We've gotta hold on ready or not
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got
Chapter 30: Perseverance
She eventually let him drag her in. She glued herself to his side, every limb shaking in dread. She didn't know why she was so terrified — it wasn't like the Calaveras had physically hurt her — at least not yet. But something about the thought of their proximity to her, their sheer capability to turn her life upside down sent cold tremors through her spine. She'd always said she wasn't a baby, but the patient way Theo rubbed circles on her shoulder and the desperate way she held on to it seemed to send all her previous words down the drain.
As they walked on through the nightmarish enclave, Sherry pressed so tightly into her friend that she thought she might be growing braver through osmosis.
The rounded a corner and Sherry saw a door, that made her head swim yet again. She knew what lay behind that door, yet her feet wouldn't stop walking. The door opened.
"Sherry!" said Araya Calaveras, the way the Big Bad Wolf might greet one of the Three Little Pigs. She turned. "Theo. ¿Como estas?"
"What do you know about Linda Ming?" Theo demanded.
Araya's eyes lingered on Sherry. "Everything, mijo. Is your little friend still not satisfied?"
"We want to make a deal," Theo continued. "Whatever it takes to get Sherry's mother out of prison."
"A deal? What could you possibly offer that I can't get myself?"
"The werejaguar."
Sherry choked. She'd only heard stories, what Scott and the others had bothered to tell her about Chris Argent's murderous sister. She'd set a whole house of werewolves on fire and set invincible undead warriors on Beacon Hills High. She'd been buried once, but that hadn't stopped her.
Araya looked equally as surprised. "Kate Argent? How do you expect to capture her when teams of more experienced hunters have failed?" It was more of a threat than a question. Are you insulting me? Are you simply off your rocker?
"I know what I'm doing." Theo replied, a trace of cockiness in his voice. "Do we have a deal?"
She sniffed, suddenly disinterested. "Bring Miss Argent to me, alive or dead. Then I'll see what I can do."
Theo had a plan. She was a little miffed that he hadn't bothered to inform her, but there was nothing much she could do now but follow his lead. Which, as it happened, meant another roadtrip deeper into Mexico, past expanses of green-speckled desert, into the cobwebbed halls of an abandoned temple.
It was hard to tell what deities had once been worshipped here. It didn't look old enough (or guarded enough) to be Aztec or Mayan, not new enough to be a church. She could see no crosses or mosaics, nothing telltale to distinguish this goldenrod building from the gray murmur of history. The entrance was boarded up, an angular arch several stories tall and glowing with dust. Theo, with a single kick, busted a hole in the barrier. Sand exploded around the entrance, clouding both Sherry's eyes and nose. She shielded her face, sneezing.
She couldn't see far into the building, only what was illuminated by the sun's rays. Theo gestured for her to enter first.
She ducked into the hole, feeling around for walls and hoping to God that her fingers wouldn't brush against webs or beetles. "What am I looking for?"
"Anything that might have been left by an angry werejaguar. Scratches, bones. Blood."
The passage's walls were rough on her fingertips. No blood yet, but there was a small crunch under one of her shoes that might have been a leaf or a shell, or maybe an ex-rodent. "Do werejaguars eat mice?"
"I'd think they eat burgers, actually," said Theo. "But they'll hunt practically anything."
"Oh." Sherry kept walking, stepping carefully. In the Indiana Jones movies, there were always surprise pits and booby traps everywhere. How would Harrison Ford hunt for a psychopathic shapeshifter? "Can you smell anything?"
His hand wrapped around her wrist. "This way."
Her toe hit something hard. Theo was still walking. Belatedly, she realized they'd just arrived at a set of stairs. Steadying her breath, she stepped up and tried not to misplace her feet. When she thought they'd reached the top, she ran into another step. So she kept going, her thighs starting to ache.
Finally, her eyes could see again. Spots of light sliced through the musty air, leaving long projections on the tiled floor, making her almost wish it was still dark. The image sent a tremor up her spine. The holes in the wall were left by claw marks and the floor was spattered with blood.
She squeaked. "Theo?"
Squatting, he dipped a finger into the darkened blood and sniffed it. "Human," he announced. "Or at least at the time of attack. Which was about, oh, a few hours ago."
"Are the marks from Kate Argent?"
He shook his head. "Too big. Probably her Berserkers."
Oh, yes. Kate's not-really-undead soldiers who wore skulls as masks and could take on even Scott McCall with a single blow.
"Um, Theo?" she said. "How are you planning on surviving them?"
"With cunning." He grinned. "How else?" Wiping his hands on his jeans, he stood up and crept cautiously into the next hall. It was dark again in there, but their footsteps echoed over the crumbling stone.
She ran into Theo's back. "Why'd you—?"
"Shh," he hissed. "Listen."
There was a thin patter of drips and drops from somewhere, but she couldn't exactly pinpoint it. "Where—?"
"Beneath us," he said. "We're standing over a hollow chamber. And given the state of the place, at any moment we could fall in."
"But can't you sense where a hole is? Hear where the sounds are unusually loud?"
"Not if the hole hasn't been created yet. Hold on to me."
She grabbed his arm, his right one, she was pretty sure. They stepped carefully over the stone tiles, the drips and pattering crescendoing the farther they went. Then they ran smack into a wall. Dead end.
There was a small brushing sound sweeping over the walls. Theo was feeling for an opening, testing for a corner. Carefully, she let go of her grip on him and did the same. She soon felt a corner, padded with webs, and nearly screamed at the revolting feel of it. Hastily, she wiped her hands on her clothes.
She kept searching. The wall was colder than the one at the entrance. It was pocked with holes and possibly dead insects, although she couldn't be certain and definitely didn't want to find out.
Finally, something felt different. It was a wooden board, still sturdy though dilapidated and thin. There were two nails stuck into either end, which she promptly pried off. Splinters pricked her skin.
As the wood clattered to the ground, she felt what she'd been unconsciously waiting for. A carving that felt like the outline of an animal.
"Theo, watch out," she said, and pressed the button.
She fell almost immediately. She could hear Theo biting in an angry sound, but what she was focusing on was the water, the dripdripdrip and the rushed sshhhh of a coursing stream.
Her toes felt wet, and then with a silencing splash, her whole body was. She scrabbled for air, gasping as she surfaced.
An orange light in a shade that would usually appear warm but now seemed as a warning filled the chamber, one torch at a time. Shadows flickered everywhere with the mood of the flames, sending her heart racing as she tried to focus on whatever might be important.
She felt the water rippling as Theo swam up from behind her. "Warn me next time?"
"I did. Just didn't know exactly what the button would do."
"You pressed a button?!"
She opened her mouth, but shut it quickly when she saw the telltale flick of his eyes that meant he was hearing something. A faint clomping resounded from the other end of the path of torches. Footsteps, even and scraping, moved ever closer to their view. They faded.
Sherry exchanged a glance with Theo. "Where'd they go?"
She was answered with a deafening sucking and grinding sound, like a garbage disposal or draining bathtub.
"Get out," yelled Theo. She didn't need to be told twice. She paddled for the edge of the pool, lacking the ability to see underwater, but the unforgiving tide of the water made her change her mind. She exploded into full-out freestyle, gasping for ragged breaths between strokes. The concrete feel of the edge under her palms as her eyes clouded with water couldn't have come soon enough. She pushed herself over the edge, gulping in the dry air.
Theo barely made it. Heart thumping, she grabbed onto his arm and dragged him out. Wet and shivering, they both lay on the stone for several moments. The last of the water emptied down the drain.
"Thanks," Theo said. "Swimming, uh, doesn't really run in my family."
"All you have to do is practice," she said, and rummaged in her now soaked bag for her gun. She was lucky she'd thought to bring on of her many drawstring backpacks — any other bag might've fallen from her shoulders or spilled its contents. She hoped now that the firearm would still work despite being fully saturated with water.
"A gun won't work against the Berserkers," Theo said.
"Then what will?"
"Perseverance."
"That sounds like a weapon that ends in death," she replied.
They moved down the hall, their muscles coiled like springs. Her gun was clutched between her two hands. Probably useless against danger, but she'd feel even more helpless without it. As they reached the end and peered around the corridor, something pierced the wall behind them. It was white and jagged. It was a club, or a machete, and seemed to be carved from bone.
At the other end of the hall towered the most terrifying creatures Sherry had seen yet, which didn't really mean much. But as she set her eyes on them, her blood ran cold. They were giants in size, barbaric conglomerations of fur and bone and strength. She wanted to run and hide.
Still, Theo was undeterred. He strode forward, bellowing, "Kate! I know you're here!" He paused, letting his voice echo dramatically. "Cowardice doesn't look good on you."
No creature moved.
"Huh. Guess cats really are antisocial." In the blink of an eye, Theo lunged at the Berserkers. He was airborne for less than a second when a fist came out of nowhere, slapping him back against a wall with a sickening sound like a fly being squashed. Sherry held her gun. She wasn't willing to draw their unwanted attention.
Theo picked himself up, groaning and grinning all the way. "Thanks, boys," he said, strangely optimistic. Then he hurtled again. This time, as the claws reached up to swipe at him, he twisted out of the way. And again, and again, until the thundering beast was within feet of Sherry.
"Fire!"
She tried. The bullet bounced off the thing's skull mask, clattering harmlessly to the floor. "Uh?!"
Theo rammed into the Berserker from behind. "Fire!"
"I'm trying!"
A metal-firm arm blew into her stomach. The air was knocked out of her lungs, but she refused to give in. She hung on, the jagged bits of bone and claw piercing holes through her shirt.
"Point-blank!" yelled Theo.
The berserker threw her up and down. She thought she might puke, not of motion sickness, but of the imminent danger of being thrown off and — crack — there would go her skull. She lifted her hand as close as it would go to the thing's head and bang! But there was only a dent and she found herself slamming on the floor.
The other Berserkers moved, feet dragging zombie-slowly toward their certain victims. There were four creatures in total — hadn't Scott said there would be only two? — and each was unique, a different costume but the same goal.
Her chest was seizing. She couldn't breathe for a solid five seconds, long enough for a heavy clawed foot to make a shadow over her head. She rolled. The foot followed, and she sprang to her feet, the move probably one of the only thing that ever came in handy from years of kung fu training.
She ducked under a blow, firing a shot she hoped was close enough not to be a waste of bullets. She had blood soaking her shirt now, although she couldn't feel the pain through the rush of adrenaline. Theo looked much worse, with streaks and cuts running across his face, limbs, and torso. His eyes glowed yellow, a ferocious shade that burned brighter every time he got hurt. He roared, slashing into unforgiving bone.
Desperate, Sherry leaped onto the back of the nearest Berserker, squeezing her arms around its neck for dear life. Her heart thumped out of her chest. This move would probably kill her.
It writhed. Her cuts scraped against serrated edges. Gravity pulled her down, her body tossing from side to side. Holding one arm in place, and leaning her other elbow on the thing's shoulder, she aimed the barrel of her gun right at the hole in its skull mask, metal pushing into Achilles heel. She pulled the trigger.
Her hand jumped back with the force and the body under her spasmed, trying one last time to rid itself of its attacker. Then it fell, backwards, (because Sherry had moved the center of gravity there,) and pinned Sherry into the ground underneath its half-ton corpse.
She felt like a building had collapsed onto her. Even trying to move was painful — as her muscles strained and her lungs tried to breathe, the Berserker dug harder and deeper. She tried pulling herself out, her raw skin sliding on rough. She couldn't move the body more than an inch at a time, and the dancing feet of battle pounded ever closer to her skull.
"Throw me the gun!" Theo exploded, voice amplified by a painful hit.
She didn't want to — she needed it for herself — and she feverishly wanted him to quit fighting and get her out. But she threw it anyway, a weak toss executed by an arm half trapped under bone. She might've broken the other one.
He caught it mid-dive, skidding on his back across the room. He had three Berserkers after him at once. She guessed she wasn't much of a threat being where she was.
He moved like a predator, limbs sinewy and movements trained. He fought like a villain, placing blows anywhere and everywhere, regardless of the need. A shot blasted out, echoing between the walls. A Berserker dropped. Then it was three down, one to go, and then there were almost none — and a voice rang out, loud and regal — "I'm here."
A/N: I really hate Kate. Like honestly. (Also I read that a Berserker by being shot point-blank, so hopefully the fight scene was realistic.) Comments or criticism on this chapter would be greatly appreciated! I'd love to hear what you all think about the temple adventure and the fight scene. It was a new experience for me, and I kinda was going for the Indiana Jones aesthetic.
So review, favorite, and follow! :)
xx Delaine
