That scream was practically the bell tolling our impending doom. It came from the direction Haoran entered, and as soon as we registered the danger, our instincts kicked in.
Yayoi and Xiuying were first. Yayoi took hold of her sword while Xiuying stepped behind her father. Walter and I joined the Huang bodyguards, pointing our guns at the door. A loud clang thundered throughout the warehouse as something struck the door. Then came the terrible rending of metal, followed by the image of a giant claw mark created with blood oozing. Gunshots echoed through the night, though they'd be silenced shortly after.
"Fuck... Vampyres..." a Triad guard said, his hands trembling in fear. I wanted to say he was wrong, that there was no way Vampyres would attack us here. But in this city, anything is possible.
"We're getting the hell out of here now," I said, "You two start barricading that fucking door." The Triad guards didn't like me giving orders, but arguing about it was off the table. The two men grabbed pieces of lumber from one of the open crates and headed for the door. They each placed one between the handles to act as a bar and braced themselves against the entrance.
"Walter... Francis... Take the clients and the Huangs to the cars. Get in and don't look back."
"We can't just leave you here," Yayoi said, "They'll tear you to shreds." She stepped to my side, gripping her blade tightening as she waited. "I'm not going to leave you here to die."
"Nor will I," Francis said as she aimed her gun at the door. Her hands trembled feverishly as she tried to keep her aim steady. From beyond the door came more screaming and the sound of meat being torn asunder. My mind played the events of last night and the night I'd killed the two Irishmen. How their bodies slumped to the ground after being shot, and how cold they felt. That same thing could happen to everyone here. But there was one thing I'd been forgetting. I was still alive, and no way occurred under my watch.
I reached over to Francis's gun and placed my hand over the slide. "You can't do that. You've gotta go with Walter."
Francis's jaw hung briefly, her disbelief evident in her teary eyes. "You can't do this, Alex... I can't lose you..."
I honestly agreed with her. I knew there was no way I could make it out alive if they left me behind. But I had to try and kill as many of them as possible so everyone else could escape. Even if it seemed hopeless. Turning to Yayoi, I tried my best to smile. She smiled back, but she nodded. Taking her hand off the hilt of her sword, she grabbed Francis's arm.
"It's his job, Francis," she said in a low, shaky voice. "He has to..." I felt terrible hearing how defeated Yayoi sounded. But this was for the best.
Francis looked like she wanted to protest, but Walter grabbed her other arm before she could. He and Yayoi dragged her back toward the other entrance with Yasuo and the Huangs.
"No!" She shrieked, "I'm not leaving him here! Come with us, Alexander, please!
The exit opened, and Vito and Iggy were on the other end, with the car already warm and waiting. I just waved as the love of my life was taken to safety. Iggy went around the trunk, pulling out the Tommy gun stashed in the car and a couple of extra magazines and shotgun shell belts. Bringing them over to me, he placed them at my feet. "Here... I know you don't want me to stay. But that'll give you a better chance."
"Make sure Walter talks to Julius," I told him. "There's a huge lump of money for Dogland."
"Fuck the money," Iggy snarled, lightly punching my shoulder. "Just come back alive."
I nodded, though I had no control over that. He hurried back to the car and climbed on top of it, closing the trunk. Then the sound of tires screeching through the night rang through my ears.
Slipping my jacket off, I wrapped the shell belts over my waist. I then checked my jacket for any extra bullet strips for Wanda. I had at least three. Then I had at least two drum magazines for the Tommy gun. I suggest using those up first before switching to Bethany. Wanda would have to be my last resort.
Checking the Tommy, I saw it was already loaded. Bethany was next, followed by Wanda. All three guns were ready for their last hoorah.
"Alright, men... fix bayonets..." I whispered to myself. I didn't have one to attach to the Tommy. I wasn't even sure if it could mount one. But Bethany would be the best club or spear when I ran out of time to fire any.
Then another round of tearing metal pierced my ears. When I looked at the entrance, I noticed the Triad guard to the left stagger as blood began to rain from his side onto the floor. He slumped over against the door, collapsing to his knees. Then, the second guard would back away from the door only for something to tear into the metal and pierce him in the stomach. He tried firing his gun into the door, but the Vampyre that got him didn't let go.
I aimed at the door, right at the Triad guard who was run through. He was dead anyway, so it wasn't humane to let him suffer. Squeezing the trigger, a hail, bullets ripped into him, and some managed to plow straight through into the door, albeit very poorly. Both assailant and guard stopped moving.
I wasn't expecting the gun to have so much recoil. So I held it a little tighter. Then the door burst open. I heard stories of the Vampyres. Their pale faces and talon-like claws were the stuff of nightmares. They looked like Paradigms but were far too near death to seem alive. I'm just glad they couldn't use magic. To see one charging me at full speed was unlike anything I'd faced with the Jerries. Nevertheless, death was coming for me anyways, so I might as well not panic.
I elected to fire in bursts now. Dumping such precious ammo into one or two would send me to an earlier grave. It's just like Commander Holt taught me. Aim carefully and squeeze.
I didn't know their numbers, but they would be enough to overrun me. I needed at least three more guys to put down one properly. Hopefully, these pain bullets could slow them down.
At least five bullets would greet the first to come through as it passed through the door. It slowed it down, but not enough to be happy about it. Firing three more rounds, I managed to pop it in the head. It collapsed to the ground. Then another ran in after it, along with a second and a third. I fired as many bursts as I could before just switching to spraying. I'd also have prayed if I was religious, but I did not want a skull-splitting migraine amid battle.
I began backing toward the door as the fourth came into the door. The other two were only slowed by the hail of bullets. As I aimed at number four, I squeezed the trigger, yet nothing popped out. I was empty, and there was no time for a reload. Throwing the Tommy gun to the ground, I brought out Bethany. I blasted it right in its face when number four was about four feet close. Its head exploded in a rain of blood and gore.
Two and three were close to getting back up, while one had seemingly dragged itself toward the corpse of the first guard. He'd bit down on its neck and began draining the leftover blood from within the poor guy.
As two entered that four feet of death, I'd laid out. I fired the next shell, but it ducked so low that it only got hit with a few shots. It then crawled on all fours toward me, gripping my ankle. I pointed the gun down and thrust forward, sticking the bayonet into number two's head. Then squeezing the trigger, I cocked the trench gun and fired, turning two's back into a gaping mess of damaged meat. Its grip loosened, and as I looked up to deal with three, it lunged at me, knocking me to the ground.
Bethany was sent spiraling away from me as the Vampyre, and I came to blows to the ground. I tried to hold its face away from my neck as it held my right arm down. I couldn't reach Wanda. Not while I was on the ground. Three was pushing its head down against my head. My strength failed to keep it from my neck as its jaws opened near my throat. I began to picture seeing Francis one more time.
I thought maybe they'd have gotten to safety, and I held these hungry bastards off long enough as I looked toward the open door. But as I saw something in the doorway, my grip nearly slipped.
Three gunshots ripped into number three as it lurched and spasmed above me. It was Francis. Coming through the door, guns blazing. She fired four more times, hitting number three in different spots. Its body seized momentarily, then slumped over on top of me.
"Dammit, Francis, what the hell are you doing here!?" I pushed the dead Vampyre off of me and hurried to Bethany.
"Saving your life," she said, "I won't let you die here. Not after I promised I'd tell you everything."
"Is this the fuckin' time for that? You've gotta get out of here while there's still..."
Two more Vampyres broke through the door, and even number one was back on its feet. They snarled as they saw their three dead comrades. The two of us kept our eyes trained on them.
"Sorry, Lexi... but we no longer have any say in that option." She reloaded her pistol and pointed it down range. Following her lead, I loaded a few more slugs.
"Have you finished your last rites," said number one as he stepped forward. I never knew they could speak, but I never expected to see one, let alone six. I put three down, which was enough to earn a name.
Francis held out her hand and knelt, placing it on the floor. A large yellow ring formed around us as she poured her magic into the floor. The three Vamps charged us, number four being the closest, and plunged its hand toward the circle aiming for my chest. But its hand smashed against an invisible barrier-breaking several bones in the process. One even splintered out of it's its skin. However, the barrier didn't hold up, as Francis nearly collapsed afterward. I'd never seen her perform magic like this before. Usually, it required her to draw or carve a rune. But I wasn't going to complain about that now.
She'd used a lot of magic preparing our bullets, so that magic would be the least helpful in this case. Pointing Bethany at the surprised Vamp, I squeezed the trigger blasting it once. Then pulled the slide back, still holding the trigger down, and pushed it forward, firing another round. Man, I love to slam fire.
By the third slug, the Vamp went down, but its other two buddies charged us too. By the way, they were approaching us. They seemed to be mainly aiming for me. Before I could pull the slide back for another shot, one tackled me to the ground. Number five grabbed my right arm and twisted it as hard as he could, snapping my arm and tearing it away. I screamed for a second, then clenched my jaw so hard I accidentally bit my tongue in half. Blood pooled in my mouth, so I reached into my jacket, drew Wanda, and fired three rounds into five.
"Alex!" Francis screamed as she fired wildly at five. Though only two shots hit, it was enough to make the Vamp fall over.
"She's a feisty one," One cackled. "I'll have her first, then." It let go of me, and I tried maneuvering my gun to fire at him. But he gripped my remaining arm in the same fashion five did and twisted. The second arm was torn from me, losing the only way I had to fight back. Then it rose to its feet and turned to Francis. I couldn't scream. I couldn't cry out for it to stop. I couldn't even manage an insult.
I spat out the blood and leftovers of my tongue, looking up. Helplessly watching as the Vamp slowly approached Francis. She fired two more rounds before the gun began to click repeatedly.
"First you... then your lover..." He smiled. He raised his hand, its fingers pointing clenched together like a spear. It was done as quickly as I'd seen it. Its hand pierced through Francis's stomach. She dropped her gun and gripped his arm with both hands.
"You... won't... have me... that easily..." Magical power began to burst from Francis's hands in the form of blue light. The Vamp was blasted back without his arm toward the rear exit. Francis stumbled forward, slowly losing her strength until she stood over me. She allowed herself to collapse on top of me on her side.
I could feel tears stinging my eyes as I could feel her slow breaths against my neck. "Drink..." She coughed and then tilted her neck toward me. I didn't need to drink; I needed to get her some help. But I couldn't... Francis was going to die here.
I closed my eyes as tightly as possible, hoping this was some nightmare. But as I heard her repeat the command, my wishes were dashed to the wayside. I inched myself toward her neck and opened my mouth. She held me tightly as if we were snuggling together in our bed.
"That's right... drink until there's nothing left..."
I wanted someone to help us. I wanted anyone to help us. I wanted someone to come dashing in like some hero and pull us out. But no one was coming. No one was going to save us. I'd die like the dog I was, and I foolishly let the one good thing on this earth I've ever had part with me.
"Poor boy... dying with the woman you love most in your arms. All the while, the vile thing that killed you both still lives..."
"No... I can't die. I can't let her die here..."
"This day was always going to come to pass. The life of a gangster is bound in sorrow and death..."
"But I just wanted to build our lives. I wanted us to be happy."
"Then if you wish never to lose this again... drink every last drop of her blood... make it so that your enemies will despair as you did... become a monster and do whatever it takes."
"Yes... I'm ready to do what I have to... I don't care what happens to me..."
Opening my mouth, I bit Francis's throat as hard as possible. Then began to drain every last drop of her blood.
"There we are... Good Morning... My Despair…"