I held him just as securely and pulled him
back to the pillows. I kissed his face lovingly and pulled him to
my chest. He let me.
I held him until the shakes faded from him.
He must have finally fallen asleep. I decided it’d be best to do
the same.
Not before one last thought crossed my mind.
I’d die before I let him fall. I would not leave him. I was
incapable of it, but not the lie.
Sometime later his cries woke me. He’d sat
up instantly and was looking around the room.
Nightmares… the same one I was sure. The
first night I’d slept with him he’d had one. Embarrassed, he’d told
me his macabre story. Explaining how all the humans at the camp in
Siberia had died horribly and painfully. How he’d been forced to
watch.
His description of how savagely the people
had been mutilated, torn to bloody shreds, hung from trees, or
beheaded, had me in tears.
Whoever, man or creature, which had done
this… this thing, was sadistic, vile and carnal. He explained
things I could barely stand to hear.
Dimitri had spared me the worst of it, I
know, but what he shared was more than enough to drive me crazy
with thoughts of vindictive and vengeful violence.
I could just picture this camp utterly
annihilated and destroyed. I had seen enough death and chaos to
envision his tale of sorrow and horror.
Imagining the younger and innocent victims
had me close to being sick. An iron strong stomach was all that
saved me. To completely retell the story would be the only way to
impart the hell he lived through.
As his breathing slowed, I knew he was awake
and calming down. Nonetheless, I pulled him into my arms again, and
whispered to him. He clung to me and made no sound. We fell back
asleep this way as we normally did when these nightmares haunted
him.
His alarm blared disturbingly close at us to
get a move on, so early it felt as if we’d only just closed our
eyes. It’d been after two when we’d forced ourselves to shut it off
and wake.
I was tired, but not. I could’ve slept
longer, but I wanted a few minutes with him, before we had to dress
and head to the feeding room.
Dimitri pulled me into his arms again. I was
facing away from him, and inched closer, so that our bodies touched
from head to toe.
There was no need for words with us. We were
comfortable in the silence. We were each lost in our own
thoughts.
Unfortunately, my bladder believed it was
time to get a move on, as much as the damned annoying alarm. I
dragged myself from his warm and cozy embrace, but not before he
could steal another kiss.
I saw his wound was completely healed. The
sight left me feeling uncomfortable. I dismissed it and ran to his
bathroom.
After we both dressed, we headed up top to
eat, and debrief before gathering our supplies and leaving.
The hunters and I ate quietly and quickly.
We had to load the Hummers and trucks still, and make sure we were
not leaving anything behind. It was required that we warmed up in
the gym as well. Last thing we did was go over the plan and figure
out who was paired with whom.
“
Ash and Shade, Dimitri and
Santos…” I drowned out the rest of the names after I’d heard ours.
The rest was of no concern to me.
Ash, Dimitri, Santos, and I would take one
Hummer into the east with the others following. Once we reached the
city, we’d all take a street and work our way out, while leaving
the trucks at the end of the road. The keys would be left in and
one hunter would remain with the vehicles. In an emergency, we
could haul ass, and be gone before anyone fell, well so far we had
been able to.
I grabbed my bag and sword and then got in
line for them to issue our guns. My flak jacket was on and my
knives stored in their rightful places. Dimitri gave me a
meaningful look, which I understood. He was reminding me of my
promise.
Ash looked between us, but did not comment.
His pain was obvious in his eyes. I ignored that too, despite the
raw feeling it left inside me.
Once in the trucks, we headed out, stopping
only long enough to remove fallen trees or other debris along the
way. Dimitri drove and I rode shotgun. No one questioned the
hybrids, usually. Our vision and hearing was without doubt a tool
they relied heavily on. With us in the lead, we would see or sense
anything out there, before they would.
It took us thirty minutes to get into the
city, and on the street that we suspected the monsters had decided
to hole up in.
We had a pharmacy on one side, a school on
another, a gas station, and an abandoned apartment building. The
light we all parked at was on two main roads leading in and out of
the city. It was a good place to start.
I took what I needed from my bag, as well as
my silver chain with silver charm. It was a five star pagan symbol
I only wore when hunting. My aunts had it blessed by a priest under
the moon. I think it had belonged to my mother. There was a dark
jewel at the center, which glowed bloody red in the moonlight.
We each headed our own directions, discussed
and decided upon when we were on the way. I gave Dimitri one last
loving, and tender, look before I led Ash down an alley.
At least Ash was smart enough to move
silently behind me and be aware of his surroundings.
I knew Santos had Dimitri’s back as they
took the road parallel to ours. We would meet at the corner.
I focused on Ash and I as we worked our way
door to door, checking for signs of recent life, or in a vamps
case, death.
We were in the clear until we reached the
last section of our block. We kept our guns up and rotating so we
could get maximum footage for the cameras. If we missed something
maybe the cameras would pick it up.
I heard Ash pause, listening to his headset,
as I turned to check out a shadow, while keeping one eye on the
road in front of me.
I could hear something just beyond the edge
of my senses, just barely out of reach, almost a moaning.
Ash was focused on a room in the building to
our left. If Santos and Dimitri had been in the clear as well,
they’d be at that building along with us, on their street.
We’d heard nothing from them, so we assumed
they were even with us. I saw movement just as Ash looked away and
he started moving towards me. I threw my hand up, to order him to
stop. He saw the puzzled, but aware look I wore.
I motioned for him to go to the door, ahead
of me, and wait. I watched the windows, and the door, while he
crept over to it. I held my gun on the window so if anything moved,
the camera would see it and relay it to the com units Ash was
carrying, and the rest of the team.
After Ash had reached the door, and found a
secure position to hold down, I joined him.
I motioned for him to stay put. He shook his
head no.
Looking around, I saw no reason to make him,
but I’d rather he be here if shit hit the fan inside or we got
barricaded in.
He must have reached the same conclusion,
and reluctantly agreed. He shook his head, but didn’t follow me,
when I inched open the door silently.
That was when I heard Santos’ cries.
“
Son of a
bitch!”
I darted in the building and scoped it
quickly while on the move, heading toward the other side, to meet
up with Santos and Dimitri.
Santos was standing in the doorway looking
out, blocking whatever was happening, clearly horrified. I shoved
him aside in time to see a bloody vamp, literally, toss Dimitri
aside. He’d drained him within seconds, and now was looking from me
to Santos, as if he was still hungry.
The vamp was familiar but not. The rotten
stench that reached me was beyond nauseating. His eyes sent chills
down my spine, yet I could not look away.
It took everything I had, not to rush to the
blood sucker and take it out, or to Dimitri. I felt Ash at my back,
looking over my shoulder. He tensed when he eyed the vamp. He too
was without sound at the horror that was before us, the reality of
what was became too much, still I could not look away.
Vamps are predatory creatures, with long
fangs, red eyes, and a need for killing. Their stature was brutally
animalistic and spoke volumes. Deadly, venomous, treacherous,
heartlessly cold, and dead to humanity. How could one choose this
life, willingly, and not regret it!
Vamps, newborns and some elders that is,
usually were solo but a few would run in packs which were run by
that elder. They gave off seriously perilous vibes. Most humans
would panic or go into shock, leaving them vulnerable to the
attack.
I hesitated between my promise and the vamp
standing before me. If it could so easily take Dimitri, by surprise
or not, then I was nothing but a feisty chew toy.
It eyed me, snarling, waiting on me to make
a move. This one was no rookie, he meant business. He was
definitely an elder. We were totally screwed.
Ash and Santos backed up, but when they
realized I was not coming, they hesitated with Ash reaching for
me.
“
Go,” I told
them.
“
No!” His voice was stern,
without hesitation now, and I knew how stubborn he could
be.
“
It won’t let us all leave.
Get to the others and warn them! I can slow it down so you can get
out of here.”
They both knew they couldn’t take me, even
together, but they also knew this vamp was more than a match for
me. I was seconds from being a tenderized and fleshy morsel.
“
She’s right Ash, she can
take it, let’s go!”
I heard them back out and then I positioned
myself. I was dead, hopelessly dead, and we all knew it.
Fire burned in its soulless eyes, fingers
clenched, and its knees bent readying itself to attack.
If I could unload the whole clip into the
bastard before it reached me though, I had a fighting chance. I was
nothing more than a flea to this thing, but my bullets were
not.
It’s red glowing eyes glared deadly daggers
at me, as he sized me up, contemplating what in the hell I was. It
was obviously aware of the fact that I was not human. Which was
probably the only reason it had not gone for me. I was a meal
ticket worth the short throw down I would give it.
I was not sure if Dimitri was dead, or would
turn, and it was taking everything I had to not look at him to find
out.
Just as I pulled the trigger the vamp moved.
One second he was twelve feet away, and the next, he was in my face
ripping the gun from my hands while his fangs dripped Dimitri’s
blood. I’d gotten about half a clip into his chest and neck, before
he reached me, so he was slowing down.
I was instantly overcome with a chill that
drove deep to my core, as if death itself loomed precariously
close. My heart quadrupled its beat as adrenaline kicked into
overdrive, my pulse beating its drums in my ears. I refused to
cower, to back down, to show fear. I knew better. This hellish
demon from nightmares beyond our imagination, this dark beasts
unbelievable existence rocked me once more. Only when its snarling,
noxiously drooling, rank fangs came close enough to devour me did I
remember how much these things terrified me. The hairs prickled all
over my body. I curbed the urge to shiver.
What little bullets had hit it wouldn’t take
long to affect the vamp, but it also wouldn’t take long for it to
rip out my neck either when it stopped sniffing me and took a bite,
which meant I was totally fucked either way.
As he reached for my neck oh so slowly, I
pulled my sword free and swung with what little momentum I could
obtain, considering how little room I had without stepping back.
The vamp blocked easily, as I feared it would, clearly surprised at
my speed and lack of trepidation. If Dimitri’s blood was sex on
rocks to me, then the vamp would think the same of mine, but once
ingested he’d die.
I tried to take off his head again, only to
gasp, as it grabbed my sword between his hands. I’d never seen one
move so lightning fast. Nearby, I heard a muffled sound, but I
never let my gaze leave the vamp before me. If I did I was without
a doubt dead, sooner rather than later. Only a miracle and time
could get me out of this shitty predicament.
A blade appeared out of nowhere, and
punctured the back of its head, startling me. Somehow Dimitri had
thrown it, keeping his promise to me. Either way he’d given me the
opportunity I needed to wrench my sword free and give it another
weak attempt.
As the vampire tried to remove the thrown
blade from his head, I swung. My momentum was enough that when the
monster realized its mistake, it was over. I sliced through his arm
and neck, and took its head completely off his shoulders.
I was instantly soaked in vampiric blood and
gore, and shocked. Somehow I had managed to survive facing an
elder. Something unheard of.
A human would’ve never done it. I was just
barely fast enough, especially with the distraction my beloved had
given me.
Its head fell to the ground, bounced once
losing an eyeball in the process, and a moment later its body
slowly followed. I saw the light fade from its dead eyes and the
revelation freeze permanently upon his too human face.
At one time this vamp had been a human, a
man, maybe a father or brother with family that missed him. I
wondered how I could let them know he was no longer a dead thing, a
blood thirsty demon, hell-bent on feeding on everything in his
path. The flesh on his clothes disgusted me, but the thought of
such loss saddened me, and confused me.
I swallowed hard and cleaned my sword
quickly, and then heard Ash come up behind me. He’d come back
despite Santos dragging him off. I was not surprised.