Cursed Halfway to the Grave

Chapter 3

They faced each other in the center of a large cavern. The ground underneath was uneven, just rocks upon rocks and dirt. He was dressed again, his stake and silver dagger in his hands, with his wand attached to his arm. The vampire had laughed again when Hadley had demanded his clothes back, saying that his jeans didn't have any give and they would cost him fluidity. Snarkily Hadley had responded that fluidity or no, he was not battling him in just underwear.

There were more lights strung up around the area. How the vampire got electricity in the cave was beyond him, but that was the least of his concerns. Underground as they were, he had no idea what time it was. It could be dawn, or still be deep in the night. He thought briefly that he may never see the sun again, but he quickly shook that off.

"All right, Kitten. Because I'm a gentleman, I'll let you have the first try. Come on. Let's do this."

Without further encouragement Hadley charged him, moving as fast as he could with both weapons at the ready to be used. The vampire whirled in a semicircle that left Hadley sailing past him, chuckling infuriatingly as he did so.

"Going jogging pet?"

Catching himself, Hadley glared at the man over his shoulder. But by Merlin, he was fast. The vampire's movements were almost a complete blur to him. Gathering his wits, Hadley feinted a broad overhead right swing. When the vampire raised an arm to block, Hadley swiped low with his left hand and slashed him before getting a devastating kick to the midsection in return. Doubled over in pain, Hadley still saw the vampire examine his shirt with a slight frown.

"I liked this shirt. Now you've gone and ripped it."

Hadley circled again, breathing slowly to combat the pain in his stomach. Before he could blink, the vampire came at him and punched the side of his head, hard enough for him to see stars. In mindless defense, he kicked, punched, and stabbed at whatever was near him. The returning blows came heavily and rapidly. He couldn't have pulled out his wand even if he wanted to, there wasn't even a moment for him to catch his breath between blows. His breathing was ragged and his vision swam as he lashed out with all of his strength. The room suddenly spun as he was thrown backward, rocks cutting into his skin.

The vampire stood about ten feet from where he was sprawled on the cavern ground. Clearly, in hand-to-hand combat, Hadley was outclassed. He felt like he'd been dropped off a cliff, and there were hardly any marks on the vampire. With a sudden flash of inspiration, he flung his dagger and slid his wand into the hand the dagger had just left. It flew with incredible speed and sank into the vampire's chest but too high, too bloody high.

"Bloody hell, Kitten, that hurts!" the vampire snarled in surprise, snatching it from his chest.

Blood flowed from the wound before it stopped abruptly as if a faucet had been turned off. Contrary to popular belief, vampires did bleed red. Hadley was dismayed, being down a weapon and not even having slowed the vampire at all. Bracing himself, he sprang to his feet, moving with heavy steps.

"Had enough?" The vampire faced him and sniffed the air, once. Hadley blinked in confusion, never having seen a vampire breathe before. Hadley was panting furiously, sweat dripping off of his brow.

"Not yet," Hadley growled.

There was another blur of motion, and then the vampire was on him. He blocked blow after blow and tried to score some of his own, but the vampire was too quick and Hadley couldn't catch his breath enough to cast any spells. Fists landed on him with brutal force. Desperately he jabbed the stake into whatever was nearest, but it always missed the vampire's heart. After 10 minutes or so that seemed like an eternity, he fell to the ground for the last time. Both his stake and his wand lay broken and discarded on the cavern floor. Unable to move, Hadley gazed at the vampire through swollen eyelids. I don't have to worry about his terms, Hadley thought dully. He was going to die from his injuries first.