However fast I was, though, the other thing was faster. Before I knew it, my hand was knocked off to the side, and I was sprawling on the floor, my throat screaming hell at me. The thing had knocked my hand away and forced... something against my throat so hard I couldn't breathe. As I lay there gasping for breath, the figure in front of me stepped forward, heavy weight of a foot pressed hard on my crotch, just daring me to move. I hadn't been taking in any images, running off the buzz, and now my vision was blurred, pain and oxygen deprivation had seen to that. I scrabbled away from the other, crawling on my hands and heels, and the floor tiles by my head exploded in a crash. I yelled out loud, stopped moving (he who knows when not to fight, ya know?), and waited for the next move. I wasn't disappointed.
"You just stay where you are, pal. Don't you move a fucking muscle. You and me, we're gonna have us a little chat…"
"Ka... Kate?" I croaked. What the freaking, furry fuck? The church had been empty when I got in, empty through the whole speech and argument, where'd this chick spring from? Maybe she's... no, that's not right... but it fits...
Damn it! Why didn't I see it? She's one of them! Has to be! How else could she always be getting the jump on me? But I'm getting away from the story, I'm sorry. I'll have to remember this for later, though. Anyway, like I was saying...
I propped myself up on my elbows and willed my sight back. She came into focus slowly, my blonde angel with a firearm, my goddess of death. Still as beautiful as ever, and my throat was fucking killing me. "Whathu... what'reyadoin?"
"Hah! Try that one again, pal. In English, this time, if you don't mind."
Damn, but she's got a smart mouth on her, that kid. She waved the gun at me, telling me to come on and try again. I swallowed, hard, and it felt like trying to drink hot coal. But I tried again. "What... are... you... doing?"
"Trying to get home, asshole, just like before. And here you are, getting in my way, again, waving guns around, again. I'm gettin kinda tired of this, you know?"
I pointed at her gun with the hand I'd been holding my own gun in. "You can't really talk, kid, you being the one standing over me with a gun. We're all born equal, ya know, I've got a right to a gun just like you do."
"Not when you can't control yourself, you don't. You haven't even got enough control to keep away from Angela in a place like this, what makes you good enough for that kinda power?"
I dragged myself upright again "Well all this is nice and all, Katie, but I gotta -" With a sudden smash and crack, the wooden seat to my side exploded in a shower of splinters. She was getting good with that thing. I froze.
"My name... is Kate. Especially to pieces of shit like you."
I raised my hands, heart pumping furiously. "Listen kid, you may have a gun, but you can't have it all your own way, ok? I'll call you what the hell I want!"
She centred the sights on me and lowered them. "Not if you wanna keep your balls, old man." This chick was just about crazy enough to do it, so I let it lie. For now.
"Alright, alright. Ok Kate. It's cool." I lowered my hands slowly and turned to my right, where my gun musta gone. "I'm just gonna get my gun back, ok? I aint interested in hurting you or nothin, just don't wanna be monster munch, ok?"
She lowered her own gun, just a little, and nodded. Eyes on me the whole time. "Slowly. I'm watching you." I didn't dare turn my back on her, but I didn't dare go on without a gun, either. So I knelt down to reach under the seat it'd slid under. As I took the cold handle in my hand, I saw another pair of eyes, green cats eyes coming towards me fast. With a screech like you wouldn't believe, the damn thing clawed up my face, feet in my eyes and mouth, and leapt off my head. As I tried to regain my balance, something huge and hot as hell hit me in the chest, pounded up and leapt off my shoulders. A bark and yowl echoed once more, and faded away behind me, past where the altar stood.
I got up slowly, turned back to Kate, gun in hand, blood and scratches all down my face. She was staring at the door like she'd just seen a ghost.
"Don't worry, really, I feel great" I grunted. I tell ya, kids these days just aint got the manners they should.
Instead of worrying about my bleeding face or helping me up, she walked right past me and tried the door. It rattled in her hand as the lock held it tight. Frowning, she slapped it with her hand, like she was testing for something. I bent to check the gun and got up, sticking it in my belt. "It aint gonna hit ya back, ya know?"
"Those two," she said slowly, "the cat and the Dog. They were real, right?"
I felt the scratches on my face and winced at the cuts. "Yeah, they were real alright."
"And this door is real, too, and the bars were solid..." She trailed off, staring at the door.
A new voice chimed in, "It's a waste of time, Katie." We both turned to face the new speaker, and I felt that much more relieved when I saw her. The little dark-haired girl from earlier, the one that bastard in black had been holding hostage, came out from the side of the church. She looked like she'd been dragged backward through a bush, and her voice wasn't real steady, but she moved like she meant it, if you know what I'm trying to say. "The other door's locked, too. Sometimes things just don't work for a while," she said, "and you have to wait, or try something else. Or, or, or sometimes, something else has to happen first." A shadow passed over her face when she said that last part, and I was glad when it was gone. This kid must have had the hell of a time getting this far without dying or going looney tunes, no need for her to spend so much time remembering those things.
Kate musta thought something like that too, or wanted us to think she thought it, cause she just said "Ok then, I guess we wait. Or find out how we get outta here."
The other girl, Angela, had an idea, "Sometimes you've gotta find a key or something."
"So where should we look?" I asked. She shook her head, and Kate frowned.
"Lemme guess..." Kate said.
"It's not as easy as that" said Angela with a wry smile.
"Figures" said Kate.
"So what, then? We gotta make a key, unlock a key? What?" I asked.
"Sometimes there's puzzles," said Angela, "things you can't get to unless you've got something else first, or heads to turn, or a picture to finish. You uh... you can't just panic, or run. It doesn't help. Being lost is bad, but being found is worse."
"Alright then," I said, "Let's not get found, then. If there's a puzzle there's gotta be a clue, no-one sets a puzzle that can't be solved. Let's start looking."
We broke off and started looking around. Kate lifted everything she could find, books, paintings, I crawled around on the floor looking under the seats. If my gun could get lost under there, maybe a key could. Or a clue to the key, anyway. Angela just wandered around, I could see when I looked up from the seats. Whatever was keeping her head together, it was working against something nasty. I shot a question at Kate and jerked my head to the girl, mouthing "she ok?". Kate frowned, shook her head. I made a face, what was up? Not now, her gestures said. She held up a hand, wait. I guessed she'd tell me later. I got back under ther seats. I could wait. We were none of us going anyplace fast.