Count The Teeth - Part Nine
Alright. Here we are. The point to which I’ve caught up to my writing, AND IT’S STILL NOT DONE DANG IT!
But I’m not abandoning this just because spooky month is over after today. This story is done when it is done by Joe!!!
There will no longer be a daily update however :(
The two cameo characters in this chapter belong to @justwritingscibbles and are being used with her permission.
Edited by @the-wild-ego
PART ONE / PART TWO / PART THREE / PART FOUR / PART FIVE PART SIX / PART SEVEN / PART EIGHT
When you stepped through the opening, and back into the garden, you found a world of chaos and Hell fire.
Hell fire particularly came to mind, due to the fact that there were burning craters with blue black flames peppered throughout the garden. Blue fire was not natural. The only time you’d seen blue flames, was on Hades in the movie ‘Hercules’. Aka the God ruling over the underworld.
A blur of blue and black flew past you, close enough that a light searing heat grazed over your nose.
It crashed down into the ground, creating another crater. From where you stand, you could make out Mercer and… was that… NateMare?
Your stomach rolled with the threat to eject.
His face was half melted off, his hair was on fire or had become fire?
Just what the Hell was he?!
Mercer and NateMare were oblivious to your return.
Mercer took hold of NateMare’s jacket collar and, using his weight, flipped NateMare over his hip and back into the ground. Not giving NateMare an opening, Mercer pressed his foot to NateMare’s throat.
One thing Mercer had noticed during the fight, was NateMare’s inability to turn to smoke. It seemed that in his full form, he lost certain powers in exchange for his Hell fire. As soon as Mercer had made this connection, he’d taken full advantage.
To NateMare’s credit, his full form did allow him greater strength and speed. Enough so to make a near equal match to Mercer.
Mercer’s flawless skin was marked from dirt, soot, and a smattering of burns slowly healing. His clothes had been torn and scorched in patches, showing where NateMare had managed to get hits in.
One thing Mercer was constantly watching for, was how much air NateMare drew in at a time. If NateMare was given a chance, and enough air, he could unleash a scream that could cause even a vampire fatal damage.
It was said that a Hell Banshee’s wail could send the soul of any creature straight to the depths of Hell.
That was, of course, the exaggerated telling from lore.
An acquaintance had corrected him, informing him that it was the force of the decibels in the wail that caused damage. It wasn’t that a creature’s soul was sent to Hell. Merely that their brains couldn’t handle the force and the victims were instantaneously killed.
As he had superior senses to a mortal, Mercer was certain that NateMare could-- at best-- render him unconscious.
Rather than try to remove Mercer’s foot, NateMare grinned and pointed his palms up towards Mercer’s face. Mercer leaned back and out of the way of the streams of blue flames that erupted from NateMare’s hands. The skin on the left side of his face blackened and cracked as the heat from the flames vaporized the moisture.
The last time you’d seen Mercer, he had appeared to you as a flawless, older version of NateMare. That image of him must have been an illusion.
You were inching your way closer towards them, allowing you to see the fury, loathing, and pain that tore away his ethereal appearance. His lips drawn back in a snarl showed that it was more than just his canines that were fangs, all of his teeth were sharpened points. The red from his irises bled into the whites, making it hard to tell where his irises even were.
These were monsters that had taken the form of men.
And here you were, walking straight up to them.
‘I have a death wish. It’s the only answer.’
Your mind was at war with your body.
With each step closer, your legs threatened to give out on you. Each grunt, growl, or twitch from the two you were approaching made you flinch. Your body wanted to run as far away as possible.
Yet, your mind was overriding your body and forcing each step closer. There was someone out here that had wanted to help you. They’d freed you from NateMare’s curse and their note had hinted that this would also do something about Mercer. Hell, you were even betting it would put a dampener on NateMare, too.
‘Just a little bit closer.’
You took another couple steps and you were right behind them.
Your fingers fumbled with the cap on the flask. You watched NateMare to see if he’d noticed you.
You thought you saw his head turn a fraction towards your direction.
The cap came off and Mercer’s shoulders tensed.
His body shifted, turning to face you.
Remembering what had happened the last time you met his eyes, you closed yours and with a small prayer, you swing your arm up and round to the side to send the contents out of the flask.
Having an idea of what was in the flask, NateMare took hold of Mercer’s leg and held tight. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain.
Mercer felt its purity the second the flask had been opened. He wrenched against NateMare’s hold on his leg and was met with more pain as NateMare used his flames to sink his fingers in for a better hold.
Had your eyes been open, you would have seen the magic of the flask. As it were, you certainly felt it.
As anyone in the Doctor Who fandom would quote, “It’s bigger on the inside.”
It was more than just a cup of water that came free from the flask. A geyser of water erupted from the flask. The force of it knocked you back a couple feet.
Over the roar of the water, you heard the agonized screams from both Mercer and NateMare.
*****
Two shadows watched from the trees nearby.
“Did you have to give the mortal the flask? We could have dealt with them both… I really liked that flask.” One grouched, shifting on the branch he perched upon. Tiny, softly glowing, green moths fluttered around him. Some landed on his shoulders, to which he ignored.
The other stroked the head of a little brown bat. It wasn’t one of his, but he would not take any ill actions out upon an innocent creature, bound to do another’s bidding. As the geyser from the flask ebbed to a trickle, he focused his sight onto the two steaming individuals that had been in the water’s path.
“We could have, yes, but that wouldn’t have done anything to nudge that one to a more… progressive mindset. Besides, I don’t like getting my hands dirty in another family’s dispute.”
Marquess made a noise that could be a cross between a laugh and a snort, “You sure don’t mind meddling though.”
Count smiled then, his fangs glinting in the shadows, “Let’s call this a special circumstance that warranted such actions.” he nudged the bat, urging it to fly over to the mortal.
It gave a tiny ‘squee’ of protest to being sent away, but did as it was told. As it took flight, so, too, did the observers.













