Abaddon

Abaddon Part 12

 The sun was up now. The time had come. Nevertheless, Agatha sat still. The golden hour was softening to plain, white daylight and she was worried that she may soon nod off.

It was time. She could delay this no longer.

Agatha stood from the bench and took a wooden stake from her waist as she paced down the alley toward the heavy, metal door. The tip was a bit dull and it would take some effort finish off vampires with it after the first few kills. It was all she had, though. She'd have to make do.

She approached the door and stopped for a moment. She looked to her right and breathed deeply. This could very well be her final breath of fresh air. She'd considered this many times, of course, though she thought now with a sense of pleasant surprise that she might be quite lucky for her final fresh breath to be taken under a warm, full sun. So few slayers got such an opportunity.

She had taken long enough. It was time.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Agatha wrapped her fist against the door and waited.

"Who is it?" A raspy voice shouted out at her.

Agatha wasn't sure how to answer and so she smashed her fist against the heavy door again, this time even harder.

"Bloody hell, alright!" There was a rustling as a number of locks were removed and finally the door cracked slightly. "Now, show yourself! Who is-"

Agatha lunged her shoulder into the door and blew it open. The vampire behind it, a scrawny man patchy hair fell with a thud onto his back. He looked up at Agatha bearing his fangs, but she simply stepped to the side and let in a long, harsh beam of light which cremated the beast where it lay.

The vampire howled in pain as flame quickly engulfed him and Agatha immediately heard loud footsteps clomping toward her. The hall was long and dusty with two hallways shooting off of either side. At the very far end sat another thick door which was shut tightly. Two by two, pairs of vampires, their foreheads wrinkled and fangs gleaming, came out from the sides and into the main hall. Agatha stood, gripping her stake, in the center of the sunbeam which entered from the door. The vampires gathered at the edge of the light, as if daring her to enter.

Agatha was beginning to reconsider. She was staring down a group of at least ten foes, all angry and ready for battle. Even in her younger days, this would've been a tall order. Today, it felt very nearly like a suicide mission. Even after all of this fighting, should she survive, she had no clue what was awaiting her behind the next door, and she couldn't even be sure that Abaddon was actually here. Especially if he had been growing increasingly afraid of her, perhaps he'd fled to another hiding place or even left the city of London all together.

Suddenly, the handle of the far door begun to rustle. Agatha tightened her grip around the wooden stake in her hand, driving a few stray splinters deep into her palms. The door creaked open slowly, but Agatha knew by the slow and pompous footsteps she heard that he was behind it.

"Agatha, darling. We've been expecting you."

"And here I am." Agatha spoke through gritted teeth. This was it. The best chance she'd had since arriving in London to finish this. She looked about the room and felt quite confident that Abaddon and his four minions standing before her were the only foes she would find here in the building. Could she take five of them alone? Perhaps not, but Abaddon must die. She could not be remembered for failing to defeat him.

"Well?" Abaddon's voice bounced cooly off of the dusty walls. "Aren't you going to come and play?"

With a quick breath, Agatha lunged forward and gripped the unbuttoned shirt of the vampire just in front of her. She dropped to her knees and used the momentum to sling the beast all the way out of the door and into the direct sunlight. Flames sprouted from it's shoulders and it ran screaming toward the door but fell to dust before reaching safety.

Agatha spent just a second too long admiring this kill, though, and she felt long and jagged nails digging into her shoulders. They were pulling her backwards, dragging her across the concrete, but Agatha planted her feet into the ground and leapt backwards. Agatha and the two vampire landed in a heap on the floor and she was beginning to find her footing when another beast grabbed by her shirt and lifted her up.

Agatha was slammed into the concrete wall and all of the air in her lungs seemed to flee from her. With all of the strength she could muster, she was holding the vampire off of her with her left arm as her right gripped the stake with her fingertips.

The beast was chomping at her, drooling from its fanged mouth and dust matted on its wrinkled face. Closer and closer the vampire pushed forward until its face disappeared from sight and Agatha could feel its cold saliva dripping onto her exposed neck. Finally, she regained her grip upon the stake and drove it as hard as she could into the vampires breast. The pressure upon her shoulders melted away as it collapsed to dust.

Agatha had only just fallen back to the floor, however, when the two remaining monsters grabbed her, each squeezing both hands tightly around each one of her wrists. Once again she was slammed against the hard concrete and this time, she could not hold them off. She tried with all she could muster to close her wingspan but the was exhausted. It was hopeless.

The slow, clacking footsteps came again and through her blurring vision, Agatha saw Abaddon approaching. He wore a smug smile upon his face which came into sharp focus as he reached her. He reached above her head and took a firm grip of a handful of Agatha's hair. He pulled hard, crushing her head into the concrete and forcing her into eye contact with him.

"Oh, darling. I will so miss this. You were so much fun to play with."

Agatha's mouth was bone dry but she gathered which spit she could and launched it into his face. Abaddon only smiled and wiped it away with his free hand.

Agatha tried one more time to pull her arms free but she made little progress. Suddenly, a sharp, burning pain shot into both of her wrists as the beasts sunk their gleaming teeth into her veins. A gasp escaped Agatha's mouth which she quickly pulled back.

She was going to die. She knew that. The least she could do was die with dignity.

Abaddon stared into her eyes and seemed disappointed when Agatha said nothing to him.

"Hmm. Woman of few words, I see. No shame there. Quiet and stoic is a perfectly respectable way to reach the end of your story, Slayer." With a grin, he slid out of her site and Agatha felt the sharp tips of his teeth against her neck.

"Fortunately," he whispered, inches from her ear. "Your story is not quite over."

Agatha furrowed her brow in confusion as Abaddon's needle-like teeth sunk deeply into her neck. She wondered with horror what he could mean as her vision slowly blurred and then faded to black.