Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 23:17:44 +0000
From: Nathan Wolf <realityreflection@hotmail.com>
Subject: Blood Angel (Chapter 13, Part 2)

OK, here's the last chapter. The next story I'm putting out is gonna be
called Blond Angel, and it's basically about things that happen after the
battle. Well, I'm not gonna give out anything yet, you can read it in the
first chapter of Blond Angel.
This thing took me a while to write. I wanna thank you all for your support.
You actually make me feel like I'm a writer, no matter how impossible that
might sound. Anyway, big thanks to Colleen, and Dave who makes me blush like
crazy, and Tristan... and everyone else who's been writing me constantly. I
hope you like this chapter. Now few lines for the boring stuff.
BSB and N'Sync aren't gay, at least not in real life, because I know that in
my dreams it can get pretty crazy... but that's a whole another story.
Don't read if you're under eighteen, not that you don't see worse things on
your video games, and if you're offended, well, that seemes like your
problem, doesn't it?
With that said, on with the story.

         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Brian looked at the sky in wonder. Another two hours and the sun would
rise, which meant that the battle lasted the whole night. Just one night,
when it seemed like years and years passed since they had left the hotel.
His first encounter with Robby seemed a whole lifetime away.
He hadn't been taking his medicine in days, and nothing changed. He was
still Brian... no violent outbursts, no suicide attempts... nothing. Love
had helped him make a full recovery. Love and Robby.
The cold slowly creeped up on him, and he shivered. He couldn't feel it
earlier although he was aware of the sharp wind that had whipped his face.
Even though Robby stepped quickly through the city streets, it wasn't enough
to warm up. He remembered Robby's mumbling before they reached Lady Lake to
help Colleen. He said that battles are hot, even in snow... turning into a
fire that could easily consume you. Brian hadn't understood what he meant
then. But now he knew better than he had ever hoped to.
Robby hadn't said much since they left Lady Lake. Taking large strides
alongside Brian he muttered to himself quietly, sometimes growling in a way
that would make a person's hair on the back of the neck stand up straight.
Brian kept quiet. He could feel Robby's emotions as if they were his own,
and every moment they spent together seemed to make that bond stronger. He
didn't like what he felt though. Hate and fear mixed together so strongly
that Brian couldn't understand where one began and the other ended.
He was still deep in thought when a shape appeared in front of them as if by
magic. He stopped in his track, fumbling for his gun when Robby grabbed his
arm. The shape moved closer, and Brian sighed in relief. It was Colleen.
She seemed to be in even worse condition than Brian and Robby were. Her
clothes were crimson red with only a couple of patches of green left, while
the whole left side of her face was swollen. She still looked beautiful
though, with her hair in a wild disarray and her eyes glittering in the
dark. She was an Amazon, unstoppable and wild, ready for anything. Brian
wondered how had he ever, even for a second, dared to doubt her strength.
She was smiling now... a weak smile, but more than Brian could manage even
if he had tried. Her voice was still smooth and rippling, incredibly calming
despite her appearance:
"You seem to have recovered. I knew you wouldn't leave me... me, or that boy
that seems to have his eyes only for you."
Brian blushed like an idiot, and for the first time that night, he was
actually glad that darkness surrounded them so Robby couldn't see his face.
Colleens voice grew serious and the grin slipped off her face:
"Dom is still gone... If he hadn't showed up till now, I'm afraid he's gone
for good."
Brian felt like he should say something, but nothing seemed appropriate.
Instead he mumbled:
"I'm sorry Colleen..."
She cut him off:
"No time for that. I'll grieve later, when Mike is dead. I found out where
they took the boy Mike took captive."
Robby spoke for the first since they left the lake and Brian shivered from
the cold in his voice:
"I did too. Less then two hours until sunrise... Mike wants to make this as
dangerous and spectacular as possible. We have to move fast."
Colleen didn't answer. Instead, she stepped on Robby's left and took up his
pace with ease.
Couple of streets down, Robby made them stop and wait. Colleen used that
time to check her guns and knives, while Brian stared at Robby not daring to
ask any questions. Since that hug at the Lady Lake, Robby simply cut himself
off from Brian and grew colder than ice in the middle of winter storm. Brian
knew that Robby had a lot on his mind, and Brian himself was worried about
the rest of the guys, but he didn't like being cut off. It made him feel
more scared and unsure of himself... it made him feel alone.
On the top of everything, the wound on the back of his head had started
bleeding again. He barely noticed the cut above his eye and the wound on his
thigh, but the cut on his neck pounded wildly, screaming for attention. He
ripped a part of his undershirt and tied it around his neck, not even
considering the possibility of asking Robby for help. Robby had enough on
his mind already, and he had no strength to waste.
Suddenly, quick steps echoed on the pavement not far away from where Brian
was standing. Since Robby hadn't said anything, Brian knew that the steps
behind him didn't come from vampires, but he was still surprised to see
Derrick and Justin emerging from the dark.
He gave Justin a hug even before realizing what he was doing, and the words
poured out of his mouth so fast that they were barely understandable:
"I'm so glad you're OK... where are the others? Are they OK? Why didn't you
stay with Kevin?"
Justin hugged him back just as tightly, and whispered in his shoulder:
"I couldn't leave him... all he keeps talking about is killing Mike. I'm
afraid, what if he... what if..."
Brian understood:
"If you keep being worried with 'ifs', you won't be able to concentrate on
what's going on right now... and that might end up being even worse."
Before Justin managed to respond, Colleen barked at the two of them:
"Move it guys, we don't have the time for this. Talk later."
With a start, Brian realized that Robby and Derrick had already started
walking and were slowly disappearing in the darkness of the street. Pulling
Justin along, he hurried after them.
He had no idea why Robby had decided to become so cold all of the sudden,
but he had every intention of finding out by the end of the night.

         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   JC's mind played tricks on him. He wasn't sure if he was awake any more
or not... everything was foggy and wavy in his mind. Flashes from past sped
through his mind in the speed of light; things that had made him happy,
things that had made him sad... things he swore he would never think about
again. It was all there.
His body was numb... he couldn't feel any part of his body but the lungs,
and those burned painfully with every breath he inhaled. He could see his
hands through the fog, but he wasn't sure those were his hands any more.
They were blue and black, where they weren't crimson, and besides, he could
not move either one of the fingers no matter how hard he tried.
Somewhere far away, he could hear voices and screams, laughing and crying,
but he wasn't sure if those were real or not. He started doubting his own
memories... trying to imagine that everything was just a bad dream that he
will eventually wake up from. But no matter how hard he tried, he still
ended up hanging there in that fog, incapable of moving.
He started hallucinating. He was born as a different man, he died as a
different man. He loved men, he loved women... he loved Lance, Justin,
Derrick... he married Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, one of his fans... he
was killed by a vampire, by Lance, by AJ... he killed AJ... at that he
screamed and screamed until he felt something heavy slam against his mouth.
Fresh blood poured down his neck and he laughed. The pain brought him
back... whether that fog was reality of not, it was better than... he
shuddered at the thought. But he laughed, and laughed, and laughed, until
his mind went black.

         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Robby crouched at the base of a dirty building wall, motioning for
everyone but Colleen to stay back. He could see the gas station and feel
hundreds and hundreds of vampires surrounding it. Most of them were too far
away to feel him, and he hoped none of them decides to move closer. He could
feel Derrick behind him, and feel Brian's shaky breath as if it blew
directly at his neck. God, he was scared. He didn't want to admit it or show
it, but he was afraid to the point where he had to stop his hands from
trembling. Not for himself; he didn't care whether he lived or died... the
life he lead could barely be called that anyway. But Brian... Brian who
insisted on following him all the way, Brian who wouldn't back down... Brian
who would give his life for Robby without even thinking about it. That's
what scared him more than anything. The though that Brian might die and he
would have to live without him. Live with that enormous pain for eternity.
Grinding his teeth, he focused on the gas station. He knew that his coldness
affected everyone, and he knew that it was unfair to Brian who needed him
now more than ever. But the coldness was his shield against pain, against
fear... he couldn't let himself feel too much. One wrong step and someone
would die, and he knew he didn't have enough strength to carry someone's
death on his conscience for an eternity. He almost laughed at himself. Yeah,
he was one pathetic vampire alright.
All of the sudden, he felt a human move somewhere around vampires. He rose
slightly to get a better look and his throat tightened. It was Dom, talking
with Mike, laughing with him... laughing at the figure which lifelessly hung
down from the roof. Robby knew that figure was JC... he was motionless and
looked more like a dirty rag, hopelessly hanging with pieces of cloth
flapping on the late fall wind that grew stronger with every minute. He felt
Colleen move and he grabbed her wrist. Her face was white and tight, he
teeth biting into her lips and a small drop of blood had already formed
under her teeth. He whispered quickly:
"No... not now."
She tried to rise but he gripped her wrist harder:
"Colleen, we have to save JC... if you move now it will ruin everything."
Lowering his whisper he pleaded with his eyes:
"Please Colleen."
He felt her tense up, then crouch back next to him. She whispered:
"I will kill him."
Robby didn't respond. One of the last people he would ever expect to betray
them. He had liked Dom, thought him one of the rare honest people in the
town... maybe in the world. He had failed to remember that evil is not
always so obvious, and the world was far from black and white. Well, now he
had a chance to experience it, in the worst possible way.
Then he felt presence of others behind him just as Colleen spoke up:
"AJ and Lance are here... with others. We should move... How do you wanna do
this?"
So cold... so simple. Would you like a cup of tea? Paper or plastic? How do
you wannna crash a vampire party, risk your friends lives, try to save an
already possibly dead guy? How would you like to do this? God she was cold.
But she was like him... he knew it and she knew it. Dead or alive, vampire
or not, they were the same breed. Killers with emotions. The worst kind.
He spoke softly:
"Divide into three parts. Have your guys wait and hit from the rear in the
middle of the attack. I want you to take AJ and Lance, and..."
He could hear his own whisper echo his ears but the fear still gripped him.
There was no turning back... small chance of survival... no chance of
painless fight. They were about to step in the fires of Hell and he wished
he could cry. Instead he laughed at the pain of life, at the pain in
general. Laughed like a maniac in his own mind while his cold voice rolled
through the darkness.

        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   AJ stared at the figure hanging from the roof. He knew it was JC although
he couldn't see the face or an actual outline of his body. His nails dug
painfully into his palms but he could barely feel it. God if he only had
told JC that he loved him... if he only didn't push him away, if he had kept
him close... JC would have been safe. He didn't know how, but he was sure
that if he had told JC that he loved him, JC would not have been hanging
there lifelessly. He couldn't allow himself to think that JC might be dead.
That thought was too painful to bear. Too painful to be able to live with
it. He knew what he needs to do if JC was dead. Go straight for Mike. Hope
he dies on Mike's hands... if he doesn't then there is plenty of other days
to die. One way or the other, he would die. The life without JC wouldn't be
a life... it would be suffering and pain beyond anything imaginable... and
that kind of suffering would kill him anyway. Best to finish it as soon as
possible.
Colleen moved closer to him:
"We're the first ones going in... just to make some confusion. Robby is
going to attack from the other side. We're taking only five people with us
and Robby is taking five too. Lance is taking the rest  to hit from behind."
He nodded. Simple plan, for not so simple situation. But then again, they
weren't dealing with people, so there was no other way to do this. She kept
whispering while loosening her guns and knives:
"When we get in, I want you to do one thing and one thing only. Free JC.
Take him as far away as possible and don't look back. We will be right
behind you. And if we're not..."
She shrugged:
"If we're not, you can find the way back by yourself."
Without even waiting for his response, she moved down to Lance.
Lance had seemed so nervous when they first started... he changed into a
completely different person in a course of couple of hours. His face was
covered by cuts, his hair bloody and his hands steady. He killed and was
almost killed, he had seen more blood in this one night than  in his whole
lifetime. It made him harder than stone. He cut himself off like Colleen and
Robby. AJ guessed that was a sure way to block out the fear, but he couldn't
do it. One look at JC bloody shape made him so afraid and angry that it
almost blinded him.
If JC was dead.... God help him if JC was dead. God help them all...

     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Justin kept low as he carefully stepped behind Derrick's body coated in
darkness. Behind them were three guys Colleen had chosen, all three barely
older than twenty five.
The youngest one, a boy with hazel eyes and light brown hair seemed to
already have died somewhere deep inside. His mouth never moved whether you
asked him something politely or shouted at him. He offered no response to
anything, but at the sight of vampires, his face had turned to pure rage.
Colleen had told Justin that the boy's parents and an older brother were
killed by vampires couple of years back. His younger sister was turned into
a vampire and the boy killed her in cold blood... after that he hadn't
spoken a word to anyone.
Justin's hands were cold and sweaty. He forced his thoughts away from the
boy and everything that had to do with blood and death. It was hard though.
Derrick's mind had been a complete chaos in the last couple of hours... it
seemed as if Derrick was deliberately trying to ignore something that had
happened or was about to happen. Either way, it was making Justin even more
nervous.
All of the sudden, Derrick stopped in his tracks and took a hold of Justin's
arm. Pointing towards a ray of light that was glittering through the
crumbling walls of something that could have at some point been a
playground, he whispered in his low, cracked voice:
"We move this way, as soon as we hear Colleen. I want you to stay here and-"
"No!"
"Justin-"
"I said no! I'm coming with you!"
Derrick stared at him for the longest time and then turned away.  Justin
felt like his heart was being ripped out. Now he could clearly feel Derrick
shutting off his thoughts completely. Justin felt like screaming; instead he
kept quiet and focused on the back of Derrick's sandy blonde hair,
determined not to let him out of his sight.
A loud gun shot that echoed the street made his heart skip a beat, although
he was expecting it. As soon as Robby gave them a sign that most of the
vampires were moving towards the place where the gun shot came from, Robby
motioned for them to follow him. The plan was simple. The would attack from
the right, Colleen from the left and then Lance would come in last. But
Robby didn't even try to kill the vampires that appeared from the darkness.
He swung his swords around to keep them at a distance, and moved at a quick
step towards the middle of the gas station. Brian was right behind him,
protecting his back, while Justin and Derrick already fought for their life.
Trying not to drop the gun every time he shot, Justin felt as if for each
vampire that fell down, there was five more coming straight at him.
He knew that Robby was wrong to go straight for Mike. He knew it, but still
prayed with all his strength that Robby kills him as soon as possible. That
this whole thing ends as soon as possible. He was pushing himself to the
point of pain, and he knew he would not last much, longer. So he prayed and
killed and prayed, while the full moon above his head laughed at them all.

   Brian felt as if everything was moving in slow motion. Vampires falling
down. Blood flowing down his neck. The swinging of Robby's sword... He
wanted to grab Robby by the scruff of his neck and shake him hard. His
stupid, stupid pride had made him go straight for Mike. Now they were all
going to die because of it. But the worst of it was the fact that Robby was
the one who would very likely die first.
Brian watched Justin and Derrick fight alongside the three boys that Colleen
had sent with them. They seemed to barely be pushing forwards. They were
fighting for their life. Fighting desperately. It wasn't supposed to be that
way... God, it wasn't....
Mike stood under JC's motionless body. His sword was out, his mouth twisted
into a grin. Brian felt anger. Madness... blinding madness coming from
Robby's mind. In one jump, Robby threw himself on Mike, and the swords
clashed. The sparks flew like stars. Clashing of the swords echoed the
buildings over and over again. Brian fought with his last strength, barely
managing to keep his eye on Robby. He felt the cuts on Robby's body, and
they grew, and grew... turned into a fire of pain.
Robby and Mike danced. It was all Brian could call it, that gliding, flowing
movement, sharp blades flickering and spinning. Back and forth they danced,
circling one another, swords now probing, now slashing, Robby attacking, now
defending, and every movement punctuated by that loud slash of steel. Cold
rage now burned on Mike's face, and he pressed harder and harder. Still no
blade touched anything but another, yet now Robby backed away constantly,
sword darting to defend, and Mike moved forward, attacking, eyes glittering
with ice fury.
Suddenly, someone screamed in such desperation, that Robby's sword faltered.
Mike's steel blade smashed into Robby's side with a bone-crack sound,
doubling him over:
"You are a dead angel."
Mike sneered, lifting his sword high to strike again...
Brian felt as everything is going on in the slow motion. He could not move
or speak... he stared, frozen in one spot, with Justin fighting now right
next to him. The sword lowered... lowered slowly... and Mike froze, staring
as someone's body fell over Robby's.
Brian felt sick. It was Derrick. Derrick with his sword shooting up directly
at Mike's heart. At the same instant that Mike's piercing scream shot
through the wind, his sword fell where it had aimed for Robby's heart.
Instead, it pierced Derrick.
Justin cried out and threw his weapon down, running towards Derrick. By the
time he got there, only Robby was laying on the dirty hard cement, covered
in dust softer than velvet.
The fight was over.
Brian collapsed on the ground, the blood from his neck soaking his back. He
couldn't see clearly any more, but he could hear the Justin's desperate
cries and wanted to cry with him. He could almost recognize Justin's weak
shape... a crumbling figure on his knees, gripping his hair and screaming.
Robby was trying to comfort him... the vampires were gone. Gone... it was
finally done. It was all done.
Covering his head with his hands, he cried.

The End of Blood Angel

OK, I know it's not really done, but I'm writing another story that talks
about everyone a month after the fight happened. It's called The Blond
Angel, and don't worry, Justin won't be suffering forever. I'm gonna make
everything alright. In the first chapter, you'll find out what happened with
Dom, Colleen, Kevin, and everyone else. it should be out soon, but until
then, CRITICIZE!