Un2Dead (Book One of the Un2Series)
Chapter Thirty Seven

Reese awoke to replace her head resting on a makeshift pillow that smelled like her mother’s kitchen. In front of her was a young conquistador sitting cross-legged on the floor fixated on a photograph. She examined his face. Joey would have grown to be quite handsome. She cleared her throat to get his attention.

“Have I been out very long?”

Joey looked up and scooted closer to her head.

“No. Not very long.” He held the photo closer to her face.

“This was braided into your hair. What do you call this?”

Reese took the photo and instantly misted up when she looked at it.

“This is a photograph from the night you brought Gary home.”

She struggled to sit up. Joey gave her a hand. She pointed to each person in the picture, giving them their names.

“This is Danny and this is Sunny, our little girl.”

“She’s adorable. She has your eyes.”

“Thanks.”

“What’s happening there?”

“Oh, that’s Gary pulling at your hair.”

“My hair? That’s me? How is this possible? Why am I so young?”

“You were sixteen when we met. At least we thought you were.”

“But I am twenty-six. How did this happen?”

Reese suddenly realized that Joey had not encountered his fate as of yet. She was hesitant to tell him.

“Joey, something happens in your future that makes you eternally sixteen. This photograph is of an evening that happened when you were almost four hundred years old.”

Joey stared at the photo a moment. He turned it toward Reese and pointed at the center of the picture.

“So, this. . . Gary, you called him? Is he my dog?”

“Yes and no. He is a dog and your constant companion, but he doesn’t belong to you. He is his own person.”

Joey studied the photo again.

“And we all live together. Your family, me and Gary.”

“Of course! You and Gary are family to us. We couldn’t imagine it any other way!”

Joey flipped the photo over and shared what was written with Reese.

“Why would I write this?”

Reese returned from her reverie.

“Danny and I were being held captive by DeLeon. He needed us as part of the suit’s recharging ritual. Everything went terribly wrong.”

“But you are here. The armor seems to work just fine. What do you mean?”

“Joey, it’s horrible, that armor. It killed Danny and that bitch, Jayne when. . . .”

Joey stopped Reese mid-sentence. “Jayne? My sister?”

“That bitch was your sister?”

“If you are describing her as a bitch, there is a good chance we are talking about the same woman. What happened to them?”

Joey’s curiosity was heightened now that Jayne was involved.

“Danny and Jayne were performing the recharging ritual when the armor attacked them. It consumed them, for lack of a better word. It was terrifying. I couldn’t do anything about. . . .” Reese started to break down.

Joey tried to comfort her.

”We’ll replace a way to fix things. Have faith. Tell me more about the ritual. We have yet to perform it. We haven’t even acquired all the elements we would need to recharge the suit if we had to. All we have are the waters of the ancient koi. We haven’t found the blood from birds of fire or the venom from the teal viper.”

Reese chimed in, “That’s where Danny and I come in. We carry the venom in our systems. We were held prisoner so they could harvest our venom.”

“Why? How?”

“It’s a very long story, Joey. Let’s just say that Danny and I are unique individuals. Can we leave it at that for now?”

Joey nodded. Reese resumed her story.

“I saw Danny inserting colored vials of liquid into the center medallion. They must have been the elements you’re speaking of.”

“It doesn’t make any sense. The suit needs only those elements to function. Why would it go after my sister and your Danny?”

“It all happened after the emblem was reinserted into the armor. It ate away at Jayne from the inside. It attached itself to Danny when he tried to save her.”

Joey saw the pieces come together. “The armor may have gone after Danny for the venom in his body. But why would it go after my sister?”

“There’s a good chance it was in her system, too. Your sister is filled with nasty green goo.”

“My sister may be full of things like treachery and bile, but green goo?”

“She and I had a bit of an altercation.” Reese gestured across her face. “She wasn’t the only one that caused some damage. The girl leaked green goo.”

“I don’t like the sound of this, not at all. There is more to fix than your fate. It sounds like DeLeon has let our lives turn to shit.”

Joey sprang to his feet. He grabbed Reese’s arm and yanked her upright. She yelped from the pain.

“We can undo this!”

Joey grabbed the breastplate and presented it to Reese. He held the armor so he could show her how it functioned.

“This ring of stones is how the dates are set. This series of stones show what the time and date were when DeLeon activated the suit. This series, across the ring, shows his destination. The suit is set to return to the exact time DeLeon left. We need to return to an earlier date and make sure all of this never happens.”

He set to work rearranging the ingots.

“How many days do you think we will need?”

“What day is it? I don’t know howlong I was held captive.”

“It is the fifteenth.”

“Then we will need about five days. What happens to DeLeon if we leave him here? Won’t that change the future?”

Joey set the armor on the ground leaning it against his leg so he could use his hands to augment his description.

“The best way I can explain time travel is this. Time is like an endless rope. The fibers that make up that rope are our life streams, our stories. Without people to experience the passing of time, there is not a need or reason for time. Your life is a predetermined section of that rope. If left undisturbed, your time will pass, your story will end, and a new story starts. The breastplate allows the wearer to intrude upon these stories. DeLeon has joined your story and influenced its ending. If you were to leave him here, in this time, it would not erase what he and you have previously experienced. We will have to pick a place within your story to interject change and replace an alternate outcome for all others involved.”

“If we can’t change what has happened why would we bother? This seems futile.”

“We can’t change what has happened but we can put ourselves into an alternate version of your life stream. Think of it like this, you are traveling on a path through the woods when you come to a fork in the road. You decide to follow the path to the right. The path to the left still exists; you just aren’t following that path. We are going to go back to that fork and take the path to the left.”

Joey picked up the armor and continued to refine his settings.

Reese turned Joey’s head so she could see his face.

“You’re positive this will work?”

“Oh, it would work.” A voice echoed from the darkness at the edge of the grotto. The newly refurbished DeLeon stepped into the glow of the candelabras. He looked freshly scrubbed and well rested sporting just a hint of rock star in his demeanor. Reese could not understand how anyone found this far less distinguished version of DeLeon, the one that graced his future album cover, attractive. He circled the pair and gave Reese the once over.

“Well look who came along for the ride!”

He reached for her shoulder and she recoiled from his touch. Joey stepped between them. DeLeon sneered.

“Planning a little trip, are we?” DeLeon nodded at the breastplate that Joey held behind him, between him and Reese.

“You killed my sister, you bastard.”

“Now, Joseph, language.” He leaned back, arms crossed.” I did nothing of the sort. If anyone killed Jayne, it was her beloved Trevor. He screwed us all by screwing her.”

Confused, Joey looked to Reese for a translation.

“Some guy she’s fucking in the future,” Reese whispered from behind her hand.

Joey nodded.

DeLeon stepped closer, retrieving his sword. The duo in the center of the safe zone closed ranks.

“You allowed her to die. It’s pretty much the same thing.”

“You’re showing an awful lot of concern about a woman who just an hour prior to her own death had removed the top half of your head like she was pruning a hedge.”

“You’re lying!” Joey looked to Reese for confirmation. She could only provide a shrug.

DeLeon stepped closer.

“Tell you what. You give me the breastplate and I’ll go back to the pleasant little life I’ve made for myself. What the hell, I’ll even leave you with the nice twenty-first century piece of ass. I’ve got another one back home that looks just like her that’s got a lot less miles.”

He winked at Reese.

The deep primal instinct that a mother has to protect her young fueled by the additional rage she felt after seeing her husband murdered tripped the vampire switch in Reese faster and harder than she had ever turned before. She vaulted past Joey before he could even try to restrain her. From his viewpoint he saw the backside of a petite woman hurling towards her doom at the hands of a skilled swordsman. DeLeon, on the other hand, saw a saber-toothed she-demon with obsidian saucers for eyes flying towards him, determined to do him bodily harm. His military experience had helped to hone his reflexes and allowed his body to react before his brain recognized the danger. He lunged toward Reese rather than trying to avoid her, his sword traveling up to meet the flesh right above her left hip. She slid onto the blade as her feet hit the ground. Reese grabbed onto DeLeon’s wrist with one hand and the hilt of the sword with the other. She steadied herself then stepped forward pulling DeLeon toward her, extending the length of blade beyond her back and putting her face within inches of his.

“You reallydon’t know shit about killing vampires.”

Reese’s knee arced upward in a move she had demonstrated numerous times in the women’s defense class she taught at the gym. DeLeon’s left testicle collided with his pelvis while the right one was set into orbit somewhere in his abdomen. His involuntary bow was augmented by Reese grabbing his hair and forcing his head closer to his waist. A second swing of her knee introduced DeLeon’s nose to his right cheek bone, splintering both of them. Reese unhinged her jaw as she pulled DeLeon into an upright position by the back of his head. Her fangs pierced through his jugular with the precision and accuracy of a surgeon. Her jaw wrapped around the opposite side of his neck forming a vise like grip that tightened until his larynx was on the verge of popping. Reese siphoned a few pints of DeLeon’s type “O” cocktail, not enough to kill him but plenty enough to incapacitate him. His body draped limply from her maw like a fallen waterfowl being retrieved by a Labrador. She tilted off-balance because of the substantial difference in their sizes. She released him, letting him flop to the floor before she toppled over. She wiped her forearm across her bloodied lips.

“Almond cookies,” she said as she tongued a stray droplet from the corner of her mouth. “Not half bad.”

She took hold of the sword that still penetrated her oblique and withdrew it slowly and cleanly. She squeegeed the blade through layers of her t-shirt then used it as a mirror to check her reflection. She caught a glimpse of a pallid Joey standing behind her. She shifted from hybrid herpetoid to human before addressing him.

“Is that thing set to go?”

She turned and pointed with the sword, directing his gaze to the breastplate.

“Yes.”

“Are you going to help us? Are you coming with me?”

“Yes.” Joey answered without hesitation. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his bracelet and put it on his wrist.

”You need to wear the suit,” he said to Reese.” If we’re traveling within your time stream you should be in control. I’m the one along for the ride.”

“You always want to ride shotgun.” Reese chuckled.

“What?”

“Never mind.”

Joey took the sword from Reese then held up the breastplate so Reese could walk into it.

“Oh, no! That thing will kill me. You wear it!” Reese protested.

“The suit is fully charged. You’ll be fine. You have to trust me on this.”

Reese stepped forward with her arms outstretched. Joey spun her to secure the armor but it had already buckled itself. He handed her back the weapon.

“Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Joey positioned himself in front of Reese. He checked the locations of the lapis ingots one final time.

He placed his index and middle finger in the center of the medallion.

“You’re sure this isn’t going to kill me,” Reese joked nervously.

“We’ll know soon enough!” Joey smiled and pushed the medallion.

The grotto filled with a deafening silence.

A crumpled candlelit conquistador was all that remained.