By now, it was about noon seeing as the sun… no, suns, were high in the sky. I didn’t notice before due to the glare and the crazy shit that was happening, but now that there’s a moment of calm, there are definitely two suns in the sky very close to each other. We were now in a binary star system.
I sighed then chuckled. I can only imagine the crazy effect on the weather and tides these new celestial bodies would have, I can only hope that it isn’t enough to throw life into extinction. I chuckled, scientists are either going to have a field day in this new world of ours or they’ll go mad as their concept of the laws of physics is torn asunder.
I paused. “Asunder? That was definitely not in my conventional lexicon. Wait, what? I shook my head and looked to the roof. “How far can I push this new Vampire strength of mine?” I crouched low and jumped with all my might. I achieved about a 20 feet vertical leap. “Holy shit.” I shouted as I fell to the ground. I braced for a bone shattering impact, but I landed gracefully, my leg muscles easily absorbing the forces of impact as easily as I had jumped from a few inches. I blinked owlishly, "Pretty far, apparently."
I looked back at the roof which might be a little less than the peak of my jump. I faced the nearest wall and readied to sprint. I ran towards the nearest wall and ran up it. Last time I had tried this, I was a kid and could only run a foot at most up a wall. This time I got about halfway up before I began to lose my momentum; I clawed at the wall and used my claws and the friction of my boots to leap upward a good 10 feet. I was about two feet or so from the top, I cursed my poor attempt at estimating the height of the building. I reached as high as I could as my momentum reached equilibrium with gravity, and I hung in the air for a fraction of a second. I felt the pressure in my chest, the mana, respond to my will and intent.
Suddenly, I felt a sense of weightlessness as my vision faded to a strange red hue. I saw the world as if it was infrared, but like the lens of the thermal goggles were painted with blood. Looking down, I could see the blobby forms of the people inside the building milling around or crowded around each other in comfort. Inside their heat outlined silhouettes were flowing lines that condensed towards a dense mass in their chest. I realized with a start; I was seeing their circulatory systems. I went to wipe my eyes only to notice I no longer had a real body. Instead, I was a humanoid mass of free-floating blood with two glowing red orbs where my eyes should be. Holy shit, this blood manifestation skill was better than I thought!
'Okay... How do I move?' I thought to myself. I looked at the ledge and willed myself forward. With lurch in my stomach I glided forward. As I bounded over the edge of the roof, the feeling faded, and my sight returned to normal alongside my body. I looked over the city from my vantage point. It wasn’t the best, since there were plenty of taller buildings around, but it would do for the immediate area. I grinned like a child and whispered, "That was awesome..."
I looked northward towards Downtown. It was about twenty or thirty minutes away by car, so at least an hour's walk from here. Plenty of supplies in the main part of the city. I frequent this Walmart, so my work isn’t too far from here, nor is my home; only about ten minutes. I scanned the parking lot. Behind the warehouse are train tracks along with a derailed train. Might be useful supplies there, plus those carts would make good barricades if we could move them; I doubt even my strength could budge them.
Plenty of cars we could tip and turn into makeshift walls. Maybe shove them against vulnerable spots on the building. We’ll have to empty them of fuel, so they don’t turn into bunker busters first. The fuel, until we figure out how to safely use them as fuel again, can make a potent Molotov. Thankfully, there aren’t any close to the building as the store was closed when everything went to shit.
I took a deep breath to calm my annoyance at the situation. It was then I got a whiff of terror so potent it gave me goosebumps. It chilled me that I now had a dark and predatory side of me. I honed in on the sickeningly tantalizing scent. Okay, I really need to speak to Asha about this odd change in my linguistics. I stopped speaking like this in Middle School once I learned that acting like a living thesaurus only gets you harassed. Thoughts for later.
Sprinting across the parking lot from the Staples to my right were a screaming family of four. They seemed to be Hispanic. What I assumed to be the mother was holding an infant. Great, a baby is just what we need in an apocalypse. I was grateful that the youngest in our group currently, was a six-year-old girl. The father was urging his teenage daughter who appeared to be roughly 13 or 14 to run faster. Behind the quartet were six child sized figures. I almost chuckled at the sight of a grown man running from a gang of preteens but realized quickly they weren’t human. They looked like sickly eight-year-olds with beer bellies, green skin, and bat-like ears. My love of fantasy games and novels told me these were most definitely goblins. Unfortunately, they weren't cute and friendly manga style goblins. These monstrosities were more like if Tolkien had a nightmare fueled acid trip.
I cursed as one threw a rock that managed to hit the father on the back of the head causing him to stumble to the ground. The others faltered and cried out for their loved one. The closest goblin was about ten feet away from the group. The daughter struggled to help her father while her mother urged them to hurry as she couldn’t help with the baby in her arms. I shouted, “Hurry to the Home Depot!”
I took a running leap and shifted into my blood form before hitting the ground, I hit the ground at a run once I solidified. I was already past the mother before she could even respond. Usain Bolt eat your heart out! I must be running forty miles an hour. In fact, it wasn’t unlike getting hit by a car when my hook kick beheaded the goblin that was about to impale the father with a crude spear that appeared to be a sharpened street signpost. It had made a grip with torn cloth.
The goblin creatures were even more hideous up close. The stench of rotting offal was on their breath behind a serrated maw of yellowed teeth. They had no noses, only four slits for nostrils. Their bat-like ears were flat against their heads as they hissed in a guttural language. Knobby, clawed fingers pointed at me. Their eyes were oddly goat-like which is odd for a predator. Usually only grazing animals have that trait. Their faces were narrow and instead of noses, they had squashed, pug-like sinuses with two pairs of slits for nostrils. They wore ragged furs that stank to high hell. No, not goblins exactly. This seemed familiar to me. Feral Gobkin is the proper term. How in the hell could I know that? Yet, I knew for certain that was the correct term for these creatures.
One in the back had a primitive seeming bow, clearly not scavenged from our world. My distraction at the strange familiarity I had with the little monsters distracted me enough for it to get a shot off. A stone arrow found its way into my shoulder, not nearly as deep as it should, but damn did it hurt. I pointed to the perpetrator and snarled, “You die first.” I don’t believe they understood me, but my bared fangs and glowing red eyes proved enough to get the point across as it whimpered and hurried to nock another arrow.
I turned to blood and rushed behind the beast. The arrow fell from its place in my shoulder as I lost my corporeal form. I grabbed it before it fell and as I reformed behind the archer, I slammed the arrow into the top of its skull. Its muscles seized as the nerves along its body misfired upon cerebral destruction.
I ripped the arrow from the skull, a chunk of brain matter impaled on the arrowhead, I threw the arrow at the next closest gobkin to the dazed father who was still being assisted by a struggling teen. Good kid, I thought, Stupid, but good. Fortunately, they saw me as the only present threat and ignored the family. The arrow pierced its chest and it gurgled, blood filling its lung.
I pulled the blood from the dead gobkin at my feet and formed my scythe. I could have summoned it using my reserves, but I could feel that it was more efficient to pull from the environment. I did have to supplement the gobkin blood with my own stores as the little body did not have enough blood to form my weapon at its full size.
Three gobkin were left. They looked at each other and nodded. The two closest to me bum rushed me while the final one turned tail and fled. This cause one of the gobkin to stumble and stare disbelieving at its cowardly comrade. It appears that there was a bit of miscommunication. That or the yellow bellied gobkin was using them as bait to flee. I cannot fault someone running from a fight they cannot win, but I detest those that betray their comrades. I ignored the rushing goblins and threw my scythe like a javelin at the fleeing gobkin. The spike topping the weapon pierced it through its back, just barely poking out from the other side.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
I backhanded the first gobkin to reach me, knocking it on its rear and I grabbed the other by the neck. Its flat nostrils dilated in fear as it kicked and clawed at me, the wooden club it was wielding dropped, forgotten. One clawed foot kicked at a tender spot just below my ribs and my anger flared with the pain. I switched my hold to its shoulder and bit hard on its neck. I drank deeply, even in my animalistic fury I had braced for a foul taste. Yet in place of the rancid flavor I had expected, it was a rich, gamey taste. Almost smoky and a little earthy. It reminded me of rabbit meat paired with whiskey.
I drank until the struggle grew weak, then I twisted my head, ripping out its thin throat, and I dropped the corpse in two pieces. The final gobkin had shaken itself free from its dazed state, black blood dripping from its lip, split so deep that its lower lip was hanging loose. It looked into my eyes and in turn, its eyes rolled back into its head as it fainted from horror. I willed my scythe to turn to blood and return to me where it reformed into its rightful shape. I cracked the staff into the unconscious gobkin’s head, cracking it open and spilling its surprisingly orangish brain onto the road. I went to wipe the gobkin blood from my lips, but it was dry; fully absorbed into wherever I stored the vast amounts of blood I consumed. I still had some room despite the large amounts of blood I absorbed earlier in the day.
I dismissed my scythe upon deciding the coast was clear and approached the terrified family. The girls stopped fussing over the man of their family as they noticed my advance. The father, now cleared from his addled state, covered the ladies from me by spreading his arms. I sighed, “It’s okay, I’m not an enemy. I have a group of people along with a police officer taking refuge in the store there.”
“Diablo, vampiro. You are an unholy demon. Keep away from my family.” The man said.
I smiled sadly, being sure not to bare my fangs. “Half right. I’m no devil, but I am a vampire. You are free to go wherever you wish, but I am not your enemy, as I said, nor am I a threat to you or your family. We have food and shelter from the monsters. My name is Victor Gale. If you wish, I can grab Officer Rodriguez if that would make you more comfortable. If you do join us, I will grab plenty of baby supplies from the Walmart there too.”
He and his family spoke quickly in Spanish, the man not taking his eyes off of me. “Go grab the cop, Malvado. If she vouches for you, and it doesn’t seem like she’s being mind-controlled or something, then we’ll see.”
I nodded, “That’s fair, but please, for the sake of your baby, it is much safer with them. I won’t even be there most of the time, I’m focusing on gathering supplies and building defenses. I’ll see if there’s a pastor or something too, that should help this situation.”
“I am a priest.” He replied.
“Makes sense.” Before heading to base, I kicked the makeshift spear to the man “Here ya go, Father. If you decide to head out, we’ll give you some food, medical supplies, and I’ll have someone, likely the officer, to take a look at your injury.” Without waiting for a reply, I headed to the entrance to the store. Officer Rodriguez, Asha, and a couple others were at the entrance looking out.
Asha replied, “Nice work Master, you ended those gobkin before we even knew there was a fight.”
“Quite, I have a good number of questions for you Asha, starting with why my speech pattern went from a southern factory worker to an Oxford literary professor. After that, I need to know how I knew those things were classified as Feral Gobkin.” I turned to Rodriguez, “But first, I need you to come try and convince that family I saved that the blood drinking monster that saved them is safer than the man-eating monsters out there. Also, the father (I chuckled internally at the pun) needs to get checked out. Took a good blow to the back of his head with a rock.”
Her eyes widened before she nodded and rushed out the door. I looked at the crowd of twenty to thirty people, we really need to get a headcount, and called out, “Is anyone here a religious leader? A priest, a nun, something to that effect?” After a pause, three cautious hands rose.
The first man, a portly fellow with a receding hairline and a bushy salt and pepper beard called out, “I preach at my church every Sunday, but I ain’t the head honcho. Name’s Frank Horner.” He then pointed at a reedy black man in his early thirties to his left and then to the older woman to his right, “This here is Jimmy who volunteers at the church every weekend and plays the organ on Sundays. This lovely lady is my wife, Luanne. She preaches for women only sermons every other Sunday of the month as well as leads the choir. We’re Catholic.”
“A pleasure to meet you Frank, Luanne, Jimmy. If you’d like, would you mind speaking to the family outside? I’m afraid my current… situation put them on edge, to say the least. Would you mind putting in your two cents and let them know that this is a safe place for them? They have a baby along with a young daughter and I can’t stand the thought of something happening to them if they left because of me.”
Frank nodded, “Don’t mind at all. You’ve done right by us for now, despite how common sense says someone with your… condition should behave. I’d be happy t’ speak to them. I won’t lie to ya, I’ll tell them the truth, no sugar coating.”
“That is all I need. The unadulterated truth.” I smiled at him. I held the door open for him as he left, and his wife and friend followed him out. I exited on their tail with Asha on mine. I stood a decent distance from the group, close enough to hear clearly, but far enough to give them peace of mind.
“How y’all doing? Are the young’ns doing well?” Frank greeted them.
Officer Rodriguez was patting at the Father’s head with some cotton doused in isopropyl, “He looks fine. Minor abrasion on the scalp, but no signs of a concussion. He’ll need to be watched for the next couple days, but he should be okay.”
“That's a blessing to hear. My name is Frank Horner, this is my wife Luanne, and Jimmy Armitage. I preach over at a Catholic church down on Caldwell along with my wife. Jimmy is an old friend who volunteers on weekends and is the best organ player this side of the Cumberland. Now, Victor there asked me to tell you the state of our little refuge. It ain’t much now, and I’m not sure how long we’ll all be staying. But as of now, it is the safest place I know. I also know it ain’t us that's got yer' hackles raised. Victor there, well I ain’t too sure what he is. He’s got some strange powers and is a bit scary when he gets a’brawling. As far as I can tell he’s apparently some type of vampire along with his lady friend there, apparently. I can’t tell you I trust him implicitly, no more than any random man I just met, that's fer sure. Fact of the matter is so far; he’s done us right. Gave us shelter, security, and supplies when the whole world’s going to hell in a handbasket. Now so far, he seems to be a good’n, and if you’re smart, you’ll keep an eye on him and run to the hills if he puts a toe out of line because he is dangerous when he wants to be.”
He took a deep breath, recovering from his long winded speech, then gagged a little when he got a whiff of the gobkin corpses. “That was a mistake, ugh, nasty critters. That’s about all I have to say on the matter. My opinion, if you’ll have it, is that you should stay, for the sake of that little tyke in yer arms if nothing else. Luanne? Jimmy? Anything to add?”
“Naw Frank, you took the words out of my mouth.” Replied Jimmy, a surprisingly deep voice coming from him despite his slight frame, like James Earl Jones deep.
Luanne shook her head, “Nope, he seems like a sweet boy if’n a bit intimidating, that eye of his is a bit spooky, ah no offense Victor.” She turned to me.
I chuckled, “No, I’m with you, it’s definitely freaky looking. I mean, two pupils? Weird.”
“That’s the gist of it, so what do ya say, how ‘bout y’all take a load off for a while and rest up, maybe until yer sure that noggin of your’s in tip top shape. Then if’n y’all still got the heebie-jeebies, then y’all can hit the road with full bellies and a pack full of supplies.” Frank bore a grand smile.
The family appeared to grow more relaxed the more Frank spoke, I definitely took an instant liking to the guy. He was blunt, honest, and kind. The husband and wife whispered to each other rapidly. Several glances were cast my way as I pretended not to notice as I scanned the area for threats. I still saw several people rush around, but far less than before as people congregated or for more macabre reasons.
Finally, the husband spoke up, “We will stay, for now. At least for a couple days. We do need to find my wife’s mother and brother. They live by Haynes Park up north. I apologize for the late introduction. My name is Jose Espinoza and this is my wife Anahi, my daughter Isabella, and little Mateo.” Jose turned to me and said, “Victor, was it? I am trusting you, if not with my family’s safety, then with the belief that you or your… friend will not harm them. If you do, you had better start with me, because I may be a man of faith, but I will rip you a-fucking-sunder if you hurt them.”
Jose’s wife slapped his forehead with the back of her hand and muttered something in Spanish, likely scolding him for his curse. He smiled wryly at his wife and replied, “Lo siento, mi amore. Now, we should go inside before any more demons show up.”
Asha helpfully added, “Actually, gobkin are feral cousins to Orcs. Demons don’t look anything like those and are much more dangerous.”
“Thank you, Asha.” I replied with a facepalm, exasperated.