Being Undead

Chapter 22*

"No, no and capital N. O." Frederick slapped the wall in fury.

"But everyone's going, Frederick," Laura said to him. "It's Anton we're talking about here."

Thing is, Laura had been with Frederick- there were playing chess and chatting- when a call came in from an hunter, Ian, that Anton had been located; or rather, he had located and killed thirty hunters.

"That's his way of a challenge," Frederick had explained to her. "He wants us to come fight him."

And "come fight him" was what Laura wanted to help do, but Frederick was refusing vehemently. Violently too, in fact, she added; he had scattered the chess before he slapped the wall.

If I didn't know him as much as I did, I would have called a chauvinistic asshole, she thought. Plus she couldn't exactly accuse him of chauvinism if there were already female undeads on the hunt; just not her.

"It's because it's Anton that I can't allow you to go, Laura," he explained, groaning exasperatedly. "He's dangerous, perhaps the most dangerous undead you'll ever meet. It'll be very irresponsible of me to put you in his path."

Laura groaned tok. Much as she wanted to argue it, the truth remained that Frederick was right. Anton was an original undead and she was newblood; she didn't even have a credential to start a comparison not to mention topping one.

"Alright," she finally said. "Take care."

"I intend to."He gave her a quick kiss on the head. "And don't worry, I'll bring you a souvenir from big bad wolf's lair."

"Eww!" Laura looked genuinely disgusted.

But Frederick only laughed in return. "Eww everything if you want," he said, "just stay put and stay alive." Presumably to make sure that she complied, he stationed four hunters to stay with her.

Just then, Laura turned and saw Daniel. Dressed in a fully armed leather wear, she was very surprised to see that he had a piece of toast in hand. The guy takes food pretty seriously, she thought.

"Prepared?" she went to ask him.

"Obviously," he returned, shrugging like he couldn't care any less that she was talking to him. "And before you ask, honey, I promise not to do anything that will jeopardize my or someone else's life." He rolled his eyes carelessly.

But Laura just smiled as she gave him a tight hug. "That would be very much appreciated, Daniel," she replied.

Daniel looked a bit stunned by the hug. "You know what, Laura? I can't place you," he said. "One minute, you come to me with your questions, the next you're saying that we can never be friends, and the third you're hugging me anyway. What's the deal?"

"I don't have be your friend to care about you being alive." She shrugged nonchalantly as she patted his head just like he had done hers once before, and left him standing there, stunned like bambi in the headlights; just like she intended all along.

Good job, Laura, she commended herself as she went, smiling. Very good job.

****

Twenty minutes after the group left, Laura was bored out of her wits than she ever thought was possible. That boredom gave rise to an anger that went through her with a vengeance.

I'm not a little girl who needs to be hidden away from the dangerous things of life, she said to herself; although it was pretty obvious that she was practically still a baby in undead years and had next to no combat prowess in undead warfare.

But the thing was that Laura had been secretly practising using the book Daniel gave her and she could see herself improve. I can definitely manage myself better in combat than before, she concluded and decided there and then that she was going to join the group on the huntafter all. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? She thought.

Unfortunately, there remained the problem of her four babysitters.

"I'm going up," she suddenly announced to them as she rose to leave the sitting room, but they followed too. "Wait, you guys aren't seriously going to follow me upstairs, are you?" she asked.

But they obviously were. "Frederick gave us strict orders that can't be ignored," one of them explained.

"Fine, do whatever you want." She waved them away carelessly and allowed them follow her. It's pointless to argue with undead men, she thought as they went, they're all as stubborn as a mule.

Undeterred though, Laura went to Frederick's door. "You can't enter here," she told the hunters when they wanted to follow her in. "Frederick would never allow you into his room."

The hunters looked like they wanted to argue that Frederick wouldn't allow her into his room alone too- which would actually be correct as per the  mansion rules- but they knew how special she was to him so they let it go. "Please don't stay inside for too long," one of them said instead.

As soon as Laura entered, she locked the door behind her; she wanted to ensure they wouldn't be barging in any time during her escape. Then she went to Frederick's wardrobe.

Most of his attires were complemented with a leather jacket but they were all too big for her. So, she picked an overcoat; it was the closest to comfortable she could find. Unfortunately, it was obvious it was going to get dirty at the hem from brushing the floor too much but she found that more manageable than getting his jackets destroyed. Plus that's what he gets for not letting me come along earlier, she added inside.

Laura was about thinking of strategizing an exit when it suddenly dawned on her that that might be the only chance she would get to fully investigate the secrets of Frederick's room without him jumping out of nowhere to give her the scare of her life.

Moving along the wall with her hand, she noticed a brick not well placed. Loose brick, she thought, that's interesting. She slid it back into place and immediately, the sounds of wheels and pulleys began to come from the wall.

A portion of the wall opened i front of her to reveal a secret compartment. It housed stakes plenty enough to take out the entire undeads of New York City, bows and crossbows of various shapes and sizes, swords ranging from one-edged ancient scimitars to double-edged seemly newly forged swords, and enough daggers to satisfy an army.

Frederick's definitely the definition of a collector, Laura admired him and his armoury.

Anyway, she placed three stakes in her pocket and two daggers in her boots; one in each. Unfortunately, she knew she wasn't going to find a way to close it so she didn't bother. Frederick will understand, she hoped as she made her escape.

Laura got out of the mansion through Frederick's window but to complete it brought her to her next challenge: jumping down without being caught.

Thing is, right beneath Frederick's window was a swimming pool but if she took that option, the sound of water splashing would alert the hunters to her plan and all her efforts would be in vain. I need something better, she thought.

Just then, Laura noticed the tree across the pool and an idea came to her; a hard-for-a-newblood, most-likely-result-in-broken-bones plan. But that was all she had.

Praying to all the saints available, she lunged for the tree. Just as she about reached a branch of the tree, she used the tip of her left leg to propel herself forward the more; landing squarely on the branch and from jumping to the ground with the grace of a cat; nothing broken and free from the mansion.

"Yes!" Laura squealed in delight as her mind caught up with what her body had accomplished, but she quickly caught herself before her hunter babysitters realised they had been fooled.

Time to go hunting, Laura, she said to herself as she turned towards the city and followed the undead scent she had grown accustomed to attributing to Frederick. Find him and I'll find Anton, she deduced.

And so, Laura went, dressing badass; and this time, she was definitely feeling badass too.