After a few more mouth falls Madison let go of Brendan’s arm, gently he led her head back down onto the desk.
She coughed, more blood spraying out over her weak body.
Squeezing the wound on his wrist, Brendan squeezed some his blood onto Madison wounds in her abdomen.
Brendan was terrified, his eyes ran along the three bullet wounds, pouring more and more of his blood out into them.
Madison gasped. A sharp pain flew through her chest, causing her to gasp for air. Panic erupted. She wheezed, trying to catch my breath but not absorbing any oxygen. My hands shook at her side as her eyes scanned the room frantically. Brendan watched in fear as the woman he loved started to slip away, tears spilling out over his cheeks. He gripped her hand hopelessly.
Suddenly everything stopped. The pain, the fear, everything disappeared. Madison mind went blank and for the first time in years, she relaxed.
Brendan darted towards my head, his hands touching her face and arms as he tried desperately to help.
“Please. Madison. Please…” Brendan cried, falling to his knees. Still tall enough for his head to be at the same level as her, he cried uncontrollably.
“I’m sorry” Madison mouthed, but no sound came out.
The noise at the door grew increasingly louder as the wood splintered.
Brendan looked up into her eyes.
“Madison. Please, Madison. Just hold on. Let the blood heal you. Hold on!” Brendan wept, now holding her head and staring heartbreakingly into her eyes.
Her eyes grew heavy, she didn’t fight them. Her heart had already slowed and it was just a matter of seconds. Madison stared into Brendan’s crystal blue eyes; her last moment would be a good one, staring into the eyes of the man she loved. She couldn’t say what she wanted to say, but sometimes saying nothing is better than saying something. Slowly, Madison eyes flickered closed as she let out a long breath – she was gone.
“I love you...” Brendan whispered, his head falling.
The door flew open with a load crack as the strong lock was broken away from the doorframe. Brendan stood up instantly turning around to face the killer of his soul mate. Trace stood in the doorway, one arm stretched out gripping the doorframe to prop himself up. The weapon that had ripped Madison from Brendan still clutched in his hand. Trace’s expressions were curious, but smug at the same time. He stepped through the door way, closing what was left of the door behind him. Cockily he stretched to peer over Brendan’s shoulder, catching a glimpse of the cold, still body of Madison. A disturbing, satisfied smile twitched at the corner of his mouth.
“Oh. Oh sorry about that, Brendan. She leapt in the way. You know I can’t control the bullets” Trace smirked.
Brendan remained still his eyes glued to the floor, anger, revenge and hate raging through him. Nothing else mattered now Madison was gone.
Brendan wished it was him lying on the desk; he would have given anything to be in her place. So he decided; if he was going to die it would be in her honor. She had sacrificed her life for his, so in turn he would die to ensure that justice was served in her name.
Brendan jumped towards Trace, his fangs blazing behind his soft pink lips.
He grabbed Trace by the shoulders, throwing him sideways. The black gun slipped from Trace’s hands and slid across the room, under the desk where Madison lay.
Brendan mounted Trace, punching him repeatedly in the face as he lay on the carpet.
Trace responded, blocking Brendan’s fists and striking him in the face.
Brendan fell back on the carpet dazed.
Trace was much older than Brendan, more experienced and a lot stronger. Trace had been lived through thousands of fights and a couple of world wars. He knew how to predict an opponent’s next move. Something that Brendan had failed to master yet.
Trace stood up, swing his leg backwards and kicking Brendan hard in the stomach.
Brendan shot backwards, his back colliding with the already weak wooden door.
Trace kicked him again, in the face this time.
Brendan’s head rolled down onto his chest, blood pouring from each nostril.
“What’s wrong with you Brendan? You used to be cool. You didn’t take any of this bullshit they keep feeding us” Trace spat, kicking Brendan in the face again.
Brendan head rebounded into the door, from the impact of Trace’s foot. The door creaked and the wood behind Brendan’s head splintered, a crack appeared in the wood. He stared up at Trace, blood covering his nose and mouth. His eyes like slits.
“We’re no better than humans now. We’ve lost everything that makes us Vampires, which makes us better than them. Drinking bagged blood and living in the human world but never with them, always hiding and pretending we are weak… human. For centuries we lived in their world, but as shadows. Preying on those who dared to cross into the darkness! People knew who we were and they begged before us. Now though, some of us are more like humans than vampire” Trace stared accusingly at Brendan.
“Times have changed. We’ve evolved. We’re better” Brendan said through the blood.
“You could be better…being able to step out into the daylight. You could be a great killer Brendan. You are not even fully aware of what your own strength could be with a little guidance. But you waste it. All of you do is pretend to be like them. You’ve lost one of the great animal instincts, to hunt and kill...” Trace said coming down to Brendan’s level, his eyes wide with certainty as he spoke.
“I am better. We all are. We have become……civilized.”
Trace hissed at Brendan’s words, a disgusted expression spread across his face.
“See that’s the problem with me and you, Brendan. I’m not...” Trace said standing up and walking to the desk to retrieve his gun.
Madison -
I never imagined that I would die like this; I always thought that it would be in my bed, probably about 80 years old, surrounded by little fat grandchildren. I kind of felt disappointed about the way things have turned out. I never expected that I would die before my life had even… begun.
I feel as if I have left so much unfinished business behind.
What I had with Brendan was so powerful and rare. I hadn’t even begun to explore it fully. There was still so much we hadn’t even started. The first time we made love or our first argument and the first time we said “I love you”.
Stephanie, my longest and dearest friend… Grief and guilt still clouds me in this life - after death. Stephanie, a newborn vampire will live forever with the knowledge that I was too late to help her. She will probably think I let her die... I will never have the chance to tell her how sorry I am and how I tried to save her.
There have been so much lose on my journey… All of them extraordinary people with massive hearts, that each of them wore on their sleeves. Stephanie had been murdered through jealously and rage. Faye had died as a repercussion of that murder - through a tragic accident and punishment. Leon had sacrificed himself for the love of his brother and partner - the loss of one’s life for the savoir of others. Although at this darkest hour it has been done in vain…
If my eyes were open they would hurt from the bright orange light that flooded in around me. It was glorious like a sunrise at a dusty dawn, the warm sun beating down onto my naked soft skin - warming my bones. I had always imagined that I would reunite with my loved ones, my mother - standing with open arms. Although I am alone, I am completely at peace and serenity. I had no actually form, but I know my body is changing. My organs are healing, a strong, impenetrable layer of skin stretching across my body - improving it. My body and features becoming frozen in time and my skin will remain milky, young and flawless forever. My hair and finger nails will never grow any longer and if cut or remove they would regenerate until they are identical to what they are now.
My soul will live on - growing wiser with every year, while the rest of me remained the same. Most people would consider this gift or a curse, watching loved ones die around
them, seeing the world and living within it, but never really being a part of it.
For me - this wasn’t a curse - it was the beginning.
Madison eyes flew open. Her once seductive light brown eyes where now glowing a magnificent crystal blue. The skin of her face was ice cold and pale but her lips were pink and full. She was even more stunning then she had been before, her skin now flawless and her fair radiant.
New skin had healed the deep cut of the top of her head and the three deep bullet wounds to her stomach, leaving nothing but patches of semi-dry blood.
Her pink lips were parted to reveal two elongated, razor sharp canine teeth.
Madison rose from the desk, sitting up straight in one quick motion. Her body felt different - new. Her was silent and still in her chest, it was an odd feeling in comparison to the heavy beating it usual did. It felt heavier than before; a thick layer of skin now protected it – weighing down.
Every sound was amplified by a hundred; even the noises of the room were so loud it hurt her ears. Her sight had changed; every colour was bright, as if she was seeing every colour for the first time. She could practically see every individual worn fiber of the nylon blinds that hung in front of the big pane of glass of the office.
Her eye sight had greatly improved, allowing her to see through the thick darkness of the room - light and dark meant nothing to her now.
Trace stood over Brendan the machine gun firmly in his right hand.
BANG!
He fired a shot into Brendan’s leg, just above his kneecap.
Brendan wailed in pain as the silver bullet buried its way into his leg. His blood soaked face flopped down onto his chest once again.
“Now you know how it hurt Madison when the bullets tore her insides out!” Trace spat angrily, grabbing a large chuck of Brendan’s hair and throwing his head back against the door.
Brendan winced from the burning sensation of the small silver bullet in his leg.
Slowly he opened his eyes, catching a glimpse of something he thought he would never see again.
The excoriating sound echoed around Madison head from the gun shot. Her ears were still new and unable to cope with such noises as loud as gunshots.
She wheeled her legs around on the desk and hoped off, standing behind Trace.
Her head lowered towards the two men.
Brendan’s eyes widened as he caught a flash of her crystal blue eyes. He straightened his head, making eye contact with her.
“Madison?” he whispered.
Up until the moment that Brendan had called Madison’s name her head had been blank and disoriented. She was only seconds old and it was too early for her to be coherent. But still, everything came flooding back like the opening of the sea walls and the water rushing in, consuming the empty space. The incident that had happened that pushed Madison over the limit to flee to London, the night she had first arrived in London and met the potential love of her life, the Skin Crawlers who had threatened to kill her after she had brought Brendan back to their layer and Gabby standing before her - her head thrown back in an deathly howl. The first time she had kissed Brendan while hiding at The Lodge and Stephanie’s blood red eyes as a new born Vampire and lastly, Leon’s grief stricken face as he raised the gun to take his own life.
All these memories came flooding back in an instance.
Madison swayed slightly as every memory and feeling came flowing back into her.
She scanned the room and the two men in front of her, remembering where she was and what was happening.
Trace span around in complete horror and astonishment, the machine gun lifted towards her.
“No!” Trace shouted in denial.
A spark erupted in Madison iris, firing around the circle of her pupil turning her iris black.
Trace watched in terror as the crystal blue colour of Madison eyes disappeared into blackness. Quickly he squeezed the trigger of the black machine gun. The gun clicked denying the bullet to be launched from the barrel of the gun.
Madison didn’t flinch; every inch of her being knew that the bullet wouldn’t hit her.
Trace squeezed the tiger again – nothing happened.
He stared from the gun to Madison, his mouth hung open - terror stricken.
Slowly, Madison raised her arm and placed the palm of her hand onto Trace’s chest.
Trace screamed as fire erupted within him, destroying his eternal organs and causing his body to combust in flames. Fire blazed around the corners of Trace’s eyes, pouring out onto the surface of his skin – burning him from the inside out.
The scream howled from Trace’s throat as the fire spread down his body, burning him completely.
Suddenly, the howling scream cut off and Trace’s body combusted into a cloud of grey dust. The dust rained down onto the floor and over Brendan’s legs.
Brendan sat slummed against the wooden door, his head still propped up straight against the door. His eyes were just about open, as he peered through small slits. It was difficult to tell what his expression was underneath the thick blood that caked his face. But he seemed to be surprised and overwhelmed by the sight that his blood had saved Madison from death.
She eyed his curiously, her expression blank but her eyes moving across every inch of his frame. For a second she thought about killing him too. Her emotion were still raw, virtually none existent under the pain of changing into a newborn vampire. Oddly, a feeling of remorse clouded her thoughts and she knew who he was and what he meant to the human Madison. From the immense pain in every fiber of her body and the confused battled occurring in her mind, she felt numb with the pain of thirst in her stomach and throat.
“Madison...” Brendan whispered, the slits of his eyes closing.
Slowly she stepped towards him, grabbing his arm and pulling him up so he was daggling before her like a rag doll. She titled her head, examining his unconscious face.
It was easy for her to drop him to the side and walk out the door without turning for a second look. The raw thirst in her throat was becoming unbearable and the urge to feed taking over her, but the spark of humanity that remained intact at the back of her mind ate away at her. She threw Brendan over her shoulder as if he weighed no more than a bag of sugar. She moved towards the door, grabbing the handle and throwing it open.
The room was now full of guards from The Coven, all of them dressed in the same identical thick black robes. The two solders that had survived through the fight were now restrained, with their torso bend forwards over a desk.
The guards eyed Madison suspiciously, unsure whether she was friend or foe. They looked from one another confused and weary, all their eyes eventually meeting on the still body of Brendan, thrown over Madison shoulder.
Madison stood motionless her black eyes glancing from one guard to the other. Her long white canine teeth exposed.
Brendan stirred on her shoulder but did not fully regain consciousness.
Seeing this, the guards raised their weapons and gun fire erupted into the room. Bullets sprayed over towards where Madison stood, but she was too fast. Gripping Brendan tightly against her shoulder, she sprinted forwards out of the path of the incoming silver bullets.
Her black eyes focused onto a large crack in the pane of glass directly to her left. The glass had been damaged in the gun fire which had occurred earlier. It was weak and would easily break with little effort. Madison was certain that even without the crack she would be able to smash the glass with no more than a single punch. She raced towards the glass, bullets colliding with the wall behind her. With one huge leap, Madison hit the glass as it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, she fell to the street below, Brendan still draped over her shoulder.
The cold air touched Madison’s new skin for the first time and she could hear every different tone of the wind as it zoomed past her as she fell through the air. The dull grey light of morning dawned over the town of London and the many different smells that filled the air burned her sensitive nostrils.<
br />
Madison fell thirteen floors to the ground and for the first time she realised, she was a new woman, in a new world where anything was possible.
She was a newborn Vampire.
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