Battle of the Flesheaters

From the Demon in Me series I am working on. This came from an assignment in a SciFi/Fantasy class I took:


Battle of the Flesheaters


By 3 a.m., I was separated from the majority of my clan.  We’d been in a huge battle with the Lamia demons all night. Many perished and even more were injured. When dawn began to break, our vampire counterparts were forced to hide, cutting our numbers in half. We weren’t in the habit of keeping company with bloodsuckers.  The only thing seers, slayers and vampires could agree on was that we hated the half-dragon, half-human demons more than we hated each other.  The immortal muscle helped, but the unfortunate part about working with vamps during these wartime truces was that the Lamia could go out in the daytime. Vampires couldn’t, so we also hid during the day to avoid being outnumbered. 

Most vampires were not to be trusted, but we needed their help when it came to the Lamia.  

The demons where human from the waist up, save for their dragon-like, clawed fingers and fangs.  From the waist down, they had scaly feet and tails, a blend between a snake and a dragon.  A bite from one of these deadly creatures was venomous and painful, but the worst part was that they were flesheaters.  They pulled off the limbs and skin off their victims, usually while the prey was still alive, and ate it.  They preferred children.  Vampires, Lamia and all other beasties first emerged after the floods of 2010.  In May, it rained nearly every day in Nashville, leaving the skies dark for days at a time and allowing the undead to walk the earth unscathed by the sun.  

The good thing about the floods was the abandoned houses.  Though vacant homes weren’t always secure places to hide, I sought shelter in one.  I heard footsteps outside and I crouched near the front door.  It opened, and though it was dark in the house, I was pretty sure the figure that entered wasn’t human, though its silhouette suggested otherwise. My suspicions were confirmed when it growled, but I wasn’t sure if it was because it was injured or it could smell me.  Though my specialty was mainly in seer magic, I attempted to stake it.

I sprung up from the floor and struck at it. The figure slammed me against the wall and I cried out as his fingernails dug into my injured shoulder.  The change still burned in him.  His eyes were green and fiery and his fangs descended.  His nostrils flared as he caught the scent of blood oozing from my wound.  Graham was over 200 years old, which gave him plenty of time to learn to control his bloodlust as well as earn a reputation for being one of the best swordsmen on the planet.  While centuries of existence made him a great fighter, he’d also become quiet irritating.

“Grace,” he said.  “You’re hurt.”

“No thanks to you,” I said and winced as he loosened his grip.

“Did I hurt–”

“No.  Lamia.  But you’re not helping.”

“Sorry.  Should I have let you stake me?”

“I might’ve already if not for the truce.”

“Don’t be mad at me.  Surprise attacks often separate a group.  I couldn’t find you.”

Graham was my partner on the last few outings.  The elders generally grouped us by gender, one vampire and one superhuman, but we couldn’t afford to be picky after we sustained so many losses. We roved in groups of four the past few evenings and he spent most of that time bossing me around, insulting my methods and treating me like a little girl rather than a trained killer of the damned.  

His soldiers were even worse when clan leaders like Graham, or our elders, were out of earshot.

The soldiers constantly degraded our skills and came on to the female warriors.  It wasn’t because they found us attractive, but because it was our duty to banish evil things, yet we couldn’t touch them.  They goaded us on nights we had to honor the truce.  It was difficult to control our tempers and not stake a guy who commented about your body as you combed the woods, dirty and bloody as him from the battle. The bickering that occurred during the two-day reconnaissance mission ended when the Lamia tore through our camp.  I was in my tent when the battle began.  I was sent flying when my tent and my belongings were tossed aside.  I collided with one of the demons, who bit me.  I fought it off and sought shelter.

Graham no longer touched me, but he didn’t back away. He was so close I smelled his cologne, though we’d been outside for days.  When he reached toward me and pulled down the shoulder of my shirt, I flinched in pain and fear.  His eyes flickered from my shoulder to my face and back again.  

“You’re afraid.”

“Of you?  Please,” I said.

“Maybe not of me, but of something.  We can smell it,” he said.

His fingers traced the skin around the wound. He pressed my flesh, examined it, and the touch sent a wave of torture though me.

“Ow!  Dammit!”

“Did you clean the poison out of it?”

“It’s fine,” I said and attempted to shrug him off.

Graham pinned me to the wall with his left hand as he inspected my injury further with his right.  While vampires were stronger than us, I could’ve fought him off if I didn’t have a gaping wound in my shoulder.  The venom in the bite I suffered also dulled my reaction time.

“Will it be fine if you lose an arm or die? You are so stubborn.  What’s your problem with vampires anyway?”

“Other than they’re evil?  They’re also pervs who treat my classmates like ditzy snackfood or helpless children.”

“Maybe they were just trying to help. Give pointers like I give you,” he said as he further inspected my skin.  “To make sure you all survive.”

“By making comments about girls’ bodies?”

His head jerked up and he looked at me with genuine surprise, which also surprised me.  I’d been positive he not only knew about the behavior of his men, but condoned it. Maybe even encouraged it or didn’t care if it happened or not.

“What?”

“When the squad leaders are away. They taunt us and make comments about our bodies.  They do whatever they can to irritate us, and then they remind us that we can’t touch them.  Truce and all.”

“I didn’t know,” he said.  “I’ll take care of it.  I don’t tolerate that sort of disrespect of fellow soldiers.  Human or not.”

“Does my shoulder look infected?”

“That and you’re sweating like crazy with fever,” he said. “I could smell Lamia on you from outside.”

“Everything in my tent was destroyed. I have no cell phone. And no med kit. There’s nothing I can do.”

“We have to drain the poison.  You’ll die otherwise.”

“How are you going to,” I said, but changed my tone when he gave me a pointed look.  “Wait. I’m not letting you use this as an excuse to get your fangs in me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.  I’ve eaten.”

“Ew.”

“You could walk to a drugstore and chance running into a Lamia.”

“I’m fine,” I said.

“Sure about that?”

My lie was evident when my knees gave way.  He propped me against the wall.  He explained that while Lamia poison was deadly for humans, it just made vampires sick.  Drinking the venom from my blood would cure me, and it would hurt him, but he assured me that he could take it and he’d heal quickly.  By nightfall, we could both be ready to go back into battle.  I nodded.

He ripped the shoulder of my shirt off in one deft motion and used it as a tourniquet.  I felt a sensation beyond pain, one coupled with nausea.  When I was bitten, my body was pumped full of adrenaline from the fight.  Afterward, I felt the pain fully, and I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of being an immortal’s chew toy.  I wasn’t sure what kind of vampire Graham was either.  If he’d make it hurt on purpose because I was so rude to him.

There were two kinds of vampires. One was the horror movie version.  They looked human, but they were undead, soulless and needed an invitation to enter.  They were damned creatures brought forth when Vlad Ţepeș, or Vlad the Impaler, and his men sold their souls to the devil to defeat Ottomans.  These vampires were vicious and liked to rip the throats out of their screaming victims.  

The other type of vampire was spawned through more natural, evolutionary causes. They could prove to be a solution to the evil predators we faced, but they had some of the same downfalls – like a need for blood and a severe sun allergy.  These vampires were diseased superhumans that needed blood in order to infuse their inflected blood with something fresh.  In order to assimilate, many of these good guy vamps drank animal blood, fed on bad guys or had willing victims they used hypnosis on to dull the pain of the bite.  Neither kind of vampire could turn humans with just a bite. To turn, we’d have to ingest large amounts of vampire blood.

“Let’s wait,” I said.

“Don’t be a fool.  Lamia poison is so detrimental that they won’t even eat you once you’re too infected. I’ve seen them toss away a child because he was so full of their venom.”

“Fine.”

“Look at me,” he said.

“No way.  I won’t be placed under your influence,” I said. “I’ve heard things about that vampire mojo.”

“It’ll hurt less. Biting an infected wound won’t be pleasant.  You’ll probably pass out.”

“Right. Then once I’m susceptible to your charm you can get the jump on me some night in the dark when you want a snack.”

“Seems a little far-fetched, don’t you think?  An evil plan to get a girl’s blood when I’ve had, and could get, better.”

“You’re disgusting.  I’m not going to fall for looking at you because you try to offend me.”

“I’m not Medusa.  You don’t have to look at me for my power to work.  We have other ways.”

“All the books say we have to make eye contact.”

“You think we’re going to give all our secrets away?”

I started to argue, but he swallowed my complaint with a hard, passionate kiss. I could no longer fight him.  My body hummed with an energy that was electric and magnetic. I felt as if he was pulling me toward him, into him, and I made eye contact with him the moment he pulled away.  He spoke, but I couldn’t focus on the words.  I stared at his mouth, at his fangs, and was filled with emotion for him.  A yearning for him coursed through me, but at the same time it wasn’t me, but as if I watched a scene outside myself that I couldn’t stop or look away from.  I took a leap into his arms and pressed my mouth to his.  At first, Graham kissed me back, his hands in my hair, but then he pushed me away.

“It’s just the influence you feel.  It would be taking advantage.  After, if you still feel the same…maybe,” he said, but stopped and focused himself.  “You ready?”

I nodded.  When he bit into my flesh, the searing pain lasted only a moment.  The influence told me that I felt euphoric.  He pulled me into an embrace, a lover’s kind of embrace as the kiss deeper than a kiss drew the poison from me. I silently pleaded that some external force could keep me awake. I knew the second Lamia attack could occur at any moment.  But the world began to back away from me and I was a small girl in a dark room. Graham withdrew his fangs and released me.  I slid down the wall and onto the floor, though he tried to shake me awake.

“Grace!  Get up.  You have to get up.”

“Why?” I said, but my words came out as more of a murmur.

“I think the Lamia are coming.”

Everything faded to black.