"If you are our goddess, then save them! Save us from falling! Save us from our pain!" Caelinus shouted.
The stench. I was uncertain if I'd be killed by the smell or their razor sharp fangs. Either way, they gradually moved in closer, bit by bit until the Alpha Strigoy himself leaped in front of me. The suddenness of his mobility startled me, I stumbled a step back and then, he hunched over and stared me down in the face, eye to eye. His large fangs extended, his brethren behind him imitating the same malevolent hunger. They were not afraid. This is supposed to be my death. This is what my visions showed me.
Was I another one of my maker's lies?
No. I can feel it in me. I've always, felt it in me. Now is the time. Now is the time you let me be free. They want their goddess back? Then let me step out and show them, how the Cognati need to be.
I stared that Strigoy down and no part of me felt an inkling of fear. He knew it. I knew it. They knew it. There was no more denying it. An unspoken respect emitted between us and for the first time in millennia, a Strigoy backed down. He sheathed his fangs and started walking away from me peacefully with his brothers. Caelinus and his brigade were dumbfounded.
"What are you doing!" He shouted at them, commanding they return to his orders. "Kill her!"
But they paid no ear. They went back into the shadows. A little smirk got the best of me and I turned to look at Caelinus.
"What is the meaning of this... " He became agitated and worried. "How are you doing this?!"
I moved closer to the edge of the chamber, smirking at him thorough the iron bars.
"All these years and you still don't know... I am Halona."
No more words needed be said.
This, is war.
His men got their guns ready to open fire and mow me down into oblivion, but they'd be fearfully surprised once they saw the Strigoy were theirs to command no longer, now allies of their queen. The beasts broke through the cage and lunged for Caelinus and his men, while I rushed to Sam's aid.
I snapped the rope and held him close as the Halonic power surged in me.
I had every intention to teleport far, far away, but a rogue bullet snipped my left arm and the effect ended prematurely - only granting us the safe distance outside the citadel's walls. Blood gushed out of my arm, seemingly without an end. My healing gift was temporarily disabled. The wound made me feel human pain again. No doubt the weapons those soldiers possessed used rounds that disabled the dark gifts.
I couldn't let that best me. Sam was barely breathing. He had no idea what was happening. The howls of the wind outside, the distant gunshots, the shrieks and the screams of chaos and terror stifled the air. The moon was no stranger to the sight. She shone down on us amidst a cloudless night, inspiring us to persevere. I had to find the strength to carry on. I dragged Sam with me, intent on escaping into the woods, but we had to find cover once the ongoing battle spilled outside the castle walls and caught up to us.
The Strigoy were hopping around the battlefield, raining terror from the shadows, and with no direct allies to claim them as their own, their rebellion incited the uprising of the test subjects held in bunker. I had to be careful. Anarchy had ensued at every corner and every second that passed by, Sam grew dangerously close to fading away.
"Hold on, Sam." I comforted him, but it would be useless. He didn't respond and quite frankly, he couldn't. The fate of the same mistake repeating again tormented me. Somehow I had to shift that guilt aside and press on. I had to try...
"Fall back! Fall back!", I saw Caelinus shouting in retreat with his men - running for their lives, getting into whatever vehicle was nearby. That burning lust for revenge hadn't quite left me. I wanted to settle the score. Then the insatiable hunger to feed came to me as more of my love's blood soaked against me. Sam's bloody body was painful to resist. Feeding on him would restore my energies, and I knew that well. I had to find the willpower to hold everything together. It was like juggling a million balls.
Suddenly we came under attack. The soldiers on the ramparts spotted us, and they opened fire, unloading entire clips of ammunition. I held Sam tight, using whatever cover I could find to keep him safe. With a pent up, long-overdue, burning fury, I charged a telekinetic blast strong enough to disintegrate those soulless creatures.
But that would not be the end of it.
The Strigoy kept chaos heated. Bullets filled the air around us, coming from almost all directions. More soldiers came to my position, opening fire the moment they saw us. It was as if they were telepathically connected; no doubt, an upgrade from their Cognati overlords.
We were pinned down. I couldn't keep this up. Between protecting Sam and my delayed healing, it was difficult to gain much ground.
Then the moonlight became darkened. The sky was clouded and the soldiers' attention was quickly directed to a new foe on the battlefield. He swooped from the heavens like an eagle diving for its kill. His scent was familiar. His energy, warm to me.
Sergio.
I was momentarily overjoyed to see him, and a soft giggle of excitement erupted from my lips. Then all became serious again, once I saw Caelinus' helicopter rise into the air.
Where do you think you're going?
This isn't over you mongrel!
You will pay for everything you've done!
I set Sam aside, near the walls where Sergio protected us and kept both Strigoy and ghoul-soldier far away. This was the only opportunity for me to get my revenge, but the pain started consuming me. That bullet that snipped me was like poison. My veins were becoming dry and my awareness, slowly descending into madness. I needed to fight it off.
He can't escape!
He can't get away!
Not today!
Every single fiber in my body, down to the very atoms that entail my existence became heated in a storm of relentless, unfiltered rage. I pulled against his helicopter with a telekinetic force so strong, so unreal that no salvation could be possible. The energy brought me to the brink, but I stalled his aircraft and soon, I was pulling it right into the frenzy.
You're not getting away from me!
I pulled and I pulled, then I pulled some more. The flashes of everything I'd been through, everything I experienced, fueled my sleeping power. The sight of losing him again, the knowing of walking this cursed life forever, the taste of blood, the family I left behind, the family I never had - all of it, every single memory. Every pain, every triumph in that one moment inflamed me to a new level past the limit and I would not stop.
Not until I die.
A hand came over mine, setting it aside, telling me - let me take it from here. Aristide. His cold embrace hadn't changed one bit. Shadows formed around him and in an instant, he was in the air right at the nose of Caelinus' escape aircraft and with lightning flashes around the mechanical beast, Aristide ripped it to shreds - pulling it out of the sky.
The helicopter went spiraling out of control, crashing into the nearby forest with a loud boom that shook the ground. It wasn't all victory just yet, though.
We still had to make sure the bugger was really dead. First, I needed to see to it that Sam was still breathing. I rushed to his side and somehow, he was still holding on but not for much longer.
"Misty!" Sergio's demanding tone hadn't changed one bit, "You must go and end it! Stop Caelinus and free our people!"
But Sam's state had me worried. "I can't leave him."
Sergio rushed to my side while Aristide waited anxiously to confirm the kill.
"Go, Misty. I will do what I can for the pureblood. You must end this charade once and for all. Do it for your people!" Sergio's words were convincing and at no point was he ever a man of different shades. I trusted him implicitly, more than any other nightwalker, and if he said he'd take care of Sam, I believed him. I nodded to Aristide and the two of us took off into the trees.
Chapter Twelve
Full Circle
The trail of fire and smoke was not a difficult path to follow. Many of the gh
oul-soldiers were dead and scattered across the forest. Once we arrived at the scene, the first thing we did was make sure the real bastard hadn't gotten away. The helicopter laid in shambles. Flame and smoke rose into the now silent night's air. The sound of shifting around and quiet, but distinct groans unveiled the prince hadn't escaped after all.
The crash had done its damage to him. I could safely say, Caelinus was no longer beautiful. In fact, he was literally a bloody mess. His body was scorched to a hellish monstrosity and he was missing an arm and two legs, bleeding everywhere. The dark gifts would heal him in time, but not enough time before we finish him off. Aristide and I, both at opposite ends on Caelinus' side, moved cautiously closer while he tried crawling away. He soon realized just how pointless his pitiful escape was, and so, he rolled over on his back - taking in his final moments with a confident breath awaiting his demise.
"My whole life was in service to The Cognati." He coughed up blood. "I can say without a doubt, our pain - our thirst, will live on in the hearts of those who see past themselves, and it will make them stronger than ever!"
I stood over him, looking down with a feeling of disappointment. All the hatred, all the vengeance, everything this man had done to me wasn't there to fuel me anymore. Instead, I found myself detached from my victory. I felt... empty.
"Finish me." He demanded, raising his only arm toward me - "Finish me!!"
I held my hand out, ready to wipe his infectious existence off the face of the world and yet, I stood there frozen - unable to act. Aristide caught my hesitation and came to my side, holding my hand, charging his own dark gifts with mine.
"You did a grave mistake. With the Society gone, armies will come from the north. Uprisings will move from the south. The whole world will come for your head. You are a relic of the past and you will always be my puppet. Even now - you're still doing as you're told."
Aristide was nudging me to do it, but I held the power in my hand.
"Kill me, puppet." Caelinus shouted. "Kill me like the good girl you are... "
"No." I hissed at the mangled nightwalker. "Do it yourself." And with that, I dissipated the energy and curled it away, refusing to let him make me his toy again. This, 'pain', this whole life of living in shadow, feeding and raping, killing and destroying - was I to carry this man's scars with me forever? Hold onto the insecurities, make myself into walking death? How long was I to let Caelinus, and men like him keep me down and control me?
No. This ends tonight. I refuse to be their instrument.
I turned away, my revenge peculiarly fulfilled and a strange sense of calmness came over me. In the distance, I could hear the ruffles of the leaves, the thirst of the Strigoy - drawing nearer. If Caelinus was so eager to die, then it'd be their doing.
Aristide didn't wait around either. We departed the area, hearing the tortured screams of the brat prince, crying for a quicker death on our way out. The Strigoy devoured him, ripping him to shreds, feeding off his bits. That would be his own undoing, and he'd have no one else to blame but himself; for this was his fate, and fate came calling. Still, it bothered me as we drew nearer to Sam and Sergio who'd been waiting in a safer part of the forest.
All that power he amassed, he couldn't have done it alone. And what he said about those armies coming for me? I knew a storm was brewing in the horizon but was it wrong to assume he'd just been a pretentious jackass? Caelinus was only one head of the Hydra. There are others I don't know about. They're still out there, brooding and waiting. They still wish to keep my kind down.
I won't allow it.
"I've done what I can for the pureblood." Sergio had Sam leaned comfortably against a rock, "It will not be enough. He's lost too much blood. He won't make it another hour." The Wolf Man came to my side, held my arm and I felt a warm sensation ridding me of the bullet's poison. He then stepped aside while I went to my love. I quietly stopped down and gently caressed his face with my fingers, contemplating the severity of what I was about to do.
"Let him go." Aristide bitterly remarked. "You know what he's led you into before. Don't repeat the same mistake again."
I fluttered my eyes in disdain, still paying attention to Sam, "Would you like to add yourself to that list of mistakes as well?"
He immediately became startled. "There is nothing you can do for him, Alexia."
"Actually, there is." My mind was already set.
"You can't possibly be serious!" Aristide was appalled in his assumption. "I forbid it! He can never be one of us! This era is too dangerous. The humans of this time are depraved in their minds!"
"You are in no position to forbid, or permit. Besides, he's no regular human." I smiled. "He's mine."
Aristide couldn't whisper another word. There was nothing he could say to change my mind, although, he was partly right. I didn't have the intention to turn Sam into one of us, but there would be something in between that would have to work. I held my wrist out, looking at Sam's fading gaze, then I bit into it - spilling my blood on his lips. I gently guided his face to suck on my veins, feeding him into becoming something... more.
Life came to his eyes almost instantly, and both desire and will flushed into his broken body. He held me tighter, and I wondered if it was really the right decision, especially with Aristide in the background waiting for the moment Sam snapped.
'Look at me, my love.'I whispered into his mind, trying to guide him past the animalistic blood frenzy he was experiencing. 'Stay with me. Remember who I am. Remember who you are.'
I was prepared to let him take my whole arm off, but I remained hopeful. I knew Sam and he knew me. If this love was really meant to be in this lifetime, then he'd stop. He had to - for me.
'Stay with me... 'I pleaded as he began draining me lifeless.
I could hear the footsteps of Aristide and even Sergio ready to pounce in and rip Sam to shreds, but I quickly gave them a ferocious glance that told them both - back off.
"Stay with me... " I whispered aloud, softly letting him feel my fingers trail down his quickly healing face. Then, it happened. Sam's unnatural urge to consume me came to an end, and his eyes became enlightened when he realized he was not dead and this was no dream. I was there. I was real, and I was right at his side. He removed my hand from his mouth, the blood still dripping down his luscious lips.
He looked into my eyes and a sudden feeling of euphoria shattered our doubts. I wanted to tell him something, but he wouldn't give me the chance. With his newfound strength, he reeled me in, kissing me deeply; the blood on our lips dripping down our chins. Our foreheads touched and we became silent, forgetting the world around us.
"Now, if you don't mind... " He struggled to collect his thoughts. "Can you tell me what you did to me? Am I vampire?"
"Not quite." I said.
"I see." He frowned, "Then I'm yours." The frown abruptly turned into a smile.
How did he know that?
"I love you." He whispered. "Forever."
"I love you too." I smiled in victory.
Sergio came to our side, still unimpressed and detached in his usual manner but that was Sergio, and I loved him for it. He looked out to the night sky, still focused on the tribulations to come.
"This isn't the final victory, Misty White." He warned, "You know what's coming. Don't you?"
"I do." I looked up at him confidently.
"And you're prepared to take on this destiny?"
"You know that I am."
He chuckled in amusement. Wings grew behind his back as he proceeded to head to the ledge. "You should've called me sooner." He warned. "That was cutting it way too close."
"Thank you for coming anyway." I smirked.
"I will always be yours to command as long as you bring balance to our kind." His wings extended and a soft boom shook the area around us as he took flight and flew off into the night.
Aristide would be the next to say his goodbyes, but I knew he wasn't ready to really affirm that. My maker had no intention of giving me up that ea
sily. He didn't bother looking at Sam, disgusted by the fact I'd made him my own ghoul.
"One day, my debt will be repaid." He whispered to me as I rose to my feet. His cold fingers, trailing across my cheek - "And we will be together again, as Maker and Child."
Before I could respond, he turned to shadows and vanished into thin air, taking his signature coldness with him. I thought of his words, demanding as they were, there was still some comfort in being protected by him. Then there were two, as they say. I held Sam's hand, helping him up and led him to the ledge where Sergio had taken off from, to view the beautiful moon.
"Can you forgive me for what I've done to you?" I needed to know.
"That depends." He turned me around, forcing me to take my mind off the perils of the world - at least, just for this one moment and just focus on him and him alone. The repercussions of being a ghoul wouldn't immediately come into play just yet, but I was prepared to deal with the consequences of what was to follow.
"Promise me something." He spoke clearly.
"What?"
"Don't ever give in."
Nathaniel's words hadn't left his spirit after all, hmm?
"You know I won't." I beamed as my grip tightened around his hand. "Never again."
The troubles of this world may know no end, at least not in this century. I will never be able to get my lost child back, nor will I become human, yet these scars come to an end on this day. Everyone has their own pains, their own failures and disgraces, but it takes a deep inner strength to overcome them and move on to a possibly better future. I'm prepared to take on my role in this grand architecture; defend my kin and do what I must. It may not be perfect, but I know the decisions we make - from here on out, will be made with something my kind had long abandoned.
Hope.
Also by Jedaiah Ramnarine
From Double Dragon Publishing
www.double-dragon-ebooks.com
Nyxe
Nyxe... a genetically enhanced young woman awakens in an underground facility where she discovers a mission left behind by her forefathers - rebuild the earth.
Cognata: A Vampire Romance Page 15