Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

Daniel frowned, and made himself concentrate. How do you kill something that’s already dead? That thought reminded Daniel of what he’d done at the Frankenstein gathering. He darted forward and grabbed hold of the mummy’s head with both hands. But even though he wrenched at it with all his strength, he couldn’t tear the mummy’s head off. Bandaged hands shot up and closed on his arms, the fingers tightening with hideous strength as they crushed his muscles. Daniel cried out despite himself, as an unbearable pain filled his arms. He pulled himself free with an almost hysterical effort, and stumbled backward. His arms fell to hang limply at his sides, screaming with an agony that wouldn’t let him think and only slowly died away as the torn muscles fought to repair themselves. The mummy came after him, and all Daniel could do was keep backing away around the circle, while doing his best to stay out of reach of the other mummies.

Tina was keeping their attention fixed on her, laughing mockingly as she danced among them, moving too quickly for them to keep up with her. She struck out at them with swift blows and vicious kicks, knocking the mummies off-balance and then darting back out of reach before they could react. Until a bandaged hand shot out with inhuman speed and grabbed Tina by the arm. She fought to break free and found she couldn’t, and the mummy threw her across the circle as though she weighed nothing at all. Tina turned end over end as she flew through the air, and then slammed into one of the standing sarcophagi, almost overturning it. She dropped limply to the floor and lay there, facedown, struggling to get her breath back. The sarcophagus rocked slowly back and forth, until finally it overbalanced and collapsed on top of her. It crashed down on her like the wrath of the ancient gods, and the sheer weight of it pinned her to the floor. Tina fought to get out from under it, her hands scrabbling helplessly on the waxed floor, but she couldn’t find any leverage. The mummies headed toward her, not bothering to hurry, their bandaged hands opening and closing with simple menace. Tina’s movements became even more frantic as she realized she was trapped—and helpless.

Daniel started forward, forcing his aching hands into fists, but the mummies were already between him and Tina. His head raced as he tried to think of something he could do, and then he saw one of the mummies flinch away as it got too close to the motionless burning mummy. As though just the heat it was giving off was a danger.

And just like that, Daniel knew what he had to do. The thought appalled him, so he moved quickly forward before he could think better of it. He drove himself forward into the awful heat, even as it seared his face, and grabbed hold of the blazing figure with both hands. He gritted his teeth as the flames burned him, but somehow made himself tighten his grip. He raised up the burning mummy, spun around, and used it as a flail to strike down the other mummies. The same way Tina had used one crocodile against the others. One of the other mummies immediately burst into flames, just from sheer proximity to the blazing heat, and rippling fires shot all over his body.

Daniel sobbed in pain as his hands blackened and crisped from the terrible heat. Flames shot up his sleeves, but he wouldn’t let go. He had to save Tina. He turned to face the other mummies, and they started to back away. Daniel showed them his teeth in a merciless grin, and went after them. He swung the burning figure back and forth, and in just a few moments all the other mummies were on fire. They went staggering blindly round the circle, slamming into one another and crying out in their forgotten language, blazing more and more fiercely as the ancient chemicals in their bodies fueled the flames.

The circle was full of a terrible hellish light. Shadows danced madly across the watching faces of the standing sarcophagi. One by one the mummies stopped screaming and fell to their knees, slowly bowing their burning heads as death finally caught up with them. In the end all that remained were so many motionless forms, burning steadily like funeral pyres.

Daniel tried to drop the burning thing he was holding, and found he couldn’t. His blackened hands wouldn’t open. Horrible pains shot up his arms as he shook them hard, but the burning shape seemed to cling to him. As though determined to bring him down too, whatever it took. Flames shot up Daniel’s shirtfront and licked at his face, and he cried out miserably.