Chapter Seven - Hit and Run Like Hell

Jonah comes face to face with the Emily's hunter.

Herryn stepped in through the damaged doorway, pushing a piece of the shattered door aside. He stopped and looked down at Jonah, who was sprawled across the floor, fighting to regain his breath. The blow had caught him offguard and had snapped four ribs, turning them back and into his lungs and causing it to collapse. Jonah clutched at his chest as he reached up and took hold of the arm of the chair nearest him. The pain was like nothing he had felt before, a deep tearing sensation mingled with the sting of an acid burn.

“You have grown weak, Blondel.” Herryn jeered, as he lightly kicked Jonah’s boot. “This is not like you.” He mused as he circled Jonah. “I knew that you had changed when you found that cursed woman. But, I did not think that you would have changed this much.”

“She showed me what you are, old friend.” Jonah replied with such venom that Herryn winced a little. “She gave me the peace that you long promised, but never delivered.” 

Jonah brought himself up to his feet and stood, leaning on the chair. He grimaced as a new burn filled his chest. This one was more of a throb. His body was beginning to heal itself. All he had to do was keep Herryn distracted long enough, and then he would engage him. This would give the girls enough time to run. Herryn struck out again, this time only landing a glancing blow as Jonah sidestepped his lunge. While Herryn was in mid-lunge Jonah took the gap and landed a solid right on his cheek. The air flashed as his fist slammed into Herryn’s flesh. Herryn toppled onto the floor and lay stunned for a moment, before shaking his head and quickly getting back to his feet again. 

“That’s more like it.” His face smiled, but his eyes were filled with fury. Herryn did not enjoy being bested, by anyone. The men circled each other like a pair of angry lions, each ready to pounce at any moment. This continued for a few minutes until neither could stand it anymore, and they each lunged toward the other. Herryn lashed out at Jonah, who saw his blow coming and ducked beneath it. As he did so he saw an opening and drove his fist into Herryn’s side. The heavy flesh gave way and Jonah felt the ribs snap with the force. Herryn stumbled against the wall, and turned just in time to dodge a wild right hook from Jonah. Jonah’s blow missed its mark and found the wall instead. It landed with such force that the plaster on the wall shattered and fell to the ground. The shock of the impact shot up his arm as his hand collapsed. Herryn saw the pain and took full advantage of it. He took hold of Jonah by his collar and flung him across the room so that he slammed into the bookshelf. He fell heavily to the ground and lay there a moment, surrounded by scattered books. He was momentarily stunned. Herryn, sighed and straightened his coat. As he looked down at Jonah, he reached behind his back and pulled out a Wakizashi. He whipped it around a few times and finally laid it to rest on Jonah’s shoulder.

“This is my new friend, Jonah.” He turned it till the cutting edge rested on his shoulder. “Her name is is Wakizashi, she is a Japanese short sword. She is a fascinating creation " a legend in its own time " but now just a trinket in an age that is oblivious of its value.” His blue eyes locked with Jonah’s. “Much like you Jonah.” As he spoke he let the blade slide off Jonah’s shoulder. The blade cut nearly an inch into Jonah’s flesh. “Your time is up.” He grinned as he raised the sword.

Jonah closed his eyes, took a breath and launched himself at Herryn driving his wounded shoulder into the man’s gut with such force that he was thrown off his feet. As the men fell to the ground, Herryn struck out blindly with his sword. The blade found the flesh of Jonah’s back and pierced it like a hot knife through butter. It passed through his rib cage and out through his chest. Jonah fell heavily to the floor, with the blade embedded in his abdomen. He lay motionless  on the floor, with the blade protruding from his back as a large pool of dark red blood gathered around him. Herryn had landed on the couch and toppled over it. He rose quickly to his feet, ready for the next attack. He settled when he saw Jonah lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

“That was exciting, Blondel. But, I really must get going now. I have a prize to deliver.” He said as he drew the sword slowly from Jonah’s flesh. He smiled at the sound of steel and bone. As he slid his sword across his forearm guard to wipe of the blood, Herryn let out a yelp. The sound a child makes when and over-eagerly scoffed morsel lodges in his throat. 

Jonah lifted his eyes and looked up at Herryn. He was shaking violently. The sword was flung from his hand and it fell, wedging into the wooden floor. Jonah slowly rose to his feet and stood before Herryn. He was gargling as he shook. His face was struck with fear and pain and it sounded to Jonah like he was trying to say something, but his words were lost in the blood, saliva and bile that drooled out of his mouth. His arms flailed about as though trying to ward of some unseen force. With each second that passed he became more and more incoherent. He lashed out with his arms and legs, knocking over side tables and smashing the ornate glasses on the sideboard. Herryn convulsed more violently still until the sides of his head began to cave in. His eyes began to strain in their sockets until one by one they popped out and hung over his lids onto his cheeks. Jonah pulled himself up onto his feet as he watched Herryn’s head collapse before him, until it was completely compressed. Then with a loud belch, its contents spewed out through his mouth, onto the floor. His body fell limp, but still remained suspended in the air like an abandoned string marionette. 

As he stepped closer to the corpse, Jonah noticed that Emily was standing in the doorway. She stood staring blindly at him. Her eyes were complete glazed over and face was locked in a grimace. Jonah hurried over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. He dared not shake her, lest he have a repeat of the Diner.

“Emily!” he called as he snapped his fingers before her eyes. “Emily, please snap out of it.” He turned her face to himself and repeated the finger snapping. Slowly her eyes began to clear. “Gail!” He suddenly remembered that Gail was also in the room. “Gail, get your passports and pack, now.” Gail, didn’t waste any time arguing and hurried to her room to find their suitcases. Jonah then turned his attention back to Emily. “Em, look at me.” She looked up at him, with tears in her eyes. “You did nothing wrong, okay. You saved my life. You saved my life, okay!”

She nodded her head and glanced back at the body, then back at Jonah. She stared at him in silence, then suddenly reached out and wrapped her arms around him, and sobbed heavily. Jonah winced as her arms drew tight around him.

“HOLY S**T!” Gail screamed when she stepped into the hall and saw the body. “S**t, s**t, s**t!” she yelped as she stumbled backward over the luggage she had packed. Emily ran over to her and gripped her by the shoulders. 

“Gail, relax.” Emily held her sister in her arms and rocked her gently to calm her down. Gail was hyperventilating and had to relax or she would slip into shock. Leaned back against the wall in the hall and watched as the younger girl took control of the relationship and tried to calm her sister down. 

“What happened Em!? Gail blabbered. “There’s blood everywhere.” She began to sob again. Emily held her sister as she cried, till there were no tears left, just the occasional heave of a tearless sob. A loud thud broke the silence. The girls turned sharply to see that Jonah had slumped to the floor. For the first time Emily noticed that his clothing was soaked in blood.  She raced over to him, still on her knees and caught him by his shoulders before his head hit the floor. He was unconscious and his dead weight took every ounce of strength she had to lift him up. As she did he came to and stared at her blindly for a moment. Then tried to speak, but no audible words came out.

“What are you trying to say?” Emily said as she supported him, and wiped the blood from his chin. 

He tried again and the feint sound of “water”, came out. 

“I’ll get it.”Gail got up and ran to the ensuite bathroom and filled the glass on the counter with water and ran back to them. As she handed Emily the glass, she turned her head to hide the site of the body in the living room. When Jonah was finished drinking the water Emily handed the glass back to Gail to refill. Gail went back to the bathroom and Emily began to remove his shirt to get a better look at his wounds. 

“I hope to God you weren’t screwing with us about that immortality stuff.” She muttered as she tore off his shirt. It was of no good in its condition any way. When she had torn it off and his abdomen was bare, she gasped when she saw the gaping wound in his chest. The muscles had tensed up and pulled it open allowing her to see his heart beating slowly in his chest. She threw her hands up to her face and fell back onto her backside. Gail returned with the glass and hesitated when she saw the wound. No human being could still be alive in that state. She handed the glass to Emily, who set the glass to his lips and he slowly drank it. After a few glasses Jonah tried to speak again.

“Keep bringing me water. My body will heal itself. Look.” Emily glanced down at his chest and low and behold, the wound had closed a little. 

“I don’t believe it!” She yelped. 

Gail rushed back from the bathroom with the next glass, “What?”

“Look at this!” Emily pointed to the once gaping wound, and they watched in amazement as the sinew began to reattach and the muscle slowly regrew to fill the hole. It was like watching those time-lapse videos on National Geographic. Soon the wound was completely sealed and Jonah was perking up again as his body began to replace the blood lost. The trio sat on the floor awhile longer until Gail suddenly gasped.

“Do you think that if you could do that, then...” she said under her breath.

“No Gail. He is gone.” He reached out his hands the girls took them and pulled him up on to his feet. Jonah leaned unsteadily against the doorframe. Emily pulled a heavy blanket out of the passage cupboard and slung it over Jonah’s shoulders, while Gail kept the water coming. At some point, when he was able to hold himself up unsupported, Jonah glanced around the corner at the bloodied corpse. He had caught a glimpse of a gold medallion during the fight. It had a symbol on it that he recognised. The origins of the symbol eluded him but he knew he had seen it before, a long time ago. What did he want with Emily? Jonah moved closer and knelt beside the body. He carefully pulled the coat aside and found the blood-drenched medallion. He reached around the crushed head and matted hair to unclip it. He left the body where it lay and took the medallion to the kitchen sink and washed it off. It was beautiful and very intricately etched. On what he assumed was the front was the image of a beast part human and part wolf encircled by an series of knots that framed the beast. On the back was inscribed three words in a language he had not heard uttered in millennia.