Changing of the Guard

Part Seven: Die, Vampire!

Cover: Jason hanging from the open rear door of a speeding ambulance. Police cars have surrounded the vehicle. The door is swinging closed, Jason, his coat billowing in the wind, is pointing a pistol at Brite, who is crouched and ready to leap from the rear of the ambulance. Behind Brite is the broken, bloodless corpse of a paramedic. The walls of the ambulance have been shredded with claw-marks and bullet-holes. Jason, seemingly unafraid, is about to fire a shot right through Brite's skull. Text below the image: "Die, Vampire!"

fficer Dean Lewis pulled his patrol car into the parking lot of Ingles Sporting Goods and Hunting Supply.  He turned on his searchlight and rotated it so that the beam shined into the building.   It was obvious what had set off the silent alarm... someone had driven a car right through the front of the store.

"Jesus,"  he said  "What the hell...?"

Officer Lewis grabbed the radio, pushed the button, and started speaking.

"701, this is 712... come in, dispatch."

"701,"  came a bored reply.

Lewis continued to shine his light into the store as he informed dispatch.

"Uhhh... Dispatch I'm at Ingles Sporting Goods, responding to that alarm.   I, uhhh.... Looks like we got a robbery.   Somebody drove a car through the front of the place.   I see Trevor's and Nance's cars in the lot here... they could be inside.   Send paramedics and whoever we've got in the..uhh... oh shit!"

"712, could you repeat that last part?"

"That car that got driven through the store... it's 720!  It's a patrol car!"

"Could you repeat that?  Sounds like you said 720 drove his car through Ingles Sporting Goods."

"I don't know who was driving, but that's certainly one of OURS sitting in the middle of that store!   Get everybody down here, i think we might have an officer down."

"This is Dispatch calling all units.   We have a report of a-"

Suddenly the roof of Lewis's patrol car caved in, as if something heavy had been dropped onto it from the top of a tall building

KA-THUNK!

"...robbery and possible officer down-"

Lewis grabbed his weapon from his holster just at the car's roof was torn away like a cheap plastic food wrapper.   He pointed the gun up through the jagged hole... but he froze when he saw the hideous thing that was reaching for him.

"....at Ingles Sporting Goods, 3732 Glenwood Way.   All units please respond-"

"AAAAA!!!  HELLLPPPP!"

A clawed hand closed around Lewis's neck and upper chest.   It lifted him up out of the car.

"...repeat, robbery and possible officer down at 3732 Glenwood Way..."

Lewis's terror-filled eyes locked onto the glowing, pulsating orbs of the creature.   And suddenly he wasn't afraid any more.   A giddy smile came to his lips, and his weapon fell from his hand.

"Master!"   he said gleefully.   "Take me!  Take me, please!"

"...All units respond.   Paramedics are in route."

"Ahhh,"   Brite hissed.   His voice was mangled by the dozens of hideous pointed teeth that jutted from his mouth.  "Lambs for the slaughter... and a new Congregation to serve me!   Perhaps THESE mortals will serve me better than the last."

"Yes, Master!"  said Officer Lewis.  "We will serve you as none others have before us!"

"Perhaps the others will,"  said Brite over the distant sound of approaching police sirens.   "But you...."

Brite's mouth opened.   His long, black tongue flicked the tips of his fangs, dislodging the tender morsels of bloody flesh left over from his previous meal.

"TAKE ME!"   Lewis cried.

"Maybe you two should get a room... this is a public place, ya know!"  said Jason.

Jason Brooks stood outside the gaping hole in the front of the store.   He had weapons and ammunition hanging off of every available space on his body... including the two .45 semiautomatics he was pointing at Brite's head.

Brite looked at him... and laughed.

"HAHAHAHAAAAA!  Your TOYS cannot stop the rise of your NEW GOD!"

"Is that why you hauled ass a few minutes ago?"

"RRR!"   Brite's mouth moved toward Lewis's neck.   Jason began firing both weapons, emptying both clips in a steady hail of perfectly-aimed bullets.   When the guns were empty he stuffed them in his pockets and snatched the two .357's from the holsters on his belt.   He emptied them as well... AND the two .38 specials tucked into his back pockets.

By the time those were empty, there wasn't a single fang left in Brite's mouth... there were only shattered, jagged stubs protruding from black, shredded gums.   Brite snarled in pain, and the sharp fangs began to regenerate immediately.

"So much for dentistry,"  said Jason.   He shrugged one of the hunting rifles off of his shoulder and brought it around in a motion so smooth it look as if he'd practiced it every day for his entire life.  "Let's try brain surgery-"

Brite dropped the police officer.   The mesmerized man slid back down into the ruined patrol car and sat there... grinning in stunned euphoria.
 
CRACK!

The rifle jerked in Jason's grasp.  The bullet just grazed Brite's skull as the vampire dove from the car.   Monstrous wings spread and carried him into the air.   Jason's eyes... and the barrel of the .30-06 rifle... followed Brite as he soared high and circle the parking lot...

"Any time you wanna start shooting again would be fine,"  said Donovan.   The disembodied ghost could only 'speak' into Jason's mind, and so far, his advice had been as useful as it had been annoying.

"I don't think we can take this thing!"  said Jason.

"Think later... shoot NOW!  He's coming back!"

Brite was swooping down out of the air like some medieval dragon... straight toward Jason.   Jason's eyes narrowed, and his hands moved of their own accord... aiming and firing the hunting rifle.

CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!

Brite spasmed and convulsed in the air.   His graceful, yet frightening descent turned into a chaotic downward spiral for a few seconds... and then righted itself as the shattered bones in his wings regenerated.    He continued on his path... claws and wings extended, and fangs bared.

"rrraaAAAAAAGGGGH!"

"Jason!   Fake left, then dodge right! NOW!"

Jason did as Donovan instructed.   He pretended to dodge to his left... Brite adjusted his course to intercept him, but then Jason threw himself the right and the huge monster roared past him.

The wind nearly spun Jason completely around... which is what he wanted anyway.   Jason fired the rifle's final round into the center of Brite's back, shattering the vampire's spinal column.    Brite faltered in the air once more.   This time he hit the ground with a bone-crunching THUD!

"Jason, we've got company."

Jason heard the police car's door opening.   He turned... Officer Lewis was stepping out of his patrol car with his service revolver drawn.   The cop's aura was like a billowing black shroud.   Jason ignored it... but he couldn't ignore the gun in the cop's hand, OR the half-dozen patrol cars that were just entering the parking lot.

OR the vampire that was rising to its clawed feet just a few yards away.

"Not good."

"Don't move!"  Officer Lewis shouted.   Jason and the police officer raised their guns at the exact same time... and neither man was in complete control of his actions.   The cop was driven by the evil of the vampire's gaze, and Jason by the Affinity that moved to defend him even against his own wishes.    Jason didn't want to shoot the cop... NOT shooting him was the only thought in his mind.   In the split second it took for his handgun to raise, Jason willed himself to stop with all the force he could muster... but it was like trying to halt a speeding freight train by spitting at it.

For an instant, both men peered at each other across the sights of their guns.   Brite was in mid-leap.   Jason saw the beast out of the corner of his eye.   Two shots fired at once, merging into one loud-

BANG!

Jason didn't see what happened... it was much too fast.   There was a barely-audible ricochet from somewhere in the air between Jason and the cop... then two more ricochets as both bullets bounced off of the pavement.    The bedazzled cop flew backwards as one bullet grazed his forehead, leaving a deep but non-fatal scrape.   Brite paused the other bullet flew straight into his left eye.   Jason didn't try to figure it out... he had an idea what happened, but it was too impossible to believe.  Instead of wasting time thinking about it, he shrugged the semiautomatic shotgun from his shoulder and fired three rounds of 00-buckshot into Brite's chest... forcing the vampire back a few steps.  Jason turned and ran back into the sporting good's store just as the police cars skidded to a halt in the parking lot.

"FREEZE!"   came a half-dozen shouts.  They were immediacy followed by frantic cries of:  "What the HELL IS THAT THING!"

Jason could hear the sound of flapping wings and rushing wind behind him... gaining fast.

"SHOOT IT!"

Jason reached the front of the store and dove through the hole he'd left earlier when he'd arrived in the police car.   He rolled to a crouching position, locked eyes with Brite, and started shooting... one shot after another until the rifle's magazine was empty.   He slapped in another magazine and emptied it as well...   taking out eyes, joints, and every vulnerable spot he could see... but Brite kept coming!   Even with empty eye sockets, shredded wings, and a skull full of holes, the vampire's sheer momentum kept him hurtling toward Jason!   Brite's mouth hung open like the jaws of some prehistoric creature...

"WHOOOAA!"  Jason emptied the rifle again, and then the shotgun... and finally he turned and fled before the rushing beast.   The air seemed to scream as Brite tore through it.    He flew into the store with a-
 
WWWWHOOOOOOSHHHH!!!

Demonic claws shredded everything in his path as he bore down on Jason.

"AAAAAAAAA-"

Jason's foot caught on a piece of debris.   He went down hard, hitting his chin on the floor just as Brite shot past him.  The vampire burst through the rear wall of the showroom, and into the storage room beyond.   For a few precious seconds, everything was quiet.   Jason was still stunned from his fall.  The cops outside weren't quite sure WHAT they'd seen, or if they'd actually seen anything at all.   Their shock quickly wore off.

"COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"   someone's voice barked into a megaphone.

"Heh-heh-heh-"  came the demonic chuckle from the rear of the store.   "AHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

Brite smashed another hole in the wall and began slowly marching toward the front of the store... where the cops were waiting for him.   Car-mounted searchlights beamed into the demolished store, searching for the source of the insane laughter...

Jason rolled over and forced his eyes to focus.   He was laying on the floor, which was shaking violently with Brite's footsteps.

Jason's hand closed on a revolver that had managed to wiggle out of his pocket when he fell.

"GAZE UPON YOUR NEW GOD!"  Brite bellowed as he approached  the searchlights

Jason sat up and fired a single shot out into the night....

KSSSH!

One of the searchlights went out.   Every cop in the lot ducked for cover and immediately returned fire, sending hundreds of rounds into the darkened store.    Jason was still on the floor, but Brite was standing right in the path of the deadly rain.

"ARRRRAAAGH!!!"   Brite threw one arm over his face and backed away from the cops.   More officers were arriving now, and they joined in the fire fight without asking so much as a single question.

Meanwhile, Jason had rolled over onto his hands and knees and was crawling frantically toward the rear of the store, where he hoped to find some cover.

That's when saw the gas.   Three dozen 10 and 20-pound portable propane tanks sat against the far wall.  Bullets and shrapnel ripped through the air all around them.   One tank already had a nice little hole in its side, through which highly flammable propane gas was hissing out into the open air.

Ka-TINK!

Correction... TWO tanks had holes in their sides.

Ignoring the danger from the bullets, Jason stood and RAN as fast as he could.   He dove through the demolished rear wall into the storage room and then ran through the exit

There was a concrete lot behind the store, and a small wooded area just beyond the lot.   Jason was halfway to the trees when heard Brite's unmistakable bellow:

"ENOUGH!   YOU WILL-"

And that's when the store blew up.

Perhaps it wasn't as big of an explosion as Jason was expecting, but it was enough to knock him to the ground and completely eliminate any hope of him hearing anything for the next several minutes.   Concrete, glass and various pieces of flaming debris rocketed out of the billowing fireball that WAS Ingles Sport and Hunting Supply.    A small, vaguely mushroom-shaped cloud of fire and smoke reached toward the sky... and out of the very top of that cloud flew a charred, winged thing...   an ANGRY charred winged thing.

Brite roared and swooped down out of the sky, leaving a trail of smoke and fire in his wake.   He came toward Jason, who was running full speed toward the safety of the trees.   Through his escape from the store and the explosion that followed, Jason had managed to keep one shotgun, two pistols, and a few pocket-fulls of ammunition.   Unfortunately, since the explosion didn't kill Brite he doubted very seriously if a few bullets would make the difference.   Jason dove for the trees.  Brite was just a few yards behind him.

KRACK!  SNAP!

The vampire's speeding body cut through the trees like a scythe.   The impacts shattered bones and pulped muscles... but they regenerated instantly.   And the regeneration showed no signs of slowing down.

The field of trees was small, and Jason emerged on the other side... finding himself in the mall parking lot.   A line of concrete telephone poles stretched to his left and right, and a field of empty concrete parking spaces lay before him.   The poles AND  the parking lot were shuddering as Brite tore through the woods behind him.

Jason ran a few yards into the lot, stopped, and drew his revolver.

"AHAAA!"   The creature howled as it came for him.   "RUN, LITTLE MOUSE!   RUN!"

Brite burst out of the trees... his wings bloody and torn, but still managing to keep his grotesque body aloft and moving with enough speed to snap trees like toothpicks.

As soon as Brite cleared the trees, Jason fired twice, putting out both of the vampire's eyes with perfect shots.   Ordinarily, Brite would not have cared.... both eyes reappeared less than a second later, but by that time he was already on a collision course with a concrete telephone pole-

KKKKRUNCH!

Brite hit the pole head-first.   His head underwent a bizarre half-collapse, half-explosion that sprayed gore for several feet in all directions... then his not-quite-lifeless body slid down to the ground, leaving a red smear along the side of the pole.

The small bloody lump that was what remained of Brite's head quickly inflated into a large bloody lump, which then grew ears, eyes, a nose, and fangs.

Jason wasn't looking.    His eyes were turned elsewhere... toward the high-voltage power lines that were running directly over Brite.

Jason aimed and fired once.   One long whip of bare, energized metal fell away from the next pole and swung down.   It fell across Brite's shoulders just as the vampire was about to open his fanged mouth...

FLASSSSH!

There was a bright burst of blue-white light... so bright that Jason couldn't even look at it.   The flash was followed by an ear-splitting howl of pain like none Jason had heard before.   Beneath the howl, the electricity crackled and hissed as it etched a path of burning pain through Brite's body.  Supernaturally strong muscles spasmed with so much force that they snapped the bones that supported them, and ripped free of the ligaments that held them in place.   His skin bubbled, and a foul-smelling smoke billowed from his sizzling skin and enveloped him.

Then... somewhere along the power grid that served the city... a breaker sensed the sudden increase in electrical current and tripped offline.

The sizzling and howling and buzzing stopped.   The smoke cleared.

Brite stood motionless amid a field of charred asphalt.   He looked like a side of raw beef fresh from the slaughterhouse.   The electrical current had seared off most of his skin, and scorched a jagged path from his left shoulder, across his chest, and down into the ground through his left foot.   The proud wings were now just tattered flaps of burnt skin draped over a collection of jagged bones.   His face didn't look much different than it had before... with or without skin, it was still ugly.

Jason stared at the beast, and the sockets where Brite's eyes should have been stared back at him.   Then Brite tilted to one side and fell over.   When he hit the ground he made a sound that was a cross between a 'crunch,' a 'crackle,' and a 'squish.'

"Hey, Donovan,"  said Jason.  "Would you call that 'regular' or 'extra crispy'?"

"He isn't dead."

"S'cuse me?   Maybe you weren't paying attention when I put forty thousand volts through his ass."

"That wouldn't have killed him."

"Well... he ain't moving!   And I DAMN sure and going over there to get a closer look."

"Does he have an aura?"

"A what?"

"Use your vision... does he have an aura?"

Jason had forgotten about the 'auric vision' that had somehow replaced his normal sight.   He'd spent so much energy running, shooting, falling, and screaming that he didn't even notice the halos of multicolored light that outlined people when he saw  them.... and the billowing black cloud draped around Brite's supposedly dead body

"...uhhh..."

"Things with auras are usually alive.   Usually."

"...well..."

Brite's body suddenly convulsed... and then began to transform.   He was regenerating, but not into the same form he was in before.   Brite shrank...  claws retracted and tattered wings withered away into nothing.   Brite became human right before Jason's eyes.

"Okay, let's finish him off-"   Jason pointed his rifle at Brite, but the sound of rapidly approaching vehicles interrupted the execution.   Police, paramedics and firefighters began swarming into the area.  The firefighters rushed to the still-burning store while the cops converged on parking lot.   It would only take a split-second to put a bullet in Brite's head... but he needed that same split-second to start running if he hoped to keep his freedom... and Jason had an innate aversion to getting beat down by cops in mall parking lots.

"I think now's a good time to leave,"  said Jason.    He dashed toward the wooded area that he hoped would give him some cover.   The first police cars skidded to a halt...

"What about Brite?   You have to-"

"I have to get my ass OUT of here! To HELL with Brite,"   Jason hissed as he vanished into the trees.   "Let the COPS finish him off!"   He ducked down behind a tree to watch what was happening.

"...help me..."  came a timid voice.   Brite.   The naked 'human' was writhing in pain and moaning for help in a weak, timid voice.

"WOUNDED!"   someone shouted.   "WE GOT A WOUNDED MAN OUT HERE!   GET THE PARAMEDICS!"

One officer waved his flashlight at an ambulance across the parking lot.   Several more began shining their searchlights into the woods while Brite kept on digging Jason's grave.

"...sh-shot me... he... shot me.... ooooohhh, it hurts!   Please... please help me...."

"What?"  Jason whispered.  "Oh, I am NOT believing this!"

"Who?"   the cop asked.   The ambulance was just arriving.   The rear doors flew open and paramedics spilled out of the vehicle.     "Who shot you?  Where did he go?"

"....unnnngggh, it HURTS!"

"Shoot him!  Shoot him, dammit!"

"Jason, if you don't shut up!"

Cops and paramedics surrounded Brite, temporarily blocking him from Jason's view.   A few agonizing seconds went by, then the crowd moved back.    The paramedics had Brite loaded onto a stretcher.   They lifted him up and loaded him into the ambulance.   Just before they closed the doors, Brite's head lifted and he peered out into the woods... right into Jason's eyes.

"Uh-oh!"

Brite lifted a frail weak arm and pointed-

"THERE!  There he is!"

Twelve police officers spun around and looked right into Jason's face.

"Oh SHIT!"

"FREEZE!"

Jason was already gone... he didn't stay long enough to see the sly smile creep across  Brite's face as the two paramedics sat down beside him in the ambulance and closed the doors.

Jason ran.   Branches and sharp leaves slashed at him as he bolted away from the parking lot.   He heard the cops behind him.. .shouting and yelling at him to stop.   He heard one of them calling for backup on a portable radio.   He heard another one reminding  the others that Jason was armed and dangerous.   Some cops shouted back... and Jason could've SWORN he heard the words "shoot on sight," but that was probably his imagination.   Hopefully he wouldn't find out for sure.   The trees and undergrowth were too thick... all they saw of him was an occasional glimpse of his coat as he tried not to crack his head open on low-hanging branches.   But they could HEAR him as he ran, and they were following him just as easily as if he were running across an open field.

"THERE HE IS!"  someone shouted.

"THIS WAY!  THIS WAY!"

"RIGHT THERE!"

"CHASE HIM THIS WAY!"

The cops were trying to corner him.   And with so many of them after him, they could probably pull it off with no problem.    Then there was the fact that Jason had no idea where he was going.

After twenty seconds of running, Jason came to a sudden incline that was so steep that it cut his speed in half.   It also told him exactly where he was going... right into a dead end.    The highway was in front of him, the cops were behind him... and closing fast.

"Donovan, if you have any ideas, NOW is the time to speak up!"

"Keep running."

"WHERE!?   There's nothing but a steep drop and a lot of highway on the other side of these trees!   What do you want me to do when I get there... take a flying leap into traffic!?!?"

"Jason, there IS a certain element of faith associated with this job."

"JOB?!  Jobs are VOLUNTARY!   I didn't want this-"

At that moment, Jason burst out of the trees and skidded to a halt.   Highway 128 was right in front of him, and about 40 feet below him.   If he tried to make his way down the rocky incline, the cops would be on him in a second.    If he jumped, he'd land in the middle of traffic.. and there were just enough cars whizzing by to ensure that he wouldn't have to worry about living long enough to see prison.

Jason looked down at the oncoming traffic.    There was a break in the stream of cars... and just behind that break was an ambulance that was just getting on the highway from the entrance ramp.    The lights were flashing, the sirens were screaming, and there were two police cars right behind it.

"That ambulance look familiar?"   said Donovan.

"THERE!"   Came a shout from behind him.  "RIGHT THERE!   YOU!  DON'T MOVE!"

"Well, I'll be damned..."  said Jason.   He heard the cops rushing up behind him.

Jason waited for the last possible second... and then jumped.

"AAAAAA-"

KA-KLUMP!

He landed on top of the ambulance and immediately grasped onto the assembly of flashing lights.     He looked behind him... the cops that were chasing him were now skidding down the incline towards the highway and yelling frantically into their radios.   Directly behind the ambulance, the two patrol cars were already reacting.   One swerved into the right lane and began to speed up.   The other sped up as well, getting as close to the ambulance's rear bumper as possible.    Jason had no idea what they were planning, but he knew he couldn't stay where he was.    At the very least he had to get inside... with Brite.

Struggling for handholds on the smooth roof of the ambulance, Jason slid toward the rear.   He peered over the edge at the rear doors... which suddenly flew open and nearly hit him in the chin.

"WHA-"

A paramedic leaned out, twisted upward, and pointed a gun up at Jason.   The young, goofy-looking man had an aura like a barrel of fresh tar.   Brite had already corrupted him.

The man fired a single shot which missed Jason by mere inches.   In a move that surprised even Jason, Jason reached down and grabbed the man's arm before he could fire again.

"What the hell are you doing!?"  said Jason.  "Since when do paramedics carry guns!?"

"THE MASTER DEMANDS YOUR-"

"Never mind-"

Jason released the  man's arm and... with reflexes he didn't know he had... immediately snatched the gun from the man's hand and cracked him over the head with the butt of the weapon.

The paramedic tumbled from the open ambulance door... and landed on the hood of the police car.   The surprised cop veered away, right into the path of another motorist.   The resulting crash would've certainly made "Television's Wildest Police Chases"  if anyone had been taping it.

"Oh, I'm going straight to hell for that one!"  said Jason.   He swung down into the ambulance, where he found Brite sucking the blood from the second paramedic's mutilated body.   Behind them, the doorway leading to the driver's compartment was wide open, but the driver seemed oblivious to the slaughter that was going on a few feet behind him.   Perhaps the cloud of darkness that surrounded him had something to do with it....

Brite lifted his fanged mouth from the paramedic's neck and turned towards Jason.

"So glad you could join us!"  Brite snarled.   "I was just having a snack!  But wait right there...  I'll be with YOU in a moment!"

Brite sank his fangs into his victim's neck once more.  Brite's human face darkened and twisted into it's grotesque vampiric form.   The skin on Brite's back rippled as leathery wings prepared to burst free.

The paramedic's gun fired before Jason even knew his arm had moved.   Six perfect shots perforated Brite's skull.   Jason tossed the empty gun,  pulled the .45 semiautomatic from his coat pocket.   Brite dropped the paramedic and leapt toward Jason with claws extended and teeth bared.   Jason stepped back, almost forgetting that the open ambulance door was mere inches behind him.   The next two bullets in the .45 dropped Brite like a sack of rotten cabbages... but the creature fell against Jason and pushed him right out of the ambulance.    Jason grabbed the door with one arm and hung from it as it swung out into the street-

-where there were now four police cars surrounding the speeding ambulance as it tore down the highway.   Jason's arm free arm swept across his field of vision, firing at the patrol cars before could stop himself.    Four rapid shots flattened one tire on each of the four cars.   One vehicle lost control and slammed into another, which caused a massive high-speed chain reaction that sent cops skidding and careening across the highway.

Jason stuffed the pistol back into his pocket and shrugged the shotgun from his shoulder.   He shifted his weight and pushed off against the side of the ambulance with his foot.   He aimed the shotgun with one hand as he swung back into the ambulance... bringing him face to face with Brite.

BOOM!

Brite's face vanished temporarily in a spray of blood and gore.   The monster stumbled back; Jason quickly ducked past him and came around behind the creature so that Brite was now the one standing by the open door.    Jason grabbed some shells from his coat and rapidly re-loaded the weapon as Brite's face slid back into place.

"DESTROY THE VEHICLE!"  Brite shouted before Jason's next blast forced him back a step.   The meaning of Brite's words didn't become apparent until the ambulance swerved violently to one side, striking something-

THUD!

then veered to the other-

KLUNK!!

Jason grabbed onto an overhead railing and fired as the now-suicidal ambulance driver tried to sideswipe as many cars and objects on the highway as he could.   It was only a matter of seconds before he'd succeed in totaling the vehicle, killing everyone inside..except for Brite, of course.

The sound of screaching tires and continuous shotgun blasts was deafening.   Jason emptied the shotgun into Brite's chest... which was now significantly smaller than it had been when the vampire had first resurrected.   Each blast of high-speed buckshot threw the man/monster back a half step.   The very last shell knocked him out of the door.

Brite reached up and grabbed the top of the ambulance before he could fall out into the street.   He hung over the doorway for an instant like some hideous hunter's trophy.   Just then, the ambulance hit a guardrail with enough force to crash through it and emerge onto the opposite side of the highway.

Brite yanked himself up onto the roof as Jason dove into the driver's compartment.

"MY LIFE FOR THE MASTER!"  The driver screamed... he steered the ambulance right into the path of a speeding 18-wheeler.

Jason grabbed the steering wheel and yanked it to one side as hard as he could, breaking the driver's suicidal grasp just in time.   They shot past the truck, missing it by inches.

Just then, Brite's claws began to rip long furrows down the roof of the ambulance as he clawed his way back in.

"THE MASTER COMES FOR Y-"

"Shut up!"

Jason cracked the driver over the head with the butt of his shotgun and yanked the man out of his seat.   He sat down, fastened his seatbelt-

KREEEEEE--

Brite peeled back the ambulance's metal top and stuck his head in.

Without taking his eyes off of the road... and the oncoming traffic... Jason grabbed the .45, pointed it upward, and put a bullet through Brite's skull.   Jason steered the ambulance with one hand, veering back and forth across both lanes... dodging cars, trucks, and the occasional motorcycle.  Jason's other hand was reloading the shotgun... the weapon was loaded by the time Brite started moving again-

BLAM!
BLAM!
BLAM!

Buckshot tore through the roof of the ambulance.. and Brite's body.   The vampire went limp, but his claws still held him to the ambulance

"Okay, Donovan," said Jason.  "You'd better be coming up with some ideas about what to do next!   How do I kill this thing!"

"There's medicinal oxygen in the rear of the ambulance.   You could blow him up."

"Again!?! And who's gonna drive this thing while I go back there and play MacGuyver?"

SKREEEEK!

Suddenly awake, Brite widened the hole in the roof... ripping nearly the entire top off before another round of buckshot settled him back down.   The vampire hung half-inside the ambulance... his mangled head about a yard behind Jason.

Then Jason had an idea.   Their frantic path down the highway had brought them from the mall to the industrial district.... but he had to get off the highway NOW!

He veered across the highway and steered the ambulance onto an entrance ramp, still going the wrong way.

"JASON WHAT ARE YOU-!"

"I'm working this thing out!   Just let me know when BigUgly is starting to move again!"

"Like now?"

Jason aimed the shotgun over his shoulder-

BLAM!

"One more."

BLAM!

"He's down."

Jason reloaded, shoving the last five shells into the shotgun as he roared up the entrance ramp and made a sharp turn onto the cross-street... FINALLY going the right direction.   He put the accelerator pedal to the medal and raced down the narrow street, zooming past the Rock Springs Paper Mill, Makahishi Motor Works, and the water treatment plant.

The next building came into view... a huge hulking monstrosity of a factory.

"He's just opened his eyes-"

BLAM!

"Still got some face left."

BLAM!

"Good shot.   Now where are we going?"

"Going?  We're already here!"   Jason hit the breaks and yanked on the steering wheel, causing the rear of the ambulance to skid around.   The ambulance was now facing the factory.   Jason floored the accelerator again.   The large sign by the road went past almost too fast for Jason to read it

"Mallard Metalworks?"

"I saw this in a movie once... if THIS don't kill him, he ain't dying!"

"It's not killing HIM that I'm concerned about!"   said Donovan as the ambulance raced toward the main gate... the CLOSED main gate... without slowing down.   Armed security guards scrambled, first running toward, then AWAY from their security post as the ambulance bore down on them.

"HOLD ON!"

The ambulance demolished the metal gate, tearing through it like a... like a speeding ambulance.   The engine compartment folded up like an accordion, and for the second time that night, an airbag pummeled Jason Brooks in the face and chest... saving his life.  The vehicle's momentum continued to carry it forward... even after it flipped over on its side.   It skidded into the shipping area, where tall cranes and heavy-duty forklifts were loading huge iron beams onto trucks.   The ambulance finally ground to a halt not far from one of the cranes.

Jason opened his eyes.   Broken glass had cut him around the face, and his chest felt like one gigantic bruise.   His left leg hurt a LOT, but he could still move it without screaming, so it wasn't broken.   Ditto for his right arm.

"Jason?"

"I'm alive,"  he said.   He tried to move, and panicked when he found that he couldn't.   Then he relaxed when he realized that it was because the seatbelt and the steering wheel were holding him in place.   He unhooked the belt and tried to climb out.  He looked back into the rear of the vehicle... it was a jumbled mess of debris.   Not having the benefit of a seatbelt and an airbag, Brite didn't fare as well as Jason had.   The vampire's carcass looked like a crushed watermelon... but he was already starting to move.

Jason scrambled out of the ambulance, taking the shotgun with him.

Workers from the plant were already rushing towards him, most seemed like they wanted to see if he was okay.   He couldn't let them get close to Brite, though.  Jason pointed his shotgun into the air and fired one blast.

"BACK OFF!  I'M CRAZY... I GOT A SHOTGUN... AND THERE'S A BIG-ASS MONSTER IN THE BACK OF THAT AMBULANCE, SO EVERYBODY JUST BACK THE HELL OFF!!"

The workers scattered.   Just then, the rear of the totaled ambulance burst open.   A vaguely recognizable human figure, still trailing blood and entrails, started tearing itself free of the wreckage.

"HEEEYYY!!!"   Jason shouted.   Brite's head turned towards him, and Jason started running... or rather, limping very fast... toward the large warehouse doors leading into the bowels of the plant.   Wave after wave of  incredible heat washed over made his way further.   The loud screeching and pounding of industrial machinery drowned out the sound of Brite finally ripping the ambulance in half and following him in.    Jason didn't know where he was going... but his target wouldn't be that hard to find.   All he had to do was follow the heat.

KLANG!
HISSSSssssss.....

Jason spun, but there was nothing behind him but pipes and hot machinery.   While he was looking, a workman rounded a corner and nearly walked into him.

"HEY!  We gotta get outta here!  There's some maniac running around with a-"

Jason pointed the shotgun at him.

"Oh..."

"Now would be a good time to take a break," said Jason

The workman turned and ran back the way he'd come while Jason continued on to a set of metal steps leading up.    He was halfway up when the stairs began shaking.   He looked down, Brite was at the bottom, ripping the entire structure away with his bare hands.  Instead of shooting, Jason hurried up and threw himself onto the metal scaffold a the top just as the stairs fell away.   He scrambled to his feet and ran.   Forty feet below him, Brite crouched down and leapt... straight up... and landed on the scaffold.

"RUN, FOOL!"  he bellowed.  "HURT ME ALL YOU WISH... BUT YOU CANNOT STOP ME!   I AM IMMORTAL... AND YOU ARE BUT AN INSECT TO BE CRUSHED BENEATH MY HEELS!"

About a half-dozen sarcastic comments buzzed through Jason's mind, but he was too busy running to say any of them.   Brite was right behind him, following him deeper and deeper into the plant.   As he did, the machinery grew louder and the air grew hotter... and hotter... and even hotter.

Jason came to another set of stairs, again leading up.   He ran up to the third level.   There was very little machinery on the top floor... just pipes and heat.  And MORE heat.  Jason felt the scaffold quaking as Brite followed him up.   Jason kept running.   And it kept getting hotter.   Far below him, the machinery gave way to a large open area, and  in the center of the area was a huge vessel... the Oxygen Furnace... filled with over 400 tons of molten steel at 3000 degrees F.   The giant furnace was just completing its cycle... the lid was lifting away, and in a few seconds the vessel would tip over and pour the molten steel into a series of giant conveyor-driven ladles, which would carry the metal to other parts of the plant.   Jason looked down at the lake of glowing bright-orange liquid as it came into view.

"That's what I'm looking for right there!" said Jason. He stopped running.   He didn't hear Brite following him.

"BRIIIITEE!"   he yelled.   There was no answer... All he heard was the squeal of machinery far below him.   "BRITE!   WHAT'S THE MATTER!   YOU SCARED OF A LITTLE HEAT!"

The scaffolding beneath him began to shake... not shaking as if something heavy were walking on it, but shaking as if it were about to come apart!    Brite had grabbed the edge of the section of the scaffold and was ripping it up like a cheap carpet.

KREEEEEEEEAAAARRRRK!!!

"WHOA!"  Jason grabbed onto something... which happened to be a steam pipe.  "YOUUUCH!  HOT! HOT! HOT!"   Jason quickly found another, cooler, pipe to hold onto just as the scaffolding fell away from him... leaving him hanging by one hand.   The scaffold bounced off of the side of the oxygen furnace fell away out of sight.   Jason hung the shotgun over one shoulder and began to crawl up the pipes... testing each one to see if it was safe to touch.   Not many of them were.

KLANK!
KLANG!

The pipes rattled and shook.  Jason looked behind him.   Brite was climbing up after him, his claws scraping and puncturing the pipes as he hauled himself up.  Brite didn't fear the superheated steam pipes, and as a result he was taking a more direct route... speeding toward Jason like a train-

KLANK!
KLANG!
HIISSSSssssss!
KLANG!
KLANK!
KLANG!
HIISSSSssssss!

Jason lodged himself between two pipes... one of which was EXTREMELY hot... and brought the shotgun around.

BLAM!
BLAM!

Brite faltered and slipped... but didn't fall.   And he stopped only for an instant before continuing up.    Jason had already leapt onto a large, insulated 15-inch pipe and was crawling across the room towards another scaffold on the other side.

Brite grabbed the pipe and began to shake it, trying to knock Jason loose.   Jason looked down... He was over the edge of he oxygen furnace... if he fell...

"Ohhhh.. SHIT! THIS ain't what I had in mind!"

"Jason!  Shoot the pipe!"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?"

"Not THIS pipe!  The one that Brite is standing next to!"

Jason held on with one hand, and aimed the shotgun with the other.   He aimed at the large high-pressure steam pipe right next to Brite's head.

BLAM!

The pipe ruptured not with a hiss, but a ROAR that drowned out even Brite's bellow.

"ARROOOOOOOO!!!!"

Superheated steam... hundreds of degrees F, and under hundreds of pounds of pressure... etched the flesh right off of his face... and blasted Brite right off of the pipe on which he was standing.   Propelled by the powerful jet of hot steam, Brite fell at an angle, howling all the way down to the machinery below.    Brite hit the inside edge of the open oxygen furnace with a

KRUNCH!

... and then bounced away... right into the lake of molten steel!   Brite vanished into the glowing, thousand-degree liquid... then burst to the surface... a flaming skeletal thing-

"AIIEEEEEEEEEEE....EEEE..eee..."

-that sank back down and did not rise again.   Tiny flames danced near where Brite had vanished.  A few small chunks of burning carbon floated to the surface... popped and crackled for a few seconds... and then disintegrated into cinders.

"YESSS!!!"   Jason yelled.   He tossed away his empty shotgun and continued across to the scaffold.   "Immortal MY ASS!"

KLANG!
VRRRRRRRRRR....

Heavy machinery roared to life, and the oxygen furnace began to tilt, ready to pour its load of molten steel into the ladles for processing.   Jason hopped down off of the pipe and watched as the molten steel flowed out of the furnace.   The ladles carried it to the continuous casting machines, where it was to be made into giant steel beams.

"Regenerate THAT!" said Jason.

"Well I have to admit,"  said Donovan.   "I've never thought of that."

"Now we gotta get out of here before the cops come.   They probably think I'm some kinda terrorist by now."

"Occupational hazard.   But in this line of work, the police are the least of your problems."

"I can see that.   Are all demons this hard to kill?"

"Well... technically Brite wasn't a demon. He was more of a-"

"Skip it. I'd rather not know."

"You did well for your first time.   A bit heavy on the dramatics...  Your technique needs a little work-"

"Technique?"

"Shooting at police cars?  Throwing people out of moving ambulances?   Not exactly the epitome of stealth."

"It's hard to do stealth with a shotgun."

"True.   Very true."

Jason started down to the ground level, leaving the molten steel... and whatever scattered carbon atoms that were all that remained of Brite... behind him.

"And I'm STILL not liking this whole gun thing..."

"You'll get used to it."

"That's the problem, I don't WANNA-"

Jason heard someone coming, and ducked back behind an air compressor.   A security guard ran past him.   Jason stood and walked after him.

"Jason?"

"Stealth, right? The cops have probably got this place surrounded... and that guy's uniform looked almost my size..."

en minutes later... a particularly tired-looking security guard with a poorly-fitting uniform volunteered to help search the parking lot.   The guard walked out to the lot... and kept on walking until he reached the trees.

"What now?"  said Jason.  "I can't go back home.   The cops'll be watching all my friends... and they'll probably shoot me on sight."

"The cops or your friends?"

"Both!"

"Don't worry,"  said Donovan.  "Soon, we'll be far to busy to worry about cops."

"Busy?  What... you got a werewolf you wanna take out now?"

"Actually, the only werewolf I know of is on our side.   No.. you'll be busy learning about the rest of your Gifts.  I haven't told you everything.   There are a few more things-"

"MORE!?!   I don't wanna know any more!"

"But I think this next bit is something you'll like... something you'll like very much..."

Next Issue:   The Aftermath... Plus the beginning of a whole new story... PLUS... Jason gets a new car?!?

copyright 2005 by Dark Icon Entertainment