Falling to my knees, next to the dead man, I wrap my arms around him and sob. No tears come but the heartbreak is real. I killed a man. I fed from him until he died. I’ve become the monster I loathed to be.
A crash from across the house causes my head to snap up and look in that direction. Picking myself up from the floor, I tiptoe to the kitchen door. I spy a crisp white apron hangingon a peg and snatch it down, putting it over my torn, bloodied pajamas.
‘Michael’,the embroidered name across my breast reads. I glance back at the man. I’m sorry, Michael. A sob works its way up my throat as I look at the dead man on the floor. I’m now the villain in someone’s story.
Silently, I enter the hallway from the kitchen. I listen and hear banging noises coming from all around the house. No one is in this part of the building anymore, so I set off to try and figure out what is going on.
Coming upon a set of doors I recognize, I turn the knob to the library and enter the cavernous space. There is an identical set of metal shutters covering the large corner windows of this room too. Something large and strong bangs against the shutters, causing them to shake and bend. They are no longer perfectly covering the window. The banging doesn’t let up. I don’t know what’s happening but if whatever is out there comes in here, I’m escaping through that window.
Is this my rescue? Is this for me?
The relentless banging and smashing continues, the shutter becoming more and more mangled as the minutes pass. I duck behind a bookshelf, peeking around it, watching the progress. Waiting for whoever is on the other side to crawl through.
More yelling and banging comes from other parts of the house. Nicolas’s court of nightmares is under siege. The doors of the library swing closed behind me, and muffle the sounds considerably but I can hear the fear in the human voices and the war cries of the vampires.
A few more loud bangs on the library shutters, and a large pale hand reaches around the side of the shutter, wrenching it back, with strength that only comes from an old vampire.Slinking back further behind the shelf, I try to make myself invisible. I don’t recognize the hand clawing its way into the room.
After a few minutes, the shutter is crushed enough that a blond head pops around the side of it. His long body coils up, his muscled forearms straining to hold the metal out of the way as he squeezes through the opening he made. His heavy boots land on a plush antique rug, his long sleeved grey henley ripped across his stomach. His chest is heaving with exertion, a look of triumph on his face. He turns back toward the window, leaning out, and giving a quick whistle.
“Jack,” I breathe out, almost silently from my hiding place. His head whips in my direction as he tries to locate the source of the noise he undoubtedly heard.
“Who's there? Come out and I might not kill you,” He whispers into the space, trying not to draw attention of anyone outside the library.
“Jack?” I repeat, a sob breaking my voice. They came for me.He’s here for me.
His mouth pops open in surprise as he walks slowly in the direction of the bookshelf I am peeking out from behind.
“Elina?” he murmurs, coming closer. “Hey, baby, we’ve been looking for you.” He speaks slowly, like he is speaking to a wounded animal backed into a corner, something unpredictable and scared. He isn’t wrong in his assessment of the situation.
I stand up and fly out from behind the shelves, barreling into his arms so suddenly I almost knock him to the floor. He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight to his chest. I was expecting Bash but Jack will do. He’s Bash’s best friend and he will do.
He strokes my hair and lands a kiss on the top of my head. “Hey, how are you doing? You ok?” He stretches his arms out, holding me away from his body. My blood covered face and body pulls his attention and he gasps, searching me for wounds.
I smile, widely, fangs on display, relief filling my body. “Perfect, now that y'all are here. Where is he? I’m so happy you came, I was so worried.” I ask him desperately. He reaches out and presses his finger to my tooth, puncturing it. I taste the blood before he withdrawals his hand and sticks his finger in his mouth. His smile is pleased.
“He’s looking for you. You’re damned right we came, Bash hasn’t breathed since you disappeared.” He gives me another once over to make sure I am all in one piece and drags me toward the window. “Let’s get you outside and then we will try and find Bash. God, he’s going to lose it when he sees you.”
I stop smiling, suddenly afraid of him finding me like this, covered in blood, fanged. Not his Elina anymore. Not the same woman he’s been looking for.
Lifting me up, he helps me stand on the sill. I look out at the carnage and wreckage outside the window. There are dead bodies everywhere, vampires fallen, hearts ripped from their chests. Broken glass, splintered wood, and bent and mangled shutters protruding from the windows act as evidence of the battle that is still ongoing. I jump down, followed quickly by Jack who grabs me around my waist and hauls me away from the house. Pulling a phone from his pocket, he presses 1 and brings it to his ear.
“What is it, Jack?” I hear the clipped tone from Bash on the other end. I let out a gasping breath, a breath I feel like I’ve been holding for weeks. I sag against Jack’s chest from hearing his voice.
“I’ve got her, Bash. Outside.”
There is a loaded pause.
“Don’t take your eyes off her, I’m coming.”
“Never, brother.”
He hangs up and we wait, side-by-side, for Bash to emerge.
