Mortal Agent of a Vampire - Chapter 26

“Is that haunted house yours?” I said, turning the wheel and speeding down the mountain road. It was deserted all around, except for the mountains.
“You saw my wax figure, didn’t you?” Marlene sat in the passenger seat, a hint of humble braggadocio in her tone.
That should have been considered an affirmative answer.
“Wow.” I resisted the urge to say deranged, “You like wax figures?”
“I love all things beautiful.” She said in an operatic accent.
I glance quickly to the side, the wind pouring in through the car window, ruffling her hair as she closes her eyes and walks into an imaginary bush of flowers with a small, fresh look on her face.
I’m tempted to disagree, but I’m afraid that committing to a debate with her on the great proposition of whether or not wax figures are a beautiful thing will cause us to tumble off a cliff.
So I skipped the part, “Including Vince?”
She saw my sinister intent, “You have so many questions.”
“I’m a journalist.” I put up my shield.
“And I,” she bobbed her head gently, she was the only one I’d ever seen who could pull off the whole shaking of her head thing with flair, “refuse to do an interview.”
“Can you turn your charm off? I’m driving away.”
“Compliment me again, kitten.”
Kitten?
“Am I a kitten too?” At the end of the road, a castle came into view.
“I love cats,” Marlene let out a sigh, “and it’s a shame they stopped being close to me after I transformed.”
I imagined her surrounded by fur balls, “I like being liked by you.”
A brake and we stop at the edge of the forest.
Marlene watched as I removed the armament from the trunk. When everything was ready, we shook hands. It was an honor, and I gotta say, forget all that judging a book by its cover crap.
“From now on, you haven’t seen me, understand?” She explained.
“Understood.” I saluted, “You don’t need to wash away my memories?”
Marlene radiated the light of a Madonna, “Even if we’re cut off from each other, it doesn’t mean we have to liquidate the gifts we gave each other. That’s something only children do.”
“Wait, can you say that again? I’m going to record it for Vince.” I pretended to reach for the recorder.
“Rescue him,” she said, “I can educate him myself.”
We each turned and headed deeper into the forest. Not far away, the castle bore down on us like a hungry beast.
Marlene drew Gabriel away, and all along the way, I met no obstacles. I was a little worried about her, because Gabriel was not only powerful, but also cunning. But I had no choice but to trust Marlene.
As I approached the castle, I realized that it was just an abandoned fortress that looked quite old, I guess it was built during the Crusades. The walls were covered in cracks and battle sores that seemed to weather to powder at the slightest touch.
Between the yellowed weeds and the cover of broken walls, I spotted a narrow entrance. I catapulted myself quickly through, a locked iron door, and the lock broke off when I smashed it twice with the butt of my rifle. I pushed through the door.
Without warning, a dark shadow slammed into my head, and I raised my pistol, only to find it was just a panicked bat. It flew through the doorway.
It scared the hell out of me. I calmed down and moved on.
Then I encountered a real threat.
With a scream, I turned to see a dark-haired woman lunging at me with her teeth and claws open. A sharp alarm sounded in my mind.
Don’t look directly into the eyes! I averted my gaze and ran wildly.
A fiery pain came, her nails must have scratched my back. Luckily I reacted in time, or I would have opened up by now.
I rolled on the ground as she landed right after me, and I decided to take the initiative over.
“Bang, bang, bang!” I pulled the trigger, the massive recoil of the short-barreled shotgun jarring half my shoulder.
The brunette dodged to the side, she was quick, but she was still swept up by the fire. I was using #3 deer shells, each filled with twenty silver-plated steel balls, and that was good enough for her.
Another dolphin sound pierced my eardrums and she rolled into a ball on the ground. I climbed to my feet, “Where’s Vince?!” I held the gun to her head, “Talk!”
With a snarl, she struggled to her feet, snatched my gun and threw it away from me. I was pinned to the ground.
DAMN! I should have been more cautious!
She was dead on top of me, her bloody mouth dangling in front of me, and I felt her fangs close at hand. I grabbed her arms as hard as I could to keep her sharp nails away from my neck.
What does it mean to be in a life and death situation? This was it! God, she was like a mad cow and I wished beyond hope that I was Schwarzenegger!
Luckily, the silver bullets left in her body were gradually working and I felt the pressure on my body lessen. I gritted my teeth and kicked her, and surprisingly, it kicked off.
I helped myself to the floor and stood up, she followed me in hot pursuit. I was in bad shape, the down side of not working out much in general. The effects of the adrenaline were wearing off, I was sweating profusely, I couldn’t catch my breath, every step felt like I was stepping in a swamp, and it was getting harder and harder to lift my legs like they were lead.
It was time to pull out the trump card.
One, two …… I counted in my mind as a gust of cloudy wind swept down my spine and I knew she was right behind me.
It was now! I turned around and turned on the flamethrower.
With a “Boom” the flames erupted between us as if a supernova had just been born, illuminating the entire halls of the old castle. The heat almost melted off my eyebrows as she was swept out farther into a fireball by the heat wave.
I ran to her, “Where’s Vince?!” She cried out as I raised the nozzle again, “No!” Then pointed out a path.
I twisted my head away.
First I bullied a kid, then I hit a woman, could I be any more of a scumbag? I decided to put the blame on Vince.
It was a spiral staircase that ran down the wall, as if connecting to another universe, infinitely. There was no further obstruction, only the sound of my hurried footsteps echoing for a long time.
I prayed all the way down. It’s sad that God is always the one people think of when they’re in trouble. Yet even more pathetic are we, who can only watch helplessly in the face of misfortune that has already happened. I prayed that Vince was still alive, that I wasn’t too late.
An iron door finally appeared in front of me, and I flew up and slammed my shoulder into it, and with a fragile click it fell heavily, stirring up dust in countless directions.
Then I reached the deep well. Pale sunlight slanted in and reflected on the stone walls.
As the dust settled, my heart soared toward the clouds. I wanted to kneel down and kiss God’s feet.
Vince sat cross-legged in the shadows in the lotus position, heavy chains around his wrists, ankles and neck, and he looked incredibly haggard.
“You’re here.” He said.

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