Jade: Earth's Last Hope Against the Undead by Kenneth W. Cain Page A

supply with the
vampire numbers having dwindled so drastically. For all Jade knew,
there could be a whole nest of them inside. There were no signs of
any zombies and that meant she'd only have to deal with the
vampires. If she could manage that much, maybe she could return
everything to how it was before this all started.

    Late summer wind bit at her neck as she
hurried across the field. She ignored the slaves, instead focused
on the only thing that really mattered. When she entered the house,
she submersed herself into a world of complete darkness. She knew
it was all but empty.
    It's like they knew I was coming.
    Remembering the layout of the first floor,
she moved about with little hindrance. She bumped into walls and
bounced back fast, making her way into the main living quarters
where she'd find the stairs. When she got there, something didn't
feel right.
    Her chest heaved. Her body shivered. But she
stayed her hands in anticipation of an encounter. She closed her
eyes, allowing her instincts to do the thinking for her, and when
the moment came her hands moved swiftly.
    The sword came around in a short arc
and for a split second she saw a single pair of red eyes burning in
the darkness. Seconds later a thump and the telling sound of a head rolling free of its
body.
    A commotion on the stairway drew her
attention upward and she hurried to the foot of the stairs.
Something clomped down on the wooden floor behind her, but she also
sensed some other form standing on the stairs in front of her.
    She ducked and swiped fast. Her blade cut
true, finding flesh and, before she could recover, she thrust her
blade back and in one fell swoop brought it around and severed the
neck of the form in front of her. Both bodies fell dead at
once.
    Sidestepping, she ascended the stairwell to
discover a dim light at the end of the hall. She didn't know the
layout of this floor and so she remained vigilant, aware of every
movement.
    Passing the first room brought no activity.
Same with the second and third room, yet she had a gut feeling she
hadn’t encountered the last of these fiends.
    In the last room, she discovered Hiru,
standing in the glow of a candle and looking like a woman out of
time. Jade feared not the woman or any of her companions, however
many there might be. What bothered Jade was that undeniable
confident grin on the vampire's face.
    "Ah, so the defiant one arrives," Hiru
said.
    A fever pitched at Jade's forehead. "You
said we could trust you." It burned deeply in her cheeks. "You said
you wanted to help."
    "Yes, well, both are true statements." Hiru
walked with poise, passing the candle to her other hand and
lighting another. "I did help and I meant that. And you could trust
me in that regard." She bared her fangs and hissed at Jade. "But
how dare you think I wouldn't be doing it for my own purposes."
    Jade went to speak, but Hiru cut her
off.
    "This is my world. My home. And no one will
take it from me."
    Jade went to strike, but Hiru was faster.
Somehow she maneuvered herself to the far end of the room without
being seen. From this new vantage point she signaled into the dark.
Several pairs of reddened eyes found Jade, and they attacked all at
once.
    Taking a step back, Jade raised her sword
and swung hard. She made contact with one, but another was at her
back and readying to bury its fangs deep into her neck. She thrust
her sword back towards the woman's face, missing her own flesh by a
fraction of an inch. The dead weight of a pierced skull hung on the
sword and slid away as she drew the weapon forward again.
    This time Jade attacked, finding three of
them in the candlelight. She spun, quickly thrusting in three
different directions. The silver blade pierced three blackened
hearts and the vampires fell dead.
    One left.
    The hulking shadow came at her, throwing
itself into the air and closing in fast. Jade raised her blade to
impale its heart. Then the candlelight lit his face and Jade saw
Trent at the very last