Being Human: When will my Death Begin?
By Ldynwaitin
Chapter Eleven
An Uneasy Truce
"How the hell did that dog get in here?" Afanas shouted to David.
David stepped around Afanas, he saw a small black dog standing at the end of the aisle. It happily barked at them. Running to them, it jumped up on its hind legs and barked at them. "It's just a small nugget," David cooed.
Josh realized that Fidele did not desert him, but where did he go? He quickly realized he must have gone after Deanna. He was surrounded by eight vampires, he knew Deanna was powerful, he just wasn't sure if she could handle that many vampires.
Josh shouted, "Get out of here mutt, go home." Softly he whispered, "Get out of here Fidele, and take Deanna with you."
David took a step closer to the small dog. "That's strange, I never saw purple eyes on a dog before."
"WHAT!" Afanas screamed. "What did you say?"
"He's got purple eyes," David said.
Afanas pulled Josh in front of him, "David, we've got to get out of here," he whispered. He began to back up the aisle but Mariana's men blocked his way. He stopped in front of the refrigerator section of the store. He pushed his back against the thick glass doors.
Mariana glanced down the aisle, "I thought 'you great hunter'," she said in his accent. "You're afraid of a small dog?"
"Mother's shadow," Afanas whispered. His voice was quivering in fear, he heard the legends. He also knew that the bounty on her head was larger than on the wolf he held. He let out a curse, he could never take her alone.
"Truce," Afanas suddenly shouted.
"What?" Mariana said. "Why would I do that?"
"You know of Mother's Shadow?" Afanas asked Mariana.
Mariana suddenly looked frightened. "Mother's Shadow, I heard of her, but thought it was just a bedtime story told to new vampires to scare them. Are you sure?"
"Believe me, it is her. My maker tell me, long ago he hunted special prey for Mother…witches."
"Witches," Josh scoffed. "Come on, I think he's been feeding on one to many drunks."
Afanas shook Josh hard, "You be quiet, there are witches. My maker say all witches killed but one. She was the most powerful of them all. She stay hidden, no hunter could find her. She was said to be like Mother's shadow. She always follow Mother, made her life hell."
Afanas nervously looked down the hallway. "I heard stories of Vampires that Mother paid to find her. When they were found, after what she did to them, they said it was wonder they still alive."
"How can you be sure it's her?" Mariana said.
He pointed down the aisle, "Her companion is creature with purple eyes."
David couldn't understand why Afanas was so upset. "Afanas, it's just a dog."
Hearing a growl from behind he turned around and saw that the dog was gone, a black wolf now stood in the aisle. His lips pulled back, David immediately noticed that the wolf's eyes were also a bright purple.
One of Mariana's vampires shouted, "That ain't no wolf. Full moon's not due for several days."
"I can see that Rufus, if not a wolf, then what?" Mariana asked.
Afanas pulled the rope around Josh's neck tighter when he heard someone humming. Suddenly the temperature in the entire store dropped down so low he saw his breath in front of him. The wolf with the purple eyes was gone.
Mariana heard a loud cracking sound. Looking to the side she saw the glass windows fog up, ice covered the glass. Mariana screamed as the refrigerator's glass doors exploded, showering her and the others with sharp shards of broken glass. She immediately fell to the floor, two of the vampires with her was not so quick. They cried out in agony as thick shards of glass pierced their chests and arms.
Looking up Mariana saw that one glass door did not shatter, the one where Afanas held the wolf. Afanas tightly hugged Josh to him. The glass behind him did not crack, this wolf obviously meant something to the witch.
One of the vampires wailed as something pulled him into an aisle. They could hear growling, screaming and bone cracking, then silence. David jumped back when the bloody body of the vampire was flung in the air and landed at his feet.
"Truce!" Mariana shouted as she ran to Afanas. She made sure to stay close to the wolf. "For now," she panted. "We join, together."
"We split bounty," Afanas said. "It's much more than this dog food. If we capture Mother's shadow, we split it…yes?'
"Agreed," Mariana said. Searching around, she stuttered, "Wh…what do we do now?"
"We lay trap," Afanas said.
"Deanna, get…" Josh shouted, until Afanas slapped his hand over his mouth.
"No wolf, you will not warn her."
Holding Josh tight, he began to back up, "This way, we need to find place to better defend ourselves."
"Let's go," Mariana hissed to the remaining vampires. Three of them helped the injured two up and move down the aisle. David pulled out a knife, he slowly backed up keeping an eye on everything.
The sound of a woman humming grew louder. Afanas stopped when something fell on the ground in front of him. He saw a potted plant lying on the floor, another, then another flew in the air to land near the vampires. The humming took on a different tune. David jumped back when he saw the small green plant on the floor begin to grow.
Its roots slammed into the concrete floor. Huge cracks opened the floor under them. They snaked through the store, the smell of dirt filled the air. The roots grew thicker as the plants grew taller. Soon they were surrounded by a thick growth of plants. The cold gone, the room now turned sweltering hot.
Afanas and Mariana both held Josh tightly to them. The other vampires surrounded them. A vine grew out of the ground and wrapped itself around one of the vampires leg. They saw large sharp thorns suddenly spring out of the vine. The vampire screamed in agony as the thorns pierces his skin. It felt as if he was being jabbed by a million hot pokers. Everyone moved back when they saw large boils begin to pop up on the vampires face and arms. His face soon became unrecognizable. He clawed at the boils as they filled with pus.
"Help mmmme, Mmmmariana," he slurred as he felt the boils grow in his throat. Clutching at his chest he fell on the floor, gasping for breath.
"Oh no man, that ain't happening to me," one of the vampires shouted. He pushed his way between the plants and ran down the aisle. He slid to a stop when an old woman stepped in his way, a small boy stood by her side. He almost laughed when he saw Deanna.
"Why you're just a harmless little old lady, uglier than my grandmother." His teeth grew as he snarled, "I killed her…slowly."
Fidele stepped to the side, crossing his arms he leaned on a support column. "I'm going to enjoy this."
Deanna raised her hand, roots grew out of the exposed ground, wrapping around the vampires hands and ankles, he was slammed hard on the ground. He struggled but could not move.
Deanna looked down at him. "You are a disease that needs to be killed…slowly."
Fidele ran to one of the large cracks in the floor. He picked something out of the dirt. Running to Deanna he placed I in her hand. The vampire saw the old woman whispering something into her hand. Turning her hand she dropped it on his stomach. He felt something cold wriggling on his skin. It grew larger as it wriggled towards his belly button. He cried in agony as he felt it drilling into his stomach. He felt it moving in his guts, through his body. He squirmed in pain as it slowly began to eat through him.
"Slowly," Deanna said. "Eat him slowly, my pet."
Josh heard Deanna's humming begin to weaken and stop. She was using too much magic. He needed to find a way to get them out of there before they realize that she was weakening.
"She stopped humming," Josh shouted. "You guys are in trouble now, when the humming stops…look out." Josh knew the exact opposite was true, he hoped this lie would scare them enough to leave.
"We got to get out of here," Afanas told Mariana.
"Don't go," Josh heard Fidele shout. "Why the party is just getting started."
Fidele ran to Deanna, he saw her looking very pale. "Deanna, you all right?"
Deanna held her hand to her chest, "I'm sorry, Fidele," she gasped. "It has been so long, so long."
Fidele worriedly looked at her, she was Josh's only chance. He hated to admit it, but he was really starting to like that wolf. Then it hit him. "Deanna, the bracelet." He held her hand up. "You can't help Josh, but Hadwin can."
Mariana tried to add up her options. She only had one healthy vampire left, Rufus. One was dead, two were cut up with glass and two were cursed by the witch. That left four to fight that witch, if she still honored her truce with Afanas.
"I say we cut our losses," Mariana told Afanas. "We got the wolf, let's take him back and tell Mother that the rumors are true. Her shadow has returned."
After what Afanas had just witnessed he would agree with her reasoning. In seconds she had cut them down in half. "David, we go," Afanas said.
David used his knife to cut down a plant that blocked their way. Rufus helped the two injured by the glass. Keeping Josh in the center, the remaining vampires inched their way to the back of the store.
Coming to the end of the aisle, David searched down it, there was no sign of the purple eyed …anything, or an old woman.
"The employee only door," Afanas hissed. "I saw exit door at end of hallway."
Mariana took the lead, she ran to the door, opening it she saw a short hallway. At the end was a door, above it was an exit sign.
"It's empty," she told the others. They quickly ran inside. David was about to close the door when he saw an old woman standing at the end of the aisle. She held her hand up high, he could see a bracelet sparkling on her wrist. As he closed the door he heard her shout, "Wake up Hadwin, you are needed."
Slamming the door shut David locked it and broke the doors handle. "Try to follow us now, witch," he shouted. He ran to join the others. Mariana tried to open the exit door, but it would not open. "Why didn't you tell us it was locked?"
"I was busy trying to think of way to get us out of here," Afanas shot back.
"Rufus, can you get it open?" Mariana shouted.
Rufus pointed to a lit panel on the side. "You need a code."
"What are you working for, Afanas, the witch?" Mariana screamed. "We had a better fighting chance out there."
"How was I to know it was locked?" Afanas shout back.
"Stop arguing, guys," David said. "We just need to find a way of…" his words were drowned out by Josh's screams.
His back arched, the sound of cracking bones echoed in the room. "Oh my god," Mariana shouted, "He's changing."
"Cannot be," Afanas said. "Moon not full until end of the week."
"Well look at him!" Mariana cried out.
This time Josh didn't fight the change, for the first time he allowed it to come. The only hate he kept was for the vampires that captured and tortured him. Rolling on the floor, Josh began to change fast.
Afanas held the gun aimed at Josh. "Stupid fool," Mariana frantically screamed. "That's not going to stop him." She ran into the room marked 'Employee Lunchroom'. Three followed her in, they left the vampires injured by the glass behind.
David and Rufus slammed their shoulders against the door. They cringed when they heard their deserted companions screaming as the wolf tore them apart.
Mariana nervously paced back and forth, "Think that door will hold?"
Her answer came when they heard a heavy thud on the door. David and Rufus actually moved back from the force of the blow. They quickly ran back to the door.
"We need to prop something against the door," Afanas screamed.
Grabbing the lone table in the room, they propped it against the door. They all held it up as the pounding continued, then it suddenly stopped. Rufus quickly moved the table and pressed his ear to the door. He heard the old woman talking.
"Poor Hadwin, they are hiding from you. Let Deanna fix that."
Afanas heard the humming begin again. They all heard a high-pitched squeaking sound. Rufus shouted, "Look, the hinges."
They could see the pins on the hinges of the door slowly moving up. The two lower ones fell, only the top one was left. Afanas quickly shot out the light and ran to the other side of the room as David and Rufus jumped up and tried to push the remaining pin back in the hinge. They struggled to find the hinge in the darkness, but they were to late, the door exploded open. David and Rufus were knocked across the room. The only light now came from the hallway.
Mariana fell to the side. Looking up she saw a large wolf standing on the door. His huge jowls were pulled back, his teeth were covered in blood. His eyes gazed at her with such hate, such malevolence. She watched it leap into the dark room. She saw the shadow of a wolf tearing into someone on the floor. From the screams she knew it was Rufus. She realized her guess was right when she saw his head rolling into the light.
She nearly smiled when she heard David scream. "Yes," she sighed. "That's a good boy."
When the wolf was done with David she heard a third scream. She sadly frowned, "I wish I could see you die, Afanas. It would all be worth it." Once the screaming stopped, Mariana saw the wolf coming out of the darkness. Spying David's knife she was about to pick it up, but quickly realized it would be useless. Standing up, she held her arms up as the wolf loped to her. Jumping in the air she felt a sting first, as its claws dug deep into her chest. Then she was surprised how painless it was as he bit her head off.
It rolled on the floor, as the blood poured from her head her last sight before she died was seeing her body lying on the floor.
"Are they all dead?" Deanna shouted.
Fidele walked into the room. He saw six vampires enter the hallway, two were killed in the hallway. Searching in the dark room he found four dead bodies. "Yes, they're all dead," he told her.
Deanna stood in the doorway, the wolf moved close to her. She brought her hand down and gently petted him.
"You did good, Hadwin, you did very good."
Touching the bracelet she declared, "Come back Josh, I need you."
She fell to the ground as the wolf began to change. Fidele ran to her. He knew what was wrong, she used to much magic, to much bad magic.
Minutes later the wolf changed back to Josh. Naked, and his clothes now rags in the hallway, Josh pulled on a pair of pants that hung on a coat rack in the room. They were big, but it was the best he could do for now. Rushing over to Deanna he quickly examined her. She seemed to be in a deep sleep.
"It's the magic," Fidele explained. "She just used to much."
Josh glanced to the side, he saw several bloody bodies in the darkness. "That all of them?"
"All that I saw, now let's go before anyone else stumbles into the drug store."
Josh lifted Deanna, his head spun as he began to walk out of the room. He bit his lip and carried her out of the room.
Minutes after they left the door to one of the lockers in the room opened. A head peeked out of the locker before exiting. Leaving the locker he stopped in front of the bloody bodies.
"Not worry, David," Afanas said. "Your death not go unanswered."
He stepped over the body of the human he found in the locker. He smelled him when he first entered the room. He was thankful that he was still there. They needed to see five bodies, and that was what they got. Afanas waited a few minutes more before exiting the room, just in case.
He quickly left the store. He had to report to Mother what had just happened. Then he would make a deal with her. When they captured that witch, he would get a part of the bounty. After all, he was the one who found her first.