“These things are multiplying too fast! We have to get out
of here!” Mike huffed as he slammed his hand against the floor.
Again, Victoria glanced at her phone, pausing briefly to
wonder why she hadn’t heard anything from Derrick. Anxiety was beginning to set
in. If he was unable to find a voodoo priest to help them then they would
certainly need another way. “Mike, do you still carry that amethyst stone for
good luck?”
“Of course, I do. Why do you ask?”
“May I borrow it? I think I may have another way to get rid
of these things.” Handing over the gem, Victoria unfolded the map from her
pocket and set it out over one of the tables. “I may be able to scry
for the original source of this spell.”
“It’s like a magical GPS of sorts. I say a spell and focus
on a target and hope the amethyst does its job.” Closing her eyes, she
enchanted Mike’s lucky gem and quickly went to work. The purple rock swayed
back and forth endlessly across the map of Avondale, seemingly without
direction before flying into a corner of the map near the waterfront.
“The House of Saints?” Mike asked. “Does that mean it
worked?”
“I hope so.” Victoria handed Mike back his gem and looked
out the front doors again. After having dined on the helpless employee, the
zombies outside had settled and were a little quieter, giving her an idea. “We
may be able to sneak out of here from the back.”
“Are you crazy? You heard what they did to that woman. Do
you really want to risk going outside?”
“Yes. We have to Mike. Besides getting back to the container
before some other poor soul comes across it, we have to get to the House of
Saints and see if it really is the source of the spell. We have to end this,
Mikey. Now are you with me or not?”
“Of course, I am. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
After successfully exiting the diner area and making it
three streets back toward the town square, Mike stopped a moment to get his
bearings. Victoria
adjusted her eyes to scan the darkened, deserted boulevard. A flitter of
something had caught her eye. Trash blowing by? Another stray citizen roaming
the streets? Or was it one of them? Behind rows and rows of cars, she spied a
figure moving and nudged Mike to make him aware. Following her line of sight,
he saw it too. Someone else was out there, but it was impossible to tell whether
they were alive or undead.
Motioning with her weapon, the two came up with a quick plan. While they may not be able to kill the beasts with mortal weapons, perhaps they might be able to at least stun or slow it so they could get away. Mike moved into the opposite side of the alley, taking position at Victoria’s left while she stayed focused on the right. Together, they converged on the area they’d spotted the dark outline and, with weapons at the ready, aimed for the figure.
“Derrick?!”
Victoria exclaimed, holstering her sidearm as she stared in disbelief. “What
the hell are you doing out here?”
“Looking
for you. I was waiting by the truck, but I didn’t see you so I came looking.”
“What?
Why didn’t you just call?”
Holding
up a destroyed, electronic object he sighed, “Couldn’t. It got obliterated in a
fight with a zombie.”
“Wait
a second, you had a close encounter with one of those things?” Mike asked,
visibly taking a step back. “It didn’t…”
“I’m fine. I know how to handle myself,” Derrick reassured the man. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to locate another priest who could help us. Ajani apparently moved back to his homeland some time ago.”
“Vik
did this scrying thing and may have pinpointed the original source of the
spell.”
“Really?
That’s fantastic!” Derrick exclaimed.
“Yeah, but that’s the good news,” Victoria said. “The bad
news, we didn’t quite round up all of the zombies. Four got away and came after
us.”
“And they killed someone,” Mike added solemnly. “And worst yet,
we think they may be getting smarter.”
“Wow. You guys really need to work on your delivery. Next
time start with the bad and work up to the happy; give a guy something to look
forward to.”
Victoria laughed. “Yeah, well there may not be a future for
a lot of people if we don’t get moving.”
They drove to the waterfront with Mike in the flatbed. He backed it against a wall to ensure the door remained secure and hopped out to join Derrick and Victoria. As they approached the location the amethyst pointed to on the map, they found themselves at a large, deserted temple.
“How befitting,” Victoria commented. “A voodoo priest hiding
inside a creepy, old church.”
“Be on the lookout for a ceremonial shrine of some sort;
with a sacrifice, possibly still alive or the still beating heart of a lamb.”
“Awesome, can’t wait,” she said, shaking off her nerves.
“I’m serious, Victoria. Your magic probably won’t do anything to destroy it so be prepared to think outside the box.”
“Way,” Derrick replied.
“So, I need to destroy a magical shrine without using magic
and think on my feet before being devoured by a gang of rotting corpses all
while avoiding magical volleys being lobbed at me by an evil necromancer?”
“Sounds like a piece of cake,” Mike joked. “Here. Take this;
just in case.” He handed her a small pocket knife he carried around for
emergencies and shrugged when she looked at it in question. “You never know.”
“You’re right,” Victoria sighed. “Guess it’s now or never.”
“No. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. It’s…powerful.” The small hairs on her harm
stood on end and she rubbed her hand across them. The temperature seemed to
drop the farther into the darkened space they walked and she felt as though
something was watching them. “We shouldn’t be here.”
“We should hurry,” Mike suggested.
“No. There is no telling what we are going to find in here;
best to take our time,” Derrick cautioned. “What are you sensing, Victoria?”
“Evil. Pure evil. And it seems to be—calling to me.” Derrick
narrowed his eyes toward the detective and watched as she rubbed away more
goosebumps. “Derrick.”
“You got this, Victoria. And I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Victoria had heard it, but she was more enthralled by the
large figure standing in the door. A spark of fear ran through her as the man’s
yellow eyes seemed to pierce right through her. “I’ve been expecting you.” His
voice was deep and thundered within the room where they stood, echoing off the
walls and surrounding them. “He said you wouldn’t be alone.”
“Who said?” Victoria pressed.
The man lowered his head, giving an amused and shameless chuckle before disappearing into the room. The group exchanged glances, understanding the man expected them to follow behind him. Grinning lewdly, he took her in, sizing up the supposed competition before leaning back against a long table near the wall. Victoria could see behind him it was the exact set up Derrick had told her to expect. A gruesome showcase of blood, guts and magic; it was dark. “Hmm,” the necromancer sneered. “You don’t look like much.”
“Watch your tongue, witch,” the man shrieked and instantly
stood erect. “You’re a guest here. Keep in mind I can end you with the snap of
my fingers!”
A chill went down Mike’s spine when he spoke this and he
looked around the room. Dozens of zombies stood against the walls, awaiting
orders to attack. He sucked in a deep breath, keeping one hand on the grip of
his sidearm and his muscles tensed. Looking toward the others in his company,
he could see he wasn’t the only one suddenly uneasy.
Despite being supernatural himself and known for his zealous approach to battle, Derrick was looking considerably worked up. It wasn’t the look of someone numbed to battle and it wasn’t the look of someone who was interested in seeking out their own death. He wondered what exactly was going on through his mind right now.
The man sneered and as threatened, snapped. Time slowed and
Victoria found herself unable to immediately respond; in fact, she couldn’t
even move. Squeezing her eyes closed, she took heavy breaths in order to calm
herself. Beads of sweat fell down her face and she chanced a look toward her
partner and then Derrick.
Unlike her, they didn’t appear frozen in place. He had other plans for them instead. The mass of monsters scattered around the room had all come to life and were making direct paths toward them both. Taking another deep breath, Victoria clenched her hands and conjured up one of her most powerful protection spells, exhaling the breath as she released a curse toward the man standing in the center of the room.
A bright, green line of energy appeared and shot across the room, severing the priest through his midsection. He stumbled back, appearing visibly shaken as he felt the strength of her magic rocket through him. Touching his stomach to ensure he was intact, he looked up at her with renewed anger. “Did you really think that would be enough to kill me?” The necromancer screamed at her between heavy panting breaths.
“Well, THIS is certainly for you.” With the flick of his hand, he sent a flurry of weapons hurtling toward Mike. The back of his hand reflectively moved to shield himself, blocking the oncoming strike that would’ve ended him. Yet, there was no wound, no blood, and no pain. The priest’s weapons simply rebounded off of his skin, unable to find any purchase against him. Slowly, he opened his eyes but didn’t stop to question it or wonder in awe at Victoria’s power as the army of undead closed in around him and Derrick.
“We got this,” Derrick said, charging toward the undead
army. “Go take care of the rest.”
Her hands gripped the handle of the blade in her pocket and she dug in her heels preparing to charge. Ducking under a large bolt of lightning the priest cast toward her, Victoria retrieved her hidden weapon and quickly darted toward the table.
“Either that or he likes to make a flashy exit,” Derrick
joked. Victoria laughed and turned toward him. It was then she saw the extent
of the wounds he’d suffered.
A trail of blood was leaking from the top of his forehead
and from both corners of his mouth. He was also gripping his right ribcage and moving
with a slight limp. “Derrick!”
“I’m ok,” he quickly answered, seeing the panic on her face.
“I’m healing.”
“You need to eat.”
“And I will. But first, let’s get out of here.”
As far as they could tell, everything had returned to normal. The news was no longer reporting on random assaults of crazed people biting and scratching innocent civilians. Destroying the heart caused a complete reversal of the spell. Anyone who’d been infected made a recovery. It was as if nothing had ever happened.
Pushing play on the remote, the opening scene for Night of
the Living Dead began playing and Derrick quirked an eyebrow at her. “Interesting
choice,” he remarked as Victoria snuggled deeper into his chest. “I’d have
thought you’d had your fill of the grotesque.”
“Quite the contrary. This is where they belong. Behind fifty inches of glass and being projected on the screen; not out of it.”
“Here, here!” Mike agreed as he scooped up the bowl of
popcorn and settled onto the couch beside them.
Derrick glanced over in question as Victoria’s partner
shoveled a handful of the movie snack into his mouth and sighed. “Are you
planning on going home sometime tonight?”
“Who me?” Mike asked, nervously pointing toward himself.
“Uh…”
“Aria’s out of town on business and you know how
superstitious Mikey is. I’ve made up one of the guestrooms for him. We wouldn’t want
the things that go bump in the night to bump into him.”
Derrick burst into riotous laughter at the thought of the seasoned lawman being afraid of a few monsters. “In that case, you’re welcomed to stay for as long as you need.”
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