Shed some Light

by Amber Naralim

  “Vince! Goddamn it I need ya!”

  Edward lowered his shoulder and came rushing at him. Reese clapped his hands together bringing them down hard over Edward’s back fracturing his shoulder blade. The two of them slammed into the wall, sending a crack up its surface that slid all the way across the ceiling above their heads. The sound of the twelve gauge was a deafening clap as Ellie climbed the steps. Reese swooned dropping to the floor, fireworks exploded across his vision. He heard Vetler scream.

  Taking the steps two at a time, Ellie rushed across the porch. The front door hung open. She barely got passed the threshold when Vetler came flying through the air. Tossed like a rag doll. His body slammed against the corner of the opening to the hall.

  Reese’s body was healing, just nowhere near fast enough. Reese came up on his knees. He pushed the jagged piece of his femur that had torn through the skin of his leg back in. Reese lashed out with his leg making sure it set properly. A cry escaped him. Flames of agony licked up his leg, into his hip.

  Edward's arm snaked around his throat and Reese could no longer breathe. Reese’s elbow clocked him in the face shattering the bones of Edward’s nose. Reese's eyes bulged out of his head. Pain tore through him like biting sparks of electricity. He heard Edward cry out behind him and his grip loosened. Reese fell forward onto his knees.

  Vincent appeared behind Edward. He buried his claws deep into Edward’s chest. The razors on Vincent’s left hand tore across his back. Edward came back slamming his head into Vincent's face, twice, the second a harder hit than the first. Vincent's grip loosened on his heart and Edward twisted around with a backhanded fist that sent Vincent spinning to the floor. Edward’s hands closed on Reese's shoulders. He threw Reese’s body into the wall, shattering the window. A wide, jagged piece of glass slipped out of the aluminum holder and ripped into Reese's shoulder drawing yet another keening screech of ragged pain from him.

  Vincent began to shift. His body broke and changed as he hurled fist after arcing fist at Edward's midsection. Edward blocked the first two with crossed forearms. The third he wasn't quick enough for. It slammed into his head caving the side of his skull in. Vincent moved like quicksilver, hitting him so fast Vincent’s moves couldn't even be seen. Only blood splattering across the floor and Edward's body reacting to the hits lent any clue to the pain Vincent dished out.

  Vetler was unconscious, blood dripping from his forehead. Ellie crouched next to him, feeling for a pulse. It was there. Charlie came running in from the deck. She cried out when she saw him. “He's alive, Charlie!” Ellie assured her. She tried to come to her feet and take a step at the same time. It wasn't the most graceful thing, but Ellie managed to keep her balance with the help of the wall.

  The power of Vincent’s blows drove Edward to his knees. Ellie's cry that Vetler was still alive bounced about the room. Vincent made the mistake of looking up. He did not want her here. His fist cocked back ready to land another blow. Edward threw his arms around Vincent’s waist. His vice-like grip shattered Vincent's spine. Blood bubbled up out of his mouth dripping down onto Edward's back. Through the pain of it, Vincent cried out to Ellie. He wanted to tell her to get back, to stay away. It came out as a pain-soaked moan.

  Reese's Monster pulled himself from the floor, launching himself into Edward with a celerity that made her dizzy. Ellie watched in what seemed like slow motion as Reese and Vincent tore at her brother from both sides. Something caught her eye. Bright red. Anna was crumpled on the floor on the right side of the bed. Ellie rushed to her.

  Sliding to her knees next to Anna, Ellie pulled her shoulder over, leaving her lying flat on her back on the hardwood floor. Four jagged claw marks cut across Anna’s chest. A massive chunk of flesh was missing from her right shoulder. Anna fought to breathe. The sound was wet. Blood bubbled up out of her mouth. There was so much blood.

  “I’m sorry! God, I’m so sorry, Anna,” Ellie cried. She pressed her hands to Anna’s chest trying to hold her together, willing her to keep breathing. “What did he do to you?”

  A cry of pain ripped her attention from Anna, back to the fight. Edward had Reese t-boned across his knee. His back broken. No spine could bend that way, not even theirs. Reese’s right arm was nearly ripped from his body. Vincent was on Edward's back his arm wrapped around Edward’s neck. His claws tore across Edward’s chest just to have the wounds close almost as instantly as they slid across his black flesh.

  Reese tumbled forward onto the floor as Edward staggered back. He grabbed hold of Vincent by his shoulders, throwing him through the wall. A large chunk of it went with him flooding the room with the dying light of the outdoors. Ellie used the bed to drag herself up.

  She flipped the safety off. Edward turned, going back to finish what he started with Reese. Ellie raised her bloodstained arms, steeling herself. Anna's broken body was the deed Ellie couldn’t ignore. Ellie thought she could forgive him anything. She was wrong. Ellie pulled the trigger over and over again. Six bullets slammed into Edward’s chest, three of them hitting him in the heart. He staggered back a step. All it did was take his attention away from Reese. Edward’s head snapped up. He glared at her with those monstrous eyes.

  “Ellie!” Edward shouted in that inhuman voice.

  Her eyes opened a touch wider. Ellie had never seen his Monster before this moment. His body was impossibly tall, his spine elongated, nearly a foot taller than Vincent. The bones of his chest looked like they had broken outward, his shoulders broad. The bones of his clavicle, his throat, his hips accentuated. His stomach was long, stretched thin. His arms were muscular, reaching well past his knees. Just like her boys with one exception. Edward had been created from the shadows, the very darkness itself.

  His skin was a glossy black. It shimmered in the light. Blood dripped from his toothy maw. It glistened and dripped from his obsidian claws. Blood, she had no idea who’s slathered across his chest.

  “What did you do, Edward?” Ellie tightened the grip on her gun, her eyes turning to shiny green stones.

  Edward hesitated for a beat, a growl trickling from his throat before he rushed at her. His body slammed into hers with the power of a freight train. Ellie felt her ribs shattering beneath the hit. Both of them flew through the air crashing into the wall at her back. Ellie dropped the gun. It hit the floor skittering under the bed. She did her best to get her elbows behind her to absorb some of the hit. The force of it tore her left arm from its socket. Ellie screamed.

  Her head snapped back with a resounding THUD. Beautiful fireworks exploded across her vision. Edward’s teeth ripped into her throat. Fire spilled into her chest tearing another ragged cry from her. Blood poured down the front of her. So much, so fast, that it left her cold. Her body shuddered. Ellie remembered thinking that it should have hurt more as the darkness dragged her down. It took every ounce of strength that Reese possessed to keep Edward from tearing her throat out. Reese had hold of one side of Edward’s mouth, the other hand on his shoulder. He pulled Edward back a few inches.

  Ellie's body dropped to the floor over Anna's. Her blood sprayed out across them. Reese pulled his claws through the side of Edward’s face flaying his flesh open. An instant later Reese ran those same claws over his throat, nearly cutting Edward’s head off. They fell backward to the floor in a tangle of body parts. Reese ripped at him with his claws. Edward turned, slamming his fist through Reese's stomach, all the way through to shatter the floor beneath him. Another blow and another crushed in the side of Reese’s head. Vincent was suddenly there, appearing over them. A flurry of blows flayed Edward's back open.

  Shredding him, Vincent heard the chink sound as one of the claws sliced through Edward’s spine. Vincent tore into him with such alacrity that the only thing anyone saw was the spray of blood that flew out of him. Vincent closed his hands over Edward's head. He gave a sharp twist tearing the healing wound that Reese made. The bones shattered.

  Edward reached behind him pulling Vincent up. Flipping him over, Edward hamme
red Vincent into the floor. It buckled beneath him. An earthquake of pain rocked him. Vincent’s arm shot out grabbing at the edge. His feet dangled into the basement below. Reese lowered his shoulder slamming into Edward, sending him flying back into the far wall. Vincent pulled himself out of the fissure in the floor.

  Vincent disappeared from the spot he was, reappearing in front of Edward. He threw a right hook that turned the bones in Edward's face to paste. It shattered every bone in Vincent's hand. Vincent grabbed hold of Edward, lifting him. Vincent used every ounce of his preternatural strength to throw him through the wall.

  Vincent spotted Ellie lying crumpled on the floor. His rage disintegrated. He was washed away by his fear. Ellie wasn't moving. Blood pooled beneath her. The Monster slid down into the darkness inside him. Vincent’s body shifted, changing back down to his human form as he moved. Vincent fell to his knees pulling Ellie into his arms.

  “Charlie!” he screamed. Vincent slammed his hand down on the wound in her throat, putting pressure on the lacerations to stop the bleeding. “Please!” he called out.

  Charlie pulled Shane's head forward. There was a large cut on the back of it just above his neck. It was bleeding heavily, making it difficult to ascertain just how bad it was. She was sure that several of his ribs were broken. Shane came to with a ragged gasp. His eyes flying open suddenly. They were wide, showing too much white.

  “R-Reese!”

  “He's in there. Anna's in there! I have to go help them,” Charlie cried.

  “Charlie!” They heard Vincent cry, “Please!”

  Shane grabbed her arm. “No!”

  “Shane, I have to!”

  Chapter 50

  Reese came to his feet clumsily, the hole in his stomach closing. His bones forged themselves together as he moved. Reese tilted his head to one side trying to set the bones in his neck. A shuddering breath escaped him as he took a few shambling steps toward the opening. He caught sight of Edward running surprisingly in the other direction. Edward rushed toward the tree line. Reese turned back to the room. Vincent had his hands clamped over Ellie's throat.

  Charlie appeared in the doorway. Her eyes wide, her hands bloody. She cried out when she saw the girls. “Oh God, what did he do to them?” Charlie ran into the room her fear taking a backseat. She laid shaking hands on Anna's chest. Her head came up, wide eyes staring at Reese. She had to try twice to speak. “My- my kit!”

  Shane staggered toward the doorway dragging the shotgun. His vision swam. He fought a wave of nausea as the room pinwheeled away from him. He caught himself on the doorway. Reese pushed past him. Charlie's kit in his hands, he sat it down between Ellie and Anna. Both Charlie and Vincent reached into it. Ellie was still alive. That's all Reese could think. Vince would save her. He had to! Reese fought the urge to run after Edward. He wouldn't be able to do it on his own. Edward was too strong. Instead, he paced the edge of the broken floor, praying Ellie would be all right. He paced praying Anna wasn’t in pain.

  Vincent worked to stop the bleeding, one hand keeping pressure on the tear. He blinked. Ellie shined with heavenly light. It blinded him. The other grabbing for what he needed to stitch the vein. Charlie fought to keep Anna alive. Her chest heaved with shallow breaths. She gasped like a fish out of water. Reese moved back and forth in front of the opening. Staring out, waiting for Edward to come back. He turned toward Charlie’s horrid moan, eyes wide. “He ripped her lung open!” There was nothing Charlie could do. Anna was dead. She just didn't know it yet.

  Charlie had a split second to make her decision. Her arm shot out, spilling the kit. Her bloody hand searched for the scalpel. Her white knuckles closed around it. Charlie hesitated, staring into Anna's ashen face. “I'm so sorry, sweetie!” Charlie drew the blade down the center of Anna’s belly, from the bottom of her breasts to the top of her groin. The scalpel made an echoing clatter as it fell to the floor and Charlie dug her hands into the incision.

  Charlie pulled the baby free of his mother's womb as she took her final labored gasps. Anna’s head lolled to one side. Reese stared as the light went out in her eyes. Blood dripped from her still fingertips. Shimmering red blood expanded in a pool beneath her. Charlie laid the baby on Anna’s ruined chest. Using two fingers to clear his airway, she worked frantically to get him to take that first breath. Charlie kept whispering the words “Morning always comes.” over, and over again, her prayer, her plea to the heavens above.

  “Come on, Lucky, breathe, baby, breathe!” Charlie begged, tears running like rivers down her cheeks. Her tears dripped onto his tiny blood stained body. “Please, breathe for me, Lucky.”

  Shane hovered over her. He stared down at the tiny child, his spindly little arms. His whole body covered in his mother’s blood. For the first time since he lost his own boy, Shane whispered a prayer. He begged God to spare this innocent. There was darkness and evil in this world. Hell, he was staring down at what it could do. For the first time in so very long Shane dared to have just a little hope.

  Charlie pressed on the baby's chest, massaging it. She ppulled him up by his little feet, working his chest. Like a miracle, she heard him take a breath. His cry rang out like church bells over the room. Charlie closed her eyes, pulling him into her arms. She thanked the universe, and God, and anyone else who might have been listening at that moment. Shane ripped a case off a pillow that had fallen to the floor on his side of the bed.

  Charlie lifted the baby up and the two of them wrapped him into it. Shane held the wailing child to his chest, slumping to the bed. He didn't trust his legs to hold him up. Shane wrapped his arms around the tiny thing, tears dripping onto his little face. Reese tore his eyes away from Anna to glance at him, then at Charlie and Vincent working so hard to save Ellie. Shane touched the baby's face. Lucky opened his eyes. They were the color of ice. So pale blue they almost looked white with a licking ring of gold around his pupil shining like the rays of the sun. Shane knew in that moment he was in love with this child.

  Ellie's body spasmed, her eyes flying open. She took in a ragged breath. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. Heat burned its way through her. Vincent stared down at her, his tears falling onto her face. “Stay with me, El. You promised you wouldn't leave me,” he cried. “Don't you give up on me!”

  “He didn't get her carotid,” Charlie said. “By some miracle.” She handed Vincent the needle, knowing his hands were faster than hers. The scar wouldn't be pretty, but Ellie was alive. Charlie filled a syringe full of Morphine. She gave Ellie the shot as Vincent finished stitching up the wound in her throat. “Her shoulder is dislocated,” Charlie told him as she pressed on Ellie’s chest looking for more damage.

  “I'm sorry, El. Baby, I gotta,” Vincent told her. Ellie tried to nod, her eyes fluttering. Vincent grabbed her left wrist, pulling with more strength than he’d ever used on her body before. Ellie screamed, ragged, loud, and full of pain. Tears running down her face, her spine bowed with the agony of it. Vincent pulled her into his arms, holding her with everything he had. His warmth helped to soothe that ache, if only a little.

  Vincent stared down into her eyes. He swore that ring of gold had pushed the green back so far. It licked and writhed like sunshine. He pressed his face to hers, laying kisses on her forehead. Elation shot through him. He hadn’t lost her. Vincent blinked at the tears in his eyes. They fell, splattering onto Ellie's face inches away.

  She had to try a twice before she could find her voice. Swallowing sent a shock of electricity through her throat. The pain of it curled in her chest. She moaned with it. “Edward?” she asked, her body shuddering from the hurt.

  A look of rage passed over Vincent's features. He pulled back from her. His eyes crashed and swirled. His jaw clenched with the fight to keep his temper in chains. “He ran. Anna's dead,” he told her cradling her gingerly. “And he almost killed you!” Ellie laid her head against him and wept.

  Reese closed Anna’s eyes with a shaking hand and laid a blanket over her corpse. Charlie stepped ov
er to Shane to look at the baby. She gave him a look so full of sorrow it made Shane’s heartache. Charlie touched the baby's face with her fingertip. He was so small, just over four pounds. For the first time, Charlie hoped for just a little bit of that supernatural to have rubbed off on him. He was going to need some. Nearly a month early, he was certainly going to need something.

  The sound of Birdie's paws on the floor made them all look up. “I thought Edward killed him?” Shane said with wide eyes. “I saw him snap his neck just before I shot him.”

  “That dog is special,” Reese said, looking down at Ellie. He fell to his knees before her. Reese fought the urge to touch her. He was so ecstatic she was alive. He couldn't stop himself. He had to feel her flesh against his. Even Vincent couldn't blame him for that. They’d almost lost her. Reese took her hand in his, lacing his fingers between hers slow. With a sniff, he leaned down laying a kiss against her knuckles.

  A sob escaped Ellie. They warned her. Hell, she knew it was going to happen. In her gut, she knew. She just couldn't let herself believe it. Ellie pressed her forehead against Vincent's shoulder, biting her bottom lip. She could feel herself slipping down into that molten metal at her core. Ellie knew what she had to do.

  An image of Anna gasping for breath, her chest a ruin of blood exploded before her eyes. Edward loved her. Ellie knew he loved Anna, and he murdered her anyway. Ellie lifted her head. She looked first at Reese. His eyes angry, tears sparkled on his cheeks. Her eyes met Vincent's. Her lips trembled. The agony of her wounds threatened to drag her back down. The anguish she felt for what she was preparing herself to say nearly ripped her heart right out of her chest.

  “We have to kill him,” she moaned. Vincent stared down at her. Reese blinked at her. Just a hint of pride shot through him. He gave her hand a squeeze. Neither one of them thought she would sign off on it, even after all this. Vincent nodded. He brushed the tears away from her face. “I'm coming with you,” she said.