Read Online Texas Hold 'Em by Patrick Kampman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Patrick Kampman
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off guard. I stood frozen. The appearance and transformation of Katy, the oncoming vampire, and the inhaling of carbon dioxide was too much.
By the time I recovered enough to fire my gun, the schoolmarm was on me, sending us both tumbling back down the stairs in a tangle of groaning (me) and snarling (her) limbs, teeth, and gunshots.
I still held the stake I was going to use on Headless in my off hand, leaving me with a one-handed grip on the out-of-control submachine gun that sent shots everywhere but into the vampire.
Fortunately, countless hours of judo training paid off, and I was able to roll down the stairs more or less in one piece. She did the same, mostly because vampires were immune to bumps and bruises. On a positive note, apparently it’s hard to maintain propriety when tumbling down a staircase in a tight wool skirt, so I at least won on form—especially when I managed to land a kick to her midsection right after we hit the foyer floor. She might have been supernaturally strong, but she weighed less than 120 pounds and couldn’t deny physics. The kick caused her to tumble straight out the front door.
Dizzy from both the fall and the lack of oxygen, I got up and stumbled toward the door, preparing to close it on her. Not that it would do much good. Katy must have brainwashed Fred or one of his family into inviting the rest in. Vampires couldn’t enter someone’s house unless they were invited in. It was some strange law that governed them. Unfortunately, they tended to cheat to get around it.
The Thompson was empty, so when a newcomer entered the foyer from the living room, I slammed the door, dropped the submachine gun and drew my Kimber automatic out of its shoulder holster, snapping off two shots at the latest vampire.
Both rounds managed to catch him in the head, leaving a pair of .45- caliber craters in his skull. We both blinked: him from the lead in his head, and me stunned by my lucky shots.
I was about to use the stake on the incapacitated vampire when a crash came from behind me. The door blew open and a weight hit me from behind, heaving me forward in a desperate bid to remain upright. Pain coursed through me as teeth sank into the back of my neck. The schoolmarm held on, her arms around me, razor-sharp nails digging channels into my chest.
I leaned forward, reached behind my shoulder to grab a fistful of cashmere sweater, and executed a throw. She sailed over me, met by the remaining contents of the Kimber’s magazine which I emptied into her as she landed.
The guy with the holes in his head regained his bearings and launched himself at me. Out of ammo, I punched out with my gun hand. The nose of the .45 slammed into his face, its white-hot muzzle plunging into an eye.
Screaming like a little girl, he batted my arm away, causing me to release the firearm. The gun fell out of his oozing eye socket to clatter on the floor.
The good news was that the smoke was nowhere near as bad on the first floor of the house, and I was able to suck in lungfuls of good air as I shook some sense back into my arm. The bad news was that I was running out of weapons and options.
Between the two bullet holes and the smoking crater of his eye socket, the vamp was pissed off. He came at me again as I dropped into a fighting stance, wondering where Katy had gone in all this. I got my answer when an axe haft appeared before me. I turned to see her standing at the base of the stairs, one hand resting in her front pocket, the other holding out her fire axe to me grip first.
“Batter up!”
I grabbed it and, taking her advice, swung home-run style at the oncoming vampire. The blow caught him full in the middle. He buckled as the axe head plunged into him. I wrenched it out and prepared to bring it down on the back of his neck. But the schoolmarm was an old one, and with vampires, old meant tough. Despite the five or so rounds I’d put in her, she was already in flight, robbing me of the killing blow.
I was
By the time I recovered enough to fire my gun, the schoolmarm was on me, sending us both tumbling back down the stairs in a tangle of groaning (me) and snarling (her) limbs, teeth, and gunshots.
I still held the stake I was going to use on Headless in my off hand, leaving me with a one-handed grip on the out-of-control submachine gun that sent shots everywhere but into the vampire.
Fortunately, countless hours of judo training paid off, and I was able to roll down the stairs more or less in one piece. She did the same, mostly because vampires were immune to bumps and bruises. On a positive note, apparently it’s hard to maintain propriety when tumbling down a staircase in a tight wool skirt, so I at least won on form—especially when I managed to land a kick to her midsection right after we hit the foyer floor. She might have been supernaturally strong, but she weighed less than 120 pounds and couldn’t deny physics. The kick caused her to tumble straight out the front door.
Dizzy from both the fall and the lack of oxygen, I got up and stumbled toward the door, preparing to close it on her. Not that it would do much good. Katy must have brainwashed Fred or one of his family into inviting the rest in. Vampires couldn’t enter someone’s house unless they were invited in. It was some strange law that governed them. Unfortunately, they tended to cheat to get around it.
The Thompson was empty, so when a newcomer entered the foyer from the living room, I slammed the door, dropped the submachine gun and drew my Kimber automatic out of its shoulder holster, snapping off two shots at the latest vampire.
Both rounds managed to catch him in the head, leaving a pair of .45- caliber craters in his skull. We both blinked: him from the lead in his head, and me stunned by my lucky shots.
I was about to use the stake on the incapacitated vampire when a crash came from behind me. The door blew open and a weight hit me from behind, heaving me forward in a desperate bid to remain upright. Pain coursed through me as teeth sank into the back of my neck. The schoolmarm held on, her arms around me, razor-sharp nails digging channels into my chest.
I leaned forward, reached behind my shoulder to grab a fistful of cashmere sweater, and executed a throw. She sailed over me, met by the remaining contents of the Kimber’s magazine which I emptied into her as she landed.
The guy with the holes in his head regained his bearings and launched himself at me. Out of ammo, I punched out with my gun hand. The nose of the .45 slammed into his face, its white-hot muzzle plunging into an eye.
Screaming like a little girl, he batted my arm away, causing me to release the firearm. The gun fell out of his oozing eye socket to clatter on the floor.
The good news was that the smoke was nowhere near as bad on the first floor of the house, and I was able to suck in lungfuls of good air as I shook some sense back into my arm. The bad news was that I was running out of weapons and options.
Between the two bullet holes and the smoking crater of his eye socket, the vamp was pissed off. He came at me again as I dropped into a fighting stance, wondering where Katy had gone in all this. I got my answer when an axe haft appeared before me. I turned to see her standing at the base of the stairs, one hand resting in her front pocket, the other holding out her fire axe to me grip first.
“Batter up!”
I grabbed it and, taking her advice, swung home-run style at the oncoming vampire. The blow caught him full in the middle. He buckled as the axe head plunged into him. I wrenched it out and prepared to bring it down on the back of his neck. But the schoolmarm was an old one, and with vampires, old meant tough. Despite the five or so rounds I’d put in her, she was already in flight, robbing me of the killing blow.
I was
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