Page 37 of Pike

The mother of migraine headaches woke her. Even blinded by the pain, she realized she was lying on the cold, musty ground with her hands bound behind her. Nothing covered her mouth though, and for that she could be grateful. They’d also been too stupid to bind her ankles.

Jeez, she’d let those bumbling corpses get the better of her. Fear had her gulping like a goldfish out of its fishbowl. Unfortunately, she wasn’t getting much air into her lungs.

When the pain subsided enough to allow her to focus, she realized where she was—an old mausoleum. There were grooves in the dirt leading from the entrance, apparently where they’d dragged her in.

“You ghouls don’t give up, do you? Let’s see, we have five, six, seven…” She stopped counting when they all shuffled together into a group, making it difficult to distinguish one stinking corpse from another.

The worst part of it? She’d seen the group right before the attack. And she’d walked right into it. Why? Because she was stupid, hot-tempered, and aggressive, feeling like she needed to prove herself. She didn’t need Pike around to get her out of trouble or save her ass every time she walked into a bad situation. His lessons had been crap, anyway. She knew enough now to worm her way out of whatever distress befell her.

Thus, the ghouls. The mausoleum. And the gnawing fear that she was about to meet her end, despite her attempt at bravado.

Lavinia tugged at the ropes embedding themselves into her wrists, causing them to cut lines along her already chafed skin. Luckily, her desire to live was bigger than the pain.

“I know I’m like crack to you guys, but this needs to end.” She struggled against her binding. “I’m not always going to be available to tie up like a stuck pig.”

The lead ghoul laughed, the sound like wet laundry tumbling together. With a sentience that ghouls rarely possessed, he took her chin between two rotting fingers and jerked it up.

“Go on and take a bite,” she taunted with a glare. “I swear to God I am going to get out of here and wrench your head off your spine so hard your buddies will feel it.”

The ghoul snorted and released her.

She hadn’t exactly come up with a plan yet. A foolish whim had brought her to the graveyard in the first place, after the latest vision resounded off the walls of her skull until she was forced into action.

These ghouls were a nuisance and getting on her last nerve.

“Honestly, I’m kind of looking forward to murdering every last one of you. Although you’re already dead, so I guess it doesn’t count as murder. You’re just a bunch of necromancer rejects.”

One of the ghouls snarled and an odorous wash of putrid breath spilled over her. She grimaced at the smell, using it to fuel her anger. The trembling in fear would have to wait.

“He couldn’t even stick around long enough to give you all a change of clothes. What did you die of? A fashion police firing squad?”

That last crack earned her a slap across the face. She blinked at the bright flash of pain and stars floating across her vision. Wow, those dead hands could hit hard. So hard her world went black for a number of seconds. Remnants of dead flesh the color of a rotten honeydew melon clung to her skin, and when she shook her head, a sliver of finger bone dropped off onto the ground.

Good enough. It had to be good enough.

Her cheek throbbed as she rolled to her side, moaning. The ropes limited her movement but the slap gave her enough cover to shuffle and grab the finger fragment. It was slippery to the touch, gag-worthy. She swallowed a heave and felt bile rise in her throat. It was her only chance to slip the ropes.

“Wow, you guys might be dead, but I think you must have been abusive in a previous life. You like beating up a defenseless woman. One whose only crime is smelling good!”

It was slow going, using the decomposing bone to slice through the ropes. Luckily, ghouls weren’t smart enough to master the art of knots. This one slipped once she managed to cut through several of the strands.

The stomping of feet caught her attention, followed by the soft whispering grunts of the ghouls. Her wrists released with a hiss and, though her heart hammered in her chest, Lavinia jumped to her feet. Adrenaline surged through her blood in a red wave of electricity. With a screech, she bounded on the closest ghoul and wrapped her legs around his waist.

She saw the future clearly in her head. There was no static. No sense of confusion. The scene played out in bright color, a scene where she saw herself as the hero. She knew what she had to do. Every move she had to make between now and then. The knowledge settled deep below her ribcage.

A fierce smile split her face. “You are not going to control my life!” The demand was accompanied by a satisfying wrench as she snapped his vertebrae. “Do you understand?”

The second the corpse fell, her heel dug into its shoulder, the body decomposing in a hailstorm of sand. The other ghouls looked up, their decaying retinas focusing in on her. Although a slight sheen of sweat dotted her forehead, Lavinia felt pumped. And furious. She swiped a hand across her brow and gestured for the rest of them to come on.

It took little effort to jab her elbow into the throat of the closest ghoul, almost taking his head off in the process. The momentum carried her onto the next one. Her boot came up with a roundhouse kick to the third ghoul, sending him flying into the wall.

It wasn’t her superior strength that decapitated the next one. Or even the next. Lavinia did not consider herself particularly athletic or strong. Hell, she was barely able to wrench the cap off a bottle without assistance. This was to prove a point. She didn’t need a man to take care of her, and she definitely didn’t need Pike. She hoped the bastard starved.

“You assholes!” she screamed. A lunge brought her fist into contact with another ghoul. But an attack from behind to the backs of her knees had her knocked down hard on her tailbone. Though another slash of agony coursed through her, it didn’t stop the adrenaline. She sucked in a breath, rolled the pain into a little ball she could ignore, and bounded to her feet. Closed her eyes. Fought, knowing she would win.

The next few minutes passed in a blur until the vision in her head merged with the reality in front of her eyes. At last she’d seen something real, something true. Later, when she was able to think, she would remember the moment and wonder what had happened. Why her gift chose now to work for her.

Her throat was hoarse from yelling but she didn’t stop.

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