What Doesn't Kill You...

And the Dead Will Rise

The air was heavy and still as night fell on the abandoned church yard just east of town. Flat empty fields stretched for miles in every direction. Not even a light breeze stirred the overgrown weeds in the cemetery. To the average observer, all was silent and peaceful. Too silent.  The three figures standing at the church yard gate as the last rays of light died in the sky were anything but average.

Charlie flattened her demon cursed hand in the loose sandy dirt. Closing her eyes, she focused on the empty vessels quietly resting six feet deep. They weren't resting so quietly anymore. She could feel the death magic curling around each man, woman, and child resting in their graves. It was animating them, forcing inhuman entities into their fragile corporeal forms, turning them into...something else.

"It's already begun. We need to hurry." Charlie rose and led the way down the overgrown path. "Remember what I said, Damon. Stay away from Isabella. We'll handle her."

Damon grit his teeth. "I remember." It didn't mean he had to like it. After all this time...after everything she'd put him through...after all the death, he couldn't even be the one to put an end to her. "We don't even know if that's her real goal. I could--"

The flat of Hazard's short sword slapped his chest, bringing Damon to a stop. Her eyes were as black as the night descending on them. "Don't be naive. Isabella is raising an army of the dead and she is trying to find a vessel for a banished demon lord. An army of the dead is bad, but a demon lord possessing a vessel like you is worse. We can't take any chances."

"She's right." Charlie called over her shoulder. "We'll handle the demon and Isabella. You will watch our backs."

"That's why you get the cricket bat." Hazard grinned. "Best thing for tackling the undead."

Damon scowled and held up the cricket bat in his hand. It already had scratches and dark stains that looked suspiciously like blood. "Why a cricket bat? It's so..."

"What did you want a shot gun and a chainsaw? Quit whining!" Hazard smacked his chest with the flat of her blade and slid it back into the sheath lying horizontal at the small of her back.

They were nearly to the church entrance when a low rumble shook the ground beneath their feet. The rumble died down and the tremors ceased. The three of them exchanged cautious glances. The silence that descended was pregnant with anticipation. Damon was the first to break the stillness. "What was tha--shiiiiiit!!!"

Damon landed hard on the gravel path, a bony hand squeezed his ankle like a vice. A second bony fist punched through the soil, showering him in dirt. He scrambled backwards, kicking at the hand with his free foot. The wrist shattered, but the hand still clutched his ankle. Panicked, Damon clawed at the hand, desperately trying to pry it off.

Charlie batted his hands away impatiently. She wrapped her hand around the bony fingers and spoke. Not as Charlie, but as her true self. As Death. "I command you spirit to depart this mortal shell." Her voice reverberated in the church yard, demanding and absolute. The hand went limp and released Damon's ankle. The body wriggling out of the dirt went still too.

Damon sighed heavily, his heart pounding in his chest. "Thanks."

Charlie pursed her lips. "Get up. We don't have time for this."

Damon followed her gaze and saw more and more dead crawling out of their graves. "Can't you just..." He nodded at the skeletal hand lying inert on the gravel.

"There is no time. These are weak spirits. What comes next will not be. They won't depart their vessels so easily. We must stop Isabella before she releases something more powerful." Without a backward glance, Charlie mounted the steps to the church doors and kicked open the doors.

Hazard leaned down and jerked Damon to his feet by the scruff of his shirt. "Come on. Your evil ex-girlfriend awaits."

More than his evil ex-girlfriend awaited them inside. Elric and the zombie that had attacked Frankie earlier were standing in the aisle ready to charge. Elric's eyes were wild and blank. He was still in the throes of Isabella's control. His chest tightened at the sight of Violet crouched beside Liz in front of the dilapidated altar. A feral smile curved her lips. Isabella had gotten to her too. Guilt pierced his heart. He should never have agreed to split up.

Isabella stood behind the altar looking like a pagan queen. She wore a necklace constructed of bones. Human bones. Her face and bare arms were painted with bloody sygils. Her long black hair hung wild over her shoulders and down her back. Lying open in front of her was a thick evil-looking spell book. Isabella blew him a kiss from the altar. "Glad to see you've joined the party!"

Damon caught sight of something else beside her. Something he couldn't quite pin down. A shadowy blur? Though indistinct, Damon could feel the malevolence coming from it in waves. It had to be the demon.

"Deathless! Thank the night! You've come to rescue me!!"

Damon frowned. I know that voice. He looked past Isabella to see none other than Alistair chained to the wall. He struggled against the silver chains biting into his flesh. Red welts marred his pale skin. He looked like he'd been properly thrashed. "Alistair?"

"Well, don't just stand there! SAVE ME!!!" Alistair demanded shrilly.