Chapter 14

November Twenty-first

"Look, you obstinate son of a bitch," Mark said vehemently. "I'm telling you that you've got this all wrong. Tom and Mia aren't some kinda evil monsters. If it wasn't for them, Pittsburgh would have been truly screwed. You're wrong about me, too; I'm no friggin' traitor, to my species or anything else."

Balathu ignored him. It was far from the first tirade the chubby cop had made since Balathu and Iltana had abducted him. Balathu was tired of listening to it. For that matter, he was tired period, having spent the entire two hour drive to Spartansburg performing a particularly complicated incantation. At the conclusion, he had spent a hurried five minutes asking questions while the effects of the spell were active.

Mark's eyes had bulged out in shock when he found himself unable to answer those questions less than truthfully or withhold any information. The worst part was that the spell had confirmed that the man actually believed that the abominations were his friends.

Balathu spared Mark a pitying gaze. He seemed like a decent, honest person, overall. It must be horrible for him to be so in thrall to the monsters. Balathu wondered if any part of him realized what had happened and was screaming with horror back in the dim recesses of his mind.

If things went well tonight, Balathu would give him his freedom. He wondered how Mark would react. Would he be overcome with guilt at the atrocities he had no doubt committed while a slave of the abominations, or would he want vengeance? Perhaps, if the latter was the case, he would be willing to assist Balathu in ridding the city of any remaining taint from the undead.

His original plan had been to get close to their lair and then wait for daylight, but he had been forced to discard it following Mark's description of the vault in which the abominations spent their days. Still, with the element of surprise and Sun's Anger, victory should be possible even at night.

Iltana turned the car onto the one lane gravel road that marked the end of the directions that Mark had unwillingly given them. A few minutes later, they pulled to a stop in front of a large cedar home. Balathu stared at the place in bemusement. He had expected something more ... foreboding. After gagging Kimmel, he told Iltana to wait for him in the car and marched the cop to the front door. The arrogance of the abominations was such that it wasn't even locked. Following Mark's usual practice they just walked inside.

As they passed through the kitchen, a male voice, undoubtedly McNelly's, called out from the other room, "Pizza's in the oven, Mark. Go ahead and grab a couple of slices and come on in. We're in the living room."

Freeing Sun's Anger and summoning the Sight, Balathu forced Mark down into one of the kitchen chairs. He quickly attached a pair of fur covered cuffs he and Iltana had purchased at one of Pittsburgh's sex shops between those that bound Mark's wrists and one of the chair's legs. He then headed toward the source of the voice.

As the battle grew near, his heartbeat quickened, and he felt sweat bead on his forehead. He couldn't help the surge of fear that coursed through him. According to doctrine, the sword protected its wielder from domination by the monsters, but Balathu had never put that to the test.

When he rounded the corner from the kitchen to the living room, he saw the female abomination, Mia, and the obviously pregnant Dana Smith sitting on an overstuffed sofa. They were laughing over baby sweaters that they had been knitting. Part of him noted that none of the four sleeves were anywhere close to the same length. McNelly was sitting on the floor in front of a half assembled crib, mulling over a set of instructions.

His blood running cold at the thought of what the creatures had planned for the unborn child, he charged at Mia without hesitation. All three gaped at him in surprise as he rapidly closed the distance between them. At the last moment, Mia leapt to the side. He dipped the sword to counter her move, and was rewarded when it sliced deeply into her thigh with a hiss and a puff of smoke. Mia fell heavily to the floor, her scream of agony echoing loudly in the large room.

"No!" McNelly shouted as he threw himself atop his consort.

Balathu readied the blade for a thrust that should pass through them both, but he found he could not complete it. Muscles straining hard against nothing, he could only watch as McNelly dragged Mia far out of the range of his sword. In his peripheral vision - he could not turn his head - he saw that Dana was in a state similar to his. She stood frozen, holding a lamp by its neck. The heavy base had stopped mere inches from his head.

A resounding crash and the sound of shattering glass came from the direction of the kitchen. Moments later, a short, slight man came into view. With one hand he carelessly held Iltana by the shoulder. Her eyes were glassy, and she made no attempt to struggle. With his other hand he reached for Sun's Anger. He gingerly pulled it from Balathu's grip, and handled it like he expected it to bite him.

"Ahh, much better," he muttered, seemingly to himself.

Balathu's body relaxed, and, despite all of his efforts to resist, he moved to stand at his ease in the midst of his enemies. The newcomer pushed Iltana over to stand at Balathu's side as he relieved Dana of her makeshift weapon. Guided by the newcomer's touch, she walked to the couch and sat down.

The newcomer walked from person to person, staring at each for a few minutes before moving on to the next. When Balathu's turn came, it was like his life passed before his eyes in a flash of memories. He wanted to run, to hide, but his body remained relaxed and motionless. After what felt like an eternity, the ancient abomination, for he could be nothing else, returned his attention to Mia and Tom. Tom clutched the woman to his chest and twisted around as if to shield her from the ancient's gaze.

"Interesting," the ancient said softly, again apparently to himself. "Could you be what had Mother so excited?"

Lowering his eyes to the blackened gash on Mia's leg, he said in a much louder voice, "That will take a long time to heal. The limb will be nearly useless until it does. See to it that she feeds, and feeds often."

Without another word, the ancient turned on his heel and walked back to the kitchen. Screaming silently inside the confines of his own mind, Balathu turned to follow. He was dimly aware of Iltana keeping pace behind him.