Devil Inside

Monster.

*The song for this chapter for those of you who like a tune while you read and are following the soundtrack is Slip To The Void by Alterbridge (God I am sooo in love with Myles Kennedys er - coughs - voice) The lyrics are fitting I feel and it has a certain desolate feeling to it which I feel works well with how Elsa is feeling here. Plus it starts off slowly then builds, like Elsa's hunger, fear and anger.*

What was that noise? It sounded like an animal of some kind, a small animal whimpering. It sounded afraid. It was disturbing her sleep. And boy did she need to sleep, every muscle ached, even her bones ached. Flu?

Sleep?

Elsa wanted to open her eyes, they should have been open but they weren’t. I can’t be asleep, I can’t sleep! Panic gripped her like a vice. A vicious assault of memories attacked her, each flashing image tightening the grip of fear. Sebastian bleeding on the pavement, unable to move even as his wounds began to heal. Kate cowering in terror in the back of a van as Elsa gradually lost the ability to keep her eyes open and her mind clear. There had been nothing she could do. All her strength, all her invulnerability, speed, agility. It had served no purpose. They’d underestimated Aiden. It was not a mistake she would make again. If I get the chance ....

Kate! The whimpering was Kate! Elsa managed to crack her eyelids open a few millimetres, enough to begin to take in her surroundings through the veil of her eyelashes. It was like looking at an old photograph, grainy and faded at the edges. She remembered sitting with Sebastian, going through the photographs in his box and felt a tear escape the corner of her eye. She blinked it away, she had to concentrate on what was happening now. A twitch of her fingers told her she was coming round and she opened her eyes a little further, trying her hardest to turn her head and have a good look around.

The room she was in was square and had no visible windows on its bare, grey concrete walls. There was a door, also grey but darker. There was no handle and it looked like it was made of steel or some other type of metal. It looked strong. In the furthest corner from Elsa was Kate. She was pressed as far into the corner as she could go, her knees drawn up to her chest and her head resting on them with her arms wrapped around her shins. Her hair was disheveled and matted, her scuffed and bleeding knees showed through tears in her black tights and her dress was torn and bloodied.

Blood.

Elsa could smell it. It hit her all of a sudden and it terrified her. She could smell her own blood, Sebastian’s and, most frightening, Kate’s. But what terrified her most of all was that she wanted it. She was hungry, thirsty, starving in fact. There was no serum in her system, she had no idea how long they had been in that room and her need for blood was snaking through her system, invading every part of her, scratching incessantly at her thoughts trying to divert them from what she wanted to do. Escape. Save Kate.

Drink.

Elsa clenched her fists, feeling the sensation creep back into her body did not bring her relief because now she knew that once she could move again, Kate was in very real danger. Her eyes grew wider, the smell of the blood getting stronger with every second as her body too grew stronger. The smell of Sebastian’s blood was old, almost rusty, as was her own. Kate’s blood smelt sweet and fresh, what had they done to her?

“Kate.” Elsa croaked. Her throat was dry, it felt like it had been rubbed with sandpaper.

Kate’s head rose slowly, sluggishly. She was deathly pale, dark rings made her usually bright blue eyes stand out even though they were now dull and listless. Elsa felt fresh tears and clenched her fists even tighter as she saw teeth marks on her friends pale neck. Blood trickled invitingly from the puncture wounds, which were clearly designed to injure but not to kill. The purpose of those wounds had not been to feed from Kate, they had been to tempt Elsa. It was working.