Vampire Trouble Chapter Six

Chapter Six
I was left with a lot to think about, but I couldn’t leave the dark hallway. Mr. Hale said the men that followed were outside, looking for me through the windows. I could hear the crunching of boots. I counted more than twenty, but less than thirty. I was scared again, but felt safer with Mercy in my arms. I t was getting dark outside and the house was getting darker. I didn’t doubt that if the men got impatient enough, they would break in.
I was forming a plan in my head that involved my sacrifice for Mercy. I was being the tragic hero everyone pictures, but I had no hop of me surviving. I had to get Sam to agree to care for her after I was gone, otherwise she was homeless.
“Sam,” I hesitated, making my voice low enough that Mr. Hale and Joe couldn’t hear. I hoped and wished that Sam would agree without argument. “Will you take care of Mercy for me?” Sam nodded, and I put her in Sam’s arms. Now, I only had to get past Joe and Mr. Hale devoid of notice.
I crawled on all fours until I was out of their sight. Then I got up and ran to the front door, yanking it open with all my force and breaking the locks. It was easier than I expected, but that’s as far as easy went.
Six big men waited for me in the night. Two grabbed my arms, and another my kicking legs.
The biggest of the six men leaned in front of my face, smelling strongly of alcohol.
“Don’t fight and it won’t be as painful, but I can’t promise quick.” He hit me in the face and I blacked out again.
I was really getting tired of being knocked unconscious. It made my head spin and it was slow coming to. I assumed that being knocked cold so many time that it got simpler, but no.
When I finally woke up, I knew I was in a warehouse. The smell was wrong, but surroundings told me where I was. It was a vast, empty room with a huge ceiling. The smell, though, told me something else. I smelled ammonia and the rusty, salty smell of blood. It smelled like a butcher room.
My head jolted when I realized that some of the blood was in me and it was fresh. I checked my body for injuries. I was sore, but I had no broken bones. I was tied to a chair; so cliché for a kidnapping. I struggled against my bonds.
A noise made me stop dead, and I listened for it again. It came again and I recognized it as Mercy’s terrified scream.
I shook with rage and it only grew stronger when a group of men came through a door off to my right, with Mercy struggling in one man’s arms. Another nursed a black eye and another, a bite on the arm. I was proud of how hard she fought, but it would only get her hurt.
The big man that hit me before glanced at me. “I see Roxanne Hallaway is awake.” He grinned, and strutted over to pat my cheek. “I thought you would make it so hard. Your other friends didn’t fight too much once we realized they had creepy powers. That girl was feisty, but she’s dead, had to shoot her. The other two stopped as soon as the girl was out of the picture.”
My eyes stayed on the man as he walked back to Mercy. “What do you want? You had me, why Mercy too?”
“You’re so naïve.” He pulled a chair in front of me and motioned for Mercy to be placed in it. As he tied, he spoke, “Your daddy hired us to find you and exterminate you. It seems that you’ve caused him a lot of problems. He also told me that I could do whatever, as my reward from him, before I kill you.” He rubbed his finger down Mercy’s cheek. She aimed a bite at his hand, earning a smack. “Kill her first. I want the oldest.” He told his men.
I screamed and struggled in my chair. One came forward with a knife. I fought as hard as I could, begging for my angel’s life. If I lost her, I lost my life, my reason to live- don’t judge me, she has been my support through everything and I loved her.
The big man halted the would-be killer. “I like her spirit. It would be gone if this Mercy died. Hold on.” In my struggles, I fell over in my chair. He pulled me up roughly, and broke my bonds. “Kill her after my reward.”
He pulled me into a different room, and I became unaware of what he did to me. I fought, of course, but not against what he did to me. He was going to kill Mercy. I don’t even know how long it lasted, but after awhile, he brought me back out, shoving me back into my chair and tying me back up.
I found Mercy with my eyes and watched her. My eyes involuntarily riveted on the man who started toward Mercy again with his knife. Knowing what was about to happen to my girl, I felt something growing inside me. I let it build as each step brought the man closer to Mercy.
As the man pulled the knife toward Mercy’s throat, I let the growing thing inside me explode. Fire erupted from every pore in my body, setting fire to chair and rope. The man with the knife started quivering as I boiled his blood in his veins. Wind blew in from nowhere and sent his ruined body away from his lifeless body. The big man started to turn blue as I pulled the air from around him. I sent his lifeless body flying too. The ground erupted and sent two more men to their graves. The last man went running toward the door and I brought on the avalanche of water over him, drowning him.
My fire touch let Mercy free. Mercy bounded into my arms and my body went dormant.
Mercy and I cried until Joe found us and brought us home.