Beloved Evangeline (36 page)

When he didn’t answer, Jonathan snapped again, “If you don’t kill her right now, I want back what I paid you.”

“
Payment can’t be taken back. You already received 100 times what you should have for that worthless soul of yours. Be thankful I don’t decide to drag you down to hell straight away.”

Augustine hesitated, obviously upset at the turn things had taken. Nevertheless, he nodded with resignation. Without Wesley, the unholy congregation crept back into the light.

Whatever strength was left I needed to summon now. This was it, my last chance to prove I was not a failure. I didn’t need to
succeed
exactly, just hold them off long enough for my innocent friends to escape.
I convinced myself that this much I
could
do
. Maybe this final act would be enough to wash away a lifetime of pain.

A soulless ghoul bared its teeth, creeping ever nearer. I took a step back.

He kept coming at me, undeterred, eyes
curious
.

Now what
? Not that I have a specific area of expertise, but hand-to-hand combat with a legion of freakish ghouls falls just about as far from any knowledge base as can be imagined. I literally know more about particle physics.

I remembered the talisman—but found my hands empty. Likely it slipped away during my bout of madness. I dodged again as this diseased abomination reached out to touch my hair, and tired of running, I kicked its side. Though admittedly not aesthetically pleasing, the kick still managed to put him slightly off balance. After a few practice air kicks—that blessedly no living person witnessed—the next assault landed squarely on his chest. Connecting more solidly, he—it—flew backwards to the ground.

Floundering on the earth, he looked... helpless, a tortoise on its back. When all else had failed, he twisted onto his side, shuffling in a circle while leaving a trail of oozing dark liquid in his wake. Too bad the situation was too grim to find this humorous.

With a weary eye on the pitiful show, I tried to think of what my options were.

With a grimace, I contemplated the creature before me shuffling on the ground, a lá an unimaginably creepy version of Curly Howard. Decapitation was definitely
out
. I was still far too squeamish about this whole situation to even seriously consider such a thing. My lifelong search had been for the
spiritual
supernatural—not these ghastly things, blood, guts, or
pus
. I shuddered.

Maybe I could just run around in a circle for as long as my strength would last?

Before I could reach a decision, something yanked on my hair from behind. Instinctively, I thrust my elbow back toward the threat, and connected with a profound absence of jaw. My arm shook involuntarily out of equal parts disgust and horror.

This one had obviously been around longer than most. His hair was grotesquely long. His lips and eyelids were long gone, leaving bared teeth and bulging eyes. If I had to guess an eye color, I’d guess
white
. Unfortunately, however, he was not quite skeletal enough. As he staggered backward, I was overpowered by a tremendous stench.

He sprang at me again and again as I kicked him back. This thing was a bit more
bloodthirsty
than the last, or maybe, like a
Velociraptor
, he was testing the defense. Knowing my own defense would last only so long, I ultimately swung my fist at his head, which squished ever so slightly. I suppressed an impulse to gag, seizing his momentary confusion to give a tremendous shove to the chest with my foot. The sound of skull meeting pointy cypress knee was sickening. Blood flowed freely.

I stared down at the waxy, lifeless body, shocked and confused by what I had done. True, it was him or me, but still, this thing—whatever it was—would never get back up because of me, and I
had
shoved him forcefully.

The blood flowing over the fall leaves left me with an empty, haunted feeling. Nothing would ever be the same after this night, even if I managed to survive. Killing another, even this not-exactly-living creature, would inevitably take some kind of toll. To survive, I had to push the thoughts from my mind.

Without a sound, its hand locked around my ankle.

Oh
shit
.

Stomping my free foot on the gnarled hand, it pulled me to the ground while I was off balance. Grasping and grabbing at the largest branch within my reach, I thrust the limb at him. The first strike to his head didn’t do enough damage, so I swung at him. Again. And again. And again.

I wiped at the spray of dark liquid across my forehead, only inches of the branch still intact.

Still, he kept moving.

And, unexpectedly, the rest of them were all around me, hissing,
laughing
.

A
hideous
throng
rush
out forever,
And laugh
—
but smile
no
more.

I could’ve recited
The Haunted Palace
in its entirety, and that would help… how exactly? Why is my critical thinking process always so purposefully disobliging? And
where
is my shadow when I’m in trouble?

What I needed was that damned talisman. They simply would not
die
without it.

I clambered up the hickory tree as the ghouls hissed excitedly. The crowd of them below now numbered in the dozens. Their expressions varied from mild amusement to murderous glee. Stomping off a branch of sufficient thickness, I prepared to do something incredibly stupid. Their cackles only grew louder.

“
Come and get it!”

After they’d mostly gathered underneath, I tossed my branch to the edge of the wicked creatures, who, thinking I’d meant to hit them, stared at it with undisguised merriment. Grabbing the limb nearest me, I swung as if from a trapeze, landing on the other side of the tree and tumbling down over a few of the outer-lying freaks.

The swamp was no more welcoming on the way out than it’d been on the way in. Thorny vines clawed my skin. My clothes, just beginning to dry, were once again thoroughly soaked. Scrambling back to the approximate spot of my “fight” with Augustine, I frantically scoured the ground for signs of the talisman.

The task was seemingly hopeless, a talisman in a haystack, and the despondent feeling only grew as the slithering sounds of the body-snatchers’ footsteps grew louder. Several rocks offered false hope; I quickly hurled them at my pursuers.

Realizing my frantic effort was fruitless, I closed my eyes, mentally retracing my steps and picturing the last moment I actually held the necklace. The only thing I pictured was a sizeable cluster of vines, like the one the creatures were now walking through. I dove through them down to the base of the vine, seizing what was either another rock or the talisman—my life clearly depending on which.

The ghoulish shrieks advised it was not a rock.

I held it in front of me, warning the fiends to stay back. Shouts rang out from somewhere behind them, and as they turned, I crushed the talisman against a tree—with the heel of my boot after my hand bruised and failed at the task. The accompanying wails and shrieks pierced the sultry night air, the wicked forms dissipating into dark vapor. Wesley charged through the lingering mist, swiping and snarling, before realizing a fight was needless.

“
Are still with me kid? Did they hurt you—
whammy
you?” He pushed my shoulder slightly, a test of sentience.

Still breathing hard, I shook my head.

“
Look, their kind, like mine, steal their immortality from the vitality of the living—by flesh and bone rather than blood. Sure they didn’t hurt you?”

“
I’m not hurt.” Though I truly wasn’t, my voice came out thin and shaky.

In between breaths I asked, “My friends?”

“
At the hospital—safe.”

“
Thank you.” Nodding my head, I began walking away from him, trudging my way back to the tree.

“
What are you doing? You need to leave.”

“
I can’t—not until this is through, otherwise... this will never be over for me. This is my shot, my one shot, to set things right.”

Wesley the vampire grabbed my arm below the shoulder.

“
This doesn’t end here tonight, you know that right?” There was a look in his eyes now that I simply could not understand. It didn’t appear to be pity or sadness. His eyes conveyed no trace of
human
emotion.

Because he’s dead, a soulless vampire who couldn’t care less.

I tried to yank my arm loose. He held fast.

“
Something else will always be waiting, just around the corner, no matter what happens here tonight,” he squeezed my arm, “What are you going to do then?”

This thought had been at the back of my mind all evening, but I hadn’t seen the point in dwelling on it. Apparently the Vampire did.

“
I’m open for suggestions.”

His expression reflected his lack of amusement.

“
Look, my future has never exactly been bright.” I admitted in a quiet voice. “Whatever it takes—that’s what I’ll do to see this thing through.”

“
And what if it just doesn’t work? Have you thought of that?”

“
What do you care—why are you even helping me?” His previous explanation had been weak and we both knew it. My mother had known him and seemed to… wish he were dead.

“
I was already here when I saw you with those others. I recognized you.” His eyes did not meet mine. “From when you were a child.”

The coincidence of seeing him in this place two out of only a handful of times I’d ever been here, suddenly seemed no coincidence at all. “Is this where you live?”

“
Ah, no. It’s more of a sanctuary for those... like me.”

“
For
vampires
?”

“
No, not vampires, specifically. This place can be found only by those who are touched by the supernatural.” He finally looked at me. “How exactly did
you
get here tonight?”

“
I sort of
fell
into the ravine.”

“
That’s not possible. I thought you came here with that Fernwood you blathered about. I thought he permitted you entrance.” He stated these as facts rather than questions.

“
Well, I was actually running away from him when I fell, or I was trying to.” I stared back at him, “You’re changing the subject... why were you here tonight?
Why
are you helping me?”

“
I’m here because this is a terrific place to lay in wait for unsuspecting humans. I can see them, but they can’t see me.” He grinned. “But that doesn’t explain how you’re here...”

I thought again about his question. If this is a place for the supernatural, what did that mean for me? Was the reason I could never find it all those years ago was because I’d never
died
before?

“
I think it’s possibly because I.... died a few weeks ago?” I wondered aloud.

He inhaled deeply. “You don’t smell dead to me.”

“
Clearly
, I’m not
now
. I came back.”

“
You saw something, didn’t you?” He demanded impatiently.

That was just more than I cared to discuss with a strange vampire in the middle of an enchanted forest. Plus, I didn’t like his tone so I offered no response.