Encounters with Evil Pt. 06

Mel was pretty sure that Guy was already dead. The rape hardly mattered at this point. He thought he should be furious with Valjevo for desecrating the body, but he wasn't. There was no room in him for any emotion except overwhelming sorrow.

He became aware of Jon in his peripheral vision. He had reached the end of his tether and was holding out his hand toward him, trying to get his attention. Thinking that he was offering him comfort, Mel reached back and clasped hands. Something small and hard was in Jon's hand and now it was pressed into Mel's. Jon kept hold of his hand tightly. Mel glanced back at Jon in surprise and his friend mouthed, "Not yet!"

Slowly it sunk in that what Jon was pressing into his hand was the dart from the gun. He must have picked it up off the floor. Mel wasn't close enough to the vampire to jab it into his neck, but he might be able to get it into his leg.Would that even work?

It occurred to him that if the dart was still functional it was very dangerous to be holding in their bare hands. A tiny prick of the poison would likely kill either him or Jon instantly. For himself, he was at a point where he didn't care—anything to escape the horrible, painful loss that was shredding his heart. He didn't want Jon to die, though.

He glanced back at his friend again and Jon smiled at him bravely.

Valjevo's rhythm quickened and his sounds indicated that he was getting close to orgasm. The whole situation seemed quite unreal to Mel; he wondered if his sanity had slipped away. Jon loosened his grip slightly, and just as Valjevo threw his head back and his body stiffened, Jon let go giving Mel a small push off with his fingers.

Mel didn't think. He moved on instinct. Lunging forward to the end of his tether, he used both hands to jab the dart into Valjevo's bare thigh as hard as he could.

The vampire roared in fury and backhanded him, striking him in mid chest. Mel went flying but his chain tangled with Jon and he came down hard onto the stone floor. He didn't stop to take stock of injuries, but immediately twisted around to face Valjevo. The vampire had jumped to his feet but then stood swaying, his jaw slack. Finally his body crumpled to the floor.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Jon cried. "You did it!" He jumped up and down with joy.

Mel could not summon any happiness over his success. Guy was still dead or dying. He climbed carefully to his feet, taking stock of his injuries. He was definitely bruised up and his chest hurt like hell, but nothing seemed broken. Moving on autopilot, he approached Guy. He couldn't get close enough to examine him; the unconscious Valjevo was in his way.

As Mel looked down at Valjevo he suddenly realized and spoke aloud, "He's going to wake up again soon. Those darts only last about five minutes."

"Oh shit! You mean he's not dead?"

"Well, he was already that," Mel said dryly, "but yes, he'll come around soon."

"What do we do now?" Jon's voice was edged with panic. "How was Guy going to kill him?"

How indeed?Mel looked at the Guy's discarded backpack. It looked out of reach, but going to the end of his tether, he stretched out across the floor. He could brush the edge of the backpack with his fingertips. Grunting with effort, he pulled as hard as he could against his chain, which bit sharply into his ankle. He was rewarded with a few more inches. He snagged the edge of the zipper and pulled. The backpack slid forward an inch and he could reach the strap. Hauling the backpack to him, he whipped it open and dumped the contents carefully onto the floor.

Inside were various useful things that you might find in any prepared backpacker's pack: a length of coiled rope, matches, a water bottle, snack bars... The only things out of the ordinary were an unlabeled bottle, very like the one that held the cleanser Guy had used on him when he'd been covered with vampire acid, some vinyl gloves, and several very sharp wooden stakes.

He picked up one of the stakes.

"Holy shit!" Jon said. "You're supposed to stab him with that?"

"Do you see anything else here that might do the job?"

"No," Jon conceded. "We could tie him up with the rope, but I doubt it would hold. We could strangle him with the rope—but do vampires even breath?"

Just then Mel heard a scraping sound. He looked toward it and his heart, which had been hammering frantically in his chest, stopped entirely. The vampire's thrall was shuffling toward them. He was still on the other side of the room and he was moving quite slowly, but in his hand he carried a long, wicked knife.

"Uh ... Mel!" Jon's voice was high-pitched. "I think you'd better get on with killing the vampire."

Mel grabbed several of the stakes and ran to Valjevo's side. The vampire was still out cold. He tossed all but one stake to the side and then stabbed Valjevo's in mid-chest as hard as he could.

The stake slipped harmlessly away, leaving Valjevo's chest unscathed.

"Hurry, hurry," Jon urged. "Do it again."

Mel grabbed the vampire's shirt in both hands and yanked it open. Buttons went flying, exposing the vampire's bare chest. It looked like it was made of granite. He grabbed the stake in both hands and slammed it into Valjevo's sternum. Once again the tip skittered away without doing any damage.

"What the hell?"

"Put your weight into it!" Jon cried.

Mel stood up, held the stake carefully in both hands and fell onto Valjevo, focusing on hitting his target. Once again the tip deflected off the demon's rock hard chest, but this time it left a scratch behind.

"Oh shit! I'm just not strong enough to kill him!" Mel glanced up at the thrall. He was had crossed more than half the room. The knife in his hands was poised to stab and his eyes were focused on them with a look of single-minded desire. He was going to enjoy killing them and likely eating them.

Mel shuddered.

"Come on Mel! Drag him closer and I can help you."

"What?" Mel asked, turning his attention back to Jon. His friend was dancing up and down with excited panic.

"See if you can drag him closer and I'll help you stab him."

Mel tossed the stake aside, grabbed the vampires legs, and tugged. The vampire moved a fraction of an inch. "Holy shit! I think he's made of solid rock," Mel huffed. He put all his weight into it and tugged again. This time Valjevo slid a few more inches.

"Come on! Come on!" Jon yelled.

Mel could only assume the thrall was close. He didn't spare any time to look up at him but focused on inching the vampire closer. Finally Jon was at his side and grabbed one of the vampire's legs. With one on each leg, they were able to get some leverage and drag Valjevo several feet in one long drag.

"Okay! Okay! Fall on him again!" Jon said, handing Mel a stake.

Mel could see the thrall in his peripheral vision. He was only a few feet away.Focus Mel!he ordered himself. Trying to ignore the imminent danger of being murdered by the inhuman priest, he held the stake in both hands and fell on Valjevo's chest. As he went down, Jon leapt onto his back, letting out what sounded like a war cry.

He held his hands steady as best he could as the tip of the stake met Valjevo's chest and he felt the skin resist and then give. His momentum, combined with Jon's weight on his back, plunged the blade deeply into the creature. The vampire's eyes popped open and he let out a howl that was easily the most frightening thing Mel had ever heard in his life. Purplish blood sloshed up across his hands and began to let off a pale smoke.

The next thing Mel was aware of was that Jon was dragging him backwards, away from the writhing vampire. Valjevo was apparently in his death throes. His howling faded to gurgles as his body convulsed. His hands came up as if to pull the blade out of his chest, but then fell limply to his sides. The smoke that had started as a weak mist was now pouring off of his body.

The thrall had stopped moving and was staring at the vampire as well.

"Holy shit! Holy shit!" Jon cried.

The demon's face and body began to shrink in on itself. First he appeared to age a hundred years in the space of a few seconds, then his body continued to shrink, very quickly losing form. Within twenty seconds there was nothing left of the vampire except a pile of clothing, still giving off smoke.

An anguished howl rent the large room and echoed off the stone walls. Mel's head snapped up in alarm.

The thrall was on his knees next to the non-remains of Valjevo. His eyes were no longer clouded. They were wide with grief and horror. He lifted the knife up in both hands before him.

"No wait!" Jon cried.

"Holy father, forgive me," the priest cried as he plunged the knife into his own chest. Blood gushed forth and he fell forward to the floor.

More death,Mel's shattered mind informed him.

He became aware of tears streaming down his face and wondered how long he'd been crying. He no longer had the strength in his limbs to stand. He crawled to Guy's body. It was completely still and lifeless; he didn't appear to be breathing. He got to the end of his tether just as he reached the body. He couldn't even get far enough to give him one last kiss.

He noted that blood was no longer gushing out of Guy's mortal wound.That probably means he's dead,some part of Mel's numb mind told him. Mel gently picked up the nearly severed arm and positioned it carefully as it should be. The fingers were stiff and cold.

A great sob wracked his body and he threw himself across Guy's torso as far as he could reach, clutching him tightly around his waist. He was surprised that the body was still quite warm. While he lay there, shedding tears onto the small of Guy's back, he became aware of a very slight rising and falling in the big man's chest.

Guy was still alive!