Max raised the knife level to his head and charged at Master. We all followed his lead. The Master flapped his wings and rose higher to the ceiling as the rest of us fell forward, slashing our knives at the space Master left behind. Master flew over us and then swooped down, planting the claws from his feet into Daggett’s back and pulling him off the floor and then throwing him against the chapel windows, shattering them. The knife fell from Daggett’s hand as he collapsed to the ground, with shards of glass falling on top of him. Poor Daggett’s arms and face were sliced up pretty good from the initial impact, and Priscilla immediately ran to check on him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Melanie react. The blood. She smelled it. Her eyes went an electric yellow, and she immediately shook her head a few times, struggling to fight the hunger that was growing inside of her. She was by Max’s side, trying to attack Master, but the aroma of Daggett’s blood was trying to pull her away from her destination and toward the smell. But Melanie was strong, and she forged through.
Melanie ran at Master, and he threw her back.
Max and Dana ran toward Master, and he threw them back.
Every time anyone got even remotely close, his wings spread, and they tossed us across the room like we weighed nothing.
I took a chance and threw my knife at him, hoping that the silver and the blade would slit one of his wings or even put a dent in him, but the second it flew in his direction, he twisted his body sideways and the knife landed behind him. Master looked back at me, equally surprised and angry, and bolted in my direction with his hand grasping for me.
I may not be the smartest or the strongest, but I know when my ass needs to run.
Like a football player, Max speared his body into Master before he could reach me, and I rolled onto the floor to avoid getting in the way. I did land on my butt, though, which hurt. Master staggered back a step, but only momentarily. Dana jumped onto him from behind and wrapped her legs around his midsection while squeezing her hands tightly around his head, giving him a struggle to even look around the room. Frustrated, he growled, and his wings flapped maniacally to wiggle her off. She didn’t budge.
Max waltzed straight up to Master and stabbed him in the gut. The blade smoked as it passed through his skin, and Master screamed. He lifted off the floor and kicked Max with both feet, launching him straight into the altar with the dozens of candles. Melanie quickly jumped in from the left and stabbed Master in the shoulder, and he jolted and turned in reaction, letting his wings swipe her and shove her face-first into a wall. He flew straight up to the ceiling, banging against it repeatedly until it shook Dana off of him and then came crashing to the floor.
Melanie crawled to a fallen Dana and cradled her in her arms. “Are you okay?” she whispered. Dana nodded, and the two slowly got to their feet again.
A panting Master shakily removed the knife from his stomach and dropped it to the floor. He then weakly did the same to the one in his shoulder. The wounds leaked a steady flow of blood so dark it was almost black, and it dripped all over the velvet carpet. It was the only time I could recall seeing him truly struggle and look like he was out of breath. All because of the silver.
Max sprung forward, attempting to grab one of the fallen knives, but Master pinned his hand down with his large, bat foot. Max yanked his hand out from beneath Master and then kicked him hard in the shin. Dana and Melanie were back up, both grabbing the knives and stabbing Master in the arms. He backhanded Dana, and then turned to do the same to Melanie, but was met by Daggett, who had collected the shards of glass in his hands and flung them into Master’s face. Master protected himself with both hands, and in that defensive moment, Max grabbed a lit candle and put it out on the side of Master’s head. This caused a sharp, ear-piercing scream. It was a pain he clearly wasn’t prepared for, and with all of his might, he forced Max down to the floor.
The vibration of the fight knocked one of the window candles over and it rolled across the carpet toward me, nearly scorching my nose. Before the flames settled into the rug and spread, I quickly blew it out. The puff of smoke drifted into my nostrils and I coughed.
I stared at the unlit candle on the ground, and an idea suddenly popped into my head.
I crawled across the floor to Priscilla, who had been seated in a corner watching the fight unfold while tightly gripping her knife. “Priscilla!” I yelled.
She jumped because she didn’t know I was there. “What should I do?” she asked as her eyes remained on the battle. “I wanna help, but I don’t want to die. I can’t do this shit, man! We’re fucking human! What am I even doing here?!”
I shushed her. “It’s all right. I think I know how we can help. Come with me.”
She looked at me and blinked. “Come with you? Where?”
“We gotta go back through the hedge maze. I need you so I don’t get lost.”
“Are you fucking high?”
“Come on, Priscilla. We don’t have time.” I grabbed her by the hand and yanked her off the floor as we both
