A Feast For The Vampires

XVII

The ship shook and careened as more of them flew into windows, shattering them and filling the night with irritating sounds.

“Raja follow Zee. Dae-yang stay here,” Tobe ordered before he seemed to glitch in and out of focus as he ran towards the railings of the boat and jumped overboard.

Raja did as told and ran towards the stairs, his breaths coming out heavy and loud.

Kimi’s breath was shallow and strained, his heart beating so fast that he could hear it drum against his ears. He held a hand to his pounding chest. He lost focus of everything and was thrown into a dark world of fear and confusion. The others spared him worried looks.

Rin and Dae-yang watched as one of the monsters jumped onto the deck. Its face was scaly white and it was decorated with various, sickly cracks, black, inky substance gushing past its bared fangs. Another followed suit, its curved, pin-like, black claws glistening in the night.

Rin held an arm out to protect Kimi and Dae-yang tightened her grip on the sword in her hands. She steadied her stance and lunged at the monster, her sword raised. She pounced off her feet like a cat and slashed her sword at the creature’s neck.

It screeched as its head rolled off and the area sizzled. The amputated head still hissed at her and she booted it away. This caused the other half of its body to seize its jerking and it dropped to the floor with a thump.

The other bared its teeth at Dae-yang and clawed at her. She ducked and cut off its leg with a flick of her wrists. She rolled away as the creature dropped to its dangling knee, gore spilling onto everywhere. As it hissed in pain, she tightened her hold and sliced off its head, black blood jetting everywhere like a bloody geyser. When the head fell off, she swiftly picked it by its gooey hair, passed her sword through it and threw it over the boat. At that, the body froze and stumbled to the floor.

The display of blood made Kimi feel nauseous. Bile rushed up his throat and he pinched his thigh in order to control his fear. He started wheezing noisily and Rin gave him a worried look.

Dae-yang stood firmly and the three of them watched as the other creature’s head rolled back to it and reconnected with its body with a sick snap. “Damn it.”

The creature stood up with a pricked posture and its head sewed itself in place before it hissed at her and flashed towards her with supernatural speed.

Dae-yang gritted her teeth and strengthened her stance when the creature came into view and slashed at her. She blocked its attack, and the next one, and the one after that.

Soon enough Dae-yang and the creature were like dancers—the sound of the impact of her sword with its claws being their song—as she struggled to block its never-ending attacks. When she finally got an opening and dug her sword into its throat, she moved her hand, chopped off its head, kicked away the body with an agonizing battle cry and halved its head.

Kimi froze at the sight of the brutality and watched as Dae-yang walked towards the railings and tossed the head into the quaking waters.

The sickening sound of its innards falling into the water made the bile fly out his mouth without control. He dropped to his shaky knees and vomited with all the strength and fear he kept bottled up within. Rin grimaced at the sight and the smell that tingled his senses.

Dae-yang looked over her shoulder at the sound of his retching. “Kimi?” She turned to walk to him but quickened her steps when she saw two figures flash into the air over Rin and Kimi. She reached out a hand. “Watch—” Another ran into her with a hiss and she tumbled to the other side, it running after her on clawed hands and legs.