Obliterate

eight

SOPHIE AND ELI walked hand in hand back to their mini-apartment. As he opened the door, Eli hesitated. His fingers untangled from hers. "Aelia said there was no trace left of Robby," he said lowly, pushing open the door. "I have no idea what kind of creature could have accomplished that."

It was completely dark inside. Only a small generic looking lamp illuminated the space from where it sat on the table beside the sofa. Neither bothered with the lights as they moved inside and shut the door.

"Maybe it's not a known creature," Sophie mused. She glanced around the apartment uneasily and then started toward the bedroom.

Eli followed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, until I started school here I had no idea that vampires or werewolves even existed. There's bound to be some sort of supernatural creature that even we don't know about. There's no way that we could know about them all." Sophie fished through the closet for an appropriate outfit. She pulled out a darkened sweatshirt and a pair of dark stretchy jeans. As her fingers grasped the hem of her shirt, she noticed Eli standing in the doorway. His arms were folded across his chest. His expression was troubled.

She blinked. "What is it?"

Eli ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I just think that after so many thousands of years that our kinds have existed, we would have discovered all of the other supernatural creatures by now."

"It could be a hybrid," Sophie answered. She tugged her shirt over her head, almost taking her tank-top with it. Then she slipped into the sweatshirt and added, "I mean, there aren't very many of those from what I could tell."

"That's a possibility," Eli agreed. "Except most hybrids retain the powers of their supernatural parent –just like you did. You already had vampire blood within you, even before you came here. I have no idea what would already have the ability to make something completely disappear."

Sophie shrugged and slipped into her jeans. "Are you going to change or not? We're going to be late."

"No," Eli admitted with a smirk. "I just like watching you change."

She threw a t-shirt at him. "Pervert."

He laughed and disappeared into the bedroom. As she tugged on her sneakers, she could hear him rummaging through the dresser drawers. He kept a majority of his work-out clothes in there. Once they were both changed and mentally prepared to hike through the wilderness all night, they met at the front door. Eli opened said door and held it for Sophie. She stepped out into dimly lit hallway and folded her arms across her chest. Her fingers lightly touched the scarred flesh that covered the base of her throat.

"I just hope this doesn't turn into another rebellion or war," Eli commented idly as they started to walk back to the dining hall. "The last thing that we need is another situation like Wolfe."

Sophie remained quiet. Her thoughts drifted back to the hospital room. Wolfe's dark hair fanned out across a milky pillow, his expression troubled. His baby blues wide open and focused on her face. His voice calling out her name.

The memory made her stomach knot.

"No," she finally mumbled under her breath. "We wouldn't want that."

Eli hummed in response and his hand found hers. His fingers squeezed tight around hers, the gesture familiar and comforting. She felt the tension dissipate from her shoulders. They entered the dining hall and looked around. There were a few others present, along with Aelia. They were gathered around in a semi-circle, their voices carrying across the room.

"We don't want to immediately engage in a fight," one of the other teachers was saying, his voice hushed. His slender nose extended far beyond his face, even for a witch. "It would be wise to report any suspicious activity first and limit ourselves to purely investigative actions."

"I agree," Aelia said. "We have no clue what we are dealing with. All precautions must be taken with this foe."

"How do we plan to do this?" Eli asked as they strolled to a stop in front of the semi-circle. "Are we supposed to split up? We'd cover more ground that way."

Aelia's nose pinched. "I don't like the idea of us all being alone, yet you do have a point. With the amount of people that we have so far in this group, we'd cover a lot more ground if we split up. I think that groups of two would suffice."

Eli and Sophie shared a look and nodded. "That's fine."

One of the other teachers rolled their eyes and scoffed. "Of course the perfect couple will be paired together," she muttered under her breath to her friend.

Sophie let the comment slide. It was obvious that this ogre wasn't used to being in the presence of vampires, who could hear the quietest of sounds. A part of her even internally snickered at the comment. Her and Eli weren't at all a perfect couple. If they were, Sophie would have been strong enough to tell him about the bloodbath she'd woken up to. If they were, that memory from the hospital with Wolfe wouldn't bother her so much.

Aelia kept the conversation going for another few minutes, in case any other stragglers wanted to join the search party. It soon became apparent that everyone had made their choice. Aelia gestured for the small group to follow her and she lead them toward the castle's main entrance. The massive double doors opened to reveal a twinkling night sky of indigos and violets.

Sophie hesitated at the top of the steps, her gaze focused on the crescent moon that had carved itself into the sky. Again her fingers pressed against her throat. A tingling sensation kissed her fingertips.

Aelia stopped a few steps down and looked up. Her indifferent expression worked quick to mask her concern. "We meet back here at dawn," she announced. "Not a moment later."

Then they all dispersed. 

fun fact: the image above is essentially the main inspiration for Eli lol

P.S. If you happen to see the name "Bobby" instead of "Robby" scattered throughout these chapters, please comment and let me know! It was a mishap on my part and I am trying to fix it --but I can't catch it all by myself. I changed as much as I could find. Just let me know if you see any others! Thank you! ♡