Broken Nightmare

Chapter 30

Nathan spun me around, bringing me back to his eyes. He had placed his regular void over them again. "You need to get out of here."

I pulled the shirt on as fast as I could. I barely had my arm in the last hole when Nathan latched onto my hand and started dragging me away from the fight. I looked back, watching all my new friends fight for someone who won't even stick around for longer than the month. Instant guilt paraded my mind and I felt my shoulders slump a little against Nathan's pulling.

The constant tug subsided, noticing my trouble. "Don't feel so guilty. They chose to come. It's their own choice to be fighting, not an obligation. Besides, if we don't fix this now, it will come back and bite us in the butt later."

Junto abandoned his friends and bolted to us. "Don't look back!" He yelled while shoving us deeper into the woods.

An army of other vampires surfaced from the trees behind the fight with Dimitri. All of them had the same controlled look that Dimitri had, only a little less intense.

I didn't question. I ran.

My legs pumped under me as fast as they could, propelling me into trees. Sharp pain invaded the bottom of my feet, but I tried to push through it. Nathan refused to let go of my hand and pulled me farther and faster into the forest. Or maybe out of? I couldn't tell. Junto ran behind us, but you could tell he was slowing down so he can watch out for us.

I heard a few branches break from behind me, heightening my anxiety even more. Fear invaded my veins as my legs continued to propel my trembling body away from the fight. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as adrenaline pumped through my veins.

Nathan halted our escape as there was a thrashing sound in the trees and I finally turned around. Junto staggered, his hand clamped to the wound on his side. I could see blood oozing between his fingers. Concerned, I took a step forward, but was pushed back by Nathan.

My eyes returned to the trees. I could feel that there was something else coming, thundering in my ears, the sickening clench in my gut endless. The campsite suddenly filled with a repugnant smell, like rotting flesh.

Nathan leaped forward just as the creatures burst from the shadows. They were tall and bulky, twice the height of Nathan, with dangling arms, wide hands, thin bony fingers, vicious claws, and protruded fangs shining with poison. It was like seeing a vampire experience death over and over again, unwilling to die.

I stared in horror, a blood lust and anger evident in their faces. I lost my balance, collapsing in panic.

Everything became a bur. Junto was flung aside by one of the beast's pale hands. Then it dove after the Shape Shifter with jaws the size of a bear trap.

Nathan tried to deter the beast, but he, too, was easily swept aside by the giant hands. He narrowly dodged a blow, jumping and rolling, hitting the ground, and then immediately recovering its stance.

My eyes widened as I looked at the collection of vampires around us. At this point, there had to be dozens. A few had wedged themselves between Nathan and I, making it obvious we were widely outnumbered.

Usually, I had a hard time inflicting pain on people. But these things were not human, so I put my ethics aside.

The closest one, hair matted with blood and tattered clothes barely hanging onto his body, lunged at me. I sidestepped it and smashed my elbow into his face. He grabbed at his nose and it took the opportunity to slam my elbow into his back, between the shoulder blades. There was a loud crunch as he fell to the ground.