“Get up and run after me.”

So I did.

Anyway, I couldn't help it, I had to work with what I had. Somehow I had managed not to turn Lucia against me, even though I had lied and manipulated her.

It wasn't worth dwelling on this and ruining what we had.

As soon as I stood up, Lucia shot off like a bullet. Down the other side of the hallway. Toward the closed elevator doors. And I obeyed.

I kept very close to her, despite my short legs and how exhausted I felt, even though the hell had only just begun.

The one Lucia had knocked down got up at once, running after us. He did it on all fours, so I should say crawling, but it was just as fast or faster than when he had run.

All the other zombies reacted, trying to pounce on us, dine until they were satisfied.

Lucia repelled each and every one of those creatures without fail by employing wind magic. But gentle, much gentler than she had been with the vampire. I feared she would not be willing to go a step further until it was too late. Until one of those abominations would sink its teeth into her neck. I was seriously afraid of it, even though she was basically a stranger.

I had enough power to drag her into this mess, but there was nothing I could do to save her from herself.

As I say all the time, sooner or later nice people end up eaten to the bone.

A flash of white.

I drove the creature back by hitting it in the mouth with the sword knob, not the blade. I still wasn't willing to turn her against me. I still couldn't do without her.

It was maybe ten seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

Logically speaking, we had been in more danger fighting the vampire, but I also felt we would die if we made the slightest slip and those hyenas would devour us.

We got to the elevator. We managed to close the doors behind us in time.

Ten seconds of wind and death, of flying ghost swords. This was only the beginning of the disaster. When the elevator stopped, the real good stuff would begin.

“See? It wasn't necessary.”

Still, Lucia was optimistic. She allowed herself to say something like that. But even she didn't believe it. It showed in her eyes. She understood that this couldn't last, not for long.

It was such a huge hotel, after all. If this infection was spreading among the guests, how many enemies were we talking about?

Thousands. Two against thousands, and the vampire at the end of it all.

No, it couldn't last. It was that simple.

For a while, we stood in silence as the elevator rose through the floors of this five-star hotel at a great speed.

Then the elevator stopped as abruptly as it had started.

“As if we didn't have enough.

Lucia dug her fingers into the gap between the doors, pulling it open. I wasn't sure she had the strength, but it began to open. Slowly but surely.

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A zombie took the opportunity to greet us, sticking its head through the gap and roaring in the nun's face.

I saw her stifle a scream.

Maybe that's what pushed me to do what I did.

Lucia screamed, finally, but not because the zombie had ripped off a couple of her fingers, but because I stepped forward and severed the head of that hideous creature. It fell to the ground, kept spinning, spreading a trail of blood until it hit the wall and stopped.

I should have been grateful.

But it didn't, of course.

“Oh no. You should worry about your soul.

“That's what this is all about.

Lucia didn't respond, just looked away and finished opening the doors.

Was she forgiving me even this, for the moment?

Because she was that good or because even she had to admit that it had been necessary?

Beyond the doors we found only the same as on the second floor, but worse. Zombies came out of the rooms, rounding corners, as if they had been waiting for us all this time, yes indeed, as if they could sense us.

It didn't matter what was the truth. The point was that they were there. And there were a lot of them.

Fuck, and they kept coming out.

But it didn't matter, we just ran. We had no chance against so many enemies, if they didn't finish us off in the end, fatigue would do the job. But there was also no point in facing an impossible fight, when we could simply cut off the snake's head.

When the vampire died, this madness would end.

And I would take the first step of my journey. The first thing was to get my soul back because otherwise I wouldn't have time to do anything. It wasn't my priority per se.

Another one of the many doors opened like so many others, only this time as I walked by.

No, it didn't open, it was ripped off its hinges and hit me squarely. I ended up on the ground again. between a rock and a hard place

I stabbed the door clean through, and the blade reached the zombie's arm before it had time to do anything to me. I grabbed the sword with both hands, squeezing so hard that they began to tremble slightly, and swung it down after getting up.

I pushed with all the weight of my body and an unusual strength. I cut the door and also the arm cleanly. Blood splashed all over my face like....

Eh, let's just rewind. I got splattered, period. Sorry, bad metaphor.

“At least he's going to survive that!” I shouted my excuse before Lucia could open her mouth.

She didn't say anything. But her thoughts were clear in her eyes.

She hadn't been amused. Even less by my comment.

But Lucia grabbed my hand, pulled me, helping me run.

I wondered what floor we were on (no, I hadn't had time to look at the panel and the little numbers, I was too busy shitting myself, thinking the elevator would start falling) and how far we had to go, by the way.

Lucia had made the elevator go up, so the vampire clearly wasn't waiting for us in a dark, musty basement. Would he be at the center of his forces?

Or perhaps...?

Yes.

We traversed several floors, filled to overflowing with zombies, each one more aggressive and inhuman than the last to reach the rooftop. I could imagine it, even though I'd only seen it once.

He was an arrogant prick and after the injury Plague had taught him, he would have a bruised ego.

So naturally he would be at the highest point, looking down on everyone. How arrogant.

The answer was the other extreme. Not the dark depths, but the heavens. The clouds were so close that it seemed I could touch one if I stood on my tiptoes and reached out my hand. An icy wind was blowing. A strong wind that felt like it could blow you away if you let your guard down, or maybe just me, since I was so small now. And didn't weigh much to speak of.

Ahem.

Back to what matters. The vampire was on the edge of the roof, hands behind his back. But that didn't mean he hadn't noticed us. We hadn't exactly been subtle, barging onto the roof.

The creature turned around to welcome us, stretching his arms out to the sides.

“A messenger from the heavens and a footprint of a soul, even less than a ghost. No wonder you were able to make it this far.

That answered the question I had never felt the time was right to ask. If this was some kind of infection working its way through the hotel guests, tearing them apart, then why hadn't it affected Lucia and me?

It seemed that Lucia had a special protection from heaven (anyone would become a nun for that, hey, tomorrow I would put on a cassock if it also gave me those kind of benefits) and I....

Well. I guess there wasn't enough of me left to affect.

Which wasn't so cool, but I liked having answers. I was sick of being left empty-handed, forced to simply go with the flow that swept me along or drown. Even though usually the current only led me to more shit, like now, anything was better than the alternative. Than nothing.

I narrowed my eyes, shifted my posture, preparing for a fight. This abomination had all but condemned me to nothingness. To utter oblivion. But now I would show him what I was good at.

My final obstacle.

This would be the second confrontation, but there would be no third.

Whoever won, I knew there would be no third.