Out of the Black - Lee Doty [132]
Looking at Issak unconscious on the floor, Dek realized it was decision time. Would he try to kill Issak, or try to keep the power he carried away from The Outsider? He was pretty sure he could kill Issak before these monsters got him, but if he stayed to kll his last remaining father, they would definitely get him. Would he fight for revenge, or for a chance to save the washroom- the whole wide washroom. His gut pulled him one way, but his heart was free.
"Okay. Make it quick." He said, lowering the sword. He feigned a sob of despair... yeah, it was a bit over the top, but he just couldn't resist. He was rubbing imaginary tears from his eyes when they made their move.
They weren't taking any chances. Three dove in low, two came in high, the remaining two rushed to cover the exit to the foyer and elevator. Not bothering with a counterattack, Dek dove to the left, toward the unguarded hall to the bedrooms.
Most of the demons slammed into each other and the refrigerator, having fully committed to their attacks. Dek landed in a roll and came up running. He was through the doorway and several steps down the hall before the first pursuers were underway.
Still, in his weakened state, they were faster than he was. When he was halfway down the hall, they swarmed through the archway from the kitchen in a tight formation that would make the most team-oriented school of fish jealous. Dek poured on what speed he had left.
They were within two meters as he passed the last doorway, approaching the floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the hall. He was going to have to time this just right.
He left the ground a meter and a half before the window, already twisting to the left, swinging the sword across the window. The blade sliced through the glass, leaving a nearly horizontal line across the industrial glass. Cracks began to radiate away from the blade's path. His spin took the window out of his field of view and replaced it with seven slobbering monsters, close enough to reach out and touch. His legs came up to his chest as he ducked his head and hunched his shoulders. He made himself as small and inflexible a projectile as he could, hoping to transfer enough kinetic energy to finish shattering the glass.
His back struck the glass with what would have seemed like jarring impact if his perception of time weren't so dilated. The pressure built between him and the glass, compressing his flesh, straining his bones. Then they were on him, grabbing for purchase. One grabbed an ankle and another caught a corner of his coat.
His feet drove out even as he was surrounded with the slow waterfall sound of shattering glass. One foot caught the demon holding his ankle in the chest, driving him off his feet and into the others. His coat tore from the hands of the other demon as he exited the building amid the cloud of shattered glass.
As the demons disappeared into the clouds with the rest of the 82nd floor, Dek's thoughts turned to his next desperate move.
3. LIGHT
Burning to Beauty
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink;
and instead of a girdle, a rent;
and instead of well set hair, baldness;
and burning instead of beauty.
-Isaiah 3:24
Screams, darkness, blood, remorse, hope, and through it all the ringing of a dead man's blade.
Rae's scream was like nothing Ping had heard before. It had started with a word, but now was only the sound of denial. The lights went out and some kind of unseen turbulence snapped through the air like a puff of wind. The lights flickered back on and the door burst open, admitting a concerned-looking nurse of about fifty. The sword's ringing was muted by Alex's chest as it snapped back into the hilt.
Blood pooled on the floor beneath the new hole in the bottom of the bed. Rae was breathless at the end of a scream she still seemed intent at continuing. Her mouth was open and silent. She staggered, then fell in a heap and didn't move.
The nurse who'd burst in to investigate the cause of the silent alarm paused,