Blood Vengeance [COMPLETED]

Chapter Four - The Boats

They stood in the shadows, backs pressed against the rocks, just inside the damp cave. Selene wanted to sit or crouch; her legs were shaking from the climb along the cliff face and her fingertips were red and sore.

The lagoon entrance smelt dank and salty, and the rocks were wet and slippery beneath their feet.

"This is it," said Xander. "I think we're roughly below Epershand now, and this is the perfect inlet from the sea." He looked down, watching the waves rush in and fill the cave. "The boats come in just here," he said, pointing where the foam broke against the rocks in front of their feet.

They stood near the entrance of the cave to benefit from the light of the moon, which was the only brightness in the cave at all, but it was sufficient to show them that the sea ran right inside, forming a dark river that swirled around a colonnade of stalagmites and stalactites towering above deep pools of sea water.

Selene slid down to sit on the damp rock, feeling the jagged surface scratch her back and tug at her jumper, thankful that her legs no longer had to hold her up. She pulled her knees against her chest, folding herself up like an accordion. The smaller she could be the better.

Xander lowered himself to sit beside her, taking the stake from his belt and pressing the pointed end into his palm, whilst holding the hilt in the other hand and twisting it, as though he meant to drill through his skin.

Selene reached out a hand and clasped her fingers over his.

"Stop it," she said without turning to look at him. "Be still."

The twirling wood stopped and Xander glanced down at her hand over his. Selene was aware her hand was dirty, her nails broken and blackened and she lifted it away and dropped it in her lap. Xander closed a tight fist around the hilt of the wooden dagger and slid it back into the sheath he wore at his belt.

"Are you frightened?" He asked.

"Yes." She folded her hands over one another. "Are you?"

Xander didn't respond, but when Selene glanced at him he was staring straight ahead, and beneath his beard she was sure there was a tension not normally present.

"You know what to do?" He asked.

"Yes."

"When the boats come by, we jump in. Quickly. At the back."

"How do you know they'll come?"

"I came up here. I've seen them." He dropped his head letting it sag on his bent neck.

"Why didn't you say? All this time you pretended not to know where we were going; you've been lying to us! You followed Virgil-"

"The night you were dreaming."

Selene stopped at his interruption; his voice was low and serious. She thrust her words back in her throat and kept them silent, waiting for him to continue.

"I couldn't sleep. I got up and walked and walked in the dark. I climbed the rocks and found myself here by the entrance. Just before dawn the boats came in; hundreds of tiny rowing boats, the prisoners rowing themselves. The Vampires sail round them, herding them up like sheep, on motorised jet skis. When they reach here," he said, pointing to the mouth of the cave where the sea ran in, "they reach a bottleneck and slow down, piling up on one another, crushing between the rocks, before they splurge out into the lagoon, and keep on rowing until they are out of sight."

Selene pictured the scene, but it was hard to imagine there being anyone else here but them and the waves.

"We should be able to roll across the rocks and drop into a boat. We'll have to go in different boats, and risk that the prisoners might give us away. But we have to hope that they might at least have some loyalty to other humans."

Selene frowned, remembering the distinct lack of loyalty amongst the girls she had danced with back at Stanley Hall. But this might be different; the prisoners were already condemned. They had nothing to lose; unless they wanted to barter for their freedom...

They sat still, side by side, listening to the waxing and waning of the waves, crashing against the rocks and slipping away again, before returning with an equal force to shatter on the stone.

An hour or so must have passed like that, during which Selene constantly shifted to relieve numbness in her legs and buttocks, but Xander, by contrast, remained utterly still.

Then he reached out and touched her arm, pointing out to sea. She followed where he directed her gaze, and saw golden lights bobbing out in the darkness, floating on the rhythm of the water.

"They're the lanterns. There's one on every boat."

Selene tried to focus but the lights were too far away; they were hazy golden balls of fire in a deep blackness that threatened to swallow them up.

Xander got up, crouched like a cat about to spring. He scuttled over the rock.

"Follow me," he hissed, and then, before Selene could even move, he disappeared off the ledge. She gasped, thinking he had thrown himself in the water, where he would surely drown. She ran to the side and looked into the dark swirling sea, but could see nothing. Her heart struck her ribs, the beat quickening as she searched the surface of the black water.

"Here, Selene, down here."

She twisted, searching for the source of the voice. A hand reached up and gripped her shoe, and when she looked down Xander's hand was wrapped about the toe of her trainer. She lifted her gaze to his face, which wore a quizzical expression, his eyebrows twisted over his brow.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

She nodded, staring as she looked down at where he crouched on a small ledge; a niche cut into the rock. He was closer to the surface of the water and already his trousers were damp and his face shone with seawater.

"Well get down here then," he said, offering her a hand which she ignored, choosing instead to hop down of her own volition. But when she did so she found herself crammed against him, the niche being narrow and shallow; they could not stand shoulder to shoulder in the space, and instead had to stand face-to-face, pressed against each other.

She looked up to find him staring at her with a cold gaze.

"Don't get distracted," he said, without so much as blinking. "Get in the boat and get your head down."

She gritted her teeth and allowed herself a barely discernible nod. She felt his hands around her waist as he manoeuvred her so that he could see over her shoulder out to sea, where the boats with their golden lights were approaching. Her top rose up as she twisted to try and see the boats too, and suddenly his hand was on the bare flesh at her hip. She gasped at the contact and swirled round to face him again, feeling his hands drop from her body.

"Five minutes," he whispered, his mouth so close she could feel the heat of his breath on her cheek.

The tension reminded her of the moment they had looked at one another under the trees, up on Hampstead Heath, when she had taken his face in her hands and kissed him. Now, as she stood pressed against him, she wondered how she could have had the audacity back then. She would never have done it now, nor would she have wanted to. She looked at his lips between the dark hairs that grew over his face, and noticed they were pressed into a tight line. There was a hardness in Xander that she had not recognised back then; perhaps it had crystallized over the past weeks, but certainly it was a quality innate within him. Sometimes he frightened her.

He rolled his eyes to look at her, and, finding her staring at him, examining his face, he returned her stare with a cold and piercing one of his own.

"Focus," he whispered, and she felt a blush rise to her cheeks, feeling that he had read her mind, and known whence her thoughts had strayed. "Stay in the moment."

=======================================================================

Hey everybody! I really hope you're still enjoying the story - all your votes and comments are much appreciated! Do let me know what you think - whether you want to keep reading, and if there is anything I can improve.

Thank you all for reading!

RJ :)