Vampire Manifesto (37 page)

I screamed as I began to freeze over from the inside out.

“
What’s going to happen?” Connor asked staring at the two dead bodies on the table.

Jenova shrugged. “Either something really interesting or absolutely nothing at…”

I sat up suddenly, the dead body that was on top of me crashing to the floor, nothing but an empty husk, all of the organs that were in his chest had oozed out, transferred into mine. My breath was coming fast and hard, the hole in my chest weaving itself to a close. I raised my hand slightly, touching the side of my temple with my finger, feeling the bullet hole literally healing underneath my fingertips.

“
Holy shit.” I said.

Jenova Darkstar was in a state of total shock and awe. “You can say that again.”

Connor didn’t say a word, instead, letting his actions speak volumes, running over almost immediately, wrapping his arms around me. I hugged him back, just glad to know that he was okay. Jenova gave me his old jacket.

“
We have to get out of here.” I managed, slipping into the old battered leather jacket. It reminded me so much of the one I used to paint with at home.

“
What in the fuck is going on?”

I turned towards the door. There was a man there, someone I’d never seen before. It wasn’t Amastacia or Graul, but he was dressed the same.

“
Hello Theodore.” Jenova said in welcome.

“
Holiday, what the hell are you doing?” He demanded. “Why is Hostile 32 and…”

Jenova reached for her weapon, the modified M-16 that was strapped to her back and began to fire, the rounds catching Theodore square in the chest, knocking him backwards through the door.

“
Behind me.” She demanded. Connor pulled me off the table just as Jenova cocked the Grenade attachment and fired at the wall. The explosion was deafening as brick, wood and plaster went flying. Smoke was everywhere, yet my Vampiric eyes cut through it, my senses kicking in. There was a massive hole in the wall and that was our ticket to freedom.

“
Move it Vampire, now!” Jenova yelled, gripping me by the shoulder and shoving me through the hole. Gunfire erupted from behind us. It was the man she called Theodore, leaning in through the doorway, letting off shots, the body armor he wore apparently saving his life, same as the woman, Amastacia, when I kicked her in the chest at the safe house.

Jenova pulled a sidearm that was on her waist and tossed it to me then began giving cover fire. “Now damn it!”

I scrambled through the dust and smoke making my way through the crater in the wall, Connor in tow. Jenova was moving slowly, taking small steps backwards as she continued to fire, keeping Theodore pinned down. In an instant I was outside. We were in some random little neighborhood, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The sun was in the sky, shinning bright, no cloud cover in the sky to speak of.

My body burst into to flames.

It was immediate, all-encompassing and spread like wildfire across every inch of my body. I dropped to my knees, screaming. The sun was merciless in its punishment and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. Suddenly I felt a cool hand on my shoulder.

“
It’s okay, I got this.” The voice belonged to Connor and as he spoke the fire died down into nothingness, evaporating altogether. He grabbed my arm, put it around his neck and hoisted me up to my feet, taking the gun from my hand. He half walked, half dragged me across the front lawn towards the street.

“
We need an exit strategy.” Connor said, lowering me down gently on the grass. There was a car driving past slowly and he stepped out into the street directly in its path.

He cocked the nine millimeter and started firing at the windshield as he walked around the front end of car towards the driver’s side door.

The car swerved, popped the curb and hit a fire hydrant, water shooting up into the sky, the horn on one continuous blow. Connor opened the car door and pulled a bullet ridden dead body from the driver’s seat, dumping it on the ground.

He looked up at me. “Get in.”

I made my way towards the car as fast as I could. About sixty percent of my body had healed, but the other forty was still covered in third degree burns and an extremely charred leather jacket. I could still hear gunfire from behind me as Jenova and Theodore went at it. I opened the car door and fell into the back seat. Darkstar was close to us now, almost at the car.

“
Connor!” Jenova yelled. “Help!”

Theodore was at the center of the room we had just escaped from. He took a knee, hoisted an RPG on his shoulder, aimed at the car and fired.

Time seemed to slow down for everyone involved.

The rocket flared out the house, through the hole in the wall and across the lawn, on a collision course with our vehicle.

Connor threw both of his arms out, everything from his elbows down erupting in flame.

A wall of fire sprung up from the ground directly in front of Jenova.

The rocket slammed into the wall of flame and exploded.

The force of the explosion lifted Jenova Darkstar off her feet, propelling her body backward, slamming her into the car, shattering both passenger side windows.

The ball of flame increased in size, expanding, growing larger in diameter, heading towards the car, threatening to envelop us in is fiery madness.

The fireball slowed, then came to a stop, reversed direction and crashed into the side of the house.

Connors eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed.

Everything was hectic, insane craziness all around us. A part of the house exploded. Jenova scrambled, coming around the car, picking Connor up and shoving him in the back seat. He was unconscious and his breathing was shallow.

“
Vampire, up front now!” Jenova Darkstar was already behind the wheel, putting the car in reverse. There was a thump as the front wheels came down from the curb and hit blacktop. She put the car in drive and peeled off.

I didn’t want to leave Connor, but I did what I was told, climbing into the front passenger seat.

Jenova Darkstar tossed her M-16 on my lap along with an ammo clip from her waist. “You know how to work that?”

In an instant, my Vampiric mind was at work, replaying every movie scene I had ever witnessed that involved an M-16. I pulled the empty clip out, inserted another, gave the bottom of the new clip a tap, pulled back the guard and did a check. There was a round in the chamber. “Yeah, why?”

The back window exploded in a hail of gunfire.

“
That’s why.” Jenova made a sharp turn and we were speeding along the on ramp, merging with oncoming traffic on the freeway. I could hear Connor moan softly in the backseat. He was starting to come around, the strain of what he did, of somehow controlling the exploding RPG and redirecting its course slowing wearing off.

More gunfire. This time hitting the trunk of the car.

“
You ready for this Vampire?” Jenova asked.

I leaned out the side of the passenger side window and began to fire.

“
Good, cause shits about to get real.” Finished Darkstar.

Jenova was swerving in and out of traffic, going as fast as she could. Despite this fact, our pursuers were gaining on us. They had pulled up on the driver side and I fired at their passenger side door and window, but the bullets didn’t seem like they were doing anything other than chipping away at the paint and scratching the glass. Darkstar rammed into the side of their car with ours then slammed on the brakes. An eighteen wheeler roared past us on the opposite side. Jenova hit the gas, swerved around the truck and drove on the shoulder.

I slid back into the car. “These bullets ain't doing shit. Who are these people?”

“
Marauders for the Translucent Man.” Connor replied in a shallow voice from the backseat. He was sitting up fully now, yet I could tell he was using all his strength to do so. “I thought you were dead Madison.”

“
I got better.”

“
We need a distraction.” Jenova sped up even faster until we were lined up with the passenger side door of the eighteen-wheeler. “Take the wheel.”

“
What?” But it was already too late; Jenova had already opened the car door and begun to climb out.

“
What in the hell?” I reached over and grabbed the wheel, sliding into the driver’s seat. Jenova Darkstar was hanging onto the car door frame, then leapt the space in between us and the eighteen-wheeler, grabbing onto its large passenger side mirror for leverage.

She opened the door and slid into the eighteen wheelers cab. Seconds later the driver of the truck was flung out, his body slamming against our doorframe, ricocheting off into to the highway behind us.

Connor had climbed to the front of our car, taking a seat next to me as I drove. “What is she doing?”

“
Fuck if I know.” I shot back.

The eighteen-wheeler veered off to the left suddenly, never decreasing its speed, the trailer it pulled not able to keep up with change of direction, tipping over, jack knifing across the freeway.

“
Oh shit.” Connor turned and watched as the eighteen wheeler flipped over and over across the freeway, exploding in a violent blast.

I kept driving straight, not sure what to do next as the explosion lit up the sky behind us. Connor was fully turned around in his seat, watching everything go down as I tried to focus on the road ahead and stare out the rearview mirror at the same time.

There was no way Darkstar could have survived that explosion, yet my knowledge of Demon physiology was nonexistent and I honestly didn't know what she was capable of. Hell, after these last few hours, I didn't even know what I was capable off. Connor turned back around in his seat, snapping on his seatbelt, like that was gonna help our current situation any.

I did know one thing though. "We need to get the fuck out of California." I said.

"I'm way ahead of you on that." Connor pulled out his cell. "Fuck this city. How fast are you going?"

I shrugged. "I don't know?" I glanced down. "Hundred and five."

"Slow down." He stated. "We don't need to draw any more attention to us then need be."

"Word." I decreased the cars acceleration to be more in line with the current speed limit. "Okay, so what’s our next move?"

Connor typed in a series of numbers into the cell then waited for a response. “Hello? Hey, Mr. Guy who pilots my planes, it's me, Connor...yeah, crazy shit huh? All over the news you say? Well I did hear on good authority that the Bay Area was the epicenter of Mutant deviancy. I don’t know, it’s like their Mecca or something. Uh huh. It didn’t mention anything about me did it? Right, right, well God blesses fucking America or some shit like that, anyway, get my plane ready for take...yes, well of course now. Fuck you mean it's not refueled yet? Look, I'm not paying you to sit around on your ass and watch the news all goddamn day, have my shit ready by the time I get there, which should be, Gods willing, in the next hour or so or heads will roll and trust me, I mean that quite literally. I'll use that bitch as a bowling ball. Get it encased in amber and everything. Yeah, I thought so. Why thank you. Oh and have a nice day."

Connor hung up the cell and looked at me.

"Sometimes you just have to check a bitch." I said.

"Exactly." He agreed. Plane should be good to go by the time we get there, just follow the signs to the airport, we should be okay."

"What about Jenova?" I asked.

Connor glanced back at the pillar of black smoke behind us. "Yeah, what about her?"

"You think she survived? You think she's still alive?" I asked.

He did a double take at the smoke. "I don’t know."

"We just can’t leave her Connor. If there’s some chance that she's alive..." I knew she was. I couldn’t explain how I knew it, but I felt it in my soul.

"Look kid, I'm glad for everything she did. I am really. Pulling you out from wherever the hell it was you were at and getting that body of yours to work again, I'm grateful for that, I owe her one. Not to mention the way she just manned up and took one for the team just now, that was some crazy...did you see how she just jumped over to the truck and flipped that bitch over? No hesitation. No second guessing. That's crazy. That's some Michael Bay shit right there and I, no, you and me both, we owe her for that. I mean, that chick is like, forever in our debt.”