Lifeblood - Chapter Twelve
Mar. 27th, 2021 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kalinara posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
i_read_whatSo last time: Bobbi was fucking badass, while Jack got ambushed by Gaylen and Malcolm. Escott got a bit of everyone's own back though by shooting Malcolm in the fucking face with a shotgun. So there's that!
Now, for the last chapter of the book!
We rejoin Jack as he's still on top of Gaylen's car. Gaylen pulls to a stop, while Malcolm, who is still alive! whimpers at her not to leave. He reminds her of her promise to turn him, and I may have given Gaylen a bit too much credit for taking him with her, because she seems perfectly happy to leave his ass now.
This, of course, gives Jack the opportunity. He slips into the car. Malcolm doesn't look great, but he's actually not dying from the look of it:
His wounds were scattered and colorful and he was bleeding freely in several spots. The little skin showing through the blood was white and clammy with shock. He and Gaylen had been outside the lethal range of the wood pellets, though. His claims of dying were premature, at least for the moment.
“Gaylen, please—”
“She’s gone, all you’ve got left is me.” I wanted him to know, to see it coming.
Jack's had a very bad day. A very bad couple of days, really. He's been assaulted and violated, in a way that had a strong sexualized component. He saw what he thought was Bobbi's corpse. He was stabbed in Escott's place. And well, Malcolm's here now.
Jack offers to make Malcolm a "dead man" like him, and muses that he's not as good as Malcolm is. This will hurt. He brandishes the knife that Malcolm had used to stab him, offering to go to Malcolm's eyelids first.
“That’d hurt, but there are better nerve centers to play with. I want you to know what I went through in that stairwell. I want you to know what you gave Braxton and Bobbi. You think you’re hurting now—in a minute you’re gonna wish it was this good.”
He doesn't actually use the knife, we're told. Just his bare hands. And, "God help me, I was laughing."
Oh Jack.
Afterward, Jack's reaction seems...inconsistent.
I crawled from the car like a drunk and leaned against it, still shaking a little from what I’d done. Maybe I should have been sickened by my actions, but nothing so normal as that touched me now.
...I don't know, Jack. Healthy people generally don't shake. But then Jack is very good at not acknowledging his own wounds. We're told he stopped before killing Malcolm, shaking free from "the insanity that had taken [him] over", but Malcolm had been paid back for all he'd done and then some.
Jack tells himself he has no regrets, as he sucks clean air into his lungs and lets it "shudder out again".
Okay, Jack. If you say so.
But now, it's time to go after Gaylen. And indeed, Gaylen's on her way back. She'd heard Malcolm's screams and is here to investigate. She's very alert. She's also young.
The old woman was gone. It was one thing to know that fact, quite another to see it. Her face was so very like Maureen’s, especially now with her anxious expression. But she was someone else, not the gentle woman I had loved.
Gaylen's at a disadvantage. She's still reacting like a human, this allows Jack to get the drop on her. Her smile makes Jack realize why Maureen confined her to an institution. She uses his old mist trick against him, but there's something that she doesn't realize: unlike humans, Jack can see her.
They exchange taunts and attacks. At some point, Gaylen goes solid to try to swing a branch at his head. He gets it away from her, only for her to turn into fog again. She starts heading for the house, but stops short: there's a stream directly in her path. Vampires don't like running water.
She starts to cross, very slowly. It's compared to wading through partially set cement. When she gets in far enough, Jack breaks cover and closes in on her with his makeshift club. Because of the water, she can't vanish. They fight.
Jack has some experience with free water, but not so close and personal. It's like the Arctic ice, slowing both of them down. They keep fighting, and eventually Jack gets the upper hand, shoving her under the water. He loses his branch but keeps hitting her.
Gordy and his men come to investigate, and Jack is able to call out so Gordy recognizes him. Gaylen starts to pull a helpless woman being attacked by a man act, but Jack's too fast for her. And fortunately, Gordy already knows what's going on. (His henchman is pretty horrified though).
Gordy has his shotgun ready:
“Fleming?” he asked.
Gaylen’s eyes turned on me, frantic and helpless and with all the torment and wanting in the world in them.
I thought of Braxton staring sightlessly at his own blood on the tiles.
I thought of Bobbi being mercilessly shoved into the river water. The image was blinding.
“Yes,” I choked.
She was screaming, but without sound, even as I had screamed in the stairwell. Gordy put the barrels to her chest.
There was no color in his face. The tendons in his hands were ridged to control the shaking. He was familiar with violence, but this was different. The night roared once and went silent.
So now it's done. Jack is tired and sickened. He tells Gordy where to find what's left of Malcolm and what to do. Gordy gives clean up orders, while a car pulls up and Escott and Bobbi spill out. Aw. OT3. Gordy is stunned and overjoyed to see Bobbi and she gives him a hug. Escott explains some things, until he sees Gaylen's mangled body and stops talking.
And indeed, there's reason for that:
The tangled hair was still dark, but the skin was changing. The smooth texture was sagging around the jaw, growing puffy under the eyes. Wrinkles formed as we watched.
Jack remembers Escott saying how, when Jack was staked, it had looked like his death had caught up with him. Gaylen's dying. Jack asks Charles to get Bobbi out of here. Bobbi, having more stones than any of them, doesn't particularly want to go, but Jack convinces her that they have to leave fast and he wants her to be safe. She accepts that. She'll be waiting at her place.
So then, there's the cleanup. Gordy's henchmen can handle the truck, but the rest...
They end up heading to a boathouse on the lake with a blanket wrapped thing at their feet. Gaylen, I think, though I suppose it could be Malcolm. (But it sounds like Malcolm is going to be framed for killing Norma.) Gordy and one of the men carry it into a boat and sail off with it. The other henchman is pretty scared of Jack, but starts making conversation, chattering about booze smuggling and an experienced being hijacked, then a girl he knew. It's a rather nice, human moment.
Then Gordy returns:
“Where to?” he asked me.
My throat was clogged; I had to clear it first. “Bobbi’s.”
He nodded.
The ride back seemed shorter.
The chapter, and the book, ends here.
My one complaint about this book is that it's a very abrupt ending. I get why, and it fits, I suppose. But from an emotional sense, as someone who's followed Jack through some of the worst days of his unlife, driven to the point of savagery...I really wish we had a moment to decompress.
I know Ms. Elrod does not approve of fanfiction, and I think that every author has the right to feel however they feel about the practice. But to be honest with you, this is the kind of ending that really makes me YEARN for a fanfic epilogue. SOMETHING that gives Jack a little comfort with his lady and his best friend. It doesn't HAVE to be a sexy threesome (though I am TOTALLY on board with that). Right now, I'd be happy with just hugging and healthy crying.
Alas, it is not meant to be. Stay tuned for the verdict.
Now, for the last chapter of the book!
We rejoin Jack as he's still on top of Gaylen's car. Gaylen pulls to a stop, while Malcolm, who is still alive! whimpers at her not to leave. He reminds her of her promise to turn him, and I may have given Gaylen a bit too much credit for taking him with her, because she seems perfectly happy to leave his ass now.
This, of course, gives Jack the opportunity. He slips into the car. Malcolm doesn't look great, but he's actually not dying from the look of it:
His wounds were scattered and colorful and he was bleeding freely in several spots. The little skin showing through the blood was white and clammy with shock. He and Gaylen had been outside the lethal range of the wood pellets, though. His claims of dying were premature, at least for the moment.
“Gaylen, please—”
“She’s gone, all you’ve got left is me.” I wanted him to know, to see it coming.
Jack's had a very bad day. A very bad couple of days, really. He's been assaulted and violated, in a way that had a strong sexualized component. He saw what he thought was Bobbi's corpse. He was stabbed in Escott's place. And well, Malcolm's here now.
Jack offers to make Malcolm a "dead man" like him, and muses that he's not as good as Malcolm is. This will hurt. He brandishes the knife that Malcolm had used to stab him, offering to go to Malcolm's eyelids first.
“That’d hurt, but there are better nerve centers to play with. I want you to know what I went through in that stairwell. I want you to know what you gave Braxton and Bobbi. You think you’re hurting now—in a minute you’re gonna wish it was this good.”
He doesn't actually use the knife, we're told. Just his bare hands. And, "God help me, I was laughing."
Oh Jack.
Afterward, Jack's reaction seems...inconsistent.
I crawled from the car like a drunk and leaned against it, still shaking a little from what I’d done. Maybe I should have been sickened by my actions, but nothing so normal as that touched me now.
...I don't know, Jack. Healthy people generally don't shake. But then Jack is very good at not acknowledging his own wounds. We're told he stopped before killing Malcolm, shaking free from "the insanity that had taken [him] over", but Malcolm had been paid back for all he'd done and then some.
Jack tells himself he has no regrets, as he sucks clean air into his lungs and lets it "shudder out again".
Okay, Jack. If you say so.
But now, it's time to go after Gaylen. And indeed, Gaylen's on her way back. She'd heard Malcolm's screams and is here to investigate. She's very alert. She's also young.
The old woman was gone. It was one thing to know that fact, quite another to see it. Her face was so very like Maureen’s, especially now with her anxious expression. But she was someone else, not the gentle woman I had loved.
Gaylen's at a disadvantage. She's still reacting like a human, this allows Jack to get the drop on her. Her smile makes Jack realize why Maureen confined her to an institution. She uses his old mist trick against him, but there's something that she doesn't realize: unlike humans, Jack can see her.
They exchange taunts and attacks. At some point, Gaylen goes solid to try to swing a branch at his head. He gets it away from her, only for her to turn into fog again. She starts heading for the house, but stops short: there's a stream directly in her path. Vampires don't like running water.
She starts to cross, very slowly. It's compared to wading through partially set cement. When she gets in far enough, Jack breaks cover and closes in on her with his makeshift club. Because of the water, she can't vanish. They fight.
Jack has some experience with free water, but not so close and personal. It's like the Arctic ice, slowing both of them down. They keep fighting, and eventually Jack gets the upper hand, shoving her under the water. He loses his branch but keeps hitting her.
Gordy and his men come to investigate, and Jack is able to call out so Gordy recognizes him. Gaylen starts to pull a helpless woman being attacked by a man act, but Jack's too fast for her. And fortunately, Gordy already knows what's going on. (His henchman is pretty horrified though).
Gordy has his shotgun ready:
“Fleming?” he asked.
Gaylen’s eyes turned on me, frantic and helpless and with all the torment and wanting in the world in them.
I thought of Braxton staring sightlessly at his own blood on the tiles.
I thought of Bobbi being mercilessly shoved into the river water. The image was blinding.
“Yes,” I choked.
She was screaming, but without sound, even as I had screamed in the stairwell. Gordy put the barrels to her chest.
There was no color in his face. The tendons in his hands were ridged to control the shaking. He was familiar with violence, but this was different. The night roared once and went silent.
So now it's done. Jack is tired and sickened. He tells Gordy where to find what's left of Malcolm and what to do. Gordy gives clean up orders, while a car pulls up and Escott and Bobbi spill out. Aw. OT3. Gordy is stunned and overjoyed to see Bobbi and she gives him a hug. Escott explains some things, until he sees Gaylen's mangled body and stops talking.
And indeed, there's reason for that:
The tangled hair was still dark, but the skin was changing. The smooth texture was sagging around the jaw, growing puffy under the eyes. Wrinkles formed as we watched.
Jack remembers Escott saying how, when Jack was staked, it had looked like his death had caught up with him. Gaylen's dying. Jack asks Charles to get Bobbi out of here. Bobbi, having more stones than any of them, doesn't particularly want to go, but Jack convinces her that they have to leave fast and he wants her to be safe. She accepts that. She'll be waiting at her place.
So then, there's the cleanup. Gordy's henchmen can handle the truck, but the rest...
They end up heading to a boathouse on the lake with a blanket wrapped thing at their feet. Gaylen, I think, though I suppose it could be Malcolm. (But it sounds like Malcolm is going to be framed for killing Norma.) Gordy and one of the men carry it into a boat and sail off with it. The other henchman is pretty scared of Jack, but starts making conversation, chattering about booze smuggling and an experienced being hijacked, then a girl he knew. It's a rather nice, human moment.
Then Gordy returns:
“Where to?” he asked me.
My throat was clogged; I had to clear it first. “Bobbi’s.”
He nodded.
The ride back seemed shorter.
The chapter, and the book, ends here.
My one complaint about this book is that it's a very abrupt ending. I get why, and it fits, I suppose. But from an emotional sense, as someone who's followed Jack through some of the worst days of his unlife, driven to the point of savagery...I really wish we had a moment to decompress.
I know Ms. Elrod does not approve of fanfiction, and I think that every author has the right to feel however they feel about the practice. But to be honest with you, this is the kind of ending that really makes me YEARN for a fanfic epilogue. SOMETHING that gives Jack a little comfort with his lady and his best friend. It doesn't HAVE to be a sexy threesome (though I am TOTALLY on board with that). Right now, I'd be happy with just hugging and healthy crying.
Alas, it is not meant to be. Stay tuned for the verdict.