My Precious Nightmare

11: Don't Bring a Vampire to a Gun Fight

"Monsters!" he crowed. "You really are cute."

Something in the shadows caught the corner of his eye. His senses, deep in the shadows in case he need to sweep them up for cover, felt out something warm, alive, and much larger than a rat, along with a familiar smell. He gave an inward smirk. Speaking of young vampires...

"I can get drinking their blood, our instincts won't allow otherwise," Husani continued. "But why did you have to tear them apart and make a scene?"

"Because it's easier to get to the parts I like that way? One so enslaved by their human conscience wouldn't understand, so shoo baby, while I'm being patient."

"I'm not a child. I was twenty-four when I changed."

"Oo, like when you change matters. Move along. I have things to do."

And then the vampire gave his back to Husani.

Husani took a quick glance in the rafters, just in time to see something shift out of sight, and the very, very thin silhouette of something that could be a rifle barrel.

Before he could think better of it, he leaped forward with the bare remains of Lea's blood-given strength into the old vampire's shoulders.

Using the momentum, he swung the other vampire around, exposing his chest to the rafters, just as a snap of thunder broke through the air. Dark, old blood spurted out and Husani's back hit the ground.

Just as quickly the old vampire was on him, face peeled back to reveal the mouth of razors and the bone they rooted in to, each tooth sharpened by a hundred years of human feasting. The gums had gone gray pink, and the lips stretched and stretched until they disappeared and all Husani saw was white.

Husani kicked. Enough of Lea's blood remained to unseat the older vampire and roll from beneath him. Bullets threw up concrete as they pattered after him. One grazed his shoulder.

"Shoot him! Not me!" he screamed.

The old vampire, all fangs and black-red eyes and lolling purple tongue whirled towards the rafters, his front bathed by his own blood. Husani blinked and the monster was airborne, leaping up to the rafters thirty feet above them. He heard a shout and the putter of bullets against the metal roof.

"Idiot!" he spat, even as he sprinted to the nearest metal support beam and scurried up it, claws squeaking as they grasped the metal.

Just as he reached the rafters, a body fell from them, twisting in mid-air to land on their hands and feet. A rifle spun away just as a streak of white dropped like lightning. The gunman ducked too late, getting a chest full of ancient claws and teeth.

Husani flung himself out. He tore his sore wings free from his back and barreled into the old vampire's side.

Then it was a flurry of claws and screeching as the white vampire fell upon him instead. His human mind wasn't enough to keep up with the speed and his instincts took over, bringing his dripping teeth and claws onto any bit of flesh he could reach. The white, blood-stained shirt fell away with strips of tan skin, but the old vampire's flesh underneath was hard and red as ruby.

Pain slashed through him. An arm gave way as teeth found a good chunk of his shoulder, bone included. Then an eye and its orbiting bone. A foot found his gut and clawed away at the muscle, tearing out links of his intestine.

A bark of gunfire. The old vampire vanished.

And a new hand, much warmer than his adversary, yanked him up to his feet.

"Fly!" they shouted.

Husani spread his wings obediently, but he had brought them out at the wrong time and the delicate membrane and bones of one had been torn to shreds. Blinded by instinct, he only realized it after a few fruitless attempts to fly.

Another bark of the gun and the hand was pulling on him again, yanking him into a run. At least the muscles of his legs had been untouched, as he found his footing once again and shot out of the warehouse after the gunman, what bit of his tattered wing he couldn't bring in flapping behind him like a banner and an arm keeping the rest of his guts inside.

He heard a beep. Then a low growl from his companion. "Lane."

A high, distant hum kicked to life. Just as he heard an inhuman screech of fury from the old vampire in pursuit, he heard a nearing, tell-tale putter of helicopter blades. The animal that had taken over his mind balked in confusion, but what little he had left of his consciousness kept his legs running after the other tall, young vampire ahead of him.

The puttering became a full-out roar from above, and Husani found the younger vampire dropping back to fling an arm around his chest. Husani squirmed and gnashed his teeth, alarmed.

"Hold still, I'm trying to save our lives!"

Husani snarled, baring his teeth, and started clawing at the arm.

"Screw it."

The arm moved to his throat. It cut his snarl short.

Then the ground fell away from beneath them. Far, far, far away, the loud sputtering coming with them.