Nothing Dark Can Stay, Either

Chapter 28

It was eerily dark by the time they made it to the house.

Beatrix and Kai were no longer limping, but they kept their hands clasped tightly together. Kai's face was emotionless, his anger having overcome him. Perhaps, there might have been a chance for him to truly be good, but now, that was seemingly long gone. Beatrix herself looked rather angry, but she was mostly feeling frustrated.

They'd picked up the broken Ascendant from the floor, and had pocketed the pieces, but there would be no Bennett blood this time. There was nothing more than snow and cold and no modern technology whatsoever. It was a pity that they were used to all the comforts of the twenty-first century by now.

There was no telling how long they would be trapped in here for.

The house was unfamiliar, but it stood right where the Salvatore Boarding House should have been. Beatrix assumed this must have been the original Salvatore home, adorned in proper 1900s fashion.

Beatrix lit a small flame in her hands as they began to explore. As they passed through each room, looking over the paintings and the small trinkets that served as decorations, Beatrix made sure to turn on every lantern they found. In the drawing room, she knelt before the fireplace and set the charred logs ablaze, which warmed them up quite a bit.

It didn't look like anyone really lived here. Either the Heretics were clean freaks who always tidied up after every day as if they were going to show off the house in a contest, or no more than one person had been living here in awhile.

"This is cozy," mused Kai, coming to lean onto her as they made their way up the stairs. "Where are your Heretic friends? Are they still playing house here or are they desiccated somewhere?"

Their questions were answered when they went into the basement. "Is this where they keep their fucking food?" said Kai, looking around. He bumped into something, and Beatrix brought her hand down to shine a light on it. Immediately, the two jumped back. "Oh crap!"

She made the flame grow brighter, and it became clear that the Heretics were indeed desiccated. Six of them, propped up in chairs in their 1903 attire, all greyish and with eyes wide open. "Do we wake them up?" asked Kai. "Wait— can they even hear us?"

The male nearest them blinked, and Beatrix nodded. "They can..." She gulped.

Should they wake them? Should they leave them? They could pose a problem if they chose to devour Kai. It was possible that Beatrix and Kai could actually die this time.

"Too risky to wake them," she said, pulling Kai further away as six pairs of eyes followed them. "We can't do it yet." Of course, since she knew they could hear her, she wasn't about to just leave them hanging. "Um... well, hello... everyone. My name is Beatrix La Salle. I'm not sure if you'd ever heard of me. I'm a heretic too— the first of our kind, sired in 1705. It's difficult to explain so suddenly, but we're here now, and we're going to find a way to get us all out. I promise that we will feed you when it is time. There is no sense in waking you when we haven't got a solution. But I swear, we will come and wake you the instant we figure out how to get out."

When she finished speaking, she took Kai's hand and pulled him out of the room. As much as she'd like to get to know her fellow Heretics, she and Kai could easily be overpowered by them if they chose to gang up and get rid of them.

Kai noticed the concerned look on her face. "How about we go to our usual room, hmm? See what it looks like."

"That's a good idea," she said with a tight-lipped smile, leading him to the staircase. They climbed quickly, hands still linked. Both afraid of letting go. Not wanting to be left behind or lose any sort of connection.