Alice, Oscar and then rest of the group appeared at the entrance to the alley, they were covered in blood and dirt, telling me they had survived their own battle in the streets. Alice pulled her swords and twirled around to gain momentum and charged the vampire among them.
Sarah held her rifle and searched for any danger, spotting the last soldier, she aimed and fired. He stumbled back several paces and then fell as the bullet lodged into his forehead.
Luke shot the fallen vamp a second time, so that he would have a round of UV in him. That was when I should have sighed with relief, but instead, my gaze landed on the only thing that fell into the same category as losing my mother.
Drew lay sprawled across the broken pavement, his arm extended out as if reaching for his gun, which lay about a foot from the tips of his fingers. His black tee had ridden up, exposing his midsection, where blood still oozed from a bullet wound.
Oh my God.
Beside him, Gavin lay in almost an identical pose. His wound was almost exactly where he had been shot the last time. This couldn’t be happening ... it just couldn’t.
I ran to them and fell hard on my knees, one hand going to each of them. They were both cold, but that could have been from the water. Tears were pouring from my eyes and I heard my own screams as if they were muffled.
Then Luke was there, he leaned over Drew and felt for a pulse. He tried, for what seemed like forever and then leaned back on his feet, with tears in his own eyes he shook his head.
I hadn’t noticed, but Sarah had been doing the same thing to Gavin. I heard her voice in the same distant way as I heard my own voice. “He’s gone.”
No, no, no! This couldn’t be happening. I threw myself on top of Drew, with my other hand still on Gavin because I was unwilling to let either of them go.
This was wrong. This was not the way that things were supposed to go. We were supposed to win this war and live happily ever after ... well, screw the happily ever after, we were just supposed to live.
“Why!” I screamed, looking up toward the sky. “They have been nothing but good people, soldiers for the greater good! Warriors in their own right, descended from angels and gods! Why would you let this happen?”
Luke remained on his knees beside me. “Chloe, it’s over,” he whispered.
“No!” I yelled. “It’s not over, it’s not.” I choked on a vicious sob and felt vomit threaten to rise from my belly. I swallowed it down and tilted my face toward the heavens. “Help us!” I yelled with every ounce of energy I had left in me. “Please...” my voice trailed off.
Then suddenly, a furious storm of black clouds appeared in the sky above the alley. The dark clouds swirled and churned like a boiling caldron of magic.
“What the hell is that?” Sarah, like everyone else, had her face tilted to the sky.
Not a moment later, a blinding flash of light appeared within the clouds. So bright that everyone, including myself, shielded their eyes.
The light began to dissipate, slowly fading and allowing my eyes to readjust. At the center of that light, an entity formed, building itself from the very air around it.
Oh. My. God. It was my vision ... my dream.
A man who could only be described as beautiful descended from within the black storm above us. His wings had feathers of both black and white, they protruded from his back, expanding the length of probably eight feet.
He carried with him the same sword I saw in the dream, it glimmered from its own mystical light and was just as long as the expanse of his wings.
I felt my mouth hanging open and knew everyone else probably had the same expression on their face. This was completely insane, but it was the exact same as what I had dreamt that day, down to every detail.
When his sandaled feet touched the earth, he slammed the sword down into the pavement. The earth rocked violently beneath us. I held onto Drew and Gavin, hoping they didn’t fall into a sink hole from all the damage.
The angel turned his dark, glaring eyes on me and in a booming voice, he declared, “My child, you have called and I have been allowed this opportunity to assist you.”
Just like the dream, I thought, so I followed script. “Who are you?”
He smiled gently, a deep contrast from his penetrating eyes. “Why, child, I am the Warrior Angel. Back again, to help the children of my children to rid this world of the demons you call vampires once more.”
I stood, ignoring those around me, and stepped away from Drew and Gavin. I was not afraid of him, I knew from my dream that this was what was supposed to happen. “What are we supposed to do?” I asked.
He turned toward Zander, who hadn’t moved from where Korina had left him. Christina, sat with Zander again, her hand resting lightly on his head. “At this time, it is not what you should do, it is what I am going to do.” He pulled his sword from where he had driven it into the ground and strode over to my brother.
I did not take my eyes off of him, but I knew that the others had probably thought they had gone insane.
The Warrior Angel knelt down beside Zander and used the tip of his sword to lift the edge of the black tee shirt he wore. Once the cloth was over the blade, he sliced it upward so that the shirt opened up and exposed Zanders tattoo.
“This child does not come from the blood of angels, nor the blood of the gods. However, he has the soul of a warrior.” He lay his hand over Zander’s black angel wings that covered his entire back. Between the wings there was a sword, the hilt stretching up his neck. “There are not many who can fight the urges of the demon blood which runs within their veins.” The angel tilted his head, focusing on me. “I cannot stay with you upon this earth, but I can give you a gift...”
The hand which rested on my brothers back took on a heavenly glow. “Wh ... what are you doing?” I mumbled.
He had turned back toward Zander, to focus on what he was doing. “I am giving you a Warrior Angel of your very own. He shall eradicate the evil which dwells on this earth. It is his calling.”
By this time, Zanders whole body was glowing as if he were soaking in the power the angel was emanating. Christina sat beside him, the look on her face was not of fear, what I saw swimming in her eyes, was gratitude. She looked like she might jump up and kiss the Warrior Angel.
I watched as the glow filtered into Zander and then, the black in the wings of his tattoo changed. Some of the feathers turned white, so that they appeared as the actual wings of the Warrior Angel.
Oh ... I finally got it, white and black, good and evil. Both Zander and the angel were a mix of both. My brother was a good, good person, but he did things in his own way, which wasn’t always the “right” way to do things.
A moan escaped Zander’s lips and he turned his head slightly, so that he was looking up at Christina. “What happened?” His voice was raspy and barely audible.
The biggest grin I’d ever seen from Christina suddenly spread across her face. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” She leaned down and dragged Zander into her arms.
“Ugh, I feel like total shi ... what the hell is that?” He had finally spotted the Warrior Angel and struggled to sit up.
“Rest, my child,” the angel told him with a grin. “You must regain your strength.”
I pointed and murmured, “Warrior Angel.”
Zander flicked his eyes toward me and swallowed. “Uh, all right, that totally explains it.”
“I think you were dying, he revived you,” I explained.
Still confused, Zander knit his brows together and looked up at the Warrior Angel, “Well, um, I guess I should say thank you then.”
With a nod, his savior stood up and stepped away. “You’re gratitude shall be repaid many times over in the coming times.”
“What?” Zander looked to me and then Christina, “What does that mean?”
Christina shook her head. “Tell you later, what matters right now is that you are alive.”
“Now,” the angel backed away and then turned toward Drew a
nd Gavin, but address me when he spoke. “Warriors in their own right, as you called them.”
I nodded. “Yes.”
Oh, please, please, please let him save them too.
“I shall grant your request this once, for it is not their time. One of these brothers shall continue to bring forth the offspring of the Vampire Hunter. However, both warriors have more work to do in this world.”
He knelt down between Drew and Gavin, then turned his head toward me. “No matter what is to happen, I shall not grant you this again. Do you understand, young Chloe?”
I nodded so fast I was probably lucky I didn’t hurt my neck. “Yes! Yes, I understand.”
His hands rested over both Drew and Gavin and began to glow as they had with Zander. Right before my eyes, I watched a bullet purge itself from inside Drew’s wound and then fall to the pavement with a small clink. Then, the actual wound began to heal itself.
Hesitantly, I switched my eyes to Gavin and saw that the same thing was happening to him. Both of them were filled with the bright white glow I had seen in Zander when the angel healed him.
Finally, he removed his hands from their bodies and the glow began to dissipate.
“They shall wake soon.”
I felt the tears saturating my cheeks. I don’t think I’d ever felt so grateful for anything in my whole life. “Thank you.” I executed a little courtesy.
“Now,” the angel turned to Anthony, “how shall we deal with this one?”
I stepped up beside the angel and looked up into his eyes. “He helped us,” I told him. “We could not have eliminated Korina if he hadn’t been here.”
The Warrior Angel nodded. “This is not the first time Anthony Christos has assisted the Hunters.”
Anthony also looked up into the angels penetrating eyes. “I have informed the Hunter’s that they may take my life, it was the deal made, once Korina was found. The only thing I ask is that I am able to write all this into my journal before the time comes.”
The angel appeared to contemplate the request. “Anthony Christos. If your death were to come upon us at this moment, it would help the human race immensely. However, to kill you, would indeed, result in the death of young Chloe Kallistrate, whom has an important part to play in the future.”
He clasped his hands together. “Therefore, as much as I would like to, I cannot condone bringing forth your death just yet.”
Anthony looked almost sad to hear that his life was being spared by the Warrior Angel. “Are you positive that this is the correct way to proceed?”
With a nod, the angel then turned and addressed the rest of the group. “No one shall lay a hand on Anthony Christos. If any person shall attempt to murder him, they will answer to me personally, is that understood?”
I looked around the crowd as he addressed them. Most of the group couldn’t speak and just nodded in response. But, some were able to mutter a “yes” or “yes sir.”
“I must return,” the angel stated to no one in particular. “You warriors ... all of you” He looked over the crowd, “have done well this night. I am proud of every one of you.”
Then he lifted his sword to the sky and lifted off of the pavement, ascending into the churning black clouds from which he had come. Another flash of blinding light and he was gone.
As soon as the Warrior Angel was gone, my brain snapped, the only thing on my mind was Drew.
I ran to his side and saw that his eyes were wide open and staring at me. I fell down by his side and lowered my head to kiss him. I was never, ever so happy as I was the moment our lips touched. For a while, I’d thought I would never get to kiss him again.
“You’re all right,” I told him, planting another kiss on his pale lips.
He nodded as I pulled away. “I think I was hallucinating there for a while though.” He sat up and felt the healed skin where his wound had been. “I think I may have a concussion.”
I laughed and threw my arms around him. “Maybe, we will have to get you checked out.”
After I pulled away I looked to Gavin. He was also sitting up and rubbing his chest. “If you hallucinated the Warrior Angel, then we hallucinated the same thing.”
Luke kneeled down beside our boys and put a hand on each of their shoulders. “You didn’t hallucinate. You died ... and that angel, he gave you a second chance. So I recommend you don’t waste it. The time for your petty war is over, cause that war is nothing compared to the one we are fighting now.”
Drew crawled onto his hands and knees and then stood up. After he was in full standing position, he leaned over, extending his hand out to Gavin. Gavin looked up at him with a solemn expression. For a moment there were unspoken words that passed between the two and then Gavin grasped Drew’s hand and let Drew haul him up into a standing position.
There wasn’t a big ‘damn why were we fighting at all, hug’ but the two seemed to have come to some sort of terms. They died, and then an angel gave them life again, Luke was right, there was no reason for them to be fighting like this.
“You guys have to see this,” Sarah called from the opening of the alley and taking my attention away from my guys.
Before I ran to the street, like everyone else, I looked back at where Korina had fallen. Anthony stood there, staring down at the burnt ash that had once been his only family. She and the other brother had been all that remained for him.
I strode up to him and grasped his hand. “You have us now.” I told him. I didn’t want to make him feel better, I knew that would take a while, but I did want him to know that we weren’t going to abandon him.
He flicked his eyes toward me. “I thought I was going to follow her into death, now, that has been taken from me as well.”
I studied him for a moment before releasing his hand. “Well, you have a purpose, otherwise the Warrior Angel would not have allowed you to live.”
He turned so that he was fully facing me. “Apparently, my purpose is you, little Hunter.”
“Apparently,” I agreed.
Drew was at my side, having stayed with me the whole time, he grasped my hand and pulled me away. “We have to go see what’s going on out there.” I offered Anthony a smile and let Drew lead me to the street.
Our group was lined up on the sidewalk, watching the results of Korina’s death take effect. There were several vampire bodies already fallen, laying haphazardly on the streets and walkways. Two vampires emerged from a building diagonal from us, screaming and grasping at their bodies as if they were being attacked by bees. We watched them stumble to and fro like drunks and then collapse in a heap of undead flesh.
“It’s working,” I whispered.
Drew nodded and slid his arm around me. “Yes.”
~~~***~~~
Before we headed home, we went to the Le Pavillon to check on Dahlia. Anthony was fairly sure that she was from Korina’s line, but we needed to make sure.
We knew that we wouldn’t take down every single vampire when we killed Korina, but from the looks of it, the portion we got was massive.
What was left of the entire group ascended the steps of the hotel, entering with the same caution we always used. There were bound to be a few stray vampires left and a lot more soldiers that would be wandering around.
The lobby was full of dead vampires. Some were slumped on couches and some were laying on the floor where they must have been standing when they died. There was even one who had keeled over at the bar.
We took the stairs and headed up to the suites, figuring that was probably where we would find Dahlia.
It didn’t take long to locate her, but she wasn’t in the condition I expected to find her in. She lay on the bed in the same outfit we’d seen her in earlier, panting and clutching her stomach. Her eyes widened when she saw us enter the bedroom door.
“Well, dammit,” she breathed as the group formed in front of her. Her eyes scanned each person and then finally settled on me. “I guess you found a way after all. Too bad you had to kill a whole vampir
e line to get to me.”
I stepped forward a few paces. “I would have found you. This...” I spread my hands wide, indicating the death of all the vampires, “was to put an end to what you started.”
She laughed, but it was promptly cut off by a fit of coughing. “This was all you darling. You can make yourself feel better by putting an end to it, but you and I both know that the world will never be the same again. You made the history books, love.”
I wanted to throw up. And why was it that people were so obsessed about recording the history of all of this. I really, really hoped to God that my name would not be tainted forever in the books children would study at school.
I slid my gun from its holster. “I know that you are going to die soon. That much is inevitable, but I am going to shoot you anyway, just because it will make me feel better.”
She laughed again. “You have been a worthy adversary, Chloe. I will give you that much. So come on, let’s get this over with.” She rolled and flung her arm over so that she lay spread eagle on the bed. “I accept my death ... finally.” She muttered the last words as I silently pulled the trigger. The UV round lodged into her chest, causing her to lurch forward a little bit.
Dahlia squeezed her eyes shut and bit down on her lip as if she were keeping herself from crying out. I figured that it was her last act of defiance. She didn’t want to give me any satisfaction by showing that she was in pain.
I was all right with that. Just knowing that she would be gone for sure was enough for me. But, on the other hand, as I watched the UV light eat through her body, eroding her skin and flesh, I thought that I would have felt just a little bit more satisfied about shooting her than I did in the end.
She died. Her body reduced to a pile of ash on the bed of a hotel suite.
We left the hotel and my only thought was that I hoped I never saw New Orleans ever again.
~~~***~~~
We were home.
Three weeks had passed since the vampire line was eradicated. The governments were now trying to re-establish itself all over the world. The military was also rebuilding their forces, and this time they were equipping themselves to fight vampires.
The Arcadia Falls Chronicles: Omnibus (Books 1-6) Page 30