Resurrection is for the Unbelievers
By
Part Ten
All Previous Disclaimers Appy
Razz Me: shaych3@yahoo.com
~Chapter Nineteen~
Fang deep in a would-be murderer, Elizabeth nearly lost consciousness when the first wave of agony slammed into her gut like a coin die hits a blank. Stunned into inaction, she let her victim go and leapt to the roof of a nearby building, where she was noisily sick.
Below her, the gang banger thanked God for his rescue and ran off into the night.
Overcome with wave after wave of mind numbing agony, Elizabeth curled into a fetal ball and whimpered softly.
What’s wrong with me? The thought managed to escape the chaotic swirl that was her mind.
Mouth open in a silent scream, she looked up at the night sky and found no ready answers.
%%%
Dersk was as nervous as a tomcat in a room full of veterinarians. Pacing around in Kate’s office, he glanced at his watch, the wall clock and finally, at the empty seat where his boss should be. Almost a full day had passed since he had spoken to or seen Kate. His phone had been silent and there was no sign of her at the agency. Thirty minutes ago, he had organized every single shred of paper on the surface of the desk, typed his report and printed it.
The half-demon’s bluish-green scales flickered into being and then, just as quickly, vanished.
Where the hell was Kate? He continued to pace.
%%%
Darkness gave way to… more darkness. Kate opened her eyes and looked around. If she had hurt before, then what she felt now was absolutely indescribable. Nausea overwhelmed her when she turned her head and she spent several long minutes gulping air as she tried to keep from vomiting.
She was successful as long as she kept her eyes closed. Taking small breaths, she focused on her heartbeat. Slowly, she began to move beyond the pain until she could concentrate on her surroundings.
She was underground – that much she could tell just by the fact that the floor was packed earth. Above her she heard the muffled sound of footsteps, which mean that she was in something like a storm cellar or a basement.
Her hands were bound together, as were her feet. She was not gagged, but she wouldn’t have been able to scream anyway – Bizby had broken her jaw.
Have to… get out of here. Gotta get this bastard. Every movement cost her in pain. Tears had cut deep trenches in the blood and dirt riming her face by the time she was able to work her hands into the hidden pocket of her pants. Slowly, she fought with the fabric until she pulled out her cell phone.
Holding it in both hands, she brought it up to her mouth and used her chin to push it open. Pain blossomed, sharp and fresh, and sent a cascade of stars to sparkle in her eyes.
Once she was able to think again, she looked down at the number pad and thumbed a key. Pressing the talk button, she prayed that she had some sort of signal.
%%%
The ringing phone nearly sent Dersk through the ceiling. Answering his cell, he said, “Dersk here. If you’ve got the need for it, I’ve got the speed for it.”
“Mmhmphdp.”
The voice was definitely female. The timber of it spoke of pain, and while Dersk was used to the odd call or three, this one definitely made him sit up and turn pale.
“Boss? Oh, by the Blessed One, is that you?”
“Mmmhmm.”
“Where are you?”
“Mummdergrnd.”
“What?” Dersk ran a hand through his hair. “Could you stop trying to be all 007 and speak like a normal human, please?”
There was a frustrated sound on the other end of the line.
“Boss, I can’t do anything for you if I can’t understand you.”
The next thing he heard sounded suspiciously like cursing, but he couldn’t tell because it was muffled as though Kate was speaking around a mouthful of marbles.
“Boss, I’m hanging up, I think our connection is bad.”
“Mmonooooo!”
Dersk paused. That sounded like a no. Taking a risk, he said, “Did you just say no?”
“Mmeess.”
He didn’t dignify that with a question or an answer. Kate gurgled again.
“Fnd Olizbth. Help!”
Well that was almost decipherable. Then, the next thing he heard was, “You fucking stupid bitch!” and a shriek of pain.
Morphing to full demon from the stress, Dersk ran out of Kate’s office. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he knew someone that could help.
~Chapter Twenty~
Elizabeth felt the half-demon before she saw him. The vampath’s senses picked up the young man’s distress blocks before she encountered him. It drew her like a magnet. She hadn’t fed for almost two full days and even real food wasn’t staying down well.
Dersk came to a stumbling halt before the vampath. “Elizabeth,” he said, panting heavily as he slumped to the ground, his chest heaving. He had run nearly twenty blocks just to find the redhead, and this was after spending most of the day trying to get information on Kate. Finally, a low level bloodsucker had made a casual remark about Bizby looking for bodies to replace a couple of guards out at his cabin.
It didn’t take brains to put two and two together to get twelve.
“It’s Kate. Help,” he said between gasps.
Feeling as though she had been struck in the head by a brick, Elizabeth squatted, grabbed the half-demon’s shirt and shook him. “What? What about Kate? Where is she? What’s happened?” Each question was punctuated by a harder shake.
Dizzy and thoroughly scattered, Dersk blinked owlishly and muttered, “Cabin. Bizby. Lake.”
Understanding one of the three did not make the situation any clearer to Elizabeth. She released the half-demon. “Dersk, where is Kate?” When he didn’t respond, she said, “Can you take me to her?”
Somehow the question penetrated the fog that had settled over Dersk’s brain and he nodded. “Take you, yes. Cabin. Lake. Go!” He scampered to his feet and started running.
Hot on his heels, Elizabeth began pray.
Let her be okay, God. Please, let her be okay.
%%%
“You know, I think I might have been too hasty when I broke her jaw. Don’t you think so, snookums?” Tom Bizby smiled at his girl, who returned it with a vapid grin.
“Can we eat her now, Boss?” The bat-swinger licked his lips hungrily. “She smells so good. Sweet, and fresh.”
Bizby cupped one of his three chins with a pudgy hand. “That idea has merit, Skanks. You could turn her, then I could find out who sent her and then my little honey-wunny here could get some stake practice in. I win all around.”
Kate glared daggers at him. Duct tape prevented any speech or spitting. The same gray tape bound her wrists, ankles and knees together while heavy chute cording tied her to a chair.
Skanks started to circle the chair. “Left or right side, Bob?”
The other vamp shrugged. “Don’t care. Blood’s blood. She’s got plenty.”
Stopping on her right side, Skanks leaned in and said, “Well, pretty thing – you got a choice? You want left or right?” He smiled. “Who’s gonna be your daddy?”
Somewhere, glass shattered. Skanks felt a hand on his shoulder. As he turned to face his attacker, he saw a flash of crimson hair and heard a low, throaty voice say, “Not you.” Then a busted of hunk of tree was shoved into his chest.
“You bitch,” he managed to say before crumbling to dust.
Bob was up and racing for the redhead while Bizby and his girl ran screaming from the room.
Kate would have laughed if she wasn’t in so much pain. Instead, she watched Elizabeth square off with a vampire three times her size. Behind her, Kate could hear the sounds of sawing and when she turned her head to look, she caught sight of Dersk’s bleach blonde hair.
Elizabeth and Bob circled each other. The tall, dark vampire grinned at the vampath. “You’re kind of cute. Wanna dance?”
“Not really. You’re kind of ugly. Wanna dust?” Elizabeth twirled the makeshift stake in her hands like a majorette spun a baton.
Shrugging, Bob said, “Dust… dance… is there a difference? It all ends the same.” He flexed his hands. “You’re different. Not vamp but kin. I can smell our kind on you, but the scent is old, almost dead.”
Coldly, Elizabeth said, “I’m not like you, blood sucker. I’m not a parasite.”
Bob’s response was to sweep his leg out in an attempt to trip the vampath. Neatly, she leapt over his foot. As she landed, she swung the branch and connected with a solid whack across his shoulders.
He grunted and turned to face her.
Dersk cut through the last of Kate’s bonds. She pitched forward and fought to pull the tape off her mouth. Bizby was getting away and she wanted to stop the bastard before he was gone. Staggering to her feet she started to run toward the door, but was knocked down by eighty pounds of screaming banshee.
“Bitch, you bitch you did this you bitch you made him leave me here to die you bitch I’ll kill you!”
Kate had exactly thirty seconds to register the sound of something in her side snapping before darkness once again swallowed her.
%%%
Flashes. White. Red and blue sparkling. A siren. Tiny pain that somehow pierced the fog of agony. Blessed relief. Beeping like a ringing phone. Voices. Familiar, strong, strident.
Angel? No. Too young. Dersk.
“Checking out a lead on a custodial interference case. No, don’t think it was the father.” Faded out. Another, softer voice.
“Just a friend. No, I’ll stay. Please. She shouldn’t be alone.”
Alone. Don’t want to be alone. Angel. Sorry. Failed. Bizby. He got away. Bad. Ow. Hurts.
Darkness.