The Tome of Bill (Book 7): The Wicked Dead (63 page)

“I’m not sure. Maybe.”

“So what do you think?” Sally asked.

Christy turned to face us. Though I could tell her body was weary beyond belief, the strain of the past few days lining her face, her eyes shone brilliantly, alight as if with some internal flame. Whoa, talk about a chick with crazy eyes.

“You heard him. If what he says is true about the pool...”

“I don’t know what the fuck Sally and I saw down there, but it was definitely big and powerful.”

Christy nodded. “It would have to be. Harry mentioned closing the door. He was just talking about the Jahabich. But, if he was right, if it is as powerful as we think, then maybe we can do more than that. Maybe we can stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Everything,” she said. “Think about it. What happens if we manage to kill Kala?”

“We earn our impossible odds survival badges?”

Sally slugged me in the arm. “The war continues. The vamps and the Feet will keep battling it out until civilization is ground into paste.”

“True,” I said, forcing myself to be serious, “but there’s more. If we team up with Alex and win, then he’ll potentially end up with a piece of prime real estate at the center of the Earth, complete with its own built-in hot tub. Probably safe to assume he won’t be happy just using it as a vacation home.”

“That can’t be allowed,” Christy replied. “But either way, Sally is right. Kala the White needs to be stopped. There is no question in any part of my soul about that, but ending her evil won’t fix anything else. We need to do more.”

I began to see what she was getting at. “It might help if a certain party were to, perhaps, meet a gruesome end along with her.”

“Alex,” Sally said bitterly.

“Yep. He’s the one who wanted this war, the one who’s been forcing the others to keep it going, and the one who will probably fuck us over if we somehow gain the upper hand down below. As long as he’s alive, he won’t stop until he gets what he wants.”

“What about the rest of your leaders?” Christy asked.

“I got the impression they were pretty happy with the status quo before things went to hell. No way to tell for sure, but I think if Alex were out of the picture, we might have a shot of pulling things back from the edge.”

“Hopefully,” Sally said. “We’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let’s worry about killing two assholes with one stone. Oh, make that three. No way does Firebird walk away from this.”

I wasn’t about to argue with that. I turned back to Christy. “So what do we need to do?”

She smiled grimly. “Surviving will be difficult enough. The White Mother’s power is immense. I don’t think I need to tell that to either of you.”

“Hadn’t noticed,” I joked.

“If we make it through, though, remember what I said. Magic is just energy. Introduce the right catalyst to an energy source and you can use it. That’s what I’m hoping to do. Of course, introduce the wrong thing and...”

“Kaboom?”

“Exactly.”

“How big of a boom are we talking about?” I asked, just for argument’s sake.

“I honestly don’t know. We’re talking about perhaps the most potent source of that power anywhere. I have no reference to base anything on.”

“Take a guess.”

“If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to tap into it to create a localized
disturbance
.”

“And if you’re not?”

“It could collapse the entire cave system, maybe worse.”

“Worse?”

Christy merely shrugged.

“Um yeah. But if that happens...” I glanced down at her pregnant stomach.

She looked down at herself for a moment, but when she raised her head again, her eyes were hard. “If events continue the way they are, this world may not be worth living in for any of us, my baby included.”

“Harsh,” Tom commented.

“Seriously, we’ve seen what’s happening,” she said. “Things are getting worse, not better. We need to end this. Gods forgive me, but it’s worth the risk.”

“What are our chances?” I asked.

Christy spread her hands wide, indicating she had no idea what to expect.

I turned to Sally. “What do you think?”

She fixed me with a glare. “What do I think? I
think
this is insane and you’re even crazier for asking me. In fact, I think you are the single most infuriating person I have ever met. You break all the rules, fuck up everything you touch, and drive me batshit constantly.”

Okay, then.

“Be that as it may, though,” she continued, “I
know
I would face the fires of Hell if you were by my side.”

“Which it seems is what we’re planning on doing,” Tom interjected.

“Thanks for ruining the moment, meatwad.” She knocked him over with a flick of her finger.

“I’d do the same,” I said, ignoring my roommate.

“Of course you would,” she replied with an infuriatingly cocky smile.

“Partners?”

Sally held out her hand to me. “To the end.”

“To the end,” I repeated, taking it.

“Hey, if you guys are doing the whole hands in the middle thing, count me in.”

Christy laughed and picked up her plastic fiancé. She lifted one of his hands to ours, and then topped us off with her own.

For too long, fate had manipulated us, set us up as pawns in some giant chess game. Whether it was Alex, Turd, Vehron, or now Calibra, there was always someone trying to manipulate us.

Well, maybe now it was finally our turn.

I had no idea what the coming days would hold. There were plans to make, strategies to discuss, and probably a few personal issues to sort out. Regardless, in the end, I’d do everything I could to protect the friends around me, restore the friend who’d fallen, and save the friends who were missing.

And then, when that was done, I’d shove a giant middle finger at the powers that be and let all Hell break loose.

As for what happened after ... screw it. Maybe just this once, I’d let fate decide that.

THE END

Bill Ryder will return in:

The Last Coven
(The Tome of Bill, part 8)

Can’t wait for more Bill? Follow his ongoing misadventures on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/BilltheVampire

I sit here typing this as the last of the leaves are falling off the trees outside my office window. Mind you, most of those leaves are now sitting atop my pool cover. Note to self: clean that crap out before it freezes solid.

Anyway, dear reader, the end is near. You’ve just finished the penultimate chapter in The Tome of Bill – what started as little more than the goofy exploits of a dorky vampire trying to survive in the world of the undead and which is now the goofy exploits of a dorky vampire trying to stave off the apocalypse. It’s been quite the journey and now he stands at the precipice of either victory or an eternity of darkness.

I sincerely hope this series has been an enjoyable experience for you. I know it has for me. This story in particular was quite the surprise. Some tales practically write themselves, while others fight the author kicking and screaming all the way. This was one of those latter efforts on many different levels, all the way to me having to step away from the story for several weeks after feeling I was spinning my wheels on multiple difficult chapters.

I never gave up, though, and I’m glad I didn’t because after going back and reading the complete story for the first time I found myself smiling. Was it perfect? Hell no. My first drafts are a lot of things, but perfect isn’t one of them. However, the foundation had been laid for this roller coaster of a tale and I, for one, found it to be a heck of a ride. I hope you did too.

The ride isn’t over yet, though. Bill Ryder still has a ways to go before his story is finished. We’ve gone through twists, turns, hills, valleys, and even a few loops and it’s all leading up to the big finale. I’ve brought you this far, I hope you’ll stick with me for the big sprint to the finish line.

Until then...

Rick G.

Rick Gualtieri lives alone in central New Jersey with only his wife, three kids, and countless pets to both keep him company and constantly plot against him. When he’s not busy monkey-clicking words, he can typically be found jealously guarding his collection of vintage Transformers from all who would seek to defile them.

Defilers beware!

Rick Gualtieri is the author of:

Bill the Vampire
(The Tome of Bill - 1)

Scary Dead Things
(The Tome of Bill - 2)

The Mourning Woods
(The Tome of Bill - 3)

Holier Than Thou
(The Tome of Bill - 4)

Sunset Strip
: A Tale From The Tome Of Bill

Goddamned Freaky Monsters
(The Tome of Bill - 5)

Half A Prayer
(The Tome of Bill - 6)

The
Wicked Dead
(The Tome of Bill - 7)

The Tome of Bill Series: Volume One

Bigfoot Hunters

The Poptart Manifesto

To contact Rick (with
either undying praise or rude comments) please visit:

Rick’s Website
:

www.rickgualtieri.com

Facebook Page
:

www.facebook.com/RickGualtieriAuthor

Twitter
:

www.twitter.com/RickGualtieri

SHINING FURY

A Tale From The Tome of Bill

“Go away!”

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to. It just happened.”

The burning stench rising off the mulch pile assaulted my nostrils. The acrid smoke made my eyes water. However, being that this was all my fault, it seemed a small price to pay. Deep down, I knew it could be far worse, that I
deserved
far worse.

After all, I wasn’t the one on fire.

All I’d wanted to do was end the impasse between us, finally make a move to show that, despite everything, I believed we had a chance. I’d tried to tap into the confidence I felt when facing every damned obstacle in my life, of which there was no shortage as of late.

Every damned obstacle, that is, except for him.

It hadn’t worked out quite like I’d planned.

I quickly stepped forward to offer what aid I could. The flames were already dying down, thank goodness, helped by the damp ground upon which he lay. As I reached out, though, a glow illuminated my outstretched hand, causing me to pull back quickly lest I make things even worse. I gritted my teeth, forcing the power inside of me back down, willing it to not strike out again unbidden. At times like this it could be like a snake, struggling to be set free, to strike out at that which it deemed an enemy.

“Please, let me make it right,” I said more to myself than anyone, but I knew he’d hear me nevertheless. His kind had senses far beyond that of a normal person.

“Leave me alone!”

I couldn’t blame him for being angry. Time and again this had happened. We’d come into close contact, some of our encounters being closer than others, and the white fire inside of me would lash out.

Each time it had happened, he’d laughed it off, pretended it didn’t hurt despite the painful obviousness of it. I’d always known, though, that eventually even he would reach his limit. That eventually the jokes would stop and, with them, whatever he felt toward me. I’d hoped – prayed even – that I would find the control I needed before that happened. I’d done it before, so I knew it was possible, but that had been before Remington’s final desperate gambit, a gambit which had almost killed me.

A growl, disturbingly inhuman in pitch, escaped from him, reminding me that he’d been affected by that incident too, in many ways worse than I had. I didn’t know if the sound he made now was due to pain or fury, but it didn’t matter. He needed my help.

I reached down and grabbed hold of his still-smoking shoulder to turn him over. He needed to know that I was sorry and I needed to know he was all right.

Under normal circumstances, that last concern wouldn’t be a question – his kind healed at an exaggerated pace. Anything short of a fatal wound would be gone in minutes. There were exceptions, though, and I was one of them.

I’d been told my power was a gift, the blessing of light, God’s way of balancing the scales against the darkness. I never really bought into that, despite how many times such dogma was repeated. There was no denying, however, that the white hot fury inside of me was capable of consuming his kind whole. Considering that the vast majority of the undead hated me with a passion, and wouldn’t have hesitated to kill me if given the opportunity, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Most that I’d met had been little more than monsters given human form anyway; wolves in sheep’s clothing.

He was different, though. He was kind where they were cruel, self-deprecating where they were arrogant. He’d told me he didn’t want to hurt anyone and I believed him. That he was a vampire wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t asked to become one of them, to be dragged into their world. Despite our powers being polar opposites, we had that much in common. I hadn’t asked for any of this either.

I pushed that thought away, although a bitter aftertaste remained as always. A part of me blamed him for that and I hated that part of me for doing so. It was stupid and selfish of me to dwell upon it now, especially when I’d just hurt the man I...

His eyes opened, inhuman black orbs that seemed to contain no trace of the gentle soul within. I knew better, though.

“It’s okay, it’s me,” I said, dropping to one knee. “I won’t hurt you again.”

The promise was a lie. I had no way of knowing if I might lose control of the surging torrent of power inside of me. No matter how much I tried, at times it was almost as if it had a life all its own.

He seemed to sense the untruth in my words, but where I expected scorn and rejection, he instead sprung from the ground and tackled me with savage strength. His fingernails became talons that dug into my arms, pinning me in place. He opened his mouth, revealing his fangs.