Lifeline

11. Only Child... (Pt. 2)

Third Person POV

Astra gasped, only to choke on the thick red liquid being forced into her mouth and down her throat. She was desperately trying not to think of it as blood. Because she could not be drinking blood!

Then the chalice was away from her face, and the blood she hadn't swallowed spurted from her mouth, squirting in front of her and falling to the ground. Astra hunched over, painfully and uncontrollably with her hands bound behind her back. She coughed and heaved and wretched, trying to just breath, but it was worse than that. The pain was more then just the lack of air in her hoarse throat... it was like the blood had joined her own in her veins, and it had activated something in her, setting her veins on fire as a white-hot power began vibrantly coursing through them. Astra let out a scream of pure agony as the fair haired man went behind her setting his sword down on the ground to her right before he crouched behind Astra. As the pain and her scream ceased, her energy depleted. She slumped, and felt him grab her hands, and craned her neck to watch with bloodshot eyes as he took something from his weapons belt. The object seemed to be metal, a smooth deep silver-gray, with what looked like a glowing white opaque crystal on the end. Astra faced forward again, her neck no longer able to take the strain. She winced as she felt a burning sensation on her hand, but she did not scream this time. Compared to what she had just felt, it was barely a tickle. The man finished whatever he was doing, and the burning sensation faded. When he walked in front of her, about to move on to the next kid, he halted, and rage overtook his face.

"You fool!" He exclaimed. The bald man had done to four other kids hands what was done to hers, and looked at the fair haired man in confusion. "They need to drink from the Cup first!"

The four kids began to scream as they grew upward, their clothes tearing from the strain, until they were grotesque giants with ugly scars, angry and red on their hands. The kids-turned-monsters hit the remaining five children, killing them on impact, but before they could turn on Astra, the tattoo'd men grabbed swords from their weapons belts and closed in on the giants, Astra now forgotten.

Looking back now, Astra has no idea how she had been able to think so fast when she was so afraid. She had no idea how her five-year-old self had been so brave, especially with all she had been through that night. She just remembered how fast she had run.

Astra remembered the sword next to her, and shifted so her back was to it. With visible effort, and getting cuts on her her hands in the process, she used it to break the bonds on her back. It was a struggle, and she was almost frantic now, until... snap! Her hands were free. She gasped, and looked at her captors. There were only two giants left now, but they were still busy with those two that remained. She scrambled to her feet, grabbed the sword, and ran like hell. She ran faster then she had ever run before, pushing her legs with more strength then she ever remembered having before. She ran as hard as she could, never even stopping to look back.

"Ah!" She ran into something and fell backwards on her butt. Astra looked up with panic, expecting one of the bad men she had just ran from, but instead saw a complete stranger. It was a guy, maybe twenty or so years, about 5'7'', with dull green eyes and brown-black hair. He was lean, and did have muscles, but she wouldn't describe him as muscular. His most defining feature, though, was pale. He looked as though he had not seen sunlight in decades, and was wearing plain jeans with a black T-shirt and a black zip-up sweater. He was also staring at her in shock, like he couldn't believe anyone was here at night.

"What are you-" His eyes went wide, and suddenly in a blur of movement, he was leaning down in front of her, his hands on her shoulders, and he sniffed the air around her. A low hiss came from between his teeth, and he looked behind her. His eyes narrowed and sniffed the air again, eyeing her with shock. "Angel blood..." he said in a low growl, but he said it without looking at her, like he was talking to himself. He stared behind her, almost like he knew that her captors were back there. At last Astra's brain caught up with her, but just before she could run, she saw a blur of movement, and suddenly she was off the ground with wind hitting her face. It took Astra a minute to realise she wasn't falling.

The guy she had run into, he was holding her small body bridal style against his cold chest. He gave off no body heat, none at all even as he ran, running faster then any normal human being had any right to. The woods were moving past in a blur, and before she could blink, they were running through the city. Even as fast as they were running, she realized they were blurring through London! Even with the portal, she had never left the country. Astra didn't know how she felt about that, because she didn't have time to process it before they stopped, coming to a halt in front of an abandoned run-down cathedral. The stranger put her down, and had to put a hand on her shoulder to stable her as she almost fell over, dizzy and confused. Getting her sense back, she thought about running, but his hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"I won't hurt you..." he murmured. She stopped looking around for a way out and looked at him. She realized that he had probably just saved her life from the people who hurt her. He let go of her shoulder, and held something out to her. The sword she had stolen. She stared at the blade for barely a second before reaching for the handle. For some reason, the blade seemed to call to her. As soon as she wrapped her fingers around the hilt, the runes on it lit up a brilliant blue. Astra gasped, almost dropping the blade, but she tightened her grip, refusing to let go. She watched in fascination as the blue glow faded down the blade. The man regarded her with interest.

Maybe it was the euphoria that she had survived everything that had happened that night. Maybe her fight or flight instinct had finally shut down, and her mind had remembered that she was only five, and so like the child she was, she now found everything fun or cool. But after seeing the glow fade from the runes of the blade, she grinned up at the man and laughed, eyes wide with wonder. "Can I do that again!?"

He laughed, unable to resist Astra's sudden giddiness. "I'm afraid I'm probably not the best person to ask about that." He replied. He banged on the door to the cathedral, and a few moments later the doors opened. A blonde woman with her hair in a tight bun and appeared to be in her late twenties stepped out. She wore all black, and like the bad men, was covered in her tattoos, but had no weapons belt. She didn't seem pleased to see the man, but gave a tight smile.

"Ricardo," she said, not having noticed Astra, "What can I help you with?"

"Valentine." The guy, whose name she now knew was Ricardo said. With that one word the women's whole demeanor changed. "Wha-here?"

Ricardo explained everything that had happened since he had found her, using words Astra had never heard before, like 'Mortal Cup', or 'seraph blade', and 'shadowhunter'. The woman looked at Astra with a sad and sympathetic smile. "You should probably come inside sweetheart." She said. Astra looked at Ricardo. "Why isn't he coming?"

The woman paused, but before she could speak, Ricardo grinned at her. He had two razor sharp teeth on the top row corners of his mouth, Astra noticed. Like fangs. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll see you again someday. In fact, if this goes well, you'll probably save my life someday." With those words, he turned around, and ran so fast he disappeared in a blur. Astra went inside the building with the woman, not idea the life she would now live.

A life of fighting and battles, angels and demons, and more love than her old life could have ever offered her...

I'm so sorry this took me so long! I ment to post this yesterday, but Wattpad kept glitching out. I have Chapter 12 all written, it's just a matter of typing it out and posting it.

See you guys soon! <3
-Kaylee