The Masquerade (35 page)

Cam ran up beside the Undead who was next to Angelina and
kicked him square in the face. The Undead fell to the ground beside her and PJ.

"Ass wipe," Cam spat at PJ. He shoved his foot into the Undead's face that he tackled. PJ's usual straight face broke into a
satisfying grin. He leaned down and bit a huge chunk out of flesh from the side of Angelina's head.

Ben grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him as Michael lunged for me. Jesse tackled Michael before Ben could attack. I looked to my
right and noticed Eli and Kellan were fighting off an Undead together. Kellan still had the axe so the Undead was decapitated within seconds.

I looked to my right and saw two of the Undead headed straight for Ben. His attention was focused on Michael so he didn't appear to
notice.

"Ben!" I shouted just when he turned.

The Undead knocked him off his feet and the other took the liberty of pinning him down on the ground. I tried to run forward when two
hands gripped my shoulders and yanked me back. An Undead had come at me from behind. I winced feeling his fingers dig into my skin. I felt my body being dragged backwards with my captor's hands underneath my armpits. I screamed,
kicking my legs out from underneath me to make dragging me as difficult as possible.

I heard footsteps behind us and suddenly my back hit the concrete. I swung my head back to see the Undead standing above me with wide
eyes. There was a machete pierced through his body from behind. His hands grabbed at the open wound, dark blood pouring into his hands.

I rolled to the side, onto my stomach, and looked up. I recognized Vlad by his hard, unshaved jawline. He pulled the machete back and
up into the Undead's throat. The creature gargled in his own blood and spit. Vlad yanked out the machete completely and swung it through his throat. The head fell beside my leg while the body tumbled forward.

I couldn't see his eyes but Vlad's head titled down in my direction. His expression didn't change when he crouched down and held his free hand out to me. I took his hand and allowed him to pull me up to my feet. It was much harder than I realized when I was half way up and my knee buckled. My
leg gave out on me and I would have collapsed if it weren't for Vlad.

He quickly dropped the machete and caught me with both hands before I could hit the ground. He pulled me up to my feet. I was surprised with
how gentle his hands were when he realized I was injured. One hand held my waist while the other held my arm.

I could feel his eyes on mine through his dark shades. "Can you stand?" I never heard him speak before. Surprised by the
deep baritone in his voice, I could only nod. He looked as though he didn't believe me but he dropped his arms to his sides.

I steadied myself, my legs wide apart to keep my balance. He
left me for a moment and came back with another machete that he pulled out of an Undead's body that lay on the sidewalk, staining it with blood. He handed it carefully to me before he picked up the one he dropped.

"Batter up," he said.

I turned to see another Undead dash towards us, his neck already partially sliced open.

I smiled darkly and swung the machete over my right shoulder like a baseball bat. Vlad slithered back, under the shadow cast by one of the
trees and waited. The Undead lunged for me and I swung, slicing off his arm. He threw himself back and screamed in agony.

Vlad emerged from the darkness and cut off the rest of his head. He shot a glance in my direction and I nodded to him. I could have sworn
I saw the corners of his lips turn up before he darted in the other direction to help Kellan.

I ran back over to where Ben was still fighting with the Undead that tackled him before. The other Undead that had him pinned earlier
was on the ground, sliced in half. I noticed Eli run away from the scene with a bloody machete clutched in his hands. If the situation were under different circumstances I would have smiled at the sight of Eli helping Ben.

Ben's face was scrunched in concentration as he dodged each blow the Undead sent him, but he wasn't getting anywhere. The Undead was meticulous in the way he blocked each of Ben's punches. He must have been
older.

Cam ran up beside me. "Watch this," he said to me, grinning. He threw himself on the ground in front of Ben and the Undead. His left arm stretched out to the sky. His face mocked pain as he yelled, "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!"

Both Ben and the Undead briefly paused and turned to Cam. Their faces twisted into incredulous frowns. I ran to them when their attention was focused on Cam still lying on the ground. With my machete raised, I
prepared to shove it into the Undead's backside. He saw me from the corner of his eye and whirled around, his hand gripped my arm and twisted.

I screamed, but the pain only lasted for a partial second before Ben and Cam took him down. The arms and legs of the Undead were
separated from his body first, before his head. Another sharp, electrical pain shot from my kneecap up to my thigh. I grunted and braced my teeth together, trying to ignore it.

Cam disappeared. Ben's gaze flashed to mine. He stepped over
the dismembered body parts and pulled me against him.

"Ella, you're hurt," he said into my hair. "You need to get out of here."

I shook my head against his chest and pulled away. "I
want to see Michael's body burn."

His eyes hinted with mild amusement. I could tell he wanted to protest, but my determined expression held him back. He knew I wasn't going
to leave until this was over.

My attention was pulled to Chester's voice a few feet away from us.

"Die, die, die," he chanted. He was jumping up and down continuously until the Undead's face was smashed in. Blood poured from
every opening in his face, including his ears.

"Ew," I said, my face scrunched in disgust.

Noah was swearing like a sailor when I turned, following the direction of his voice. Ben disappeared from my side and kicked Michael off my
brother. Noah was on his feet and with Ben, they approached the leader of the Undead, like predators eyeing their pray.

I looked over my shoulder briefly and saw what appeared to
be three Undead burning at the feet of Eli and Neil. They turned to each other for a moment, sharing a silent conversation with their eyes, until they noticed PJ standing at the foot of their fire.

He held out an Undead's arm, with the browned hand burning
in the fire. He turned it, his face casual as though he was simply roasting a marshmallow. When he realized he had an audience his eyes darted up, giving them a dubious look.

My eyes scattered around the bloody street. Almost all of
the Undead were, in fact, dead. Most of their heads either cut off or their bodies burned down to nothing but ash. My attention flashed back to Ben and Noah. They were restraining Michael together, pulling his arms back, the way
Michael had arranged for Ben, before.

"Ella will you do us the honors?" Ben asked, motioning to the weapon in my hand. I smiled and nodded.

Michael sneered at me. "There is more to your blood then
just power little girl." He looked as though he was trying to motion to Noah behind him. "You can kill me, but I'm just the beginning of your problems."

I didn't want to hear any more from him and I was really
tired of listening to his condescending nicknames.

"I'm not a little girl."

I swung my arm back and then lunged it forward. The blade sliced through his neck. The head fell from his body and smacked against the
ground. I kicked it like a soccer ball. When it rolled to a stop a few feet away, I tossed the machete I still held behind me.

Ben dropped Michael's arms. The body fell to the ground when my brother did the same. He rushed to my side. His hands cupped my face gently
as he checked for any new imperfections. His eyes changed from worry to ease. He leaned down kissed my forehead lightly. I sighed, sensing the relief in his aura as it washed over my own.

Bodies lined the bloodstained concrete. Arms, legs, and
heads were scattered across the road like broken tree branches after a horrible storm. Vlad stood by Eli and Neil. They stared down at the road like it was a famous painting in an art gallery that no one really understood why it was a
masterpiece. PJ was still by the fire roasting the arm, without giving a single fuck.

Cam and Jesse were together, kneeling next to a body on the ground. I realized it was Max when Cam shouted something at his limp form. I
noticed there were gashes all over his arms and rips in his black jeans where more blood was trickling out. His eyes were closed. A windblown gasp left my mouth when I found the huge gash that disconnected his most of his head from
his neck.

"Max!" Jesse roared, rushing over to him. He dropped to his knees in front of his band mate. I couldn't see his face, but I imagined it was crumpled just as Ben's was when I looked up at him. I felt my
heart squeeze as I realized Ben's eyes were frozen, detached as he stared forward. He disappeared by my side and I took that moment to turn my attention away, giving them privacy.

Kellan was helping Zakk up to his feet. Exhaustion was the
first thing I saw in his face as he wearily wrapped his arm over Kellan's shoulder for support. I realized that there was a huge gash in his leg, preventing him from walking properly. Zakk stopped short, his attention shot to his younger brother, Luke who was knocked unconscious before. He sat up slowly,
groaned, and rubbed his head.

As my eyes wandered I saw Domino, his body was sprawled face down on the side of the road, blood pooled around his head. There was a gaping flesh wound in his neck, parts of his pink flesh were bitten and chewed off
around the wound. It appeared as though a shark bit his neck. I breathed deeply in and out trying to push back the tears.

Domino was someone I knew since preschool. We weren't close,
but it didn't matter. He still helped us. Chester stood motionless above him. His arms were covered in blood up to his elbows. He probably tried to help him, but it was too late. Domino and Max were both gone.

Ben was suddenly in front of me. He dropped to his knees,
his haunted eyes frozen on the ground. My breath caught in my throat with the sharp sting that sliced through my chest as I watched him. I moved into him, wrapping my arms around him, as he leaned his lead into my stomach. His arms
grasped my lower back. I could feel his chest heaving in what I assumed silent cries, mourning over his brother. I held him for what seemed like hours, murmuring soft whispers to him. He was quiet, his tight grasp never loosening.

My gaze flicked to Noah. He appeared completely unharmed. His hair was tousled into knots, but that was about the only infraction. His eyes were on Ben with the strangest expression that crossed his face. It was as though he was angry, but his features were twisted into what could have been
remorse as well. When he noticed my gaze, the expression dissipated, and he gave me a light smile, displaying his dimples. My heart sank, knowing how much I missed his smile.

Slowly, Ben pulled himself to his feet. He stepped away so
that Noah could pull me into his arms. I leaned into him and tightened my arms around him like the way I used to when I was younger because I knew it hurt him. When we pulled away, he was smiling.

"Some things never change."

I shrugged. "What can I say?"

"You look good, Ellie." He told me sincerely. "You have no idea how proud I am of you."

A tear slipped over my cheek. "I wish you would have come home."

"You know why I couldn't. What I am isn't something a human is supposed to be exposed to, or even have knowledge of. I stayed away to
protect you and mom." His gaze flicked over my head to Ben, who stood close behind me.

I swallowed. "Noah, why would you kill yourself?"

He stared at me for a long time. "I didn't."

My eyes grew wide in shock. I couldn't have heard him correctly. I'd grown up the past six years with the belief that my brother was selfish enough to take his own life. People at school taunted me. Everyone in town hated me like it was my fault my brother committed a sin.

"Why would I leave you and mom like that? I could never," he shook his head. "I was supposed to protect you, Ella."

His words didn't sound like they had come from his own
mouth. I wanted to question it when something else came to mind. "Then who killed," but he cut me off.

Any ounce of anger had diminished in his eyes. "It doesn't matter any more Ellie."

I shook my head in disbelief. How could it not matter? Noah's gaze drifted to someone behind me. I followed the line of his eyes and found Neil, watching us, with a hard expression like he was trying to contain any emotion that he didn't want to feel. Son of a bitch.

"There are things that need to stay in the past," Noah told me firmly. I turned back to him and he nodded. I wanted to fight him. I wanted to scream at Neil. Neil and Noah were friends. I wanted to know why,
but I couldn't ask despite how much I hated it. Noah didn't want me to know.

To put the subject behind me for the time being I stepped back so that I was closer to Ben. In response his arms wound around me, his
hands locking at my stomach. I leaned my back into his chest while his head gently rested on top of my head. Noah watched us closely.

He reached out his hand. "I'm Noah, Ellie's dead brother."

Ben let go of his grasp and shook his hand firmly.
"Ben, Ella's dead boyfriend." They laughed briefly. Whatever I saw in Noah's eyes from before had vanished. "Thanks for the save."

He shrugged. "Any time man."

Ben nodded and moved to stand beside me, his hand grasping mine. Noah's attention moved to our hands. I felt Ben's lips on the side of my cheek. I blushed scarlet under the heat of my brother's gaze. Noah wasn't happy
and he was trying to conceal it for me.