Being Undead

Chapter 10*

Laura didn't know how far she had run before she stopped in front of a bar. She wasn't exhausted. In fact, the more she ran, the more energised she felt.

Looking around, Laura discovered that she was already far into the city, way farther than she had ever gone before during her mortal life. Oh, I'm so lost, she thought.

But that wasn't true. Undeads had the best memories. They could recall anything as accurately as the first time they experienced. When she wanted to return home, she would remember how to get there.

And speaking of home, Laura remembered Damian's eyes when he said she shouldn't come back. The cold seriousness in them had really frightened her; and although she had planned that she would go there to meet Frederick and have him let her back in, a part of her just wasn't sure if it would turn out that way.

Now, it wasn't that she doubted Frederick's ability; he was powerful an undead as undeads came. But she couldn't underestimate Damian's resolve. If he insisted that Frederick either chooses her to be sent away or risk dying, she wondered what his choice would be.

Problem for later, Laura, she shrugged it away and entered into the bar. "One beer, please, she said to the bartender.

In truth, Laura didn't drink beers. She hated the taste; and she hated getting drunk even more. But she was so high on the adrenaline rush that she was willing to try new things. Plus it took a lot more for an undead to get drunk that the most resistant mortal; different metabolism and all that.

After four bottles, she decided to call it quits. She wasn't sure yet how much her new undead body could take and the bartender was starting look at her weird, presumably wondering how she had fallen under the table yet, especially with the newbie vibe she was giving when she entered. Besides, if she was going to face Damian and her problem later, she needed as much of a clear-head as she could get to do.

Dropping a wad of cash on the table without bothering to wait for the change, Laura exited the bar. At first, she made to run but decided to walk some ways first before doing that. It'll be very weird if I just zoomed off, she reasoned.

Laura had walked about two blocks when she suddenly noticed two men following her. She immediately recognised them from the bar; they had entered just about the time she sat down. They were looking at her funny. Probably thieves, she thought.

She thought for a minute about turning back and facing them, but she wasn't so sure if she could beat the crap out of a mortal despite her being an undead. So, she did the one thing that she knew she could do instead; she ran away super fast.

Stopping though, Laura realised to her utmost surpris that those same men had appeared just a few feet away from her again.

What the hell? she exclaimed. It was as if they had walked just as fast as  she ran. Without a moment's hesitation, she took off again.

Unfortunately, Laura had been so concerned with getting away from her stalkers that she got her mapping muddled up. She had almost rammed full-face into a wall before she realized that she was lost.

She turned to backtrack, but there were those same men again behind her.

"Nowhere to run to now, is there?" one of the men said, laughing in that manner that always preceded bad things to happen.

Oh crap, they're undeads! Laura realised. She mentally face-palmed herself. Just my luck, she said to herself. Of all the muggers in the world, I had to meet the ones that were the same kind as me.

To be honest, she didn't know undeads could be muggers; they had come across to her as distinguished and all. But then again, what else exactly did she know about undeads besides the few facts people in the mansion told her?

Anyway, going back to the pressing issue, Laura closed her hands to form a fist. But she realized then it wasn't actually necessary.

Thing is, in response to the threat, her nails had extended out to form claws; her fangs also protruding. Guess that's the undead way of fighting, she thought and prepared to use it like that.

Just then, Laura saw something else she had been missing all along. Turned there weren't just two men preparing to attack her, there were ten of them; all undead. That's a little too much for a mugging, she thought.

But more than just the mugging overkill was the fact that she had about a snowball's chance in hell in fighting them all off.

Anyway, Laura shifted her position so that the assailants were all facing her. The last thing I need is to get hit from behind, she thought; that would definitely knock her out of the fight the much faster.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the first man attack; and she swung out her fist wildly. She caught him in the jaw; he apparently not expecting her to strike because he yelled out more in surprise than pain as he was flung back by the impact.

The men looked stunned by Laura's move; a lapse Laura intended to as her advantage to the fullest. Seeing them stop, she charged into the fray; kicking and punching them with newly learnt lightning speed as she went.

Now, although, her blows did down the men, it didn't make as much of an impact as they were all back up in an instant.

Well, there goes the surprise attack card, she knew. "What do you want?" she asked, thinking that the reasonability card might be the next to try.

"What does it look like?" one of the men returned. "You".

In that instant, they converged on Laura at once. She tried fending them off aa they came, but they were very fast; a lot faster than her. She was began receiving blows faster than she could even see them coming; and then , one of the men carried and flung her into the wall.

Pain shot through Laura like a flame, but with the help of fast healing, it was gone in an instantly. She rolled away from a stump, ducked under two blows, and then she ran to another corner.

Seeing ample space to operate, Laura lunged at the guy closest to her. But he was so fast that he reached and hit her before she could get anywhere near him. She fell down and this time, got pinned down.

The guy who had felled her removed a stake from his pocket. "It's all over, newblood," he said, raising the stake up.

Before he could bury the stake in her heart though, a gust of wind suddenly rushed through the area and he went crashing into the wall like a torpedo; the stake in his heart when he landed. He groaned, surprised just as the others, and then, he turned into a pile of ash; that was what happened to undeads after they died.

All the assailants went on high alert, looking here and there with lightning speed. But just as suddenly as before, the gust of wind moved again, this time with a blur; and the next thing was heads of the assailants rolling off their necks and turning into ashes afterwards.

The blur eventually stopped at the far end of the area to become Damian. "Hello, Miss Sunshine," he said to Laura, smiling, "remind me again that thing I said about you being such a weakling to protect yourself."