Chapter 22 #2
They settled a bit and slowly turned to squint at him. One wore a headband with werewolf ears, the lower half of her face slick with snot and tears. The other had the hood of her pink zip-up over her head, her eyes red and watery.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Demetrius whispered. “Okay?”
The women nodded, still sniffling.
“You need to go. Follow me to the back exit. When you get outside, run to the right, all the way to Memorial Park. Do you know where that is?”
More nodding.
“Good. Come on.”
He peered out into the hall. Lucia, Oliver, and Dave were all staring at him, Lucia’s eyebrows drawn down tight.
Beyond them, nothing moved in the heavily shadowed dining area.
Demetrius rolled his eyes at them, then led the women back down the hall to the exit.
They held hands as they followed, the headband sitting askew on the one woman’s head.
“Our friends are inside,” the one in the pink hoodie whispered. “Can you get them out, too?”
“We’ll try.” He pushed the glass door open and held it, allowing them to slip past. “Run, as fast as you can.”
They ran.
He let the door close quietly before turning back to the others.
A vampire dropped from the ceiling in the space between Demetrius and the others.
It was a man wearing a leather jacket and sporting a shaved head with tattoos across his scalp.
His beard was dark and matted with blood as he rushed toward him.
Demetrius raised the gun and fired. The bullet hit the vampire in the throat, stopping him in his tracks.
He clutched at the wound, gulping as a river of black blood poured down his chest.
The point of a stake erupted through his chest and the vampire dissolved into a dark, slick mess.
Oliver stood there, face pale and eyes wide as he clutched the other end of the stake.
Behind him, Demetrius saw Lucia and Dave launch themselves into the chaos exploding in the dining area as more vampires dropped from the ceiling.
Dave sprayed anything that moved with his water rifle, and Lucia was right beside him, trying to line up a shot in all of the confusion.
Demetrius and Oliver paused at the end of the hall, trying to figure out where to help.
“No!” Oliver suddenly shouted, then he bolted into the mess of wrecked chairs and tables to where a vampire had pinned Dave to the counter. Oliver stabbed his stake into the woman’s back, and she threw back her head and screamed, but she didn’t disintegrate.
The stab got her to release her hold on Dave, however, and he stuffed a garlic bulb in her open mouth.
Her fingers clawed around her lips as smoke billowed up from her mouth, and she turned back and forth, her red eyes wide with panic and pain.
Finally, Demetrius saw Oliver’s lips move in what looked like an apology before he stabbed her in the heart and she liquefied.
As Lucia was trying to find a clear shot at a vampire reaching for Gayle, another vampire dropped from the ceiling behind her.
He wrapped his arms around Lucia, pinning her arms to her sides.
She screamed up at the ceiling as he tightened his grip, and, before Demetrius could assist, someone moving too fast for him to recognize struck out.
The vampire’s head rocked back, and he released Lucia.
She stumbled slightly, but recovered quick and turned, raising her weapon.
Before she could get off a shot, Dave bumped into her from behind, throwing her off.
Lucia’s attacker advanced again, but a woman stepped up beside her, eyes glowing red and fists clenched as she faced down the attacker.
With a jolt of surprise, Demetrius recognized Marlowe.
Lucia jerked her head back, clearly surprised as well, watching Marlowe charge the other vampire.
They fought in a tangle of arms and flashing fangs, busting up tables and chairs as they clashed.
It ended when Marlowe ducked what looked like a powerful haymaker before she drove her hand into his chest. When he dissolved, she slowly straightened and looked over her shoulder at Lucia.
Demetrius saw Lucia give a single nod before turning away to join the battle.
Across the room, Cody and Deputy Alberti stood back to back.
Cody sprayed everyone with garlic water, human and vampire alike, while Alberti held his gun in one hand and a cross in the other, his eyes wide and jaw clenched.
Marlowe’s arrival had tipped the scales slightly in their favor, but where was Zenona?
He looked at the gun Lucia had given him, then at the confusion of bodies.
Stuffing the weapon in the back of his shorts, he ran down the hall to the utility closet across from the bathrooms and yanked open the door.
Two young men cowering inside screamed and threw plastic bottles of cleaning solution at him.
“Stop!” Demetrius said, batting the bottles aside. One glanced off his forehead and he winced. “Ow! Stop! I’m human!”
The onslaught ceased, and Demetrius got a better look at them. They were in their mid-twenties, and one of the men stood half in front of the other, his jaw thrust out and his eyes hard.
“Who are you?” the man said.
“For fuck’s sake, I’m human and here to help,” Demetrius said. “Get out of there. Go out the back exit and run to Memorial Park, do you know where that is?”
Nods from both of them, and the man in front grabbed the other man’s hand and pulled him out into the hall. They both stopped and stared at the fighting just down the hall.
“Where are Nat and Bree?” whispered the second man.
“One in a pink hoodie and the other with werewolf ears?” Demetrius asked. Both men nodded. “They’re at the park. Get out of here.”
The men fled. Demetrius grabbed the mop from inside the closet and leaned it against the wall. He stomped on the wood handle, snapping it just above the mop head. Holding the handle across his chest, he stalked out into the fight, searching for Cody.