Five versus four sounds like a fair fight. If the five on your team are skilled and experienced, then it probably makes sense. But as it turned out our team only had one experienced vampire fighter, Nehemiah. The rest of us only fought Takahashi by himself. And he proved more than enough for all five of us last week. Tain and Rob would do their best. And Charice was still new to her powers and fighting monsters in general. Which left it up to me and Nehemiah. Except for Nehemiah still didn’t own a staff, his weapon of choice. And he’d just expended a whole bunch of Bad Luck to remove Charice’s wings.

The brunt of this fight rested on me. And I could not get bit again. Not after what happened last time. I still had the Keening scar. Sure, I’d fought Asen Scáth, the embodiment of the curse laid on me by the Banshee that kicked this whole monster fighting thing off. But after I defeated the Ban-he, he’d been resurrected by a Fetch. When I destroyed the steroided monstrous version of myself, a bolt of black lightning had struck my chest. In the week since, I hadn’t had any episodes of turning into the Ban-he, nor did I hear his whispers in my head, but I worried that the whole shindig was a temporary fix at best. I could not afford to get bitten again, and I sure as heck couldn’t let any of my friends get bitten either.

Jade thrummed as I drew her from the sheath, moonlight glinting off the steel. My Good Luck grew in my chest and I pushed it out down my arms through my hands. Intertwining Celtic knots laced themselves around Jade, my katana.

I barely got the blade up in time as the black lady with the scarlet weave clawed at my face. Crimson blood magic trailed behind every swipe of her claws, matching the glowing emerald trails of my katana. I danced with the vampire doing all that I could to defend against her slashes. But she was a lot stronger than me. The whole thing looked like some kind of twisted Christmas light show. With each strike that I blocked my high top Chuck Taylor’s slid further and further back in the dirt until I was backed up against a pile of scrap metal.

My stomach knotted up. This lady was quick and good. If I didn’t change up my game plan she would skewer me pretty quick. I gritted my teeth. Kenjutsu skills weren’t going to bail me out of this fight, but Good Luck could. I succumbed to the Good Luck and evaded her attacks letting the magic guide me. Her sharp claws hit nothing but air as I dodged, and when they did hit something, they were leaving deep gashes in the fender of the car I had my back against. The sound of metal being torn apart pierced my ears and threatened to destroy my concentration, but I fell deeper into the Good Luck.

Scarlet Weave grunted in frustration and attacked faster and harder, ripping entire chunks out of the car behind me.

The pile creaked and gave the lady vampire pause as she noticed the teetering tower of cars for the first time. Her momentary stall gave me an opening. I spun backwards, threw a hook kick to her face, and dropped her in the dust. My Good Luck prompted me to fall into a butterfly twist. I twisted out of the way in time as the entire pile of cars came crashing down, burying the vampire chick.

One down.

Four to go.

I found Nehemiah flinging raw Bad Luck at the pale vampire, while dodging swipes from him. Crackling Bad Luck shot through the air, cutting the fanged hisses short. Despite his exertion of power to remove Charice’s wings, Nehemiah handled the vamp just fine for the time being. I wanted to help him, but Charice was my main concern right then.

Loyal as ever, Rob had broken free of Takahashi’s claws and hovered by Charice’s side.

As the blond bulk dashed towards Charice Rob slapped the flattop Brock Lesnar look alike vampire across the face, but the brute didn’t even register Rob’s small palm. Rushing to help her I stopped short as an aura of Bad Luck surged from her. As Flattop lunged for her again, amethyst wings expanded and she shot up into the sky. Flattop was quick to recover though. Leathery bat-wings sprouted from his own back and he pursued Charice skyward. Owl-Rob followed.

My knuckles tightened around Jade, but I couldn’t fly. Charice and Rob could handle themselves.

Where was Tain?

Didn’t have time to find my dog though. Count Pale floored Nehemiah, then swan-dove at me instead, wings back, claws extended.

I met him in the air head on, swords against claws. I struck him in such a way that I slashed him and flung him to the ground with the force of my swing. I batted Count Pale to the ground faster than metal drawn to a magnet. The smack when he hit sounded like a dropped bag of powdered cement mix. Still, he got to his knees.

Flooded with determination I stepped over to the vampire and delivered a solid door kick, stomping him to the ground like Gerard Butler. “So much for taking us by storm. Not what you expected I bet?”

He didn’t cry out for mercy or raise his hands and in defeat. Instead he chuckled. As he laughed the cavity in his chest sewed itself back together. Transfixed in horror, I realized Jade and Fragarach weren’t going to be any help against him. He was a different class of vampire altogether. I didn’t know much about Celtic vampires but if they were anything like regular vampires, ones as strong as this guy might only be susceptible to specific forms of punishment, like silver bullets and stakes.

In a flash his hand snapped out at me, clasping my throat. Hot pain shot up my neck as the pressure built.

Nehemiah leveled a hand at the vampire. “Ukuqhuma!” Nehemiah yelled as a purple fireball raced from his hand.

One second Count Pale was choking the life out of me. The next he was blasted off his feet by the magic explosion and embedded in the side of a van.

I fell to my knees and shook the stars out of my head.

We stopped Count Pale temporarily. Charice and Rob were still flying around the junkyard fighting Flattop, and I’d buried Scarlet Weave. If my math was correct that left us with the Japanese vampire to deal with. Where the heck was he?

I turned my attention towards the sounds of growling and hissing. At the top of a pile of cars, wannabe Watanabe vampire was preoccupied with clawing Tain, but my German shepherd was too quick. After a few vampire swipes, Tain lunged at Takahashi and clamped down on his arm. Takahashi yelled in pain and frustration. He tried to shake Tain off, but when that didn’t work he smashed my dog against a tan Toyota Camry over and over.

At my side I felt Nehemiah’s aura surging and I drew deeply from my Good Luck to match his. My hand glowed emerald and his amethyst.

“Ukuqhuma!” yelled Nehemiah. I shot my Celtic knots at the same time.

Just as we launched our dual attack, Takahashi brought Tain up in front of him like a living dog shield.

“No!” I screamed. Because my Luck knots acted like tendrils, I whipped my arm away from Tain, slinging the Celtic knots into the night sky. But it was too late for Nehemiah to alter course.

The purple mass of Bad Luck collided into my dog. Magic exploded in a bright inferno.

When the air cleared I could see Takahashi holding my scorched dog above his head, his lips spread wide with a sharp smile.

Wisps of steam rose into the air from Tain’s body. A cold chill laced down my spine and all the blood left my face. “Tain?” I yelled, barely able to hear my own voice over the ringing in my ears.

Takahashi looked me dead in the eyes and tossed my dog off of the back side of the pile of cars.

“You killed my dog!”

Takahashi’s face displayed no emotion.

Everything that happened last week with the Keening was Takahashi’s fault. That guy almost turned me into a vampire. And instead, he ended up setting off a chain of events that made me a crazed Ban-he who tried to kill his own friends.

Now he killed my dog. It was my turn to bare my teeth.

Straight across from Nehemiah and me, the pale vampire that was embedded in the side of a van pulled himself free dusting off his shoulders.

Scarlet Weave dug herself out of the wreckage and joined him.

After a loud bang and some shattered glass, Charice and Rob landed next to us. Apparently Flattop could not maneuver as nimble as them.

But I didn’t care about any of them. Not the other vamps, or my friends. My eyes bore into Takahashi. He returned my stare with exposed fangs, longing to sink his teeth into me again, even if it meant pain for him.

My hands reached for my swords. I was so furious that all my knuckles cracked under my grip.

At my side Nehemiah grabbed my shoulder and spoke low in my ear. “Sean, we need to run. These guys are way stronger than us and we don’t have enough energy for a round two. On the count of three, let’s bail. We’ll avenge your dog later. One, two —”

White-hot searing anger boiled in my chest rising through my sore throat.

My ears grew hot and I dug my Chuck Taylor’s into the ground.

I pushed my Good Luck through my chest down into my legs and dashed towards a pile of cars like green lightning.

Wind whipped my hair back. I pumped my arms and legs hard as I ascended to the top of the pile. Takahashi’s eyes could barely follow me, I moved so swift.

Catapulting from the hood of a ‘77 Ford F150, I soared through the air.

I unsheathed Jade and Fragarach, pulling them back to my side for a double kill stroke.

With the moon at my back, my shadow fell over Takahashi’s shocked face. At the last second, Takahashi attempted to spin away, but he could not escape my deadly descent. My swords sliced across him in an emerald arc. The blades reverberated as I struck through monstrous flesh and bone. I skidded to a halt landing on one knee and flicked the blood off my swords.

I looked over my shoulder. “Bite me.”

But Takahashi could not answer.

Vampires can heal from a lot of things, but missing a head was not one of them, apparently.

The monster’s headless body slumped in a heap, wilting until it tumbled down the mountain of cars to rest at the feet of the other vampires.

Owl-Rob alighted on my shoulder finding safety behind my sword. “Takahashi should have seen that coming, but he doesn’t have a good head on his shoulders. Did you see where it fell? I can’t make heads or tails of it. Maybe I should have warned him, yelled head’s up, or something. Anyways. Let’s knock some more heads, then head out of here. I’ll give you a head start.”

I quieted Rob with an icy stare. He didn’t realize that Tain was hurt, that Tain was...

I looked everywhere in a circle. “Where’s Tain?” I could not see my dog’s scorched body anywhere, even from the top of the car pile.

“What’s that?” asked Rob.

Rob pointed to a fur covered body in the shadows and I stepped towards it.

Wind blew my hair back as a winged body landed next to me.

Next thing I knew, Count Pale clenched my neck again in the vice grip of his clawed ivory hands, lifting me off my feet. I guess that was his favorite attack.

I ripped at his arm trying to break free but lost too much air. Again, pressure intensified in my head. My vision blurred as blood and oxygen no longer went to my brain. I couldn’t even cough, he choked me so hard. He stepped forward and threw me, sending me tumbling down the pile of cars. My body absorbed the pain like a punching bag. All of the wind rushed out of me.

I stopped rolling somewhere near the bottom of the pile.

I should have listened to Nehemiah. Oh well. Perhaps I’d given him, Charice, and Rob enough time to flee. But as I thought that my heart stung. Even if my friends retreated, my dog would not be with them.

I tried to well up an immense amount of Good Luck, but I had expended most of my energy. I was beaten nearly to death, and I was in the middle of a junkyard, which lent strength to Bad Luck users like Nehemiah and Charice, not me.

I shifted, trying to crawl over to Tain, but he wasn’t there. Straining my eyes, I peered into the dark, but could not see. My dog was dead or dying somewhere in the wreckage and but I could not find him. A chill sensation crawled over me. I wasn’t going to die with my dog at my side. I’d die alone. Defeated I flipped over on my back so I could at least face Count Pale as he finished me.

Footfalls pounded, matching my heartbeat.

The ivory vampire loomed tall over me as I lay on my back. He obstructed most of my vision except for an ominous tower of cars just beyond his shoulder and the full moon in the sky behind it.

“What happened to all that strength? All that rage?”

Words wouldn’t even come to mind. Just burning hot tears of impotent anger.

A lumbering shape climbing atop the pile just behind the vampire drew my attention. When the figure reached the top of the pile it rose to its full height and let out a howl.

Goosebumps raced across my skin.

The vampire’s red eyes widened as he spun on his heel facing a new enemy.

Even from that distance, I could make out the shape of Tain’s face and the familiar sound of the howl that escaped his muzzle.

But the rest of his body was unrecognizable.

He stood on his hind legs and where his torso should have been, thick fur covered a Herculean barrel chest. His arms swelled until they were thicker than fire hydrants at his side.

My dog jutting his chest out and roared at the vampire.

Count Pale froze in his tracks.

Tain had him dead to rights.

My beast-dog leapt from atop the pile and crashed into the vampire. They tumbled into a heap. With swipe after swipe he battered the vampire then dropped low and uppercut him. The vampire back-flipped three full rotations before colliding into a stack of cars. Crumpled metal rained down on Count Pale, burying him under an avalanche of car frames.

Baffled at the display of raw power from a new threat, the remaining two vampires dug their pale companion out of the pile and fled, melting into the shadows.

The werewolf bolted after them.

Involuntarily I yelled. “Tain?”

The werewolf stopped, ears perking towards me as he wrestled between his loyalty for me and the instinct to pursue the prey on the hunt. He picked the prey.

I was still in shock when Nehemiah yanked me to my feet.

“Was that...Tain?” asked Rob.

“Somehow,” confirmed Nehemiah. “This night just gets crazier and crazier.”

I snapped out of my shock and bolted for the ‘Stang.

Charice yelled after me. “Where are you going?”

“Vallejo’s leash laws are super strict. I’ve gotta catch my dog.”