Follow the Bloodshed (The Executioner Trilogy Book 3) (23 page)

“I don’t think so,” Beth replied. I could feel her energies as she came to stand next to me, Sam and Chase hanging back in case something was to happen.

Vlad took a deep lungful in and breathed, “You’ve felt it. The merge? That’s how it starts. At least, that was how it started for Illona.”

“No, Illona was killed by the Order of the Dragon,” Gordon exclaimed, his eyes burning into his brother like he could catch him on fire by staring at him.

“Yes. They got to her before the full transition. The Executioner is so close and it’ll only take Lilith’s presence to trigger the beast.” His gaze moved to Gordon. “There is only one ending if you choose to bring her to her knees, and it won’t be the one you want.”

“You’re wrong,” I retorted. “I will kill Lilith, but I won’t cause humanity’s extinction.” I paused; looking from one face to another, landing finally on Vlad’s pained expression. “Humanity doesn’t have a chance if I don’t go up there. I am their only chance and the merge will be the reason for Lilith’s death. I am sure.”

Chapter 35:

Gun Show

We had made it through the large maze of warehouses in the dark without drawing attention, which was hard considering everything had hearing at least a million times better than ours.  Even my hearing, which was a lot better than most, couldn’t pick up everything the vampire or crawler ear could detect. It was the only downside to being what I was. My senses were better, but not nearly as good as I would want them to be. Or need them to be.

Chase had told us his uncle’s pawn shop wasn’t too far away, but when you’re faced with death around every corner a couple feet can feel like miles. Right now I felt like we had made our way through miles and miles of desolation and darkness, our feet slipping and sliding through what blood and gore was scattered on the ground. I couldn’t have been more thankful for the darkness. It stole all color, making blood and guts look less disgusting. It also helped I was refusing to look at the ground. It had stopped raining since we took Vlad so not only were we splashing through blood but we were trudging through puddles.

The shop was five blocks away so we needed to be on the lookout and quiet. No talking and silent steps. Well, as silent as they could be. When we had made the decision to go for it, we had also decided to leave Vlad shackled in silver in the warehouse. There was no need to bring him along. He would only do what he could to make sure we would get caught.

After what felt like an eternity of feeling along walls and drifting through alleyways, we made it within half a block of the shop. I could see the glass door and the sign in the light of a street lamp or two. We had gotten here without making a single peep, but now we needed more of a plan to get into the store without drawing attention. More than likely the door was unlocked. A lot of shop owners had to leave in a hurry and knew they would never come back. But there was no telling what we would come across once we were inside. I turned to the rest of them and made sure we were huddled close enough to speak in soft whispers.

“Alright, how are we going to get through the door without drawing attention?” I asked. I felt like I had made so many of our toughest decisions that I would leave this one to the rest of them to figure out. In the end I was going to be the one killing Lilith and we all knew how much of a struggle that could turn out to be.

I was greeted by complete and utter silence.

“Come on, guys. We need a plan,” I hissed, looking around the corner of the building we were standing next to. There were a few vampires sauntering down the street in our direction. Maybe we needed to wait until they passed. I pulled my head back around and let out a curse. “Great.” This was just what we needed.

“What is it?” Beth attempted to take a peak around the corner but I grabbed her arm and pulled her back, holding her against me so my lips were right next to her ear.

“Vampires,” I whispered.

I felt her pulse beating away as I gripped her arm. I could only imagine what she was thinking. Was this anxiety, terror, or excitement?

“What do we do?” she whispered back, turning her face towards mine. We had two options. We could hang back and wait for them to leave or take it into our own hands. I wasn’t sure which was riskier. If we let them go they could always circle back and if we killed them we could sidestep all of that.

“If we let them go they can always come back and let Lilith know we’re here. I say we take them out now so we don’t risk it.” I let my eyes glide over each of them, gauging their reactions. “What do you guys think?”

“I agree,” Gordon said. His words were quickly followed with repetitions of the same words, and we nodded our consent to the plan. If we were going to do this, we would need to do it quickly and get into the shop unseen. If that was even possible. There was no telling how many vampire cronies Lilith had perusing the streets. We all knew they were looking for us. We were the only thing standing in her way of true world domination. Yes, these two would need to go.

“Alright, Gordon and I will take care of them. You guys hang back. I don’t want to risk this going wrong and you guys getting hurt.”

“Robin, we can help,” Chase intervened.

“Please, Chase. I need you guys to keep an eye out. If anything else comes along we need to know it and you’ll be able to warn us as long as you stay here.” Beth and Sam had the juice, but Chase needed the extra help to get there and if anything bore down on Chase, they would be able to save him from whatever smelled him on the air.

He didn’t have to say a word and I knew Beth and Sam agreed with me. Their eyes said it all as I watched them, Beth taking Chase’s hand in hers and giving it a squeeze of reassurance. I let my eyes do the talking as we stood there, a silent air of understanding passing between each of us. I let go of Beth’s arm and turned back to glimpse the vampire’s backs. They had moved past us without   noticing us, their laughter and chilling words echoing through the night. Gordon and I moved as quietly as we could, not daring to make a sound, even going as far as to sidestep a lot of trash and broken glass just to avoid being heard. My Converse All-Stars made it all too easy, but Gordon’s hiking boots were a whole other story. He managed, though, and the vampires didn’t hear a sound.

I let the beast flare to life as I moved and I spied the roll of cool air moving over Gordon’s flesh out of the corner of my eye. Polar opposites meant to live and work together.

The vampires weren’t moving very fast. More at a leisurely pace through the abandoned streets of the big city at night, talking and joking with each other. We were upon them in seconds. I grabbed one vampire’s arm, twisting it behind his back and placing my free hand over his mouth as he fell to his knees. Gordon took his down with a similar move. While I pushed fire into the vampire’s open mouth, he pushed ice. Both were equally effective.

My vampire’s flesh turned from red hot to crumbling ash and embers as I watched the heat move through him, spreading like a forest fire. Nothing would put it out besides the absence of flesh to burn.

The vampire Gordon was turning to a solid chunk of ice would probably die quickly and melt into a pile of water logged ashes. I still wasn’t sure how a vampire death would work with his ability, but I had no doubt it worked. He had said while we were in Hell he didn’t like to use it because it reminded him of what he was and brought the darkness in him back. Well, he seemed to be handling it fine as I let my vampire fall to the ground and turned to watch him work.

I couldn’t see anything from the outside, but I guessed what was happening on the inside. Gordon was sending the frozen air into his throat and chest, freezing his airways and making his way down to his heart. He nodded so I took the few steps with my hand out, ready. I placed my palm on the center of the vampire’s chest and let the fire flow through me again, spreading throughout my veins, visible beneath my skin as it moved into him.

The feeling of euphoria was like nothing I had ever felt before. It was warmth and passion. It was a chill that shivered through my spine. The vampire’s heart would be obliterated and he would fall to ash at our feet. I could see it in my mind, his heart turning to a solid block of ice beneath his ribs, melting once the fire made contact. I felt his heart melt and crumble, the rest of his body following suit beneath my open hand. Gordon was bent over like he didn’t dare to move or anger the beast or he would be its next target. I wasn’t sure if I would have to reassure him he wasn’t in any danger from me or the beast. I also wasn’t sure if he would believe it.

“You okay,” I asked, moving towards with my hand still outstretched. I had stopped the flow from my hand once the vampire was gone. He stood and took my hand in his, icy cold fingers closing around mine. Obviously he was alright.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he answered. His tone was neutral and his face was blank, not giving anything away.

“Let’s get this over with. I’m ready to be done with Lilith and all of this.” I sighed. “I’m done.” A look of understanding wiped away the blank expression, and he gave me a weak smile that didn’t reach his eyes. The small sparkle of life was still in those dark orbs, but not much of it. He had been worn down by everything like the rest of us.

He pushed a stray strand of hair out of my eyes, tucking it behind my ear and letting his fingers trail along my jaw. I sighed and nearly sagged against him, but I saw the rest of our group come from around the corner and out of the pitch blackness towards us.

I straightened and said, “Let’s get going.”

I started walking, moving past Gordon. My Converses crunched on the ground over small pieces of rubble crumbling way from the buildings around us. What was it about the apocalypse? Everything started falling apart as soon as someone said the word.

It didn’t take long before we reached the shop. I was hoping it was unlocked so we didn’t have to break the glass and make a scene.

“Everything happened so fast my uncle wouldn’t have really had time to lock the door. It should be unlocked,” Chase ventured as he reached forward and took the metal bar that opened the door in his hand and pulled. It opened with ease and a whoosh of air came to greet us. I was extremely happy to see that the air condition was still on and fully functional. I stood there and let the air wash over me as the others headed inside, but I knew I couldn’t stay out there. Without another thought, I was through the door. As the door swung closed behind me I swayed a little, the room spinning. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out through my nose and opened my eyes. Much better.

“You okay?” I heard a voice come from in front of me. I opened my eyes to find Sam standing there, eyes questioning and brooding.

I remembered when I was a lot like that. Now I was   bitter and angry all the time. I was hoping we could get back to a place where we could all smile again. I took a step back; my back almost pressed against the door, and tried really hard not to let the beast flash through me.

“I’m good. The air feels nice,” I replied. I had one moment of perfection caused by air conditioning. I even had to chuckle a little.

“Alright,” she said, turning away from me with one more nervous glance. I wasn’t sure why she was nervous, but it was unsettling.

I took a moment to steady myself and followed her deeper into the shop. All manner of things littered the place, ranging from musical instruments to what looked like old Civil War junk. There was no telling how much of it was the real deal and how much wasn’t. We strode towards the back of the store where Chase was rummaging around inside of some drawers behind the long expanse of counters.

“What are you looking for?” Beth questioned as she moved behind him. She was watching the flurry of activity as he searched any drawer he could find. He was intent on finding something important.

“A key,” he countered. “My uncle has all of the good weapons locked away behind the wall at the very back of the store. They key is two of a kind and we need at least one to open the door to get in. It’s kind of like a walk-in vault.” He continued to look and I could swear when he yelled I heard him say “Eureka!” I wasn’t sure but it didn’t really matter.

He rushed towards the very back of the store and inspected the wall for the place to insert the key. I didn’t see what the key looked like, but I had a feeling it probably looked like a regular old house key. It would look like something unimportant; insignificant even. All so those who found it wouldn’t go looking for things they didn’t need to have in their possession.

All it took was the expression of utter confusion on his face for me to decide to join in the search. I marched up to where he stood and started feeling the wall around where his own hands were searching.

“What exactly are we looking for?” I let my hands move over every nook and cranny of the wall. It was nearly perfectly smooth. I was beginning to wonder if there really was anything there to feel for. Before he could answer, I felt the soft edge of something underneath my fingers. What was that? I couldn’t see anything there, but I sure as Hell felt it. There was an edge around three sides and I chose to do something I wasn’t   sure would work. I found the center and gave it a small push. There was a click and a small door guarding a lock popped right open.

“Damn, my uncle was a sneaky bastard. I didn’t think it blended right into the wall like that,” Chase stammered as he moved over to me, inspecting the key hole inside. With no hesitation he put the key in and twisted. Within seconds the sound of multiple locks came from inside the wall, making me jump a few steps from it. It was like a great unveiling was taking place as a portion of the door clicked and slid open, swinging out towards us.

“Wow,” I breathed, taking a step around the door and peering inside, not wanting to be the first to enter the room.

I would let Chase have that honor. This was his uncle’s shop after all and we had no idea where his uncle was. I turned to Chase and the others. Sam showed interest but was as far away as she could be without being too far away from the group. Beth was next to Chase. Gordon had moved closer to me when I had been startled by the door’s mechanisms. He had his hand out like he was about to grab my arm so I made sure to nod in his direction for reassurance. He was worried about me and the baby. I didn’t blame him, but I didn’t want to be coddled either. The closer I got, the more an overwhelming smell was taking over. I cringed because of it, feeling bile rise in my throat as the others gasped in disgust.

Chase made his way into the doorway of the room. From what I could tell it was rather large, possibly a quarter of the size of the shop itself which was already pretty big.