Steampunk Harlots Ch. 24

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Foxy smelled the rotten smell again from the hall on the other side of the ship, and was surprised to see it came from a finely dressed woman. It puzzled her as to how such a woman would have ever picked up a rotting scent with her status. Had she not just been satisfied so recently, Foxy felt she would have wanted to get closer to the woman, despite the smell. Then she heard a hard gasp, distant down the hall. Focused on the troublesome noise, she strained to hear as the woman made her way to the door.

"Vampire..." she heard Hannah gasp softly.

Foxy felt her blood run cold as she fixed her eyes back on the woman who was eying Mari who, in turn, had stopped teasing the man she was on top of to look at her. With practised speed, Foxy ripped the magazine out of her rifle and dropped it to pull out the fire-type ember round magazine and slam it into place. As she worked the action, she noticed the woman looking at her curiously.

Foxy shouldered her rifle and aimed at the woman. "Load fire!" she shouted... and fired.

The shot burst into flames as it impacted with the woman's face, setting half of it ablaze, as Foxy called out again. "Vampire!"

Mari grabbed her client and rolled him onto the floor, off the couch -- right before the Vampiress flung it at Foxy. Foxy ducked, but her next shot went wide and the creature snarled with its half-burnt face. It started to move towards her when Ving, half-naked from being on the bridge with a new client, fired Hannah's trench gun. While not the fire rounds, the focused shot made a mess of the perfect breasts and clothing. This distracted her enough to allow Foxy a third shot that clipped her in the arm. She could already see the burnt face starting to heal before it jumped through the window and down onto the docks.

"Ving! Bath, find Hannah!" Foxy shouted as she rushed to the window, ready to fire.

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She snarled in pain as she focused on repairing the damage done to her flesh. Suddenly, more shots tore into her from a doorway on the lower decks of the ship. The shots chased her as she resumed her escape, some catching her with fire or passing through her. She ducked behind some crates for a moment to rest and gather her strength. Then, upon hearing an unusual sound, she stifled the desire to inspect it visually and offer the living another shot at her. She didn't have to wait long as suddenly the boxes that protected her started to crumble as a loud series of chattering booms turned them into charred splinters. She didn't understand the weapon they were using, but that didn't stop her from knowing she wasn't safe. As her cover crumbled under the onslaught, she dashed away from the ship to the service road that lead to the city. The impacts chased her as she ran.

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While Laurel fed the ammo belt, Conna tracked the target with the machine gun, and grinned wickedly at the destruction she was allowed to unleash almost as much as she was for simply being allowed to do it. The others were up on deck, adding their rifles to the onslaught.

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Distance wasn't helping her escape much. The shots were well placed, and each hit burnt her body more and more. A carriage was coming down the road but stopped too far away to be helpful. So she dashed into the warehouse that ran parallel to the road so it would provide cover to the carriage. The shots stopped as she kicked open the wooden door and got inside. The Vampiress weighed her options. She could wait to see if was someone foolish enough to chase her would give her an easy meal to help heal her wounds, or she could run for it. Had she not been recently fed it would have been a harder choice, but with a few moments rest she was well enough to be on the move again.

She dashed through the warehouse and saw the door at the end. Her plan was to exit and make the carriage speed her away. However, it didn't survive contact with the door that exploded inwards the moment she touched it. Her body was hurled back through the air, where she flipped to land on her feet. Before her stood the powerful form of a demon from the depths of hell, wreathed in fire. The Vampiress didn't have time to contemplate where the woman had come from before the demon hurled a ball of fire her way.

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Vile had spent most of the ride with her head poking through the small window in the roof that opened to let sunlight inside the carriage, being just being a few inches too tall to sit comfortably otherwise. Emma and Easy had already gotten their hands busy on her to tease the giant. She smiled at the friendly touches and felt happy with life until, as the carriage approached the docks, they heard the sound of gunfire. It wasn't until a few moments later, when they saw a half-charred figure running down the road towards them, that she knew her friends were in danger. The carriage halted well away from the exchange, and Vile saw the figure dart into the nearby warehouse.

"Something's wrong!" Vile shouted, ducking down to get inside the carriage before exiting through the door. "Something is coming this way through the building! Get this to the ship quickly where they can protect you!"

Her instructions to the driver leaving no room for argument, Vile ran towards the door to the warehouse. Without bothering to slow down, she put her hoof to the door and kicked it in with a violent heave. She saw the woman flip through the air and land on her feet, somehow healed since the last time she saw her. Vile surrounded herself with fire and growled deeply, hurling a ball of fire at her.

"I liked you better when you were burning," Vile commented as her target dodged the fireball. "Let's fix that."

Vile knew she had to close the distance, and charged while lashing out with claws of fire. The woman bared fangs and hissed at her as she backed away while throwing spears of blood at her. Vile turned them to ash before they could get close and kept her charge. She was close enough to smell the stench of rot off the woman as she struck her across the face. Vile knew she was like the dead that walked in the village, yet this creature was somehow aware, intelligent, and hungry. She could see the burning wounds close with blood that became flesh in a matter of moments.

The Vampiress struck out to knock the demon off balance, but her fist met the powerful red fist head-on and heard the shattering of her own bones. Her arm hung limp and useless as she forced her bones to knit quickly. She knew she would need speed more than strength. Dodging the next several blows and suffering burns when they got too close, the Vampiress waited for the right time to strike and kicked out at the exposed belly after dodging inside her guard.

Vile grunted in pain as she was sent into the crates against the wall and fell to her knees for a moment to recover. Her opponent lept over to her to strike again, but she wasn't as winded as anyone else would have been. Rising to her hooves to meet the threat, she slammed her open palm into the woman and ignited it as she pivoted and slammed the undead into the concrete floor. Even as Vile watched as her charred body, barely a scrap of clothing on her anymore, healed her wounds quickly.

"You are strong. But I am faster. Your fire hurts me, demon. But I can heal. You can't kill me," the Vampiress hissed in taunt.

Vile was about to respond with an eloquent fury of fire and fists when a bright blue-white light began to shine behind the monster.

"Maybe she just isn't using the right kind of fire for the likes of you," Sister Hope stated, her plate armour covering her limbs, chainmail running down her breasts and greaves, all reflecting the light from the burning mace in her right hand.

The holy flame burned, barely contained by the blades that surrounded it on the head of the mace. She charged in and swung at the Vampiress, striking her and leaving burnt scars along her chest.

These didn't heal.

Another swing and the Vampiress dodged into the reach of Vile, who grasped her by the head and threw her to the ground again, before kicking her across the warehouse, where Hope swung and slammed the mace into her belly. Flickers of holy flame burned on the undead flesh as it flew back across the room. Vile lashed out, the monster still as quick as before, missing but forcing The Vampiress closer to Hope who closed in and swung again.

Anticipating the move, the Vampiress pushed herself out of the weapon's reach when she heard a click and saw the head of the mace continue to follow her past its previous range. It slammed into her face and shattered it into wreckage of burnt bone and rot. With her single working eye, she saw the head of the mace hanging from a chain connected to the shaft. It was also a flail! The sister started swinging around herself as she charged towards her. The demon blocked her way out through the door, and guns were trained on her entry for certain. She did the only thing she could do, and charged the demon. However, her leap drew short and landed in front of Vile, her target being the small drain in the floor as she suddenly turned entirely into blood.

Vile was confused to see the charred monster splashing into blood on the floor, then going down the drain, leaving the charred bits behind. Hope yelled in frustration.

"Tear the drain off!" Hope yelled urgently.

Vile wasn't going to ask why, it was only a few inches wide so they couldn't follow, but she gripped it with her powerful hand and yanked it free from it's mounting. Hope retracted the chain back into the shaft and aimed the head into the drain. Suddenly the fire in the head stopped and a canister was fired down into the drain. Hope took two more from her belt and tossed one into the drain before slamming the other into the mace. It lit up with blue flames again and this time, as Hope aimed it down the drain, she fired a bright stream of fire into the small opening. The holy fire chased after the creature, and the canisters that had been sent down ignited and shook the ground with their explosive force.

The mace expended and the fire stopped. Hope reloaded with her final canister but didn't continue. One way or another, the creature was gone -- but there was no way to know if it was really dead. She let out her frustrations in a growl before getting back to her feet and running back to the ship. Vile didn't need to be told there were other problems.

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Cat and her client were startled from their pleasure at the sound of the gunshot. The following shots confirming a quick end to their time together. Without needing to be told, her client followed her lead when she quickly redressed. When she heard shouting to check the bath for Hannah, Cat gasped and dashed out of the room. She found Hannah, struggling to breathe and trying to stay above the water, the wounds on her body unable to bleed at all. Cat dove into the water to lift her out as Ving burst into the room and cried out in denial before helping Cat.

"Get her out of there, but keep her feet elevated!" shouted the man Cat had been with as he entered.

Cat and Ving complied, laying her down on the floor but propping her legs up on the steps to the bath. The man shook his head, knowing that wasn't enough. He turned and ran back to the lounge where he had left his bag. He snatched up and turned to grab Juno, who hadn't retrieved her rifle yet.

"Get on the radio, find the distress frequency, and summon an emergency crew with a U-type transfusion case!" he yelled at her, not waiting for a response before moving on.

Leira had come up the stairs and was poking her head into the room where Hannah was when the man returned.

"You, find the best bed here and put it on a slant!"

"Captains bed," she responded, pointing in the direction of Liddy's room before dashing off.

He let her figure out what she needed to do, and opened his bag as he entered the room. He fished out some bandages that he passed to Cat, who immediately got to work wrapping them around her neck.

"No, do her other wounds. I am going to need to stitch her neck in just a bit." His tone shifted to a professional at work.

As the gunfire outside stopped, he had pulled out a needle with a syringe and stuck it into his arm. Slowly, he pulled back the plunger until it had drawn all the blood it could. After making sure no air bubbles were in it, he stuck the needle directly into the wound on Hannah's neck and injected her.

"I'm going to need to keep doing this. Pick her up and get her into your captain's bed. Keep her head as low as possible."

As they followed his instructions, he began to draw another injection of his blood. Arriving in Liddy's bedroom, they saw Leira ripping off the left leg at the foot of the bed. After the loud snap of the wood, Leira let go and the bed fell, resting on an angle. They laid Hannah on the bed, where she was given another injection of the man's blood. Juno entered the room and nodded firmly to him to indicate she had been successful. He repeated the process of injecting Hannah with his blood several times when suddenly Hope entered the bedroom, still in full combat gear. She dropped her weapon and withdrew a phial of holy water to pour on the wounds. They steamed and sizzled for a moment before Hope began to lend her healing touch to close the wounds.

"Hmmm... perhaps I should be less critical of clergy healers," the man commented.

"We would appreciate that. Though I haven't a spell that can do what you are doing. Sister Hope, at your service."

"Doctor Stort. At yours. I just hope that my blood and hers will mix. There is a surprising difference in the types of blood. I just don't think we had much choice so I risked it."

"I will manage any side effects. Just keep at it."

Juno took over the drawing of blood from the doctor while he continued checking her vitals, until a pair of sweaty men arrived carrying cases entered, escorted by Liddy. He lept up and got to work hooking up a long tube to a bottle of blood that slowly filled up red as the blood ran through it. At the other end of the tube was a needle that he inserted into Hannah's arm the moment blood started to come out of the metal opening. Ving sat on the other side, holding Hannah by her other hand and stroking it gently as the doctor switched bottles frequently.

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Liddy had been escorting her client down the hall to the lounge opposite the bath when she heard the first shot. She threw the man down to the floor and she waited, she could see Foxy firing, and her blood chilled when she heard her call out what they were fighting. She saw Foxy avoid the couch thrown at her, and kept her client down to keep him safe. When the vampiress fled, she came out to collect all the clients and get them to the bridge, where she locked the doors after taking the trench gun from Ving -- who ran off to find Hannah.

The clients talked amongst themselves, commenting on the shooting outside the ship that they saw through the window. Liddy was worried. She didn't know how bad things were for Hannah or if anyone else was hurt. On top of that concern, she wondered what all of this would mean for her business. She knew it could all very well ruin her.

"You have a machine gun?" One of the men asked as the quick shots followed each other with regularity.

Liddy nodded to buy time while she thought of a response, "We take our clients' security very seriously."

"I'd say so..."

She let Juno in to use the radio. Liddy didn't quite understand the context of other than she was calling for help. She left as soon as she got an affirmative response, while Liddy re-locked the door and waited things out with the clients until she saw Vile get back on the ship and talk with Inky. Liddy could see that the powerful woman was angry but tired. Emma and Easy followed on board, while Vile went back down the ramp for something. Liddy unlocked the door to let Inky onto the bridge.

"Looks like Hope and Vile pasted that thing good. They aren't sure it's dead, but if it isn't, then it's hurt bad. I think it's best if we saw our clients to their homes safely."

"How can they not be sure?" a man asked, more confused than incredulous.

"It turned to blood and went down the drain," Vile stated, having returned with a satchel from the carriage. "We hurt it bad and burnt out the drain it went down, but there is no way to know if we got it. Also, the carriage is available to take you all."

The men left, not bothering to complain about how cramped they were trying to all fit in the carriage. Liddy was about to check on everyone else when a pair of men came running towards the ship carrying cases. They were out of breath, but Liddy didn't need to ask them anything to know why they were there. She had seen the medical symbol of the twin serpents enough to know it when she saw it. She lead them to her room, where she knew Hannah would be and watched as everyone did their work.

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Everyone not needed in Liddy's bedroom was waiting just outside her door. Mari paced back and forth, unable to focus on any train of thought. Leira sat in the corner, trying to get a grip on herself, wishing there was something else she could be doing. Emma sat with Easy on the guard rail surrounding the stairs in the middle of the room, ready to leap into action, should they need her help with Hannah. The door opened and Liddy came out and nodded for Mari to come in. The rest of the girls hung by the open door to listen.

Mari was terrified that she might be seeing the woman who was her only real family, take her last breaths. She took Hannah by the hand and looked at the needle in that arm, wondering if it would work. Hannah had her eyes open and looked at her friend.

"Mari, I'm sorry," Hannah wheezed.

"No, don't be sorry. I'm here for you." Mari was in tears as she spoke.

"I know but, I am sorry. I know how much you wanted to win our bet for the kinkiest sex ever. But I just don't think you are ever going to top this. Seriously, don't even try. This may have been worth it, but I don't wanna see you actually get killed trying to top it."

Mari stared, nonplussed for a few moments before speaking in a flat tone. "You bitch."

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