Chapter Twenty-Two #3
Inching along the wall, Oliver watched as Felipe sliced across the back of the shorter man’s knee as the taller investigator swung the butt of his gun at Felipe’s head.
The blow hit his shoulder with a crack, but Felipe didn’t stop.
The shorter corpse turned to Oliver as its leg buckled, and for a heart stopping moment, Oliver thought it would throw itself at him.
Its eyes locked on his as it let out a hiss and staggered back to Felipe.
He didn’t want to think too hard about that; not now anyway.
Drawing in a steadying breath, Oliver closed his eyes.
His powers flowed through his body and into the aether.
He passed through Felipe’s warmth and the familiar sturdiness of the tether, but he had to keep moving.
Oliver shuddered as his magic touched the dead investigators.
He could taste pine tar and the metallic sweetness of rot on his tongue. All he had to do was reach for it.
BANG. Oliver flinched as a bullet collided with the stable wall two feet above his head.
He screwed his eyes tighter and tried again as he sank into a crouch.
As soon as it touched the web of magic, he gagged.
The creature was too busy fighting Felipe to pounce at him this time, but it still felt like his soul walked into a spiderweb full of dead flies.
Oliver forced himself to relax and let his powers brush against the threads of magic.
They had burrowed deep into every part of the dead man’s body.
Oliver ripped a piece away, but the creature didn’t so much as falter as the magic pulsed through the rest of the web.
Where was it pulsing from? There had to be a brain or nucleus governing it.
Oliver forced his eyes open, and for half a second, he saw the central nodule glowing like a negative against the night.
***
THE CREATURE’S ARM tightened around Felipe’s neck as it held him in an iron grip.
Both of the dead men looked familiar, but he didn’t want to think about that right now.
Above him, Gwen grunted with effort as she leaned out the window and wrenched the taller man’s arm away from Felipe’s head with her mind.
The gun swung wildly between Felipe and the house as spots danced in front of his eyes.
Somehow, someway, he needed to end this.
He just needed to figure out how. Felipe drove his knife into its thigh, but it felt nothing and didn’t loosen its hold even a fraction.
He cursed under his breath and thrashed.
It still didn’t let go even as wet, rotting flesh slid under the man’s sleeve.
“Felipe, aim for the shorter one’s left eye!” Oliver yelled as he stumbled in front of him. His partner’s eyes squeezed closed in pain as he held his head with gritted teeth. “Sorry, my left!”
Forcing his arm up slowly, Felipe tried to blindly aim the gun.
The cartilage of his throat creaked as he squeezed the trigger.
The blast singed the side of his face as gun powder and the saw dusty smell of burnt bone filled his nose.
His left ear screamed like a tea kettle, but the corpse finally collapsed.
Felipe’s knees nearly buckled under its sudden dead weight as he shrugged the man off like a sodden coat.
Where was Oliver? He winced at the throbbing pain in his ear.
He wasn’t used to his eardrum not immediately healing, and the shrill keening made it hard to think.
As he turned, he caught Oliver yelling something, but it was garbled in his ears.
Too late he felt the searing heat of a bullet punch into his arm.
Three. The dagger dropped as his left hand hung uselessly at his side.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Oliver rushed to him, reaching for the bloodied arm, but Felipe shoved him back toward the house.
You didn’t put precious things in harm’s way.
One of his knives whizzed past and lodged in the taller man’s eye.
Felipe paused, hoping it was over, but the dead man didn’t slow.
He raised the gun again, and Felipe threw himself on top of Oliver.
The wood of the old stable shattered above their heads in a hail of splinters.
Two. He could barely hear himself as he ordered Oliver back to the house, but Oliver didn’t move.
His grey eyes widened, and he said something Felipe didn’t catch before pulling him flat to his chest. Another knife sailed through the air and lodged in the corpse’s wrist. The dead investigator paused and stared at its hand as if trying to get its fingers to work, but the heavy gun tipped forward, dragging its useless hand with it.
Scrambling away from Oliver, Felipe kicked and sent the gun flying into the grass.
Felipe staggered back as a wave of dizziness sent the yard off kilter, but he pushed it back and pulled on the secondhand adrenaline rolling off Oliver.
Soon, he could collapse in a heap and replay every mistake.
He just needed to stay on his feet long enough to kill this monster.
The creature stared at its empty hand, but as Felipe tried to swing his revolver into position, the dead man yanked the knife from its socket and charged.
Time slowed to a crawl as Oliver dove between Felipe and the dead man and yelled something up at Gwen.
The taller investigator reared back like a startled horse, but Felipe was already shoving Oliver out of the way.
The keening in his ears died to a muffled pressure as the knife sank into his flesh.
White hot pain bloomed in his side as the dead man ripped out the blade and raised his arm for a second strike.
Something grabbed Felipe by the shoulders and hauled him out of the way before he could convince his body to move.
Cupping his hands over the wound, Felipe bit down a cry at the sudden surge of pain.
Blood leaked through his pajamas, but something horribly soft and familiar protruded through the wound.
Not now. He couldn’t— He still needed to—
Two shots blasted through the man’s left thigh in an explosion of shattered flesh and bone.
The dead man’s eyes widened as the uncanny light left them, and it slumped in a heap atop its splintered leg.
Leaning back against Oliver, Felipe traced the bullets’ path to the upper window where Mr. Allen still stared down the smoking barrel of the Henry repeater.
A relieved laugh slipped from Felipe’s lips, but when he looked up at Oliver, his eyes were filled with tears.
Fuck.