Page 13 of Any More Questions for the Corpse?

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Mal almost screamed at the sight of her. She stood over him, glaring at him with those piercing green eyes. She wasn’t a vampire, but for a moment Mal wished she was; at least then his suffering would be over quickly. Having to explain this was going to be impossible. Des stood in silence, her air demanding an explanation. Mal didn’t say a thing for at least thirty seconds. When he did speak, he wished he could shove the words back into his face.

“Nothing weird, I promise.”

“Nothing weird?” Des said, to a man sitting in a bush in front of an abandoned house at one o’clock in the morning.

“Shhhhh,” Mal said, “they’ll hear us.”

“Who will hear us?” Des said, raising her voice to get a rise out of Mal. He stood up and gestured with his hands for her to be quiet.

“The, the people in the house,” Mal said, whispering with as much emphasis as he could muster. Des looked over to the dead manor house and back to Mal. She seemed unconvinced.

“You better have an incredible explanation for this,” Des said, humoring Mal with a whisper.

“I do, I really do,” Mal said.

“Go on then!”

“But I can’t tell you.” Mal winced; he knew that was a mistake.

“You can’t tell me? Me specifically? Are you here because of Walters?”

“Noo?” Mal said, his voice getting squeaky as it trailed off.

“Did you even believe that?”

“No.” Mal sighed.

“Can you tell the invisible people in the manor house what you’re doing here?”

“I don’t want to talk to them and trust me, you don’t either.”

“Well, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“No, no, please don’t.”

“Are you going to tell me what you’re doing here?” Des said, no longer whispering. Mal’s silence said nothing.

“Then I’m going to see what they have to say.” She strode from the bushes and marched across the stony walkway to the entrance.

Mal followed nervously, begging her to come back. “Des. No. Please.” She was undeterred and actually started stomping on the gravel. Kicking stones and rocks aplenty. She got to the steps before the grand entrance and started to climb, forcing Mal to run up to her. “It’s vampires, vampires. In there, fucking stop, please, I’ll tell you everything, just not here, we have to go.”

“You expect me to believe vampires are in there?” Des said. “That’s the best you’ve got?” She held her hand up to the door, threatening to knock. Mal was straddling the line between complete panic and utter terror, and clearly his face was showing just that. Every part of him wanted to run away, but he refused to leave Des to whatever was happening in there. As she turned to look at him, her certainty waned and her expression softened. “Fine,” she said, letting go of her frustration. They stood for a moment facing each other on the top step.

“Let’s get out— MAL!” She shoved Mal to the ground.

A thunderous crack ruptured from behind him, louder than a gunshot, breaking the silent night in two. There was a flash of blinding blue light. Mal hit the stony earth with an aching smack. He oriented himself and found Des sprawled out on the top step. He heard a pop behind him, but when he looked around, no one was there. He rushed up the steps to Des’s side and knelt next to her. Where her right shoulder should have been was a gaping hole. The edges of her clothes around the wound seared and smoked, and the wound itself was bleeding through blackened, cauterized flesh. Mal looked down at the woman who’d just saved his life and felt a numbing shock. He stammered the word “no” over and over. He felt empty and cold, and as if his breath were running far ahead of him. He put his hand on her neck, searching for life. She was just holding on. Only half a corpse. Mal’s death sense started to hum. He took her in his arms, propping her up on his knees, and held her head with his left hand. He slammed his right fist against the door and screamed for help.

“Please, please, you have to help her. I’ll tell you about the people hunting you, you can kill me, just save her.” He banged and banged, and time stood still as his pleas fell on deaf ears. Tears streamed from his eyes and his death sense felt as though it was about to burst in his head.

The door swung open and several people picked Des up and took her inside. A large man pulled Mal to his feet and helped him through the door.

“Save her, please, you have to save her,” Mal said, feeling as though he was about to pass out. The man propped Mal against a wall and held his shoulder firmly, keeping him upright. Mal watched as they examined her; one looked at the large man and shook their head. Another spoke but Mal couldn’t hear or didn’t understand the words. Everything was a blur. Mal didn’t understand why they weren’t helping.

“There is only one way we can help her now,” the large man said. “Do you understand?” He looked to Mal with urgency.

“Save her life,” Mal said. The large man nodded to his friends and they picked her up and carried her gently out of the room. Mal tried to protest but the large man simply shook his head and held him still.