Struck (A Vampire Novel) ✔

Thirty-Five

I lost my heels somewhere between the bar and the exit. My feet hit the ground outside, sending sharp but subtle pain through my flesh when I stepped down on the edges of rocks and sticks. Clio ran ahead of me, barefooted as well, but not slowing down. If anything, she sped up. I focused on her, pushing myself to run faster and faster. I couldn’t lose her. I had to make sure she got away. I kept pushing until finally, I broke an invisible barrier that was holding me back.

Suddenly, I was flying through the trees once again. Clio seemed to notice and let herself run faster as well, having obviously been trying not to leave me behind in the first place. I laughed abruptly as I swerved through the woods in freedom. The darkness was thick around us, but it was as if I knew where every stone, bush, and tree stood in the woods. Clio glanced behind us as we ran, not as gleeful as I apparently was, keeping up with me just the same.

We didn’t get far before I sensed them coming from behind us. I wasn’t sure how I knew they were coming, but it was as though their presence sent vibrations through the ground and greeted me as clearly as it would have been if they yelled for us. It was then that I remembered I was claimed.

I halted abruptly, looking back towards where I knew the vampires we had left behind were coming. Clio had bolted past me, not expecting me to stop so suddenly, but promptly came to stand beside me defensively. I knew she was preparing to fight these vampires, but I didn’t want her to risk her chance of escape.

“Leave,” I ordered her sharply, “I’m claimed. There’s no hope for me.”

“They’ll kill you for helping me,” Clio declared, not making a move to obey my order. “I won’t leave you alone. We’ll kill as many of them as we can and if we die, so be it. We’ll die together.” I was momentarily stunned by her words. This woman didn’t even know me, but she was willing to lose her life to help me. I was equally stunned when I realized I had done the same thing for her. Was it because I felt instinctively inclined to protect my own?

“Go, Clio,” I begged, grasping her wrists almost desperately. “Their laws won’t let them kill me because I’m claimed. You don’t have to worry about me. It’s you who I’m worried about. Please, go!” She watched me intensely, obviously torn about what she should do.

“I know your father, Elysia,” She told me suddenly, a determination building within her. “Survive this, sister. I will tell your family where you are. We will come back for you and they will pay for ever daring to touch us.” With building rage flooding her feature, she threw down her wrists from my grip and ran away. I watched her disappear with supernatural speed, feeling an odd sense rising inside my chest. I couldn’t quite identify it until I realized what it was; hope. She was going to tell my father I had been captured. Then I felt anxiety. Would he even try to rescue me? Would he think it was worth it?

My thoughts were interrupted as I felt the vampires approaching quickly. I parted my feet, bending slightly at the hips and raising my hands at my sides defensively. I wasn’t sure what it was I planned to do, but my mind had gone blank. I fell away from my own consciousness, allowing another part of me to take control. That part of me could feel each vampire’s intentions, feel their excitement as they realized I wasn’t running away, and know their plans to tear me apart regardless of any law.

I took a slow, deep breath, looking up at the roof the trees. For a moment, I could hear my mother humming in a distant memory, soothing and safe. And then the vampires were there. In a single breath, the first one lunged for me, overly excited to kill his first Monet.

I swiftly dodged to the left, reaching out at the same time to grab one of his extended arms. I viciously swung him around, tossing him with unnatural strength into the air and causing him to crash into a distant tree. The next vampire attacked, perhaps to help his fellow coterie member or perhaps to take my death for his own pleasure. I slid to the ground, too fast to see, and kicked his feet from under him. He promptly landed on his face, but before he could recover I was pinning my knee into his back. I snatched his arm, pulling it back so quick that a loud snap echoed through the trees. The vampire screamed in agony and a sick sense of satisfaction vibrated through me.