Nasferas: The Begotten

24

"I got it." Jimmy Boy jumped out of the back, unhooked the bar, and waited for Jason to drive past the gate. He shut it and hopped in the back.

The headlights shone up the incline, which had accumulated more snow than the road. To Katelyn it looked more like a large walking path.

"Shifting into four-wheeled-drive," Jason announced.

"We're not going to get stuck in the middle of nowhere, are we?" she asked Brett.

"Nah. Jason's the best-off road driver I've ever seen."

Jimmy had opened his case and pulled out a long rifle with a huge scope attached to it. He stood with the gun in his hands, leaned up against the cab, and signaled for Jason to move on. When the truck began to crawl up the hill, she noticed the engine sounded much deeper than it had on the road.

"Want some water, Jimmy?" Katelyn asked.

He didn't answer but stuck his hand through the window. She handed him a bottled water. She hoped he would sober up before he accidentally shot someone. Too bad they didn't have any coffee. Katelyn shut the sliding glass door and noticed Matt had awakened.

"What?"

"I didn't say anything," he muttered.

"The man was thirsty."

"Once again, Sis, I didn't say anything." He gritted his teeth. "Where are we?"

She smiled. Being a pest to her brother happened to be her favorite pastime. "We're headed up a mountain road. Jimmy thinks it will get us there quicker."

"Doesn't look like much of a road to me." Matt checked his phone. "It's four AM. It'll still be dark when we get there?"

"Yup," Brett said. "Would be dark up there anyway. Giant pine trees cover the pass. The ravine will be in the shadows until exactly noon. That's why there's such good hunting up there."

Katelyn found Matt's eyes which said what she had already started thinking. Neither of them had any idea how to hunt. They'd have to take the country bumpkins words on it.

Jason rolled his window down. "Bang on the top if you see anything, Jimmy."

"Will do!" Jimmy Boy yelled and once again hit the cab.

A morose notion overcame Katelyn. In her mind, she saw a fuselage. But it didn't look like an airplane. Her heart quickened as she waded through a pile of bodies. They looked like normal people wearing some sort of jump suit. Bullet holes riddled them. Among the carnage, a head bobbed around. She dove into the muck and searched. Her worst fears came to fruition as she grasped the scalp and struggled to pull it from the gore. Matted blood covered the color of the hair, but she would know the texture anywhere. Her heart split in two as she turned it over, revealing what she had already guessed.

Another thought came to her. A vision with sight, sound, and smell. She was no longer herself, but a large man wearing some sort of armor. His thoughts strung through hers like snakes stuck together in a mating ball. Strength flowed through her. If anything, or anyone, came after her, she'd be able to take them out with either the guns strapped to her sides or the two swords crisscrossing her back.

She strapped in as the stealth Black Hawk helicopter shot into the air. It would take them a few hours to get from New Mexico to the Western Coastal mountain range.

"Kill the males," the boss had said. "Harvest the females."

The pilot turned and flashed his thumbs up to them and the others. Each wore a stealth armor pack. Some helmets had either tinted visors, or mirrored, but either way, their faces couldn't be seen. Knives strapped to their ankles bulged. A few of them had guns at the hip and wore assault rifles across their backs. Others used more skilled weapons like staphs, nunchaku's, and katanas.

They stood in the middle of the crowd, the largest of them, their leader. They gave the orders passed down to them by the Masters. And they would kill any who disobeyed. Never did a beating occur, their speed and the swiftness of their sword could destroy any one of them within seconds. They flexed. His massive chest heaved in anticipation of the fight.

Beneath them, a serpentine coil of cords covered the floor of the gunship. Each cord clipped to a militant's harness. Two hours and their master's will would be done. Then, maybe, they would be able to rest. A state he hadn't felt in many years.

Katelyn woke up with a start just as Jimmy Boy's mouth retreated from hers. The visage of him looked so real. He leaned down again with his mouth open. She bunched up her fist and cracked her knuckles against his nose.

"What the hell?" He fell back into the snow.

The back of her head was cold and wet. Her butt also felt frozen.

Matt leaned down and hugged her. "Thank the Lord. I thought we lost you there for a minute."

She coughed and gagged at the taste of old cigarettes in her mouth.

"What happened?"

Matt helped her sit up. "You stopped breathing."

"What? No. I fell asleep. I even had a dream."

Jimmy Boy sat on a rock and lit up a cigarette. "Told you guys her heart didn't stop. Just her lungs."

The truck idled next to her. But some of them weren't around. Jason sat in the driver's seat, smiling at her, tears running down his cheeks. Eve and Matt kneeled in the snow next to her.

"Where are Nancy and Brett?" She didn't see either of them.

Eve took her hand. "Brett was upset and ran off into the woods. Nancy went after him."

"I'll go get 'em," Jimmy said. "Good to see you up and at 'em again, girl." He trounced into a nearby grove of trees.

Jason plopped next to her and pulled her into a huge hug. He kissed her on the cheek. "You scared the hell out of me." Then he whispered in her ear, "I don't want her anymore. I wanna be with you."

Dustin slammed the passenger door and walked around the front of the truck. "Damn, girl. You're like superwoman."

"I don't feel like a superhero. I feel like an ashtray." She reached into her jeans and pulled out the pack of gum. She stuffed two pieces into her mouth and started to chew.

Eve handed her a bottle of water. "I'd suggest you rinse, spit, and repeat at least three times."

"You don't have to ask me twice." She began the routine.

Brett busted through the tree line just as she spat the first mouthful into the snow. He made some sort of wrestling leg slide in the snow and landed next to her. His mouth hit hers at thirty-miles-per hour. He probed her with his tongue.

Katelyn pushed him away. "Gross."

"What?" His brow crinkled.

"I can still taste cigarettes. Basically, you just French kissed Jimmy Boy."

Jason and Dustin started laughing.

Jimmy and Nancy walked out from the woods. Nancy sprinted over and hugged her. Then she punched her in the arm.

"Ouch!" Katelyn rubbed her right arm. "I almost die and all you can do is hit me?"

Nancy grabbed her by the face and kissed her. No tongue. "Yuck! You taste like cigarettes."

"No joke. From what I hear, I've been making out with Jimmy Boy." She rinsed again. This time, she spat at Jimmy as he walked up to her.

"You're welcome," he said. "Let's go. We gotta get up there before dawn."

Matt stood. "Are you insane. This little expedition is over. We need to get my sister to a doctor."

Brett helped her stand.

"I'm fine. We do need to go." Pieces of the puzzle in her mind bumped into each other, recreating the pictures. She didn't know what she needed to do exactly. But whatever the task, it had to be completed in the ravine. That much she knew. Then she remembered the head. And couldn't bring herself to look at him. Not yet.