Despite her speed, Pudge had the weapon reloaded by the time she reached him. His back turned to her, he didn't see her coming, and she took advantage of that fact and jumped on his back. He straightened with a shriek and attempted to throw her off, but Rachel held on like a monkey as animal rage poured through her. With one arm around his arm and over his chest, she snaked the other around his neck and grabbed his jaw. Rachel wasn't even thinking when she twisted his head sideways. It was pure animal instinct that made her do it, and bend her own head to his neck with every intention of biting the little weasel and draining him dry.
"Freeze!"
Rachel heard that shout and quickly pulled her mouth away from Pudge's neck without drawing any blood. Her head shot up as Pudge wheeled toward the stairs, the crossbow waving wildly. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the two uniformed police officers standing at the base of the stairs, their weapons drawn and pointed in her direction. Then the crossbow went off.
"Oh," Rachel breathed as the officers tried to jump out of the way of the whizzing projectile. There was a curse, followed by a thud as the blond officer was hit. At first she thought the man had taken the missile in the arm, but as he began tugging at it, she saw that it had missed flesh and bone and was merely caught by his sleeve, which was now pinned to the wall.
Rachel was still gaping at the struggling man when Etienne suddenly moved. He was at her side, ripping her from Pudge's back and dragging her out of the line of fire before she even considered the need to move. But the officers didn't return fire. The dark-haired one kept his gun trained on Pudge, but his gaze kept returning to the blonde struggling to free himself. It gave Pudge the chance to snatch yet another stake from his back pocket and reload his weapon.
Pudge had just finished locking the stake into place and turned to aim it at Rachel and Etienne when the trapped officer managed to pull his sleeve free. The two men immediately shifted several feet apart, both aiming their weapons at Pudge.
"Drop it! Drop the weapon, buddy! Just drop it!" the blonde shouted. He sounded pretty angry. Perhaps pissed off was the better word, Rachel thought, as Etienne shifted her behind him and stood like a brick wall between her and the stake Pudge was aiming their way.
She appreciated the concern obvious in this action, but it made it difficult to see what was going on. Rachel ended up having to duck and twist to see past him. She almost felt sorry when she saw Pudge's reaction to finding himself the target of the officers' anger. He was staring at them in dawning horror, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. He obviously hadn't expected this.
"Come on, buddy. Put the weapon down," the dark-haired officer suggested in cajoling tones. "We don't want to have to shoot you... but we will."
"Me?" He stared at them in amazement. "Shoot me? I'm the good guy here. I'm like Van Helsing! It's them you want! They're the vampires!"
Rachel caught the glance the two officers exchanged and knew everything was going to be all right. They weren't buying what must sound like nonsense to them. However, she couldn't help but think that, had their entrance been one moment later and had she managed to sink her teeth into Pudge's neck as she'd intended, this whole scenario might be completely different.
A glance at Etienne had her suspecting he was thinking the same thing.
"Really!" Pudge was squealing like a pig. "They're vampires. Both of them."
The officers glanced in Rachel and Etienne's direction out of reflex. Both then started to look away, but the one who had so recently been pinned to the wall stopped midway and swung his gaze back. Rachel felt herself stiffen at the recognition on the blonde's face.
"Dr. Garrett? Dr. Rachel Garrett?" the officer asked. "It is you."
Rachel nodded warily but didn't get the chance to say anything. Pudge jumped in there, his voice excited. "Yes. That's her. She was working in the morgue the night I went in to finish him off." He waved the crossbow wildly toward Etienne, making Rachel flinch. It had already gone off once accidentally and could easily do so again. "She jumped in the way when I went to cut off his head and I axed her by mistake. I hit her in the chest. She should be dead, but he turned her. Now they're both vampires," he explained, sounding completely insane. "They're both soulless bloodsuckers, cursed to walk the night forever."
Rachel bit her lip, almost embarrassed for the man. Everything he had said was true, of course. Well, except for the soulless part. But really, where was his common sense? Surely he must realize no one would believe him. She wasn't terribly surprised when the officers began easing farther apart and approaching Pudge in a rather wary manner.
"Okay, buddy," the dark-haired officer said. "We get it. They're vampires and you're the good guy. But we're here now. You're safe. So drop the weapon and put your hands up, huh?"
Pudge frowned, his gaze shifting between his weapon, the police, and Rachel and Etienne. "But what about them? You should be pointing your guns at them," he said finally.
"Well, now," the blonde drawled, "guns don't work on vampires, do they? But I'm sure they'll come along peaceable-like." He glanced at Rachel and Etienne, "Won't you?"
They both nodded.
"See?" the first officer said soothingly. They know they're caught. Now you just need to give up your weapon there, buddy."
When Pudge hesitated, the second officer added, "We didn't come prepared for a call like this. You know, vampires aren't exactly thick on the ground these days. We aren't armed properly. Why don't you give us the weapon so we can take them into custody?"
"Oh, yeah. Yeah." Pudge looked relieved. "You should be armed too." He started to shift sideways toward the nearest officer, making sure to keep the crossbow aimed at Rachel and Etienne. "I have more weapons in the back. You can keep this trained on them while I get more. I have holy water, crosses, and more stakes. I'll get them while you watch them."
"Good thinking," the blonde said agreeably, lowering his gun slightly and holding his free hand out to accept the crossbow.
"Don't take it off them," Pudge warned as he handed it over. "They're super fast you know. And super strong. I--Hey!"
The moment the weapon changed hands, the officer tossed the crossbow aside and raised his gun to aim it at Pudge. Ignoring his wounded expression, the policeman gestured with it. "Against the wall. Come on, against the wall and spread 'em."
"But--" Pudge's protest was cut off as the second officer hurried forward and caught him by the arm.
"Spreadeagle," the dark-haired man barked, all trace of cajolery gone. The blonde kept his gun trained on Pudge while his partner ripped off his cape and proceeded to frisk him. The maniac had a couple more stakes in the back pocket of his jeans that the officer took away.
Rachel and Etienne watched in silence as a protesting Pudge was cuffed and led to the stairs. He was still babbling about their being soulless vampires and he was the hero in this piece and that they were making a huge mistake.