Six Times Deadly: A Lawson Vampire Story Collection (The Lawson Vampire Series) (14 page)

"You okay?"

She nodded.
 
"Is this how your life is all the time?"

I shrugged, still wary as I glanced around.
 
"Sometimes.
 
Other times really hot nurses take care of me."

"You'd better find Dr. Yuen."

"Yeah."
 
I squatted down and tried to peer around the expanse of the roof.
 
But I didn't see a thing.
 
I glanced back at Debbie.
 
"Do yourself a favor and get back downstairs."

"There's no backup coming, is there?"

I sighed.
 
"No.
 
Not yet, anyway.
 
I'm out on my own.
 
But trust me: it's better if you're out of here.
 
I don't want you getting hurt."

Debbie smiled.
 
"You're so kind."

"Just go."
 
I got back to my feet and ducked around the corner of the housing.
 
Dr. Yuen couldn't have gone far.
 
And I figured that the wooden dart had been fired at fairly close range.
 
That meant she'd have to stay reasonably close.

HVAC metal ductwork ran along part of the roof and cast a long shadow that defied my attempts to see into it.
 
I brought the gun up and headed for it.

Drizzle started falling again from the bloated clouds overhead.
 
Now I had the added bonus of being wet, cold, and miserable.
 
Have I told you lately how much I love my job sometimes?

I came at the ductwork head on, ready to fire if I saw movement.
 
But as I approached, I saw there was nothing but more shadow.
 
Dr. Yuen wasn't hiding there.

"Lawson."

Debbie's voice again.
 
I spun.

And saw Debbie standing there, bathed in the fluorescent glow of light from the nearby buildings.
 

Behind her, stood Dr. Yuen with a scalpel positioned by Debbie's neck.
 
And in the other hand, I saw something that looked like a handgun, but more primitive.
 
It was aimed at me.

"You should have let me go," said Dr. Yuen.

"You think?
 
Maybe with a letter of appreciation from the Council for possibly exposing our people?
 
Sure, that sounds nifty."
 
I frowned.
 
"Let the woman go."

"You're not in control of this situation, Lawson.
 
I am.
 
Put your gun down or Debbie's neck gets slashed open.
 
And I can guarantee that the cut will be impossible to heal."

Dr. Yuen had positioned herself so that Debbie's body was providing her with cover.
 
I could probably make the shot, but would it be fast enough to keep Dr. Yuen from slicing Debbie open?

I didn't think it would.
 
Especially since I hadn't had a hit of juice in a while.
 
My reflexes would be slower.

And I couldn't take the chance.

"You'll let her go?"

"Of course."

I heard the mocking tone to Dr. Yuen's voice and knew she wouldn't.
 
I hefted the wooden projectile.
 
"What the hell is this thing, anyway?"

"A dart that I fired from the pneumatic pistol I have aimed at your heart.
 
It's not good for large distances, but I can kill you easily enough from here."

"Your aim must be superb."

"It is."
 
She paused.
 
"You were getting ready to drop your gun before that last bit of conversation.
 
How about doing that now?"

Debbie's eyes showed a lot of fear.
 
Most people aren't used to having a scalpel held at their neck.
 
I smiled at her.
 
"It's going to be all right."

She said nothing.

"Drop the gun, Lawson.
 
I won't ask again."

I wondered why she just didn't shoot me with the pneumatic gun if she was as good a shot with it as she claimed.
 
Maybe it wasn't all that powerful - especially since the drizzle had turned into a steady downpour.
 
Or maybe it required two hands to operate?
 
Never having seen one before, I didn't have a clue.

What I did have was a Mexican standoff.
 
And those are never productive.

So I jerked the pistol up and shot Dr. Yuen through the forearm.
 
The bullet tore into her tendons and she dropped the scalpel with a screech.
 
Debbie ducked out of the way.

I leveled the pistol on Dr. Yuen's heart and fired twice more, the bullets impacting and spreading their deadly wooden fragments into her bloodstream.
 
Her fangs extended almost immediately.

Debbie gasped.

I stepped forward, trying to cover Dr. Yuen's body with my own.
 
"You all right, Debbie?"

She pointed.
 
"Are those what I think they are?"

But death as already claiming Dr. Yuen - the fangs started to retract and disappear.
 
I shook my head.
 
"What are you talking about?"

Debbie peered closer.
 
She frowned.
 
"I could have sworn I saw her teeth grow long and pointed a second ago."

I smirked.
 
"In this weather?
 
I'm not surprised.
 
The shadows and rain play hell with eyesight."

Debbie frowned.
 
"Is she dead?"

"Yeah."

"She was a good doctor."

"She was also killing people on the side."

"But you didn't arrest her."

I frowned.
 
"That's not what I do."

Debbie eyed me.
 
"You're not a cop."

"Definitely not."

She pointed at the pneumatic pistol.
 
"And that thing?
 
It doesn't look like it could seriously hurt anyone."

If I'd been human, she might have had a point.
 
But the wooden darts the gun fired could kill me easily enough.

Debbie picked up the pistol and turned it over in her hand.
 
"What happens now?"

"I disappear."

Debbie frowned.
 
"Just like that?"

I glanced at Dr. Yuen's body again, lying in a puddle on the wet, cold rooftop.
 
"Just like that."

"Maybe not this time."

I turned.
 
Debbie had the pneumatic pistol leveled on me.
 
"I told her this wouldn't work."

Shit.

"Two of you?"

She smiled.
 
"Surprise?"

I still had my pistol in hand.
 
But Debbie had the pneumatic gun on me and she'd be able to fire before I could bring my weapon to bear on her.
 
"Why do this?
 
Why risk the punishment?"

Debbie shrugged.
 
"Alice was experimenting."

"Experimenting?
 
With what?"

Debbie grinned.
 
"Now, that would be telling."

"Yeah, it would.
 
So tell me."

"It's not that easy.
 
First thing you're going to do is throw that gun away.
 
And don't even dream about trying to shoot me.
 
I can fill you full of wood before you can get that pistol on me and you know it."

I dropped my pistol.
 
"You can't possibly get away with this."

"You said yourself there's no backup coming."

"There isn't.
 
But when I show up dead, they're going to know there was someone else.
 
It won't take them long to figure out it was you."

Debbie shook her head.
 
"I don't think so.
 
Alice's body is lying there on the rooftop, shot by you.
 
Apparently you got your target.
 
Right before your accident."
 
She gestured with the pistol.
 
"Move over to the left."

The lip of the roof was only ten feet away.
 
The drop had to be at least thirty feet.
 
If I'd been fully juiced, I could have survived the drop easily.
 
But I wasn't juiced.

"Look down."

I looked and what I saw made my mouth go dry.
 
They were doing construction down there and the area was full of wooden boards reaching up toward the sky.
 

Toward me.
 

If I fell into those, I'd be impaled.

Not good.

As Debbie moved closer to me, I made the decision.
 
I'd had my back to her, but let my body drop and then kicked my right leg out and backward.
 
The momentum carried me back and under the field of fire of the pneumatic gun.

I heard the dull
phissh
of the gun firing but the dart simply bounced off the roof.

By then, I was already up on my feet, punching into Debbie's arm.
 
The pistol dropped and she surprised me again by immediately attacking me with a series of rapid-fire centerline punches like I'd seen Wing Chun practitioners fire off.

The punches nailed me in the sternum and diaphragm and I sucked fire into my lungs.

As she came in again, I draped my arms over hers and then shot two punches into her stomach.
 
She doubled over and I brought my knee up into her face, breaking her nose.
 
Blood spilled out of her and mixed with the pouring rain.

She drew herself up slowly, and then stepped back.
 
We were too close to the edge of the roof.
 
And with the wet surface underfoot, I didn't want to be there any longer.

Debbie brought one hand up to her face and winced.
 
"You broke my nose."

She lashed out with a kick aimed at my rib cage, but I caught her leg and then redirected her energy back into her.
 
The effect was like she'd bounced off of me.
 

For one split second, she stood poised on the edge of the roof, nearly motionless.

In the next, she vanished over the edge.

I ran to the edge and looked down as her scream reached my ears.
 
A length of splintered wood had speared her body.
 
Debbie was still eight feet from the ground below, skewered by the piece of wood.

I frowned and turned back.
 
This was going to be a messy clean-up.

Rain had soaked me through and I was cold.
 
There'd been two criminals to deal with instead of one.
 
And Debbie had hinted that Dr. Yuen was involved in "experimenting."
 
I had no idea what that meant.
 

But something told me I wouldn't like it.

Debbie was dead, though.
 
And so was Dr. Yuen.
 
With them out of the way, there wouldn't be any more experimenting.

Would there?

I walked back toward the roof door.
 

And prayed I was right.

My Soul To Keep

This is the script for the first part of a Lawson graphic novel that I hope to get released this year.
 
I’ve included it in its entirety so you can see what I envisioned this as in terms of graphic cues, etc.
 
I hope you enjoy it!

PAGE ONE

PANEL ONE
:
 
HIGH ABOVE A CITY.
 
SKYSCRAPERS DOT THE URBAN LANDSCAPE.
 
A MISTY, PERVASIVE RAIN FALLS.
 
TAGLINE: Vienna, Austria – 1982

1. 1.
   CAP:
    
   There’s a world out there
   

PANEL TWO
:
 
STILL ABOVE THE CITY, BUT CLOSER NOW.
 
A STREET LIT BY GAS LAMPS.
 
A LONE MAN WALKS THE DESERTED SIDEWALKS, HEAD DOWN AGAINST THE RAIN.
 
AHEAD OF HIM, AN ALLEY FILLED WITH SHADOWS AWAITS.

1. 2.
   CAP:
    
   Most humans never see it…
   

PANEL THREE
:
 
ZOOMING IN NOW, ALMOST PERCHED ATOP THE MAN’S SHOULDERS.
 
STUBBLE DOTS HIS JAWLINE.
 
HE LOOKS TOUGH, JUST FROM THE WAY HIS FACE IS GNARLED AND THE WAY HIS SHOULDERS HITCH UP AS HE WALKS.

1. 3.
   CAP:
    
   A place where light and dark collide – where even the shadows aren’t what they seem.
   

1. 4.
   TITLE AND CREDITS ALONG BOTTOM OF PAGE
   

PAGE TWO

PANEL ONE
:
 
SPLASH PAGE SHOT OF THE MAN’S FACE SHOWING SHOCK, PAIN, AND SURPRISE.
 
FROM BEHIND HIM, A PAIR OF ARMS HAS WRAPPED THEMSELVES AROUND HIS NECK, APPLYING A CHOKEHOLD FAST AND HARD AND SUDDEN.
 

1. 1.
   CAP:
    
   Take me for instance…
   

1. 2.
   SFX:
    
   Errrrrrrrkkkkk!
   

1. 3.
   LAWSON:
    
   You’re a hard man to find, Shannon.
   

PAGE THREE

PANEL ONE
:
 
ZOOM IN ON LAWSON’S FACE – GRIM WITH DETERMINATION AS HE APPLIES THE CHOKE.

1. 1.
   CAP:
    
   My name’s Lawson.
    
   I fix things.
    
   Things that are out of whack.
    
   Off balance.
    
   I’m a big believer in Balance.