***
I'm pinned down to a desk by my neck. I probably should be panicking more than I am. But A: I have the safe room coin ready to be pulled from my domain, and B: This vampire is hot as fuck. God damn. Looks a little too murderous to spank me though.
"Where are the fuck are my frac." She growled at me. Popping her canines for effect.
"what frac?" Honestly I don't know what I'm doing here. Buying time for the others I guess?
Saying that, my vampire is looking a little singed.
Focusing back on the present, my vampire is being quite aggressive with her choking. Which, you know, hot. But also a bit of a problem if I want to continue living.
[This is fascinating.]
'What is?'
[You are currently barely thinking with your human brain. It seems to be on the verge of passing out. Yet you are cognitively just fine.]
'Huh. You know I do feel a lot calmer than when this last happened. Back on Earth with the zombie, I was freaking out.'
[You should take care of being choked to death.]
'Ah, yes, I'm working on it.'
I could activate my barrier enchantment, but a vampire is going to make short work of it. I can't reach Chekhov; it was batted across the room. I could use the coin, but that's a bitch move.
I only really have one option left.
There is a heavy thunk on the table as the goblin bomb falls out of my domain. My hand rests on its exterior, ready to feed it mana and blow us to Kingdom come.
The vampire just stares at it.
I gave her hand - that was currently squeezing my neck - a little tap. Her grip lessens, allowing me to breathe.
"Is that a goblin bomb?" The vampire asked.
"Sure is."
"That looks like a pretty big goblin bomb."
"Thank you?" I don't hate getting complimented on the size of my bomb. But it's not what I expected.
"That wasn't a compliment!" The vampire shakes her head as if to clear it. " You'll die too, you know."
"Nah, I'm pretty certain my barrier spell will survive it." That was a total bluff, but not really a lie, It is possible that it saves my ass.
The vampire straightened up, no longer keeping me pinned to the table. "Okay how do you want to play this?" She asked.
There's a series of explosions upstairs. Honestly, I don't know where Shiv is hiding all her bombs. She doesn't have a domain like I do, yet she never seems to run out.
There is a large part of me that really wants to send Sophia a mental image of this vampire. Explaining that she just choked me, in a hot way. Just to make Sophia mad.
Is this brat energy?
Am I a brat?
[Yes, absolutely, without a doubt.]
I shrug. 'I don't hate the label.'
I restrained myself from pissing off my partner, and addressed the vampire. "What would make you happy?" I asked.
"You return all of the Fracs, and then let me suck you dry." She said.
I sit up, rubbing my neck. "Hot. But no." I replied "I like my blood in my body. And I like your fracs in my pocket."
"You're not leaving here with all that money," said the Vampire.
"Correct. Unfortunately I can't carry it all. There should be a fair amount left over." I said.
"You're trying to bribe me?"
"Yes."
"With my own money?"
"Is it working?"
"No." The vampire dead pans.
"So what's the plan then? I blow us both up, see who survives?" I said, tapping the bomb. I'm seriously considering doing it. If this bitch owns this place she needs to die just as much as the Necromancer did.
Is the Necromancer still dead? I can't see his body from here.
[She makes a good point.]
Ugh, everyone's a critic. Well, if I can't blow her up, how am I going to kill this bitch? I doubt she's gonna let me spend twenty minutes casting a light spell. Not I'm even sure that would work, Vincent seems to get around during the day just fine.
Are vampires undead? Maybe Sophia can save the day with her turn undead spell? It's basically my only option.
I hear a groaning from the ground. It's the Necromancer, he did have some undead bullshit going on.
The vampire just sighed. "You know it's hard to get good help like this guy, right?" She said as she pulled a wicked-looking blade from the scabbard on her hip. With one clean cut, she removed the head. "Most humans are too moral, 'ooh don't turn children into hookah.' It's going to take me forever to find someone as useful as he was."
The vampire is currently facing away from me, so of course I'm slowly inching my way towards Chekhov.
"Bullets won't actually stop me, you know." The vampire said, licking her blade clean of blood.
"How about we try and find out?" I said while scooping up the gun.
I lob the goblin bomb at her. Which promptly causes her to freak the fuck out. She catches it before it hits the ground, which I then take as an opportunity to empty my gun into her stomach.
True to her word. It doesn't kill her, but it hurts like a motherfucker. I throw myself backwards, as she swings her sword wildly in my direction.
I hit hardwood floor just as Sophia pops up from the hatch and triggers her turn undead spell. The Vampire drops to the ground screaming. The blood bubbling in her veins.
I scramble over, grab her blade, and shove it through her neck. It's not pretty and clean like how she beheaded The Necromancer. It's closer to cutting wood with a hacksaw, but eventually her head comes free of her body.
I am covered in Vampire blood. And Sophia is giving a 'what the fuck, Tangerine' look. But it is done. I killed the bitch.
"Fuck me. I think we're done, that's everyone right?" I said.
Sophie and I finish filling the second bag full of the remaining fracs. Then we slowly scramble our way to freedom, through the escape tunnel.
Free with all the loot and having rescued a bunch of cage slaves, I got to say, I was feeling pretty good about myself.
***
The four of us are hanging out in Sofia's and my room. We are diving out the fracs between us. After the thirty percent cut for the Academy of course.
Lillian seems very happy with her newfound wealth. Shiv surprisingly, doesn't seem to care that much. She said she was 'in it for the art.' Whatever that means.
Sophia wanted to use her cut to help the cage slaves. Which is both incredibly noble and extremely hot. She's my perfect angel for reals.
I wasn't going to do that of course. Fuck that, I'm spending my money on badass artifacts. I had a frighteningly small amount of options when fighting that vampire. Next time I want the odds to be firmly in my favour.
After Shiv and Lillian left. Sophia and I collapsed into bed. I wrapped myself up in her arms. Her long silver hair cascading over me.
Six weeks ago, I was a nerd, that barely left her room, and got bullied by schoolgirls. Today I fucked up a vampire. I've killed assassins, I've had surgery done by a terrifying spider lady. I face down a queen. I kicked Bronson in the bollocks. I dived off into the Aether. I got spanked in a bath.
And I fell in love.
I feel like the last few weeks have all been leading up to this point. This day was entirely up to me and the others. Proactive instead of reactive. We used the skills we'd learned, planned a raid, and executed it almost perfectly.
It's been a wild ride getting here. I don't think I am the same person I was six weeks ago - before I arrived in this new realm, but I'm happier for it. I still miss my mum. I even miss my old friend James. But I wouldn't go back even if I could; I love it here. I love Sophia. I love my friends. I love my new family, Maria, Derek and Emily.
And most of all, I love the girl that I've become. I feel strong here, I feel in control, I feel like I have a future, and it's going to be bright.
I cuddle up to Sophia. Fuck, I love this girl so much. I better check in with her.
"How do you feel about today?" I asked.
"It was amazing," she said. "We helped those people, those children. I was worried before, if we were doing the right thing. But now I know that we were. This was a good thing to do."
"Not gonna to lie. I did it mostly for the money." I said.
"I know. I also know that you are a little worried about your amorality. But it's okay, I'll help you as best I can, to keep doing the right thing."
The emotional payload caused Sophia to give me a tight squeeze. "You have no idea how good that feels." She said "Here."
And she's right, it's the most intense feeling in the world. A love that you feel, for you, but not from you. The love had a flavour of Sophia. A pure vibe of Sophia's affection. Is this what MDMA feels like? I could see this being addictive. I bit my bottom lip and nuzzled into her chest.
"I love you so much, Sophia." I said.
"I know," she said.
"I love you too."
***
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