Fangs of Desire (Book II) (Completed)

Chapter XXIII

"You think you can harm a weapon of hell with such a measly attempt?"

He held Emma's shoulder before pushing her down and lodging his knee into her stomach, making her cough up blood before sending her flying back with a kick.

"You insult me."

He spun his scythe and launched it towards Emma with terrifying accuracy. For some reason she felt like a blood shield wouldn't be able to stop such a dangerous weapon and barely dodged it by jumping to the side. The blade slashed through her arm and cut a part of her hair off before Tristan summoned it back in his hands. He was ruthless as he fought, not giving Emma a second of rest as he struck again and again while forcing her to move back. She held onto the grass to stabilize herself before sending a row of blood knifes towards his legs, making him lose his footing for a second, just enough time for her to launch at him again and latch onto his body before he could pull back, her hands digging into his hair.

"Leave my territory, you spawn of hell."

Her voice felt different as she spoke, as if it was someone else speaking through her mouth. It sounded odd and different but at the same time it still sounded like her. Tendrils of blood moved through her arms and jabbed into his skin as she held onto him tightly, moving up and jamming into his ears. She knew it wouldn't kill him, but it sure as hell would hurt and cause a great deal of discomfort.

"Leave!"

Tristan yelled with the shock of the stabbing pain, trying to hold Emma back and get her off but the blood tendrils only latched onto him harder and made sure to hold on until she was lodged deep in his head. She kept it going for a while longer before hearing the footsteps behind her. More kindred had arrived. She was sure Tristan wouldn't be able to hear them in his current state, not while his eardrums were ripped with the tendrils Emma pushed in, so she finally pulled back and threw him back to put some distance between them again. He staggered back and held his bleeding ears in pain, groaning while trying to regain his footing. When he could finally open his eyes he looked up at Emma with burning hatred and fury.

"You will pay for this."

He saw the kindred approaching behind, then took his scythe and spoke in an indecipherable language before making himself disappear in a mist.

Emma fell on her knees, coughing up blood and holding onto the dirt ground as her body shook with the shock of what just happened to it. She curled up and threw up all the blood left in her system as she felt the surge of power fade away, wiping at her lips with the back of her hand and looking up with a blurry vision. She blinked a few times to see Camille approaching. She stopped running a short distance away and dropped on her knees, shaking the body in front of her while calling out. Oh right.

Oh right.

Dominic was still there!

Emma pushed herself up and tried to regain her balance, struggling while trying to walk. A hand supported her from under her shoulder and Emma looked up to see Kat helping her up.

"Hey, you good?"

She closed her eyes and waited for a moment to stop her vision from spinning, then nodded and took help from her to stand up properly.

"Yeah... Yeah, but..."

She looked at Dominic. Now that the adrenaline was wearing away the grim reality of what had just happened was starting to settle in. Kat followed her gaze, her jaw clenching. It looked like she was showing a great deal of effort to keep her cool.

"What he did saved both of you."

Despite her words, it felt like she was ignoring the reality as well. Another moment passed before Emma heard a new, slightly weaker scream from the mansion.

"No!!"

It was Danielle. She still looked too pale and weak from the blood loss, but that didn't stop her from running towards the scene in the middle. She was stopped by a few other kindred right before she reached Dominic, struggling to get free and reach him. Camille was already on her knees and mourning the loss of her friend. Somehow, it felt like she wouldn't be liking Emma too much after this.

"..."

Emma looked down. They were already starting to have losses and they hadn't even faced the Crusader or Jean yet.

"Fuck..."

She whispered under her breath, groaning and holding her head. That sharp headache again...

Kat realized when Emma started whimpering in pain, leaning in and holding her to prevent her from falling.

"You used up too much of your powers, this time you do need to rest before you can leave."

Emma looked up and wanted to object, but gasped again with the sharp stabbing pain in her head. Kat sighed, supporting more of her body weight and turning towards the mansion.

"Hey... Let's go inside, you can't keep your consciousness for much longer in this state."

Emma looked up, her vision dyed red with blood running down from her nose. She could barely mumble out some words.

"Wha... What is this feeling...?"

She could see that Kat was talking, but she couldn't hear any of it with the constant ringing in her ears. She took another step before losing consciousness, and fell into Kat's arms.

* * *

It was dark and quiet when Emma opened her eyes again. She blinked a few times and groaned in pain, slowly pushing herself up but failing and falling back again.

"Damn it..."

She looked down at her hands. There wasn't too much dried blood, but the cuts on her arms still hadn't healed completely. She felt completely drained as if a truck had struck her body, the soreness of her muscles something she hadn't experienced ever since she was embraced.

She gave up with a sigh and just laid back on the soft covers. It did feel nice to be laying down and getting a bit of rest in between all of this mess, even if it was only because she was physically unable to get out of the bed. She stared at the ceiling, thinking about how she had come to this point. A year before this she wouldn't be able to believe any of the stuff she is currently going through. She hadn't seen her family in a long while either, and didn't feel like that was going to change any time soon. Danielle was her only close friend but she did have people she used to hang out with casually, and she couldn't help but wonder if any of them were wondering where she disappeared to, or if they had already moved on with their lives.

She didn't know which scenario was better in her head, to be mourned or to be forgotten. She would never be able to go back to how things were back then. She would never see her family, get a late night drink with some colleagues, or go out for a coffee in the morning. Hell, she hadn't even had the time to think about anything a regular person would do in their daily life.

"I guess this is how I live now..."

She closed her eyes, listening to the late night birds outside. It was strange living everyday as if it is going to be your last, but at the same time it made her realize how little she had cared about the things that she took for granted in her life. Her moments of peace could be pulled away from under her feet any second, and it made the times she could have that little amount calm seem even more precious.

She looked at the door. Soon she would need to get up and step back into the hellish world of the kindred, so she just laid back and closed her eyes again, pushing all of it back in her mind and focusing on getting some rest while she still could.