The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld (11 page)

Koa started to count to herself. It was something she had done since she was a child. It sometimes calmed her when she was really afraid.

One.

She was terrified. She lay in a pile of rubble. Her heart raced too quickly for her to control her adrenaline.

Two.

Koa was outnumbered by Netherworld vampires that were ten times stronger than her.

Three.

She could barely move. Her head hurt from crashing into the stone wall.

Four.

Koa looked over at Bund who simply waited.

“Get up, you sneaky,
stupid
, bitch. I’ve been waitin for this.”

Five.

Koa looked at that smirk on his white face and narrowed her eyes. “I won’t kill ya. Naw, I’ll slice ya up real nice, and present ya on a platter to King Greggan. How’s that? And then, I’ll roast that mother of yours right nicely.”

Six.

A spark ignited in her head at the mention of her mother. Rage boiled within her. He had killed her father and now her mother was in his sights. She would harness that fear. She would fight like a madwoman. Her rage filled every vein within her body, making her feel hot and sensitive to everything around her.

Seven.

Koa felt the power of her Lyrinian sword explode through her veins and let the rage loose.

H
er pulse beat loudly in her ears. Koa shot into the air. Her body moved too quickly for their eyes to even follow and grabbed her sword. She flew straight for Bund. He seemed interested in what she was doing but not afraid.

Koa clenched her jaw. The hurt inside overwhelmed her. She missed her father.

Bund smiled at her. He knew what she was thinking.

Koa hated his hollow, pale, face. She hated everything about him. She wanted to gouge his eyes out with her nails and smash the rest of his face in with her boot.

Read this you asshole
, she thought…just for him. She ran the blade along spilled blood and it burned red with hunger. The Lyrinian blade started to glow.

Bund smirked. He nodded. “Nice weapon. I’ll give ya that.”

The other vamps were up and ready for a fight. More than a dozen leisurely reached for weapons. Guns, crossbows,
Netherworld
weapons she’d never seen. Koa wouldn’t wait until they grabbed them. She swept through the room like a cyclone of rage. Her sword glowed red hot and screamed for more blood. It was an extension of her. Her actions were no longer her own. The blade used her in order to quench its thirst.

Koa didn’t mind. She needed the Lyrinian swords collection of skills to make it through this night. Her body ducked and dodged oncoming attacks. Her legs kicked through bodies, slamming organs to the floor. Her free arm grabbed loose hair and smashed heads to the tiled wall. The sword…it slashed with red hot, lightning, speed.

Bund took a step back.

The lights in the room went out and Koa paused. She hovered in the air for just a moment, to get her bearings and let her eyes adjust. She couldn’t see as well as them, but the Lyrinian sword worked like a heat missile. It would find its target no matter what.

She dove back in and closed her eyes. Like a blade dance, she swirled in and out of the crowd, listening to only cries of pain and angry shouts. She heard bullets. It didn’t matter, the sword deflected it all. The bullets clinked against her blade and sizzled into dust at contact. Her movements were fluid.

Koa was as loose as a rag doll, and no one could touch her. Every time they tried to grab her, she would swirl out of their reach and dive to another vamp. Their hands tried to hold her, and it was as if she was as slippery as a marble, they hadn’t a chance, when Koa was in her trance.

There was so much blood that in the end, Koa was drenched in it. When all was quiet she came to a stop and held her sword up. The red glow of the sword bathed the room in its dim light. There were bodies everywhere. Arms, legs and heads were sprawled about in a big mushy pile.

Koa nodded in satisfaction. She was surprised that she had killed them without suffering any serious wounds. Her arms were sore and she had a cut on her calf, but other than that, she felt fine. Her father had trained her in the ways of the sword. He had taught her well.

Koa felt her heart skip a beat when Bund reappeared before her. Her other hand slid a stake from a holster attached to her back. She threw it at him before he could even blink.

The stake lodged right into his heart and she grinned triumphantly. Koa would have cheered, but to her surprise, Bund grinned as well.

He looked down at the stake and his shoulders bounced lightly with his snickering. At first he laughed lightly, and then it became louder and louder until his laughter filled the room. “You stupid, stupid girl.” He laughed even louder.

Koa gasped and covered her ears. His voice seemed to be everywhere. It filled her ears and made her shiver. His voice seemed to grate on her eardrums. There was something purely evil within it. Something she’d never encountered.

“What?” Koa breathed in disbelief as he pulled the stake from his chest.

Bund shook his head with a smile spread across his face. He tossed the stake to the floor and took a look around. “Nice job, you’ve done here lass.” He clapped and took a step forward.

Koa sucked in a breath and held her sword out in front of her, hoping it would stop him. She was confused. A stake to the heart always worked. At least, she thought it did. Her only hope was that her sword would work.

Bund made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Sorry, Lyrinian blades only work on the dirty nephilim.”

Koa knew he was reading her mind. All she could think was,
what are you then
?

Koa heard something. She stepped back and looked around with wide eyes as the carnage around her started to…move. She clutched her sword.

“Holy shit,” she breathed as the pieces of bone started to reform. She looked at Bund with wide eyes. “What’s happening?” She started backing away. She jumped when a hand reached for her shoe. She yelped and kicked the bloody thing away, sending it crashing into a wall.

She looked back at Bund. Her face was twisted in worry. This was not how she imagined this night going. This was not how she imagined she’d take out her revenge. Bund blocked the door. Koa hoped there was another exit.

Bund looked around and held his arms out. He lifted a brow. “Don’t tell me this was ya first time killin Netherworld vamps?”

Koa gulped. The bodies were reforming into grotesque creatures. The crunching sounds and squishing noises turned her stomach. She couldn’t bring herself to speak. The fear clutched her even tighter than before.

When she looked back at Bund, his face had darkened. Red lines stretched across his face like pulsating red veins. His smile was gone. His face looked different, as if all the shadows in the room had absorbed into his flesh, turning it into an ash-like gray. His hair had already been dark before, but it seemed to become even darker, and shinier like gloss had been applied.

“What are you?”

His shoulders jutted out and she could see his bones mutate.

Koa knew then, that she was about to die.

Bunds voice deepened. He no longer sounded like a man, but a creature of darkness. The voice that she had heard in every nightmare she’d had as a child echoed through the room. His was the voice that one imagined a monster would have, like that of a…

Koa covered her mouth as a horrified squeal escaped her lips. She knew what he was, and she knew that she was not strong enough to kill him. Bund wasn’t a New World vampire, he wasn’t a Netherworld vamp.

Bund was a demon.

“Good girl,” he sneered. His hands turned into bony claws and his legs bent like that of a beast from ancient myths.

Koa’s brows furrowed. She felt like she might cry for her mother.

Bund tossed his head back and let out a feral laugh. “Go, on, cry for ya mother for me. I love it when little girls cry.” He pounced. His weight knocked Koa off her feet with such power that her scream was cut off.  She fell backwards into the blood. She banged her head against the cement floor and cried out. Lights flashed behind her eyelids as she squeezed her eyes shut to block out the pain.

Bund slashed her face and drew blood. She could smell the poison on his claws. She felt the blood leak from the wound. He licked her face, sopping up the blood with his rough, leathery, tongue. Koa felt as if she was looking into the eyes of Satan himself.

She held up her sword and closed her eyes. “This is it then,” she whispered to the sword as she prepared to fight with every ounce of life she had left, even though she knew the odds were against her. She opened her eyes and whispered a prayer. “It was a good run.”

Bund cackled and held her face down with one strong claw. Koa stabbed him with her sword. Nothing. Not even a drip of blood.

 He laughed louder and she held back a sob. His other claw jabbed her in her side and ripped upwards until it reached her underarm, splitting her skin to the muscle. She felt hot tears soak her face. Her wounds stung as her salty tears pooled into them.

Koa was tired and weakened. She was completely exerted. She couldn’t move. So, she lolled her head to the side and prepared for the end.

Bund leaned down to her ear. “Your blood will repair me men, and when they are whole once again…I will keep me promise, and roast that mother of yours.”

Koa felt her face heat. Her eyes narrowed into slits of hate. She couldn’t let him escape into the night and kill her mother. She would give anything for the strength to stop him. She wanted to scream out for Halston, but she knew that he would not hear her.

“But have no fear…” he licked her ear. His hot breath came out in a whisper. “I will not kill ya, love. No, you will be my prize and I will keep you as a
pet
for all eternity.”

Koa felt her blood chill. Every inch of her flesh crawled with disgust and horror. The studio door crept open. Koa’s eyes searched the doorway. No one was there. She looked out to darkness.

She screamed so loud that it made her ears ache. “No!”

Raven walked into the room and her green eyes started to glow. Koa frowned. It wasn’t the normal glow that she was used to. There was something different about it.

Bund paused and looked over his jutted out shoulder.

“Run mother!” Koa shouted. She realized her mistake when she saw the look in Bund’s eyes.