Rebirth Read online

  “Will sunlight kill him? I’ve seen how they catch on fire on TV from sunlight.”

  “That’s an exaggeration. It could eventually kill him, but it would take hours of direct, strong sunlight to kill what makes him a vampire.”

  “Ok, good, I got it then. I’ll see y’all back here after while.” I marked the direction she had pointed, “How far is he?”

  “He is past the creek, past the highway, maybe two hundred yards into the trees. If you get close you can smell him, you know about the smell?”

  “Yes, I know the smell, it’s hard to miss. Carl, you gonna drive me there? You know where she’s talkin’ about?”

  “Yeah, I think I know about where, I’m ready, let’s go.” He left to get in the car, I followed.

  Mags waited in the back of the car with her little stick with the fire. Cuteness just dripped off her; she had on a torn t-shirt and a pair of my shorts that just barely covered her, so tight she had to have trouble breathing.

  “Mag, you dressed for this? We’re headed to the woods, it’s gonna be rough on your bare legs.”

  She smiled “Woods not hurt me, I not like cover me up. Not natural, feel better like this.” She moved her free hand to indicate her chest and body. She was barefooted.

  “It’s all you, if you sure. Carl, you gonna be able to drive with all that distraction?” Maybe a little catty…he could be a little more discreet though, maybe close his mouth and at least pretend to glance away once in a while. He jumped, guilty,

  “Yeah, Um, we ready, yeah, here we go.” He made a point of looking in his mirrors and pulling away carefully, not looking in the back.

  Traffic was light and we made it where Carl thought it was in a few minutes. The day was bright and sunny, hot, humid. When Carl shut the car down the silence seemed complete. Then the little buzzing noises from insects registered, a little breeze moved the grass and trees with a soughing sound. It was an incredibly peaceful, beautiful day, just made for lounging in a hammock in the shade.

  “Let’s be just a little bit quiet, he ought to be within a couple hundred yards of where we are now.”

  Carl nodded and watched Mags get out, I caught the door when she shoved to close it, stopped it from slamming shut. She made a ‘whoops’ face. Carl pulled out his pistol and I got my shotgun, there was no traffic. All was still and quiet. A dogflies bit my neck, a burning stab that should belong to a three or four pound poisonous flying dinosaur. Those bastards are way more painful than their size should allow. They ate Carl, he tried to ignore them.

  We eased off the side of the road and through the underbrush, watching for rattlers. I mean, that’s what I did. Carl staggered randomly back and forth beating himself fast as he could to entertain the biting flies. They had a great time jumping around his hands. One of which had a loaded .45 semi automatic in it. But the flies didn’t care. Mags floated along in silence, seemed like bushes and shit moved aside for her. The briars and little bushes got tighter and made it harder to walk or stagger, quietly. Dried, brittle sticks snapped and popped with every step. .

  Mags ghosted through and left nothing to indicate she had been there. I watched her. She moved her feet in a shuffle and pressed down slow each step.

  I pointed it out to Carl and he tried; we continued with occasional broken sticks and twigs, I hoped it didn’t disturb the vampire but I had a bad feeling about it.

  A hundred yards into the woods I caught my first whiff of him, rank, an old dead thing that was a rotten crotch before it died. Carl pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose soon after that. The stench got stronger. I heard running water, Faye said past the creek.

  Carl got caught on briars. He didn’t say anything but his face got redder and sweat rolled off his chin as he struggled to get loose. He wasn’t silent. Mags turned and bent and made it through much easier than the two of us, I tried to emulate her and it helped. The smell got stronger as we got closer, if it wasn’t the vampire it something large and dead and rotted.

  Chunks of rotted fur and hide hung from the briars close to the ground, he’d got down and eeled his way into the ground cover like snake. That might be the way to go but I didn’t want to get down and wallow in it. Mags didn’t have any problem with it; the undergrowth appeared to part and let her through. I followed best as I could. Carl fell further and further behind and I was ok with that, he wasn’t in the weight class of this thing.

  The overwhelming rotted odor coated the inside of my throat. Mags stopped, I bumped into her before I realized she wasn’t moving.

  “Shhh. Here.” She pointed and crouched. The ground looked tilled in a rough circle about three feet across. I pushed past Mag, looking for a mound, an opening in the ground, some indication of where the thing was. We examined the ground, I looked using Dirt, there was nothing there but disturbed dirt.

  Carl grunted, there was a large thump, then receding noises, something large running away. Mags looked at me, I couldn’t imagine what it was; maybe Carl had fell on a deer.

  Carl’s massive pistol fired, distinctive, there couldn’t be that many of them out in the woods. It thundered in the distance.

  Chen had Carl. He’d sensed us coming, come around behind us and grabbed Carl and ran with him.

  I didn’t wait for Mags to break trail, I started off fast and got faster. When I quit worrying about the greenery it stopped impeding me, I cut through it at a full run and nothing got in the way.

  I tried to look using Dirt’s assistance as I ran, it was spotty, I took a second to kick off my shoes and it came through clear and bright. As fast as we were moving, Chen was moving faster. If he got too far ahead I’d lose him.

  I stopped and tried for a fast change to dog. I struggled out of my clothes, the pullover shirt stayed and was miserable but I didn’t want to take time to get it off. Back on the trail at last I was holding him to the lead he already had. Mags stopped, I guessed she was changing, I didn’t wait to see.

  Chen curved to the right. Maybe he’d run into civilization, people, traffic. I took advantage and tried to cut across, the underbrush thickened and I slid to the bank of the creek. I jumped hard as I could and floated across in like slow motion, clearing it with room to spare.

  I gained on Chen. He continued the circle. Mags was lost behind me somewhere. When I came up on the pavement I screamed in frustration, it came out a long, drawn out wolfy sounding howl. Damn, that made my fur stand up! My nose didn’t help with fucking cars. I ran down the side of the road toward Chen hoping for a way to get to him.

  He stopped. Oh my god, time was out, I had to be there now, I couldn’t wait for traffic any more. I leaped high hard and braced for impact. This body was extreme! I cleared the top of passing vehicles and landed well off the other side of the road. Was it extreme enough to get there in time?

  I entered an area where rusty smelling old train cars were randomly parked all over the place. Ahead, a large metal building loomed with Chen inside. I looked for an entry, bent tin on one side gapped wide enough to let me in. I hit it at a full run.

  And hit it is what I did. Something stopped my wide open run instantly. I should have sensed a wall before I hit it. I lay on my side. Neck might be broken, legs didn’t work. Smell of….my blood. Taste same, maybe some teeth broken off, mouth felt funny. Nose busted wide open. I couldn’t feel my legs. I couldn’t tell if I breathed. Whining in my ears, something exploded? My eyes reported nothing but flashes and black spots.

  My head dragged, my tongue hung out and rubbed something cool and smooth with a lot of grit on it. I couldn’t pull my tongue back into my head. I could feel a tooth or maybe more than one loose in my mouth lying between my gums and my lip.

  My head left the floor, I pulled on Dirt to heal me and there was just a trickle. I wanted to give in to panic, scream, whine, try to run or move, I stomped on those impulses. If Carl was still alive there was hope. Mags was out there somewhere, there was hope. I needed to get repaired.

  Spine wasn’t broken. No broke
n bones. Stunned, broken teeth, I had been hit in the head hard enough to give me hairline fractures in my skull. My brain had bounced hard, there were broken capillaries leaking into the tight space of my skull pressing on my brain.

  I drained the pressure, repaired the capillaries, flushed, and fixed the bruised areas. My senses working, I checked my situation.

  I hung head down. Must be from my left leg, my ankle burned and ached as feeling came back, it felt like I was stabbed or broken, something like a steel trap had my ankle in a grip like a vise and it had wicked teeth. I twisted a little as I hung, my vision had come mostly back; Chen hunkered next to the opening in the metal wall with his hand drawn back, no doubt waiting for Mags. I screamed as loud as I could, it came out a bark; I saw the shadow that had to be Mags in the hole, Chen swung, and Mags rolled under the blow, came to her feet and continued running. Her feet were slipping on the concrete. Chen came away from the hole like a snapping rubber band after Mags.

  I continued to turn and lost sight of them and Carl came into view. He hung upside down against the outside wall. One leg, the free one, hung down impossibly next to his head. His other foot was jammed into a V-shaped tear in the metal heel first and the sharp edges had cut deep and held him securely. Blood dripped off his head. It wasn’t spurting, no arterial damage, he just had to get away and give me a chance to heal him. He’d be ok if I could get us loose and away from here. I knew this was gonna happen. Damn!

  Mags hit the metal wall and scrabbled on it, her claws slipping and clattering.

  I needed human form, set it up and triggered the change, the pain in my leg turned to white hot agony. The change stopped, I couldn’t change past the pain.

  I tried to force it, needed hands. My torso changed, my head and arms came back, and knees to hips, one leg, the trapped leg was stuck and wouldn’t change.

  I doubled up to look at my ankle. It was in the same torn out V in a sheet of wall metal that held Carl. I caught the side of the hole with one hand, my ankle with the other and pushed my foot out. The metal cut, tendon and muscle tore but it came out. It left meat on the tin. I didn’t have time to finesse it. Soon as the ankle came loose I flipped and landed feet first on the floor.

  And fell, my leg gave out. I saw Chen slap Mags as I came down, a glancing blow to her hind end. It spun her around and she slid across the floor spinning till she hit the wall hard. Chen used a wall to change direction and headed for her. She made it to her feet but it had damaged her.

  I shouted “Hey, bitch, I got somethin for you!’ I extended my necklace-now a knife, getting sharper and longer as I got to my foot. The other foot didn’t want to play.

  Chen skidded and turned to face me. Mags quit running and bowed up at Chen from one side..

  He wore his hides. He had the skin off maybe a bear covering his head. With him stopped I could see that his left arm hung loose. He ignored it and stalked at me, it flopped when he moved.

  Mag moved closer to Carl. Good, maybe she could get Carl down while I kept Chen busy.

  “You break deal. Hunt Chen. Chen feed good, take skin, visit with friends, have fun.” He feinted at me with his good hand, too far away to reach me, but I reacted anyway and swung my sword at him. It extended as I swung and the tip caught most of his little finger and split it down the middle. He zipped away. When he figured he was out of reach he stopped and looked at his cut finger.

  “You ain’t got no friends, you fucker. You just mean, you hurt people. Come here. I want to play with you. I’ll give you fun you son of a bitch.”

  Mags, human, naked, lifted Carl’s foot out of the trap. Chen turned at the sound and darted toward them. I hobbled and skipped as fast as I could. I wouldn’t get there in time, it was a nightmare.

  Mags pushed Carl toward me and used the push to get out of Chen’s reach. Carl slid across the floor limp as dead cat, his head hit hard and bounced and he had a little spin, I stepped as he got close and wound up standing over his head and torso.

  Mags ran along the wall and got behind me.

  Chen turned to me “This the way it should be, I take you first, then the others. Knife hurt Chen, Chen heal. You not going to heal.” Tired of talking, he rushed me. His foot slipped as he accelerated and I got a good swing in with that beautiful sword; it chrome colored shiny, the end gloved onto my hand, the blade a shiny flat wire, thin but rigid and weighed nothing at all.

  Chen leaned backwards or he would have lost his head. The blade cut into his face on the left side as I swung flat from right to left and sheared through hide, skin, flesh and some bone. He was moving too fast to stop. He swatted me as he passed me on my left. He barely touched me, he reached across his body and his limp arm threw him off. Twisting to follow, that weird slow motion time sense kicked in all the way. He was almost out of reach but I swung anyway and leaned for more distance. The sword helped reach and cut a diagonal line from the back of his neck to his armpit. Sword extended through him and out his chest. I wanted to follow and finish him but I couldn’t leave Carl unprotected. Chen would kill him.

  Chen spun as he stopped and faced me. Half his face was a flat mass of reddish tissue. Flesh and rotted hides hung down from his chin. His eyes were intact. He was a little upset, making a growling noise and crouching.

  “I skin you, bitch, wear your hide and go swimmin’. Cut it off in chunks and ruin it!”

  I laughed, “You one ignorant fuckin’ booger, come on, bring it! Skinless idiot!”

  “You funny, you laugh. Chen got skins, Chen make you laugh. You make Chen feel good for a long time.”

  He pivoted and zipped for the opening in the wall, gone. Mags limped over and slumped to the floor by Carl and put her hand on his head,

  “Carl, you going to be good, I heal you while Rosy heal herself.”

  Thank god, he was conscious, maybe no brain damage. I looked down past my tee shirt that had stayed with me the whole time, my little furry area, into his eyes. With his ankle damn near cut off, after a vampire almost ate us all, he wasn’t looking at my face. He appeared to be memorizing details of my vagina.

  “Jesus Christ, man, you gonna take advantage of me when I been saving your life?” Dragging my mangled foot, I hopped away so I wasn’t straddling his face.

  “I figured if he killed us, I’d die with at one last happy memory.” I looked to see if there was anything I could cover up with.

  “You must be the horniest bastard I ever seen. I’m glad he didn’t kill you, I might do that myself.” There wasn’t a thing but metal and some rotted hides, Chen used this place for skinning, hides littered the floor but they were rotten and stank.

  “Carl, gimme your shirt and glance off somewhere once, can you?”

  I tried to wrap his shirt around my waist. My left arm was a wreck. I couldn’t do it. Carl helped, I felt his breath on me as he wrapped the shirt from his sitting position. I worried he might smell me with his face at crotch level like it was. He didn’t say anything, I staggered and dragged out where I could get contact with the earth.

  Years of heavy industrial usage had ruined the train yard. Chemicals embedded deep in the soil made it nasty and artificial. I could connect, it would be enough.

  Mag came stooped through the ragged hole in the wall dragging Carl, I moved to help and she waved me off.

  “You fix up. Let’s get away.” Hell yeah. Where the ankle turns into foot, I had a deep cut on each side where it sat in the notch. Flecks of rust and nasty shit embedded in the cut needed to come out. Chen didn’t worry about cleaning his skinning area and I had the evidence all in me. I’d get tetanus, syphilis, rabies and a host of other diseases.

  “It’s a good thing it’s daylight and he’s slower.”

  I pushed the nasty out of my ankle losing precious blood. There was surprisingly little damage other than the cuts. I held the skin and nerves together and made the connections. My reserves dwindled. I needed food to replace what I was using.

  When I came out of the healing trance the sun n
eared the horizon, shadows were long. Mags lay beside Carl with her head pillowed on his chest and he snored while she slept quietly. My ankle and leg looked better. It was straight and the skin was whole. My stomach ached with emptiness. When I got up I staggered.

  “Hey, get up.” I squatted and shook Carl’s shoulder. “It’s getting’ too late to lie out here in the open; we gotta figure out how to get back to the house.” He opened his eyes and then sprang awake. Looking at Mags sprawled on her side with her head on his chest, he said

  “Damn, I slept through that? I was hurt worse than I thought.” His arm draped over her shoulders and his hand hung on her belly. His movements woke her and she sat up and looked around

  “Dark coming soon, we need go. You finished?” She looked at me.

  “Yes, and empty, let’s go find somethin’ to eat.” Healed but starved, I had a hard time standing. Mags bounced up, It was impossible she had that much energy.

  “How do you do that? I can’t even move and you’re all bright and lively.” I sat up with a groan.

  “Let me see how you do healing.” She kneeled by me, Carl still enjoying the view.

  I looked inside myself and directed my heals on a bruise on my side, repairing damaged cells, moving blood.

  “You do it the hard way! Not to do that, look, I show you, watch.” She put her hand on my shoulder and pressed me down. I kneeled beside her and looked inside myself, she directed the energy from Dirt to the depleted cells in my leg and I watched as they grew plump and full, somehow she converted the energy directly to what was needed.

  “You not try to think small, do everything. You think what you want to happen and power does it.”

  “I wish I had known that!” I needed to learn the worse kind of way. What else was I missing?

  “You change, keep in mind healthy picture, will fill back out. Still need to eat but not so bad.” She looked at me earnestly “You know what I say?”