3.79
Bernie's
Pageant is a strip club, I'm not sure what else I would have expected. There's
a large black truck parked in front, the kind police SWAT teams use during a
raid to transport a bunch of guys. I'm sure this is the right place when I
witness people running out in groups. Even the security is running from the
chaos. I fight my way through the crowd to get inside. I spot Destiny right
away. She's got a few bullet wounds that seem to have been patched.
Instead of
guns like before our attackers are holding swords and daggers now. They've shed
the combat suits and suddenly they seem more like a gang than an elite strike
force. I know Destiny is upset I'm here, but I wasn't going to let her go out
like this. Usually, I'd have faith in her but they seem to have something that
can legitimately hurt her. With my body mostly recovered I don't waste any time
launching an attack with my nightmares.
Mom always
said she didn't want her daughters dancing on a pole, but surprise, it was me.
It's also less dancing and more, watch out for the big sword. The vampire I'm
fighting is swinging it with both hands when it's clear she doesn't need to. A
small fire breaks out in the kitchen setting off the fire alarm and the
sprinklers. Everyone is momentarily stunned by the sound, it's a pain for human
ears but down right demonic on ours. Someone flings their sword and silences
the blaring from the alarm, to everyone's relief. There's a brief moment where
we all laugh as the water sprays around us and we look at the mess of the club
we've made.
The silence
is ended when Destiny stabs one of the taskforce through the chest with his own
sword. I take that as a cue to boot the woman I'm fighting from the stage and
drop down for a quick kill. We're outnumbered, but we're staying alive by
moving around. It won't last, I'm getting tired, and Destiny is injured. I wish
I could use the smoke as some kind of diversion, but they see through it just
as well as we do.
Firefighters
seemed shocked to see people as they entire in search of the flame. I push the
vampire I'm fighting as hard as I can into the firefighters. I'm sure they'll
start trying to drag the others out to rescue them, but I'm more worried
they'll just kill the firefighters. I use the noise to snatch Destiny's hand
and run through back door. We rush through the locker room being followed by
two or three. I knock over lockers, tables and everything I can to keep them
away. The room was already beginning to flood now there's glitter in the air
mixing with the water from the sprinklers, thongs floating and lockers turned
into dams.
Outside,
Destiny tries to go the opposite direction without saying anything but I refuse
to let her go. She doesn't fight at all when I pull her around front towards
the car. Mayhem picks up again when gunshots go off. Back to the guns, what
kind of vampires are these? I feel a slight sting, almost like a bee, then an
intense burning sensation in my arm. I glance down to see a hole in my bicep,
I've been shot. I thought adrenaline was supposed to make this painless, I want
to vomit.
"Don't
stop running, the bullet passed through. You'll be fine," Destiny finally
speaks up.
That’s all
the medicine I need to keep moving. The gunshots have caused most people to
scramble, but it lets us pull out of the parking lot unseen. I’ve still got
their earpiece and they’re not sure which way we went. That’ll buy us some
time.
“So,
paralyzing lipstick, where did you pick that up,” I try to break the silence.
“We need to
get out of the city.”
“They’ll be
waiting for us at the exits. We should find somewhere to hide for now.”
“Doesn’t
matter, those are Death Shadows. They’ll catch us. That’s why you need to
abandon me.”
“Who are
the Death Shadows”
“A team of
exterminators made up of members from the most wealthy and dominant vampire
houses. I heard you killed Adam Locke, these are his siblings.”
“Then we’ll just have to exterminate the whole
family.”
“You just
aren’t getting it Bluebird. They backed me into a corner, you can fly away
without me. But this is the end for me.”
“I said I
was with you until death when I married you. If this is your end, it’s mine
too. Unfortunately for you, I don’t intend to just hold still and die, so I’m
going to keep fighting until the end. You’ve been dragging me along all this
time, now I’m dragging you along.”
“You’re an
idiot.”
“Takes one
to know one.”
My stupid joke forces her to look away and crack a smile. I know we’re not in the best of situations, but luck has always managed to be on our side. I’m hoping now isn’t any different because I don’t have a plan other than get out of the city as fast as possible.
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