Damnation (OLD AND DISCONTINUED, PLEASE READ NEWER VERSION)

CHAPTER 8

I woke up, gasping for air. I clutched my chest in pain. My head throbbed. I looked all around me. This wasn't my room. Mom sat beside me, crying into a tissue, while Dad hugged her close to himself. What was happening? A doctor burst through the door into the room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Holdyer, Gina has gotten herself a mild concussion and some broken ribs. She might need to rest for a while. She's lucky she wasn't hurt even more," the doctor announced. He left after that. Mom and Dad turned to me.

"Ugh, what happened?" I groaned in pain. Mom closed her eyes, trying to suppress her tears. Dad sighed.

"We were watching a movie when we heard a loud crash. Your mother went to check what it was, and she nearly had a heart attack. We rushed you to the hospital as soon as possible," he paused. "What were doing up there in the first place?" I furrowed my eyebrows. I couldn't quite remember. I closed my eyes. Suddenly, images of Sandra chasing me up to the roof and then pushing me off flashed in my head. I gasped, panting for air.

"Sandra was there. She was alive again, but she wasn't herself. We went up the roof and...." I trailed off. Dad gave me a weird look.

"Sandra? There was nobody there except for you," he murmured. I froze. What was he talking about? I clenched my fist.

Sandra was there; she was trying to suck my blood and everything. Dad sighed again. He and Mom stood up.

"You better get some rest. That's what the doctor said, right?" he spoke. I tried to stand up from my bed, but the pain of moving made me lie back down.

"But wait, Dad!" I called out to him. But the two of them had already left.

It was three o' clock in the morning. The memory of a demonized Sandra prevented me from sleeping. The rain continued to patter on the trees outside. I sighed. I was about to try to sleep when the sound of thunder ruptured through the night. I sat up and looked outside. There was nothing. I relaxed a bit. Suddenly, a clash of lightning revealed a pair of lavender eyes. They stared back at me. I held my breath. The window opened up a bit and the figure crawled inside. I clenched up. I listened to the soft thuds as the thing moved around. I tried to scoot backwards, but the bed frame blocked me. The thing jumped onto the bed and waltzed its way over to me. Two ears twitched as its sleek, black body glistened in the moonlight. I released a sigh, realizing what it was.

"Oh, it's just you. Why are you following me?" I murmured. The cat cocked its head at me. I furrowed my eyebrows. I didn't understand why the animal was so captivated with me, but I didn't appreciate it. "Well? Why are you?"

"Why don't you take a guess?" the cat meowed. I jumped a little where I lay. I held my breath.

"Wait a minute; did that cat just talk back to me?" I murmured to myself. The cat nodded its head.

"Yep. You're very special, did you know that?" it responded. I jumped back again. It hopped off the bed where I couldn't see. After a few minutes, a lady stood up where the cat was. She wore a short black dress with a puffy skirt. On top of the dress was a hooded cape. The lady slowly pulled off the hood to reveal her face. Her dark indigo hair straggled down to her shoulders; her amethyst eyes locked me in a state of wonder. I tried to find the words to speak, but I just couldn't.

"Wh... wha... what are you?" I sputtered. The lady chuckled.

"I'm a witch," she spoke with a deep, suave voice. It was like a sweet melody to my ears. The word fell out my mouth in a whisper. Witch. The truth of it all was overwhelming. She had done a good job enchanting my soul. I shook off the feeling.

"Why... did you come... for me...?" I continued. Her gaze made me nervous to talk. The lady chuckled under her breath.
"The name's Ellie. I came to Athens to assist you. Think of me as your own... guardian angel." She pointed at my forehead, which then skipped a beat. Ellie reached into her boot and pulled out a golden vial. It was filled to the brim with a mysterious purple liquid. The liquid dazzled just like her eyes. The swirls that swam through the liquid captivated me. My mouth watered.

"Since you are a vampire, I wanted to give you a little." My eyes brightened as I realized what it was. It was blood, most likely hers. I grabbed the vial slowly from the witch's hands. I looked at her, waiting for permission. Ellie nodded her head.

"Go on, it's okay to drink," she urged. I removed the cork and looked inside. A soft pink gas flowed out of the vial. The warm scent made me dying to try it. I sipped some of the witch blood. It was unusually sweet and made me want more. I gulped the rest of it down. I felt myself healing. I slid off of the bed and walked around. I felt a lot better. I turned to her, feeling very giddy.

"Oh my god, this is amazing. I can leave the hospital," I told her. Ellie smiled. I opened the window wider and jumped out. As expected, I landed on two feet, unharmed. I looked up to see Ellie jump through the window. She was a clump of cloth and by the time she touched the ground, she was a cat again. She winked at me before scurrying away. Without a further thought, I ran all the way back home. I felt the strength of a thousand bulls. Once I was right under the room to my window, I climbed up the wall and crawled inside. The house was quiet and still. I slipped into bed and found myself falling asleep.

I lay on the ground, my head throbbing. My arms and legs were bound together by rope. I tried to speak, but I was gagged with a piece if cloth. I was about to find a way out when footsteps echoed throughout the room. Suddenly, something pulled me up by my hair. I winced in pain. I was met face to face with the man of my nightmares.

"Joseph?" I said, although my voice came out all muffled. He looked at me, releasing a sigh.

"Gina, Gina, Gina. I'm very disappointed in you," Joseph spoke in a sophisticated manner. I examined him. It was still him, but he looked like he was from the time of the Renaissance. He wore a 17th century-style long coat over a gray dress vest, which had and a dress shirt underneath. He stared back at me with his now yellow eyes.

"What the heck is happening? What are you?" I asked. Joseph chuckled a bit under his breath. He fumbled around with the cloth until it dropped from my mouth. I took in a deep breath before exhaling it all out.

"You see, Gina. You've been a very naughty girl. You're figuring out my master plan before I'm even supposed to show it to you," he explained. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What master plan?" I inquired. Joseph chuckled again. His chuckling soon turned into full-out laughter. He pushed me against the hard wall. All the air was knocked out of my lungs.

"Wow, you're more dimwitted than I thought. And I thought vampires were smarter than this. All well, that's fine. When I'm done with your kind, no one will have to deal with your nonsense." I froze. I gawked at him.

"What did you say?" I gasped. Joseph only rolled his eyes.

"Do I have to spell it out for you, Gina?" He grabbed my hair again and pulled my head close to his. "I'm... going... to kill... all... vampires. Do you understand?" My eyes bulged out. Kill all vampires? It was insane. I clenched my fists.

"But I thought you were nice. Zack trusted you." I growled. Joseph's yellow eyes lit up when I spoke.

"Yes, and that's the trust I need. You see, Zack's a pretty strong guy, and he's a werewolf. He'll be perfect to carry out my plan." I gritted my teeth.

"You'll never get away with this," I snarled. Joseph chuckled once again.

"Oh, Gina. I already have." And with that, he wrapped his hand around my neck and gripped hard.

I woke up, gasping for air. I felt all around me. I was in my room. I rubbed my head. What was that? The events of the vision played over in my mind. I didn't know exactly what it meant, but I did realize on thing: Joseph was actually evil and he was after Zack.

*** Uh oh. Looks like somebody wasn't the guy he says he was (though you guys probably saw this from a mile away). What does this really mean for Gina and how will it affect her in the near future? That's for you to figure out.

Anyways, thank you to those who have been keeping up with my story. You guys are the ones that give me the willpower to keep on going. Keep in tabs; I'll make sure to update soon!
- Ellypso ***