{Chapter 29}
London and Kendrick searched the lower floor. They had just explored the kitchen, finding little in there besides cobwebs and a fridge full of alcohol. They were coming through the living room when they spotted Melina and Beth.
“Hello ladies,” Kendrick said smiling. Both women were clad in bikinis that left little to the imagination. “Going for a late night swim?”
Melina and Beth chuckled shaking their heads before their eyes glowed a bright red and their fangs extended. London and Kendrick groaned pulling out their guns. Kendrick fired a round at Melina, but she did a split dodging it.
“Flexible,” London said. He attempted to fire off a round at Beth, but she grabbed his hand. “Not gonna save you sweetheart,” London said pulling the trigger. The bullet went right through her hand and into her chest, lodging in her heart.
She stumbled back, eyes wide. Melina caught her as she fell backward. “Beth,” she cried. “Talk to me, honey!” Beth’s mouth opened and closed, but no sound come out. She coughed up blood and was still.
“Now that’s a shame,” Kendrick said his gun aimed at Melina. She glared at him, dropping Beth’s body. “Where’s Calaway?”
“You think I’ll tell you,” Melina screeched. “I’m going to claw your damn eyes out right before I eat you.”
“Think again, sweetheart,” London said grabbing Melina from behind and holding a hunting knife to her neck. “Tell us where Calaway is!”
“NEVER,” Melina screeched.
“Suit yourself,” London said and sliced her head off.
“Dude, brutal,” Kendrick said as they watched her disappear into dust.
“Shut up and help me move the grate in front of the fire place,” London said. Together the men set various pieces of furniture on fire. They wanted to make sure that none of the vampires escaped.
~~~~~
The Hardys had made it to the second floor where Kennedy and Porter confronted them. They soon found themselves engaged in battle with the formidable foes. It seemed that the two vampires had the upper hand until Rhodes and Holly came the brothers’ aid.
Holly had a flame-thrower. While Cody doused the vampires with gasoline in a super soaker Holly fired a jet of flame at them. They screamed as the fire licked their skin, flailing about until they fell over the railing, plummeting to the floor below.
“Thanks,” the brothers said. Holly and Rhodes nodded in response.
“Let’s find Calaway,” Holly said and the brother nodded following him.
~~~~~
“Hello, boys,” Hunter said smirking when Lashley and Shawn rounded a corner. He was lazily leaning against the wall outside Mark’s chambers. “Lookin’ for someone?”
“You know damn well we are, Hunter,” Shawn growled. He aimed his gun, but couldn’t bring himself to shoot the man who had become a brother to him.
“Calaway’s right this way,” Hunter said pointing to the door he stood outside.
“You gonna let us in or do we have to fight you,” Lashley demanded.
“Oh Shawn can go in,” Hunter said shrugging. “As for you, Bobby, I believe we have unfinished business.” With that he unleashed his inner demon.
“Shawn, go,” Lashley said when he realized that Hunter was stalking after him. “I’ll take care of this.”
Shawn stood there torn between wanting to kill Mark and wanting to stop his best friend from hurting Lashley. “Let’s go,” Marcus said grabbing Shawn’s arm and dragging him toward Mark’s room. He had come out of nowhere. “The boys are setting this place ablaze. We need to pay my dear old dad a visit and get out of here before there’s structural damage and we’re trapped.
Marcus kicked in the door and found himself face to face with Glen and Thorn. He had known this would happen. Glen and Thorn lived with Mark. It only made sense that they’d become his bodyguards in this kind of situation.
Shawn, his gun still drawn, raised it to shoot both men. He squeezed the trigger, but Marcus knocked his hand aside. The bullet grazed Glen’s shoulder and embedded in the wall next to him.
“What are you doin’,” Shawn demanded. “He’s Calaway’s brother.”
“I know who he is,” Marcus replied. “He’s also the man who saved my life twice. My uncle. The only blood relative who even gave a fuck about me.”
“Do you want us in hand to hand combat,” Glen asked smirking wickedly. “I doubt you’ll survive.”
“You go,” Shawn said. “I’ll take care of these two.” He realized that this was something Marcus felt he had to do on his own. Something about the demeanor of the two large men before him made him sure that they wouldn’t kill him. He could sense their disgust with Mark.
Marcus nodded slipping past the two large men deeper into Mark’s room. He spotted his father sitting at his desk. Rose was perched on the edge of it. There was no sign of Leviathan.
“This ends here, old man,” Marcus said making his presence known.
“Uh uh,” Mark said motioning to someone out of Marcus’ line of vision. When the person came in he saw Leviathan with Punk in a chokehold. “You take one step forward and your friend here gets his neck snapped like a twig.” As if to emphasize Mark’s point Leviathan tightened his grip on Punk.
“Marcus,” Punk grunted. “Don’t worry about me. Kill Calaway.”
Rose slid off her father’s desk and sauntered over to Punk. She ran a nail down his cheek, drawing blood. “Is that bravery or stupidity,” she asked licking the blood off her nail. “Mmmm, he tastes sweet.”
“Don’t you dare hurt him,” Marcus growled. “This is between you and me, old man. Leave him out of it.”
Mark stood, coming around the desk slowly, rolling up the sleeves on his shirt. “Don’t you remember what happened the last time you tried to fight me? You didn’t fare so well then, did you, boy?”
“Things change,” Marcus replied taking off his trench coat and tossing it aside.
Smirking Mark got into a fighting stance. “Show me what you got, punk,” he said.
“You’re in for it now,” Rose said smiling.
“Shut it, slutbag,” Marcus snarled moments before lunging for Mark’s leg. Surprisingly he was able to knock the big man down. Mark was able to fight him off and got to his feet.
“You’ve improved,” Mark said. The quickness of the attack had taken him off guard. It was a mistake he didn’t intend to duplicate.
Punk could feel Leviathan’s grip slipping as his attention was drawn to the fight. Taking advantage of this he slipped from the larger man’s grasp and grabbed the gun from his ankle holster. “Marcus,” Punk called and tossed the gun to him.
“What are ya gonna do, boy, shoot me,” Mark demanded with a snort.
“As a matter of fact I am,” Marcus said pulling the trigger, firing off three shots. In the blink of an eye Mark grabbed Rose, pulling her in front of him as a shield. Her green eyes grew wide with shock as the bullets penetrated her chest.
Leviathan, who once again had hold of Punk, dropped the younger man. “NO! YOU BASTARD,” he yelled grabbing the gun from Marcus and attempting to shoot him.
Mark dropped his daughter and grabbed Leviathan’s hand, turning the gun on the large man. He then squeezed the trigger, emptying the gun into him. Leviathan fell to the ground with a loud thud. Marcus stood dumbfounded. He hadn’t intended to harm his sister.
“Poor Rosie,” Mark said tossing the gun to the floor. “Turns out she was expendable as well.”
“You monster,” Marcus growled.
“Yes, I am,” Mark said with great pride. “You don’t live as long as I have by having a heart of gold.” He watched as Rose sputtered on the ground. The silver was effecting her much more slowly than a full blooded vampire.
Marcus watched his sister a moment before glaring at his father. “This ends now,” he growled before bursting into flame and rushing his father.
He speared him down to the floor. Mark’s clothing caught fire, his skin bubbling in the heat. Marcus managed to pin him to the ground, grabbing the hunting knife he had strapped to his ankle. With one swift motion he sliced Mark’s head off.
Mark’s eyes grew wide in shock moments before he disappeared into a cloud of dust. Marcus fell to the floor, panting. The flames surrounding him extinguished and he turned his attention to Rose, crawling over to her.
Glen and Thorn stopped battering Shawn when they no longer heard Mark’s voice. “Is he…” was all Glen could say not seeing his brother anywhere.
Punk nodded. “Marcus killed him,” he said.
It was then that Glen caught sight of Rose. “Oh no,” he said rushing to her side. “What happened?”
“He used her as a shield,” Marcus growled. “His own daughter.”
Thorn and Shawn watched from the doorway. Punk joined them feeling that Glen and Marcus should have some privacy. “Are you all right,” he asked Shawn, who nodded. His lip was bloody and a gash had been opened up on his forehead, but he was still standing.
“We have to get the bullets out,” Glen said tears stinging his eyes. Marcus handed over his knife. “Rosie, sweetheart, this is going to hurt. Do you understand?” She nodded, though her eyes were losing focus.
Glen began to dig the bullets out. Rose screamed as the blade cut her skin. “Got them all,” he said tossing them aside. Wiping off the knife he slit his wrist and held it to Rose’s mouth. She made no attempt to drink. “Come on, Rosie, you have to drink.” She obeyed her uncle.
“Guys,” London said rushing into the room. “This place is gonna start to collapse soon. We have to get out of here.”
{Chapter 30}
“Do you think you can walk,” Glen asked Rose, who nodded, already feeling stronger.
Together Glen and Marcus helped her to stand. London was tossing some gasoline that Holly had given him over the room and lit a match dropping it as he followed the others out of the room. Glen, Rose and Marcus brought up the rear.
As they made it to the doorway, Rose was jerked away from her uncle and brother. Turning around the men saw Leviathan engulfed in flames. Rose was in his arms, the flames licking her skin.
“ROSIE,” Glen yelled attempting to get her back. Marcus held him back as the room behind the flaming behemoth became an inferno.
“SHE’S MINE,” Leviathan growled dragging a screaming Rose deeper into the blazing room.
“She’s gone,” Marcus said snapping his uncle back to his senses. “You can’t save her!” Glen hung his head, feeling as if he had failed his niece. “We have to go,” Marcus said feeling the mansion becoming structurally unstable. He grabbed his uncle’s arm and dragged him down the stairs.
The hunters all made it out of the house. Thorn, Glen and Marcus weren’t far behind. Together they stood watching as the mansion was enveloped in flames. It was then that they saw Hunter coming out of the house, a limp Lashley in his arms.
“Leaving so soon. I think you forgot someone,” he said with a smirk. “How would you like Bobby? Rare or Cajun style?”
“Hunter,” Shawn yelled seeing that his friend was about to toss the unconscious Lashley into the inferno. “We both know it’s me you want.” He stepped forward. “Here I am. Let’s handle this man to man.”
Hunter smirked. “Didn’t think you had the balls to handle things man to man, Shawn,” he said. “Fine. Catch.” He tossed Lashley at London, Kendrick and Punk. The larger man knocked the three smaller men down.
“Get him out of here,” Shawn ordered. “All of you get out of here. This is between Hunter and I.”
“But Shawn,” Matt protested.
“You heard the man,” Marcus said. “This is between them.” With the help of Thorn he ushered everyone away. Glen picked up Lashley and carried him away.
“It’s just you and me now Shawn,” Hunter smirked. “Too bad. I prefer an audience.”
As he spoke Randy, who everyone had forgotten about got to his feet. The silver had only weakened him. He grabbed Shawn, holding his arms behind him. “Come on, Hunter,” he growled. “I got him. Do what you want to him.”
Hunter smirked approaching Shawn. He cocked back as if to punch Shawn, but instead grabbed Randy. “I don’t need your help, kid,” he growled, snapping Randy’s neck and tossing him into the flaming mansion.
“Come on,” Shawn said punching Hunter across the jaw.
Hunter was stunned a moment and stumbled back before glaring at Shawn. “So that’s how it’s gonna be, buddy,” Hunter chuckled. “Fine.” He lunged at Shawn, tackling him to the ground and unleashing a series of punches to his face.
Shawn managed to get free kicking up to his feet and kicking Hunter in the jaw as the larger man stood. “I knew you’d give me a challenge,” Hunter said snapping his jaw back in place.
“I don’t wanna kill you, Hunter,” Shawn said.
“And that’s your problem,” Hunter said smirking. “You lack heart.” Hunter chuckled to himself. “And you’re REALLY gonna lack heart when I tear it out of your chest while it’s still beating.” With that he lunged at Shawn, who side stepped him. Hunter landed head first on the concrete porch.
The blow knocked him silly for a moment and Shawn jumped on him, grabbing his head and bashing it on the steps some more. “Damn you for making do this,” Shawn growled as he continued to bash Hunter’s head. When he finally stopped he was breathless. Realizing that Hunter was unconscious he reached for the hunting knife he had strapped to his ankle.
He grabbed a handful of Hunter’s hair, but couldn’t bring himself to finish the job. Hunter’s eyes opened and he looked up at his long time friend. “Do it,” he growled. “Damn it, Shawn, don’t you dare go back on your promise to me! I don’t wanna live like this!”
“I’m sorry,” Shawn said, tears filling his eyes. Taking a shuddering breath he grabbed a handful of Hunter’s hair and sliced his head off. Shawn fell to the ground as Hunter disappeared in a cloud of dust, the tears streaming down his face now. “Oh God,” he moaned. “I’m so sorry, Hunter!”
When he composed himself he limped his way back to the trucks. “How’s Bobby,” he asked. Everyone knew better than to ask about Hunter.
“He’s still out,” London said.
“But he’ll live,” Kendrick replied. “Nothing Doc Cena can’t fix.”
Shawn nodded, pulling the keys to his truck out of his pocket and tossing them to Matt. Without another word they all got in their trucks and drove off. Many of them needed to be treated for minor injuries. Shawn knew he had at least one broken rib from his scuffle with Hunter.
~~~~~
“Where will you go,” Marcus asked Glen and Thorn. The two men had accompanied the hunters to the hospital to help get Lashley inside safely.
“I hear Europe is a nice place,” Thorn said.
“Very accepting of vampires,” Glen said smiling. “You take care of yourself, kid.” He gave Marcus a hug. “We’ll be in touch.”
Marcus watched as Thorn and Glen walked away and disappeared jumping across rooftops. As he turned around to head into the hospital he was all but tackled by Ashley. She took his face into her hands and looked him over a moment before smiling and planting a long, hard kiss on his lips.
“I was so worried,” she said when the kiss was broken.
“I told you I’d come back,” he said smiling.
Just then Shawn and the Hardys exited the hospital. “Thank you for your help,” Shawn said. The gash on his forehead had been stitched and he sported a bandage over it. “You tell your uncle and his friend he won’t be hunted by any of us.”
“I will,” Marcus said.
“Come on, boys,” Shawn said to the Hardy brothers. “If you’re gonna be my new partners we need to do some work.” Matt and Jeff followed Shawn closely listening as he spoke.
“What happened to Hunter,” Ashley asked turning her attention back to Marcus.
“Shawn had to kill him,” Marcus said solemnly.
“Good,” she said and then realized how cold that had sounded. “Not for Shawn, but…he killed Candice.” Her cheeks flushed.
“I know what you meant,” Marcus said smiling. “So, when’s your shift over?”
“Soon,” Ashley replied. “I just need to check on some patients and report to the next shift. Will you be here when I’m done?” Marcus nodded with a smile. He watched as she walked back into the hospital.
~~~~~
A few days later Marcus was at Punk’s place with Ashley. Lashley had been released from the hospital after being held for observation due to a concussion. He had asked everyone to gather at Punk’s place because he had an announcement to make.
“So, what the hell did you ask us all here for,” Shawn demanded. He had been moody, still dealing with his grief.
“Brian, Paul and I are going to be clearin’ out of here,” Lashley explained. “There’s an epidemic goin’ on over on the West Coast and we figure we could lend a hand. Bob and Cody have already gone ahead. We plan to follow them in a couple of days.”
“Sorry to see you go, man,” Shawn said shaking Lashley’s hand. “I’m sure there’ll be a lot of people sleepin’ better at night knowin’ you’ll be protectin’ them.”
“We’ll be back anytime you guys need back up,” London said.
“Yeah and of course if Paul and I come up with anymore nifty gadgets to help in the hunt,” Kendrick said.
“Good to know you’ll have our backs,” Shawn said shaking their hands as well. “Right now I think we got it covered. I got Matt and Jeff and Punk and of course Marcus is always around to lend a hand.”
“You call us if you need a hand,” Lashley said pulling Shawn into a hug.
~~~~~
“Shawn seems so sad,” Ashley said as she lay in bed with Marcus later that night.
“He had to kill his best friend,” Marcus said lacing his fingers with hers. “Let’s not worry about that right now.” He pulled her close to him kissing her. “For now I want concentrate on loving you.”
“Again,” Ashley giggled as he kissed and nipped her neck. “My someone is feeling frisky tonight.” She moaned when he reached the spot on her neck that drove her insane. With a content sigh she allowed him to pull her under him, enjoying as he lavished attention on her body. She was happy that despite all of the death and sadness she and Marcus had a happy ending.
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