Sable changed quickly, and by the time she emerged from the inside of Xavier's tent, she looked like a completely different person. Gone was the Victorian-era white dress, replaced with a frilled white blouse and red skirt, along with a flowing black cloak. Alain had to admit that she looked every bit the part of the vampire she was supposed to be in it, though that didn't answer the primary question on his mind.

"Why give her this now?"

Xavier turned towards him. "That outfit belongs to her."

"He's right," Sable chimed in. "This is one of my family's. Xavier, where did you get this?"

"I met with your sister during my travels, several decades ago. She told me to give that to you when I saw you."

Immediately, Sable's demeanor changed. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "If you met her, then you're lucky to be alive."

"I am aware. She seemed to know we would cross paths eventually. Perhaps that is why she chose to let me live."

"We can discuss this later," Alain insisted. "We need to go back to town, now."

"He's right, my lady," Az agreed. "Let us make haste back to town, before it's too late."

–

The return trip took them far less time than the initial departure, thankfully, though still more time than they could afford to spare. By Alain's estimate, it was around two in the morning by the time they made it back. They'd entrusted Xavier to notify the Army and the Tribunal, and he had set off immediately; Alain wasn't sure how he was going to get in touch with them, but he didn't care, so long as he was able to do so.

"We need to speak with Amanda again," Alain said as they stepped into town. "We need to know who was sacrificed to fuel the barrier ritual, and where we can find their body."

"Agreed," Felix said with a nod.

At that moment, the ground began to shake once more. All four of them paused, knowing what was about to come. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the earth beneath their feet began to shift as more corpses clawed their way to the surface.

"Felix, Az, you two need to help the remaining townspeople!" Alain shouted. "Sable, you're with me! We're headed to the cemetery!"

"Works for me!" Felix called.

Him and Az split off, running into the center of town while Sable and Alain took off towards the cemetery. As they ran, undead rose up all around them; Alain fired his weapons as he ran, trying to keep the undead away from him. Sable moved in a blur, tearing apart undead with little issue; Alain could only surmise that the blood he'd given her earlier had left her rejuvenated, as there was now no trace of her earlier lethargy.

After several minutes of running and fighting undead, they arrived at the gates to the cemetery. More walking corpses lurched around the cemetery, moaning as they shambled about, freshly risen from their graves. Alain and Sable wasted no time in engaging them all, cutting them down as quickly as they came.

"Sable, watch the entrance," Alain said as he reloaded his weapons. "I'm going to talk to Amanda."

Sable nodded, then turned away from him to keep watch. Alain approached Amanda's grave, then cleared his throat.

"Amanda, we need to speak with you, please."

For a moment, there was only silence, but then that familiar white mist began to roll in once more, and the temperature dropped significantly. The hairs on the back of Alain's neck stood up, and a chill went down his spine, but he held firm, rooted to his spot. In a matter of seconds, Amanda materialized in front of him, dressed in that same white veil as before.

"You have returned," she said.

"We have," Alain replied. "Listen, we're still working on avenging you – we need some help from you first, though. I'm sorry."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

To his relief, Amanda nodded. "I understand," she said softly. "How may I assist?"

"There's a barrier blocking our way into the mines, where Ansley has holed up – apparently, it was fueled by a human sacrifice. We need to know who was used to create the barrier, as well as where we can find their body."

"You would desecrate the dead so callously?"

"Not for no reason," he hurriedly added. "We need to expose the barrier to the remains of the person used to fuel its creation in order to destroy it. Unless we do that, we can't get to Ansley."

Amanda seemed to hesitate, but then gave him a solemn nod. "...You are standing atop her grave."

Alain was taken aback. "You…? He used you for the-"

"I believe so, yes."

Alain stared at her, unsure of how to word his next question. "Then… would it be okay if-"

"Yes," Amanda said, cutting him off. "If you must dig up my grave for that, then go ahead. I do not mind."

Alain nodded. "Thank you, Amanda. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Do not apologize for doing what has to be done. Just… promise me that whatever you need to do with my body, you will make it count."

"I promise."

Amanda gave a shuddering gasp, then dissipated. The fog began to clear up, and Alain looked around for something he could use to dig up her grave. There was a shovel leaned against the nearby wooden fence – he moved to grab it, but sudden movement out in the desert caught his attention. His eyes widened, and he threw himself to the ground just in time for a bullet to pass through where his head had been just a fraction of a second beforehand.

"Alain!" Sable called.

"I'm fine!" he shouted back through gritted teeth. "Go take care of whoever's out in the desert, would you?! I've got the grave under control!"

Sable gave an affirmative shout, then sped past him, rushing out into the desert. Muzzle flashes lit up the night as she ran, but Alain paid them no mind – instead, he grabbed the shovel and began to dig at Amanda's grave.

He'd barely made it a foot down when more movement caught his attention – undead were closing in on the cemetery from the outskirts of town. It looked like an entire horde of them, around twenty or so. Alain blanched, then reluctantly dropped the shovel and drew his shotgun. He fired several blasts into the crowd of undead from afar, reloading and shooting his weapon as fast as he could. A few of them fell, but the majority continued to shamble towards him, their bodies pockmarked with buckshot pellets, but their heads untouched.

Alain slung his shotgun and drew his Colt, backpedaling as he fired. He cut down several undead as they advanced, but his weapon soon ran dry, and he was forced to retreat, hopping the fence around the graveyard and running out into the desert as he reloaded, trying to put some distance between himself and the corpses. They kept coming, however – fatigue was getting the best of him, and his aim was no longer steady enough for him to consistently hit clean head shots from a distance like he was trying to.

Alain continued to backpedal away from the undead, not even bothering to look at where he was going as he shoved rounds into his revolver's cylinder. He was completely unprepared for someone to grab him from behind, then hoist him up into the air. Alain choked, the person's hold constricting his throat, and he kicked his legs in a vain attempt to free himself.

"Well, well," he heard Sheriff Adams say. "Decided to come back to town, huh? Thought for sure we'd succeeded in driving you all away, but you just keep coming back, like a band of cockroaches."

"Fuck… you…" Alain managed to gasp out.

"Are those supposed to be your last words, Smith? Come on, impress me. I know you're good for it."

Alain went to angle his revolver towards Adams and squeezed off a shot, but it went wide, impacting against the desert sand. In front of him, the undead continued to close in, and his eyes widened when he realized what was about to happen.

Unless he managed to free himself, Adams was going to personally feed him to a horde of living corpses.

"You know, it's a shame," Adams announced. "I was hoping the vampire would put up more of a fight than she did, but a few shots to the head was all it took to put her down, the same as any other undead."

Alain suddenly paused as Adams' words sank in. A grin crossed his face, and he began to chuckle, the laughter coming out as a low gasp thanks to the hand around his throat.

"Hm?" Adams grunted. "What's so funny?"

"You don't… know much about vampires, do you?"

"I know enough."

"Clearly… not… if you did… she'd actually be dead…"

"What do you-"

There was a loud, feral scream, followed by a sickening pop. Adams' grip suddenly slackened, and Alain fell to the desert sands below, gasping for breath. Adams' headless corpse followed him to the ground, his skull apparently having been burst. Sable was standing there, her hands pressed together, covered with gore. She was soaked in her own blood and heaving with exertion, but she only stayed there like that for a moment before charging into the rapidly-approaching crowd of undead. As Alain watched, she tore what remained of the horde limb from limb with her bare hands, finishing each one with a decapitation with nothing but the side of her hands.

After a few more seconds of fighting, it was all over. Alain slumped down onto the sands below, still gasping for breath. Sable came up to him and went to offer a hand, but thought better of it after seeing all the blood and brains covering it. Instead, she hurriedly wiped her hands on the sand below to try and clean them, then motioned with her head for Alain to follow her.

"Come on," she said. "We have a corpse to dig up."

–

A short while later, Alain and Sable stepped back into town. Sable had a coffin slung over her shoulder, and was carrying it like it weighed nothing at all. Alain kept his head on a swivel, looking for any more undead, but the townspeople seemed to have cleared them out already, if the corpses lining the ground were any indication.

"Hey!" Alain suddenly heard Felix call from a nearby building. "Over here!"

Alain motioned for Sable to follow him, and the two of them came bursting through the doors. They were in another saloon of some kind, one filled with several other survivors, all of them heavily armed. They stared at the two of them with bewildered looks on their faces, but Alain and Sable just brushed them off, instead moving over to the corner where Az and Felix were posted up.

"That her?" Felix asked, motioning to the casket.

"Yeah, should be," Alain answered. "Sable, if you would?"

Sable placed the casket on the ground, then opened it. Immediately, Alain and Felix recoiled from the stench of decay, pulling their shirts up to cover their faces as they coughed.

"God, it smells…!" Alain managed to get out.

"It's a dead body," Sable deadpanned. "Did you expect it to smell like fresh lavender?"

"Eugh… never mind, just… what do we do with it now? Do we just take some of her remains and hold them against the barrier, and hope that's enough to get us through?"

"No idea," Az replied, crossing his arms. "It might be a good idea to have a backup plan in case that one doesn't work, though – last time we went to the mines, we almost didn't make it out. If we're going in, it would pay for us to be sure we can get through the barrier this time."

"So, what, you mean like weaponizing her?" Felix asked, pointing at Amanda's corpse.

"If at all possible, yes."

"That's crazy. How are we supposed to do that?"

Alain looked out the window, and at that moment, his gaze landed on the nearby gun shop. A thought flashed through his mind, and turned back towards his companions.

"I think I have an idea," he said.