Come In

Chapter Twenty-One

The vampires' sneers didn't falter as the closed in on us. I lay Cam gently on the ground and peered around, trying to find Victor and Kim. They were nowhere to be found.

I wasn't worried about fighting the two vampires, who had crouched low to the ground, preparing to pounce. I was worried that Cam may wake up whilst I was fighting, and decide to help the team that he'd been brainwashed into joining. No matter how confident I was in my skills as they slayer, I was still new, and I didn't know how long it would take for him to wake up.

The vampire on the left attacked first, throwing a punch at my head, which I blocked with ease, before rolling over to the second vampire, and tripping him up whilst simultaneously launching my stake at the other. He obviously didn't expect that, because his eyes widened in surprise as the stake plunged into his chest. He looked like he was about to say something, before he dissolved to the ground. I ran over to the stake and grabbed it, but the remaining vampire seemed to be strong- very strong. He closed his arms around me and squeezed, leaving me with no room to breathe. I lifted my leg and delivered a strong kick to his shin, causing him to drop me.

To my horror, I noticed Cam getting up, a look of rage on his face. His eyes found me, and he growled. The sound shook me, but I forced myself to focus. I killed the other vampire quickly, using more force than normal to get the stake past his stone skin. I now realised the difference between a Pardo and a normal vampire. What I just fought was a vampire, like Cam, and from the looks of Cam's face, it seemed that I was about to face another one.

Suddenly, Cam fell to the ground, clutching at his temples, whimpering. I thanked my lucky stars, but suddenly, I was anxious. What was wrong with him?

Ignoring the warning from my subconscious, I ran over to his writhing form. Seeing him in pain, finally made him look his age- or the age that he was when he turned. He really did just look like a twenty year old, helpless on the floor. The sight of him like this broke my heart.

"Anna, don't worry" a whisper sounded from the trees. It was Victor.

"Victor? I thought you'd gone." I said, trying to hide the slight undertone of accusation in my voice.

"No, we went to find a spell. Kim's giving him brain haemorrhages- his accelerated healing means that just one wouldn't incapacitate him. He'll be fine. Kim's doing a great job." Victor appeared from the shadows of the trees.

I lifted Cam into my arms, and ran over to where Kim must have been.

She was sitting cross legged by a tree, with her spell book open in front of her. Her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. I was shocked to see the her eyes were entirely white. It looked quite frightening, but I had no time to dwell on that.

"Kim, isn't there any way you could just make him go to sleep or something?" I said, half worried about the fact that he was in pain, and half worried by the fact that if she carried on with this spell, I'd be carrying home a strong vampire who was constantly writhing about, followed by a girl who I'm pretty sure in this moment, couldn't see, chanting silently.

"Just a couple more and he'll be out. Don't worry, there won't be any damage." She said, and it sounded like it took great effort for her to speak.

A couple of minutes passed before he stopped thrashing about. I breathed a sigh of relief when he did, as did Kim. She gave me a small smile- I could tell that she was exhausted from the spell.

Giggles burst from my mouth unexpectedly. Kim gave me a weird look before beginning to snicker herself. It took me a moment to realise why I was laughing. In just a few days, I had found out that 1., vampires were real. 2., I was a vampire slayer, and 3., witches and magic was real. I hadn't really given my mind enough time to process any of this, so it obviously had found its way out of my body, in the form of a laughing fit. I expected that that was what was happening with Kim. Victor, however, was rolling his eyes with his arms folded, looking very much like a stern father.

Once the hysteria had dissipated, I dived right back into the mission. I lifted Cam's unconscious form from the ground, and began running to the nearest exit, which- to my luck- wasn't that far away. I was relieved to see that there were no guards to intercept us.

I ran all the way home without stopping, with Victor and Kim running clumsily behind me. I just needed to be back into the house to be sure that danger wasn't lurking in the shadows, and I had a need to be there.

When we got inside, I set Cam gently down onto the sofa, and spent a few seconds admiring his angelic face- so serene in his unconsciousness.

Kim was in the kitchen making tea, and Victor had knelt down by Cam's head. He took out a tiny torch, and opened cam's eye, shining the light into it, causing his eyes to gleam the colour of the sky.

"He'll be fine. But the mind control hasn't been interrupted. When he wakes, he will attack. I think that we should tie him up or something. Do you have anything we could use?" Victor asked me. I thought for a minute, but came up blank. The best I could do was a skipping rope that had lived in the garage since my childhood.

"Sorry Vic, we've got nothing." I said, shrugging. Victor frowned.

"Fair enough... Kim, could you come here for a moment, I have a small job for you." He called into the kitchen. Kim appeared with a tray, which held three cups of tea. We all took one. I began sipping before letting it cool down- I needed to do something with my hands, and it was pretty easy to ignore the way the tea scalded the inside of my mouth, with all of my thoughts flitting through my mind.

"Could you go to Mac's Hardware Store in the town after your tea. We beed something to tie Cameron up with. Just give them this, and tell them Victor sent you. They know me." He said, handing Kim a piece of scrap paper that he had scribbled a list of items onto. Kim took the paper willingly, with a smile on her face, but I knew that she probably felt as drained as I was, and probably didn't feel like carrying out this one last task.

"No Vic. Let me do it." I said, standing. Victor shook his head.

"No, you need to be here in case your friend wakes up. For one, you'll be able to subdue him more effectively than me, and secondly, your face is probably the best thing for him to see first. It might bring his memories closer to the front of his mind." Victor explained.

"No, seriously it's fine." Kim assured me. I frowned, but let it go.

Kim left after we'd finished our tea, and Victor and I were flipping through some of the old books that he had brought with him, trying to find anything we could on The King.

Suddenly, Cam's eyes opened.