Nightmare City

The sight before my eyes was too gruesome for me to comprehend all at once, so I absorbed it in bits and pieces. The blood sprayed on the walls, pools of it splattered on the kitchen tile. The chairs were turned over, or in pieces. A cabinet door hung from only one hinge.

Last of all I looked at Gabriel.

He was lying on his back, spread out on the heavy wooden table. His arms and legs hung off the sides, dangling lifelessly. His eyes were open, his face frozen in shock and pain. A long silver katana was thrust through his chest, the tip of it coming out the other end of the table.

I clutched the edge of the fridge blindly as I bent over and became violently ill right there on the kitchen floor.

I kept heaving well after my stomach was empty, my retches turning into sobs as tears slid down my cheeks. My chest ached as my throat burned.

When I was finally done I scrambled up over the fridge, my hands smearing the blood splattered on it. I made my way over to the table, reaching up and grasping the katana’s handle, tugging hard. It was embedded securely into the wood, and did not budge.

Placing one knee, then another on the table between his legs I climbed up and grasped the handle again, pulling with everything I had.

The katana came free slowly, pulling Gabriel’s body up with it. The blade came free and the body slid off, hitting the table with a sickening thump.

I stood on the table and panted with effort, trying to push my tears back, to block any more from pouring out, so I could concentrate on what was in front of me.

A loud thump overhead interrupted my thoughts. I turned my face up to the ceiling. Someone was in the attic, moving something heavy. Katrina was still in the house.

I stepped down from the table, looking over the sword in my hand. It was silver coated steel, and looked familiar to me. It was the sword I had found in the coffin in the attic. I had brought it with me when I had gone to rescue Gabriel from Nora. It was the sword he had used to kill her.

I remembered Gabriel thrusting the sword through her, then she fell off the roof. How had the sword made it’s way back here?

“Wait here a minute, Gabriel.” I said, my voice hoarse, but strangely calm. “I’ve got to go take care of something.”

I climbed the stairs to the second floor slowly, listening carefully for any sign of attack. The stairs to the attic were unfolded and the noises above were louder now. I could hear the sound of metal on wood, and the spattering of liquid.

Mounting the narrow steps, I kept alert, my body hunched and ready to strike, gripping the katana tightly. I spied the red-haired figure before she spied me.

Her back was to me, and she was busy. On the floor beside her were three red gas cans. She had one in her hands and was pouring gasoline all over the attic. The smell assaulted me with a wave of nausea.

Katrina the vampire was going to burn my house down.

I stepped out onto the attic floor, which immediately creaked, announcing my arrival. Katrina turned her head and looked over at me. “Oh, it’s you.” she said and went back to her work.

“You killed Gabriel.” I rasped, stepping towards her.

She emptied her can and tossed it aside. “It took a long time, he fought till the bitter end. He should have known it was inevitable, though.” She trembled a little as she picked up another can. Her wrists were badly slashed, bloodied and ripped. Her hair was a mess, sticky with blood with loose tendrils going in every direction.

“I’d just gotten him back.” I whispered. My hands shook as I held the katana’s hilt in a death grip.

“What?” Katrina paused before dumping out the next can. She looked over at me.

“I’D JUST GOTTEN HIM BACK!” I shrieked, lunging at her.

Her eyes widened a little and she stepped back, grabbing my forearms with both hands before I could bring the katana to bear. “Are you really going to try this?” she asked in disbelief.

Instead of answering I changed my grip on the katana, bring it downwards. Katrina pushed me away. I stumbled backwards, but recovered, lunging at her again.

I sliced desperately, rage fueling my attacks. I was faster, stronger than I had ever been. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. “The last thing I ever do, Katrina, will be to kill you.” I said through gritted teeth.

My cuts were shallow at best, but I was armed while she was not, which kept her on the defensive. The sword gave me the longer reach, which prevented her from sinking her deadly claws into my skin.

She wasn’t going to stay on the defensive for long, as my cuts were getting more and more accurate. She took a chance and grabbed my wrists with one hand, ripping at my shoulder with her other.

Hot blood ran down my arm. There might have been pain, but it paled in comparison to the ache in my chest. I fought her tooth and nail even as she ripped the katana from my hands.

She leaned the blade against the stone coffin in the center of the attic and brought her foot down on it hard, snapping it in two. She tossed the handle across the attic, then grabbed me by the front of my shirt and slammed me down on top of the coffin.

The impact emptied my lungs in one burst. My head bounced off the stone coffin lid and the attic blurred. I lay on top of the coffin, clutching my chest, trying to get air back inside of me.

I coughed and the coughs turned to body-wracking retches. After it passed I lay there weakly, staring at Katrina through a red haze. “Tch.” she sucked at her teeth, then turned away and went back to dousing the attic.

I tried to move, jerking my shoulders, failing to get to my feet. I tipped over onto the floor. My hands found the upper part of the katana blade. It was short, only a few inches long. It would have to do.

I took a moment, summoning ever last scrap of energy and ability, while my head swam crazily. Katrina stood my the exit, a gold lighter in her hand. I pulled myself to my feet.

She sensed me immediately, turning, but even her enhanced senses were no match for my last, desperate, lunge. The last thing I would ever do.

Before she could fully turn I was behind her, plunging the silver blade into her back. The silver seared through her skin and flesh like butter, her spine like string. The sharp steel bit into my hands, but I didn’t feel that pain either.

Katrina’s legs collapsed under her. She reached behind and tried to pull out the blade, but the silver burned her hand horribly. I had wounded her grievously, but she could still recover. I had to make sure she never came back again.

I stepped over her struggling form, and picked up the other piece of the katana. This I buried into her chest.

She stared at me, unable to move, her eyes glassy, and so full of pain. Even stabbing her through the heart wasn’t going to kill her. Eventually she would be able to pull the blades out and heal.

I had to make sure there was nothing left to heal.

The gold lighter lay on the floor next to her body. I picked it up. It was beaten up, with the initials A. S carved in the side.

Once I was at the attic steps, I flicked the lighter open. The flame flickered and danced hypnotically. “Good bye Katrina.” I said dully, tossed it up onto the floor. The gasoline lit immediately, fire spreading throughout the attic in seconds.

Stumbling weakly, I reached the next set of stairs, and headed down. Halfway down the stairs I lost my footing and tumbled to the bottom. I landed on my back and this time I felt agony pounding on my skull.

Laying there was useless, it didn’t matter how many bones were broken. I crawled past the door to the laundry room while my head throbbed and the haze over my eyes grew redder. It wasn’t till I reached the kitchen that I managed to get back to my feet.

I pulled myself over to the table, gripping the countertop. “I’m back.” I said tonelessly. “It’s time to go, Gabriel. I set the house on fire.”

I crawled up onto the table and collapsed on top of his corpse. “If we don’t go now, we’ll get caught in it, too.”

The vestibule leading to the front door was about ten feet away. I stared at it while laying my head on Gabriel’s ruined chest. Ten feet or ten miles, it didn’t matter to me. The distance didn’t matter when there was no reason to leave. Even if I did have the key.

“I killed Katrina, by the way.”

I could smell the smoke now, and hear the roar of the fire above us. The kitchen grew dimmer with each passing moment.

I reached both hands up and grasped the front of his torn shirt. “It’s time to get up now, Gabriel. I’m not kidding. You’ve been shot, clawed, stabbed, buried alive, drowned, and burned, but even this might be a little beyond you. If you’re going to come back to life, now’s the only chance you’ll get.”

There was a tremendous crash overhead as the roof collapsed. It might have smothered the flames, if it weren’t for the gasoline. I could hear the fire eating it’s way down the stairs.

“I can’t carry you out of trouble this time, I’m sorry, I can’t even drag you.” I said as burning tears oozed from my eyes. “I used all my strength on Katrina. So, if you don’t get up now, then we’re both going to stay here.”

I turned my face away from the doorway, burying it in his chest. “I’m not going to leave you here. Because you’ll just get up and disappear somewhere without me. It was stupid luck that I found you the last time, I’m not going to let that happen again.” My body began to shake as I sobbed.

There was a pounding, one that wasn’t inside of my head. It was dull and slow, but getting louder. I ignored it.

Then the world lurched violently. Black smoke hung in the air so thick it didn’t matter if my eyes were open or closed. Through the haze I could see Gabriel below me, still lying on the table.

I struggled, trying to get back to him, but a strong arm held me tightly. I reached my arms out weakly, but I was moving further away from the table. “No.” My voice travelled over the sandpaper in my throat and came out as a rasp. “No, I can’t leave him.”

My words went unheeded, and the distance between us grew. I kicked, fighting with paltry strength. “Gabriel, get up.” I croaked. “Get up now.”

I was through the vestibule now and his body slid from my sight. “Please.” I begged. “Please, Gabriel, get up.”

Then I was outside, looking up at the inferno that was once my home. The upper two floors blazed so brightly that my eyes teared. Or maybe my eyes were still leaking for a different reason.

I continued to reach out as I got further and further away from the house. As I watched, the second floor collapsed in a shower of embers and burning debris. Wood and brick rained down, crushing the roof of the laundry room. The impact resistance windows shattered and the sounds were like gunshots.

Throughout it all, there was only one thought winding through my skull. If he didn’t get out of there now, this time he would really die. “Gabriel... please...”

“Don’t you think it’s about time you gave up? You’re only making yourself look foolish.”

I opened my eyes and saw only darkness above me. I lay on my back, the surface under me cold and hard. I sat up and saw Dimitri, the only thing in this entire space.

My clothes were gone, but the realization did not alarm me, nor did Dimitri’s presence. The cold floor bit into my bare skin, but caring was beyond me.

“This time he is well and truly gone.” Dimitri mused, rubbing a finger under his chin. “Even I am satisfied with this outcome. Sure, you didn’t rip his heart out... but Katrina did, and really that’s even better.” He tilted his head in my direction, sliding one violet eye towards me. “You always did take second place to her, when it came to Gabriel.”

“You’re right.” I replied hollowly. “I wasn’t strong enough to protect him.”

Dimitri’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “Oh?” Then he smiled slyly. “I see...”

He walked over and knelt down in front of me, till we were at eye level. He peered at my face and I looked at him, my weakness, my uselessness bare in my eyes. “There’s not really much reason for me to even stay here.” he said. Heavy chains bound my wrists and ankles. His words conjured them, twining like snakes, binding my arms and legs, as well as my heart.

“Chains?” he asked himself quietly. “No, too crude.” The chains became thick black ribbon, wrapping their way over my limbs, binding just as heavily. His smile became wider. “I always told you, that you could not be broken with force, as that only made you stronger. You needed to be worn down softly, from the inside out.” He put his hand under my chin. “Was I wrong?”

“You were right.” I answered.

“Good. Now I want you to tell me something.” He placed both palms on my cheeks and leaned his face close to mine, so I had no choice but to look directly into his eyes. “Tell me now, because I know that you know... who has my eye?”

“Kieran.” I answered as a tear slid down my cheek.

Dimitri wiped the tear away with his thumb. “Who is Kieran? Answer me now.” His voice was soft, but there was an anxiety just below the surface that made his hands just a little too tight.

“Kieran Brun, the hunter that protects Saint Katrina’s.”

Dimitri released me, both eyes very wide. He jumped to his feet. “The boy!?” His body shook with barely suppressed fury. “That witch carved out my eye and gave it to the boy?!” His face cracked into a deranged smile and he let out a laugh that was almost a giggle. “I’ll rip his spine out.” he said simply.

He looked back down at me and his smile went back down to it’s usual slyness. “But first...”

********

Heat and fire and flame. So painful and yet cleansing. How could something so pure create such awful black smoke? In the end, the only thing it left behind was charred black remains. It had always terrified me so, would it ever again?

“Where am I?” I asked, sitting up on the white gravel. The gravel was familiar, the blackened remains of what was once a house was not.

“Oh, thank God,” someone groaned behind me. I turned and saw Chris sitting on the gravel a couple of feet away.

Steven lay on his back beside him, his skin white as a sheet. “I’ve had it with you people,” he said weakly. “I’m never setting foot in that house again.”

“The house is gone, man.” Chris said to him.

Steven raised up one arm weakly. “Then my vow has been fulfilled.” He dropped his arm back down on the gravel.

Both men looked completely exhausted. “What’s going on?” I asked, feeling unusually alarmed. “What happened to my house?”

Memories began to flicker and I looked down at my chest. The shirt was a ruined mess, and the skin underneath was scratched and scarred. My arms too, carried many marks and wounds, in varying stages of healing.

“Evie set it on fire, I think.” Chris answered. “I wasn’t in there, so I don’t know what happened. “I used the jeep to break open the door.”

“Where is Evangeline?”

Steven raised his arm again. “I can field that one. I called Ricky, he’s taking her to the emergency room now.”

My stomach felt strangely hollow. “She was harmed?”

Both men looked at me, their expressions grave. I tried get to my feet, but my legs were weak. I slipped on the gravel. Chris steadied me with one hand. “I wouldn’t move so fast, you were dead ten minutes ago. Well, you know, dead-er.”

“If I was dead, why am I alive now?”

“Don’t tell him.” Steven moaned. “I’m still queasy.”

“After I pulled you out of the house, we, uh... donated some of our blood to you.”

“I can’t hear you.” Steven covered his ears with his hands, it was then that I spied a makeshift bandage wrapped around his wrist. Chris wore a similar one, and the bottom of his shirt was torn.

“You saved my life?” I asked in shock.

“I did it for Evie,” Chris said sternly. “I saw what happened to her the last time you died. When she wakes up, the first thing she’s going to look for will be you.” He sounded very unhappy relaying this to me.

I sat there and thought for a long moment. About Katrina, and the battle I had lost. About my house, all that was left of it was a pile of charred timber. About Evangeline, and her words that I half remembered.

‘I’m not going to leave you here. Because you’ll just get up and disappear somewhere without me. It was stupid luck that I found you the last time, I’m not going to let that happen again.’

My second attempt to regain my feet was successful. “Then I shouldn’t keep her waiting.” I said soberly.

“Give me a minute, I’m going to the hospital anyway.”

“I’ll stay here.” Steven offered. “Knowing the both of you, the hospital will burn down, too.”