The Masquerade (33 page)

Ben nodded his head twice. PJ appeared next to Kellan, followed by Max. Eli raised his hand and touched two of his fingers to his
jawline. I looked to my right and saw Luke, his older brother Zakk, and Domino continuing the line after Cam on Ben's side. They were all friends of Eli's, guys who I had grown up with. The extra help didn't ease my apprehension. We
were still outnumbered against bloodthirsty and flesh hungry Undead.

"Well you guys definitely have the unique army bagged," the brunette sneered.

"Humans,
really?
" I heard an Undead remark
and he followed it with a crude laugh.

"Yum," another said.

I looked up at Eli, his eyes scattered over the Undead, pinpointing areas of attack. Feeling my gaze, he looked down at me and winked.
I laughed quietly and shook my head. Everything that happened between us in the past was merely trivial.

"I hope you said goodbye to your mother," Michael said to me.

I let go of Ben's hand and tried to step forward, but Ben held me back. The anger was riling up inside me now, just waiting for an outlet.

"He's bluffing," Ben assured me, his voice just above a whisper.

I narrowed my eyes on Michael, wanting nothing more than to watch his head topple to the ground. I wouldn't be able to do that task. I wasn't sure of how much I was even capable of doing. I knew how to throw a pretty hard punch from growing up around boys and Eli taught me a few things
about defending myself, but I wasn't
that
strong. I began to form some killer distractions I could cause that would have to suffice.

We were ready. Ben's shoulders were square. His jaw locked.
His murderous blue eyes sliced through each and every one of them. The danger I found in his expression had returned, taunting them, daring them to make the first move. I decided not to remark on how much of a turn on it was and faced
forward.

"Gentleman," Michael said. He raised both his hands up, palms facing outwards. He opened his mouth to signal something, but Jesse was first.

"Just fucking go!" He roared, thrusting his fist
up and punching the air.

Everyone standing on my side rushed past me and the Undead responded quickly. As Eli ran he reached behind him and pulled something long, sharp, and silver from the belt buckle of his pants. The first zombie that
reached him grabbed his arm and twisted it to the side. Eli's reflexes were fast. The hand holding the machete shot out and he swung it down like a hammer onto the Undead's scalp. Blood sprayed across Eli's shirt as the screaming zombie fell to the ground, his head sliced open, crimson pouring from the
gaping wound in his forehead. Eli pulled back the knife and brought it down again, hard, this time going right through its neck, separating the head from the rest of the body.

I turned away when more blood spattered against the
pavement. I noticed Chester and Vlad also had two machetes each in their possession. Vlad calmly walked through the mosh pit of zombies and swung them wildly, slicing off hands and arms as he moved. Max and Jesse moved around Vlad
and Chester, guarding their backs while providing enough room so that they didn't risk getting cut. They ripped arms from the sockets of the Undead, flesh and splintered bones showering into the air like water sprinklers. Chester
threw one of his machetes and it stabbed the back of another Undead who collapsed to his knees, his shoulders hunched back in response to the attack.

I pulled my attention to Ben who was in front of me, knees bent and arms out like my personal bodyguard. The first Undead that tried to
come after me Ben shoved his fist up underneath the chin of the zombie and he went flying. He landed on his feet, snapped upright, and charged forward for round two.

"Boo yah!" Cam leaped into the air and landed on
the Undead's shoulders. Cam's thighs tightened around his neck and he twisted to the side in a 180 that brought the head with him. Ben's knee met his chest and shoved upward just when Cam jumped off. The Undead fell to the ground. The
guys bumped fists before Cam went off to help Luke who was pinned to the ground by a zombie.

PJ flashed past me. He did a roundhouse kick to an Undead who was behind me, preparing to attack an unsuspecting Zakk. The Undead
staggered back from Zakk and PJ stepped forward, readying himself to attack again when the Undead regained his posture.

"Hey!" Zakk shouted at him. PJ looked in time to catch the machete Zakk tossed to him. He swung it across the Undead's neck.
It's head fell to the concrete while decorating Zakk's light colored shirt with blood.

PJ stared at the head that rolled to a stop by his black boots. His head turned to the side. "Bitchin'," he said flatly. He
tossed the machete back to Zakk who let it fall to the ground before he retrieved it to avoid missing the handle and cutting his hand.

"Jesse, watch Ella!"

I looked back to Ben when I heard him shout. His attention
was on Michael who was coming towards us at full speed with a sly smile on his face. Ben ran to Michael and tackled him to the ground.

Jesse snapped upright after he bit a chunk out of an
Undead's arm. His face twisted into disgust while he ran to me. He spat the contents out to the side.

"Gross," he said, shaking his head.

He gripped my arm with one hand and moved around in a slow
circle, eyeing every Undead within a close proximity to us. When Jesse turned I saw an older Undead dart through the air, heading straight for me.

"Jesse!" I screamed.

He whirled around when the Undead pummeled him to the ground
thirty feet away from me. Jesse made an attempt to run back for me, but the Undead gripped his ankles and pulled him back down.

"Son of a bitch," Jesse spat between punches.

From the corner of my eye I saw an Undead making a mad dash in my direction. He was younger. He couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. I almost felt sorry for him until I caught the malice laced in his dilated eyes. My stomach sank when his mouth opened. I was defenseless. I stumbled
back, my eyes closed, preparing for the attack.

"Ella," I heard Ben shout in a struggle.

The ground disappeared from beneath my feet as I was pulled
into the air. My eyes flashed open. The person holding me roughly kicked his leg out, his foot meeting the young Undead's stomach, which sent him flying backwards. I looked up and realized my captor was an Undead. He wore a dark hoodie shadowing over his face to conceal it. He wasn't on our side and I
needed to get away from him.

I screamed and pushed against his chest. His arms tightened underneath me and we were airborne. I gasped feeling the wind whirl as we flew through the air. He landed in a graveyard that was a couple yards form where
the fight was occurring. When his feet hit the ground I began to struggle. I pushed my arms against his chest and kicked my legs while shouting profanities.

"Let me go!" I screamed.

He ignored my struggles and carried me with ease through the graveyard. I could see the line of his mouth from underneath the hoodie. He didn't say a word and for reasons I can't explain that pissed me off. I drew my
fist back and slammed it into his jaw. His head twisted to the side on impact, but it was my hand that received the initial blow. I dragged my hand back feeling my knuckles scream in pain at my idiocy.

I continued to kick my legs out and shout while holding my
throbbing hand to my chest. I tried everything possible to make carrying me difficult, but the monster wasn't phased.

I screamed again, but it was cut short when I was knocked out of the stranger's arms. I fell to the grass, my kneecap smacked against the
hard stone of a grave when my body hit the ground. A few unintelligible words left my mouth, struck open in a blinding pain that seared through my vision. I rolled over, grunting as I moved, and attempted to push myself up to a standing
position. The pain in my knee was already subsiding when I stood. I tentatively put pressure on it to see if I could walk. It was going to bruise, but I could still kick ass if I worked up the nerve and bit my tongue.

I looked up and saw Ben on top of the stranger who took me. He must have tackled him, which knocked me out of his grasp. Ben punched him square in the face. I took a step to them and let out a small grunt that caught his attention. Ben leapt off him and was in front of me in seconds. He grimaced when he found the pain twisted in my expression. He reached out to me, but before his hands could touch my face the Undead was back on his feet and tackled Ben to the ground.

He sat on top of Ben's chest. His fist met Ben's face and knocked his head into the ground. I screamed watching Ben's eyes roll for a split second. The zombie dodged every punch Ben threw. He gripped Ben's head in his large hands, preparing to twist.

My eyes widened feeling my heart in my throat. "No!" I screamed.

I ran over and shoved the Undead away from Ben. My knuckle screamed when I stretched my hand out, but I bit the inside of my cheek and
pushed hard. Ben took the open opportunity and he flipped himself forward. He was steady on his feet again.

My hand that wasn't pulsating with pain, gripped his t-shirt. My knee was shaking and I leaned into him for support.
"Ben," I said, nearly out of breath. Watching him so close to death knocked the wind out of me.

"Ella," he responded, holding me close. He brushed over my cheek with the back of his hand. His eyes roamed over my face searching
for any harm done to my face. "Are you alright?"

I nodded. My gaze flicked over to the Undead who was on his feet in front of us. Ben's hand embraced my waist protectively. He turned us to the side and pushed me further back, placing himself first.

The Undead stood still, watching us intently. He pulled the hood back from his head. His black eyes zeroed in on Ben's hands as he held me. I turned back to Ben. I reached out to touch his busted lip, but I froze when
my finger grazed over his bottom lip. It was then that the Undead's face registered in my mind.

My body tensed. I felt my hands and my feet grow numb from the slow realization. My throat was suddenly dry. My mouth fell open.

Ben frowned, eyeing my reaction closely. "Ella, what's wrong?

I couldn't speak. The words couldn't form in my mouth. I stepped away from Ben, unaware of the subtle pain in my leg. My attention moved
to the Undead standing in front of us. His eyes, though black and wary, were familiar and focused on me.

"Noah."

My brother. He stood in front of us, taller than I remembered. He measured close to Ben's size, if not, taller. He looked exactly
the way I remembered him, the dirty blonde hair and the slightly freckled skin. I could see the soft dimples in his cheeks when he gave a small, broken smile. The only differences were his eyes and his skin. It was porcelain and smooth
just like Ben's. His once blue-green eyes were jet black.

"Hey Ellie."

A sob ripped from my chest. I cupped my hand over my mouth only to find my hand was shaking too. I thought my knees were going to buckle,
but this time it wasn't from pain. I stepped towards him, hesitant at first, but I ignored my initial instincts to fear him, and ran into him. He wrapped his arms around me tightly. The tears spilled over my cheeks and doused his
sweatshirt as I cried into his chest. He even felt the same way I remembered. He felt like my brother.

We were locked in a tight hug until the sound of someone shrieking in the distance pulled us apart. I wiped my eyes with the back of my
hand and stepped away from him.

"You're alive."

My voice peaked with hope that was short lived. He shook his head, his expression grim. I swallowed remembering the way we arrived in the
graveyard. The realization of what he was, of what my brother was hung over me.

"Oh," I whispered.

"I'm one of them."

I didn't care. I shook my head feeling so many emotions rush
over me. "I missed you so much," I told him, my voice breaking twice.

"I know, El. I missed you too. Every single day."

The fighting behind us snapped me back into the reality of
our situation. Another scream erupted into the night; the sound like nails scratching against a chalkboard.

"Aye yo, Ben!" Max shouted. We turned to see him standing on the outskirts of the fight, holding a bloody head in his hands.
"If you're not too busy, why don't you come help us kill these fuckers?"

At his words an Undead came at him from behind. Sensing him, Max turned and shoved the head he was holding into the Undead's open mouth. The
Undead staggered back in surprise and spit the head out of his mouth, giving Max enough time to pick up a large rock and smash it against his skull.

Ben turned to Noah. "Whose side are you on?"

Noah motioned to me. "The one that keeps Ella alive." Their eyes met and for a moment it appeared as though their communication went past verbal conversation. Ben's eyes flashed to mine.

I nodded once. Together the three of us quickly made our way
back to the scene. From what I could make out an Undead had bit Chester and he was on the ground shouting profanities while the zombie held him down and tried to bite him again. Ben shot over, swung his fist back, and slammed it into the
Undead's nose.

He fell off his feet. Noah ran from my side to finish the job, slamming his foot into the Undead's throat while pulling a lighter out of his pocket. He set the Undead on fire. The flames spread rapidly over the thrashing
body. A sizzle and pop of burning flesh took place before the zombie began to let out blood chilling shrieks of pure agony.

Ben and Noah nodded to the other. Noah bent down to help up
Chester from the ground. Chester's eyes widened when he saw his long lost best friend standing above him.

An Undead came to me from the side, catching my full attention. I veered away from him with wide eyes. "Not again," I grunted, my
voice leaking of fear, despite the agitation I tried to put off.