Slowly, Eva brought her arms up and returned the hug. Eva normally did not return Arachne’s frequent hugs, but sometimes things were special.
A scream from behind her brought the moment to a crash.
Arachne immediately moved to the other side of Eva in a full protective stance.
Eva uncorked two blood vials as she turned to look.
The rest of the room had descended into a panic. Two shambling men dressed as zombies staggered up to the bar where a third had his arms around Shalise. His teeth sunk deep into her arm as she tried to fight him off.
Jordan and Max both had their wands out and were casting spells. Shadows erupted out of Jordan’s wand–some kind of chaos spell, perhaps–and enveloped the two approaching zombies.
Max flicked his wand. When nothing happened, he scrambled backwards away from the group.
“Arachne.”
It was all Eva had to say. The demon jumped across the dance floor. The black needles of her fingers plunged straight through the zombie’s head as she landed next to Shalise.
Eva ran over as Arachne tore into the two zombies under Jordan’s darkness. She slid across the hard wood floor where some of the zombie had landed, but recovered her balance and knelt beside Shalise.
Shalise’s arm wasn’t looking good. She could already see the infection settling in. Eva thought about removing the arm the way her master had, but the gash in the side of the brunette’s face made her stop. She wouldn’t be able to remove her head to stop the infection.
“Don’t touch her,” Jordan said, “you’ll infect yourself without gloves.”
Eva shook her head. She could help, but not around so many people. “Don’t worry,” she pulled a black vial from her pockets, “anti-zombie potion.” A lie of course.
“I think I can help, but I need–” Eva cut herself off as she looked around.
Arachne was making her way back to Eva’s side, her fancy suit marred by blood and rotting flesh. Juliana looked petrified, she hadn’t moved since Eva first saw the zombies. Max slowly made his way back to Jordan’s side.
“Where’s Irene and Shelby?”
“Irene said she felt sick shortly after you entered the bathroom. Shelby took her back to the dorm.” Eva couldn’t tell his expression through his costume, but he stood straighter and squared his shoulders. “I’m going after them.”
“Jordan–”
“Don’t try to stop me.”
“I’m not,” Eva said with vehemence. “But if she was feeling sick…” Eva gave a pointed glance at the zombie, “just be careful if you find her.”
He gave a solemn nod and dashed out the door.
Maximilian glanced between his friend and Eva.
“Go,” she said, “even if your magic is worthless, you can at least keep things from sneaking up behind him. Watch his back.”
He took a step but hesitated. Eva did not miss the tremble in his arm.
“Unless you wanted to leave him alone, of course.” That seemed to set him off. Eva called after him, “tell him that the girl’s rooms in the dorms might be safer than the guys.”
“Arachne,” Eva said as the portly man ran off into the night. The demon knelt and Eva spoke in a whisper, “I need you to take Shalise to the bathroom. Start stripping her, be careful to get any bits of clothing out of her wounds. Keep her awake and talking and try to hurt her as little as possible.”
The demon swooped down and lifted Shalise off the ground without complaint. Shalise started fighting and struggling, to no effect, as Arachne headed to the bathroom.
“Juliana.”
The blond didn’t respond.
“Juliana!”
Tear filled blue eyes flicked to Eva. Her eyes then swept over the corpses and blood on the floor.
Her knees cracked against the ground as she knelt over and retched.
Eva wanted to walk over and slap some sense into her, but she was covered in blood. It would only make the problem worse. Instead she waited until Juliana emptied her nachos all over the floor.
“Juliana,” Eva said softly as the blond staggered back to her feet. “We can save Shalise, but I need you to do something. Can you do something for me?”
Juliana wiped the edges of her mouth and nodded firmly, if a bit weakly.
“I need thirteen stones. Sharp ones, like arrowheads. Can you make thirteen arrowheads?”
She looked around her and tapped the floor with her foot. “It is wood, I’ll have to go o-outside.”
“The bartender,” Eva glared at the man who had just been watching the entire scene, “will watch your back or he will die.” Eva returned a soft gaze to Juliana. “When you’re done with the stones, block off the entrance with a wall of rocks, just like you did at the cave. If you see any zombies or skeletons, or anything at all, come get Arachne and myself.”
Juliana nodded and took a few shaky steps towards the door.
Eva glared at the bartender again. “Go.”
“What right do–”
“If you don’t, I’ll wipe some of this blood all over you.” Eva held up her bloodied hands. “By morning, you’ll look like one of them,” she waved a hand at the corpses.
