Shimmer |✓|

//Intervention// Part 2

I knew I would have to fight my way from the castle-I counted on it.

I followed my nose from the stale, acrid stench of failure, upwards, to the fresher airs of liberty. It took me twenty precious minutes to escape Tidus' maze-like dungeon. By the time I stepped into the first floor corridor, I knew he'd be waiting for me...

The tiny, darkened passage connected to a brightly lit hall, that, much to my agitation, I had walked twice already. This time something caught my eye. I doubled back, entering the unlit corridor with a sly grin. A red dot leered from a nest of shadows, hidden in the alcove above the exit. My sweet was not as medieval as he seemed... Cameras. How many have I missed? How much time has it cost me? How much time do I have?

I sneered at the red dot, envisioning my worthless friends on the other side. Addy, Chandler, Ethan. Tidus locked me in and not one of them had come to my rescue. Lips curled, I twiddled my fingers at my meddlesome friends. "See ya soon." I withdrew the stake from my back-pocket, and the camera became my first victim of the night....

The dungeons beneath Castle Teped were a matrix of rooms only Tidus truly knew the ins and outs of. I followed memories from my first time in the dungeons, zig-zagging from the prison cells, past the stone mess hall occupied with nothing but shiny black coffins, to the storehouses with shelves of funny things in funny liquids. From there, I found my way to the lift-nothing more than a rickety metal cage with four mesh walls that offered an uncomfortable view as it jumped and bounced on it's hinges. I slammed the lift-door behind me and pressed the up button. 

As the cage rattled to life, I removed the stake once more, fingers curling tightly around the makeshift weapon. Knowing the Alpha had already escaped death once wouldn't deter me from hurting him again. And I was in no mood to play favorites-Tidus may have so-far spared Ethan-as a favor to me-but given half a chance I would stick this wood right in his heart. He had spilled my blood more times than I could count. Time to repay the favor...

I turned the stake in my hands, the pale lamplight flickering beneath my simmering rage. I concentrated on the single, unspoken command repeating like a mantra inside my head-and the stake obeyed. It raised itself on it's pointed ugly tip, and when I removed my hands, it stayed put-balancing seamlessly on the air. Smiling in triumph, I lifted my head, watching through the roof as I approached my destination. 

All I saw was the darkness.

*    *    *

My ride didn't end on the castle's main level, but the floor beneath. I exited the lift, making my way through the old servant's wing-rooms of dust-covered furniture occupied only by time and cobwebs. Tidus had once mentioned that in the 19th century the castle served as a haven for freed and runaway slaves. The Tepeds offered them safety; in exchange, they paid their room and board in blood, cementing their loyalty to the royal family by keeping a watchful eye on the prisoners below. Blessed with the kiss of immortality, a handful of them had survived the centuries to become modern-day henchman. Allied with Tidus in soulless devotion, when they weren't skulking about the castle, his sires performed at his bidding. By the time I exited the stone steps leading from the servant's quarters to the first floor, emerging from behind a moth-eaten tapestry, the sires were there to greet my arrival.

"Seven on one. The odds are ever in my favor..." I shifted the stake from hand to hand, studying Ti's mute, beautiful creations. They blocked my advance, occupying the wide corridor like the staggering line of a heartbeat. Getting past the symbiotic seven wouldn't be easy at all...

It would be fun.

"Kanpe la! I pray you, listen! We do not wish you harm, Naomi!"

"Alas, we cannot! We must do as the master bids--escort you back to the dungeons!" 

"Then prepare to disappoint him." 

I couldn't see the moon, so I moved with the spirit of the lightning-it forked beyond the stained glass window, engendering cruel patterns of light in the dark. I was the force that moved between them, crushing my competitors with ease. Power laced the air in rippling, carmine waves, slowing everything around me. The Vampires fought through the molasses of my magic, their fearsome fangs as useless as their legs and fists. I shimmered from one Vampire to the next, reining vicious attacks they could neither block nor return. The sires dropped like flies once the magic dissipated, their necks twisted until the magic untangled them later.

I stepped over their bodies, winded, but otherwise intact. Yet I wasn't completely unscathed--four-and-a-half hours in Tidus' dungeon had pulled the life from my torn, dusty clothing. I tut-tutted at the fresh rip in my blouse, slowing as I rounded the corner into the next hallway. I strode forward, pausing cautiously in the center of the room. I turned in a slow circle, sniffing at the air, halted by the familiar scent of weed-and-jasmine. I grinned. "Come out, come out wherever you ar-r-r-r-re..."

My foot was pulled from beneath me. I lost my balance, landing flat on my stomach. My fingernails scraped across the stones, useless, as my attacker used the chain to haul my sorry ass backwards. A boot wormed its way in my gut, flipping me over with unceremonious courtesy. Lightning flashed, in stiff competition with the large, golden eyes of my competitor.

Adelle was furious. "Joining the Vampire Council? Seeing Ethan behind my back? Nearly getting him killed after he gives you your stupid magic? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

"I see the boys finally came clean." I raised on my elbows, snickering. "Poor little Addy--never noticed, never loved. To answer your question, I'm Otherworldly. You can't fight me, Red--you aren't strong enough."

"I don't have to be." Her gloved hands slipped behind her back. Before I knew what had passed, she had stabbed me in the arm with her secret weapon. Adelle had injected me-with wolfs-bane. Pain arrested my senses, silencing my Wolf-side completely. I fell backwards, yelling as my muscles seized and burned. The venom was spreading its way through my body, branching from the injection site in horrible black ropes, annihilating the part of me the silver chain had not repressed. All I had left was the magic.

I struggled to my feet, but Adelle was gone. I staggered forward, cursing as I steadied myself against the wall...

Pull it together, Mimi. You're strong, you can do this.

GET YOURSELF OUT OF HERE.

I growled and slapped the wall, setting off in the direction I hoped the front door would be. I had to escape from Castle Teped. If the poison didn't fix me, my friends would.

*    *    *

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