Vampocalypse (old first draft)

Chapter Twenty-five

A/N Chapter dedicated to @Solxcitude for the lovely cover in the media section. :)

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My room -- which felt strange to say being that I hardly knew these people, and all but Leon had either tried to kill me or cheered it along -- was a cozy little section of the main house. I eyed the fur blanket on the queen sized bed suspiciously and wondered who it had been. It was tawny in color and reminded me of mountain lions. The pillow cases matched. There was a book laying on the night stand with a note on top.

For Harper, it said, my Goddess. May your stay here be magical. Leon.

The message made me grin and I grinned wider as I read the cover: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. A book about magic for the Spellbinder. Little did he know, I'd read it. The whole set actually, and I loved them all. Leon was a good judge of character. I opened to book fondly, as though I were revisiting an old friend, and sunk into the comfortable bed.

•••

A loud crash outside the bedroom door startled me. I hadn't even realized I'd fallen asleep, but there I was being startled awake. Shrieks in the hallway followed the crash. My heart pounded in my chest, urging me into action. I flung open the door to see Uma on the floor and the older girl who'd called me a freak above her, pulling Uma's hair and banging her head on the floor.

"Run, Harper!" Uma cried. Her nose was already bloody and I could a bruise on her cheek.

I couldn't be expected to run. I had to help Uma. I doubt I would have ran even if I knew what was coming.

I hooked my arms around the girl's and she kicked at Uma as I dragged her away. She cursed and screeched like mad, then she turned on me.

"You'll get yours," she said with a crazy cackle.

As though a fresh wave of anger struck her, she rushed at me and used her momentum to shove me against the wall. It jarred me to the core, causing me to gasp a few times before I could suck some air in. As soon as I did, she punched my stomach.

Instead of pain, I was overwhelmed with anger. The nerve of this girl! I punched her the same way I'd punched Dusty, but probably harder because I hated her more at this point. She had just beat up a girl about six years younger than her. A defenseless child basically. Just the thought of the blood running from Uma's small nose ignited a fire somewhere in me.

The next thing I was aware of was me straddling, clawing, and punching at the girl while she lay on the floor.

"He'll get you!" she was screaming. "When he's done with the alpha he'll come after you!" She spat the word 'alpha' as though it were feces, and cackled in her mad way with her own blood on her crooked teeth.

I stopped fighting her. She lay there and laughed, spit a little blood out and laughed some more.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

But she only laughed.

"I was trying to warn you- Just run," Uma said in a half-groan. Her arms were wrapped over her stomach. "He wants power. Harper...he wants you. He thinks if he kills you, he'll gain your power."

"That's-That's ridiculous!" I said, without even having to ask who 'he' was. Gus. "Are you okay?"

I abandoned the fight. She was just laying there giggling anyway. Before I could help Uma up, she objected.

"No time. Go. He's fighting Alpha Leonard right now and he was winning."

"No...' I said, and then louder, "No!"

This was all my fault - my stupid powers' fault in any count. Leonard...I couldn't place it, but for some reason, I knew he was a good man and this should not be happening.

"Where is he, Uma?"

"Harper, please-"

"Last door, third floor, freak," the crazy girl said. "Better hurry. Lover boy's probably taking his last breath right this minute."

I shot an unfriendly word at her over my shoulder and took off. My hair flew behind me like the red-hot fire I was feeling inside.

The first room I stopped at was the dining room where I'd seen a shield and two swords mounted on the wall. I wasn't about to bring nothing but my faulty dead-things magic to a wolf fight. I grabbed the shield and one sword, but even with my adrenaline pumping, the shield was too heavy. It hindered my speed, so I threw it down. Taking the steps two at a time, I emerged on the third floor. Clear down the hall, the door to the last room was wide open.

All was silent. It struck me as eerie and all together dangerous. I skidded to a halt, then proceeded in sneak mode - on my tip-toes in a sideways manner as though I were a ninja or a spy. I held the sword up, ready to swing it should Gus burst out of the room.

My heart pounded like fierce war drums. I gripped the sword harder, fearing my sweaty hands would cause it to slip. Would they still be in there? Would they fight as men or as monsters? I had no idea what exactly I was about to walk in on.

Well, I reasoned, there's no better way to find out than to stop speculating and just face it.

I took a deep breath and charged in with my most intimidating attempt at a battle cry, hoping if nothing else it would throw Gus off an buy me a second or two.

But the room was empty. I lowered the sword and my voice fell to a whimper and cut off completely. The room was in shreds, shambles, and covered in blood, but no men or werewolves. I revved up for solitude, it seemed.

A feeble noise caught my attention. It came from the broken bed, amidst the bloody, jumbled up fur blankets. My eyes grew wide as I cautiously approached.

Laying there, amidst the bloody blankets was a broken and bloody werewolf. I recognized the ornate necklace it wore, three moon phases in gold.

"Leon," I gasped.

I could see he was in excruciating pain. He'd endured a massive injury straight to the gut and he lay gasping, barely there. My eyes filled with tears at the sight of the mighty, kind King of Werewolves laying ravaged. Nobody should suffer such an injustice.

I dropped the sword and knelt next to him. Tiny goosebumps rose on every inch of my skin. Being so near a fully transformed werewolf was horrific, even if he couldn't move. But what's right ruled over what was scary, and I didn't want him to be alone.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking into his dulling eyes. It was all my fault.

The eyes -- so like Leon in his human form -- stayed on me. Pleaded with me. I felt as though they were saying, "Don't leave me alone." I reached out a timid hand to stroke the coarse fur on his cheek.

A gnarly voice from the corner of the room erupted and made my blood run cold.