Driven by Dean Murray

do to us.
    It
seemed as though my work lasted for hours, and even the energy I'd
siphoned away from my beast was gone, consumed in the effort, by the
time I finished, but when I was done we were alone inside of my mind.
    I
opened my eyes and pulled myself to my feet, heading for the heavy
metal door only a few steps above me. My beast paced back and forth
on the inside of my mental wall. She didn't like being caged, even
when the cage was for our protection, but now she had the measure of
our enemy and she knew we couldn't defeat him on the terrain of our
own mind. She would leave the wall be for now. She wanted him dead at
least as much as I did.
    I
paused just outside the gray door to the second floor, sniffing to
confirm that the vampires were all on this level. Nobody had gone up
to the third story, which meant that I'd probably contained them to
this one floor unless they'd already started fleeing down the fire
escape.
    A
series of deep breaths oxygenated my blood and then I threw open the
door and dashed into the corridor beyond it. It was past the point
where I could hope to sneak up on the vampires, instead it was time
for boldness and speed.
    Two
vampires were waiting for me a dozen feet down the left-hand
corridor. They looked like twins. Two men, both golden-haired, tall
and slender. The weapons in their hands were likewise matched
weapons, huge swords that were meant to be wielded with two hands. I
closed with them and hoped that neither was old enough to have
developed any kind of power, telekinetic or otherwise.
    Their
weapons were fierce, heavy things that would easily take off even one
of my massive limbs, but they weren't the ideal choice for fighting
in such close quarters. I jumped back out of range of the first slash
and made as if to follow along behind the sword so that I could bowl
the lead vampire over, but the second vampire launched an attack only
a heartbeat behind his fellow.
    Instead
of advancing forward I found myself forced further and further back.
They were used to fighting together, displaying a skill and speed
that would have been beautiful to watch if it hadn't been directed
towards the job of ending my life.
    The
wound in my chest continued to ooze a slow flow of blood.
Strategically positioned muscles inside of my body had already
contracted in an effort to direct most of the blood in my body out
and around the damaged section, but even for a hybrid that wasn't
enough to completely stop the bleeding.
    The
weakness that I'd felt before had all been mental, though it hadn't
been any less real because of that. It hadn't vanished, but it was
quickly being joined by a physical exhaustion that threatened to make
me clumsy and slow, easy prey for the vampires who were still
pressing me.
    The
blades came at me again, slicing through the air with inhuman speed
as I ducked and retreated, occasionally knocking them to one side
with my claws in a spray of sparks. We were approaching a decision
point.
    I
was tired and getting slower, but it was more than that. The corridor
was too narrow for both of them to get at me like they would have
liked. Instead of coming at me from multiple angles they were forced
to trade off on who led, one aggressively attacking me while the
other waited to strike if I tried to close and kill the lead vampire.
They had driven me far enough back now that it would only take
another step or two and I would be in the broad junction of corridors
next to the elevator. If they surrounded me I was as good as dead.
    There
was a chance that I could slip under the reach of one of them and
kill him while the other was still too far away to help, but it was
an infinitesimally small chance. It was much more likely that they'd
just bleed me out, safe behind the added reach that their weapons
granted them.
    I
stepped backwards as a blade licked out in an effort to cut me across
the neck. I knocked the strike from the second vampire away with my
claws and then had to step backwards again to