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  “Do not worry; for me there is nothing to fear. For you, on the other hand, it is going to be an endless hell from which you will most likely never escape.” Eliza stepped in, bent the woman’s head over at an extreme angle before plunging her elongated canines in. She looked over the other people as she drank, they did their best to avoid eye contact but could not seem to look away from the horror before them.

  Eliza could not remember a time she felt so sated, yet she continued to drink. The little lambs never once protested or raised a finger in defense. Oh, there were cries for mercy, that was just music to the vampire’s ears. Eliza sighed in content as the last of the huddled mass fell to the floor. She looked up to the ceiling; thick lines of blood ran from the corners of her mouth and all over the front of her shirt.

  She turned back to the woman and child only to notice that neither of them were in the building.

  “Oh where oh where can my Emily be…” Eliza sang out as she walked to the front doors.

  “Please, mama,” the girl begged as she dragged her still unconscious mother along the ground.

  “Got more to you than the rest of your town combined, Emily,” Eliza said as she watched from the top step.

  “Get up!” Emily cried as she continued to pull on her mother’s arm.

  “Although, that’s not saying much, considering it’s just the two of you left and, well, it doesn’t look like your mother will be answering the bell anytime soon.”

  “I’ll kill you!” Emily shouted, standing up. She pulled out a knife that she had tucked under her dress.

  “Hmmm…at first, I’d planned to either make you watch as I drank your mother or your mother watch as I drank from you, but I think I have something much better planned,” Eliza said as she crossed the distance between them.

  “You’ll be fine,” Eliza said as she stared down at the young girl.

  “So cold.” Emily shivered and pulled the blankets tighter around her body.

  “You’re burning up, but soon you’ll be stronger than you could ever imagine.” Eliza stood and went to the closet to get another blanket, which she covered the girl with. “Sleep, my little one. Soon we will explore all the wonders this world has to offer, together.”

  Eliza hovered over the girl for the remainder of the day and far into the night. Emily awoke the next morning, her fever having broke.

  “Hungry,” the girl said, her voice hoarse.

  “Of course you are! Let me get you something,” Eliza said as she left the room. She came back a few minutes later with the girl’s mother, her hands tied in front of her and her mouth gagged, her eyes wide in terror. Eliza yanked off the gag. The woman took in the room and then rushed to the bed when she saw her daughter.

  “Oh Emily, I thought you were dead!” she cried. “You’re so cold,” she said as she pulled her face away. “What have you done?!” she screamed at Eliza.

  “I have made her…better.” Eliza shrugged and moved to the side.

  “Mother, come closer,” Emily said.

  “Of course! My poor, sweet…”

  Emily fumbled with getting the angle right as she plunged into her mother’s neck.

  “Slowly,” Eliza cooed. “You don’t want to waste it.”

  At first, Emily’s mother was rigid. As she was drained of blood, she began to fold in on herself. Eliza held her propped up as Emily finished her meal.

  “You did wonderfully, my child. I do not believe I have ever seen one so eager to rid themselves of their humanity as you. Even I blanched at my first feeding. Come.” She extended her hand. “There are many rights I wish to wrong.”

  Emily took Eliza’s hand and stood. “Are you my mama now?”

  “Well, I suppose I am; I did create you.”

  Chapter 13

  Kalandar & Linnick

  “I created you!” Kalandar held up the small golem.

  “It doesn’t look anything like me,” Linnick replied.

  “I am not a sculptor.”

  “That is obvious.”

  “There are arms and legs, head, and unfortunately, a mouth, though I think I could change that. You will have everything you need to survive in a new realm.”

  Linnick eyed the rough sculpture over. “Well, at least it isn’t as ugly as Tallboat, I suppose. You think he’ll like it?”

  “I have sent out a message to the witch; it is only a matter of time.”

  Chapter 14

  Mike Journal Entry 6

  “We have to go,” Azile said as she woke me up.

  “Now?” I asked, looking around. “It’s still dark.”

  “Kalandar and Linnick are ready. I have already got Lana, Mathieu, and Gabriel; they await us below on horses.”

  “What about the kids?”

  “Oh, right, I completely forgot about them,” Azile said as she mock-slapped her palm against her head.

  “Just because I’m sarcastic, woman, doesn’t mean I like it when others do it to me.”

  “They are cared for, and we will not be gone long.”

  “Can’t we just do it here?”

  “Yes, I truly think we should summon a fifteen-foot tall demon and a truth-seeker right inside the city walls of Denarth. That should go over well. The citizens are already on edge that there were two Lycan within their borders. And we all know how they feel about you. Should we see if we can get them to sharpen their pitchforks? Maybe get some extra pitch on their torches?”

  “Man!” I said as I tossed the covers off of me. “I was dreaming so good! I was stuck in the Philadelphia airport, flight got canceled due to weather.”

  Azile raised an eyebrow. “What part of that was good?”

  “It was Philly!”

  “Oh–cheesesteaks, right?”

  “Nailed it. I had just grabbed the tray with my food on it, there was a clean table without anyone else sitting at it, I mean, I just unwrapped the foil…steam was pouring off the top, cheese was drooping all along the sides of the oh-so-fresh bun…” I was salivating just thinking about it. “So close! The last time I was this disappointed getting woken up too soon I was thirteen and it had something to do with Cheryl Tiegs.”

  “I don’t want to know. Wait, who’s Cheryl Tiegs?”

  “Um, nobody. She used to work the counter at a cheesesteak shop.”

  “Don’t need Linnick to see through that.”

  “Damn that pink bikini,” I mumbled.

  When we got downstairs, Mathieu nodded at me before yawning. I noticed Gabriel fast asleep in the back of the cart and wished I could join him.

  “You sure we need the boy for this?” I asked.

  “You realize I’ve told you this before, right?” she asked back as we headed out the gate.

  “I can’t be expected to remember every little thing. I’m like, two hundred years old.”

  She sighed. “My mother wanted me to be a dental hygienist so that I could find a nice dentist to settle down with. I think she wanted me to marry our family dentist, Dr. Fiddlebottoms.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “No, I’m serious. She had some schools picked out for me.”

  “Oh, I do not doubt that. My father wanted me to be an air traffic controller.”

  Azile snorted. “FAA would have had a field day with that.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve seen you try to multi-task, Michael. You can barely talk and think at the same time. Wait…that explains a lot. Why am I just now getting that?”

  “Funny. Nice to see you have jokes. And I’m calling b.s. on the dentist’s name; that’s a name from a kids’ book to make them feel better about going to see a mouth doctor. Fiddlebottoms…or maybe that’s something he used to do when he put people under for a tooth extraction and cavity search, if you catch my meaning.”

  “Stop!” she laughed. “He was a very nice man.”

  “Whoa, Azile, that’s a long time to be carrying a torch.”

  “He had the nicest smile.”

 
; “See, now I know you’re full of it because they are always wearing a mask.”

  “I guess I had to settle for you.”

  “How’s this?” Mathieu asked as we came to a small copse of trees. “There’s a clearing inside there, should keep us hidden from any prying eyes.”

  “This is not a scene I would want to stumble upon late at night, or any time,” I said as I got off my horse.

  “Gabriel, honey, you ready for this?” Azile asked as she gently woke the boy.

  “I wish he didn’t have to,” Lana said nervously. She picked the child up.

  “You know I wouldn’t if there was another way.”

  “If Fiddlebottoms comes through that opening, we’re going to have words,” I said as I followed Mathieu into the woods. “Damn dentist. Just one more reason to not like them. Already got their hands in your mouth, now they’re trying to get their hands on your wife.” Absolutely completely unsure as to why I was upset over a guy that had long ago turned to dust. Maybe it was the stress of what was happening, or was about to happen.

  “I’m going to seal this clearing off.” Azile looked to us all. “You may wish to be ready for…for anything.”

  Whereas Azile could pinpoint her extractions, Gabriel just opened the door and whoever wanted to step through could. Sure, we had invited Kalandar and Linnick, but there was no saying who might try to crash the party. Azile raised her hands over her head then slowly brought them down to her sides, quietly speaking an incantation. A soft glow illuminated the entire clearing. She nodded to Gabriel, who was in Lana’s arms.

  “You need to put me down,” he told her. I don’t think she agreed, though she did as he asked.

  He didn’t appear to be actively doing anything, but there was a flicker of black, a subtle non-brightness in the middle of the opening, like an un-light was about to go out. Yeah, I realize that’s difficult to grasp, so we’ll try this route. You’re in a dark room and in the middle of the room is a small table with a desk lamp on it. Someone turns on the low wattage light, however, the bulb is in the process of dying and is flickering its last moments of existence. Now take the negative of that and, voila, we’re on the same page. It was extremely disconcerting to look upon; didn’t get much better when the blackness suddenly held steady like it had finally won its battle against the light.

  I’d like to tell you that my bladder wasn’t thinking about releasing its contents when Kalandar’s massive foot stepped through the opening, wouldn’t be the truth, though. Luckily it didn’t, but honestly, what kind of fucking defensive measure is that? Pissing yourself? I mean, all that tells your opponent is that you are so scared you cannot control your most basic of bodily functions. If that’s the case, how are you possibly up to defending yourself? Is urinating in your pants like raising a giant white flag? I knew Kalandar; I’d met him before. As far as I knew, we were friendly-ish but more importantly, I knew he was coming through the opening. Again, not going to lie, my finger wanted to pull the trigger on the rifle I was holding, like, repeatedly and without prejudice.

  No part of him had a place in this world. A fifteen-foot tall, fire-engine red demon? He was going to be difficult to disguise. If he hadn’t been the one that said he had a way to bring Linnick across, I would have rethought the whole thing. And where was the miniature beetle-esque creature? Because what he was holding was bigger and looked nothing like the little breatine that had saved my life, a couple of times. Looked more like a hairless chipmunk. If we were going solely on looks, she might have been better off in her other shell.

  “It has been a long time since I have been here,” Kalandar said as he took a great gust of air into his lungs.

  “You’ve been here? This place?” I asked.

  “Long ago. Your ancestors looked quite different, much smaller and living in trees, if I’m not mistaken.” He was thinking. “Smart, though. Tough to catch.”

  “Catch?” Lana asked.

  “I had to eat; I found easier fare.”

  “Tallboat!” Linnick said excitedly. “I…I am alive.” She sounded unsure.

  “You are at that, my little friend.” I went over and took her from Kalandar’s outstretched hand. “How’s this new body treating you?”

  “It seems strange to be this enormous, but I can move faster than I used to. It is a bit chilly in this skin.”

  I frowned at the large goosebumps that mottled the grayish flesh.

  “I can help you with that,” Azile said. She whispered a small spell; a fuzz of brown fur began to sprout all over Linnick, finally covering her entire body in a sleek, glossy pelt.

  “That is much nicer,” Linnick said as she extended her arms so that she could look at her new coat. “You should perhaps do Tallboat now; anything to hide his grotesqueness.”

  “Hmm…now that you say it, he might look good in some fur.”

  “Don’t even think it, woman.”

  “Far too late for that,” she replied.

  Kalandar turned quickly back to the shimmering opening. “I think it best to close that portal.”

  I couldn’t see anything, but he was peering behind him intently.

  “What’s going on? He seems nervous,” Mathieu pointed out.

  “I don’t know, but we should be concerned about anything that could make him anxious.”

  “Yes,” he looked up, “I concur.”

  Looked like whatever was coming had just reached Azile’s radar as well. “Gabriel,” she was talking towards the boy but was facing the point of entry, “can you close the portal, please?”

  “I’m trying. Something is holding it open,” he strained to utter.

  “Kalandar, can we fight this thing?” I asked bringing my rifle up.

  “I believe we could fight anything,” he said.

  “And win?” I asked.

  “We stand a much better chance of dying,” he shrugged.

  When Kalandar came through, it looked like he had merely stepped out of an incredibly dark room and into our world. Now, it appeared the gate itself was moving, as if it were some fibrous material and something on the other side was attempting to break through. I could not, no matter how much I tried, get the image of a baby kicking against its mother’s belly as it rolled over, or whatever embryos are wont to do, out of my head. Though this baby looked like it was completely done with the gestation period and was forcing its way out. A bright light spilled from a rent near the top and began to elongate. Back to my original theme, the entity was performing a cesarean section from the inside out. I don’t think there were going to be a lot of oohs and aahs when this newborn made its debut on earth.

  I knew the opening page to a horror book as well as anybody, considering I’d been living in one for a fuck-load of years. I put three rounds in that expanding opening. I think shitting on a Hessian tank in an attempt to get it to stop rolling would have been more effective. There was a low rumbling, almost as if a subway train was approaching. My guess? It was this thing’s version of a laugh.

  “We should consider another location,” Kalandar said as he took a step backward.

  I watched Lana try to pick up Gabriel; he didn’t move. He was Excalibur and she was not Arthur.

  “Help me!” she begged Mathieu. He immediately broke from his fixation with the widening gap and ran to help. Nothing. Gabriel might as well have been Thor’s hammer, and there wasn’t a Norse God anywhere in the vicinity.

  Leaving had just been taken off the table. Azile changed her focus from the gate to Gabriel.

  “I would have liked to have been alive again for more than a few minutes,” Linnick said.

  “Funny, I’ve been around for over two hundred years, and all of a sudden it doesn’t seem like long enough.”

  “That is not funny, Tallboat.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “When have I not been?”

  “To stay here is to die,” Kalandar said.

  “Established that,” I told him.

  “Step bac
k!” Azile commanded to Mathieu and Lana. Power swirled in her hands, illuminating her face, creating dark shadows and sharp angles and giving her eyes a very crazed look. I wasn’t a fan.

  Nobody moved. It would have been hard to look at Azile and not think she intended Gabriel harm, sort of like killing the power source to stop the surge. Made sense in a dark way.

  “Going to shield him–that’s all. Move. We don’t have much time.” Azile appeared to be exerting every bit of strength she had.

  Mathieu had to physically pick Lana up, and the look she shot him told me that if we made it through the night, he was going to pay for this, for a very long time.

  As soon as Azile thought she had enough room, she tossed whatever she was holding. It struck Gabriel in the head, though he made no indication he’d even felt it. The ball of power exploded outward and up, at first, before cascading down around him like his own personal electrical storm. The gate began to dim by degrees. The thing on the other side, maybe realizing its time was growing short, was working faster at opening the gap. The white light intensified. Personally, I felt like a mouse while two lions fought; basically, I could do nothing but stay out of the way. Azile was straining as she poured even more of herself into the spell. Gabriel wasn’t even visible anymore under the sparks that showered around him. I thought Lana was going to kick Mathieu’s ass as she strained and struggled to get away from him.

  Then, a few seconds later, there was this deafening pop, as if a giant hot air balloon had burst. The white light, which had dazzled the entire clearing, was gone immediately afterward. Azile let go of the field she had been producing; there were long seconds as my eyes adjusted, during which I thought it possible I had been blinded, as I could see absolutely nothing.

  A loud oomph from Mathieu was immediately followed by Lana asking Gabriel if he was all right. By the time I could see more than blinding white blobs in my field of vision, Lana had scooped Gabriel up and was hugging him tightly. She looked as if she dared the devil himself to take him from her. I looked over to where the portal had been and wondered if maybe that was what we had narrowly avoided.