manipulating stock markets and executives into huge cash windfalls before his abilities became permanently diminished.
It was probably the least prepared this group was for a battle since the protectors stepped aside and let the hunters make split pea, squash puree, lobster bisque, chili and matzoh ball soup of Hartwell as he approached his original 100th death.
“Are we going hard tonight?” Cal asked Hartwell internally.
“There’s no running out here if we don’t go hard,” Hartwell replied, although the rest of his crew did not share the same sentiment.
They ran out to the field and fanned out across the main lawn of Beach Haven Park, Hartwell and Cal on either side of Manuel in the middle of the queue. The apes did their usual swinging in the trees and then crashing back down to earth bit, but kept charging once they hit the ground.
One side had a concrete plan for victory on this night while the other appeared to have perfected the recipe for defeat. The people away from the middle of the Hartwell line expected to engage in combat by using their sizeable body advantage. But a funny thing happened only a split-second from impact: Gabriel Billingsley decided to mix things up a bit.
He grunted, “GO!” as the eight apes collapsed the eight-wide formation into a four-by-two configuration, but only Hartwell and Cal were in range to do anything about the change. Cal charged at the right side of the pile while Hartwell did his best to neutralize the left flank. Billingsley stepped back from the formation and let the others crash into the killing machines in front of them. He then changed back into human form and angrily swiped his sword through the air and then landed on one knee on the other side of the confrontation.
Three bodies on the right and then four others on the left fell limply to the ground, as Cal and Hartwell were proud of their accomplishments until the saw Gabriel kneeling and smiling a short distance away and then Manuel head sliding off his shoulders and spinning through the air and then rolling on the ground.
Gabriel stood up and made a point of walking past Cal.
“That’s two, hunter!” he grunted and then aggressively made contact with Cal via his shoulder.
Billingsley kept walking a few more paces until he turned his head around and was about to say, “One more left.”
Hartwell smiled as Cal followed Gabriel after the bump and cocked his right arm and clenched his right fist before striking Billingsley on the left side of his jaw and rendering him unconscious as he dropped to the dewy turf.
Cal looked back at Hartwell and exclaimed in frustration, “We can’t go out this way!”
The others looked on in stunned surprise as Hartwell replied as he first acknowledged Cal and then the remainder of the group, “Then we shall fight to the end!” as everyone pumped their fists and yelled in harmonious accord.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Manuel awoke the second morning just as he did in the first, only this time there was slightly less pain. He really didn’t give much thought to his last day as a vampire, so he repeated the previous day’s pattern by crashing into bed and falling asleep until just before the fight that night.
“Do you think we should wake him up?” an anxious Cal asked Hartwell as they waited in the main room of the house.
Hartwell was all about letting things unfold organically unless, of course, things weren’t going exactly as he planned. He anticipated a repeat of the previous two nights with Manuel ‘mailing it in’ and not fighting back. That would not be acceptable on this night.
“No, I got this.”
And just as Hartwell was about to create a ruckus and slam some metal objects together near Manuel’s ear, the root of all evil walked out of his bedroom and into the main room with perfectly-pressed clothing and a countenance that suggested a complete lack of urgency.
“Oh, we’re done,” Andrew stated.
“So much for going out fighting,” Garrison added.
Hartwell turned to the group as Manuel walked toward them, “Let me do this my way! Have I ever steered you wrong?”
The group started smaller discussions about the statement, and it appeared that there was not a general agreement.
Hartwell rolled his eyes, “I mean, lately.”
The discussions stopped for a moment and then continued.
“What other choice do we have?” Hartwell asked, trying to stem the mutinous flow.
Agent Blake was usually a receiver of information, but on this night he was less inclined to wait and see.
“We could just kill him ourselves.”
Belinda looked at her husband with a new-found appreciation.
“Honey, that is so vampire of you!”
Blake smiled, “You live long enough and anything is possible.
There were other people agreeing with Blake to off the slacker before they even left for the field.
“Let me handle this!” Hartwell implored. “If I can’t reach him before the fight begins, then by all means end this thing!”
Heads were nodded in accord as Hartwell turned to Manuel and said, “You ready for the beginning of the end, big guy?”
Manuel opened his eyes a little wider, as the thought of such a massive life change started creeping in.
“As ready as I’m ever going to be.”
The group left the house and went from their fast walk to brisk jog and then all-out sprint until they reached the edge of the field at Beach Haven Park. Hartwell wasn’t about to wait until they got into position to get inside of Manuel’s head. He could sense that the apes had left their house and were swinging branch-by-branch closer to the final judgment.
“You know, all these apes coming at us were once people who were dead. A witch was able to bring them all back, can you imagine what will happen if she brings back Carmen? Because, if you don’t start fighting, I will personally make sure that she comes back to make your life miserable again!”
Manuel was deep in a self-induced trance until he heard the name ‘Carmen’ being uttered in such an angry manner by Hartwell. While his desire to be mortal and live a calm life for the rest of his days was strong, his desire to never see Carmen again was much more powerful.
His eyes widened and he turned and looked at Hartwell, as the angry mob of apes hit the outskirts of the park and an equally-edgy gang surrounding Manuel and Hartwell were about to pounce.
“I don’t need that!”
Manuel screamed in brute force, channeling his inner beast, as he the apes headed towards him from the front and the rest of Hartwell’s gang converged on him from the back. It was one big dust pile from the well-worn portion of lawn at the park. Screams could be heard as Hartwell took a step back and let the action unfold, at least initially.
Hartwell then stepped in when he sensed conflict between like forces. Manuel had run through all eight apes and was now headed toward the next perceived threat, a group of other beings that wanted him dead.
“Whoa!” Hartwell yelled at his own group and put up a stop sign with his right hand.
The rest of the group watched as Manuel advanced unabated, both of the nails on his fingers extended, ready to slice Hartwell and anyone else that stood in his way into pieces. Hartwell looked into Cal’s eyes and the reflection of Manuel coming toward him. He smiled at Cal and then snarled while he spun and delivered a punch, the force of which Manuel had never experienced.
Hartwell turned back around and faced the group as Manuel absorbed the blow and was on the ground just after he started speaking.
“See, I told you I would take care of it.”
TWENTY-NINE
When Manuel awoke 20 minutes later he was alone in the field and he didn’t like it. He dabbed the blood that had trickled out of his nose and mouth with his hand and wondered what one creature could have been strong enough to put him down? And when he found that creature there would be hell to pay, or so he thought as he ventured back to the house.
It was still four days from the time everyone was expecting the
kids to come back, so there was considerable after-fight activity and late night snacks galore!
“Is there really any way to eating smores without getting sticky?” Nicole asked Carla as the family sat around a bonfire just outside of the house on the beach.
Daniel zipped in and licked Nicole’s fingers clean, “I don’t mind the cleanup,” the fastidious vampire interjected.
Hartwell was sitting with his back to the house and didn’t see Manuel coming, but he did feel him coming.
“Looks who’s back,” Thaddeus said as he tapped Garrison with the back of his hand.
Maggie saw everybody looking in a certain direction and then looked at her husband, who could have handled the situation in a few different ways. He could have let it go and maintained a “Let’s get that creature!” stance, which would have kept Manuel hungry. Or, as Maggie surmised, he could approach Manuel the same way he did everything else: head on!
“I’ll be right back,” Hartwell said to Maggie and then looked at his boys, Thaddeus, Garrison, Daniel, Cal and Agent Blake across the way and they nodded in a “We got your back” way.
A confused and extremely perturbed Manuel saw Hartwell coming toward him and yelled, “What the hell happened back there and why are all you here and I was left in the middle of a field?”
Hartwell enjoyed hitting Manuel so much the first time that he smirked at Manuel, which disarmed the vampire. He then swung with his strong arm this time and flattened Manuel with a forceful right cross.
He started walking away as Manuel’s limp head and body hit