Lethal Beauty

LVII - Twins

As the truck raced out of the forest and Delbert did his best to navigate it, Jessen struggled to get up, dragging himself back to the driver's seat. The other bat hovered above him, cackling and clearly elated at his struggle. In fact, the same bat was calling for his companions, resolute in stopping their group from reaching the academy. As the devil approached, he aimed a bite at the neck but it was too swift and the shaking caused him to stumble and fall. Inside the truck, Judy opened the small window that separated the bulkhead from the driver's seat and saw Delbert trying to take control of the truck.

"JUMP!"

Delbert was completely panicking, watching her in the rearview mirror. "What do you mean jump?!"

"GET OUT OF THE TRUCK!"

Jessen hanging on the side by his claws heard her loud and clear at the same time he raised his head to see now a dozen of shtriga in their bat form coming in over at a snatching level like rockets. In one swift motion, his claw pulled the door next to the driver seat, and with his jaw, he pulled Delbert out by the collar at the same time Judiel was carried by Lux and Iris carried Abel, followed by Milo, Lexus, and CC---

Dozens of bats wailed and crashed into the cab with such force, smashing to the cargo, and by the time one of them saw a bunch of glycerin tubes wrapped around a dozen silver spikes, it was already too late. The force of the collision and the terrible speed of the truck with the absence of the driver flipped it violently. The truck hit the ground and exploded. Several of the spikes nailed those shtriga in their bat form. They shrieked in horror and then transformed back to themselves, losing their wings, they dropped out of the sky, decaying into molten rot, screaming all the way...

Some of their parts spilled out of the bed as it rolled before coming to a horrible, mangled rest upside down deep in the field and turning into ashes.

Silence. The eerie stillness that came after terrible cacophonies. A very curt and very shaken yet very much alive Delbert lifted his head. He thought he saw a cougar dragged him out to safety but found Jessen sitting beside him instead, panting heavily at the scene.

The others were the same too. Bruised but alive. Then he remembered that technically speaking, he was the only human in this group since Judy and Abel were bother dhampirs!

"Great! You blew that truck and everything there," he stated. "What are we supposed to use now against what's coming ahead?"

Judy showed him a suitcase and weapons they carried with them. "We only take what we need. Those weapons were created to rage war against the vampire race anyway. It ought to be destroyed."

Milo also carried a suitcase with him, "...and Abel's blood. But wait, how are we supposed to know which ones are legit shtriga and which ones are created by Cain?"

Abel spoke, "I don't think Eve brought any of the shtriga that were naturally born. I think her army was created by Cain himself. But if we must answer that, I think I know how."

Iris glanced at him, "Abel..."

"I'm fine. I don't feel the least bit of affection towards him or the mother who gave birth to me. I will never forget that they conspired to kill my nonna. This isn't about revenge too. I just don't think Cain should exist. Even without Eve, I've seen how evil his heart is. If we want to know which are the ones he created, we must destroy the creator. You're with me, right?"

"Yes," Iris pulled him into an embrace and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. They're not my family. YOU ARE."

"Well, we are here. AGAIN." Lexus said and there they saw; a few miles ahead was the tall gate of Saint Constantine. He glanced at Milo who was standing by his side with a knowing grimace. "Welcome home, I guess..."