Fall of the Mortals (Book 1) (24 page)

“Your tower?” asked Terry.

“You’re damn straight,” Harold answered firmly. “I’m a former senior vice president of the company that was here last as well as a stock holder. Right now, I’m sending you and your posse out the back door.”

“You’d just send us out there?” asked Terry, baffled that Harold would even think it. “With
them
?”

“You bet,” Harold responded with a stiff upper lip.

“So it’s like that, after all we been through together?” asked Curtis, squinting at Harold.

“Trust me, buddy. We haven’t been through that much,” Harold answered. “You’re just a skanky old biker club lying around getting loaded, poisoning my family.”

Curtis glared at Harold with hatred. Terry glanced at Curtis. His eyes darted over to Brody as if he already had a plan forming.

“You and I both know that Chris is just a little dumbass looking for a daddy, Shaun,” said Terry with a smirk.

“Impressionable too,” said Shaun. “I’ve resented your influence ever since you got here.”

“You mean the night I saved your ass from getting your head ripped off by three vamps?” asked Terry trying to sound cocky, raising his voice.

Shaun didn’t respond. He knew Terry made a point but he wasn’t about to let them stay.

“Face it, Shaun. Chris looks up to me. Your days of playing big brother are over. You guys are a joke barely hanging onto survival,” said Terry.

“Well, since you’re so tough you won’t have any problem making it out there on your own, will ya?” asked Harold, staring coldly at Terry. “Now, let’s go! Take your white trash crew with ya.”

“Sorry fellas, I have a considerable investment here,” said Terry.

“Don’t worry. Your little meth lab you’re referring to will be the first thing that’s destroyed as soon as you walk out of here,” said Shaun sternly. “That’s a promise.”

“You’re not touching my lab,” said Terry threateningly.

“It will be my greatest pleasure,” Shaun answered. “Murderer.”

“If you or this fat guy Harold were even man enough—”

Shaun pistol whipped Terry across the face. Terry stumbled back and crashed through a table that had a flat screen TV on it. The table fell to its side. The TV fell to the floor. Sparks came out the back of it.

“Whoa!” shouted Curtis pulling out an Mp5 machine gun off a shelf and aiming it at Shaun.

Billy, Shane and Brody pulled out firearms from under the sofa. It was an intense standoff; guns were pointed at one another in every direction. Shaun, Harold and the others were struck with terror. They weren’t expecting the bikers to arm themselves so quickly.

Terry got up slowly and grabbed his Mp5 machine gun off a shelf. He turned, pointing it at Shaun, panting. His eyes were large with fury. His teeth gnashed. His nostrils were bleeding. He was ready to kill. Shaun aimed his gun at him, prepared to pull the trigger.

“Mason was a damn fool,” said Terry looking up at Shaun with an evil stare, wiping his blood from his upper lip. “He just didn’t understand the meaning of a free world. My boys and I do as we please and nobody stands in our way!”

“It’s sad Mason had to pay the price of your
freedom
,” said Shaun.

“You’re damn right. Anybody against my freedom is no friend of mine,” Terry declared.

“This isn’t freedom,” said Shaun. “It’s a pile of rat turd and you’re the rat, Terry.”

“Too bad, Shaun. I thought we’d be better friends than this,” said Terry firing his machine gun at Shaun putting multiple bullet holes through his chest.

Shaun flew back to the floor and landed on his side. His pistol bounced across the floor. His eyes were closed and he looked dead. His white T-shirt under his hoodie began to redden with blood. Harold and the others screamed.

“Shaun! No!” shouted Thai.

Yuri was shocked and scared frozen. He stared at Terry with disgust and wanted to kill him. Trang was cooperative and kept his hands up. He feared they would kill them too at any second.

“Put it down, big guy! Now!” hollered Curtis, rushing up to Harold with his gun in his face.

Harold looked at Curtis as if he was holding back a mountain of hatred that was about to explode. Curtis grabbed the shotgun out of his hands. Billy, Shane and Brody kept their guns on Thai, Yuri and Trang making them drop their weapons.

“Hands behind your heads!” hollered Curtis.

“Let’s get ’em upstairs,” said Terry in a hard voice making Harold and the others walk single-file out the door. “All you guys! Let’s move!”

Thai began to weep looking back at Shaun’s lifeless body that lay on the floor.

***

Terry barged through the double doors on level seventy-two holding his machine gun. He looked like a mercenary. Harold, Yuri, Thai and Trang were escorted into the room behind Terry by the other bikers at gun point as if they were a bunch of prisoners. Harold looked frazzled. He was teary eyed over Shaun. The others were scared too. Kim sat next to Betty and Chris on the sofa. They were alarmed instantly at the sight.

“Get on your knees!” hollered Terry.

“What the hell is going on?” asked Betty in a loud voice. 

“Shut up!” Terry yelled at Betty, staring at her with scorn.

Betty, Kim and Ni were scared and stayed quiet. They could tell that Terry wasn’t who he pretended to be.

“I said on your knees!” Terry hollered striking Harold on his upper left thigh with the butt end of his machine gun.

Harold moaned and dropped to his knees.  His face was full of pain. He stared at Betty watching her scared face while she held the unconscious Chris in her arms. Yuri and the others went to their knees and kept their hands behind their heads. Betty stood from the sofa infuriated.

“Terry! In God’s name, what the hell do you think yo—”

Terry fired his machine gun at the ceiling directly above Betty. She screamed and panicked putting her hands up in horror. Bits of the ceiling came down on her. She stumbled back to the sofa collapsing on it next to Chris and Kim.

“For the last time, shut it!” hollered Terry, glaring at Betty. “Now listen up. This is our tower now. Since Harold and the late Shaun wanted to be badass wannabes, the rest of you are going to pay for the price for it.”

“What do you mean
late Shaun
?” asked Betty with a cold stare.

“I killed him downstairs,” Terry answered coldly. “He’s dead.”

Betty’s face filled with anguish and pain. Tears streamed down her face.  Kim and Ni put their arms around her. Betty began to sob loudly.

***

Outside the window of the bikers’ living area, the last of the sun fell beyond the horizon. The lighting in the room dimmed. Shaun lay on the floor not making a move. A small pool of blood under him had coagulated. Death had come upon him to take his soul to another place. However, Shaun wasn’t going anywhere. His body lay there resisting the eternal transport to the unknown world of the afterlife.

The blood that had soaked through his T-shirt began to disappear. The bullet holes on his chest healed themselves. His fingernails grew an inch above his fingertips. The color of his face became pale. Fangs grew on his maxillary causing his mouth to open slowly. His head began to move. His eyes opened and he formed a hardened look in his face. The colors of his sclera were now orange like a vampire.

He stood, clinching his fists, feeling the power he harnessed inside. He looked towards the ceiling with a hardened stare dying to get even with Terry. He flew through the doorway, down the hallway towards the stairwell.

***

On level seventy-two, Terry still had the males of the tower family in the center of the floor with their hands behind their heads. Terry paced around them looking like a terrorist.

“Now, none of you will make a move unless I say so!” said Terry turning to Betty and Kim. “If I say get me or my posse some breakfast, ladies, then that’s exactly what you do!”

Betty’s sobbing grew louder. She was overwhelmed with grief at the presumed death of Shaun, Chris’ overdose and the new suppression of Terry and his bikers.

“Hey, someone silence her or I’ll do it myself!” said Terry, aiming his gun at her.

Shaun flew into the room rushing Terry who stood with a terrified look in his face while Shaun flew right at him. Shaun struck him in the chest. Terry was thrown across the room yelling for help. His machine gun tumbled to the floor just before he slammed against the living room wall.

Shaun turned to Curtis, gnashing his teeth, and vanished. He reappeared behind Curtis, grabbed his shirt and threw him through the double door entry. Curtis landed on the foyer floor harshly hitting his face and shoulder on impact. It was a hard fall. His face wrinkled in pain while he grabbed his shoulder. He crawled in terror to get away and managed to get to the stairwell. Curtis knew exactly what to get for the occasion.

Billy and Shane fired their guns at Shaun but he was too fast. Their shots hit the walls of the living room and shattered another window. Betty, Kim and Ni screamed for their lives on the floor while bullets flew over them. Chris remained in a coma on the sofa. Tommy and Mercedes hid in another room.

Shaun vanished, reappeared and struck Billy in the back sending him over Harold’s head. Billy landed on the floor dropping his gun.

Shaun grabbed Shane in the groin and threw him one-handed across the room somersaulting through the air. It was as if Shane was weightless.

Shaun vanished and appeared right in front of Brody who was scared out of his mind. His eyes were large with horror looking at Shaun as if he was the scariest thing he had ever seen. Brody dropped his gun to the floor and then fell to his backside holding up an arm to protect him from the new vampire. Shaun raised his hands to take hold of Brody.

“Shaun!” Terry shouted from across the long living room.

Shaun turned around to see Terry standing over Betty, Ni and Kim pointing his machine gun at them. His orange eyes were scary even to Betty and the girls. They were in shock to see him as a vampire.

“Stand down or I light ’em up!” stated Terry panting, his voice filled with anger and ready to live up to his words.

“What makes you think I couldn’t snap your neck in a split second?” asked Shaun, confident in his capabilities.

“I could come up with something,” said Curtis, rushing up behind Shaun pointing a hose gun right at his head. “You saw what I can do with this, right?”

“You will all die,” said Shaun threateningly.

“Vampires first,” Terry answered. “Pretty good trick keeping the vampire thing secret. So, what’s it gonna be, slick?” Terry added, lowering the muzzle to Betty’s head. His finger squeezed the trigger.

“All right!” shouted Shaun.

“All right what?” asked Terry raising his voice.

“I’ll leave,” answered Shaun. “Just don’t hurt them. Please.”

“I’m just always one step ahead of you, dude,” said Terry almost boasting of his victory. If I even think you’re in the area of the tower, I’ll kill one of them every five minutes. I swear it!”

“I’ll be coming back for you, Terry,” said Shaun.

“Sure you will and I’ll be waiting,” Terry responded. “Now get out of here before Curtis burns you down with the water!”

Curtis kept his hose gun right on Shaun. His eyes were stern but he shook slightly from being scared as hell of Shaun.

Shaun vanished and appeared outside the windows of the tower, floating in the air. He looked down and got scared, hollering in fear. The pavement was seventy-two levels beneath him. He wasn’t used to his abilities yet.  He moved his arms and legs in all directions rapidly as if he was trying to swim in mid-air.

Terry and the bikers started to laugh at him. Shaun was frightened, struggling to hang on to the side of the building. Terry formed a big grin walking to the windows with his machine gun. He stared at Shaun as if he was just a joke. Billy and Shane kept their weapons on Harold and the others.

“Something funny?” asked Shaun in a firm tone, panting, scared of falling.

“I take it the vampire thing is new for you?” asked Terry with a smile, entertained watching Shaun.

“So what if it is?” stated Shaun, glaring at Terry with disdain.

“I just thought if you happen to get lonely out there, you could always pay Kristof a visit,” said Terry  provocatively. “Remember him? That big bad ass that killed Jones and Trent? I’m sure he’d love to chew you a new anus,” he added laughing.

“Don’t get too comfortable in there, Terry,” Shaun threatened. “Judgment day is coming and I’ll be there to take you to hell.”

Terry didn’t answer. He heard the sounds of the vampires coming out of their resting places. He looked at Shaun through the window with a cold smile knowing Shaun would have a difficult time in the world of vampires.

“Sounds like your friends are waking up there,” said Terry still grinning, knowing Shaun was up the creek. He enjoyed watching the fear come over Shaun’s face.

Shaun ignored him and concentrated. He flew against the side of the tower skyscraper crawling his way head first. His hand slipped and he stumbled down against the wall. He filled with fright catching himself on the wall.