Instead of walking towards the house I went against my better judgment and chose to trust my instincts. I turned and walked towards the trees. My shoes splashed with each step in the slippery wet grass and I felt my socks getting soaked as the rain chilled me right to the bone.
As I approached I thought about how the wet ground could actually help me out. It could benefit me should I need to try to escape. I could slip and fall down easily, then I could camouflage myself in mud and disappear, which would enable me to easily crawl away.
Nonsense! I fought the cowardly thoughts from my head. I was going to stand and fight. The time had come for someone to fight back; I wasn’t running anymore.
Sopping wet and fired up, I finally made it to the trees. I looked around and wiped the rain from my face, but couldn’t see him anywhere. He was toying with me, always playing these ridiculous games, and I was growing very tired of these antics. “Donovan, you big coward. I’m here! I’m the one you want. Now show yourself!” I shouted with my arms out, spinning around trying to catch a glimpse of him. He never appeared, which fueled my anger. The rage inside hit a boiling point. Adrenaline pumped rapidly through my veins. I was ready to fight. I’d never been more ready for anything in my life. I clenched my fists together. “Where are you?” I ranted. “You wanted this, now you hide? Are you scared? Not used to someone who’ll fight back?” I spun around again and this time our eyes locked.
He crept out from behind the large tree a few feet away from where I stood. I grinded my teeth, balled my fists and firmed up my stance. He moved right in front of me and I did the first thing that came into my mind. I lunged at him, knocking him to the ground, punching and kicking as hard as I possibly could. Every blow I sent connected, but he just laughed at me. He was ruthless, playing with me, provoking me to do worse than I already was. I had to think fast. I rolled over, got myself up off the ground and kicked him in the ribs once as I struggled to keep my footing. He curled up from the blow, but never stopped laughing.
His laughing made me livid, and he just wouldn’t quit. Why was he laughing? He remained on the ground looking up towards me and I felt the urge to lose it. I moved in to kick him again, hoping this time it would silence his laughter. I lifted my leg back gathering my momentum, swung forward and with a swift movement of his arm, he hit the back of my planted knee sending me spilling down on top on him.
“Now, this is much better. A little more up close and personal.” He licked his bloody tongue down the side of my face.
Disgusted, I dug my elbows in and scurried away as I attempted to get back on my feet. The games were over. He wasn’t playing around anymore. I’d gotten his attention. I regained most of my balance and almost made it all the way up when he simply reached over, took hold of me in an effortless motion and flung me backwards through the air. I flew so far and landed hard on my back, knocking the wind out of me. I choked for air and rolled around in pain.
Donovan strolled over and sat on top of me, pinning me to the ground, as I lay helpless and injured. I kicked and squirmed with every ounce of strength I could find, but wasn’t strong enough to move him. He was in control now.
“You’ve surprised me,” he said, cocking his head. “I didn’t think you had this in you. Quite the fight you started there.” His cold fingers dragged down my cheek. “I must admit… I actually rather enjoyed it.”
I squirmed. My skin burned from his icy touch. I needed to get up and find help. I couldn’t do this on my own. Why hadn’t Kaleb or Jayce sensed I was in trouble? I needed them now more than ever before.
“Thinking about calling for help?” His tone came out sharp as razors. “Do it! I want them to watch you perish.”
“Why me?”
“You got in the way. That’s all. You were never supposed to become immortal. With you gone, well, things can go the way they were meant.”
“I didn’t ask for this,” I said, looking into his cold eyes.
“I know you didn’t. But, I promise you, I will kill anyone who tries protecting you.”
“No!” I said. The faces of Jayce, Kaleb, Kael and the others flashed through my mind. “Please, just leave them alone.”
“Oh yes!” he taunted. “They will disappear, just as easy as your family did. Now, call them. I want them to witness your ending.”
I didn’t respond.
“Why won’t you call them?” He grew impatient.
I wasn’t going to play this game the way he wanted. I wouldn’t grant him the satisfaction he craved. So I remained silent.
In retaliation, his fist smashed down hard on my face. I cried out and turned my head over to the side, trying to protect myself. His vulgar act caused my lip to split open. The taste of salty blood filled my mouth as it spilled out of the fresh wound.
He dragged my face back towards him as his fingers played with my blood. “Answer me!” he ordered.
Something was different now; his touch no longer hurt as it had before. An urge came over me and I sucked on my bottom lip, drinking my blood and shockingly, this made me feel strong again. I surged with a growing power, starting in the pit of my stomach. Soon, it overshadowed any pain that I felt, so I chose to ignore Donovan knowing how much it would anger him.
“Answer me, stupid girl.”
I smirked instead of responding and he hit me again. More blood flowed, this time from the other side of my mouth. I relished it and welcomed the pain for another minute and then — the unspeakable happened.
Fangs ripped through my gums with a euphoric sensation. I felt powerful, superior even. Letting out a horrific snarl, I pushed Donovan up off me like he was nothing more than a feather. He smashed through the trees, sending debris flying everywhere.
I picked myself off the ground and stood for a minute, taking time to feel my fangs and admire my newly acquired strength. The vampire had finally come out in me. He’d pushed too far and made me too angry. He let the beast loose and now he was about to meet his match.
I started towards him and to my pleasure he seemed shaken that I was coming for him. “Scared?” I called, quickening my stride. I reached over, uprooted a tree and threw it at him, causing him to fall to the ground. As he tried to stand, I latched onto another so I could take joy in the satisfaction of knocking him down again. I felt invincible. I kept throwing blow after blow and didn’t give him much of a chance to fight back.
The best part of my new powers was that I had no regrets doing this. All my remorse and my compassion, was buried deep within. Rage, resentment and bitterness were the feelings coming out now. The memories of my family, Ginata and her parents, Garrison, and the many other friends that died because of this beast, they took me over. This monster was going to pay for their deaths and he was going to do it by losing his own life.
I was consumed with my increasing rage. I was strong, wild, and fierce and I had one thing on my mind — destroy Donovan. I became so lost in my dark thoughts that I didn’t notice when he took hold of a nearby tree. SMASH! I flew back from the delivered hit. Branches scratched me and leaves flew off in every direction as I sailed through the air landing upon a bunch of broken branches, which inevitably helped break my fall. I picked myself up and shook it off. No pain. I never really felt a thing. Dusting myself off, I did what needed to be done, I charged again.
WHACK! WHACK! My newly arrived vampire stone hands pounded against Donovan. The sound resembled rocks smashing together over and over again as we fought. The thought of what he’d done to my family fueled my fury as I hit him over and over again.
Our battle continued on fairly even ground over the next few minutes. One problem arose and we both noticed it about the same time that we slowed the pace of our fight. We were both immortal so there wasn’t any easy way to kill each other. In truth, I wasn’t even sure I could stake Donovan and thankfully he wasn’t taking advantage of the fact. Fighting was just using up all our energy and we weren’t even doing damage to one another. Only the surrounding forest felt the brunt of our r
un-in.
In a last attempt to battle, we lunged up towards one another colliding in mid-air. The encounter sent us flying back in opposite directions. I landed hard on a rocky part of the ground, but to my surprise the fall didn’t hurt me whatsoever. My skin grew harder and thicker as every minute passed. I was changing rapidly; the vampire within was almost completely free. I welcomed the much-needed break; my new experience of fighting was absolutely exhausting. I’d never done hand-to-hand combat before and it was nothing like I expected it to be. I thought I could hurt him and he’d feel pain, but I was wrong. He was made of stone; no heart lived in him.
“Not so bad is it?” he asked smugly. “Why couldn’t you have just accepted the fact that you shared my gift? You tried so hard to fight it, but just look how much you’re enjoying it. Life only gets better from here.”
“Gift? You call this a gift? You’ve ruined my life! Yes, your CURSE has consumed me, I’ll admit to that, but all you’ve really done is brought out the worst in me. I don’t thank you for any of this. I hate you more than ever. I WILL NEVER WALK THE NIGHT!”
He chuckled. “My young opponent, it’s already done. You’ll never walk during the day again.” His taunting laugh echoed throughout the forest.
“Liar! You lie!” I cried out. It couldn’t end like this. It just couldn’t.
The rain eased, or at least I couldn’t feel it any more. My blood grew colder as more minutes passed by and my skin fully hardened. I felt like I was wearing a protective suit made of thick ice. So many changes had occurred that I didn’t even feel like myself. It was true. I really was one of them now. He’d brought out the beast and I didn’t know how or if I could turn myself back. Tears should have flowed, but none came. My heart broke on the inside, but thanks to my new demeanor I couldn’t show any of the pain I felt. I stomped my feet and screamed out in utter frustration.
Donovan sat with an evil grin as he watched my unfolding.
I looked down at the hardened skin covering my body. It didn’t even resemble mine; it looked so pale, so dead. I reached up, felt my fangs again and cringed. They were so sharp, completely lethal.
Donovan was undeniably amused. He’d won.
My senses continued to heighten and everything began looking and sounding different. I could now see as clearly at night as I’d once viewed the world in the daylight hours. I turned my head as I heard noises coming from the distance. Jayce and the others poured out of the house, racing towards the trees. More sounds rustled, this time from the other side. I looked over and spotted Daray, Lakylee and the others approaching.
We’d made a truce and it remained strong. Daywalkers and nightwalkers were still coming together regardless of what happened and the changes I was experiencing. As a group we could continue changing the way things had once been done. This would work, living together. We were all immortals, plain and simple, with no day or night dividing us. Immortals needed to feel free in both times of the day. Coming together and showing no signs of animosity towards one another was proof that this could work. We were all on the same team. We believed in the same purpose: that there was a way to live amongst each other in peace.
The only thing that wouldn’t work anymore was me. I had changed and needed to figure out how to live with myself this way. I couldn’t pretend everything would be okay between Jayce and me because it led back to the same problem that had separated Daray and me all those years ago. How could we survive if one was a monster and the other wasn’t? The lifestyles were vastly different and no matter how much I loved him, I didn’t know how to overcome the obvious obstacles ahead of us.
When Uncle Dane and Auntie Steph quickly made their way towards me, it broke what was left of my heart as I watched the disappointment come over them. Uncle Dane froze in his steps, tears swelling in his eyes. He remained strong; never shedding a single one as he clenched his fists together tightly. Auntie Steph took one look at me and cried uncontrollably.
I’d turned into the one thing we worked so hard to avoid. They’d protected me for years, as did my family and I failed them. I‘d been defeated and even worse, changed into the monster they had protected me from.
My eyes shifted over towards Kaleb and Kael as they approached. Kael seemed somewhat disgusted with my new demeanor, while Kaleb looked at me in the same caring way as he always had. He was beside me no matter what, through the light and into the darkness — we were one.
I fought with myself to look over at Jayce. I knew how badly this would destroy him and wasn’t sure if I could bring myself to do it. It was horribly heartbreaking as I thought of how we’d never be together again. I avoided eye contact for a while longer as I pondered over the possible outcomes of our future together. As the scenarios ran through my head I made up my mind and came up with my own conclusion. A hundred years ago I tried this. Yes, we were different people, but this would end the same way as it did back then. It would be too difficult to carry on with what we’d once shared. It was an impossible relationship, where he’d walk during the day and I’d roam the night. We already had so many odds stacking up against us and we’d managed to pull through every other time, but this seemed so much worse and I wasn’t sure we stood a chance.
Jayce walked over and stood in front of me. He didn’t say a word as he tilted my head up forcing me to stare deep into his eyes. It was the worst feeling as I watched his heart break in his eyes. He didn’t need to say the words aloud. I understood the pain he felt.
He let go of my face and walked away. I watched him struggle as he tried dealing with everything. I knew by the way he paced back and forth that he was trying to come up with some kind of plan to change me back. I felt badly because I had already accepted the fact that it wasn’t possible.
Lakylee emerged from the gathering and walked up beside me. She smiled sympathetically at first, but her face hardened as she looked closer, taking in all my changes. She spun herself around wildly and hissed at Donovan. “What have you done to her?”
“What have I done?” He laughed. “It's already done! Always has been.” He stood proud of his victory. “I’ve just helped her along with the evolving bit, that’s all. She likes it. Don’t you, Shanntal?”
I hung my head with shame. I didn’t want to be a vampire. I was happy the way I was before. I liked my life and wanted it back. I didn’t want to be stuck walking the night, having to kill in order to survive. I wanted to see the sun rise and bask in her glorious rays.
I looked up out of the corner of my eye, noticing as Lakylee left my view. She was crazed. The vicious warrior we all knew had come out to play. She snarled and hissed as she closed in on Donovan. He scrambled, looking to the other nightwalkers for assistance. Not one of them moved to help him.
My transformation ruined who I was and what I was about. My friends and family, as well as my allies, were all angry, hurt and disappointed in the same ways that I was. No one wanted this fate for me, no one except Donovan.
Noticing he was on his own, he tried making a pathetic escape. Retreating backwards he managed to scramble about ten feet away when Lakylee attacked. She ripped and tore, showing no mercy as he cried out, begging for her to stop. I turned my head away, finding it too difficult to watch what was happening before me. I imagined back to how she’d used these same moves on Garrison. Bitterness grew inside. Why was life so hard? Why did everything turn out in the worst possible way whenever I was involved? Didn’t I deserve any sort of happiness? I let out a blood-curdling scream.
Lakylee turned when she heard my scream. Donovan took the opportunity and pushed her off. Looking injured, he stumbled around and for a moment it appeared he was going to escape. Lakylee noticed this at the same time as I did and hollered to Sauda who was the closest to stop him. Sauda didn’t react. She just stood in a dazed state. Daray raced over with super speed, knocking Donovan to the ground and destroying any chance for escape.
Even more enraged, Lakylee hissed, “What’s wrong with you, Sauda? Were you just going to let him
get away? Is your loyalty with him or us?”
“With you guys, of course. I knew he wouldn’t get far. Look how many others are around, if Daray never got his chance to shine, someone else would have. Besides, I didn’t want to break a nail. They were just done.” Sauda replied.
Lakylee growled at her response and Daray delivered multiple blows to the monster on the ground.
Donovan wore a different look all over his face, one of defeat. He foolishly thought he’d won and that by simply changing me, things would go back to the way they were. He expected me to sit back, accept my fate and act like nothing was going to be done about it. Well, this might be what I would do, but was he ever wrong about my friends. They were here to stand up for me and he wasn’t getting away with this.
Four werewolves intervened and picked Donovan up off the ground. They held onto him tightly as he thrashed around, trying to break loose.
“What are you going to do with him?” I asked.
Daray walked over. “He’s going to pay for what he’s done.” He placed his arm around me, trying his best to comfort. “You’re too pure to share this fate. This was my fate, it wasn’t meant for you. It never has been.”
Escaped the Night Page 27