Throughout the day, Jared couldn't stop thinking that there was a lack of a certain blue-haired vampire. That vampire would be Casper. There was no trace of him anywhere in school. That studious teacher's pet would never miss a single day of class. Neither would he leave without saying anything. His disappearance was just too odd for Jared to brush it off. Though Jared already had his suspicions about who was responsible for Casper's lack of a presence.
"Time to give that sonuvabitch a good ol' smackdown," Jared trilled happily.
With the thought of punching Cohen dancing around his head, he roughly kicked open Cohen's door, breaking the lock. The dorm was empty with no ginger in sight. Unlike Jared, Cohen was still attending his last period of the school day. His whole badass entrance was completely ruined. He clicked his tongue, thoroughly disappointed in his poor timing. As he sulked over the lost opportunity of seeing Cohen shit his pants when he barged into the dorm, he looked at the various paintings hung on the walls. While Ember had been enamored by the beautiful paintings, Jared only snickered.
"Seems like this guy has an obsession with foxes," He thought out loud as he did a full 360, scanning the paintings that hung around the whole room. "It's fitting though. That cunning fucker is exactly like a fox."
Jared stopped his eyes on a painting hidden behind a bureau resting against the left wall. It was sort of stuck between the wall and the oval shaped mirror. He slid his hand through the small space, grabbing the painting. For once, this painting didn't have a fox in it. Instead, there was a coyote walking beside what looked to be a person, except the upper body of this person was missing. A hole was created where their upper body should have been, and it looked like it was done on purpose. From the figure, Jared guessed it was a woman depicted in the painting. Behind the woman and the coyote was a vast forest with a moonlit sky above. Jared let out a little laugh as he noticed a fox peeking out from behind a tree in the background. It seemed like there were foxes in every single painting in this room.
He cleared his throat, realizing that he was actually taking a liking to this painting. "Yeah, this one is shitty too."
Trying to act as if he didn't like the painting, he let it drop down to the floor. He glared down at the painting, repressing the urge to pick it back up and place it nicely on the bureau. As he stared at it, he noticed the initials on the corner of the painting weren't C.A.. Rather than being C.A., it was S.S.. This prompted Jared to pick the painting back up. He turned it over to reveal a message written in loopy letters on the back. I love you to the moon and back - Selene. A crescent moon was drawn next to the name. The distinctive curls at the ends of the moon were strangely familiar. He could have sworn he saw that same drawing somewhere around the school before. Before Jared could figure out where, the door was pushed open to reveal a not-so-pleased Cohen. His uniform was a mess. Two buttons were missing from the top of his white collared shirt and his sports jacket was hanging off of one shoulder. Judging by the blood dripping down Cohen's nose, someone had gotten to Cohen before Jared. This should have angered Jared since he was the one who was supposed to beat up Cohen, not some other person. Instead of angering him, it only made him surprised. The source of his shock was coming from Cohen's watery eyes. It looked as if he was on the brink of tears. Now that was something Jared would pay thousands to see. He smirked, waiting patiently for Cohen to notice him. Once Cohen did, Jared was sure that Cohen would start crying. Much to Jared's displeasure, Cohen brushed past Jared like he wasn't even there. In response to this, Jared turned on his heels with a scowl, did I somehow gain the power of invisibility overnight? While Jared stared Cohen down, Cohen nonchalantly threw his jacket onto the bed. His eyes landed on Jared, yet he didn't say a word. He only cast them away before stripping off his shirt. Another wave of shock went over Jared. Cohen was absolutely jacked, even more than Landon who had a six pack. His muscles rippled with the simple movement of placing his shirt on top of his jacket on the bed.
"The girls of Lunette High were right when they called you a casanova. But I guess, unlike Casanova, you go for guys too, huh?" Cohen finally spoke up as he scanned Jared over.
His expectations of seeing Cohen cry were shot out the window now. Any sign of tears in Cohen's eyes were gone. The only thing left was the all too familiar judgemental gleam residing in his eyes.
"It sounds like you're letting your fantasies get to your head, Cohen," Jared shot back whilst advancing toward Cohen with the intent to punch him. "You'd have to be insane to think I'd ever go for you, or a guy nonetheless."
A sinister grin swept over Cohen's face. He was hoping Jared would say that. "I bet Landon would be pretty disappointed to hear that. After all, he only sticks around you 'cause he likes y-..."
"He has nothing to do with this. You got that? This is between me and you," Jared purposefully cut into Cohen's sentence as he went to punch him.
The force of Jared's punch sent Cohen into his boreau. The painting Jared had placed on the boreau fell onto Cohen's head and landed into his lap. He looked at it briefly before chucking it straight at Jared. As Cohen predicted, Jared moved to the right to evade the painting. In that short amount of time, Cohen shot up and barreled himself into Jared, sending them both down to the floor. Upon realizing he was at a disadvantage, Jared flipped their positions so he had the upper hand in the situation.
"What a sight to see. It seems like you do go for guys after all. Landon will be thrill-..."
He pressed Cohen's face against the floor, seething, "I told you to keep him out of this, you bastard."
A droplet of blood fell down to the floor as Cohen laughed. His troubles from earlier were a thing in the past all thanks to Jared.
"Now, you answer my questions or I'm gonna give you a reason to start crying again."
"Again? I wasn't crying before..."
"Where's Casper?" Jared interrupted him once more.
He was starting to get antsy the longer he stayed this close to someone like Cohen. It was just like when he hit Cohen. He was supposed to be filled with content after hitting him, but he strangely wanted to recoil his fist as soon as it connected with Cohen's face.
Cohen scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion as he turned over Jared's question in his head. "I'm not his keeper, how should I know?"
"Wrong answer," Jared smiled, happy that Cohen didn't answer his question right away.
Now Jared had the chance to punch him again. He braced himself for the unsettling feeling to overwhelm him, but it never happened because Cohen placed both of his feet onto Jared's stomach. He then pushed upward, making Jared fall backward onto the floor with a loud smack. Determined to get revenge, Cohen smushed Jared's face against the floor.
"Oh, I see. You must think that I did something to Casper," Cohen laughed, applying more pressure onto Jared's face. "That's adorable."
"Did you just fuckin' call me adorable? You little b-..."
"Shut it. I said 'that's adorable', not 'you're adorable'. Stop letting your fantasies get to your head." He mocked Jared's words from before, smiling.
"It'll be best if that human killer stays away from Lunette High forever," Cohen said as he stood up, letting Jared go. "I don't want to see any more lives being taken."
Jared went to lunge for Cohen again for calling Casper a human killer, but Cohen stopped him with a few simple words, "Keep this up and I'll have to tell Mr.Kreo your anger issues pose a threat to the human students here."
Although Jared wanted to give Cohen the beating of a lifetime, he turned his back on him, trying to contain himself. The sound of Cohen laughing flowed into his ears as he sped out of Cohen's dorm. That definitely didn't go as he planned.
... ... ... ...
After being hit in the face with one too many dodgeballs, Reed excused him from gym class. He couldn't seem to stop his thoughts from returning back to Ember. Did she eat? Has she gotten worse? I hope she's okay. I want to see her. I miss her. Though the two of them didn't have any classes together, he still felt her clear absence in school. During lunch, he and the rest of the High-tiers always ate with Ember. That small amount of time let him sit back and unwind. Today he was able to do that by goofing off in the gardens with Jared and Landon, but he still found himself wishing that Ember was there too. She probably would have had a blast with them.
"Next time," Reed mumbled to himself, already thinking about the would-be smile on her face if she had been there with them.
As he immersed himself in his thoughts again, his shoulder knocked into another person that was walking by him. They fell back onto the floor like they had walked straight into a wall, not a high school student. Reed was about to walk around the man when he saw a shiny, sharp piece of metal glinting in the luminescent school lights. On the floor, only a few feet from Reed, was a hunter's knife, specifically designed to mortally wound vampires with just one slash across their skin. He trained his eyes on the weapon, carefully stepping away from the potentially dangerous man he just knocked down. Out of instinct, he held his breath, a calming mechanism to prevent him from letting his eyes turn red. If he were to alert this hunter that he was aware of the knife, then he would risk getting into a fight with him. The abilities of this man were unknown. For all Reed knew, that man could be one of the best hunters in the world. The last thing he needed was to lose to a hunter and have even more people slander him. Still holding his breath, Reed let the man get up. As the man stood up, he sneakily snatched the knife, shoving it into the pocket of his holey jean jacket. Reed struggled to contain a smirk. That clumsy move was enough to tell him this hunter was nothing to stress about. He could easily deal with them. He let the breath inside of his mouth out whilst his eyes transformed from purple to red. The man watched this, knowing full well that he had been discovered.
"I apologize for bumping into you, buddy," The hunter said, eyeing Reed as he tried to determine what Reed might do next.
Two options surfaced in his head. One: the vampire engaged him. Two: the vampire chose the simple route and ignored him. It was highly unlikely that a self-entitled creature would choose to run away from a fight though. With the hunter's piercing green eyes analyzing every single movement Reed made, Reed began to grow uneasy. To Reed, it felt like he was being looked at like he was a lab specimen under a microscope. Not wanting to feel uncomfortable anymore, Reed made the first move, or, at least, he tried to. The moment he began moving toward the hunter, a powerful force hit the back of his neck, making him black out.
The hunter ran a hand over his graying hair, stepping over Reed's unconscious body as he did so. "I'm not here to trouble myself with the likes of you, High-tier."
And with that, they left Reed in the hallway. When class ended, multiple students came to a full stop to stare at the sleeping vampire that was snoring quietly in the hall. Some even dared to snap a few photos of him. By 3 o'clock, the photos of Reed taking a snooze in the middle of a hallway were trending all over the internet.
... ... ... ...
After checking into the office for a visitor's pass, the mysterious hunter made his way to the infirmary. A yellow sticker with the name, Mr.Septhis, was stuck onto his jean jacket. He had reluctantly defiled his prized jacket with the obnoxious sticker after being quite literally forced to put it on by the secretary sitting behind the desk. As he pushed open the infirmary door, he began picking at the sticker, hoping it would come off easily. He definitely didn't want to go back to work tomorrow with something that said, 'Hello! I'm a visitor. My name is: Mr.Septhis!'. His friends wouldn't let him hear the end of it.
"Oh! Hello..." The nurse's voice trailed off as she took in the beauty of the man before her. He was everything she could ever want and wish for. It was a shame that he had a wedding band on his finger though. If it weren't for that, she would have gone for him instantly. "Ember is resting in the last room at the end of the hall to the right."
"Thank you for taking care of her. She's always getting into trouble one way or another," Mr.Septhis expressed his gratitude to the blushing nurse before heading down the hall.
There was a hint of sadness in his voice when he said that. As Ember's father, he wished he could be there for her when she was sick or upset, but they have started to grow distant from each other. It started when she entered Lunette High. The frequent talks they had together on the phone every night eventually turned into short texts. Even so, those short texts meant the world to him. It didn't matter whether it was a simple 'hello' or 'good morning', his day always became a little better when he heard from her. With her being so far from home, he easily got worried about her, especially when she didn't return his calls or texts. He hadn't heard from her in a while, so when the nurse called him last night, he almost got in his car to drive the long three-hour journey to Lunette. He was severely concerned that Ember was in the infirmary because she was relapsing. Right after her mother died, she no longer cared for herself. Sometimes she'd forget simple things like brushing her teeth or hair. Other times she would forget very important things like eating. Thankfully, he caught on and set little reminders around the house for Ember. The post-it note on Ember's bathroom mirror with the message, 'Don't forget to brush your teeth, kiddo. You don't want to scare all the boys away with your dragon breath', was still there too.
Mr.Septhis pushed the door open to the room where Ember was currently punching a pillow with everything she had. He covered his mouth, holding back the urge to laugh. She was really going at it. That poor pillow was being given one hell of a beating. Upon realizing that someone was at the door, Ember halted. She squeezed her eyes shut, sending a quick prayer to the heavens above that whoever was at the door wasn't Reed. The last thing she needed was to be made fun of by him.
"What did that pillow ever do to you?" Her dad chuckled at her.
At the sound of the gravelly voice, she immediately turned around, cheerfully yelling, "Dad!"
That smile quickly transformed into a frown. She chucked the pillow at him, hitting him right in the head. The pillow fell down to the floor to reveal Mr.Septhis's surprised yet confused face.
"I only have a slight fever. I'm not terminally ill! You shouldn't have taken off of work to come to see me. Those people are going to work you down to the bone now!" Ember cried out in frustration. "Last time you took a day off, they made you work overtime two weeks in a row! You looked practically dead whenever you came home."
"I'm surprised you still remember that. That was a long time ago," Mr.Septhis recalled, walking over to Ember's bed with the pillow in his hand. He set it back down on the bed with a long sigh. "But don't stress yourself over it. I'll be able to handle whatever they throw at me."
"You say that, yet you look like you haven't slept in days," Ember huffed out.
"That's because you haven't been answering my calls or texts for almost two weeks. You had me thinking you might have gotten yourself into trouble."
Guilt slapped Ember right in the face as she realized that he had been worried sick about her. She didn't want to cause him any unnecessary trouble, but it seemed like she did just that by not telling him about her broken phone. Crumpling up the sheets in her fists, Ember looked at her father, still feeling the weight of guilt on her shoulders.
"I'm sorry, I probably should have told you sooner but my phone broke," She admitted.
"How did you break it?" Mr.Septhis noticed the way Ember's eyes cast to the side as she talked to him.
"Someone..." Ember began but stopped herself.
She already caused her father far too much trouble. If she were to tell him that a vampire shorted out her phone with electricity, he would definitely have a heart attack. Her hesitancy concerned Mr.Septhis even more. His face hardened as the thought that Ember may be dealing with nasty classmates crossed his mind.
"Give me their first and last names. I'll make sure those sorry shits never bother you again!" Mr.Septhis bellowed for all the patients in the infirmary to hear.
Ember turned beat red, quickly shooting up out of bed. "Dad, stop! You're being ridiculous."
"Was that too much?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head.
She sat back down on the bed, glad that her father didn't decide to go hunt down the vampire who broke her phone. "Yes, that was way too much!"
Mr.Septhis crossed his arms over his chest with his eyebrows furrowed together. "Well, you always used to complain about how uncool I was when you were little. I was just trying to be a little bit badass. I apologize."
Letting out a little laugh, she shook her head, "It's fine."
Feeling a bit drowsy, Ember settled herself back down on the pillow that she had recently been imagining was Aiko when she was punching it to death. Her father rested his hand on top of her forehead, checking to see if her fever was still high. He let out a sigh, relieved that her temperature wasn't much hotter than his. Even a small fever like this caused an extreme amount of anguish to rush through him. There was always a chance that Ember could be taken away from him, just like his wife was. He lost her because he was unable to protect her properly, but ever since then, he vowed to not let anything happen to his daughter. That daunting fear of losing Ember held his heart in its clutches, driving his every move to be centered around wiping out the one vampire that threatened her safety.
"Get better soon," Mr.Septhis placed a light kiss on Ember's forehead, careful not to wake her as she had just drifted off to sleep.
Quietly, he exited the room to be met with the sight of Mr.Kreo waiting right outside the doorway. The content smile on his face from before was nowhere to be seen. A look of pure loathing appeared in his green eyes as he stared at the Elder. In return, Mr.Kreo only gave him a blank expression, as he was not in the least bit interested in humoring Mr.Septhis with a smile or scowl.
"Nice to see you, Will," Mr.Kreo greeted him, still standing in his way.
William pulled the door behind him shut. If this conversation was going to turn out how he thought it would, then he didn't want Ember to hear it. As the door shut with a click, he placed his hand in his pocket, grazing the knife with his fingers. The metal of the knife was cold to the touch, almost like it was just begging to be doused with the warmth of vampire blood. Mr.Kreo focused his attention on William's pocket. He knew exactly what was hidden in there, yet he didn't make a move to disable William before William could attack. It would be foolish for him to pass up the chance of seeing the poor human try to unsuccessfully kill him. The grief and rage that always surfaced in the human's eyes fascinated the Elder. He himself felt those emotions at the beginning of his life, but at some point, they withered away and shriveled up like a flower losing its petals and all its beauty as time passed on. That was why it felt like a breath of fresh air when he saw those emotions so clearly.
"I'd hate to break it to you, but it's never nice to see you," William snapped, shoving the Elder to move him out of his way. Mr.Kreo didn't move an inch since the flimsy push of a human being did little to nothing to him. "Get out of my way before I decide to make this day your last."
"You're so disrespectful, just like your daughter," Mr.Kreo remarked with a knowing smile.
That little comment was intended to make William mad. The agreement between the two men was that Mr.Kreo kept his distance from Ember while William tried to kill him. Now this agreement may seem a little odd, but Mr.Kreo did get something out of being targeted. He got to be humored every time William failed. That always made him have a good laugh.
Instantly, the knife went from William's pocket to Mr.Kreo's throat. The pointed edge pressed against the skin of his neck, threatening to pierce through it at any given moment. William held the Elder in place by the shoulder. He definitely wasn't going to let what Mr.Kreo said go, especially not when it breached their agreement. That was the only thing that kept him from going insane with worry when Ember was at school.
"Our agreement is you don't go near my daughter, you conniving bloodsucker!" He hissed under his breath, not wanting to shout.
If the nurse saw him holding a knife to an Elder's throat, he'd probably have to kiss everything goodbye. Whoever is caught trying to bring harm to or assassinate an Elder is met with severe punishment or even death, something he had been avoiding with the use of their agreement.
"What can I say? You're not as interesting as you used to be, Will. That look of determination in your eyes has dimmed, but it's as bright as ever in your daughter's eyes."
"Since you're so obsessed with eyes, how about I gouge yours out? Think of it as a little present," William suggested, putting more pressure on the knife.
"Oh, how scary. I can't seem to stop shaking."
He only pitied the human that tried so desperately to crawl up to the level of an Elder. After all these years, William still had a long way to go. It was pathetic, really. Maybe it could even evoke a feeling of sadness from the Elder, but that was highly unlikely.
"If you want to kill me, go ahead and do it," He challenged William, staring straight into those cold, green eyes that looked at him with hatred. "Just holding a knife against my throat won't kill me, you know."
Angered by Mr.Kreo's taunting, he went to slash the knife across the haughty vampire's neck. In that mere second, the knife was stolen from his hands and then pressed against his own throat. His adam's apple bobbed up and down as he looked at the blade beneath his chin. A stinging sensation hit his senses when he tried to knock the knife from Mr.Kreo's hands. With the way the knife was positioned, even one tiny movement would make the knife disappear beneath his skin. Mr.Kreo had turned William's own weapon against him. He was powerless to do anything to the Elder. All he could do was stand as still as humanly possible, hoping that the knife wouldn't soon be drenched in his blood.
"Look at you now. You're at the mercy of a vampire. That must be quite embarrassing for a hunter that belongs to the Elitists." He twisted the knife, burrowing the edge into William's throat.
William grunted. A bit of sweat dripped down his forehead. "Unlike you, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my hand. I had to work countless days to be where I am today, so don't you dare slander me with that wretched mouth of yours."
"Well this wretched mouth of mine is feeling pretty dry," Mr.Kreo replied as his tongue ran over his pointy fangs. "I'm sure you'll be more than willing to help me with that."
The hand on Mr.Kreo's left shoulder blade desperately clawed at the fabric of Mr.Kreo's dark green v-neck. Interestingly enough, William's reaction was quite similar to Ember's when Mr.Kreo acted like he was going to bite her. They both held their breath and kept their heartbeats steady. It seemed like that was their way of trying to put on a farce. If they pretended they weren't scared, then their attacker would most likely lose interest. Instead of making Mr.Kreo lose interest, it only piqued his curiosity. He pressed the tips of his fangs to William's skin which instantly prickled with goosebumps. The rules never forbid him from letting his fangs make contact with the skin of an undesignated human. As long as he didn't fully pierce through William's neck, Mr.Kreo would be fine. With adrenaline rushing through William, he made the daring move to break away from Mr.Kreo. As his body swiftly moved backward and to the right, he shut his eyes, praying that the knife wouldn't slice his throat open. His back was just about to collide with a wall when Mr.Kreo appeared behind him. William froze upon realizing his escape plan was foiled by the Elder's quick thinking and speed. A shiver went down his spine as the cold feeling of the tip of the knife hit the small of his back. It would have been smarter for him to disarm Mr.Kreo before he attempted to escape. But thanks to his acting on impulse, he wasn't able to fully think everything through. Now his fate was in the hands of the Elder again.
"Act normal or I'll drive this knife straight through your body," Mr.Kreo whispered under his breath as the sound of nearing footsteps flooded his ears.
Judging by the annoying humming that was getting louder, it was Zahara, the newly hired nurse. He couldn't have her seeing this. One look at the petrified human and the two faint, red circular marks on his neck and she would go running to Lunette security. Anyone that catches an Elder in the act of breaking a rule is required to report it to the authorities immediately. It would be hellish to get himself out of that mess which was why he already thought up a well-crafted plan.
"Pretend you're unconscious."
"I thought you told me to act normal?" William hissed, turning his head to the side to glare at him.
"Just do as I–..."
Too late. He firmly pressed the knife into William's back with enough pressure to leave behind a small wound. William sucked in his breath as what he could only guess to be blood started dripping down his back. Before he was able to attempt to escape once more, Zahara entered the infirmary. She whipped her head to the right to see William and Mr.Kreo at the end of the hallway. A light fragrance of blood tickled her nose as she approached them. Her eyes became as round as saucers as she realized the smell was emitting from William. The look Mr.Kreo was giving her told her to stop where she was or else she'd end up getting caught up in something she didn't want to get involved in.
"It's good to see you, Mr.Kreo."
The waver in her voice was evident. She could tell something had gone amiss between the two men. Whatever happened must have been something pretty serious, considering that the smell of blood was continuously getting stronger. Cautiously, so as not to alert Mr.Kreo that she was aware of the fact that William was injured, she inched closer to them. Despite the fact that she was attempting to be stealthy, Mr.Kreo caught on to the fact that she wasn't oblivious to what was going on. One word was repeated over and over again in her head. Blood. Blood. Blood! It wasn't because she was hungry after smelling William's blood. Rather it was because she was worried that Mr.Kreo hurt William somehow. The thought that he may have bit the human was swimming around in her brain as well. That was a bit of a problem.
"You can take an hour or two off, Zahara. It's been a while since you've gotten a break," He cleverly hid a warning behind his warm words. "I'll call in the other nurse to fill in for you."
She swallowed, nodding her head as she avoided the red eyes of Mr.Kreo. That alone was enough to make her take several steps back from the two of them. Although she fancied William, she wasn't willing to rush in to save him from the menacing Elder who could effortlessly overpower a Low-tier like her. And so, she smiled, acting oblivious. If she wanted to leave without getting a scratch on her, she had to turn a blind eye to this. Sadness engulfed her heart as she walked away, only being able to hope that William would be alright. Once the door shut and Zahara was out of earshot, William threw himself forward using all of his body weight. This time, Mr.Kreo grabbed a hold of William's jacket collar. He then ran out of the infirmary with William being dragged behind him.
... ... ... ...
Unable to get his bearings straight after having everything blur past him for a minute, William collapsed onto the floor of Mr.Kreo's office. His chest heaved up and down as he tried to catch his breath. The rapid sound of his breathing matched the beating of his heart, creating a symphony of fear that could only be heard by Mr.Kreo. He locked the door to his office before crouching down beside William who was still on the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mr.Kreo twirl the hunter's knife between his fingers. All the while a venomous smile was on his face.
"Looks like you have bitten off more than you can chew," Mr.Kreo trilled, enjoying the sight of William struggling. It was nice to see that his stone exterior could be cracked with a few pushes and shoves. "I remember you lasted much longer when you were younger. What happened to you?"
"Ah, I forgot you humans degrade as you get older. You even have gray hair now. How funny," He studied William with fascination. The ability to grow old always intrigued him, as he himself couldn't age anymore. "It's kind of a pity though."
"You're starting to bore me, and that's never good. I might just have to entertain myself with that daughter of yours. She's quite the character, you know that?"
Instead of talking out loud, he sent his thoughts into William's head. That was far more effective in getting a human to become irrational. When a human has their mind invaded, they crack like a piece of glass under someone's shoe. Their mind is a safe space that only they are supposed to be able to access, which is why they go berserk when another is able to go inside of it.
"Get out of my fucking head!" William shouted with unimaginable rage, pushing himself off the floor as he did so.
Before Mr.Kreo could react, William grabbed a vase filled with marigolds off of his desk, then threw it right at the vampire. Instead of getting out of the way, Mr.Kreo let the vase smash into him out of pity. He might as well let William have his fun before he finished this whole quarrel by giving the knife back. Of course, he wouldn't just hand it to him. He'd nicely stab it right through William's arm instead. Just as William anticipated, Mr.Kreo went straight for him after the vase shattered into pieces onto the floor. Reaching into the inside of his jacket, he pulled out an emergency knife that was only used in desperate times like this one. With a grin, he watched as Mr.Kreo's eyes landed on the knife. His eyes flashed red before the knife smoothly sliced across the skin of his arm.
"It was stupid of you to think I'd only have one knife on me. I thought you Elders were supposed to be smarter than that," William said.
Without any hint of fear, Mr.Kreo scoffed. "Good thing that tiny little cut won't do anything."
He smirked at the small wound that was already beginning to close up. When it fully disappeared, he started advancing toward William, intent on wringing him through hell. William took a step back for every step Mr.Kreo took forward until the back of his legs were snug up against Mr.Kreo's desk.
"That's where you're wrong."
Soon after those words left his mouth, Mr.Kreo doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach with a grimace on his face. Blood spilled out of his mouth as he started coughing violently. Hints of lamiacida petals floated around in the blood pooling on the floor. William watched this knowing full well that he had finally beaten Mr.Kreo at his own game. The days of failing time and time again were put to an end the very moment Mr.Kreo let his guard down.
"Are you scared now, Abaddon?" William sneered, satisfied with the reaction of the Elder.
That very knife was not only laced with lamiacida but had moonstone in it as well. Those two elements are deadly to the Elders when combined in a weapon. Long ago, the Elders had banned the production of all weapons with moonstone and lamiacida because they were afraid of humans being in possession of weapons that could inflict serious damage on them as well as kill them. It was a secret that only the Elders were supposed to be aware of. Apparently, they hadn't succeeded in killing every single one of the humans that knew of their weakness after all.
"That pain you feel is nothing compared to what my wife felt when you ripped her heart from her chest." Carefully, he stepped around the continuously growing pool of blood. A minute had passed by, yet the blood hadn't stopped flowing out of Abaddon's mouth. "But don't worry. I won't let anyone else know of your weakness. I don't want someone killing you before I do."
And with that, William left Abaddon to struggle by himself. As soon as William was gone, he let himself fall to the ground. His body shook with a foreign feeling of fear. Intertwined with that fear was a sense of peace. He wouldn't mind if he died, even if it was just for a few seconds. Then, maybe, he could see Selene. Hell, he'd call William back to finish him off if he could see that unfaithful woman again. Even though she wronged him, leaving him with only hatred for her, he still longed for her. The fiery red color of her hair and her purple eyes were becoming only a fading memory though. As time moved on, she slipped from his mind despite his efforts to remember her. Her voice seemed to be calling to him as he began slipping out of consciousness, lying in his own blood.
... ... ... ...
Have any questions or comments about the story? Contact me via: elm.wpe@gmail.com !
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