Drift (Drift Series) (15 page)

CHAPTER 13

SQUASH

It didn’t take long to fly to Miller’s Hill. I took a quick loop around the hillside to assess the situation. While we circled our two terrorized friends, we could plainly see that five figures, appearing to be four guys and one girl, had surrounded Sandra’s convertible, trapping her and Scruffy inside. It was easy to tell they were intimidating them, daring them to get out.

“I knew it.” Knew what?”

“Well, you know how everyone thinks Miller’s Hill is haunted, or whatever?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, it’s kinda the truth, although it isn’t haunted by ghosts or anything of that sort. It’s what is real that can hurt you here. It makes the rumors about this place even more terrifying.” I searched for a safe spot to put Shade before I made my landing right smack in the middle of harm’s way.

“What do you mean? What are you talking about?”

“Miller’s Hill is a feeding ground for the area vampires. Just about every town or city around the world has a colony of them. Whether it
’s one or many, they’re always lurking in the shadows. These particular vampires hang out here at Miller’s Hill because it’s out of the city limits, dark, and all to itself. Not only that, the horny youth of Mountainside come here in droves, thinking they’re in solitude. The best area for a vampire is a place where they don’t have to go out and hunt. Usually they like to play games and scare off anyone who shows up where they hide…if they feel like doing that much work. This is where rumors about certain haunted locations stem from. It’s usually vampire, and sometimes demon work. In the case of Miller’s Hill, these five have been here frequently, but have never fed on a human, as far as I know. I’ve kept my eye on them for a while now. They, too, are aware of my presence. But this time it looks different; it looks as if they desire to do more than just employ some of the usual scare tactics. They’re right out in the open tonight. This tells me that
real
feeding time may have arrived for this clan. I guess they got tired of feasting on the area wildlife.”

“Oh my God. I had…we all had no idea. Why are they picking now to feed?”

“I’m not sure, it’s odd. I’m just wondering if they’re being pushed into doing so, or just set free in general. And that would take permission.” It was strange they chose now to come out of the shadows. It was also weird they chose our two friends. It could be a coincidence, but my demon insight told me something was off.

“You’ve got to do something fast, Leo.” She pulled me out of
my thoughts.

“I am, but first let me make sure you
’re somewhere safe.” I landed on a thick lower branch a few yards away.

“Now stay here. Under no circumstances, no matter what happens, do you get involved. It
’s suicide for a human to enter a vampire’s feeding ground when they’re in bloodlust. You may not only die, but they may make you become one of the undead yourself. So, stay put. Okay?”

I placed both arms on her shoulders and looked strongly at her, making sure she knew I meant business.

“Okay, okay, just hurry. And please be safe.”

“I will. I promise I’ll be back in a minute. Like I said, stay put, remain out of sight…no matter what.”

“I will. Now go, Leo!” She pointed me in the direction of the trouble. “Leo, one more thing. This tree thing…you’re
killlllllinnn’
me.”

I chuckled hard. What a time for her to criticize me for sticking her in yet another tree. “What can I say
, girl, I like trees. You can see everything around you.” I threw my hands in the air. She just pointed to the ground, silently telling me to shut up and get to work helping our friends.

I flapped my wings and blasted back into the air. I stopped just above some of the tallest trees and took one final look at what was going on. One of the male vampires had grabbed Scruffy by his shirt and was lifting his flailing body into the air. The rest of his crew was closing in on the now-screaming Sandra.

I shot like a dart towards the unfolding drama, landing just out of the sightline behind my two frightened buds. I hit the ground with extreme impact and flapped my wings one last time, letting the stalkers know what I was and capturing the attention of the vampire holding Scruffy. He dropped my friend back into the car.

I tucked my wings away in an effort to keep my real identity under wraps. Sandra and Scruffy were so scared they hadn’t even noticed my arrival
, but there was no doubt my presence was noticed by the motley crew of bloodsuckers.

None spoke a word. They only glared in bewilderment. Oddly enough, it was Scruffy who broke the brief silence.

“Leo! Dude, how the hell did you get here so fast?” Scruffy kept a wandering eye on the gaggle of bullies staring at me.

“Now’s not the time for explanation, Scruff. You and Sandra need to start the car and get out of here!” I ordered as the thirsting vampires closed in around their newest threat…me.

“What about you, Leo? What are you going to do?” Sandra asked as she fired up the engine.

“Yeah, get in here with us
, man. We’ll run over them if we have to,” Scruffy added.

“Running them over will be of no use you two! Shut up and go…now! I’ll be fine!”

“Leo…”

“Go!” I yelled again.

Very quickly Sandra backed up her car and threw it into drive, squealing the tires and kicking up rocks as the scared couple fled the scene. I was now left alone with the hoard, who didn’t seem fazed that I just chased off their meal.

Silence filled the night as we sized up one another. The curious predators surrounded me. The fanged stalker that
had held up Scruffy moments before approached, breaking their perfect circle. I could only assume he was their leader.

He was wearing very baggy black pants that nearly covered the black army boots. They were so loose and wide at the bottom that they scraped the ground as he walked, causing dirt to stick on the hems. Multiple chains hung all over the loose fitting jeans; they swayed and clanked as he walked. The entire group, including
a girl that sported green and blue hair, nearly matched their leader in attire. Although the hairstyles differed a bit from each other—some long, some short and spiked—they all pretty much looked like they’d stepped out of the front row of a death metal concert. Overwhelming amounts of pant and belt chains, rings, rigid thick silver necklaces and spikes, everything they wore could be used as a potential weapon against me if we locked horns. It was intimidating. I was sure confrontation would happen since all had fully exposed their feeding fangs.

Although their bite isn’t fatal to a demon, it does act like a poison that c
ould paralyze my physical body for hours, giving them ample time to find, let’s say, an angry demon boss with a grudge, and a demon-killing dagger to finish the job. Forgot to mention…the pain from their bite is agonizing. I’d much rather avoid their chomp altogether, if I could.

With a sinister smile, the head thug spoke up, flexing his spiritual muscle at me. “Lookie what we have here
, guys, a demon to the rescue?” His cronies chuckled as he took his place in front of me, giving me the once-over.

“I thought demons were the most fearsome creatures on the planet, the most reviled, but it appears we have a straggler here. He looks weak. He must be,
if he comes to the aid of a couple of petty humans. Tell me, demon, are we lost? You should know better than to stray into a vampire’s domain, especially when it’s feeding time.” His tongue grazed his blood-sucking fangs slowly as his followers again let out another spurt of laughter mixed with some more hissing.

“What is your name, fallen one?”

“Leo.”

Again, sporadic laughter broke out. Only their leader didn’t flinch as he kept those flaming volcano red eyes fixated firmly upon me.

“What is yours, scavenger?” I asked.

His eyebrows jumped up.
He gave me a cocky half-grin as he snorted in defiance.

“Leo, huh?” He looked around at his lackeys for support.

“Sounds like a weak name for a demon.” He walked amongst his chuckling allies.

“This is Tony.” He brushed his hand across the shoulder of the first smiling hooligan. Then, pointing to the next two grinning male vamp
ires, he announced their names. “This is Steven and Gibson.” He approached the female vampire, stopping to place his fingers into her curly, multi-colored hair and scanned her as if she was a steak. “And this beautiful specimen is Beth. Say hello to our guest, Beth.”

She hissed at me again, showing me her dagger-like fangs. I took this as her way of telling me hello. He smiled and she peered at him lovingly.

“And I,” he paused arrogantly as he tossed his hair to one side and patted both hands on his chest, “am Nelson, the head of this order of vampires.”

I scoffed at his ego. “Order? Only the five of you? You call this rabble you lead an order? Do you think you
’re some kind of mini-Shimmer or something?” My abrasiveness appeared to offend him. A look of stone broke the humor across his pasty face.

Tony spoke in furious defense of his leader, “Nelson is one of the strongest vampires in the world. You would do yourself well by holding your defiled tongue, demon!”

Before I could rebut, Nelson smiled again and attempted to put out the fire by placing his hands, palms up, in front of him. “Easy, Tony. Easy, my friends. It seems our uninvited guest has no manners. But that’s just fine, I think we know how to teach an ill-mannered guest the art of respect, don’t we?” Nelson faced his loyal admirers, searching for support. They didn’t disappoint him.

Backing his play deeper, Beth spoke with a shrieking voice, “C’mon
, baby, show the winged-vermin where the real power lies.”

Again the gang, including Nelson, patronized me with their humiliating laughter. In an effort to push back, I joined in their laugh-fest with some of my own. Then suddenly, I turned serious and glanced at Beth. “Keep your hole shut when you address me, tramp.”

The bellowing laughter came to a screeching halt. The mood turned unequivocally foul. “It appears that the time has come to bid our discourteous drifter farewell,” Nelson said and suddenly the vampires stood in attack mode. Nelson, for the last time in our brief discussion, addressed his small army.

“No need to hold back, give him everything you got, my friends. I have always wanted a piece of a demon.”

“Well, then, c’mon and break you off some, boy.”

Nelson showed me his teeth and ordered his clan to attack.

They closed in at a high rate of speed, being that vampires were brilliantly fast. I unveiled my wings and expanded them completely as I knelt. I spun in a full three-sixty, hitting each of the approaching predators in the chest. Their bodies buckled from the blows to their abdomens as they flew backwards several feet. This allowed me the time to thrust my wings forward, giving enough momentum to fly backwards away from the airborne vampires. This gave me some more room to prepare for what would come at me next.

A furious Nelson demanded, “Get up, you idiots! Send him back to Hell. Prove yourselves worthy of your master and mistress, and when you finish, bring us his wings! Don’t make Beth and I have to do the work for you fools!”

Steven and Gibson came for me in a dead sprint. When a vampire runs, they can be on you in mere seconds—that’s if their target is standing on the west side of a major metropolitan city. So the rapid approach of a vampire barreling from only yards away gave me zero time to think.

My backside was close to a handful of pine trees. As soon as Steven and Gibson were within my grasp, I used the force of their momentum to usher them into a couple of the tree trunks. I stepped between the dashing duo and politely placed my hands on the backs of their speeding heads, forcefully slamming them into the trees face-first. The impact knocked a barrage of pinecones to the ground and shook the trees with a vengeance.

I casually walked up to the stunned blood-brothers, who were trying to remove their faces from the bark, and grabbed them by the backs of their necks. “Here, let me help you, boys.” I picked the pair up, letting them dangle freely in my grip.

“You see, there are more uses for those sharp fangs other th
an sucking on soft human veins.” I flew up into the air, “Now, suck on this!” I shoved their faces back into the trees. As soon as their teeth were stuck in nice and deep, I began sliding them downwards while keeping pressure on their necks.

Their torsos wiggled and writhed as tree bark and wood broke off into chips and filled their mouths. As bark flew from their mouths, I stopped the sliding and looked up to see two perfect scrap
e marks on each of the trunks. I let go of them and allowed them to thrash in anguish trying to free themselves.

“Now
, how’d that taste, fellas? A little dry? You two…ah…hang here, while I go play with your friends.”

Just then, I noticed Tony scaling the tree next to me. He crouched and used its trunk as a springboard while I was still hovering in the air. His hand snapped out and grasped me by the throat. He thrust us viciously back to the earth. We hit the ground and kicked up all kinds of gravel. I was on my back with Tony straddling me, clinging to my throat. I couldn’t help but wonder what this moron was doing. He couldn’t kill me. Sure it hurt and stunned me a little, but I wasn’t going down by being strangled to death, I’m already dead.