An Undead Rebellion (Sequel)

Going Under

I struggled slightly, my chest tight and my blood running too warm. My head swam with sharp anxiety and I felt terrified.

When the cheering got louder I looked in the direction everyone else was, and saw my father being drug into the room on his knees past aisles of tables to a small wooden platform up at the very back where two pillars of candles stood. My attempts to break loose of the grip on me got stronger, and I lashed with my legs, eyes wide as my dad was led on the wood surface, head slumped and face and knees bloody.

"Let me go!" I urged, jerking and fighting against my captors.

"This," Bryn said, loud enough for me to hear but no one else. "is only the beginning." and he walked past, striding swiftly up to the platform where my dad sat on his knees, wrists bound in rope.

This wasn't good. No, this was definitely, definitely bad. I swallowed past the taste of bile in the back of my throat as I watched a blonde vampire unsheathe a dagger and hand it to Bryn. Oh god. No.

I pulled at the hands on my arms, pulse racing and stomach clenched.

"Get the fuck off of me!" I yelled at the men holding me, violently struggling to get free. I was so upset that my powers acted of their own accord, and an electric shock of violet colored energy ran down my arms, strong enough to make the vampires recoil, stumbling back and shouting in pain. I didn't waste anytime once their grasp was gone, and darted toward where my dad was.

"Someone control our guest please." Bryn drawled, looking impatient.

When people started getting up from tables and lunging toward me I shot out bolts of energy from my hands, the sound like live wires snapping through the air and hitting them with such force they were sent flying backwards, toppling into others. That made a lot of them hesitate, and the crowd got louder. I was just about to the raised surface where Bryn was holding my father's head up by his hair, watching my advance calmly, when arms grabbed me from behind and forcibly and slammed down into the dirt. I kicked and elbowed against the weight as I was hauled up, arms tight around my torso, and I grabbed them, shocking the limbs with a force of energy that was the darkest purple I'd noted yet. There was a static in the air the energy had been so strong, I could feel it tingling all the way through my body. Somehow though, the grip on me didn't waver, even though the flesh of their arms bruised in an immediate manner, turning blue and crimson in an astoundingly fast time. Apparently my bolts of energy didn't just shock whomever it touched, they physically inflicted external damage like a violent force had hit the skin.

I could feel myself grow exhausted from the sudden and intense use of power, but even then I still attempted to hurt them again, squeezing out whatever I had left and pushing it through my fingertips as they clawed at the arms around me. A lighter colored, much smaller crackle of energy burned out through my skin, and that time it had been so hard to get anything with force out that it left pins and needles pricking my hands so intensely it nearly was painful. The person behind me was breathing heavily against the output, but there was no let up and I had completely drained every ounce of power I had in the moment. I was going to pay for it later, too. I wouldn't be able to conjure up anything but a miniscule amount of energy for at least a day or two after this. I wasn't practiced enough and when I shot off like this without any control it seemed to deplete me wholly.

"Let us continue, then." Bryn announced. "Thank you, Corey."

A blue flame of hatred relit in the pit of my stomach and I realized after a second that the vampire that had tamed me was indeed Corey; I could tell by the unmistakable scent; vanilla and a trace of mint. I swallowed dryly, gritting my teeth. "Bastard," I spit out under my breath, nails digging into the flesh of his forearms that was bruised colorfully.

Bryn tugged my father's head back further, placing the edge of the blade to his throat. My dad was so incoherent he didn't struggle, merely sat there limp; dried blood crusted over his cheeks and nose; one eye swollen shut. I wasn't entirely sure he was conscious.

"What is this going to solve?!" I yelled out past the noise that picked up again.

"This is vengeance, halfling!" Bryn called back, smiling sinisterly at the audience as they spurred him on. "Blood for blood!"

I vaguely heard myself yelling beneath the eruption of sound, glasses banging on tables and chants of "Blood for blood" being repeated as the dagger drew across my dad's jugular and a spray of blood followed in a sickening display, and then it was over in a second, his body slumping to the floor, leaking out his life in a puddle of red as his limbs twitched. Wetness clouded my vision and my throat felt raw, the enthusiastic uproar ringing in my ears; pounding against my skull like it was a drum. I couldn't recollect much after that, my pulse got very slow and my muscles grew so weak I couldn't stand. My sight edged black and my breathing was haggard; I was vaguely aware of my surroundings and being held up as damp tracks rolled down my cheeks. Then everything just faded out and I fell into a void of nothing that was far past welcomed.