!" he gasped.
He looked at the lorry driver who was slumped over the wheel, the windscreen shattered and smoke was billowing from under the bonnet.
He then looked towards the white car and saw who, or rather who was inside.
As much as the Doberman wanted to see if Diablo was alright, he was starting to get drawn to the passangers in the white car, especially as he saw a teddy bear was sticking out of the shattered side window.
A sick feeling filled in Rex's gut as he ran over and investigated and it was then he was horrified to discover Annie and Claudia inside.
Annie was sprawled in a manged position, blood pouring from her mouth and ears, and she was hanging from her seat belt upside down.
Rex felt tears in his eyes as he looked at her then he looked over to Claudia before reaching out to see if he could feel for any signs of life.
Claudia was laying on the roof of the car, her blonde hair was soaked in blood and her eyes were closed.
Rex swallowed the sick feeling in his gut as he touched Claudia's hand and to his surprise he felt a pulse!
Then Claudia opened her mouth and coughed up blood and mucus, as well as jerked!
At the same time, Rex's nose waffled as he soon smelt something strong and felt something wet pooling around the car.
"Shit!" Rex cried recongising that it was petrol and that the car could catch fire and explode!
Without a second thought the Doberman reached in and began to pull Claudia's body out of the car!
"Get away from there!"
Rex's heart leapt to his throat as he heard Tyroth's voice and he quickly pulled Claudia out of the car along with her teddy bear and held her close just as the Dragon flew towards him!
"NO!" Rex shouted as he rolled away from the car and leapt to his feet.
"Leave her alone!" Tyroth shouted as he landed in front of Rex.
Rex glared and held Claudia close to him.
"Get away from me Dragon!" he said "Get away from me! You won't take her from me!"
"Be reasonable Dog!" Tyroth barked "Stop and think!"
Rex narrowed his eyes then he looked across to the car as he saw it was beginning to catch fire!
"Shit!" he cried then started to move away "Duck and cover!"
Tyroth looked across to the burning car and his eyes widened in horror, then before the Dragon could move, the car exploded and the shock-wave sent him flying backwards into the crashed lorry!
At the same Time Rex had run to the alleyway he had seen Diablo fly into and he was also knocked over by the shock-wave!
As he hit the floor, Rex held Claudia tightly and shielded her from the wave, the feeling reminding him of the bombs when he was serving in Iraq and Syria.
He lay there keeping her close and breathed heavily as the explosion rang in his ears and the painful memories from his time in the army came back to him.
Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he practically jumped out of his skin!
Opening his eyes he looked up to see Diablo looking down on him!
"Diablo!" he cried.
"Dammit Rex!" Diablo said "Are you hurt?"
"No!" Rex shook his head "Are you?"
"Just grazed luckily." Diablo scoffed pulling the doberman to his feet "Luckily because of the water, we heal faster than normal!"
Rex nodded then looked at Claudia in his arms.
"Who is that?" the Raven demanded.
"I saved her!" Rex said "I got her out of the wreckage of that car that blew up!"
Diablo looked out of the alleyway at the chaos.
"Shit..." he said swallowing hard "What have I done?"
"Sir, it wasn't your fault!" Rex said "That police officer tasered your foot! He made you fall! If he hadn't tasered you, this wouldn't have happened!"
Diablo took a breath as he looked at the wreckage of the car and the crashed lorry and he soon saw Tyroth crawling dazed from being thrown back.
"Shit!" he said "We have to move! Come on!" He opened his wings, then grabbed Rex's shoulders with his taloned feet before taking off into the air, the doberman still holding Claudia close to him.
Meanwhile Tyroth shook off stars as he stood up and looked around at the chaos.
"Fuck!" he breathed as he looked around then saw the burning car and the crashed lorry, he knew without a doubt that whoever was in the white car was dead. Yet he was unsure about the lorry driver.
Standing there in shock and lost in thought, he saw Hugh running over to him and the police officer was frozen in shock.
"Hugh..." Tyroth said, finally finding his voice.
"Shit..." Hugh said "I...I saw the whole thing! Oh damn..." he quickly took out his walkie talkie and spoke into it.
"This is Hugh Beauregard urgently requesting medical assistance and back up at North Street East Chicago! I repeat! Requested Medical Assistance and Back up right now!"
As the Police officer was requesting back up, Tyroth just stood frozen on the spot not believing what had just happened and he wondered if he was to blame for what had happened, having chased Diablo and not grabbed him thus maybe avoiding the accident.
"Tyroth!"
The Dragon jumped and looked to Hugh who was pointing upwards.
"Get out of here!" he ordered
Tyroth swallowed hard, he wanted to fly away, yet his feet seemed stuck to the ground.
"Tyroth!" Hugh shouted "Leave! Get out of here! Before the humans see you!"
Tyroth soon came to his senses and opened his wings.
"Hugh..." he said.
"Just leave this to me!" Hugh ordered "Trust me! I'll be in touch as soon as I can!"
Tyroth nodded then without hesitation he flapped his wings and took off into the sky to fly back to Mutopia, tears erupting from his eyes.
Meanwhile, Samson and Chastity were in their new hideout, with Dale tied to a beam.
The man was still knocked out yet covered in bruises and blood from when Chastity and Diablo had beaten him up and tortured him.
Chastity took a sip of whisky as she looked at her former abuser.
"Once Diablo arrives," she said "I'll continue to have more fun with that bastard!" she gestured to Dale.
Samson nodded in agreement.
"Couldn't agree more." he said "Yet I still say that I wish I had known about what he did to you, then I would have done something."
Chastity looked down.
"In hindsight." she said "I could have told you everything, but Dale had control over me, and he made his threats and promises, I was too scared."
"I understand hun." Samson comforted placing a hand on the Dove's shoulder "But I promise you from here and now, I'll always take care of you, and make sure no-one hurts you! You're under the protection myself, Rex and Diablo!"
As he mentioned the Raven and Doberman, the Panther looked to the windows.
"I hope they're alright." he thought.
After about five minutes, the Dove and Panther soon saw a shadow fall over them and they saw Diablo and Rex fly through an open window.
"You're back!" Samson said in relief.
"What happened?" Chastity asked.
"That Dragon and his Police officer friend cornered us!" Diablo confirmed "But once again, we got away!"
"Thank goodness." Samson said "They didn't follow you did they?"
"No, luckily!" Diablo said.
Samson and Chastity nodded then they saw Claudia in Rex's arms.
"What the heck?" Samson questioned.
"Whose that?" Chastity asked.
"Rex acquired a survivor from a car crash." Diablo answered, the guilt panging at him as he thought of the accident.
"What happened?" Chastity asked as she tired to get a closer look at Claudia.
"It's a long story." Diablo said "But first, we must attend to the girl."
"Please, Allow me." Chastity requested "Bring her over here!"
Rex followed Chastity to where they had set up their sleeping bags and he lay Claudia down onto one of them whilst Chastity began to analyse her.
"Jesus Christ." Samson said as he looked upon the child "She's no older than six."
Diablo nodded.
"Rex pulled her out of a burning car, managed to get her out before the car exploded."
"What a hero." Samson said "Once a heroic Soldier."
"Always a heroic soldier." Diablo agreed.
Chastity felt Claudia's body all over and used a torch to look into the child's eyes as well as the wounds she had sustained.
"How is she?" Re asked nervously "Is...is she going to be okay?"
Chastity looked grim.
"It doesn't look good." she said "She's hit her head really hard, I think she has some broken ribs and a punctured lung, due to the blood coming from her mouth."
"No..." Rex said "No way."
"Poor child..." Samson whispered softly.
Diablo sighed feeling guilty, then he looked towards his backpack and had an idea.
Rex stroked Claudia's head and tears fell from his eyes.
"No..." he sobbed softly "I...I failed to save you."
Samson instantly knelt down and placed a hand on Rex's shoulder.
"No mate." he said "You did what you could."
Chastity also placed her hand on Rex's for comfort.
"Of course you did!" she said with a small smile "You're a true hero! Just like your army days!"
Rex looked down and swallowed hard.
"It was for naught!" he lamented "She's so badly hurt!"
"No Soldier!" The three mutants looked up and Diablo appeared with the water bottle filled with water from the well.
"Is isn't too late." the Raven announced.
"Diablo..." Chastity said softly.
"No!" Rex said "No...we...we can't! She's just a little girl!"
"A little girl that is on the brink of death, or so seriously injured she will never be the same again!" Diablo stated then looked at Chastity.
"Well?" he asked.
Chastity looked at Claudia then up at the Raven and she nodded.
"That is true." she said "If we were to get her to a hospital, she'll never be the same again if she lives, her wounds are far too severe!"
Rex opened his mouth and closed it again.
Samson squeezed Rex's shoulder.
"Listen mate." he said "If we mutate her, we can take care of her, and teach her to be a disciple, and help others by punishing sinners!"
"And I will reveal to you, in Mutopia there are mutant children." Diablo said "I came across a few of them, and they are healthy and well looked after, if they can look after their young, so can we."
Rex swallowed hard as he looked at Claudia.
As much as he was heartbroken that she could die or if she lived she would live the life of a cripple, or brain damaged, he also felt so sorry for her that she had lost her mother, and if she did continue to live as a human, she would live with the fact that she was now an orphan, and where would she go, if she had no other family?
Also, in a way, he felt a sense of responsibility towards the child and since he now had her in his possession he didn't want to let her go, yet they couldn't keep her human due to her condition.
After a few seconds of contemplating, the Doberman looked up at Diablo.
"Okay..." he said "Give her the water."
Diablo gave a nod and a smile then knelt down beside Claudia who coughed and spluttered up blood.
Chastity winced slightly yet watched as Diablo took the lid off the bottle and poured a few small drops into the child's bloodied up mouth.
Rex held his breath and Samson held his hands as they stepped back.
As soon as the water dripped into Claudia's mouth the child began to writhe and wince as the water began to take effect! She arched her back and clawed her hands then her skin began to change as fur began to grow, then her ears began to move upwards to her head and grow long a slightly pointed!
Long sharp claws began to grow from her fingers and then her shoulders began to pulse as if something was trying to get out!
Chastity stepped back as she saw a pair of leathery wings emerge from Claudia's back and throw her onto her front.
As that happened, Claudia yet out a scream as the wings emerged fully and opened up, as she did so, the four mutants noticed that her mouth contained two sharp fangs as well as rows of small razor sharp teeth.
Before long, Claudia stopped screaming and she lay still on the ground.
Rex and Chastity stepped over and analysed the child's new form.
"A flyer." Diablo commented "We gained another flyer."
"A bat." Samson said "I can tell from the leathery wings."
Chastity knelt down and turned Claudia over to analyse her and she saw her open mouth exposing her teeth and she could see more clearly.
"She's not just any mutant bat." she said "She's a Vampire Bat."
Jeez! A nasty Car accident! Yet who was to blame for it? Both Tyroth and Diablo have that feeling within that they are the ones responsible for the accident. How will this go forward?
For those who remember when I said keep in mind Annie Rice and Claudia, there was a reason I said you should remember them! As Claudia is now the newest mutant of Diablo's Disciples! And she's mutated into a Vampire Bat!
If anyone can guess the connection, reference or where I got the inspiration, they get a cookie!
See you next chapter!