A Girl in the Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A figure emerged from the dean's office. Like the pervious hunters, he was heavily armored. A gas mask covered his face, and steel-plated guards shielded his neck. High quality earmuffs guarded his ears. I squinted in the light. The hunter's fingers danced over a machete. My machete.

"Do you like my new weapon, Taliah?" he asked.

"Take off the costume, Dean Beck. You're not fooling anyone," I said.

Gasps echoed through the lobby. I turned to see the shocked faced of my comrades.

"Fifteen years I've been the dean of this campus. I worked for years to earn this spot, and ten years ago you started coming in and killing my students. Do you know what that does to a university, hmm? Having four of your students die in ten years?" he said.

"Yes, that would be jack shit. The two you found, you wrote off as suicides. The others were just 'cases of teens going out and going missing,' as you lovingly told the Tampa Tribune." I pointed to my left. "You've got a twenty-million-dollar dorm going up across the way. You haven't taken any flak from the community."

"And I won't," he said. "You thought you could outsmart me. You thought I didn't make enough money to find out about your kind, well, here I am now. Three years of training at one of the best vampire-hunting academies the Tampa Bay area has to offer. Your looking at the top graduate in the class of over a hundred students. I know everything about breeds that there is to know."

"You're bluffing," I said, crossing my arms.

"Oh, is that so? The hunters, what you did with security, it was all for studying. It was all to see how you operated. But most importantly, the trap I set up for you at the campus safety office was to see if your friend, a Slayer, was still here with you," he said, pulling a remote out of his pocket.

Fool. Charge him. I couldn't. Not with Life Ender in his hands. I watched as he pressed a button on the remote. I hollered and was brought to my knees from the sudden burst of light. The lobby was lit up with UV rays. It burned just like the sun. Get out. Get out. I pulled my hood up and ran towards the screams coming from Kai. She was letting out terrifying shrieks, hissing as Tristan attempted to shield her with his cape. Molly bolted to the other side of the room and found refuge under a chair. I held my friend in my arms as she covered her face. She's as good as dead, fool.

"Hang in there, Kai!" I said over her screams. Tristan's cape was thin enough for the rays to go right through.

Squinting and lost, I fumbled over to the closest light. Right as I wrapped my hands around the pole to knock it over, Dean Beck went for the chair. He knocked it to the side, leaving Molly vulnerable. Life Ender was raised over his head. There was enough time. There was always enough time. I knocked the light to the side and went straight for him. The instant I was close enough, he raised up his glove. A massive, LED ray emitted from his hand. My vision was gone.

"I won't let you hurt her!" I cried out, fumbling around with spots in my eyes. "Molly?"

I covered my ears when I heard it. Kai was back, helplessly letting out Slayer Frequency as a final line of defense. I curled into a ball on the floor. Now blind and deaf, I put my hands up. That's good. Stay there. Let him kill you. You've lived long enough. Longer than you should have.

"I surrender, Beck!" My ears were still ringing. "Just don't hurt the others!"

I received no reply, no deep cut to my neck. My fingers ran along the carpet. I felt around for a nearby object. I just told you to stay put. I shook my head. My mind ran wild with memories of the dust cloud, all the grey spirts running in the other direction. I pressed and pressed, tired, hungry, stepping over debris even difficult for me to scale, only to be stopped by the fireman who put his hands on my shoulders. That was what I was feeling: helpless and tired, those same hands on my shoulders. I blinked. My vision was clearing. Dean Beck was in front of me. His neck armor was torn, but holding up.

"Oh good, you can see me now," he said. "Just what I was waiting for. Any last words?" I reached for my pocket knife. His foot went into my chest, pinning me to the floor. He held Life Ender to my throat. "I don't think so, Taliah."

He raised it above me. I shut my eyes and prayed. A loud pop surrounded me. Bits and pieces of the dean's brain were splattered all over the wall. He fell off me, to the side. I tried to catch my breath. How?

It was a split-second motion: a figure dropping from the ceiling, but my vision was still a little spotty. The figure held out it's hand I took it. My thumb glazed over a row of rings when I was back on my feet. I quickly drew back and rubbed my eyes. Spots. I rubbed them again. Blurry, but I had enough sight to realize who was in front of me.

"You good, Talls?" he asked.

"Where on earth did you? How did you? I don't understand," I said.

Ace removed the bandana covering his mouth. "I changed my mind once I hit Tallahassee. Got on another bus and came back to save your ass."

"Ace, I didn't need—"

I turned to the crash on the other side of the room. Tristan knocked over the last of the lights. A triumphant grin made its way across his face. I went back to pick up Life Ender, then searched for Molly. She was over and a corner near the dean's office, curled up and sobbing. I immediately went to her.

"Molly?" I got down to her level. "Molly, are you hurt?" She shook her head. "I know that was scary for you, but it'll be alright, I promise you."

"I just want to go home," she said, hysterical.

"I know." I looked behind me to see Kai in the middle of the floor, Ace hovering over her. A large portion of her face was burned. Angered mumbled came from outside the doors of the front entrance. I was met with the eyes of four officers, then smiled and waved. Oh yes, go ahead and provoke them. That'll buy you some time. I put a hand on Molly's shoulder. "Listen, Molly, we're not done. We're almost there, but we're not quite done yet. Get into this office here and hide. You'll be safe. I'll come get you when it's all over. Can you do that?"

"Uh huh," she said, crawling into the office.

I sprinted across the room to Ace and Kai. Kai, now sitting up, held a cloth up to her burn. Ace slipped a bottle of aloe back into his coat pocket. Tristan, now without his cape, walked over, his eyes wide.

"Guys, we uh...have a problem," he said.

"I can see that," I said.

"Don't worry. We can fight em'," Kai said. She leaned on the closest chair and got to her feet. "We're the Three Amigos. We can do anything."

"Fuck yeah we can!" Ace said. The officers were huddling together, their guns drawn. "Talls, you take Kai and get the ones at the front. I'll take—" He eyed Tristan up and down. "This human kid missing half his Batman costume and we'll take the back."

"You don't think they'd really use the guns, would they?" Tristan asked.

"Not likely. Too much noise. These kids aren't stupid. They know what gunshots sound like," I said.

"Then why are they drawing them?" Tristan asked.

"Scare tactic," I said. Their hands were on the doorknobs. "I hope. Let's line up. Oh, and here, Tristan, take this." I handed him my pocket knife and showed him Life Ender. "I already have my weapon of choice."

This was it. The last stand. If only you'd been smart enough to not get yourself into this. I inhaled. The officers turned the knob and opened the door, rushing in and yelling.