The knife was on the floor close to us. I reached out, summoned it to my hand, and plunged it down into the monster’s skull. It hissed and grabbed my arm, breaking it in half. The pain was too much. I thought I’d pass out, but my recoil triggered a glimmer of the power I wanted and sent us both flying into opposite walls.
I sat up, whimpering and rocking back and forth while my arm healed. The Carpathian wasn’t turning to ash. I’d have to finish it. I crawled to retrieve the knife, but the monster was conscious again. It pulled the knife from my hand and snapped it in two. That rage was starting to build. One wide-eyed glare sent the disgusting animal through the ceiling. I floated myself to avoid putting pressure on my bad arm when getting up.
The Carpathian jumped down from the hole. Its wings were cut badly by whatever caught it on the way up. I put my hand out and yanked on one of the wings until it ripped off. A terrifying roar and glower from the bloodsucker shook me to the core.
My playmate turned its back on me and retreated to the kids’ common area. There was still a piece of the knife on the ground for me to use. I couldn’t see what it was doing until I got close; it was eating the carcass of the doctor to heal itself. Wings, skull, and all recovered as if nothing was ever wrong. Before it finished eating, I shot the piece of knife into the monster’s heart, wedging it in deep. The large body of the monster collapsed.
I levitated over it, feeling the same detachment as before creeping up on me. This wretched creature deserved everything it had coming to it after what it had done to all these people. I flipped it over, preparing to watch its face as I broke it apart piece by piece, but saw my reflection in the broken TV screen next to it.
Emilia hadn’t cried because she was scared of the Carpathian. She had cried because she was scared of me. This was what caused Lyle to leave without me. Even those three Outsiders ran in spite of us all being here for the same reason. The monster in this hospital was me.
I gave the Carpathian a quick death instead of letting my hatred take over. There was nothing left to do here now. If those three mercenaries wanted this place to themselves they could have it. I had to find Lyle and apologize.
There was a pungent smell out on the sidewalk when I exited the facility.
“They finally got to you too.”
I whirled around at the voice of an old man I hadn’t noticed standing there. His body odor was worse than anything I had encountered in the hospital.
“Excuse me?” I asked, not sure if I was more surprised or nauseated.
“Don’t remember me, do you? I warned you they were after you, but nobody listens to me! Maybe that’s what keeps me safe, helps to keep my head down.”
The old man started to hobble away pushing a shopping cart full of garbage ahead of him. “Wait a minute.” I stopped him. “You were on the subway.”
“I’ve been on lots o’ subways. But you’re one of them now so I don’t got much to say to ya. They got their fangs in ya,” he laughed, wiggling his filthy long fingernails in my face. “It’s gonna take them some time to clean up that mess you left in there, but don’t you worry, not a drop of blood will be left!”
I squinted at him and watched his mouth as he talked, trying to ignore all the other vile distractions. Sure enough, they were there. “You have fangs. You’re one of them.”
He closed his lips tight, playing dumb.
“Hey, gramps.” A voice called from the alley that led to the back of the hospital. “We finished the contract. Let’s go cash in.”
It was the kid with the
katana
and his two friends. They froze when they saw me. “That’s okay kiddies, he won’t bite,” the unkempt man cackled.
“You know them? You knew people were after me that day on the subway and didn’t tell me?” I asked.
“Sure I did. You just didn’t listen, just like I said you wouldn’t.”
“Because you’re — you’re —” I couldn’t think of any way not to sound offensive.
“Dirty? Crazy? Scary? A monster?” He was having too much fun filling in the blanks, but he was right. He really did warn me, and just like the other passengers I ignored him because he was so different.
“How did you know people were after me?”
“These old ears hear many things. It’s easy when you’re invisible to everyone around you. The more they pretend I’m not here, the more I can listen!”
“You’re not that invisible if you’re friends with the Archios.”
“Friends?” The old hobo laughed himself into such a deep cough I was scared he’d throw up something on me. “You think someone like me would be friends with those pretty little dolls? No, old Grampy pulls his own strings, thank you very much. I can’t say I don’t like their money though!”
He lost himself in another fit of laughter and pulled out a beaten-up coffee tin packed full of hundred-dollar bills. One of the sacks in his shopping cart was full of these coffee cans.
“You better get moving if you want to catch up with your new friends. They’re over by the park west of here.”
“How do you know? Forget it. You mean Central Park?” Something in the shopping cart starting moving around. “What was that?” I tried looking in between the holes.
A face popped out and scared me half to death. It was Emilia, but if she was here, what had happened to Lyle?
“What did you do with my friend?” I shouted, ready to attack him.
“I took this little one off his hands so he could join his lady.”
“Lyle would never just hand over a child to a stranger like that,” I argued.
“He didn’t have a choice!” the man laughed again. I was ready to lunge at him, but he put his hands up. “I don’t mean like that. I simply put his mind at ease. She’s safe with me.”
“I don’t take you for the loving, fatherly type. But let me guess, looks can be deceiving?”
“And what would you have done with her? She’s got the affliction. Nothing no human could ever fix. I bet you and your Archios buddies would just kill ‘er, no?”
I couldn’t dispute that. He was right that she would have wound up dead one way or another.
“There’s no cure, but we ain’t affected like human folk.”
“I thought the infected blood was still poisonous to your kind?”
“Those Archios just don’t want to get their pretty bitty fangs dirty. We don’t get sustenance from it — doesn’t stop us from turning people. Grampy doesn’t mind a little puke if it means saving this darling’s life.”
There wasn’t anything he just said that didn’t make me want to dry heave.
“Gramps, we still have one more contract left we can get done before sunrise if we leave now,” the blue-haired girl said, still hanging back in the alley.
“We’re goin’, we’re goin’,” he told her.
“Why don’t you come with me?” I offered. “I’m sure the Archios will pay you more than what you’re making on just mutants.”
The eccentric old coot cackled some more and set off down the sidewalk with the others. “There ain’t no profit if yer too dead to collect it, my boy!”
I could hear hellish snarls and rattling noises from the infected up ahead, so I had to be going the right way. Flying rooftop to rooftop was definitely breaking the supernatural code of secrecy, but I was sure anyone still in the quarantine area had worse things to worry about.
Central Park was close and so were the sounds of gunfire. Lyle was across the street, fending off a throng of the infected from atop a building. Vivi was down below, slicing through the horde in an elegant bladed dance.
The infected weren’t the main problem, however. Carpathians had joined the fun and it looked like they were giving everyone trouble. They were still unarmored, but their bodies had a thick bony carapace covering vital spots and dreadful claws and spikes lined their appendages, like the one I had encountered earlier.
There were only a handful of the menacing winged bloodsuckers compared to the droves of infected mutants, but any time one of them sustained reasonable damage, they would feast on their pets to repair themselves. They were smart about it, too — attacking in packs alongside the infected and then pulling back to heal while another group took their place.
“
Assistance,
s’il vous plaît
!” Vivi shouted from the riot. She had just smacked the lower jaw clear off of a Carpathian trying to bite her and didn’t have much room to move among the crowd, let alone swing a sword. I flew in fast to join them, but not fast enough. Two Carpathians assisted by about ten to fifteen mutants were trying to whittle Vivi down. The distraction caused by the infected gave the Carpathians the opening they needed to counter her
katana
with their claws and slash into her midsection.
Noah dove in, stabbing his blades into the Carpathians. He threw Vivi over his shoulder and zipped up to Lyle before anyone could stop him.
“Where’s my kiss?” Noah asked with a cocky smile after placing Vivi on her feet. “Nice of you to show up,” he said to me as I landed, ignoring Vivi’s disapproving look. “What, were you taking a nap or something?”
“You told me to wait until you came for me, so I did.”
Lyle was looking at me uneasily.
“I thought it’d be obvious by now not to do what you’re told,” Noah said and turned to Vivi. “You need blood.”
“
Non
, I’m fine.”
The damage didn’t look too bad, not for one of them anyway.
“Here, drink from your human.” Noah picked Lyle up by the shirt collar and presented him.
“Noah, you know I hate being coddled, especially by you. It is almost as if there were something other than vanity in that head of yours.”
“Drink or I’ll stab him and force-feed you,” he threatened. She reluctantly obliged and smiled at Lyle.
“I won’t take much at all,” she reassured him.
I tried to be polite and not watch, but the curiosity was too tempting. Lyle seemed to be enjoying himself by the sound of his moans. His arms were wrapped around her, and he held the back of her head while she sucked on his neck.
“Gross.” Noah turned away in disgust. “I hate when my food tries to grope me.” He jumped to the street, leaving Vivi to recover. “You stay here and guard them.” Noah pointed up at me. “More are coming. I’ll hold them off.”
The infected were gathering in a circle surrounding the building. A figure in a wide-brimmed hat with a long coat and walking stick stood out from the crowd. The Blighted One had made his way here after all. I glided down into the mosh pit to join Noah.
“Now you decide to not do as you’re told?” Noah said to me while keeping his eyes on the plague doctor. “Take your friend and get out of here, kid.”
“No, please stay.” The Blighted One spoke with a harsh Slavic accent from behind his beak-like mask of bone. “I wish to take a closer look at my work.”
“I’m gonna enjoy turning you inside out!” I went to push past Noah, but he blocked me with his shoulder.
“You really don’t want to be doing this right now,” Noah warned.
“Oh, but I think he does. It’s ingrained in his very being. He can’t help himself. Such a shame the Strigoi managed to pervert my gift to you, or you would be standing with me like everyone else before you.”
“You’re a depraved psychopath. You’ve killed thousands of people, including my parents! What makes you think I’d even consider joining you? There is seriously no one I hate more than you.”
“Parents? Kill? You are sorrowfully confused and your illusion of humanity is misplaced. You are no more human than any other automata conjured up by the Strigoi in the past. You were meant for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to cause destruction. You should be thankful I gave you the power you lacked.”
“I’ve heard this all before, and I don’t care what you say. Whatever I am, I still loved my parents and nothing is going to change what you’ve done.”
“What have I done? I have been working to forge a new world left over from the broken remnants of the past when our kind once walked free. A world where those with power rule and do not hide away from the persecution caused by weaker, lesser creatures just because they are the majority. If the mortals wish to fear us, then I will truly give them something to fear! Those I have blessed with my gift will rend mankind limb from limb until they submit to our authority.”
“You sound just as insane as Minerva before we sent her packing to Hell.”
“The Strigoi witch sought to bring chaos and war to the world. Where she ignorantly squandered her gift from our Dark Master, I wish to use mine to rebalance the injustice. The Archios may be satisfied hiding behind mortals, but I will not be condemned by their ignorance any longer.”
“Someone’s pulling your strings too then, eh?” Noah gestured in disgust. “Figures. I didn’t believe all the Carpathians combined could have come up with a plan half as successful as this.”
“Let’s see how smug you are after my parasite melts away that false beauty. Never a greater boon could have been bestowed upon me. Our kind may have forgotten their infernal roots, but I knew one day that those who created us would return to tip the scales in our favor again. It was only a matter of time, and what is time to an immortal?”
“You really are stupid.” I spoke up in spite of my own safety. “The only reason a demon gave you anything is because it probably sees how desperate you are. You’re being used. Once we kill you, you’re gonna get dragged down to Hell to suffer just like Minerva.”
“Poor simulacrum. Don’t you see? There will be no distinction between this realm and Hell. The Dark Master presented me with the parasitic entity from another dimension, one I could not reach on my own. As a representative of the Carpathians I was the perfect choice to use it by infecting the mortal population. These sorry creatures can no longer think for themselves, let alone pray to the Heavens for salvation. Without mankind’s prayers the Gates of Hell will open and merge both realms unhindered.
“Minerva may have failed her task of creating suitable vessels for our masters, but I will not fail mine. I know there are others out there like you, untouched and ready for possession. When I find them …”
He was interrupted by his own heinous laughter behind the mask.
“Maybe if you weren’t such a monster in the first place you wouldn’t have to hide and cry for help from a demon.” I said. Anger was welling up inside of me, but I couldn’t let myself slip away into that uncontrollable state like in the hospital. I had to stay level headed or I wouldn’t have a chance at stopping this madman.
“Monster? You have slain countless numbers of my brood purely for being different than you. You wallow in destruction and spread hatred where I have tried to herald peace and order.
“Why do you fight against your own liberation? We all deserve to be free of humanity’s oppression! They should kneel to us as kings! If you will not stand aside then we will destroy you and what remains of the Archios so we may take control of the humans again. They will hide in the shadows from us, as it should be!
“If you wish to see a monster then I will show you one. Your campaign against us ends here!”
One of the infected in the ring twitched to move toward us. Noah swung out in response, slicing it into four faster than my eyes could see. The entire horde converged on us now. The Blighted Maniac was lost in the crowd, but we could hear his laughter among the shrieks and growls.
“Be on guard. These are some of the Ancient’s progeny and are far stronger than the rest.” Vivian rejoined us, leaping down from above with Lyle.
A relentless sea of corrupted flesh overtook us. These mutated infected were tougher than any we had dealt with before. Even some of the Carpathians weren’t this vicious. Their scythe-like appendages continuously stabbed at the four of us from all sides, making any sort of defense difficult. Noah vanished for a split second, slicing through the bodies of the infected in a spiral outward. He was buying us some room, but once one wave fell another climbed over to replace it. I had already been cut several times when I realized this may be the last time I’ll have a chance to apologize to Lyle.
“In case we don’t make it out of this alive, I wanted to say I’m sorry for what happened back at the hospital.”
“It’s fine, man. I should’ve never left you behind; we’re like family after all the shit we’ve been through. I know you’ve been through more than any of us, but just try to hang in there.”
Family. That word struck a chord. I knew my parents weren’t biologically mine for years, but that didn’t change how much we loved each other. Whether I was their blood or not, it didn’t matter to any of us. We were still a family. Maybe I’m not doomed to be alone because of who, or what, I am. There are still good people out there who will accept the true me. Acting out in hate, fear, and anger is what will really turn me into a monster.
One of the infected’s bony protrusions lodged itself in Lyle’s thigh. Vivi fought to cover him while he pulled out the bone, but one managed to slip by her. It used the hooked tip of its arm to pry open Lyle’s mouth while forcibly trying to vomit black fluid down his throat to infect him.
“Get away from him!” I roared. I put my hands out, smashing the infected around Lyle to pieces. He looked frightened for a moment then gave me a thumbs-up.
Noah’s rampage against the Carpathians came to an abrupt stop. One of them caught him by the arm, sinking its fangs into his bicep. His face was immediately stricken with blinding pain and he was unable to move. He stood powerless against the bite, struggling merely to stay on his feet. The Carpathian gored his arm with its teeth to further open the wound until blood came spurting out everywhere.
Another of the Carpathians joined in, violently grabbing Noah by the hair and jerking his head back. Noah stayed strong, refusing to let out even the slightest scream as this one tore into his neck. Both Carpathians proceeded to gorge themselves on his blood like oversized ticks.
The first of them pried Noah’s
wakizashi
from his fingers and drove it through his shoulder and twisted it in sadistically. They seemed challenged by the fact that he wouldn’t cry out in agony or fall to his knees. The second one held on tightly to Noah’s hair, digging into his scalp with its claws. It would occasionally pull his head back further and savagely rip a bigger gash in his neck with its fangs like an animal.
“Lyle, Noah’s not looking too good,” I said, fighting off a wounded Carpathian that was trying to eat one of the infected mutants for health.
“Neither are we!” he yelled as he tossed an empty gun away.
Now a third Carpathian joined in. This one looked roughly female because of its slender figure and small breasts. She flew down and straddled Noah’s torso, cracking his ribs between her thighs. His incredible resolve began to waver as his knees buckled. Even he had a breaking point and the Carpathians were having fun finding it. The latest assailant dug her claws into his chest and raked them across, causing deep rivers of blood to run down his body. She licked the blood from her hands. Still gripping him between her legs, she went in for the kill.
The female bit into his chest and began to drink from directly above his heart. All three Carpathians finally started overcoming Noah’s determination and forced him down, but still he fought. His expression was filled with anguish as they continued to revel in his torment. How he ever held out this long against their torture was no small feat, but the life in his eyes was fading fast. Now semi-conscious, Noah was kneeling in a pool of his own blood as they finished him off.
“Do something before they tear him apart!” Vivi screamed from further up the street. This was the first time I had seen actual fear in her eyes. Every time she got closer to him she was intercepted by another swarm of Carpathians trying to keep them separated. A fourth dinner guest had just flown down to join the feeding frenzy around Noah.
I could be rid of him right here, both of them, and never have to worry about either one coming after me. How can I trust that they'd keep their word to let me go when this is over anyway? Even if they tried, they admitted they could never defy Aurelia. In the end it's either them or me …
“Dorian, go.” Lyle unloaded another clip into the head of a Carpathian he had staked through the heart with his knife. I could tell from the exhaustion in his face that he was running out of steam after fighting all night. If I went to help I would be leaving Lyle alone and chance losing the one person I knew I could trust.