Accidentally...Over?(43)

Máax and Brutus exchanged alpha male glances and then nodded at each other.

"So why is there so much security?" Ashli asked.

"Cimil takes it quite seriously," Máax replied. "The mortals win every  year and not for lack of trying on our part. It seems we fall short on  intuitive capability and hand-eye coordination when compared to humans.  And of course, we're not allowed to use any powers."

Cimil stood in front of her little station, furiously flicking the  lever, gobbling up the plastic marbles bouncing around in the center of  the game. "Yes! Two more and we win!"

"Over my dead body!" yelled the priest, who apparently took the game just as seriously. "We've got the big man on our side!"

"Stuff it, Xavier. You're not taking that trophy!" Fate barked, her hips  twisting back and forth while she worked the flapping hippo mouth.

Ashli couldn't believe her eyes. Once again, she had the urge to say  that now, yes, now, she'd seen it all, but now she simply knew better.

Suddenly, Cimil pointed at something up on the ceiling. "Ohmygod. Look!"

The crowd's gaze zeroed in on something above them, but Ashli didn't  look away. She didn't know why. Maybe she was still in shock that  actual, real live gods were playing a priest and clown? But her eyes  remained glued to Cimil.

Cimil's attention then went back to the game, and she flicked two more  times, threw up her arms, and began screaming, "Boom! Fishedo! Victory  is ours! The gods finally win!"

Fate ran around the table and began hopping up and down with Cimil; the two looked like rabid prairie dogs.

Furious, the priest pounded his fist down on the table. "You cheated,  Cimil! You and your tricks. You grabbed an extra ball when no one was  looking."

Cimil's turquoise eyes lit up. "I beg your pardon. We won fair and square."

"Like hell you did, Cimil," said the woman in the clown suit. "We demand a rematch."

"No. We won. Deal with it," Fate howled.                       
       
           



       

The four broke out shouting, and Ashli noticed the crowd beginning to  grow uneasy. Brutus's men closed in on the fighting four; it looked like  Cimil was about to punch the priest. But suddenly, the priest reached  out and smacked Cimil across the face. The room fell into a horrified  hush.

Ashli felt herself being tugged back. It was Máax pulling her away. "This is going to get ugly."

That large, scary vampire dude that had been guarding Cimil's prison  cell stepped between Cimil and the priest. "No one touches my woman."

"You call that lying, thieving, cheating whore a woman?"

"Did I just hear that priest call Cimil a whore?" Ashli whispered in disbelief.

"Yes," Máax replied, "but he's not really a priest. He's an ex-priest and has a thing for her. Sour grapes."

Well, sour grapes are about to get squashed into sour wine.

The vampire reached down and grabbed the man by his neck. Brutus's men  descended on the vampire quickly, trying to break the two up, but  apparently the multitude of vampires in the room did not appreciate  anyone touching Cimil's man. The vampires grabbed Brutus's soldiers and  flung them across the room like tiny rag dolls. Apparently, the gods did  not appreciate that one bit because they stepped in and attacked the  vampires. It looked like the immortal version of a WWF match, bodies  flying everywhere, fists moving so quickly she saw nothing but hazy  streaks.

"Leave, Ashli. Run!" Máax commanded her.

Ashli was about to obey when she glanced down at her chest. "Well, it's  worth a try." She grabbed for her whistle, but something large slammed  into her body, sending her flying a good fifty feet. She landed on her  back with a thud, the wind instantly sucked from her chest.

"I told you! Watch where you fucking sift! I'll fucking tear your head off, Sentin!" she heard Máax roar.

Can't breathe. Can't breathe. Oh, gods, can't breathe. Not only had the  wind been knocked out of her, but she couldn't seem to move. "Máax," she  managed to grind out in a pathetic little whimper. "Máaaaax."

But the room had erupted into an all-out brawl. Bodies flew so quickly  from one side of the room to the other that they looked more like  shooting stars. Grunts and screams layered over the loud dance music.

She looked up and saw a man hovering over her. His long dreads hung  around his face like a curtain of black snakes. At first, she thought it  was that Andrus guy, but when the lights pulsed, she caught a glimpse  of his face. The man's eyes were bloody-red pits, and his face was  covered in mud or something dark. Real blood? The smell of putrid,  rotting flesh instantly hit her. It filled her lungs and triggered her  gag reflex.

Holyrefereebunnyangels! Save me. Why had she thought that? Ashli screamed, but no one paid any attention.

The creature smiled and a drop of his saliva dribbled from his mouth, hitting her on the cheek.

Ew. Ew. Ew.

The large creature effortlessly plucked her from the floor by the  shoulders as if she were a wet rag. "You are pretty. You will give me  many strong babies." The monster's voice sounded like a strange symphony  of tortured souls screaming in agony.

Whatthefuck?

The monster reached one large, crusty hand around her neck and began petting her cheek. "My little love strumpet."

What? No! "Help!" Why was no one noticing?

Because they're too darn busy fighting over a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos! Idiots!

Ashli struggled beneath the monster's icy grip; meanwhile, he dragged her toward the door.

"No. Let me go!" She clawed at his fingers, but this only made him cackle with joy.

"First, I'm going to"-the monster made a sickly slurping sound between  words-"eat your juicy little legs so you cannot run away."

What? My legs? Dear Lord! She tried reaching for her whistle, but the monster ripped it away and threw it to the floor.

"You wiggle too much," he grumbled. "Me no like wiggly humans. Bad for  my back." The monster thumped her over the head with something hard, and  she fell to the floor. The twinkling ceiling lights momentarily faded  to black, but when her vision rebounded, she wished it hadn't. The  monster held a large blackened machete. He raised the weapon into the  air, and in that moment, knowing she was about to die, or at the very  least lose her "juicy little legs," the only thing she wanted was Máax.  To see him one last time. Her gaze flashed to the mess of brawling  immortals in search of her god, but what she found was simply too  horrific to bear. Vampires were ripping out the Uchben's throats. The  gods were decapitating the vampires. Blood, so much blood.                       
       
           



       

The ground began to shake with violent tremors. Ten. Number ten.

"Máax … " she gasped as she felt the monster's blade come down on her flesh.



The sound of explosions and screaming penetrated Ashli's mind, kicking  her awake and immediately sending her into a panic attack. Oh, shit! The  monster! She sprang to her feet and swiveled on her heels, hands  defensively extended.

It took several moments to realize her legs remained intact and she was  nowhere near that thing. Instead, she was inside a giant movie theater.  Empty, dark, and creepy as hell. The sound of screaming once again  grabbed her attention. She glanced at the screen horrified by the  violence playing out. It looked like a clip from Saving Private Ryan,  only set in a modern city. New York perhaps? Dead bodies, bloody and  dismembered, lay over heaps of rubble. Buildings crumbled atop people  fleeing with small children from whatever chased them.

Ashli held her hands to her mouth. What was happening?

"Nice. Isn't it?"

Ashli gasped.

A petite blonde wearing a referee outfit sat next to the spot where Ashli stood.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Anne, but-"

"Where am I? And where did you come from?"

The woman rolled her eyes. That's when Ashli noticed the woman's wings. "And are those-"

"Wings? Yeah. But that's not important right now." She jerked her head toward the screen. "See that movie?"

Ashli nodded slowly.

"Well, it's not a movie. It's a glimpse of the future."

"Wow! That drink was so awesome!" Another woman, also with wings, appeared right out of thin air next to Anne.

Ohmygod.

The brunette waved. "Hiya, Ashli. Boy, you just cost me five cappuccinos."

Ashli lifted a brow. "Sorry?"

"I bet Anne that you wouldn't need a dry run, but she was right. You so blew it."

Anne sighed. "I'm always right, Jess. Get over it."

Ashli wasn't sure if she should run, faint, or cry. Maybe all three?