markdown-monster-club/chapters/chapter_09.md

# Chapter 9

"This is Katie!?" Abraham cried. He looked at the long snake girl laying on the table. Her eyes were closed and Calypso was leaning over her, bandaging her wounds and rubbing them with some kind of ointment. He had heard so much about Katie from the others, but he hadn't expected this. He shouldn't have been surprised though...after all, he had known she was a monster like the rest of the house. Asher pulled himself to his feet and nodded.
"Yeah...it's her." He groaned. Michelle spun around to see him...and she noticed that his skin was tanned and burned in some places from being exposed to the sun. She ran forward and held him up, making sure that he didn't fall over.
"Asher, you've been through enough...go upstairs and sleep. We'll handle things from here."
"But...I need..."
"Please, Asher." Calypso said, turning to glance at him. "Don't overwork yourself...you're already weak from last night...please just rest." Asher gazed at her and his eyes seemed to glint a little.
"Alright...I will." He turned and hobbled up the stairs to his room. Abraham watched him go and then gave Solomon a worried look. Solomon didn't look away from Katie, but he seemed to notice Abrahams concern.
"Asher will be fine. Once the sun goes down, he'll be back to his old self again. Right now, I'm more concerned about Katie." Abraham nodded and took a hesitant step forward to get a better look at Katie. She had long dark hair which was mangled and dirty. Her body was tan, and she had an almost oriental look to her...perhaps she was from India? Her long snake tail was bloody and bruised, but he could still make out it's gorgeous emerald green scales. He looked up her body and saw that she was naked. He blushed, but he couldn't look away from her.

"What exactly is she?" Abraham asked.
"She's a lamia." Solomon explained. "Much like Sarah is half human and half spider, Katie is half human and half snake. She is the youngest one of us...and we were so worried that we had lost her forever." Sarah, who still refused to look at the unconscious Katie, suddenly let out a sob and tore herself away from the room, scurrying up stairs quickly. Abraham watched her run and looked at Solomon, puzzled. Solomon shook his head sadly. "Pardon Sarah...she and Katie are very close. They're practically sisters. Seeing Katie like this is extremely hard for her." Calypso and Michelle moved rapidly around the table, cleaning Katie's injuries and taking care of her. Tamil was leaning against the wall. His pale eyes were locked on the far wall. Though he couldn't see what was happening...he could feel it, and it was plain to see that he was just as anxious as everyone else.

It was about 2 hours before Calypso and Michelle finally finished patching up Katie. Calypso sat down and Michelle dabbed her forehead with a wet towel, like a nurse would do to a surgeon in the middle of surgery. Calypso breathed slowly and the room was eerily silent. Solomon walked to the table and looked down at Katie sadly. If he could have cried...he would have.
"How is she, Calypso?" Solomon asked.
"She's exhausted." Calypso answered. "She's suffered minor lacerations and she has a small concussion. Judging from the blood on her hands and fingers, she's suffered trauma to her lower body and was forced to crawl most of her way here. I've patched her up the best I could, but all she can do now is rest." Abraham was stunned by her professional attitude! This was the same ditzy mermaid who stumbled and tripped over herself when walking around. The same girl that blushed when Asher's name was mentioned...and here she was talking like a highly trained M.D.
"Will she be okay?" Michelle asked. Calypso smiled and nodded.
"She should be just fine." Calypso said softly. Tamil breathed out a long sigh of relief and the color came back to Michelle's face. Solomon leaned back and beamed happily.
"Thank God." He cried. "Our lost lamb has returned." Abraham watched the room brighten up a great deal. There was a gasp of joy and Abraham turned to see that Sarah had come back downstairs. Seeing that Katie was okay, she ran forward and wrapped her arms around Katie's body, hugging it tightly and sobbing. Tamil finally stood up and gave a small nod.
"Needs rest...should take Katie to bed." Everyone gave a nod of agreement. Michelle and Sarah both stepped forward to either side of Katie.
"Asher's sleeping...we'll take her." Sarah said. Sarah placed her hands under Katie's shoulders and lifted up her upper body while Michelle lifted the lower snake body up. The two carried her together through the den and up to the stairs. "We'll take her to her room...you don't mind, do you Abraham?" Abraham shook his head, remembering that his current room was originally Katie's.
"No, not at all!" Sarah smiled and lead Michelle up to the stairs, carrying Katie's body carefully. Solomon and Tamil followed after them, Abraham found himself tailing the group. He glanced back at Calypso who was still sitting. She motioned for him to go.
"I'll be fine...I need some fresh air anyway." Abraham turned back to the group and followed them to Katie's room.

Hours passed on and the evening was already upon them. The entire house, with the exception of the sleeping Asher and the tired Calypso, were all sitting in Katie's room, watching her....praying for her to wake up. Abraham watched the group as well. Sarah stood next to Katie's bed, stroking her hair and watching her through her big red eyes. Solomon stood by the door, keeping a close eye on everyone. Michelle sat with Tamil; breathing quietly as Tamil placed his arm around her shoulder. Abraham could see the amount of emotion flowing through the group.
Suddenly, they saw movement! Katie's eyes opened to reveal golden eyes. Her pupils were slits like a snake, making her appear exotic...but strangely beautiful. She moaned a little, causing a ripple of response through the whole room.
"Katie!" Sarah cried, "are you okay?!" Katie looked up at Sarah and blinked a little, not sure what to make of her.
"...Sarah?" she moaned? Sarah burst into tears and wrapped her arms around Katie again in a tight hug.
"I missed you, little sister....I missed you so much!" Katie slowly and painfully wrapped her arms around Sarah's middle and hugged her back, small tears rolling down her cheek.
"I missed you too, big sister." She looked up at Michelle and Tamil and beamed. "Michelle, Tammy!" Abraham let out a small chuckle when she called Tamil "Tammy," but Tamil didn't seem to mind as he practically glowed at the sound of her voice.
"Hey, Katie." Michelle said kindly. "We've all been so worried about you." Katie glanced to Solomon and suddenly frowned.
"I...didn't mean to scare you all." Solomon shook his head fiercely.
"It wasn't your fault, dear!" Solomon answered firmly. Katie grinned as more tears joined the trickling streams rolling down her face. Suddenly her eyes fell on Abraham.
"Who is that?!" She hissed. Sarah frowned and held Katie close.
"His name is Abraham. He's new." She whispered.
"He's a human." Katie snapped. Solomon moved forward and pulled Abraham to his feet.
"He's not an enemy, Katie. He's one of us now." Solomon said. Katie didn't look convinced. She turned away and buried her face in Sarah's shoulder again. Solomon pulled Abraham outside of the room.

"Does, Katie dislike me?" Abraham asked. "Did I do something wrong?" Solomon shook his head.
"It's not you, Abraham...try to be patient with Katie." He looked back toward the room and sighed. "Katie has a prejudice towards humans...especially men." Abraham stared at him for a moment.
"Why?" Solomon sighed and looked to the side, as if looking for a way out of the conversation.
"It's a very long story, and I don't think I'm the right person to tell it." Solomon muttered. "Just give her some time. She'll get used to you."
"What do I have to do to win her trust?" Abraham asked. "I really don't want any enemies around here."
"Well, you...." Solomon trailed off and looked off into the distance. His eyes suddenly became anxious and concerned. Abraham saw him tense up. From behind him, Michelle came running to Solomon.

"You sense them too, don't you?" She growled. Solomon nodded.
"How did they find us?!" Solomon snarled. Abraham stared at both in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Michelle didn't seem to hear him, as she and Solomon began discussing earnestly what needed to be done.
"We have to hide...we'll lock ourselves in the basement." Michelle offered.
"Not an option," Solomon responded. "We'll just be trapping ourselves, making us easy targets. We need to get Asher, he's the only one who can handle them."
"But he's exhausted, he won't stand a chance!"
"When the sun goes down, he'll be good as new." Solomon said hopefully.
"But the sun is only just starting to set!" Michelle barked back.
"Then we need to stall for time. We've got to do everything we can to buy time until the sun goes down." Solomon answered.
"I only smell two of them, I can handle them." Michelle offered. Solomon shook his head.
"You're just as exhausted as Asher, you won't last." Solomon spat. "Go get Sarah, we've got to keep the house safe." Michelle turned and ran to the room. Solomon spun to face Abraham. "Abraham, I know that this is confusing right now, but I need you to listen carefully. The Dawn Bringers have some how found us...and they've sent professional hunters to wipe us out."
"What?!" Abraham cried. "What do we do?" Solomon raised a hand to silence him.
"The only chance we have is Asher...but he's still exhausted. We need to stall long enough for the sun to set, and give Asher the chance to regain his strength."
"What do you have in mind?" Abraham asked. "I'll help." Solomon smiled sadly.
"I know...and you're our best shot. You're human...they won't kill you unless they know that you're one of our own. We need you to go out there and meet the enemy. Try to buy us time...lie to them...tell the we kidnapped you...that we'll offer you as a trade. Tell them whatever you want to, but just give us time!" Abraham felt a chill run down his spine, but he quickly shook it off, knowing that he had no other choice.
"Alright, I'll do it." Abraham said.
"If anything happens, don't panic. I'll bail you out if things get ugly." Abraham nodded and ran downstairs to the front door. As he opened the door, he couldn't see anything strange at first. The sun was setting in the distance, giving off a bright orange glow to the world as shadows snaked across the ground. The evening breeze caught the tall grass and caused it to ripple slightly. It was a lovely evening, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary....until he saw two figures appear down the dirt rode...walking side by side toward the house. One was shorter than the other and both had on trench coats. One wore sunglasses and had a buzz cut hair. The other was a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. They walked swiftly...and with purpose. They were the hunters...the ones who had kidnapped Katie and had caused the whole house to worry. Abraham felt his resolve strengthen and ran out to meet them. When they saw Abraham, they stopped and stared at him.

"Hey!" Abraham shouted! "Over here!" The two glanced at each other and marched toward Abraham.
"What are you doing here?" The man asked. Abraham quickly began to think up a lie...working his hardest to make up a story that they might believe.
"There were monsters in that house!" Abraham cried. The man nodded.
"That's why we're here...we're going to rid the house of them." They started to walk around him down the front lawn, but Abraham ran in front of them again.
"But, they aren't there anymore!" Abraham shouted. This caused the two to pause.
"Where did they go?"
"After they heard you coming, they packed up and left." Abraham said quickly. His eyes darted to the setting sun. It still wasn't down yet...he needed more time.
"How do you know this?" The woman asked.
"I saw them leave! They took off in that direction." Abraham shouted, pointing down the road. The man shot Abraham a glance that, even with his sunglasses on, looked cold and menacing.
"I don't believe you." He growled. Abraham felt cold sweat build up on his forehead. "We interrogated the lamia...and she told us about the inhabitants here...they'd sooner die than abandon this place. Besides, even if they did, the ghost Solomon cannot leave this house. His soul is bound to it." Abraham opened his mouth to tell another lie, but the man shoved Abraham to the side. "Don't worry boy, you have merely been brainwashed by these demons. We shall not punish you. Just stay out of our way and let us do our job." Abraham watched as they walked past him and on to the front yard. He spun to see that the sun, though lower, was still not gone!
"Wait, please!" Abraham shouted.
"Enough." The woman answered. "Stay where you are, and keep silent." Abraham felt a great feeling of anger and guild fill him. He had failed...and there was nothing he could do.

Suddenly, the woman was lifted off her feet by an invisible force, which launched her into the air and onto the grass. The man spun to meet it, but he too was knocked to the side by the force. Abraham watched in awe as Solomon suddenly appeared before his eyes. He was glaring furiously at the two hunters.
"You will not touch ANYONE in this house!" The male hunter climbed to his feet and chuckled.
"The ghost, Solomon...do you really think we didn't come prepared for you?" Solomon lunged forward to strike the hunter again, but the female hunter had moved as well. She slipped on a glove and reached out. To Abrahams horror, the gloved hand grabbed Solomons arm and threw him away. Solomon landed in the grass and stared in shock. The woman laughed.
"This glove was soaked in ectoplasm...it can touch ghosts, and even hurt them." Suddenly from the front door, both Sarah and Michelle appeared, with Calypso right behind them. The hunters turned to look and both smiled.
"How nice...we don't have to waist time looking for you...we can finish you all right here." The male hunter laughed.
"How did you find us!?" Michelle snarled.
"Keep your leash on, werewolf." The hunter barked in reply. "We simply followed the lamia here. We allowed her to escape so that she lead us right to you. She had no idea that we had been tailing her." He then reached into his jacket and pulled out two silver stakes. The woman next to him pulled a pistol and aimed at Calypso and Sarah. "Enough talking...it's time to take out the garbage in this place."

"I agree."

There was the sound of a gunshot and an explosion of brains and blood as the female hunter went flying backwards, an enormous bullet wound in her head. The male hunter spun to look at her dead body and then turned back to see what had shot. Standing on the roof was a figure that was about as tall as the hunter...but he was shrouded by a leather jacket and a hoodie covering his face. In on hand he had a pistol which was still trained on the hunter. His other hand was tucked in his jean pockets. Even from under his hood, Abraham could see Asher's glowing red eyes. Abraham looked at the sun and, to his horror, it still wasn't fully down! If only Asher had waited a few more minutes!
"So, you're the vampire of this little group." The hunter snapped. "The lamia kept telling us how badly you would kick our asses when you found us...and at first that caused some concern...but seeing how you can't walk out into the sun without covering yourself...you are no longer the hunter, but the hunted. Now, you shall be the first to taste the sweet embrace of death."
"I really wish you'd shut up." Asher snapped. He fired the gun again, but this time, the male hunter rushed backwards. Asher dropped from the roof and landed in the grass. The hunter pulled the stakes again and bowed.
"Warren Matthews," the hunter said loudly, "this is the name of hunter that finally defeated the so called Monster Club." With that, he lunged forward and swung the stake at Asher. Asher leaped away from the stake and spun, trying to aim his gun at Warren. He fired, but the shot missed, as Warren was already circling around Asher to deliver an attack from behind. Asher turned to meet the attack, but Warren, without warning, stopped in mid attack and threw something into Asher's face. It looked like some kind of powder, but it mustn't have been good for Asher.
"AAARRGGH!" Asher screamed. He dropped his gun and cupped his hands to his face. Warren just laughed.
"I know your weaknesses, vampire. Your kind are fiercely allergic to garlic...so I was sure to coat my weapons in garlic, as well as carry along some other handy little tricks. Garlic powder for instance." Asher didn't answer but only tried to rub the powder out of his eyes. Abraham tried to warn Asher as Warren moved forward with the silver, garlic drenched stake.
"ASHER!" It was too late. Warren buried his stake into Asher's stomach. Asher screamed in pain and fell backwards. His hood fell off of his head, exposing it to the setting sun. His face began to burn and Abraham could only watch in horror as his face turned from tan, to red, to white. Asher tried to stand, but Warren was already on top of him. He pulled a knife and held it to Asher's throat.
"Rest in peace, blood sucker." The world was plunged into darkness as the sun finally vanished beyond the horizon...and Warren swung the knife.

Abraham screamed as Asher's head fell to the ground, leaving a pool of blood behind. The bloody stump of Asher's neck still pumped blood as his corpse hit the grass with a thud. Abraham shook his head in disgust and in agony as he saw Asher lay motionless. The rest of the house had fallen silent...clearly in shock. Warren stepped back and wiped the blood from his knife.
"Now that I've taken care of that...now I'll deal with you're lot." He leaned down and picked up his fallen stake and walked towards Michelle, who was standing between him and the rest of the club. "Any final words, werewolf?" He demanded. To Abrahams eternal surprise and shock, Michelle smiled at him. She was actually giggling!
"Actually yes I do." she growled.
"And what's that?" Warren asked, raising his stake. Michelle just glared at him with a look so venomous that Abraham felt the need to step back.
"You talk to much." She laughed. Warren gave her a puzzled look. "The sun set before you delivered the killing blow, you idiot...why don't you take another look at that vampire you decapitated." Warren, as well as Abraham both spun to look at the fallen Asher. The blood on the ground was flowing back into Asher's body. Warren turned fully around and watched with amazement as Asher's body suddenly stood itself up, with it's head reforming onto his neck. He looked as good as new, if not better! His eyes were glowing blood red and his fangs were bared furiously.

"How in Gods' name did you..." Warren demanded. Asher didn't give him the chance to finish that question. With a snarl he darted forward with blinding speed and struck Warren across the face. Warren responded by shoving the stake into Asher's chest, but before it ever made contact, Asher's body exploded into a swarm of bats, shrieking and screaming angrily, striking and biting at Warren until he was forced to drop the stake and start flinging his arms like a drunken ape, trying fend off the bats. Soon, Warren had to drop to his knees and cover his face to block the attack. As he did, the bats flew into each other, reforming Asher's body. Asher roared and yanked the hunter to his feet.

"You hurt, Katie." Asher snarled furiously.
"Let go of me you monster!" Warren shouted.
"You struck Solomon and Abraham."
"Go to Hell!"
"And then you threaten my family." Asher finished. "I should shoot you through your goddamned heart and be done with you." Warren Matthews just smirked and shook his head.
"Go ahead...do it." Asher stared at him for a moment. His eyes fell on Solomon with a questioning gaze. Abraham look up to see Solomon gave a slow and solemn nod. Asher growled and faced Warren again.
"Abraham, go inside...now." Solomon hissed. Abraham didn't move...his eyes were locked on Asher and Warren. Asher grabbed Warrens coat and ripped it from his body.
"Go on you freak....shoot me!" Warren shouted. Asher's eyes suddenly glowed red. He leaned close to Warren's face, gripping his shoulder with one hand and his chin with the other...exposing the hunter's neck.
"Normally I would....but after a fight like that...." His eyes flashed and he showed his fangs, causing Warren's smirk to quickly change to a terrified expression.

"I'm hungry." Asher whispered. Asher reared back his head like a snake and opened his mouth, exposing his long and razor sharp fangs. With one swift and devastating motion he brought his fangs down onto Warren's neck. There was the sound of a crack as Warren's neck broke under the force of the bite, and an explosion of red blood flew from Warren't neck. Asher's jaws stayed locked on the neck, drinking in the blood. Warren's eyes widened in pain and in horror...his face slowly began to turn pale. Abraham couldn't look away.

"Let's go inside, now." Solomon urged. He took Abrahams hand and lead him to the house, away from Asher and Warren. The rest of the house all had different reactions to the sight before them. Michelle looked on sadly, but firmly...slightly sickened. Sarah was covering her ears and shutting her eyes tight, trying to shut out the image and the sounds. Calypso had turned away. There were tears in her eyes and she was struggling to keep a straight face. At long last, Warren's body sank to the ground, dead. His pale face still twisted in terror and agony. Asher turned to face the house, blood all over his mouth and chin. He reached up and wiped it away, and then he saw the looks on everyone faces. He looked down darkly and walked forward.
"I'm sorry." He muttered. He then moved past them and inside. "I'm going to go check on Katie." Sarah and Michelle turned to follow him. Solomon and Calypso stayed at the door with Abraham.

"Thank you for buying us enough time, Abraham." Solomon said. "If you hadn't helped us, Asher would have been killed. There's no way that Asher could have recovered form that decapitation if the sun hadn't set at that moment."
"It's nothing." Abraham said, still in a daze. "But...just..."
"It's never easy watching a vampire feed." Solomon explained.
"It's hard on Asher too." Calypso added, her face still filled with tears. Abraham wondered what she meant by this, but she was already walking back into the house. Solomon stood with Abraham and smiled slightly.
"I know that it may not seem like it...but we won a victory today." He said. "We got Katie back...and we saved the house from destruction."
"And them?" Abraham asked, indicating the two dead bodies. Solomon shook his head.
"Sometimes....we have to do things that we aren't proud of for the sake of the ones we love." Abraham turned and smiled at Solomon. Solomon put his hand on Abraham's shoulder and walked him to the den, feeling peace wash over the him at last.