which way she'd run. But couldn't they
hear her heartbeat or smell her blood? Something. She tried to calm
her breathing. Boxes and objects were starting to rattle around
inside the storage cages. She had to control her power.
Luke was busy in the lobby slamming Geric
into a row of mailboxes. Geric fell to the ground and leaped up,
punching Luke so hard he flew across the room. The other two
vampires had split up. One was running at super speed down all the
hallways. The other had gone outside to monitor all exits to the
building.
"Oh, love is so painful," Geric said
mockingly as he ambled across the room, watching Luke stumble to
his feet to fight some more. "What will I do without my beautiful
Karina?" he mocked.
Luke took a swing at him again, but Geric
moved quickly out of the way. Then Geric grabbed Luke by the throat
and slammed him into a wall, holding him there.
"You should be draining the humans you drink
from, friend," he said. "Then you can grow up to be strong like
me." He slammed Luke against the wall again, and then threw him
across the room. He had sped away at super speed before Luke could
get back on his feet.
The spiky-haired vampire was walking slowly
along the third floor, listening for Karina. Listening for any
raised heartbeat or anyone out of breath. Also waiting to smell her
fear. He had checked her apartment. She was, of course, not stupid
enough to go there.
Geric marched along the second floor hallway.
He had simply followed Karina's scent up the stairwell. He hummed a
little tune as he walked, straight down the hall to the storage
room. He burst through the storage room door with confidence and
marched back to Karina's corner. People's boxes and belongings
started to rattle loudly in their cages as he approached her.
"Oh." He stopped a few feet from her in mock
awe. He tapped the nearest cage with his hand. "The animals are
restless." He laughed. Then he reached forward and yanked her up
off the ground by her arm. "Come with me, my lovely," he said.
Karina stumbled as he dragged her quickly
behind him. Her heart was pounding again. The contents of the cages
shook so much they created a roar.
Luke had run up to Karina's apartment to
check for her there. No sign of her, of course. He'd wandered the
third floor quickly, looking for her. Instead he found the
spiky-haired vamp, who smiled at him and cocked his head to the
side. As if to say, "You know we have to fight now."
Then the spiky-haired vampire flew at him
quickly, knocking him to the ground, and landing on top of him.
Luke shoved him so hard, the vampire flew at the ceiling and
smashed into it, causing plaster to fall back down. Luke rolled out
of the way as the vampire fell to the ground again. Luke jumped
quickly to his feet, but the vampire did the same.
"What's going on out there?" a woman's angry
voice shouted from behind a locked door.
Luke quickly grabbed the vampire by the back
of his jacket and dragged him down the hall, around the corner. He
didn't want humans to be collateral damage in this fight. The
vampire pried Luke's hands off of him, turned and punched Luke in
the face, sending him flying.
Geric had dragged Karina behind him, down the
stairs, to the lobby, which is where Karina knew she would have
options again. She picked up a heavy wooden armchair with her mind
and threw it at Geric's head. She had to jump out of the way as the
chair flew towards them. He was in front of her and it hit him from
the left side. He let go of her hand as he fell to the ground. She
ran quickly back to the stairwell. There was no sign of Luke in the
lobby. He must still be in the building. She had to find him.
He hadn't been in the second floor hall where
she had just been. She ran to the third floor and cautiously
stepped into the hallway. She heard a loud scuffle around the
corner. She ran toward it. Luke and the spiky-haired vampire were
pummeling each other. She concentrated and, with her mind, picked
up the spiky-haired vampire
Catherine Gilbert Murdock