Children of Van Helsing

Chapter Thirty-three - One More Time for...

Jessica

It was like the world had stopped moving. I could hear muffled sounds in the background - screaming, crying, cursing - but all I could see was Susanna's shocked, pale face. Blood was dripping from the axe in her hands onto the snow. I followed the drops with my eyes and spotted Sacha's lifeless, headless body, the raw edges of her skin, her cut off muscles, the dark streams of blood turning the snow ruby red. Her head had rolled away a bit and her now permanently dead empty, brown eyes stared at me. The muscles in her face had finally relaxed ad the angry and monstrous expression had disappeared. Now she just looked incredibly shocked - her mouth was still opened, her sharp fangs visible, her eyes big and surprised, like a dear in headlights. I wanted her head and body gone. I made me sick out of sadness, to see this sweet, hopeful girl dead on the ground.

And Susanna's expression. Pure guilt it was, mixed with sadness, sorrow, fear. Desperately trying not to vomit, I ran up to her and embraced her. She dropped her axe - it nearly hit my feet and clattered onto the floor producing harsh, metal sounds - and put her arms around me.

"It's okay, Susy, it's okay." I mumbled.

She shook her head, sobbing like a small child. "No it's not okay, Jess, it's far from okay!"

"I know." I sighed, stroking her back. She was much taller than me and my head hardly reached her chin, but still she leaned on me, looking for support.

"I didn't want to." She sobbed.

"I know." I answered.

"She never deserved this!"

"I know." I repeated. "It's not your fault."

"It sure as hell feels like it..."

Her voice broke. Her legs couldn't carry her anymore and she collapsed. I helped her to carefully sit down instead of falling like a brick. Her feel were lying in a puddle of blood - Sacha's blood - mixed with snow, but she didn't notice. I didn't think she was noticing anything - not even the shouting around us.

Oh, right. That.

I returned to reality and stunned, I saw many people circling around Veronica, who was bleeding like hell and her body was shocking and shaking. Aunt Jennifer was calling somebody - my guess was an ambulance. Ian, who had thrown up next to the stone bench, had stumbled towards Greg and was trying to help him. You could see some of his bones and I was scared Sacha had reached his heart with her claws.

So many people were bleeding. It was like the world had turned completely red.

"Susanna, you have to get up." I said. "We have to go help them."

She didn't react - she just stared at the headless body in front of her. Tears ran down her cheeks. She didn't speak a word.

I decided it would be best to leave her for a few minutes and ran inside to find bandage, plasters, painkillers, anything to stop my own family from bleeding to death. I completely wrecked the bathroom cupboard and returned with my arms full of medicines.

Stephen and Nancy - Stephen was finally conscious again - were carrying Veronica inside and lay her on the couch in the living room, the couch where Sacha had been watching television on just a few days ago. Behind them, aunt Jennifer and Jamie walked in, helping a very dizzy and sick Gregory to walk towards his wife. After them, Ian and Lauren carried Greg in, who looked kind of dead. But I saw his damaged chest moving, so he was still breathing.

And my sister was nowhere to be found.

"Have you called an ambulance already?" I asked aunt Jennifer.