Maxim Darko: The Greatest Gift of Evil. A Vampire Chronicle

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN THE RAPTURE

Propelled by the strength of adrenaline, and anger, Maxim's body surged forward. At the moment, he didn't care about anything, except revenge. Thoughts of cold, murderous revenge flooded his mind. After losing Bodashka to Ciril at the culvert, he chose not to return to her lair. Instead, he took a few switchbacks in the tunnel system, and exited into the daylight, a few blocks northwest of the Cathedral Notre Dame. In his current state fury, he forgot to retract his thickest layer of scales. Pedestrians fearfully moved out of his way, as he forcefully cut a path through the crowded sidewalks. A few children cried out in terror at the sight of his nightmarish figure. Maxim ignored the pedestrians and strode with a purpose towards the Cathedral Notre Dame. When the steeples of the Cathedral, came into view, he broke into a full sprint. Just as he was readying to leap onto a window sill of the quarters adjoining the Cathedral, he spotted a praying old man. The strength of his fury, and fighting the daylight, had depleted his energy stores at an alarming pace. Feeling an urgent need to feed, Maxim shifted his trajectory, and sped toward the unlucky old man. A few seconds before Maxim reached his target, the old man heard some dead leaves crunching. To welcome his fellow Christian, he looked up with an angelic smile. His eyes grew wide with horror at the sight of the black apparition barreling towards him at full speed.

Maxim roared with pent up rage. As he ran by the man, he grasped his head, and ripped it backwards. Snap! The audible breaking of the man's neck reverberated through the air. Maxim spun to a stop and plunged his fangs deep into the man's neck. Within the span of a few seconds, he had greedily sucked the man dry. Maxim released the man's head and wiped his blood covered mouth on his sleeve. Before the corpse hit the cobblestones, Maxim was leaping from window-sill to window-sill up the wall, until he reached the roof of the quarters. Once he was on the roof, he could feel the holy power fighting his presence. Maxim ignored the burning. He fought through the pain, and ran along the edge of the roof, until he had a full view of the pillared interior of the Cathedral's nave. Tall stained-glass windows slightly obscured his view, but this was a close as he dared to approach the Cathedral. He took a deep breath and settled in to wait. His gut had told him this was the place Ciril would choose to bring Bodashka.

A few minutes later, some security agents entered the Cathedral, and rapidly cleared out the few congregants sitting in the pews. The agents pounded on the doors of the confessionals and ordered the Priests to leave. Some of the Priests protested at having their confessionals violated. The agents ignored their complaints and forced them out of the nave. Once the Cathedral was deserted, Ciril and Ahad entered the nave through a side door, pulling Bodashka behind them like a dog on a leash. Her hands had been zip-tied behind her back, and her ski mask had been pulled over her eyes. Archbishop Marius fearfully followed behind Ciril and Ahad, pleading, "Please. Please do not destroy the sanctity of my Cathedral."

"Shut up Priest!" Ciril growled. He looked at Ahad, and ordered, "Strip her." Ahad stood in front of Bodashka and grasped the material of her cat-suit with his hands, he pulled hard in opposite directions. The slick material easily tore under his strength. Like peeling a banana, he rolled the suit down her body. Ciril pulled back on the cable, until she fell hard onto the stone floor. The back of her head took the full brunt of the fall. Bodashka bit her tongue to keep from crying out in pain. She refused to give Ciril that pleasure. Ahad reached down and slid the cat-suit over her feet.

At the sight of the small pool of blood forming under Bodashka's head, Archbishop Marius let out a small gasp, and put a white handkerchief over his mouth. Ciril roughly removed the cable from Bodashka's neck and threw her naked body over his shoulder. He started walking toward the Baroque organ gallery.

"No not there!" Archbishop Marius pleaded. Ciril turned, and backhanded Archbishop Marius across the face. The Archbishop fell to the floor. Two of his agents rushed to help him, while the other two charged Ciril. Ahad moved between the agents, and Ciril.