A chill runs down my spine when all too familiar red eyes approach my father from far behind him across the field. Daymon. Daymon’s hair is disheveled and his clothes torn as if he’s just climbed out of hell. I know he’s heading for my dad by the look of pure determination of his face and the way he stares at only him. I’m partially surprised Daymon is still alive through all of this because he is one of those fighting who can be killed. He doesn’t even look like he has a scrape on him.
“Dad!” I cry out of instinct as I try to warn him that he is about to have a bigger problem on his hands that the woman he is fighting against right now.
He doesn’t hear me.
A flash of light emanates from the ball in Baylon’s hands and flows through the clearing in a single flash and then slowly fades out. My ears ring tremendously like a bomb has gone off. Many people fall and I realize that it’s the people with the worst injuries who collapse. People with stab wounds or missing body parts seem to just collapse.
Tyler falls beside me and then I’m brought down to my knees as well. Finally, Baylon collapses and soon nearly everyone is on the ground. Everyone, except the vampires who seem unphased and confused by this strange event. Daymon stalks closer to my father who is now kneeling on the ground.
“It worked,” Tyler informs me. “My power is completely gone, I don’t feel it.”
Baylon begins screaming as if in some kind of pain and we both look to her to see what’s wrong. A bright light escapes from her body and when I look towards the other Tario in the field I realize that the same thing is happening to them. It’s like the sun is trying to escape from within them.
Vampires walk around snapping neck and tearing people apart while they’re down and they soon realize that they’ve won because everyone else is now for some reason powerless.
Daymon’s eyes still glow crimson and so I know he is still a vampire like all the rest of them.
“Dad!” I cry out again as I realize that Daymon is still pushing towards my dad. I jump up and begin running towards them. My dad is now powerless like everyone else and all it will take is a flick of Daymon’s wrist to snap his neck and kill him.
As I’m running I see a man plunge a knife through Anessa’s chest at the other side of the clearing as the group of Tario is stunned by the recent event and the vampires begin zooming in on their approach. I hear Baylon’s pained scream behind me. She’s seen her sister die. Her scream is the kind of scream that only releases from a person when they are in complete mental agony.
People begin getting back to their feet and reengaging in killing each other as if they haven’t yet noticed that they are powerless and that the war between everyone is stupid and pointless now that they’re all human.
The same man who killed Anessa plunges towards Layli and stabs her through the chest as well. I wince as blood comes out her mouth after he pulls the knife out a she falls to the ground. The man is making it look so easy. Maybe it’s because the Tario haven’t had to rely on their physical fighting skills before. They’ve never been threatened enough where they to rely on physical strength.
In the few seconds it takes for me to rush to my father and Daymon, I see many more people fall and take their last breath. I start wondering how many of these people aren’t vampires because to me it looks like the majority of them are as the population of now mortals dwindles significantly.
The Tario begin retreating like the cowards they are. There’s not many of them left and they run in terror into the trees the way they came. No one bothers to follow them.
A final shudder rocks the clearing, this one not as strong as the last. People are starting to realize that they are powerless and begin retreating when they realize that they are only going to get themselves killed by staying and that the vampires have clearly won this one. Vampires continuously rip off people’s heads as if it’s no problem. It occurs to me that we need to get the hell out of here or we’ll all die like the ones who are already dead.
“I’m a black witch!” a lady with short black hair screams as a vampire runs at her and knocks her head right off of her body. I gasp.
The vampires don’t seem to care who anyone is now that they know they are the strongest people in the clearing.
“Dad!” I call again. Daymon is taunting me now, he hears me screaming, and he smiles devilishly. Daymon stands behind my father with a knife to the back of his throat as my father throws punches at a vampire. I spring into Daymon and send him to the ground with all the force I have in my small body. He looks surprised by the amount of fight I put in.
“I told you that you picked the wrong side, Ariella,” he says as if he’s rubbing it in my face.
“Ariella!” a female voice cries from in front of me, running towards me. It’s Mindy. How the hell did she get here? Daymon throws me off of him harshly and from the corner of my eye I see Mindy shift into wolf form and spring at Daymon who is caught off guard but manages to evade her pounce with a cuss.
Jacob is then helping my father finish his fight and he eyes me worriedly as if he knows we have no chance here. We’re all going to die.
I don’t notice when Daymon jumps at me with a blade in his hand. I do notice that Jacob’s eyes widen, and he jumps towards me. I turn my head to see what the panic is and then suddenly Mindy is on top of both Jacob and Daymon. Daymon manages to wriggle away but Jacob is pinned beneath the animal.
“No, Mindy!” I cry as her jaws open and descend towards Jacob. She manages a small nip on his arm before looking up to me and seeming to snap out of it.
My dad plunges his blade through the vampire’s heart to my complete shock. A human is no match for a vampire and I have to guess that this was only sheer luck or my father has mad fighting skills even without his super strength, power, and super speed.
“Leave these folk alone, they’re mine,” Daymon shouts loudly at a few vampires rushing towards us.
When my father turns to see what kind of action is playing out behind him, his eyes meet Daymon’s and they widen in shock.
“Hello, old friend,” Daymon taunts with a disgusting smile.
“Daymon,” my father nods in recognition while wiping his bloody hands on his pants.
Mindy begins attacking vampires at random and quickly killing them off. She like a beast. She kills four of five in a matter of seconds. Daymon seems to see this as he begins directing the vampires with his hands to retreat. Anyone who comes near us is sentenced to death by Mindy. I want to tell her to come back and get Daymon but she’s too far away and there’s no time.
“Red isn’t really your color,” my father snorts as if trying to hurt Daymon’s feelings by making fun of his eyes.
“What’s wrong, Theenis? Feeling a little powerless? Human isn’t really your species,” Daymon replies with a grim smile. “Look Theenis, I see that this war is basically over with and my side has kicked some major ass. Thing is, your daughter has pissed me off more in the last few days than you can imagine. I thought about killing her but then I thought, nah, that’d be too easy. I want her to suffer. So I decided that my best bet would be to kill you. Nothing against you, Theenis, I mean, I really hate ending our friendship like this but I think we can both agree that it’s not working out anyway,” Daymon says snidely and lunges at my father.
My father doesn’t have much time to react, especially being human. Both Jacob and I spring at Daymon at the same time but we’re both too late.
Daymon’s super strength and super speed are no match for any of us, not even the three of us together. Daymon back hands both of us and tosses us out of the way like ants. I scream in absolute agony as Daymon’s sharp blade enters smoothly through my father’s chest. Suddenly Tyler is behind me, holding me back from going at Daymon and possibly ending my own life.
Baylon tries to keep Jacob back, but he’s stronger and manages to struggle out of her grasp. He bolts at Daymon who smiles evilly and then Daymon sprints off too fast for Jacob to catch. I’m released and I immediate
ly fall to my father’s side.
He’s not breathing. He’s completely gone. He won’t be waking up from this one. The rest of the vampires retreat alongside Daymon and we are left in a bloody field filled with the dead, the fatally wounded, and a few remaining survivors like us.
Chapter 17
I mourn my father in that field for quite some time while Tyler calls his coworkers at the supernatural clean-up corporation to come deal with all the hundreds of bodies here in the clearing. Jacob sits next to me and although he doesn’t cry like I do, he sits there in silence and I know he’s just as rocked by our father’s death as I am.
“I’m sorry about your father,” Baylon says while kneeling beside me.
“I’m sorry about Anessa,” I reply sadly. It occurs to me that Anessa was my half-sister but I really just can’t bring myself to mourn her when I never knew her and my father is lying dead in front of me. Half of me expects him to wake up and be fine.
“Ariella, my sister’s been dead for a long time. Inside at least. She was never…right after getting her darkness removed,” she says sadly. “I lost her long ago.”
I consider telling her about what I learned about the dark and light but decide that now isn’t the best time and what does it matter now that the two sides don’t even exist. Is it worth talking about at all to anyone?
“Would you like to explain how your best friend a werewolf?” Jacob asks.
“Not really. I really don’t know much,” I admit and wipe some tears from my face. “Where is she?”
“No clue,” Baylon answers. “She took off after the vampires. I think she basically chased them away.”
I hope she’s okay.
“Ariella, Jacob, I really hate to do this but we have to take the body,” Tyler says apologetically while approaching us. “They’re almost finished up with the rest. There were twelve people who were taken to hospital. Most of them we think will live.”
“Take him,” Jacob says blankly to Tyler and stands up slowly.
My heart squeezes in my chest. I want to demand that Tyler leave the body but I know that makes no sense. We can’t leave my father’s body here.
“What will they do with it?” I ask while beginning to cry again. What the hell am I going to do without my dad?
“They’ll burn all the bodies,” he answers. When Tyler sees that I’m torn he adds, “Ariella, your father isn’t here anymore. This body was only a vessel. His spirit has left it and moved on.” I wonder if this is supposed to make me feel better-it doesn’t, but I let him take the body anyway although it hurts terribly.
“Someone explain why the vampires and the werewolf are still vampires and a werewolf,” Baylon demands while standing upright.
Everyone looks at each other. No one seems to know.
“I feel so weird,” Jacob admits and flexes his muscles.
“Yeah, no kidding,” Baylon agrees. “I feel like the air is heavy, and it’s hard to even stand straight.”
Jacob chuckles lightly.
“Yeah, I keep trying to do things I should be able to do and it’s really frustrating,” Tyler muses.
They all look to me as I haven’t spoken yet. “I literally feel the exact same.” I shrug.
They all laugh and Tyler motions for one of the men across the field to come over to him. He then points to my dad’s body. The other man nods and begins sprinting over. I’m amazed by how many supernaturals there was in the world. I expected a few dozen witches and warlocks and a couple dozen immortals and maybe a hundred vampires but it turned out that there were far more than that just in this clearing fighting.
No wonder the corporation that Tyler works for exists. If it didn’t, supernaturals would’ve been discovered by now. I’m also surprised that although we’re in Germany, all Tyler had to do was call his work and they had thirty or forty people out here within an hour. They must have people all over the world. They seem quite pleased to hear that they won’t need to worry about the witches, warlocks, or immortals wreaking havoc any longer but a little saddened that the immortals wouldn’t be around any longer to bring down the vampire population.
“Say your goodbyes, Ariella,” Jacob says sadly and grabs my shoulders from behind me.
An hour or so later the clean-up crew has left us alone in the clearing. It’s then that we realize we should’ve jumped in one of their vehicles because none of us have vehicle here and we can no longer do the magic tricks we used to…or I should say they used to.
We’re just about to begin walking in the general direction of the nearest road when a male figure emerges from the bushes on our left. At first he’s too hard to recognize but as he gets closer I recognize him as Daymon. He’s clapping his hands in as if he’s watched some sort of show.
Complete anger fills every part of me. Anger which quickly turns to rage. He killed my father. I’ve never been one for revenge but my ways have changed over the last year. I’m not the same person. I vow that I will kill Daymon. Even if it ends up that I am killed with him in the process. I will kill him.
“Stay behind me,” Jacob instructs and positions me behind his back sternly.
Tyler comes to his side and stands in a fighting stance.
Daymon laughs as if they’re hilarious.
“Aren’t you guys cute,” Daymon mocks with a sly half-smile. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’m here to tell you guys to stay out of my way or you will die. I don’t have time for any pesky humans. I have a race of vampires to create and some humans to enslave. Keep away from me and maybe I won’t kill you in return. Maybe.”
Jacobs scoffs. “You always were an asshole.” I can see that Jacob is about ready to lose his temper. He’s not one to do rash things but I think that he’s feeling about the same way I am right now.
With Daymon’s taunt comes a whole other wave of hatred towards him. I feel disgusted that I ever loved this man. Instead of my anger overflowing and causing me to snap, now I just get so angry that I can’t control myself. I run at Daymon, Tyler holds me back by my wrist.
“Don’t, Ariella,” Tyler scolds in a deep instructive voice.
“Yeah, Ariella, don’t,” Daymon smirks, making me struggle from Tyler’s grasp and bolt right at him. I know it’s stupid but I don’t care. He killed my dad!
My stupidity hurts Tyler when Daymon dodges me, grabs Tyler and tosses him as if he’s as light as a feather thirty feet into the air. I scream in horror as Tyler hits the ground with a loud thump.
“I told you to leave me alone,” Daymon says slowly as if I’m dumb. “Or I will kill you.”
Impulse kicks in and I run at him again. I notice a big black wolf approaching from behind Daymon and hope that Mindy stays out of this and stays safe.
Daymon rolls his eyes dramatically and grabs Jacob, pushing him down to the ground hard. He’s just about to kick him when Mindy nips the back of Daymon’s shirt and drags him off with a growl.
Daymon grabs a rock from the ground and throws it backwards at Mindy who flinches but not fast enough. The rock collides with her skull. She collapses in a large heap, the rock still embedded grotesquely in her head. I scream again. Oh, my god.
Daymon shakes his head. “Dumb dog,” he mumbles before taking off back into the trees. I run to Mindy as I see Jacob is moving around and attempting to stand and Baylon has run to Tyler.
I approach the big wolf and it doesn’t take a genius to realize that Mindy is dead.
Chapter 18
I sit in a chair at a hospital in Georgia beside my brother Tyler’s bed. He looks peaceful though I have no idea if he truly is. His eyes are closed and his breathing shallow. He’s in a coma and the doctor’s don’t expect him to wake up. They already gave us the talk about pulling the plug but I cannot bring myself to do it just yet. He’s only been in here for days. We’d managed to get him airlifted across the ocean from Germany to America just fine with the use of some of my father and Jacob’s saved up cash.
Baylon sits next to
me in another chair while reading a magazine about pop culture. Neither of us have left his side. After all, he doesn’t really have anyone else. Jacob’s been at home, in my mother’s house in bed sick. He’s come down with something nasty that none of us wants to catch and so we’re staying away.
He’s making it seem as though he’s dying but I’m sure it’s really only a cold. He hasn’t been sick in far too long and I just don’t think he’s used to it.
“Ariella, I think I’m going to move somewhere and get a job one day. I think I’d like to start a family,” she says randomly and closes the magazine, setting it down on the counter beside her. I remember her telling me she wanted to be a nurse or a doctor.
Caught off guard, it takes me a moment to respond. “Oh, that sounds great, Baylon!” I say enthusiastically. She deserves that much after all she’s been through.
“I mean, I don’t know if I want to hang around and go after the vampires with you and Jacob and probably. We’re no match for them. I think I just want to get out of here. I’ve been given the chance to be human and have a life, why waste it?” she sighs as if she’s imagining her future.
I see where she’s coming from but what I don’t understand is how she can just leave whilst the vampires plan on destroying everything. I mean they’re murderers. Daymon flashes in my mind and suddenly my anger spikes. I will kill him. With the thoughts of Daymon come thoughts of my father and suddenly I’m about the break down for the hundredth time in the last few days. These last few days I’ve basically been a complete sobbing mess.
Baylon suddenly looks to Tyler, shock on her face. I follow her gaze to see what she is freaking out about.
“Did you see that?” she demands.
I shake my head confused. “No?”
“I could have sworn I just saw him move. I’m not kidding,” she begs me to believe her and stands up from her chair. She struts in her baby blue heels over to Tyler’s side and grips his hand. “Tyler?” she asks softly. “Tyler, are you there?”
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