Death of Night

by Krissy Reynolds

  Rhiannon and Camille came to stand in front of me. Camille touched the set of scars on my arm where they had bitten me before. I recoiled from her cool touch. She smiled and tucked a honey-blonde strand of hair behind her ear. Rhiannon scratched one long, manicured nail down the length of my left arm. It took a second for the blood to well in the scratch, but when it did, it started to dribble down my arm. Rhiannon licked her finger.

  I felt cold fingers brush the hair off of my neck. I gasped when breath touched the skin of my neck. "Still smells good," Thanes whispered.

  Feeling something wet on my bleeding arm, I looked down. Camille was running her tongue down the scratch, licking up the blood. "Still tastes good," she murmured.

  "Let's see about that," Thanes said. His fangs pressed down on my neck and I inhaled quickly.

  "Thanes," Callum's voice said harshly from beside us, "Don't."

  The teeth let up and I heard Thanes hiss, "I'm not sure if you can be telling me what to do right now, being chained up and all."

  I heard Callum reply softly, "You know very well I could break these, Thanes. So don't do it."

  Thanes suddenly threw the leather jacket at Callum with an angry sound. Callum did nothing, looking blank and cold as he sat there with his wrists burning under the silver.

  The room was silent and still. I swallowed and moved backwards, away from Camille and Rhiannon. Rhiannon smiled darkly and shook her head. "Uh-un, we're not done with you yet."

  Camille bit my wrist suddenly. I let out a short scream before I could think about it. The pain was sharp and didn't stop because she then began sucking. Trying to shake her off, I moved my arm away from her, but her hands just grabbed me tighter. Rhiannon took the opportunity to bite down on my exposed forearm, above Camille. I didn't scream this time. Instead, I sent my foot flying into her head. Her mouth let go of my arm, but Camille's didn't, so I went to kick her as well. She rolled back on the floor and stood gracefully.

  They both stared at me with nearly black eyes. My hand ached to go for the gun, the stake, or even the heavy-looking candlestick on the table to my right; any weapon would do right now. Rhiannon opened her mouth and bared her fangs, hissing at me. She crouched into a preparative stance, knees bent slightly. My hand was going for the gun when the door crashed open.

  We all turned.

  "Need some help, sunshine?"

  A small smile spread across my face. I'd never been so happy to see Liam.

  To say the room was in chaos would be an understatement.

  Liam had entered the room in a blur, immediately followed by Fyfe, Ophelia, Lester, and Raven. Thanatos' vampires dispersed, one or two taking on Callum's vampires at a time. The noise was deafening; screams, yells, and grunts of pain filled the air.

  Lester jumped on the back of a big burly vampire, both of them crashing to the ground. They rolled, and were stepped on by others who were fighting. Ophelia was doing surprisingly well in her fancy dress and high heels. She still managed to look feminine as she broke her opponent's neck with one swift turn. Raven was throwing people into walls and tables, making her way in my direction.

  Fyfe didn't even hesitate to fight against her own people. She was currently dodging the blows of one of Thanatos' only female vampires. I was glad that trusting her had been the right thing to do. I just hoped it didn't get her killed.

  I saw something speeding towards me in the air. While I had been paying attention to everyone else, I had forgotten that I was in the middle of all of this mess. Looking up, I had half of a second to register that Rhiannon was about to pounce on me like some great big black panther. The Firestar was already in my hand before she collided with me. I fell to the ground, landing on my back with a crack that I knew I'd be feeling later. Rhiannon landed on top of me, growling and gnashing her teeth.

  She reared back, black eyes focused on my neck, hungry and wild. I pressed the barrel of the gun to her shoulder. "I'll shoot you," I said loudly over the blare of sounds in the room.

  Laughing unpleasantly, she bent her face down to mine, and spat, "Do it."

  My finger pressed down on the trigger a bit, prepared but hesitant. Rhiannon cackled with laughter and closed her mouth around my neck. I pulled the trigger, blowing her backwards because of the close range. It wasn't a kill shot, but it had to hurt. Black blood trickled down her front. I sat up, breathing heavily, staring at her.

  She looked up wildly, then screamed, "Bitch!" She struggled for more words, hands shaking.

  "The feeling's mutual," I yelled back over the noise.

  Someone crashed into the wall beside us, surprising me. It wasn't anyone I knew, so I concentrated on Rhiannon. She was on her hand and knees, crawling towards me in fast, choppy movements, long hair brushing the floor. I raised my gun again.

  Raven was suddenly in between us. She looked at me with a look on her teenaged face that was infinitely older, and said, "I'll take care of her."

  Memories of Callum and I talking in the car flashed in my mind. He had told me that Rhiannon and Raven were sisters – estranged, but sisters nonetheless. My eyes flicked from Raven's closed, cold face to Rhiannon's semi-shocked one. Though an only child, I couldn't imagine killing my own sister. I looked back at Raven with a torn expression.

  Lester flew by, fighting off a different vampire. He glanced at me as he darted around the man's fist. "Don't stand in her way," he managed to say before being enfolded into the rest of the crowd.

  I opened my mouth to tell Raven to go ahead, but closed it once I noticed the two of them were already throwing each other into the furniture. I got to my knees and stood up, only to be knocked back down by an unfamiliar vampire. His fangs glistened in the candlelight, heading my way. I rolled over, grabbed the back of his head, and smashed his face into the ground. He let out a hissing shriek, then turned those coal-black eyes to me, blood dripping out the side of his mouth. His hand darted out faster than I could focus and grabbed my neck. He got up off the ground, taking me with him. My feet were dangling in the air and my breath burned in my throat. Squeezing, he brought my face down to his, close enough for me to see the reflection of my face in his eyes. The world narrowed, leaving only me and this vampire's savage face. I pressed the gun to his chest, right above the heart. His eyes widened before I fired. When his hand released my neck, I dropped back to the ground. Once I was sitting back on the ground, I pulled the trigger two more times, taking him in the chest. Collapsing, his entire chest exploded into dust, and it was only a matter of seconds before the rest of him crumbled into that unnervingly small pile of dust.

  Staring at where the vampire had just been, I tried to regain my breath. I sat more comfortably and looked down at the Firestar. "Bullets don't work, my ass," I laughed incredulously.

  There was an explosion of dust in the air somewhere in the middle of the room. I saw Raven standing with a broken chair leg in her hand, a devastated look on her face. I was guessing the poof of ash had been Rhiannon. A bleach-blonde vampire jumped on Raven's back and she was off again.

  I was debating whether or not to join the fight or stay where I was when Thanes crouched in front of me. He grinned, showing me a bloody mouth. When I pointed the gun at him, he knocked it out of my hand and it clattered across the floor. He leaned forward, advancing on me, smiling wide. I reached behind me for the stake, pulling it out from the waistband of my jeans as quickly as I could. Thanes' elongated, razor-sharp canines were inches from me. The black of the blood was vivid against the paleness of his skin.

  He went for the strike and I shoved the stake into the closest part of his body that I could find. "Keep those teeth to yourself, fang-boy," I grunted. The wooden stake hit him in the lower stomach, sticking out at an odd angle.

  Thanes froze, looked down at the stake, and then pulled it out. He looked back up at me, smiling again, holding the piece of wood up. The look in his eyes told me that this wasn't good. I scooted backwards, crab-walking. I hit a pair of legs, stopping me. Thanes came after me with the sta
ke, grinning with eyes only for me. The legs moved and I continued crawling backwards. He followed me. With the stake in front of him, Thanes sprang suddenly. I rolled onto my side to block the force of the impact, but it never came. I turned over onto my back in time to see Liam yank the stake of out Thanes' hand and stab him right in the neck. Blood spilled out of Thanes, and he went to the floor on his knees. Liam kicked him in the head with enough force to break his neck. Bye-bye, Thanes.

  Liam beamed at me, smoothing his hair back from his face. "I told you I'd come to your rescue, didn't I?" he said.

  Propping myself up on my elbows, I narrowed my eyes and said, "You may want to work on your timing next time."

  Camille was running towards me, and I had no time to defend myself. The gun was shoved into a corner somewhere, the stake on the floor next to the remnants of Thanes, and there were no other weapons around. I closed my eyes instinctively before I felt the force of two bodies came down on me, knocking the breath out of me. My eyes flew back open to see Liam lying on top of me and a flash of Camille's blonde hair behind him. Her hand was snatching at Liam, trying to get to me.

  "Liam, what are you doing?" I asked breathily.

  Liam grinned, flashing fangs close to my face. "Protecting you," he answered.

  He pressed himself harder into me. I glared at him. "Get off."

  "Ummm…" he drawled, as if thinking about it. "No, I don't think so."

  "Liam…" I warned.

  "As long as I'm on top of you, no one can get to you," he reasoned.

  I sighed. "Do I have to start this again?" I asked.

  A frown appeared between his eyes. "Start what?"

  "Knock-knock."

  "Oh, come on now, sunshine," he groaned. "Don't."

  I seemed to forget where I was and smiled up at him. "Okay, fine, I'll finish it," I said in a teasingly cheerful voice. "Who's there? Banana. Banana who? Banana—"

  Camille had managed to yank Liam off of me and sent both of them reeling into the others before I could finish. I was alone again, breathless and weaponless. As I shifted on the floor, my hand touched something cold and metal. I looked down to see one of the manacles that had been wrapped around Callum's wrist, broken open. Gazing out at the mess of fighting people, I looked for him. I could make out Raven, Ophelia, Liam, Lester, and Fyfe from the faces, but not Callum.

  That was when I started to panic. I looked closer at each face. Bad guy, bad guy, Raven, bad guy, Ophelia, bad guy, Fyfe, bad guy, Lester, bad guy, Liam. But where was Callum? The thought that someone had killed him – or whatever happened to vampires- made me sick to my stomach. Was he part of the ash that was strewn all over the floor?

  Fyfe fell next to where I was, lying on her back. Her mouth was opening and closing without sound. She grabbed my hand, squeezing weakly. My eyes traveled down from her face, and I had to close my eyes. Her chest had been torn open, and the bloody lump that had been her heart dangled at her side, completely ripped out. When I opened my eyes again, her body was crumbling into dust before my eyes. The hand that was clutching mine went in a poof of dust. Her face was the last thing to go, and although it was flooded with pain, her eyes found mine. I managed to give her a small, grateful smile before she was gone.

  The sound of glass shattering startled me. I whipped around. Ophelia had been thrown into the curio cabinet by one of Thanatos' vampires. She was still, lying in the sprinkling of glittering glass, small cuts on every inch of skin. Liam was battling three vampires at once. A yell turned my attention towards Lester and his opponent. Lester was kneeling on the floor, gasping. Raven sped by him, crashing into the table Damien had intended me to die on.

  With that thought about Damien, I realized I hadn't seen him since the fight began either. I threw that thought aside, focusing on the fact that we were losing. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have the strength to fight anyone with any positive outcome on my part. I didn't have my gun or the stake since they had disappeared in the shuffle of the mess. I was about as useful as the torn velvet on the walls. I felt my heart began to race and I knew I was starting to panic. We were done for.

  A tingling was building up in my veins, faint but still noticeable. It was that inexplicable power that took over when my human nature wasn't enough. The Letalis Flora, the deadly flower. Though unexpected, I welcomed the power into my mind.

  Something wet hit my cheek. I raised my hand, wiped it off, and saw it was water. Another drop hit my nose, another on my forehead, then two more on my arm. The water started to pour down. Standing up slowly, I looked at the ceiling. Mist swirled up there, dark and gray and threatening. Rain fell fiercely from the mist, hitting the heads of everyone in the room. Some of Thanatos' vampires had stopped what they were doing to look up, confused. All of Callum's vampires turned to me, even Ophelia, who was still lying in glass, dress shredded into pieces. A smile grew on Liam's face, growing until it couldn't grow anymore. He jumped on the back of an unsuspecting vampire and twisted his neck to the side. Lester and Raven tore their gaze away from me, also taking the opportunity to get an upper hand.

  Ophelia stood, smoothing her tattered dress down. As she walked passed me, she whispered fondly, "That's my Dahlia," and hit Camille with her fist.

  It continued to rain, making the floors wet and slick, destroying the beautiful red velvet and putting out the last of the candles. It was hazy with mist and rain, the opacity hiding the faces of the people in the room. One hand following the wall, I walked around the edge of the room, making my way towards the door. I went by a pile of ash that had turned into mud with the rain and thought of Callum again.

  I stood in the open doorway for a moment, simply watching. Rain dripped onto my face, cold and continuous. They soaked into my hair, running down each strand to drip onto my shirt.

  The room was ravaged, from both the fight and the rain. The velvet had turned into a heavy, laden material, no longer that rich blood red colour. The tables were lying broken in half, the chairs strewn feet from where they had originally been. Glass was scattered throughout the room, the small pieces stepped on and crushed. Blurs of speed whipped passed me, some screaming in pain and others laughing in delight.

  A hand wrapped itself around my mouth. It muffled my scream of surprise.

  "Well, this isn't what I had planned," Damien's voice said in my ear. Out of the corner of my right eye, I saw his profile looking out into the room. "It's raining inside." He turned his head to me. "Your doing, I presume."

  I clenched my jaw and didn't move.

  "I'll take that as a 'yes'," Damien said. He swung me around, staying behind me, back to the open doorway. "Let's go somewhere a little more private, shall we?"

  With one hand on my mouth and the other on my shoulder, Damien maneuvered me down the hall. My heartbeat was thundering in my head. He led me to an open doorway and pushed me through it, letting me go completely. I glanced around my new surroundings. The space was dark and gloomy, with kerosene lamps and candles placed on long, rough wooden tables that were pressed up against the walls. In the center of the room, a table held up a rectangular coffin. A large latch was fastened on the side of the coffin, locked.

  The door slammed shut behind me. I spun, facing Damien, hands balled into fists at my sides. "What's in the box?" I asked.

  The question seemed to delight him. He put his hands behind his back and pulled the corners of his lips up into a sinister smile. "What's in the box?" he murmured. "What's in the box? Care to guess, Ms. Simon?"

  The look on his face scared me. I made a small, pained sound. Oh, no. Please, no. "No," I answered, "I wouldn't."

  "Oh, please, Ms. Simon, humour me." He walked to the coffin, cocked his head to the side, and stared down at it.

  "You know I know what—what's in it," I said.

  Damien drew his eyes up to me. "It's no fun when you don't play along, Ms. Simon," he said coyly.

  "Sorry," I said insincerely, "I didn't realize this was a game."

  "Mmmm," he murmured distra
ctively. He moved so he was leaning against the coffin. He knocked on it. "Comfortable in there, Mr. Knightley?"

  I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head to the side. My breath was shaky as I forced myself to inhale.

  Damien laughed at my reaction, and continued, "I've added a nice silver crucifix to keep him company. And, oh yes, a little sprinkling of Holy Water on the cloth."

  Turning my head back to him and opening my eyes, I bit my lip to keep from saying what I really wanted to say.

  "Angry, are we?" Damien simpered.

  That caught me off guard. "What?" I frowned.

  He used two fingers to motion at his eyes. "Your eyes have changed, Ms. Simon," he explained.

  I concentrated and felt that electric humming underneath my skin, in my blood. I hadn't even noticed it, which told me I may be growing accustomed to its presence. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

  Damien recaptured my attention when he tapped a finger against the wood of the coffin. "I would not have gotten him in here if he hadn't hesitated. Mr. Knightley is much too…soft, in my opinion."

  "He's not soft," I said. "He's just not a sociopath."

  A full-throated laugh escaped Damien. He put a hand to his chest and said, "You think I'm a sociopath?" he chuckled.

  "Well, you're certainly not a pacifist, Damien," I barked, one shaky hand moving a strand of hair away from my face.

  "No," he said, "no. But I am a vampire." He crossed his arms over his chest. "It is our nature to kill, Ms. Simon. Surely you cannot blame me for going along with my instincts."

  I gave him a deadpan look.

  Smiling with his teeth, Damien pushed himself off the coffin and walked towards me. I walked backwards, away from him, but he just increased his pace and caught up quicker. He grabbed my arm and threw me on the ground. I fell hard on my elbows, lying on my stomach.