The Pulptress Versus The Bone Queen: Blood and Bone (10 page)

A large boom shook the ground, and I watched as the largest man zombie I'd ever seen climbed from a pit in the ground. He looked at me and screeched.

I fired immediately, but the bullet striking his chest barely slowed him as he rushed for me. I shoved Jackson and Aramis out of the way just as the huge creature plowed into me and tackled me to the ground.

My gun flew out of my hand. I scrambled to grab my dagger and, drawing it, slashed across the inside of his thighs. He howled and slammed his fist at my head. I barely dodged out of the way as a rush of air flew past me.

He reared his fist back again and one meaty hand clenched around my throat. I chocked and struggled, kicking and stabbing at his thick arm, but his grip only tightened. My vision started going black when I heard a sharp pop and red dust suddenly poured over me.

Sitting up, coughing I spotted Jackson standing behind where the massive monster had been, gun still in the air where the man's head would have been. Her shoulders raised and fell in rapid succession as she tried to catch her breath.

"Come on, this way!" Aramis called, motioning to a small side door.

I grabbed Jackson and pulled her after me as I rushed for him. I paused only long enough to snatch my pistol from the floor before the three of us pushed through the door and Aramis barricaded it behind us. The creatures screamed and clawed at the thick wooden door but despite its groans of protest, the door held firm and steady against the onslaught.

I took a quick look around the room, a bare bones crypt, obviously vandalized and stripped bare. "Great. Now what?" I glared at Aramis.

"There's a hidden passage out of here," Aramis moved over to one of the coffins, and began to press against the loose stone, eventually one clicked and I heard something vibrate and scrape against the hard stone. A thin door opened on the opposite side of the room.

"And how did you know about that?" Jackson asked.

"This is the way they brought me in. She's this way,” he said slowly.

I took a deep breath, and reloaded my pistol. "Well, let's go say hello and thank her for her hospitality."

"Why don't you wait here?" Aramis offered Jackson.

I nodded and added, "This doesn't have anything to do with you. You've got more than enough to prove your case to your boss."

"I'm not just gonna sit here and wait for either those things to kill me or to waste away down here on my own. No, I've come this far," she swallowed hard, "I want to see this through. Besides, I still don't have any proof about her bringing dead things back to life. That's the lynchpin of this case."

“You’re still worried about proving to your boss that you didn’t lose those bodies?” I asked.

Jackson smiled weakly. “I figure this is my only chance to get out and have an adventure like this. When I was little I always wanted to be some kind of hero and, well, I’ve got the chance. I’m not just going to walk away from that.”

I shook my head. “Well, just try to stay out of the way. We’ve just got to get her sword from her.”

Aramis glanced at the necklace around my neck. “It really was here. I guess it made a new home once it left France." He shook his head. "I tried to follow it, but once it left France it was harder to know where to look. The family I gave it to mostly died during the revolution. A few escaped and I bet sold whatever jewelry they had to make a new life. She must have followed it too somehow."

“Let’s not keep her waiting then. I think you both have been waiting a long time for this,” I said as I loaded my pistol. "Lead the way, Aramis."

He nodded and headed into the hidden doorway. Jackson walked close at his heels and I followed in the back.

These halls were cleaner and sturdier than the ones we’d just left, lined with stone, and braced to hold steady. The work looked more recent than the interior of the church. I could see dozens and dozens of footprints embedded in the clay leading back toward the church.

"So who was she to you?" Jackson asked.

"Who?" Aramis responded.

"This Bone Queen. You knew her."

He sighed. "I thought I did," he said. "I was young, and she… well she was the most beautiful, dangerous, incredible woman I’d ever seen." He shook his head. "She was passionate about death, devoted to her god, willing to die for it, but she lost her way. And I...well, I didn't step in to try to help her until it was too late."

"Is that why you keep it in your chest?" Jackson asked.

He sighed again. "I keep it there because it's safer that way."

"Wouldn't it be safest in a desert or at the bottom of the ocean?" Jackson countered.

"I kept it because I want to stop this, to stop her. She was never supposed to be like this, and, it's too late, but I want to free her," he said.

"How very noble of you," I commented. "We're getting closer now, right? Look at how much it's glowing." I pointed to the necklace.

"She keeps her quarters up here," Aramis nodded.

"She took you to her room?" I asked.

Aramis shook his head. "No, but I know her. She would keep her room at the heart of her work. She'll be rising by now, and she'll know we're coming."

"Good. Then we won't have to worry about introductions," I said.

Chapter 11

Jackson swallowed again, wringing her hands together as we stepped into another section of hallway with a door at the end of it.

I crept down the hallway, one hand on my pistol. Blood dripped down my leg from the dog’s claw marks, the gashes pulling open at some point in the last few fights. I tried to ignore the pain and not limp. There wasn't time to stop and tend to something that wasn’t life threatening, not with the Bone Queen so close.

"You're bleeding again." Jackson touched my shoulder.

I jerked and nearly elbowed her, but just barely caught myself. "It's nothing," I insisted.

"With all these dead bodies and dirt around it is a big deal,” Jackson said. “Do you know what kind of bacteria or infection could get into an open wound like that? Sit down," she ordered.

Aramis shifted on his feet, glancing toward the door. "I don't think-"

"Another minute isn't going to change anything," Jackson snapped. "And I'd rather have someone not bleeding through a fight. We need everyone at their best, right? Who know what she might throw at us so we'd best be prepared." Jackson nodded to herself.

I grunted in pain when Jackson exposed the wound. She tsked at the blood-soaked jacket and began carefully removing it. She pulled a few things from her bag. I watched her set out a few strips of gauze, some type of ointment, and some alcohol.

I started to protest. "I don't need-"

"You're gonna let me take care of this." Jackson glared.

I opened my mouth to tell her to knock it off, but then she poured some alcohol onto a rag and began slowly cleaning the wound. My protests were swallowed up as the alcohol hissed and bubbled against my skin. Pulling on a pair of gloves, she carefully began to apply the ointment over the wound, frowning at the deepness of it, and mumbling under her breath. She wrapped gauze all around my leg, tying it around me firmly, then taping it in place. She tested the tightness and nodded. "I think that's the best I can do out here, but once we get out of here you really ought to go the hospital. I think you might need stitches or staples or something. That wound is-"

"Thanks, Jackson." I cautiously tested the mobility of my leg. While the wound stung and hurt, it no longer burned through my body and took over all my other senses. I nodded at her. "That'll be fine till we finish here, then I'll head to a hospital, deal?" I asked.

Jackson sighed heavily as she picked up all her trash and tucked it into a bag, "Fine. But I still think you need stitches now."

"Well, more than likely I'm going to get banged up in this fight, so hey, two for one hospital visit right?" I offered with a grin.

"If you girls are done, we should get going," Aramis said, arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the wall. His hand drummed a beat over his heart, and I could just barely make out a spark of light under his skin.

The gem around my neck glimmered. We had to be very close. I glanced back toward the door at the end of the hallway and rolled my shoulders, adjusting my pistol in my hand and checking my rounds once again. Full chambers and ready to roll.

I nodded to Aramis and Jackson. Aramis stepped back behind me, and Jackson ducked behind him.

Tiptoeing down the hallways toward the door, I could hear Amaury's voice echoing in my head, could see him, see his twisted risen from the dead skeleton rushing toward me with murder and nothing else in his eyes as I was forced to kill him in Paris. I took a deep breath and tightened my grip on the pistol. I was going to make her pay for what she did to him, for what she'd done to everyone over the ages, but if I was honest, I just wanted her to suffer and feel like Amaury had before his death.

I paused at the door and held my breath to listen and see what lurched behind. I closed my eyes and strained to hear anything. Nothing stirred behind the door. If she was here, she was still and silent as the grave.

Aramis looked at me and motioned to the door. I nodded and carefully tried the handle, surprised when it easily swung open. I took a deep breath and burst into the room.

Shadows twisted in every corner against the only light in the room, an old oil lantern hanging from the ceiling and swinging slowly. From the glimpses of light I could see what looked like a bedroom. A dresser with fine combs and a mirror stood closest to the door. A small bed was in the opposite corner, blankets a mess and kicked to the side.

I frowned. "Where are you?" I finally yelled. “It’s over!”

Laughter answered me.

Behind me, I heard Aramis scream.

Chapter 12

Turning and trying to catch a glimpse in the light, I barely caught sight of a sword ripping through Aramis' chest. The man clawed at the faceless person behind him, but couldn't reach anything. I fired toward the sword, and the sword and figure withdrew from Aramis.

He coughed and hit the ground. Jackson dropped down to his side, trying to hold pressure against the wound even though no blood flowed from the gaping hole.

"You should know better than to keep following me, Aramis. I thought you had learned your lesson years ago."

I recognized the voice instantly as the Bone Queen’s.

She laughed. "But here you are, still chasing after me."

"Renata. This isn't what you wanted. You were trying to stop the plague, remember?" Aramis choked out, shakily trying to get back to his feet.

She snorted, "See, even then you didn't understand, Aramis. Even before I had this power you didn't understand. I never wanted to stop the plague."

"What?" Aramis struggled to look up.

"I wanted to stop the dead rising again, not stop people from dying. Death is the only inevitable, is the only truth in this world of lies and disguises," she continued, and I felt something cold as a ghost by my side.

Turning, I fired and heard the bullet hit something then clink to the ground.

"You're a better shot than I remember, Pulptress." The Bone Queen laughed.

"Renata, stop this!" Aramis called. “Our time is over. You have to know that.”

"Oh, dear sweet Aramis. You never understood; you never wanted to understand," she said. "The only thing I believe in, the only thing that I belong with is death. I know you believe that you can save me, but I don't want to be rescued. I want to drown this world in death. When no one but the dead are left, there will be nothing left to worship but death."

"That isn't what you really believe!" Aramis argued.

"You don't know what I really believe," The Bone Queen growled.

Aramis pushed Jackson to the side as the sword ruptured through his chest again.

Aramis grabbed at the sword, the blade slicing into his fingers as he pulled the blade further into his body until finally, the hilt was flush against his chest and the Bone Queen appeared in the light.

Her dark hair was matted, and her pale flesh had rotted further away to expose bone and hollowness under the skin. One eye was nothing but an empty socket surrounded by bone, and her jaw was partially exposed, hanging open in a gaping maw. Aramis looked over his shoulder at her, "I told you I would follow you anywhere," he said softly.

"And you've done a fine job." Her mouth twisted into something that might have been a smile. "Collected all three gems for me, too."

Something cracked and the Bone Queen tumbled backwards, and I caught a glance of Jackson, nightstick held high, and ready for another swing. I took the moment to fire several shots, listening to the thud of them ripping through the Queen’s hollow body.

She laughed as the bullet-riddled body dropped to the ground and faded into dust. I took a step closer, and a raven burst from the dust and flew straight at me. Clawing across my face, its beak snapped at the necklace I wore, ripping it off of me and swallowing the glittering treasure.

As I rushed after the raven, I crashed into a large rotted corpse. Jackson swung the nightstick again, cracking into its skull, and suddenly dozens more bodies began crawling from the ground towards us. I glanced at Aramis and Jackson; the three of us moved closer together, forming a circle as the creatures descended. I could hear the swinging of Jackson’s baton, and Aramis’ daggers cutting through paper-thin skin and bone, but my attention was on keeping my guns loaded and firing. The smell of sulfur burnt around me, a faint layer of smoke and kicked up dust and dirt filtering through the air.