Dread Nemesis of Mine

chapter 19

I gave up trying to draw the sword, and readied my fists for a fight. Gray emotionless eyes regarded me. The golem tilted his—its—head ever so slightly to the right.

"Has this entity offended you?" it said.

"What's wrong with him?" Katie asked, staring at the gray hue of the golem's skin. "Did Maximus do something to the poor man?"

Words finally came to my tongue. "You're a golem. A gray man."

It held its hands out, inspecting them as if for the first time. "This entity—I—am gray. Is it wrong to be this color?"

My adrenaline rush faded. Either this gray man meant me no harm, or it was playing nice until I let my guard down. I'd fought these things before and knew I could take them one-on-one. Still, I wasn't about to turn my back on the thing. Positioning myself behind one of the tables, I nodded a head at the pile of bodies. "What did Maximus do to those people?"

The golem approached the pile and knelt, taking a limp hand in his. "They are also gray."

Tearing my eyes off the golem, I soaked in details I'd missed earlier. Some bodies in the pile wore gray suits. Some were without clothing. Without exception, they were all gray.

"Whoa, that's sick," Katie said, kneeling next to one of the bodies. Part of the skull hung open, revealing shiny metal inside.

I snatched Katie away from the golem. "Don't go near him."

The gray man stood and faced me. "I cannot harm you, Justin. You preserved my existence; therefore, I am bound to your service."

"Bound to my service? Like a slave?"

"I am required to follow your directives."

"What if I told you to jump off a cliff?"

The golem paused to regard me for a moment with its gray eyes. "How tall is this cliff?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "Like a thousand feet tall."

"Would there be obstructions such as rocks or other debris at the bottom, or would there be deep water?"

"Jagged rocks."

Again, the gray man seemed to ponder the question. "The probability that such a jump would end this entity's—my—existence would likely result in declining such an order."

I couldn't help it. I burst into laughter.

"Are you expressing merriment or pain?" it asked.

I stifled another bout of laughter and took a deep breath. "I was laughing."

"You are amused at the proposition of my demise from a long fall?"

"No, no, no. It's how you refused that made me laugh." This thing was just too bizarre to destroy. It might be lying, but for now, I could put it to use. If we ran into any vampires, I might need a helping hand. "What happened to the other golems?"

"Such information is not inside me. I recall our group approaching this place and entering, but nothing more. Another entity—person—stood over me after an indeterminate period of blackout. It said, 'This one might work.' Another person replied with, 'It had better. It's the last one.'"

Judging from the pile of ten or more bodies, I guessed Maximus might have been trying to reprogram the golems for his own uses. Something odd occurred to me about the pile of inanimate bodies. Golems usually broke down into gray sludge when they died. Whether that was a normal thing or something their creator built in, I didn't know. These gray men had somehow remained whole, maybe because of Maximus's tampering.

Katie knelt again and looked inside the panel on one of the golem's heads. "Ooh, look at this."

I squatted beside her. A light flickered like a candle in a gentle breeze from within the cavity. I peered inside the door. The compartment was rounded and about the size of a tennis ball. A tiny globe of wavering light hovered within, equidistant from the sides. Tiny threads of energy sparked against the metallic surface inside.

"So that's what makes them tick," I said. "I guess it explains why they die if their heads are cut off."

"I have a light within me?" said a voice inches from my ear.

I jerked upright and backed away.

The gray man tilted his head at me. "I apologize if I startled you."

Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. "Guess it'll take some getting used to, having you around." I gestured at the spark. "If your comrade is any indication, yeah, you have one inside you too."

"And this is life?" he said.

Try as I might to think of this golem as an "it", I couldn't stop thinking of the thing as a "he" even though I doubted his creator had bestowed him anything between the legs. "Artificial life," I said. "Not real."

"So, I am not really alive."

"Uh, Justin, we don't have time for existential discussions." Katie pushed herself up and grabbed my hand. "We've got to meet Felicia and get out of here."

A flash of panic raced through me as I realized we'd been dawdling. "Crap, how long has it been?"

"We're going to be overdue if we don't hurry."

"How far?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, but pretty far. Like a couple hundred yards maybe."

I sighed. "Might be faster if you hitched a piggy-back ride."

Katie smiled and hopped on my proffered back. "Thought you'd never ask."

"Come with us and watch our backs," I told the golem, hoping it wasn't a mistake trusting the thing.

"I assume that is an idiom since I will have difficulty seeing your back through the person perched upon it." The golem's tone never wavered from a calm monotone.

"Uh, yeah." I resisted a face-palm. "It means protect us."

"I will."

We ran.

Not more than twenty feet later, we ran into trouble. Literally. Racing up the spiral staircase, I slammed into Amanda and sent her sprawling. She sprang to her feet in an instant, eyes wide, fangs extended at the sight of me.

"How the hell?" She bent her fingers like claws. Looked at Katie and smiled. "Oh. The little morsel helped you. I guess she fell prey to your incubus charms."

Katie slid off my back. I held my hands in what I hoped was a good fighting position. Self-defense remained one of those things I should probably have learned at some point, but the bad guys hadn't given me much breathing room.

Amanda grinned. "I'm going to make short work of you." She flashed forward.

I dodged back, but not before her sharp fingernails raked my hide, leaving bloody trails along my arm. I growled and lunged. Her body swayed left. She grabbed my arm. Twisted it, and used my momentum to drive me into the stone wall. Fireworks burst into my eyes.

"Leave him alone!" Katie yelled.

I looked up in time to see Amanda smack her against the wall like a doll.

A rough hand clawed into my hair and dragged me up. Amanda kneed me in the stomach and followed with a flurry of blows to my chest. Every breath of air exploded from my lungs. I sucked and heaved for oxygen. The vampire kicked my feet out from under me and pinned me to the floor.

"You didn't think Maximus chose me just because I can resist your incubus powers did you?" Her yellowed fangs glittered in the light. "I've studied martial arts for over a hundred years."

"Martial arts this, bitch," said Katie and dumped a flask of silver liquid on Amanda's head.

The vampire screamed as the substance burned the skin on her face. She flailed at Katie, but a gray hand caught the vampire's and held it.

"These martial arts are interesting," said the golem.

Amanda twisted away from the gray man and backed off, wiping the silver liquid from her face. It left angry red welts where it had been. "You think a little silver is going to kill me?" she screamed at Katie. "I'm going to drain you dry, you little tramp."

"I cannot allow such a thing," the gray man said, and stood between her and Katie.

I jumped to my feet and stood beside the golem. "Think you can take on two of us, Amanda?"

"Does a bear crap in the woods?" She lunged.

I let go of my body, and let instinct take control. Her fist flashed for my face. I dodged and felt the wind from its passing. The gray man grabbed her wrist. I grabbed her other arm as she overextended from the missed punch. Together, we drove our knees into her stomach and slammed her against the wall. She recovered faster than I thought possible. Kicked off the wall and flipped forward, twisting at the same time. Her arms slipped from our grasps. Amanda ran back up the stairs and vanished.

Katie stood up, rubbing her bottom, a pained look on her face. "Oh, crap."

"We're going to have company." I looked at the golem. "Where were you at the beginning of the fight?"

"I had returned to our prison room for a moment. I am sorry for the delay."

"Yeah, well keep close from here on out."

Katie clambered onto my back and wrapped her legs around my waist. "Let's go."

At the top of the spiral staircase, a long hall ran to the left and right, wide enough for four people to walk abreast. The stone construction looked old but sturdy. Doors lined the corridor to our right. To the left, the tunnel ended at a red metal door with skull and crossbones on it.

"What's in there?" I asked.

"No idea. They keep it locked all the time." Katie motioned to the right. "That way."

I jogged in down the corridor, and peered inside the first open door. It had obviously been a prison cell, converted into a room complete with a bunk bed and rug.

"This used to be a dungeon," Katie said as we raced down the hall. "This is where most of the vampires live, but thankfully, it's still dark topside, so they're probably all up there."

A young woman stepped from a doorway and yelped as we almost ran her over.

Katie motioned with her hand as we approached a junction. "Take a left at the fork."

I nearly plowed into a guy and girl who were making out hot and heavy just outside a doorway. Ahead, a group of people mingled, drinking, laughing, and talking. Loud music started up.

"Act casual," Katie said.

"With you on my back?"

"Yes."

All eyes settled on the gray man as our group pushed through the crowded hall. From what I could tell, they were all noms—normal humans.

"What's wrong with him?" asked a girl, the alcohol on her breath concentrated enough to start a fire. She grabbed at the golem's hand.

"Too much alcohol," Katie said, and then yelled, "Giddy up, horsey!"

I made a whinnying sound and the crowd burst into laughter as we galloped away. A moment later, we reached a set of stairs leading up to an open archway.

"We have to be careful here," Katie whispered in my ear. She climbed off my back. "It'll be better if we walk. At the top of the stairs is the courtyard. We'll need to take a right and go through a tunnel to reach the dumpsters."

I nodded and looked at the golem. Unless it was pitch black, he'd stand out like a sore thumb in his gray suit. I looked inside a couple of the rooms and found an open suitcase with clothes about his size. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and a baseball cap. "Put these on."

"They do not match, Justin."

"I don't care. Now hurry!"

He stripped down to a pair of gray boxers while Katie watched with uneasy fascination. His hairless body appeared lean and muscular, his skin the same bloodless gray as his face. He slid on the jeans and the orange soccer jersey, sliding the baseball cap over his slicked-down, silvery hair last. Katie stood on her tiptoes and spun the hat around backwards, then slid a pair of wraparound shades on the golem's face.

She dusted off her hands. "Perfect."

The golem's expression never changed, but I figured if he had a miserable look, this was it.

"Am I sufficiently disguised?" he said.

"Yeah." I ducked into a room and grabbed a ball cap and shades for myself, slid them on. I waved toward the stairs. "Lead on, Katie."

She went up to the archway and peered through. Motioned us to follow. "Clear."

The compound looked like a fortress. A tall wall ran around the perimeter. Adobe buildings of varying size crowded the edges while a large brick-paved courtyard held the center. The shadowy forms of vampires patrolled the tops of the walls, and the courtyard was full of vampires. I'd expected them to be partying it up like the humans below, but they were all business.

Several long lines wended through the area. At the end of each one stood vampires handing out rifles and ammunition while yet another shouted squad assignments. Almost without exception, each vampire wore a band around their arm with the pierced heart of Blood Rush emblazoned upon it. No matter how raw these recruits might be, this place was obviously built with defensive capabilities. The Templars were walking into a slaughter. I had to get out of here and warn them.

Gunfire erupted from somewhere across the courtyard. Vampires shouted and raced toward the conflict, rifles at the ready.

"Oh no," I breathed. "I think the Templars are here already."

"We can get out and warn the others," Katie said, tugging my hand. "That's about all we can do."

"What the hell are you newbs doing out of the dungeon?" said an angry male voice from behind.

I turned and came face-to-face with an armed vampire. "Just wanted to see what's going on, sir."

He grabbed my shirt and pulled me close. "We told you—wait a minute. You don't smell human." His eyes went wide and he opened his mouth.

A gray hand gripped his throat and squeezed. The vampire struggled, but couldn't dislodge the hand. I walloped him in the face and he went limp. Katie took the rifle from his shoulder and slung it over hers.

"Carry him," I told the golem. "We can't leave him here."

The gray man tossed the unconscious vampire over his shoulder.

Somehow, we made it to the short tunnel and emerged in the middle of overflowing dumpsters. Despite Felicia's assurances, I spotted an arm poking out from one and shuddered.

The gray man tossed his unconscious passenger in an open dumpster and closed the lid.

"Where is Felicia?" Katie said, looking around the dumpsters while pinching her nose tight.

I checked the time. We were five minutes past due, but surely that wasn't enough time for her to assume something terrible had gone wrong and go looking for us, was it? Katie vanished behind a dumpster. A moment later she made an excited noise and reappeared.

"I found the exit Underborn told me about and opened it. We can go."

"Not without Adam's sister."

"At least don't stand out in the open—" Katie's mouth dropped open.

Amanda and a cluster of vampires rounded the corner, guns drawn. Some had rifles. Others held pistols. They all looked ready for blood.