Immortal Revenge by Mary Abshire

sunken part of the earth. She picked up the pouch and immediately noticed it was soggy. She squeezed her hand around the wet cloth. Hard keys pressed into her palm.
    “Found them.” She jogged toward Jules.
    Back in front of the barn doors, she tugged the keys from the wet pouch. They jingled slightly as she unlocked the padlock holding the chains. The lock clicked.
    “I don’t think it’s possible for us to get everything. We don’t have the room in our vehicles.” She left the padlock and chains dangling from one of the handles.
    “You have that many weapons?”
    Katie slid the door to the side. “The cellar is bigger than your house. What do you think?”
    Before they stepped inside the barn, a foul odor rushed at them.
    “Oh my fucking God. What is that stench?” Jules covered her nose and mouth too.
    Katie held her breath from the smell of burnt wood soaked in water.
    “Please tell me something didn’t die in here.” Jules’s words came out mumbled.
    “I think it’s from the fire.”
    Katie headed for the back of the barn with Jules a few steps behind. Light trickled in from between the tiny crevices. She’d forgotten to bring a flashlight, but with her enhanced eyesight and memory, she knew where to go and what to look for. When she reached the back corner, Katie peered closely at the ground for a small rusted ring.
    “Stay here,” Katie said.
    “How can you even see in here?” Jules asked as she came to a halt. “I think I’m going to gag.”
    “I’m used to it. And if you need to puke, warn me first so I can move out of the way.”
    Katie baby stepped around the back corner until she spotted a circular figure on the ground. She dropped to one knee and touched the object.
    “Got it.” She slid her finger through the loop and lifted the hatch. “Don’t move. I’d hate for you to fall in.”
    “Maybe you should fill the bags and bring them to me. I can run them to the cars.”
    “That’s a good idea.” Katie set the wood board off to the side, then lifted the bags from Jules’s hands. “Just don’t come any closer.”
    Having to take her friend to emergency for falling down a flight of stairs would cut into her plans severely. Not to mention it would put Jules’s life in greater danger if her injuries confined her to a hospital bed.
    “I think my eyes are adjusting. I see a darker part of the floor.”
    “I’ll hurry.”
    Katie descended the steps slowly. Five feet from the door, she stopped at a desk near the wall. A battery-operated lantern similar to the ones used for camping waited for her. She pressed the center of the lid and the florescent lights illuminated. Although she had better eyesight than a regular human did, the cellar was ten times darker than the barn. She needed a little light to avoid running into anything.
    Keys, lantern and bags in hand, she headed for the first storage shelf. She stopped at the one containing a variety of daggers and knives. After unlocking the unit, she stuffed as much as she could into two bags. As she placed several sheaths in a bag, she realized she needed a nice jacket to help her hide them once she strapped them to her body. Another task she’d have to finish before sundown.
    She delivered the two bags to Jules and set back to work filling more. This time she gathered hand-held guns and ammunition, especially all the white tipped bullets. They contained a powdery acid in the head, not lethal to a vamp, but certainly a major pain.
    On one of the many nights they’d spent discussing how to beat a vampire, she’d asked Kyle if acid would stop one from attacking. He’d told her it would anger the vampire and burn their flesh, but it wouldn’t detour the vamp for more than a few seconds. Always the thinker, he pondered if the same effect would happen internally. He came with the idea to make a bullet that contained powdery acid in the head. Upon impact with a body, the tip would dislodge and release the acid as the bullet passed