THESE CELESTIAL BODIES (Demetre)

Chapter four

     She had killed Vampyrs, and she didn't know how. "How many dead?" the man asked.
     "Three," The woman said. "The others will heal."
She had brought forth light strong enough to kill them, but how?
     Another man popped out, looked at the first man with narrowed eyes. His body seemed to shift in the room, like he was an illusion, fragmented. "Jairus, we cannot let this creature live."
     "No please," Rose gasped. The man—Jairus—looked her over with an expression of shock and disgust. Hating her and her humanity. He realised she was awake, not a hollow shell like she should be. He ignored her, though.
     "This human killed three of our own." The other man spat the word out like it was dirt, poison. A wretched, wrangled word.
     Jairus shrugged, smiled a little. "Off with her head, then."
No. A Vampyr's stalking gait started clicking along the floor, and when Rose looked, she saw a monster of a creature tearing through the crowed towards her. Sword in hand, torso scattered and clawed to the point she wondered how he survived it. As he drew closer, Rose shuffled back, blubbering pleas and sobs escaping her. But her pleas went unheard, her life hanging by mere thread.

     Two hands hauled her up and bent her over, so her head was leaning forward. The executioner settled to her side, raised his sword and sucked in a breath. Her insides released and urine streamed down her legs.
     "Halt." A male rattled.
The executioner's sword caught just inches from the back of her neck. The blade so close to her skin, Rose felt its tingle on her. The crowed parted like a sea and out came...
What was that?
     All Rose saw was a mass of writhing shadows, as if the shadows in this place were not deep enough already. The figure moved, shadows concealing what was within, but Rose still saw glints. Black hair, long. The cut of a sharp jaw before a tendril swallowed it up. The bridge of a nose, the spark of red eyes. The darkness around kept swallowing features, not revealing his true face. The figure came close, but it was like his shadows arched away from her, she almost heard them hiss. Hiss in disgust. At her.

     "Demetre," Jairus began. "This isn't the time for you to think with your dick."
     "No, Jairus, that's you." He deadpanned. Jairus did not smile. His shadow shrouded face leaned into her face and he sniffed, actually sniffed her. "You cannot kill her."
     "And why is that?"
     "Can't you smell it on her?" no one answered. "She has the blood of a Vampyr."
     Another wash of silence settled into the room and in Rose's very bones. She was too afraid to move, even more terrified to lift herself up from her bent position. And the wetness of her legs was too embarrassing to try.
     "A half breed," the strange man noted, cocking his head.
     Half breed.
     Jairus threw on a smug smile. "Oh, brother, have you not realised that most here are not pureblooded? It is no surprise she has human and Vampyr blood."
"Not human," the man said calmy, still watching her with depthless eyes. "She is not mixed with human blood."

Jairus's smile diminished entirely.
     What did he mean not human, what did he mean half breed, Vampyr blood. What was happening. "Take her back to the caves, I'll deal with her soon."
     "Yes, my lord." One of the Vylewrought hissed through decaying mouth and gumless teeth. Sheen and black blood dribbled from his lip when he smiled at her. Terrified, Rose was escorted out of the hall and locked in the caves.

~

The darkness did not relent, as usual. Upon the alter, it seeded in her lungs and ribs and breast and bones. She was conscious this time and she couldn't tell what was worse, to endure this pain while she was under their control of when she was herself. The pain was splintering but she couldn't move. The dark was...alive. It shifted around her, moving and slivering, sniffing her. It did that a lot. Sniffed, licked her skin. Roamed too far and too deep.
     Sharp boots clicked and the shadows cocked their heads to see the newcomer. They seemed to bow, and then scuttle into larger shadows, enveloping the person approaching.
     She recognized him then when his shadow hidden face loomed over her. The man from the party, the one who had saved her life when Cato had condemned her. But had he really? Or was she still doing to die. He sniffed. "What are you?" he asked, strangely to himself not to her. What are you? What was she? Was human. Human, human, human.
     "What are you," she bit. Fighting the cramps and bodily spasms. He wasn't expecting her to be awake, it seemed.
     "They said your light came when you..." he coughed, she could feel him smirk from beneath his shadows, felt his eyes drift between her legs. "Engaged in sexual activity. Were you aware you could do such a thing?"
     "No, I don't know what that was." she gritted through her teeth as another flare of spasms rippled through her legs. Twangs and throbs and prickling sensations.
     "It's unwise to lie to me."
     "I'm not lying you filthy bastard."
     "Watch how you speak to a Lord."