"You no guess. You know. Hurts to get cut open… Fine, I tell story, but is hard to remember. Nazis thought they could use Cursed One. Helped him… tried to do then, what he trying to do again now. Cursed One was weaker then, his body was not solid yet. He was like you, want to hurry, not want to learn. He could not get artifact himself, made deal with Nazi bastards. They stole artifact, hurt the Guardian, thought they kill, but not realize he not can die. Took to Place of Power. Here, this place, in my time." He gestured around the church.
"What happened?"
"Cursed One was fool. Time was wrong. Artifact not work. Tattooed Man came, fought here in the snow, destroyed them, took back artifact." That explained the strange dream that I had had in the hospital while I was waiting for Myers' phone call.
"He hid the artifact again. This time vampires help Cursed One. They steal artifact. Bury Guardian under mountain, but even that not kill him."
I shook my head. I had dreamed that. "No, I mean you. What happened to you?"
He shrugged. "I not important, Boy. Important thing is beat them now."
"We will," I promised.
"Only before, they wrong. They fail, and they die. Guardian kill them. Now Cursed One is smarter and stronger. He not mess up again this time… Enough. I must show you more of his memories."
"I hate seeing through his eyes. It's like I'm not myself. It's like I'm actually in his head. I don't like it at all."
"Is… how you say… necessary. I understand, Boy. Is shitty feeling to be stuck in some other body's head. Now shush. You must learn."
At this point I knew the drill. I bowed down so he could place his hands on my head.
"If any consolation, inside your head is much nicer than his."
"Thanks."
Lord Machado's memories.
A giant pyramid, deep in the jungle. The midnight moon fat and heavy over us. The climb to the top of the huge, ancient thing, covered in strange, faded carvings, leaving us sweat-soaked and exhausted beneath our armor. Far removed from the conquered city, nearly two weeks deep into the trackless wilderness, and this lone edifice was the only thing to be seen.
This was the Place of Power.
The sacrifice was prepared.
Tonight was the night. Tonight the ceremony would be comp—
The vision suddenly ended. I was sitting on the steps of the church. The Old Man jerked his hands back in surprise. His eyes widened behind his glasses.
"What happened? Why did the memory stop?" I felt as if I had been on the verge of learning something. I did not know what, but something important about stopping the Cursed One.
"Boy. You must go. Great danger comes!" He grabbed his cane, holding it in his frail hands like it was a weapon. The reaction seemed purely instinctual.
"What?" I jumped to my feet, but the imaginary world of the battle-damaged village was still as unnaturally quiet as ever. "What comes?"
"Go!" he shouted.
I woke with a start and flung the sheets aside. It was dark inside the little guest room, but I knew right where I had left my weapons. I reached down and grabbed Abomination, my finger flipped the selector down to semi auto, and I waited. The room was quiet except for my breathing and the pounding of blood in my head. I listened. The house itself was eerily silent.
"Owen."
I pointed the shotgun at the voice but froze before my finger moved to the trigger. Julie's form was silhouetted in the faint light coming from the window. I gasped and moved the muzzle aside.
"Julie? I almost shot you." I was surprised. I had not sensed her until she had spoken. She glided across the room toward me. In the dark, I could barely make out that she was wearing nothing but a small nightgown that stirred slightly in the breeze.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. It was a stupid question.
"Shh." She climbed onto the bed. She brushed the shotgun aside as she crawled over my legs, hiking up the flimsy nightgown as she went. Julie's lips sought mine, found them. She pushed me down, kissing me, running her face down my neck. Her hands pulled at my shirt, caressing the lines of scar tissue across my chest.
I responded. Clumsily I rubbed my hands over her body, feeling the silky gown slide about over her skin. I forgot about my dream, I forgot about the warning. Ever since I had met her I had wanted to be with her, but I had doubted that it would ever happen. I doubted, but apparently I had been wrong.
I was in love with Julie Shackleford, and she had come to me in the night. I did not care about anything other than that.
The breeze stung the sweat on my arms.
Breeze?
Why was my window open?
I froze. She did not stop moving against me. She licked my neck hungrily, excitedly. My throat was damp. I could not feel her breath.
She was not breathing.
Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. "NO!" I shouted as I twisted away.
Seemingly surprised at the interruption, she fought me, pushing herself down against my throat. I took my hands from her body and grabbed her by the hair. I tried to pull her head away from my neck. She was stronger than I was, impossibly strong. Using my weight and a whole lot of desperation, I rolled off of the bed and took her with me. We crashed to the floor.
Razor-white teeth flashed in the moonlight. She was still trying to bite me. I struggled, shouting for help, and she swatted me in the face. My cranium bounced off of the floorboards.
In the last minute, I had been asleep, surprised, confused, then horny, followed by terrified, but now I was just pissed off.
I hit her again and again. She jumped off of me with unnatural speed, landing on her feet. I kicked at her, but she caught my bare ankle, picked me up as if I was a child, and swung me violently into the wall. I impacted sideways, broke several boards and fell painfully to the floor.
She grabbed me by the back of my neck and jerked me to my feet. I grasped her much smaller hands and tried to pry them away; it was a futile effort. I might as well have been bending steel bars. The voice was definitely not Julie's.
"Quit fighting. You belong to me now."
The lights came on. She twisted me around so that I faced the door.
The real Julie Shackleford stood in the doorway, pistol in hand. I looked directly down the.45 caliber hole in the barrel as I heard the safety snick off. This Julie was dressed, armed, and she looked really mad.
"Stinking vamps. You heard him. No means no." She braced herself against the doorjamb, looking for a clear shot. The clamp-like grip around my neck moved me into position as a human shield. I felt another hand grab onto my shoulder as the vampire peered around me. The pain was incredible, and the threat was unspoken. If Julie shot, then the undead would snap my neck.
The grip on my neck intensified, cutting off some of the blood flow to my brain. The vampire spoke. The voice sounded almost like Julie with a more pronounced accent, but somehow dusty with age, as if not used to speaking often.
"Hi, honey… I'm home."
Julie's jaw dropped open in surprise. She blinked several times, and shook her head. It looked like she was about to pass out from shock. The muzzle of her 1911 dipped slightly as her shooting stance fell apart.
"Mom?"
Not good, I thought to myself.
"Julie. You're all grown up. Look at you."
"Mom?" Julie refocused, the gun moved back into position. "But, but you're dead."
The vampire moved me slightly as she conversed with her daughter. "I'm not dead, honey. I'm right here. Everything is going to be just fine."
Holly appeared in the doorway, she raised her rifle and pointed it at my head as well. Now that made me real nervous. Though she was training hard and getting better, she was still a pretty lousy shot. If I had to choose between the emotionally stunned sharpshooter or the Newbie, I knew which one I wanted to take the shot. I managed to grunt out one request.
"Hol… let… Julie… shoot… ugh." The vampire shook me like a rag doll.
"Shut it, blood bag," the creature hissed. "I'm having a conversation here."
"Let him go, bitch," Holly commanded. She tucked her face down tight against the stock and peered through the sights. "Or I'll blow your brains out."
"You can't be here. You haven't been invited," Julie said. She sounded rather confused.
"This is my home," she replied. "I don't need an invitation."
"Mom. Please. This can't be happening. You disappeared. We thought you were dead."
"Come on, honey. You had to have suspected this. You knew what I was working on when I left. You never found my body." I could hear the gentle smile creep into the creature's voice, trying to once again be the loving parent. "I'm just here for your daddy," the vampire said soothingly.
"Julie, you have one fucked up family," Holly stated.
"Ack… Ugh…" I agreed.
I heard rapid speaking in the hallway, a desperate call for help. Trip stepped quickly into the room behind Holly. He still had his cell phone in one hand. He moved off to the side as he raised his subgun. Now I had three weapons pointed at my head, and the triangulation of fire was giving the vampire less room to hide. She backed up, dragging my heavy bulk along easily. We were backed into a corner.
"Mom. How could you become… become one of them?" Julie asked plaintively.
"I didn't have much choice, dear. But once you get used to it, it is wonderful. I can do things that you can't even imagine. I can feel things that would stop your heart if you experienced them. I have eternal youth and beauty. Come with me… We can take your daddy. The change will be good for him. It will fix his mind. We can be a family again."
"Never," Julie said with determination. Her brown eyes narrowed as she concentrated on her front sight.
"Suit yourself, dear. But it beats being a rotting piece of meat… like your boyfriend here is going to be if you don't back the hell off of me." She picked me up off of the ground. I cringed as my vertebrae popped. All pretenses of motherly love vanished. "I didn't want to kill you, honey, but if you push me, then I don't have a choice. I'm taking your daddy back no matter what."