Ask me no questions...

Chapter 9: Die Hard on a cruise ship, with vampires

Dashiell

A broken board in my hand. The best stake I have at the moment. My mouth and throat feel like they're full of sand, and my head is light from hunger. Three floors. We've got this.
Skyler limps up behind me, she can at least put some weight on the leg. She's not moving fast, but she can at least move under her own power for the most part. She has a stake in one hand as well.
"Necklace on," I say, touching her hand one last time. I can still hear the steady, harmonious swishes of their hearts pounding in rhythm. Hers getting a bit faster. The baby's staying level. It isn't afraid. Doesn't know how yet.
She nods, carefully putting her cross necklace back around her neck. I can still touch her, it's just painful, and it prevents the others from being able to actually bite her. I tried to fashion a cross out of the bunk bed's metal or even a couple of boards, but I had nothing to hold it together. So we're going like this.
I carefully open the door.
The hall stinks so badly I nearly choke. Dozens of dead bodies of passengers. Vampires we both staked. All lying dead. The bodies are drained but there's still blood smearing the walls.
I step out over a body, planting my feet as carefully as I can and offer an arm to Skyler. She sighs a bit but gives up and takes my elbow. Shooting pain echoes through my bones, but I grit my teeth and ignore it.
We look both ways. Nearer stairs are to the left. We step forward, weapons in hand.
One of the bodies rises. A vampire, who was still busy feeding. Blood drips down his face. He takes one look at us and flies at me.
I catch him by the shirt and we both sail halfway down the hall, rolling with the force of the blow. I hit him in the face, no inhibitions or attempt to avoid a bite anymore. No. We grapple, now disgustingly evenly matched. He may be well fed but I'm damn near feral in my protection of Skyler and our unborn child. Pain and exhaustion mean little when my pregnant girlfriend and our baby are in mortal danger.
I struggle to regain my footing, smashing the vampire against the wall. The stake is still in one hand. I think he thought I was fighting for food because he redoubles his efforts. Clawing me, stabbing. It doesn't matter. He's got no stake and no sunlight so I'm not going to die. I feel his knife pierce my throat as I slam the stake into his heart. I've been doing this since I was ten. One of my earliest memories is my father quizzing me on the quickest way to pierce a heart.
I drop the vampire, tugging my stake out. My own blood is dribbling down my shirt. It hurts, everything hurts. I don't care.
I limp back towards Skyler, stepping over the other bodies. I ruefully wish that vampire blood held some appeal for me I could have that in droves. No, we smell bitter, foul. Like something already dead and twice poisoned. My own blood on my hands is repulsive.
Skyler nods, a bit, confirming I'm okay. We're not talking we're doing this as quiet as possible. They'll hear her heartbeat, and the baby's. But that can't be helped.
She holds out a hand then remembers she can't touch me. I nod. I'm about five paces from her when three more tumble from one of the rooms. One latches onto me and the other two go at her.
This one is bigger than I am, and definitely used to dealing with Hunters. He smashes the stake from my hand and we are off.
The other two are circling Skyler. They try to fight quickly but they can't touch her without pain so they're hesitant, they want to get that necklace off. It's on a titanium chain, but hell so was mine. And look where I ended up.
The vampire sinks his teeth into my arm and I use the moment to twist his head backward, slamming my other fist into his throat. My own blood bubbles out of his mouth as he drives a kick into my gut. I'm already in crippling pain from lack of food and turning, so every blow is nearly meaningless. I just fight on. I've long since known that I'm fighting till I die here. I don't even expect to live. I just have to do everything I can to get Skyler to safety, even if that means breaking every bone in my body.
I duck a blow and manage to get the stake back in my hand. The vampire dives away, but not in time, with lightening speed I pin him to the wall. Hm, I'd be lying if this super strength super speed weren't damn useful in my current situation. I smash him into the wall. There's footsteps at the other end of the hall. More are coming.
I drive the stake through his heart and then yank it back out. The others are running down the hall. Ten of them. They mob us they will get Skyler.
She's still grappling with her two, just managing to keep them far enough away that they can't get to the necklace. But just, they're both bigger than her and she's running on blood loss, zero sleep, and the one bottle of water I found.
I run back to her, body slamming one into the other. They both latch on to me, screaming in rage. One sinks its teeth into my hair and I feel the squelch as the teeth hit my skull. The other drives his sword through my gut. That's not going to feel good later.
I drive a stake backward through the one and throw him onto of the other. The group of ten are gaining on us.
I just run directly into Skyler, throwing her over my shoulders in a fireman's carry, even though it sends pain screaming through my muscles. Doesn't matter. That's nearly abated by the thud of their heartbeats, reassuring in my head.
I run us both into the stairwell, slamming the door just as several of the vampires reach it. I close it.
"Put me down," Skyler knows how much this hurts.
"Forget it," I hiss, locking the door and jamming it with my stake. There's no point in staking them now. I don't have the time.
I start up the stairs, her on my back. Two come at us but I throw one into the other and over the edge of the stairs, running the next flight. I hear pounding feet behind us. Ten, twenty of them. And I'm not moving that fast.
I dart out, into the next hallway, locking the door behind us. I put Skyler down, gratefully, sliding her off my shoulders as the pain fades. My skin is bubbling with burns.
Skyler breaths, raggedly. This hall is empty, save a dozen dead bodies. No it's not. I hold up a hand. I can hear another heartbeat.
I walk forward slowly. Skyler leans against the wall, panting, trying to steady her breathing. She's trying to slow her heart rate. She knows it's louder like this.
I can hear another heartbeat. Another person? God I am a monster. My first thought is to use it as bait to get Skyler away. But no bite did that. I'd have done that before to save her life and her child. I'd burn this whole damn ship. Well. I probably am going to do that here.
I step forward. Right here. Someone still dying?
No. A little dog, curled up with it's dead master. A small poodle. It looks at me with soft brown eyes, whimpering.
My morals may be intact enough to stop me from feeding on humans. But not domesticated pets. I know damn well I need the strength to get all of us out of here.
"Shhh," I whisper, picking it up. The little thing trembles against my bloody chest. "Don't look, Sky."
"Dash, just do it," she whispers.
"Don't," I say, stroking the dog's head. Then, in one swift motion, I snap its neck. The light fades from the dog's eyes immediately. And I bring its neck up to my throat. My teeth easily tear through the animal's thin skin, and blood pools in my mouth. I expected it to choke me, but no, I lap it in easily, the thick, warm blood slipping down my throat, warm and rich. It's nothing like appealing nor does it taste particularly good. Probably the blood equivalent of ritz crackers, but it's food and I'm literally starving. I draw as much as I can, until my lips are dry. My mouth is less sandy, and I feel a warmth in my gut that means hopefully I can heal from some of these injuries.
"Sorry," I say, petting the dog one more time before lying it down with it's dead master. An old man, with his face near torn off.
I lick the blood from my lips, checking my chin. Nothing.
Skyler's heart hasn't slowed thanks to that. Big surprise. She just watched me suck the blood out of someone's poodle.
"It's okay," Skyler says, nodding. But I can see something like horror in her face.
I pick my way back to her. There's still slamming in the stairwell.
"Different stairs?" I ask.
"Different stairs," she nods.
Together, we limp our way down the hall. She's breathing heavily and her heart has yet to slow, despite her best attempts. I offer my arm then remember as she shakes her head.
I feel a bit better after eating, but only a little. If anything I'm hungrier. That's of little consequence since I'm not likely to find any more food. Dhampires have the luxury of getting some nourishment from regular meals. Vampires not so much. I can eat but it's empty calories. The only thing I'll really get any value from his blood, namely human blood. Animal blood is okay, kind of like trying to live off protein powder and vitamin pills. You can but it doesn't feel great.
I stop, holding up a hand. I can hear footsteps down the hall. Skyler stops, breathing, so heavily. So loudly. If I can hear it so can they.
I push her and me into the nearest cabin, closing the door as softly as I can. I don't know how much good it does. I'm hiding two heartbeats. Thud. Thud. Thud. So reassuring in my ears, yet so fatally treacherous.
I lean against the door, listening. I need to find a way to distract them from us. But how? I've got nothing to make noise with.
I motion for Skyler to back up. She does, stepping over a couple of discarded bodies.
Okay, don't make it sound like a heart then. They can hear noise. Just something to distract.
I look around. The bunk bed in this cabin is half broken, smeared with blood. I tug off one of the poles, and then go to the door. I breath, waiting until their hearts are nearly in synch. Then I slam the pole into the wall, loudly, at the exact moment their hearts thump.
Skyler looks at me, realizing at least that I'm doing it to cover up the sound, she might not know how loud her heart is. She trusts me, that's enough.
I just keep time with their precious heartbeats, rapping the pole against the wall, so loudly it rings in my ears.
Outside the footsteps are getting closer.
And closer.
"I know I smelled something this way," one of them says.
"What's that sound? I thought all the humans were dead," another grunts. Two sets of footsteps it's just two.
"Probably dying and calling for help. Now, we're losing night, do you want to be feasting on warlock blood, or not?"
I frown. There's not a warlock on board. That would be suicide. A warlock could never been on a ship it would be too easy to track. So someone else is alive?
"Fine, that's making my head spin. It's got to be close by though I know I smelt it."
"Can't hide forever."
I hear the footsteps retreating, continuing to bang the bar into the wall as they do. What the hell? There's not a warlock on board, I know, or rather knew all the hunters. We wouldn't have missed it. Unless it was a stowaway? And we've not seen anyone in this hallway except—.
Oh damn it.
Our warlock was a stowaway all right. Oh this is very inconvenient. I had better be wrong.
I pick up one of the corpses on the floor, a woman, eyes wide with fear, neck open, entirely blue and free of blood. I inhale deeply. A particular scent, soft almost musty, of course the smell of death but on her clothes the very particular, human smell. Of sweat, and a bit of perfume, and the soft moist smell of skin.
I drop the corpse and pick up another, this one is a man. Same. Bit deeper but equally faint, even on his clothes.
"What are you doing?" Skyler breaths, voice barely above a whisper.
I step up to her, pressing my face as close as I dare into her shirt. Not merely her skin but even her clothes, thick, sickly sweet, an intoxicating, very different, very distinct scent.
"They're after you," I whisper, not really moving, my head so close to hers, to breath in the smell, "The baby's a warlock."
"What—how can—,"
"I can smell it. Okay? The smell is different, and by extension so do you— you're mixing blood and carrying it. We're why they came," I say.
"You're sure?"
"As sure as I can be. Outside they said they were looking for a warlock. And you—you smell different than any of the dead they're dead but—," I sigh.
"Okay," she says, blinking tears out of her eyes, "Explains why they came on board."
"Yes and so many of them, unknowingly, we've been fish in a barrel," I say, hand hovering over her belly. The baby's heartbeat is steady and sure. Slow, and almost melodic. "I'm going to save you. But they're directly tracking us now so this is not going to be easy."
"What is your plan?"
"You have no idea, how bad vampire blood smells," I say, raising my own wrist to my mouth.
"Dashiell don't—," she winces.
I dig my teeth into my wrist, tearing it open. Blood pours out, sticky and repugnant in my mouth. I lay my wrist on her chest, painfully, letting the blood wash over her, soaking her pregnant belly, then I move it up to hang it over hear head.
"Come here," she says, taking the cross necklace off and putting in her pocket. She tugs my hand to stop the bleeding, but I move away, letting it wash across her face. She blinks and squeezes her mouth shut.
"Better," I breath, putting my own hand over my wrist. She puts hers over mine. She's now soaked in vampire blood. Putrid, metallic, diseased vampire blood. "God, I'm so sorry," I say, touching her belly gently. It's my child doing this. Mine, my father's twin sister was a warlock, that's where it's inherited from. Completely my fault. So stupid. I didn't think. I mean, it's something like 1/1000 odds.
"Give me your hand," she says, taking my wrist. She tears an already torn strip off of her shirt, wrapping it around my wrist to stop some of the bleeding.
"I'll heal soon," I say, touching her cheek with my bloody hand. Her face and hair are now clotting with blood. "We've got two floors to go."
"Yeah, let's go," she says, hand on my shoulder.
"Put that necklace back on," I say, "It does some small good we have to take it."
She leans forward and kisses my cheek quickly, then obeys, wet slippery fingers fumbling to clasp it. I reach out to help only to remember I can't touch the thing that's the point.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go," she says, nodding.
I go to the door, listening. Nothing. Nothing for now. Time to move. I wave my hand for Skyler to to come. We're not speaking more than necessary, now. I keep my pipe, she has a stake still, and that's all. We limp back out into the hallway. All is quiet, save the thud of their hearts. Baby is if anything a bit slower, calmed down having a nice little nap. Skyler's is high as ever. But that can't be helped. They're not hunting heartbeats, they're hunting the scent. And hopefully my blood will mask that a little. It's what you do hunting, wear deer scent to hunt deer. When we're tracking vampires or werewolves we'll wear deer or other scents to too keep the human smell down. I know warlocks will use other general methods of hiding their scent, from keeping the cities, to wearing strong cologne. All I have now is my blood so I pray to god it'll be enough.
Together, we make our way down the hall. I do my best to move bodies so Skyler has a clearer path. Her face is lined with pain I know that leg is doing her little favors, and if we survive this we've probably irreparably damaged it. But we'll be alive. They will be alive. I don't know what I'll be. I'm not even alive anymore. God I don't want to see my mother's face when she knows this is what happened to me. And then what if I die? Who will protect them? No, I'm not dying. I will not fail. I cannot fail. I cannot leave Skyler alone with our precious child, who is in so, so much danger.
We move on down the winding hall, there's silver signs directing to the emergency stairs, but it's not soon enough. We round the corner and it's at least a hundred more feet. Skyler's clearly in pain, but keeps going. I'm a few paces ahead, trying to move bodies so she can at least limp.
I stop. There's footsteps behind us. Coming fast.
"Run, run," I just grab her arm, ignoring the searing pain, and together we run as best we can towards the stairwell. Her heart rate speeds up, faster and faster, as the footsteps gain on us. At least five of them.
We are barely outpacing them, only because we had a head start, I feel one's claws on my back as I bodily throw Skyler into the stairwell, pushing myself in after her. I try to slam the door but their hands are reaching through it. One has its head through the doorway and seals on my ankle.
Skyler stakes it through the head as I desperately keep trying to slam the door. Another one is working it's way in, clawing desperately for a hold on either of us, and claws finding Skyler's good leg. I kick it nearly at the expense of the door. They're still halfway in and out. I hear footsteps below us.
I slam one more time and this time the force of it severs the hand. The vampires scream. More steps are coming up the stairs.
I pick Skyler up, just throwing her over one shoulder, my body responding in searing pain. I'm at the next flight. And a door we'll take a break another hallway. I open it for two vampires to fly into us both. Skyler drops from my shoulder and starts to stake one. The other and I tumble back down the stairs knocking over two of our pursuers. They're coming down the stairs as well. Damn it.
I pick up one vampire in either hand, using them as a battering ram to push the others down the stairs before rejoining Skyler up a flight. My feet nearly slip on the bloody cement.
Skyler, so dripping in blood I can't tell what wound is new or not, has succeeded in staking two but another is trying to bite her despite the cross, his face bubbling and burned. I slam into him, pushing us both over the railing. I just manage to catch myself with one hand as he plummets two floors down before catching himself.
Skyler and I look at each other. And together we run up the next flight of stairs. It's impossibly slow going. She can barely walk and I'm not doing a whole lot better. But I can hear footsteps behind us. Her heart is pounding so in my head I can barely hear past it, the baby's heart a beat and a half slower, calm and sure and so alive.
I wrap an arm around her waist and just drag us both up the last set of stairs.
A vampire is waiting at the top of it, revolver drawn. He shoots. I dive directly into the bullet, feeling it bury itself in my collar bone, as I bowl him into the brick wall. I'm not even trying to stake anymore. I just punch his face, hammering it mercilessly with my bloody fists, feeling his teeth scraping my knuckles.
Skyler rescues the gun, "Dash!"
I look. Ten more coming up. She's wrestling with the door. I come and break the lock, pushing her through it then going through myself. I jam it closed, forcing the lock into place. Sure enough the vampires are slamming it with all their might, bending the metal. It'll hold but not for long.
"Dashiell," Skyler breaths, her heart pounding in her chest.
I turn around, slowly. We're in the dining room. Across the room is the control tower. And filling the room are no less than twenty vampires, all have been feasting on a few unlucky passengers.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," I sigh.
"Well well. Looks like our missing warlock came to us," the leader says, standing up.
"You're literally the worst, Alfred," I sigh.
"You know each other?" Skyler asks.
"I did say either my parents or my uncle has beef with every supernatural creature in this hemisphere," I say.
"You did say that, yeah," Skyler says, wiping bloody hair out of her face.
"I should have known a Forrest boy would be causing this much trouble," Alfred says, standing up and dabbing blood from his mouth delicately.
"You need to let us go. Or I'm going to make you sorry you ever turned," I say, putting a hand through my hair, carefully stepping forward. Skyler looks at me. She knows me. She knows I have a plan.
"Now now. What do you think your life is going to be like now that you've turned, Dashiell? A rising star of the Hunt, now no better than a common bat," Alfred laughs, slowly rising. This is Freddy's father, by the way. Yeah that's like 40% of the reason I hate him is he doesn't give a shit about his kid.
"Is this the part where you do the villain monologue and I make clever one-liners? Cause, I could use the rest; it's been a long night," I say.
"What I want to know is why you're going to all this trouble? You have to be simply starving. However did the fabled Forrest morals survive the turning?"
"Oh, I think it's latent assholery, not morals. I'm a born problem, Al," I say, as Skyler moves directly behind me. Carefully she drops her necklace into my palm.
"Surrender the girl to me. We'll grant you passage back to Canada. You can find a coven, start a new life."
"No," I say.
"Why not? What other options do you have? As you are. You're stranded on a ship known to be infested. You'll be staked the moment you get ashore. Or just left out in the sun."
"I realize this is a weird concept for you because you suck as a parent, pun intended, however I would rather to go hell, than let any one of you motherfuckers so much as lay a hand on my fiancée or our child," I snarl.
"Oh it's yours. Of course your aunt was talented as well. Well that is your familial luck, you conceived a warlock child, trapped on a ship."
"That is definitely par for the course. However, you understand I'm going to kill everyone in this room," I say.
"Or?"
"No there's no or. I've had a little rest now, and I'm just going to kill everyone in this room."
We fly at each other. And my hand, which is nearly burned through from the cross, I slam into his face, shoving the cross down his throat. He screams in agony as we fall to the floor.
Skyler raises the gun, shooting any that come near her. It's not fatal, but it slows them down.
I smash Alfred through a table, snapping off a leg of it to stake him as he howls in pain. Then I go to work.
One down, nineteen to go.
I throw a piece of wood to Skyler and we fight back to back. As they get to close I just throw them through windows and across the room to give us more time. I lose my stakes many times but there are lots of nice wood tables. I snap them apart, my hands raw and bloody. They come one after another, but exhausted as we are we move in fluid harmony, fighting in tandem like we always have.
I stake the last one, while Skyler checks her latest victim. I shake my hair and blood from my face. I bit several, and tore limbs off more. Super strength was helpful for this little venture, all right.
We look at each other, breathing heavily. Her heart has yet to quiet. Even the baby is finally speeding up its heart now. I actually smile.
"What?"
"You're both okay," I say, holding out my arm. She takes it, and together, we limp to the control room. I kick open the door, and she limps in, to collapse in a chair in front of the controls. Then I barricade the door.
"It's almost dawn," she says, looking out.
My skin is beginning to burn.
"Yeah, yeah it is."
"You can go in the closet," she says, looking around.
"Yeah, it's fine, we're fine," I say, hand on her shoulder. She leans against me and I kneel, pressing my face into her arm, "You hurt?"
"Yeah but I'm okay, we're okay," she says.
"Yes we are," I say, listening to the baby's heartbeat, "We made it."
"We made it," Skyler leans over and kisses my lips. I almost move away I'm so surprised. I didn't think she would.
"You're fine," she says, gently, touching my cheek.
"You still want me?" I ask. Considering my child is the cause of all of this and now I'm undead?
"I never stopped," she says, kissing me again. This time I kiss her back, "Now get some rest. Dawn is coming."

Vincent

" 'And I only am escaped alone to tell thee'," I say, slowly closing the book. Ashley lies sleeping, unmoved, and dead to the world. I look up at the monitor. No brain activity.
"You usually like when I read to you," I say, leaning forward. She does not respond or move. It's the early hours of the morning by now.
"Not much longer, my love," I say, kissing her cheek, "Not much longer at all."

Ash

"I got a job for you," I say, tapping my headphone, as I walk down the street away from the wreckage. Another successful kill. Pretty big were-rat, I should get a medal for that one.
"If it isn't my least favorite excuse for a human being," Naomi answers, unpleasantly.
"Oh you hate me? Welcome to the human race," I sneer.
"What'd you do to my laptop? I checked the cameras. I know you were in my house."
"Oh nothing much. I'm sure everyone associated will survive," I purr.
"What is it you want?"
"You to die. I sincerely hope you die. I hope everyone dies."
"Not your wife."
"Especially her. She might even love me it's the most horrendous thing that's ever happened to me. She shouldn't get to live after that," I say, pleasantly, buttoning my shirt.
"There's something wrong with you."
"And now that's the world's problem."
"You seriously put a bomb in my laptop? Ash, Jason took it."
"Oh, I was counting on it. You know damn well I hate him," I snarl.
"That's really a non-statement. You hate everyone."
"No. It's usually just indifference. You've got to truly inconvenience me to get my hate. By turning your house into a very good reenactment of What We Do in the Shadows, for example. Speaking of vampires you want to keep doing this or you want your job?" I ask, very nicely.
"Is Danger dead yet?" She asks.
"No. You wouldn't be so lucky," I say, contemptuously, "Again we can keep doing this or I can give you the job."
"Fine, what's the job, you bastard?" She asks.
"Oh don't pout. It's not as though I arranged for you to have to deliver a defenseless child to the human version of a migraine headache with zero warning."
"You're such a cunt," she sighs.
"I've worked hard to become so. Now, job, do you want it? Doesn't really matter don't answer that you have to do it no matter what."
"What is it?" She sighs.
"Cruise ship, we had men on it, going to the arctic to investigate some yeti, other fun snow monsters. A vampire swarm got to it in the night. No known survivors, your mission which you have to accept by the way, is to go and clear it out. Make sure everyone is dead. Get rid of the vampires. It should be fun! But that can't be helped. Our old enemy Alfred Highborn was rumored to be among the swarm, so unfortunately I'm giving you a rather nice kill," I say, as I adjust my vest.
"Since I don't have a choice," she mutters.
"Correct! You do not! Happy hunting, darling!"
"Die soon, Ash. Do the world the favor."
"I don't plan on it."