The silent darkness shattered with the roar of engines and the stab of headlights as life – and something very close to it – shot through deserted streets of Gary again. A small, wine-dark European cabriolet led the way, speeding like a hare on the run, and behind it, two mismatched cars, a broken-down Lexus with smashed windows and scorch marks, and a pick-up with broken pipes for rolling coal screamed after it, as if with murder on their minds. A hulking shape clung to the pick-up roof, a coal pipe bending in a massive, deformed hand as the car took a corner way too fast.
Pinpoints of light lined the street, gleaming against the headlights – and behind the fleeing Mazda, the road came alive with black- and brown-pelted Norway rats, scurrying across the asphalt, gathering in skittering piles on street corners, uncounted eyes leering after the sleek car and its two passengers.
Hailey looked back, the wind shear tearing at her golden hair the moment she leant out of the bubble of the car's compartment. Two or three dozen pair of eyes stared hungrily after her, more hairy bodies piling in from the abandoned houses all across the streets – and then the burned-out wreck of a Lexus took the corner at suicide speed, sparks lighting up the side where its headlights had shattered as the wheel hub scraped against the curb. Behind it, the big pick-up lumbered into view. Silhouettes moved and waved in the Lexus, cut sharp by the pick-up's headlights.
"Still right there" the short blonde said, both entirely correct and completely unnecessary. She glanced at the driver. "Better step on it, Cassie."
Cassie didn't reply. She didn't need a fight with Hailey on top of fleeing from their lives from the Sabbat. A lot of replies to the tiny blonde hovered right on the tip of her tongue, though. A bunch of them would really cut, too – and she might never get to use them, since if the Sabbat caught up, they'd be lucky to die in the crash. The Sabbat pack had forced them off the highway and in among the abandoned steel mills and factories of Gary, and even if she could pull ahead on the straights, they had followed like bloodhounds.
"Those goddamned rats…" Hailey cut herself off with a little yelp as Cassie took a corner without slowing down, then clamped on the breaks to immediately cut left and up a parallel street. The taller blonde floored it, cutting Hailey off again as the acceleration made her cling to the seat. Cassie wanted to say the rats were probably smelling Hailey's perfume. Problem was, Hailey smelled great. Distractingly great. In fact, she might be… wearing Tara's perfume. She was. No wonder Tara had been on her mind all the time – she always was, of course, but…
Cassie's eyes drifted helplessly to her passenger, as if her Mistress was sitting there waiting for her. She wasn't, of course. Just the woman she was competing with for Tara's attention. Anger flared in her, along with the hateful, repeated realization that Hailey was as attractive a woman as Cassie had ever seen. She'd have the perfume on… on the side of her neck. On the inside of her wrists. Maybe even… Cassie's throat was suddenly dry. Maybe on the inside of her…
"Cassie?! CASSIE!" Cassie snapped out of it with a thrill of fear, realizing her eyes were roaming Hailey's body in that short, black dress. A cardboard box was right there in the road, overturned in front of them, filled with… something. No way to tell. No time to swerve. Cassie closed her eyes and just gunned it.
The box disintegrated with a wet snap, and something went under the wheels. Wet cardboard and something like soaked cloth slapped against the windshield as both women screamed.
"The FUCK, Cassie!? What are you doing? Are you trying to kill us, before they do?"
"…bitch", was Cassie's only reply, and it might have been for herself. What the hell had she been doing? If that had been anything remotely heavy or sharp in there… Hailey might not even have noticed Cassie said anything; she had turned around again, staring at the cars threading the needle behind them. Both of them, Cassie noticed at a glance. Damn, she'd have thought they'd at least split up and cover both ways she could have gone. How did they know?
"…rats, Cassie!"
"What?" Cassie didn't turn her head, her eyes locked wildly on the upcoming turn, wondering if she could possibly take it at this speed.
"IT'S THE RATS! THEY TELL THEM!"
The words made no sense, but the fear in Hailey's voice made the icy fingers already clutching Cassie's spine and belly climb and stab at her heart. She was used to hearing smug assurance in that voice. Cutting humor. Acid-dripping but honeyed words about Cassie's – or occasionally someone else, but usually Cassie's - clothes and the cleavage she liked to present. She even thought she'd heard Hailey sob in her room above Tara's Haven. But she had never heard Hailey terrified before.
Cassie's eyes flashed to the rearview mirror. The burned-out Lexus was gaining, the pick-up clearing the corner. The corner where rats were still piling up, even as some were slipping into the cracks and out into the streets.
Three or four in the wreck. Another two in the pick-up… and that thing in the pick-up bed. And they had someone who ruled animals, a Feral or a Crawler or something. Cassie had never seen that, but Tara had told her. They weren't following her when she slipped out of sight, weren't guessing right every time. The rats were piling up at every turn she made, showing the lead car where to turn.
Cassie felt nauseous. She'd heard the rumors that Sabbat packs hid in the rusting hulks of Gary's old steel mills, but she'd thought they were safe along the highway. How could they have known? Had… had one of Gary's Kindred ratted them out – literally? Was it just dumb luck, that they had forced a car with two hot blondes off the Interstate for chase and a meal at the end of the fun? That they had no idea that they were chasing down two of Lady Tara's Ghouls?
She didn't know what scared her the most. But she was scared. Oh, yes, very scared. "Hailey!" she snapped. "Stop trying to livetweet our car chase and look at the road."
"I'm trying to…!" Hailey didn't even finish her sentence… but at least she sounded outraged instead of terrified. That was better. It wasn't what Cassie had tried to do, but it was better. "What the fuck do you want me to watch for? If you watch the road instead of up my skirt…"
"The rats!" Cassie felt herself flush, mostly out of exasperation. Mostly. She had been looking up Hailey's skirt – what little there was of it. But she'd been thinking of Tara. She was gonna die in Gary, alongside the person she despised most in the entire world… but at least she might go out thinking of Tara. That was something. "Tell me when there's no rats!"
Hailey looked at her like she was crazy, but did look out the window. Her phone had disappeared someplace. Cassie decided to take it. She'd gotten lucky so far, but this wasn't gonna hold up. They knew the place. They had the rats telling them everything. But…
"They're going into the mill, I think. Must be heading for the next crossway. What are…"
"Shut it. Let me drive. Just… hold on!"
Cassie turned the wheel and said a silent prayer to whoever looked out for runaway ex-Blood Dolls. The Mazda screamed through the turn, bouncing of a pothole and rattling every tooth and bone in both Ghouls' bodies. For a heart-stopping moment, the car seemed to be free-floating, and then the wheels hit ground again, tearing at the asphalt.
"JESUS, Cass! Are you-"
"NOT NOW! The rats, are they still gone?"
"Yes, but-" Hailey didn't have time to finish. Cassie saw what she'd been looking for, right up ahead. A quick glance at the mirror showed only the Sabbat's headlights growing on the walls behind them.
"CASSSIEEEEE!" Hailey's scream was an icepick in Cassie's ear as the tall blonde slammed on the breaks and turned hard to the right – right off the road. An alley yawned to swallow them whole… or to Hailey's and Cassie's terrified eyes, by half. Too tight. She'd misjudged, it was too tight. They were gonna-
With a squeal of tortured metal, the cabriolet shot into the alley, dragging along the brick wall all along Hailey's side, before Cassie veered off and brought the car to a screeching halt.
"CassieareyouMAD?" Hailey was hissing, now, which at least didn't pierce Cassie's eardrum. "What-"
"Shut. Up." Carrie snapped the ignition off so hard she almost snapped off the key. "Don't even breathe."
The roar of the Sabbat pack's car engines closed in. Headlights lit up the wall behind them like the sunrise. Hailey glued herself against the seat, as if it would matter if they saw the car and not them – but Cassie found herself hiding behind her own seat, as well, eyes locked on the glowing light.
"I don't know if I hope they kill me first and quick or save me for last so I can watch what they do to you!" Hailey's voice quivered, drained of all its usual venom, and Cassie couldn't think of a single thing to say in reply. She closed her eyes and thought of Tara.
The Sabbat cars roared, right around the corner – and passed by.
Cassie let out a long, shivering breath. It worked. Just a few moments, and she could pull out of the alley and go, back to the highway, back to Chicago, out of Goddamn-fucking-just-leave-it-to-the-FUCKING-SABBAT-Gary.
Back to Tara.
She wondered how pissed Tara would be about the car. Cassie did not look forward to seeing just how badly she'd messed up the right side of it. Just as long as their Mistress was pissed at the Sabbat… or even Modius, for failing to keep control of his abandoned city, and not at Cassie. Or maybe at Hailey. Not even Cassie could quite figure out how Hailey could in any way reasonably be at fault, but you could always hope.
Cassie wanted to laugh. Or maybe cry, she didn't know. Vomit, perhaps. Something was trying to push its way up her throat. God, why couldn't it be… anyone else but Hailey here? If Cassie laughed, it might be okay. But she thought that might be tears. Sobs. Vomit. And Hailey would skewer her for all those.
"God…" Cassie turned her head. That was Hailey. The tiny – Hailey claimed she was 5'1, but that had to be in heels; Cassie towered over her, and wasn't all that tall - long-haired blonde was sitting bolt upright, staring over the shoulder of her car seat and into the now dark night. She was deathly pale, barely even breathing, and- were those tears in her eyes?
Cassie turned away, quickly, her own relief and terror suddenly threatening to overwhelm her. It wasn't like Hailey was ever gonna comfort her. Why should she care if the Philadelphia runaway was… falling apart?
"I can't believe… I can't believe they fell for that." Hailey was whispering, and Cassie wasn't sure if Hailey was talking to herself or to her. It would pretty much be the first thing either had said to the other with no malice behind it since just after Tara unveiled Hailey as her newest Ghoul at one of her little gatherings. Hailey slowly began smiling, as if she didn't quite dare believe it yet. "They must be dumber than you!"
Aaaand there it was. Cassie just shook her head, almost smiling. Had she actually felt herself feeling sorry for Hailey? Tara's perfume had to really be doing a number on her mind. That and the pants-wetting terror, of course. For a moment there, Hailey had reminded her of when they first met, when Hailey was working with a confidence trickster named Coiner as his distraction and fall girl – and Cassie had actually been the one to suggest that the pretty little blonde would be the perfect weapon in Tara's quick and very one-sided battle with the man. She hadn't expected Tara to keep Hailey, though.
"Need me to climb out and wave you out, or do you just want to total your side of the car, too? Or do you want to sit here until they come back?" The voice was quivering a little, but Hailey had most of the sweet, sweet acid back in her smile, now.
"Please. Maybe the rats will take you. Save me having to listen to you all the way back." Hailey almost flinched at the return barb, and Cassie felt a little better about herself. Hailey normally shrugged off her verbal jabs infuriatingly well, especially when they were alone like this. If Tara was around and seemed to approve of Cassie's barbs, it was another matter, but Cassie wasn't conceited enough to think that was about herself. No, Cassie knew all too well what it felt like when Tara seemed to become aware of some shortcoming you had; or seemed to laugh along with some verbal cruelty against you. It cut right to the heart. In fact, it hurt so bad it was almost hard to take satisfaction in it when it happened to someone else. Even someone you hated.
Almost.
"Suit yourself. But you seemed happy enough to have me here when you almost drove us off the road staring at my ass."
Hailey put her legs up on the dashboard. She had incredibly long legs for someone so short. Her skirt rode right up her thighs so high that Cassie could tell she had lace underwear. Black.
"Don't flatter yourself." Except Hailey was gorgeous. Cassie had noticed her to begin with, when she was William Coiner's key piece in his ill-advised attempt to hustle Lady Tara, precisely because she was gorgeous. Even now, Cassie found herself flushing and having to force herself to look straight ahead, into the dead and empty alley. "It's the perfume."
"What?"
"You're wearing Mistress Tara's perfume." Cassie felt miserable even admitting it. She sounded miserable. "I'm thinking about her." That, at least, was true. Tara was never far from Cassie's mind, anyway.
Now Hailey was laughing. She was fiddling with her phone again, just like earlier. Useless, of course – no coverage or reception here in dead man's town. "Oh, I hoped you'd notice."
"Like Mistress Tara will be happy you stole her perfume just to annoy me?" Cassie's blue eyes narrowed. That was brazen even for Hailey. Tara's senses were superhuman. She'd smell that perfume tomorrow, never mind when they got back.
"Oh, Cassie…" Something in Hailey's voice and smile made Cassie's stomach drop. "She gave it to me. She put it on me herself. Her favorite perfume. She wanted Prince Mobius to think of her when we met him." Cassie looked at her, helpless not to… and Hailey twisted the knife. "And she wants me to wear it tonight. That's right, Cassie. It's my night with her. You can stand there with your tits falling out of your cleavage like you always do, but tonight I'm hers, and you can stand outside and listen."
The blood drained from Cassie's face. She'd hoped, like she did every night, for Tara's favor. A kiss, a touch. Sometimes more – and sometimes ecstasy. Not every night, not by far… but sometimes. And rarer now, with Hailey here. Cassie could live with waiting another night – that was what she told herself, anyway. But having Tara be with someone else – and with Hailey of all people – while leaving her alone? The taller blonde's heart didn't break, it ripped. Slowly.
Hailey looked like she was ready to follow up, once she'd pierced the guard – but then she stopped, a tiny hint of puzzlement in her grey-blue eyes. Cassie turned her head quickly, staring into the alley again. Her sight was blurry. She felt something wet roll down her cheek from her eye, and refused to wipe at it, as if just letting the tear dry would erase it. Her knuckles were whitening around the steering wheel.
And to think, those few months ago, when her Mistress had introduced Hailey at The Silver Lining as her newest Ghoul, Cassie had been happy. Happy for a few brief days. Maybe as much as a week. She had thought the pretty, interesting girl she'd found would be dead and drained by then, or left alone with a gaping hole in her memory and a bus ticket to Minnesota at best - and here she was. Forever. Someone she could talk to. Someone who would understand. Someone she could watch the world grow old and change with, while Tara's blood kept them young and changeless.
A friend.
And now, here she was, with Hailey cutting her heart out in an alley in Gary. She wondered a little that Hailey wasn't saying anything, but there really was no need. Hailey knew the social game; she had to know when she'd landed a kidney blow.
"I wish she'd drained you." Cassie's voice was barely a whisper. Any louder and her voice would break. Beside her, Hailey stiffened. She made a small gasp, as if Cassie had physically struck her.
Long seconds passed. For a moment, Cassie thought this was it; that they were going to have the fight some of Tara's Kindred guests obviously expected them to have. But they just sat there, staring into the dark. Eventually, after five hours' worth of a couple of heartbeats, Hailey spoke. "Just drive. Get us home so I can forget I ever saw you for a while." Her voice was level, but flat, as if any hint of emotion would break the barrier.
Cassie fumbled for the ignition key. The Mazda purred to life, headlights stabbing at the long-abandoned alley. And the rear lights bathed the hulking creature standing directly behind the car in red, like blood and fire.
It was huge. Seven feet at least, and that was with its misshapen, barely human head hanging low and stupid between its shoulders. It had no neck, just the huge muscles of its shoulders and chest pushing up so high it almost looked hunchbacked. Its body was pale and hairless, covered in scars, piercings of bone poking through its arms and chest like spurs. Maybe they were. Its mouth was open in a killer's grin, showing ten long, cruel, nail-like fangs instead of teeth. The misshapen, thick-fingered hands that had anchored it, impossibly, to the Sabbat pick-up clenched and unclenched, and landed like sledgehammers on the cabriolet's trunk.
Ogre. Szlachta. War Ghoul.
Cassie screamed, threw the car in reverse, and floored the pedal. The tires screeched, the engine roared, and the creature roared louder. Its massive hands bent the chassis as it planted its feet and pushed against the car…
…and held.
Hot smoke spun from the tires as the car clawed for purchase. The monstrous Ghoul was heavy, half a ton, and the foul Fleshcrafting its masters had shaped it with had given it strength beyond even what Vampire blood gave to humans. The Mazda had no inertia, was stuck in a too-small alley… and was outmatched to begin with.
"CASSIE! GO FORWARD!"
Cassie found herself already doing it before she'd consciously understood. The gear box screeched in protest, and then the small car shot forward into the short alley, leaving sparks and paint against the wall, and the massive War Ghoul stumbled forward.
The Mazda made it maybe ten meters down the alley before Cassie wedged it between the brick wall and a rusted container that might be full of scrap iron. There was a smell of rubber searing and burning as the wheels clawed at the asphalt, and then a roar from right behind them. "RUN!" she heard herself scream.
She was buckled in. Hailey just grabbed the windshield and launched herself over it, but Cassie's belt held her in place. She hit the release and broke it, not even feeling it as her Mistress' blood rose in her veins with the adrenaline and fear. As she vaulted over the windshield, Cassie saw Hailey looking back – and UP! – with a look of horrified disbelief. A moment later, Cassie rolled over the Mazda's hood, the metal fiery hot against her exposed back and neck, and hit the ground – and something impacted the car like a meteor, its bonnet and front wheels bouncing up off the asphalt and throwing crazy shadows down the alley.
Cassie ran, with Hailey ahead of her, cutting the corner and running into a side passage as the wildly moving headlights illuminated a dead-end just a few dozen feet ahead. The taller blonde risked a look over her shoulder and almost bounced off the corner. The headlights blinded her, but something huge and awful was standing right in the driver's compartments – and the car bent in the middle. The War Ghoul roared, and Cassie disappeared around the corner, seeing bright novas and terrible shadows and stumbling over something hard and wooden and thigh-height.
"CASSIE! IT'S A DEAD END! WE HAVE TO GO OV- OHHOLYFUCK!"
Something reared up just a few yards ahead – a fence or structure, with boxes and scrap piled up against it. Cassie saw what had to be Hailey through the afterimages flooding the darkness. She was already up on a box, but the top of the barrier was so much taller than her. Cassie thought Hailey was turning towards her, but she just couldn't see, and –
The ground shook. Something heavy landed on Cassie's shoulder and clavicle and neck – heavy enough to drive her to her knees, if it hadn't already held her up by her chin. Huge, ill-shaped fingers squeezed around her shoulder and back, too big and unwieldy to really choke her. Hard. Its skin was so hard. Like she had been grabbed by a mechanic vice wrapped in leather. She didn't even had time to really be afraid before the War Ghoul yanked her sideways and slammed her into the brick wall.
Then she wanted to scream. She just couldn't. Her legs were kicking, nowhere near touching ground. The hand that had grabbed her now pushed her mercilessly against the wall, its thumb like a yule log across her throat, its palm pressing against her chest, squeezing the air from her lungs. Any moment, the wall or her ribs or something inside her would give way – but that was not why she tried to scream.
The Szlachta leaned in towards her, its face – like a bobcat's head stitched to a liger's body – leering into her own. Its mouth yawned open, displaying uneven row of fangs… no, dear God, they were bone shards, stabbing singularly out from the creature's raw-liver gums. And its eyes, tiny spots of shining tar, with no detail or features – apart from a terrible, stupid lust. It wasn't even seeing her. It was seeing a piece of meat that would wriggle and scream as it bit. And chewed. And ripped. Meat. Fun meat.
It grinned and leant in, and now Cassie did scream, even with black spots spinning in her eyes and no air in her lungs as her ribs squeezed her them flat. She kicked, thrusting both legs against the barrel chest in front of her more by instinct that plan. Cassie was strong – she was toned and trained, and even without the gift of the Blood, she was even stronger than she looked; with the Blood, she was superhuman – and her life was on the line. But the War Ghoul pressed on, even as Cassie's high heels began to press into his leather skin. Her knees buckled, the massive weight pressing her thighs against the hand holding her up. The smell was something awful; rotting meat was caught between the razor shards in the thing's mouth. Its small, entirely human tongue was flapping pathetically behind the gaping bone grills – as if something inside it was threatening a kiss instead of tearing her face off and feasting on her heaving breasts with what passed for its teeth.
The black spots were growing. Cassie threw her head to the side, feeling her top and skin tear against something hard and sharp protruding from the ridge of the creature's hand. The grip shifted just a little, enough for a gasp of air that forced the black spots away again. Cassie raised one leg, the stiletto heel snapping off, buried a full inch in the creature's chest, and rammed the foot up under the creature's jaw instead. It leaned its head back, making a horrible mewling sound. She couldn't tell if it was an infant experiencing pain and being surprised, or a grown man whimpering in pleasure as nails raked down his back in bed. And he still came on, only slower. Inch by inch by…
There was a whopping sound of displaced air, and something smashed against the back of the War Ghoul's skull. Blood and wooden splinters showered Cassie's face, and the broken heel of her shoe sank deep into the leathery skin of the monster's throat. For half a second, the pressure on Cassie's chest doubled and redoubled – and just as she was tasting blood, he dropped her. The War Ghoul stumbled on all fours, hacking and coughing – and beside him, Hailey lifted the 4x4 for another blow.
The wooden beam was longer than the blonde holding it, but Hailey raised it like a twig. Just like the gift of their Mistress' old Blood had allowed Cassie to live through the War Ghoul smashing her into the factory wall – literally; there was an indentation of bricks and crushed mortar where she had hung - Hailey was stronger than anyone her size had any right to be. Cassie had no more air to do anything but slump against the wall and try to feel where the blood running down her chest had come from, but Hailey was screaming for the both of them – a scream of terror and rage and pure effort.
The 4x4 came down again like the wrath of God, smashing directly into the back of the massive hulk's head and driving its face into the ground. The sound was like an egg cracking, followed a moment later by dry twigs snapping and razors digging into flesh as the bone-spikes in the creature's maw snapped and tore into its lips and jaws.
"Ohmigod, Cassie… are you… we have to… I…"
Hailey gripped the beam so hard her fingers were making indentations in the 4x4, her adrenaline spiking so hard she couldn't even speak properly. Cassie looked up at her and coughed – and blood filled her mouth. Oh God, something was broken inside her. But… Hailey had saved her. Hailey. Why? And the way she was looking at her, like… Cassie finally dared to look down. Blood was all over her chest, pouring from a nasty cut along her right collarbone. Her top was a mess. And she was sure there was blood all over her face. She'd be worried, seeing herself, but… Hailey hated her!
Didn't she?
"Oh, God, Cassie, I thought… I thought he tore your throat out. Are… are you…"
Cassie looked at Hailey like she was seeing a mirage. As if one of the Crawlers or Madmen of the Sabbat were using their twisted Vampiric powers to appear as her, and her fellow Ghoul was laying dead and drained beyond those boxes. But then, why save her from the War Ghoul? Why kill it? Why…
It all – along with the looming threat of where all those questions took her – shook Cassie so hard it took her much too long to see the bloodied, mewling War Ghoul begin to rise. She tried to scream, tried to point – but her mouth was full of blood and her arm wouldn't work and something was digging into her throat and her lungs, and…
The monster rose up on both knees, still as tall as a full-grown man. Its face was a horror of cut meat and bone splinters and blood and gravel. Something grey-purple was leaking down its chest from the back of its neck. But still those horrible, black dots stared with idiot lust… and rage.
"HAILEY IT'S NOT DEAD IT'S…"
Cassie reacted without thinking, the Blood responding to her call. Her chest burned as her ribs and lungs knitted themselves together – and the long cut on her clavicle closed itself instantly. She swallowed blood and spat as she screamed, and Hailey turned – as slow as if in a nightmare. Then she screamed, too.
The tiny blonde swung the 4x4 again, a murderous sideswipe that almost took Cassie's head along with the creature – and the beam stopped dead as the creature stretched out a huge hand and caught the 4x4 with a smack that sounded of the walls. It flexed its arm. The beam ripped out of Hailey's hands and broke like a rotten twig against the asphalt. Hailey made some sort of low, terrified noise.
The War Ghoul dropped the 4x4, almost casually, and swept both arms in a wide pincer swing. It careened as if drunk, and that's why its left arm caught Hailey even as she jumped back, sweeping her off her feet with frightening ease – more so because its club-shaped fingers closed on empty air behind her. Hailey hit the ground hard, but rolling… but then the fleshwarped Ghoul fell forward. Cassie rolled frantically to the left as a way too long arm slammed down right where her knees had been, but Hailey's legs hit the solid mass of the industrial-vat chest and drove her back onto the ground, beneath it.
Now Hailey was the one staring into the War Ghouls maw. Blood and sliced meat dribbled down on her as it worked to tear its bone awls out of the ruin of its mouth. Its jaw moved and meat tore, and the jaws clamped together again as if it believed it was Hailey's face it had between its teeth. Hailey's brain locked down in sheer terror. Her arms shot up and locked against the terribly slick broad chest – but if Cassie hadn't been able to hold it off with her legs, Hailey had no chance with her arms, not even with the freakish strength the Blood gave her. The jaw was freeing itself, coming closer. With a whimper, Hailey turned her face away and closed her eyes, waiting for the teeth, wondering how bad it would hurt…
And then something brushed her thigh. Something hard and wet and all wrong. Hailey's eyes flew open in shock, and the War Ghoul grinned down at her, no longer snapping or working its broken jaws. But it was smiling. It looked eager.
Something brushed her thigh again; her other one this time. "God, please no…"
Hailey looked down.
Whoever fleshcrafted the monstrosity made it as a weapon of terror. It was made for fear and pain and slaughter. Along with warping the body, its master had twisted its mind. That the pain was its own didn't really matter – and the fear was intoxicating.
And so its body… reacted.
What Hailey saw was less like an erect cock than a ramrod. It was lined with bone plates, hard and jagged, and large as a man's arm. That part had been crafted and warped and changed as much as the rest of him – a monster, a weapon, a killing device. Perhaps the monster was reverting to something more primal as its brains were slowly leaking down its neck. Perhaps some manner of Dominated instruction remained to be followed – of a way of killing even less clean and even more terrifying than its fangs and bone awl teeth. Perhaps it just realized this itself.
Hailey stared for a second. And then she fought, digging her nails into the leathery skin of the War Ghoul and dragging herself further up and away from the bony shaft threatening to end her and kicking desperately at it from underneath. A heel – shorter than Cassie's stilettoes, but still long and pointed – struck square against the dripping shaft – and snapped against a bone plate. It was like kicking a steel pipe.
"Oh God." Hailey thought she was going to scream, but it came out very small. "Please, no. Please don't." She wanted to reach for something, wanted to scream, wanted to look for anything or anyone, but all she could do was drag herself along the asphalt by inches while the War Ghoul bore down on her, and…
Cassie moved like lightning. Every last drop of vampiric Blood in her burning as she pushed her muscles to the edge. Her broken heels clamped down right by Hailey's face – and the screaming Ghoul hoisted the broken three-quarters of the 4x4 beam like a giant stake and brought the point straight down on the shattered skull of the fleshcrafted beast.
It didn't even make a cracking sound. The broken skull parted like fleshy carpets and the beam punched straight through into the leaking brain, splattering grey matter and cranial fluid for yards.
The War Ghoul collapsed, burying Hailey under a mountain of leathery, dead flesh.
"HAILEY!"
For a horrifying moment, Cassie grabbed the brained carcass and heaved – and did not move it at all. She cursed and called on the Blood, but there was nothing. She was already pushing the might Lady Tara's Blood gave her to the fullest. There was simply nothing more to give. And then… the massive body rocked, and Cassie yelped, wondering if it could possibly still be alive, still healing – but it was Hailey pushing it from beneath. The huge body fell or lurched to the right, and Hailey's arm, small as a doll's in comparison, reached up blindly.
Cassie grabbed it and pulled, setting one leg against the huge corpse both for extra leverage and pulled. She felt so weak, as if she had torn muscles fighting the War Ghoul. But that should have healed, shouldn't it? It didn't matter. She had to get Hailey out of there. The little blonde had saved her… and she was important to Tara. For Tara's sake, she had to get Hailey back home, at least.
The body rolled over, the wooden beam transfixed in its brainpan clattering against the asphalt, and Hailey crawled out from under it. Her dress and skin was torn to a mess by scratches from the asphalt and the bone protrusions of the War Ghoul, and her face and upper chest dripped with brain fluid and blood. Her grey-blue eyes stared at Cassie from the bloody mask, small pools of barely-contained terror looking at her sister Ghoul.
Cassie's legs gave out, and she fell on her ass, staring at Hailey. The full horror of what she had just experienced; what had almost happened to her, what she had just done, began to filter through her shock- and adrenalin-numbed mind.
"Hailey… you… you…"
Her own voice sounded like it came from somewhere far away, or as if her head was wrapped in bubble wrap. But she could still hear the sound of her voice breaking.
"Cassie… no, don't. Don't. I'm… I'm fine." Hailey didn't sound fine at all. She sounded brittle, like if she was gasping for air.
"But… it… you…" Cassie was gonna break. She could feel it. Could hardly get a word out.
"No. Don't… don't you dare." That was stronger. Hailey was gathering all her strength to keep the dam holding. "Please, Cassie. Don't…"
But there was no way. Cassie's tears spilled over, a sob pressing itself from her lips, and Hailey was chanceless. The two Ghouls fell into each other's arms, crying freely, the terror and fear of the last few moments finally having its way. For long moments, the only sounds in the abandoned alley were desperate sobs and hitched breaths, as two young women cried their hearts out next to the still almost twitching corpse of a living Sabbat war machine.
None of them had even partly composed themselves when the world intervened again. The scuttling of rats. The sound of engines roaring.
Hailey leant back just enough to catch Cassie's eyes. Her blood-covered face was streaked with tears. "We have to get out of here", she whispered.
