She kept it, like a common thief, stupidly thinking that she could learn to use it for herself. It was mine. I earned it. I was the one who should have inherited the key after Machado failed. Who was this stupid vampire to think that she could take my honor? She'd made herself unbelievably strong by feeding on unholy monsters of every kind, stealing their precious lives, their energy. The ghastly hag. I offered her an alliance, but that wasn't good enough. No! Susan dared think that she could take over the Condition, the church that I built with my own hands, the flock that I'd tended! She thought she deserved my glory!' Hood's voice was bitter. 'That's why she came to you with a piece of the key. She knew she was no match for me, but my dear old friend, Ray, believed that you, one of the Chosen, might actually have a chance. He's as big a fool as he's ever been, thinking he could keep it from me.'
'The artifact?' I gasped. It was too powerful. I couldn't begin to imagine what it could be used for in the hands of a loony like Hood. 'You have it?'
'After Susan dared to interfere in Mexico and then again in Cazador, I tracked her down and took back what was rightfully mine. She escaped Earl only to run into me. I'm not done with her yet, either. I've never been able to use such a powerful vampire in my experiments before… She's always been beautiful, but I could improve her.'
He was closer now. He reached into his robes and pulled out the small piece of stone. About the size of a pack of cards, it looked innocuous enough, but I knew that it held the end of the world inside. 'With you, with this, my dream will be complete.'
It wouldn't do him any good. The big gate could only be opened once every five hundred years. He couldn't let the Dread Overlord in. 'You're too-' I had to stop as a fire rippled up from my abdomen, burning through my throat, and bloody vomit spilled involuntarily past my lips. I retched and cringed while Hood waited patiently for me to finish. 'Late…' I finally gasped.
He was only a few feet away. 'Of course. This isn't about letting them in. I'm trading you for something special. I've proved my worthiness to awake the Arbmunep, and the artifact will allow me to utilize it to its full potential.'
Myers had said that name. 'What now, you sick freak?'
Hood grinned. It was terrifying. 'Eternal night. Beautiful eternal night. The world will wilt and decay until they surrender to their rightful king.'
'You're insane.'
He didn't like having his sanity questioned. 'I'm the Lord of Shadows!' he shouted.
I was growing weaker by the second. I didn't know if I could do this. Cold water rained down on my face. The giant flash-bang was in my lap. It was now or never.
Gathering up what strength I had left, I pulled the cord and tossed it. The Frisbee-sized chunk of lethal chemicals sailed down the aisle toward Hood. Sparks shot from the top as it landed on the sopping carpet at his feet. He frowned at the device. 'Delaying the inevitable with a mere distraction,' he said as he raised his cloak to shield his face. 'Pathetic.'
I forced myself upward as it ignited. Scalding light burned across the room. The cultists covered their eyes and cried out as the light bombarded them. The chemicals burned with an unholy screech. Blind, desperate, I drove myself forward. I had to reach my target.
Maybe it was the water soaking the explosive into mush, but this one didn't last nearly as long. Hood, unfazed, lowered his cloak, grinning. 'You didn't even reach me.' He stopped when he realized where I had gone. 'Oh, bloody hell.'
'Ha!' I responded, still blind, but I had found what I was looking for. The wooden stake embedded in Susan's chest brushed my numb fingers. I forced my hands to curl around the shaft and I tugged. It grated against her ribs.
Stakes through the heart don't permanently kill vampires. They just shut them down, their supernatural regenerative abilities unable to heal as long as the foreign object is there. When the stake comes out, the vampire heals. I wasn't strong enough to do this on my own. I needed help. She was evil incarnate, but the enemy of my enemy was my friend.
'Stop him!' Hood bellowed at his blinded minions.
The stake wrenched free with a sickening pop. Someone crashed into my back, taking us both to the ground. I rolled over, weakly trying to defend myself. A cultist was on top of me, trying to hold me down. I got one arm free and slammed the stake upward. The man made a terrible gurgling noise as the sharpened wood pierced his throat.
Susan rose from the coffin with shocking speed, perfectly straight, the hole in her chest still closing. The vampire was eerily still for a long moment, arms demurely folded, false rain cascading around her. Her dress was torn and filthy from the flight through the forest. Her black hair hung like a veil over her pale face.
One of the cultists moved.
Her eyes opened, a sick shade of red. One delicate hand swept down, cleaving like an ax through an acolyte's face and out the back of his skull. The other cultists retreated. Susan growled at them, raised her hand, and licked the blood from her fingers. It took a second for Susan to get oriented, taking in me on the ground, the huddled nut jobs, and her nemesis.
The Master vampire growled at the necromancer. 'Marty…'
'Susan,' the shadow man responded.
'We have a score to settle, you and me,' she said, showing off her fangs.
'Indeed we do. You thought you could best me, take over the empire that I built. That was your last mistake.'
'And your first was having me turned into a vampire to begin with, you limey bastard.' Susan stepped out of the coffin and floated to the floor.
I shoved the dying cultist off me. 'Get him, Susan! Kick his ass!' I shouted. I tried to sit up, but was too weak, and sank back to the floor.
For a second, I thought we might just have a chance. She was powerful, mean as hell, but then Susan shook her head. 'Sorry, hon. I tried that once, didn't work out. That's why I hired you, remember? Thanks for saving me though. Much appreciated.' Then she was just gone.
'No! No! Damn it! Damn it!' I screamed in frustration. The tattered dress hit the floor, empty, as a white mist rolled across the ground and out the broken window. Stupid! So much for that idea. Never trust the undead. 'You better run, you bitch!' It figured that the last thing I'd accomplished in my life was to save the life of a vampire. Way to go, idiot. I collapsed into a pathetic coughing fit.
Unbelievable pain shuddered through my body. The undead curse was shredding my cells. As a reminder of things to come, the cultist with the wooden stake jammed in his neck sat up, corpse already animated. Struggling to rise, I made it only a few feet before falling on my face. I was just too weak. A boot splashed right in front of my nose.
'Somebody shut off the sprinklers already,' Hood ordered. Strong hands landed on my back and rolled me over. I tried to reach for my pistol. That same boot collided with the side of my head. 'Determined bloke, isn't he? Disable the tracking device.'
'I've been jamming the signal since he came out of the portal.' Somebody took my shotgun. Someone else began pulling on the side of my armor. I was too feeble to do anything about it. 'What now?' Torres asked.
'Watch him. I'll prepare the sending. Young Mr. Pitt has a very important appointment to keep.'
Consciousness returned in tiny bits. First came the terrible aching in my bones. My body felt like an old garment that had been eaten thin by moths. Next I became aware of the taste of blood, my own blood. I gagged. My head rolled to the side so it could spill out. My eyes opened. Everything was blurry.
'Well, look who's awake.' Torres was sitting across from me. One of his eyes was bruised and swollen shut. That's what you looked like when Agent Franks knocked you out. 'How are you feeling?'
I couldn't respond. My face hurt too much.
'Figured as much. Well, you look like shit.' He was leaning back in his chair, enjoying himself. He had Abomination resting on the chair next to him. 'In fact, let me show you.' There was a small mirror on the table between us. He picked it up and held it so I could see my reflection.
My skin was utterly pale. There were red blotches on my skin from blood vessels breaking just under the surface. The whites of my eyes had taken on a sick yellow tone and they were circled by blackened sockets. The fresh wound on my cheek from the werewolf was festering and leaking pus.
I closed my eyes. I had killed zombies that looked healthier than that. Not too much longer now.
