People Are Strange (The Lost Boys Anniversary Edition)

Chapter Ten

Just like that the tables had turned. Fay wanted David dead.

"C'mon man. Get him out of there before all hell breaks loose." Paul urged Dwayne under his breath as David and Fay began to size each other up.

"I'm trying but the house is warded. Damn it!"

Dwayne hissed as he re-doubled his concentrated efforts. If he could just get a fix on Marko he could coax him out from behind the protection of Fay's walls. Do that and they could call it a night. The skill of mind bending was something he was damn good at, David knew this first hand, but Fay had gone and changed the locks. Whatever magical wards she had managed to cast in the last few days blocked his abilities. There had to be a backdoor route somewhere. He just needed the time to find it.

But time was a precious commodity that they were quickly running out of.

"You wouldn't dare."

David readjust his footing to counter-act Fay's calculated prowl before he switched to the offence. The two began the slow dance of circling one another.

"Oh please. David, I could have your head on my wall before dawn if I wanted to."

"Go ahead and try because I am not leaving here without him. If that means having to end you, well, what's one less witch in the world?"

Paul watched the two with a sick sort of fascination. This was not the feisty laughing woman he had come to know. This was a stranger. A dangerous one. She only had eyes for David and Paul knew that this was going to end in blood.

"David, you don't seriously mean that. I mean...c'mon, you're joking, right?"

"What do you think?"

The moment the words left David's mouth Fay made her move. Paul stumbled backward as David leapt sideways to avoid Fay's sudden lunge.

"Shit!"

Fay lunged and retreated as David maneuvered himself just beyond her reach. He had to work hard to draw her away from her front porch with every back-step he took. If he had wanted the witch dead, he would have made his move by now. Instead the two of them kept up their deadly dance; twisting and sidestepping in rapid succession. It was a blur of black and pink to the naked human eye.

"Go left."

Dwayne motioned Paul to keep well out of reach as he abandoned his task for the moment. The kid wasn't going anywhere. He knew from experience just how dangerous David could be in a fight but he was not fool enough to jump into the middle of one. That would be beyond stupid. The best he could do now was damage control.

Ugh. What is that?

Something appeared in Fay's hand as she ducked under David's claws. Whatever it was the vampires were instinctively repulsed by it.

A crucifix?

But it was the wrong shape.

When Fay slashed at David's throat, Paul cringed. Oddly enough so did Dwayne. The strike had almost connected. David managed to back-pedal fast enough to avoid being hit but he let loose a snarl of alarm.

The panic in his tone was genuine.

The skin along the back of Dwayne's neck prickled in warning as Fay switched tactics and went for David with the deadly determination of a matador with a sword. And she had a sword. A sword? That wasn't a sword. A knife? No. A wooden stake? That looked like a sword?

What was going on?

Dwayne grimaced as his eyes started to burn. He could not look directly at the object that Fay wielded with such authority without feeling sick. Paul was in similar position, only he had gone an off-shade of grey as a result.