Read Online Jack Templar and the Lord of the Vampires by Jeff Gunhus - Free Book Online

attention. “That way!” I pointed in the direction of the fleeing Creach. They wouldn’t be able to see them from street-level, but at least they would know what direction I’d be heading. 
    “Wait for us!” Daniel yelled.
    I shook my head. “No time. Follow me the best you can!”
    Will yelled something back but I didn’t hear it. I’d already turned and was running toward the retreating Creach. The gaps between the houses started to get wider, but at least the houses were about the same height as one another. I had to give each jump everything I had to barely make it across. Ahead of me, the Creach made the jumps look effortless. I was especially amazed by the Creach carrying Eva and T-Rex. Making the jump solo was one thing. Making it while carrying well over a hundred pounds of weight was ridiculous. It made me wonder how I was supposed to defeat five monsters with that kind of strength. Especially since I was chasing after them with nothing more than my bare hands. But I didn’t have time to worry about that. I needed to catch them first.
    Or at least I thought I did.
    The two Creach I’d fought earlier stopped in midstride, doubled-back and charged at me full speed. Suddenly, I’d caught up to them, and I had no idea what I was going to do about it. 
    They had both swords out again and they ran toward me shoulder-to-shoulder. Without thinking, I ran even faster, closing the distance between us as quickly as possible. Right as they were about to jump over the last gap between roofs separating us, I was already mid-leap through the air to the roof they were on. They didn’t duck fast enough.
    I curled myself in a ball and smacked into one of them, knocking him down. As I rolled clear, I realized that one of the Creach’s swords had come loose from the impact. I grabbed it. When I got back to my feet, I was armed and staring at my foes.
    I guess my antics had earned me the grudging respect of the Creach. This time they hung back and studied me. I heard a soft clicking noise and realized they were speaking to each other in some odd language I’d never heard before. One of them pointed to my hand where I wore the Templar Ring, and the clicking sound increased in tempo. They appeared agitated.
    They must have reached some kind of decision because the clicking stopped. They both reached up and unwrapped the scarves covering their heads and faces.
    Something told me that whatever lay under those twists of cloth was better off staying hidden, but I couldn’t help but stare as the layers slowly came off.
    The Creach faces were worse than anything I could have imagined. Their weird yellow goat eyes were just the start of it. Their skin looked like meat left to bake in the sun for weeks on end. It was a lifeless grey and covered with gouges, blisters and scabs. Their noses had been eaten away, but instead of leaving two gaping holes where their nostrils should be, it was like the flesh had melted over and then congealed into a flat flap of skin. This left them with only their mouths to breathe through. These were small relative to the size of their faces and were shaped like a tight circle, as if they were frozen in a perpetual look of shock. Sharp teeth protruded past their lips, if you could call them that. The edges around their mouths were open, festering sores, staining their teeth with black blood.
    If they thought to freak me out by taking their scarves off…they were right.
    I did what any self-respecting monster hunter would do.
    I turned and ran away.
    While they’d been going through the theatrical reveal of their weird faces, I’d slowly backed away and edged to the far side of the roof. I tried to make it seem a natural reaction of the horror of seeing them, which was easy enough because I was pretty horrified. But I was also getting myself in position to escape. This was even more important as the monsters carrying Eva and T-Rex suddenly disappeared from sight.
    I turned and sprinted toward the