~Rose
She looked exactly how I remembered her. She was slightly shorter than Matt but older than him and Nate by three years. Matt had numerously compared me to her scary, cunning and deathly charming attitude. He said that was the reason why I didn't fear her much and that we should have been sisters.
I was still uneasy around her. She almost killed Diana just for submission. And she looked at us like a shark would to a tray of blood sausages. Of course, I'd never show it on my face.
Nate's expression turned horrified and he silently backed away from her a few steps. He knew he couldn't escape right now. Not with so many people ready to stop him. He wouldn't dare.
At that moment, Adrianna appeared. Probably wondering why we weren't fighting anymore. Her eyes landed on mine. I smirked and in return could almost hear her teeth grinding together.
She opened her mouth to snap something, but then noticed Callie staring at her in amusement. "And who the hell are you?"
Callie tilted her head at her voice and remained silent.
"I believe I asked you a question."
She still didn't answer. But gradually, a sneer tilted her mouth upwards. She started chuckling. Nobody in the room moved. Her laugh went on, like thunder rumbling.
Then abruptly, she stopped. As if controlled by a switch, her emotion changed from mocking and humorous to completely dangerously calm. I could see the colors in her eyes swirling.
"What, are you all of a sudden mute?" Adrianna snapped. "You know, if I knew you'd all be a waste of my time I wouldn't have bothered. I would have just killed you all." She clapped her hands together. "How does that sound, Rosie?"
"Sounds like you've got a stick shoved firmly up your a** and now you can't even walk right," Damien answered instead, arms crossed over his chest. Adrianna's eyes flashed to his. An evil smirk crept up his face. "Too detailed?"
"Actually that sounds unbelieveably accurate," I quiped.
She stared at me, noticing how many people were on my side. Her eyes washed over every face. From Callie's hard expression with dislike dancing in her eyes, Matt's identical emerald gaze that carried a tired firmness, Nate's burning look of pure hatred to Damien's viciously irritated sneer, Joe's equally hard yet contained expression and my own seemingly blank one. But on the inside, there was fire.
I held her gaze as she cast her eyes towards me again. "You're all pathetic. You think love and loyalty conquers all? That you're invincible with these lowlives on your side? Trust me, it's a poison. You're better off on your own, because the only one you can count on to fight and not back down is yourself."
"You're wrong," I insisted. I stepped closer. "The ties that bond us together are stronger than you'll ever be. Love is power."
A growl rumbled from the back of her throat. In the darkness of the factory, her red eyes started glowing. Brighter, brighter. Until they were bright enough for us all to wince.
Another red glow originating from her heart started spreading out in all directions, each one sent further with the beating of her heart. It rapidly increased in size, getting brighter with size.
I had to squint and shield my eyes, half-turning my head away from her. She raised her face to the ceiling, glowing brighter.
I knew from the start that we did not want to make contact with that red wave of rage. But it was too late to move. Suddenly, the wave had expanded by twenty feet, encasing us in it.
It didn't have any specific consistency, but immediately I could feel my temperature rising past optimum. My breathing quickened to a point where I was panting like a dog. It felt like someone had started a fire inside me.
I heard a loud, ear-piercing scream join the air. Upon noticing a dry feeling in my throat, I realized it was me.
Adrianna seemed to enjoy it. The look in her eyes suggested that this was what she wanted all this time. "Love is power, you say?" she sneered. "It makes you weak. It causes you to worry about others, put your own life on the line for them. And that, Rosie, is what gets you killed."
She raised her hand.
I fell to the ground with a cry. I could feel my bones slowly breaking, shifting their position, reshaping. My upper body sprang upwards as my spine started doing the same. "Argh," I groaned. "What is your problem?"
"You are my problem!" she shouted. I stared up at her through my currently blurry vision. "You think all's good just because we're together again?!"
My shoulders snapped backwards, slowly curling into a different position. "You're insane. Do me a favor, go see a doctor," I panted. A sickening crunch of my bones was heard. "Mmm! And bring me one while you're at it."
"A doctor wouldn't help," she whispered venomously. "You'll just heal back into your flawless, unscathed self. Why would you know what I'm talking about? You don't remember."
"No, I don't. I—Gah!—literally have no idea, what you're—Ouch!—babbling about," I grunted out. It stopped momentarily, allowing me to just kneel there, breathing hard. I held up a finger. "But I still think you should see a doctor."
She shook her head at me in anger and once again raised her hand. I tensed, preparing for the wave of pain to hit again.
But instead, someone's hand gripped my arm. My stare clashed against Callie's green one. She seemed in pain as well, perspiration covered her forehead, but she helped me to my feet.
"I'll take care of her," she said firmly. I gave Adrianna one last glance before nodding at her. She could handle it.
Adrianna stared at us before suddenly shouting a foreign word. Some great bright ball came flying at my face.
Someone appeared next to me. And the giant ball flew past the area I was standing not a moment ago, hit the wall instead. Leaving behind a black scorch.
I stumbled forward at our new destination. Joe let go of my hand and examined our surroundings. Everyone else was here too, minus Callie.
It was the Draganov residence. Literally right outside the damn house.
I glanced up and was met with a familiar pair of black eyes. And wavy black hair. Stoyan.
Turns out, Diana had intervened a while ago, possessed by Ken himself. Now her eyes were back to brown and the Alpha called her before I could greet her: "Diana!"
Her head snapped towards him and she stood up from the porch next to Abby who gave me a sour look. "Took you long enough."
"What are you talking about? You just disappeared on me with absolutely no clue as to where you were going."
I sighed. They were always going to be like that. "Where's Fallon?" I asked.
Diana looked at me as if just noticing me for the first time. "Ken called him. He's with him right now."
I shook my head internally at him. "Or he's just avoiding me."
"Ken's dying," Abby said flatly. Joe stiffened from next to me. When I turned to face him, he had changed into a bird to fly away.
"Joe, wait!" Too late. He was gone.
Stoyan looked confused. Blood covered his white shirt, soaked his hair and was smeared on various places on his face. "Who the hell is Ken?"
I spared him a glance. "Why are you still here?" Just as I finished asking that, Damien suddenly growled loudly. Like thunder in the middle of a calm sky.
"You!" he spat. "You were the one picking on my pack."
Stoyan smiled. "Nice to meet you too."
"Don't, Damien." Diana caught him by his arm immediately before he lunged at him. She gave Stoyan a dark, mean look. "He's not worth it."
"What did he do to you to get on your bad side?" Damien asked, neither of them removing their gaze from Stoyan.
She shrugged casually. "Kidnapped me. Held me as a hostage." In a second, Damien's eyes flicked to her and he gaped incredulously.
"I'm surprised at how anxious this fool is to—"
"If the ending of that sentence is 'to die', don't bother saying it," Stoyan interrupted. He cast his eyes down. "I know I'm not welcomed."
"Nah," Diana sighed almost in content. "More like begging for it."
"Pleading," Damien added.
"I'll take his head. You can have the heart and the rest of his detached limbs."
"Sounds good to me."
"Hey," I spoke up. "Enough of this. You," I gave a pointed look at Stoyan. "Go inside and clean up. Now. My room is the second door on the left upstairs."
He nodded and started walking inside, but not without bumping shoulders with a fuming Matt. He instinctively gave a warning growl like a mighty lion.
I shook my head at him. Diana stared at me. "What happened to you?" she asked in shock, just noticing the blood on me.
"Me," Nate said before I could say anything. I stared at him in confusion, wondering what made him so anxious to take the blame. "I was trying to kill her."
"Not nice to lie, Nate."
"I'm not lying," he replied in a monotone. All serious.
She gazed at him for a moment. "...You suck at lying."
"Damn it, Diana!" He stalked closer. "You think I'd joke around on something like this? My lack of self control that caused Matt to call our sister over?"
"No...No, you wouldn't—"
"You saw me before Matt came," he snapped. He was walking closer and closer, and surprisingly Damien didn't do anything to stop him. He just watched. "I was out of control. I killed a pack member and pinned his heart to a wall with a freaking arrow and then mocked your King werewolf boyfriend. Something punishable by death."
She squeezed her eyes shut. "Okay, that was a jacka** move. But Rose—she's your best friend. You wouldn't."
Once again, I stepped forward to say something—that we were forced to try to kill one another as a part of Adrianna's dreadful games. But Nate's arm barred out and prevented me from moving any closer. "I would." He looked dead serious. His eyes burned. "I'm a beast. Beasts can't be tamed."
She snorted. "Wow, I wonder who the hell you heard that from," she said sarcastically.
"I'm out of control. I'm a monster. There is nothing good about me!" He flinched away when Diana's hand slowly moved towards him. It hung still in the air now as she stared, her heart slowly breaking. "I can't be with you. I can't be with anyone because all I'll do is kill people. I don't want to hurt you."
"Nate—"
"Just go. Don't come back. Maybe you can find happiness with your boyfriend," he said. Her chest heaved and she bit her lip. He averted his gaze. "Go. Please," he finished in a whisper.
Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. She furiously shook her head at him and grabbed Damien's hand before walking away. She held her head up despite the weakness her eyes displayed.
She stopped when they were next to him. She turned her head towards him. He gazed down at her, his green eyes seeming lighter than ever despite the darkness. "You say you don't want to hurt me," she choked softly. "You're doing just that."
He held her gaze until she continued on her way. I watched her go, my lips parted, my own eyes swirling with emotions. This wasn't just any stalk-away incident. She was leaving. And she never wanted to come back to us again.
"Dee..." I started almost inaudibly. I saw her hang her head, her steps faltering and she grabbed onto a tree to catch herself. I could hear her heart-wrenching sobs. Damien was at her side in an instant, his arms securely around her. He mumbled something to her, I couldn't hear what.
But she gathered herself and stubbornly stood up again, long strides eating up the distance quickly as if she were hasty to get away from us.
"No..." Matt whispered. He ran forward a few steps. "Diana! DIANA!"
I joined Matt with the pleading: "Diana, wait! Please!"
And then...
Damien was shoved away by some invisible force. His back slammed into a tree.
Shocked, Diana whirled around in search of the source. Without thinking, I was there in an instant, next to her. Just like the old times, battling it out together.
Matt wasn't so lucky. The familiar invisible wall had formed the moment I left that area. Even Abby couldn't conjure up a spell to get around it.
Damien turned into his wolf form. His big bulky figure ran towards the shadowy creature in front of us, muscles rippling with every move. It was only after he jumped at it did I recognise the two shapes.
"Damien, no!" The wolf glanced back at me questioningly. Bad move.
One of the demon's long bony arm shot out and swatted him like a bug. He whimpered in pain as he hit the ground but rolled back onto his paws. He ran it it again, eyes burning bright with rage.
I turned my attention back to the other one of them. It's red dots darted around in the black pits before landing on me. It's mouth opened one-eighty degrees, revealing rows of shark-teeth.
I dodged it's first hit, but recoiled when the second hit it's mark. I cradled my broken arm gently, and instead let my own canines lengthen. I jumped at it, fangs ready to tear into it's decomposing flesh.
Driven by anger, I tore at it's eyes with my claws while Diana joined in with me. She had a large wooden stake torn from the branch of a tree and was stabbing at it in various places while simultaneously trying to avoid it's irritated blows.
It shook me off, it's piercing scream almost deafening me. It was like nails on a chalkboard. This was Adrianna's doing, no doubt about it. I briefly wondered which two suckers she made these demons out of...
I got back to my feet—only to fall back again when Damien came flying at me.
At the last second, his paws spread out and landed on the ground around me. His golden-wolf eyes stared at me. He blew out through his nostrils, almost like a snort.
I glanced up when I heard a noise behind me. The demon was crawling towards us, hissing long and hard.
A new idea forming into my mind, I grabbed onto Damien's fur above his ribcage and straightened out my leg, positioning my foot on his stomach. With a twist of my arms, I tossed him above me and towards the oncoming demon.
He came flying towards it, claws outstretched. The moment he landed on it, he began tearing at its skin, it's bones, with his sharp canines. I almost went deaf with the screeching noise.
A different scream brought my attention to my right. Diana was being throttled by the other demon, barely keeping from being bitten.
I bolted from the ground and jumped onto its back, taking it by surprise. It dropped her and instead focused on trying to shake me off as it turned, twisted, wriggled.
I kept my arms around its wide bony chest, as far away from those teeth as possible. And instead they were clawed at. Red streaked across my arms, loosening my grip until I dropped like a stone. It turned and towered over me.
I groaned and weakly raised my hands above my face in one last lame attempt to ward off the danger. It's dagger-like claws were aimed at my heart. It pulled its arm back, ready to deliver the blow.
I heard a loud sound of piercing flesh. But no pain.
Slowly, I uncovered my face. Brown eyes stared back at my own. Blonde hair hung around her small white face.
I glanced down. White claws poked out her chest through her back. My heart stopped.
She only started screaming when the demon lifted her up and tossed her aside, off its red-stained claws.
I heard yells behind me. Cries of dismay.
While remained silent, a victim of surprised silence. Then the anger hit me like a wave.
I didn't feel any grief. No terror. Just pure fury.
My eyes turned red again. With a cry, I lurched up from the ground and wrapped my hands around the demon's throat. Its dreaded mouth opened again and it once more lashed at my arms. I kept my grip and dug my own claws into its decomposed skin. Harder. Harder. I saw red.
Surprisingly, it arched its back and bellowed. I continued applying pressure. Blood splattered onto my face. I brought my knee up to its stomach several times.
It seemed to have enough. With a strangled gasp, it yanked some more at my arm, ready to toss me aside.
Something red glittered and its head was pulled back. Pearl fangs sunk into its already-bloody neck.
I had let go now and watched, breathing hard. A dark head was withdrawn from the demon. Red and black eyes similar to the creature's caught my gaze. Fallon shoved the demon to its knees as it begun to change.
Screaming the whole way like a crazy patient, it started changing. It took on the form of a man.
Our inhuman eyes watched it as it shrunk. Its cries turned more recognizable.
The man glanced up at me in pain. Christian. The man who tried to dance with me at that ball and got punched in the face by Fallon just for that reason.
His eyes widened when he saw my red gaze. He stared at me in horror, slowly shaking his head. Then he glanced at Fallon and his bloody fangs. He started shaking. "Wha-what are you?" he sobbed.
Normally I would have spared a human. But this time, I wasn't feeling so merciful. Even if it wasn't his fault.
He sprang to his feet when I started forwards. "No," he stuttered. "You're a monster."
He backed into Fallon, who in turn grabbed him by his arm and held him immobile. Christian turned his regretful eyes onto me. "Please!"
I remained silent, but closed the distance. My expression remained blank as I ran a fingernail down the side of his face. It was actually a shame someone so cute had to die.
My hand shot to his hair and I fisted it, yanking his head to one side to expose his neck. And I struck it like a snake. I severed his main artery cruelly, ignoring his screams.
When I withdrew, Fallon had already let go of him. I abruptly released his body and watched it drop to the ground. His glassy eyes stared up at the sky.
Then I cast my eyes towards Diana. Damien was by her, still in wolf form. He whimpered and gently nudged her palm with his wet nose. Her fingers curled over his snout weakly. I heard her give a small, broken laugh. She scratched him behind his ear soothingly.
Then her hand dropped to the ground.
He moved his nose to her cheek. Her head rolled to the side limply and stayed there.
My anger dissipated and was at her side swiftly. I gazed down at her pale face, her filthy blonde hair, the few dirt patches on her skin. Her closed eyes. She wasn't moving.
I stiffened. She wasn't moving...
I refused to look at the blood leaking from her body and instead placed a hand on her shoulder. "Dee..." I whispered. My eyes desperately searched her face for any signs of life. I watched and waited for her to open her eyes, while on the inside, hope was slowly dying away.
Damien laid down next to her and whimpered again, using his nose to position her arm around his coat. He put his head close to hers and softly licked her cheek. I spotted a single tear slide down her temple before his pink tongue ran over it.
My own eyes started stinging. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. The tears refused to fall. I blinked them away. "Diana," I croaked. "No, demon claws can't kill a vampire."
"Diana!" Nate appeared on the other side of her, next to Damien. He suddenly lurched forward, a loud growl emitting from his throat. His lips peeled back, revealing razor-sharp teeth stained with blood. Nate recoiled, eyes watchful as he kept them on the wolf beside him.
He waited until Damien calmed down again and settled back into his position crouched next to her, his fierce glare crumpling. Nate followed his eyes and I watched the pain fill his green pools.
"No..." he moaned softly. "Diana." He brushed her hair away from her face. "I'm sorry. I am so sorry I did this to you—this is all my fault." He and I locked gazes for a moment. I gripped her cold hand tightly.
"She can't," I stated firmly. "She's a vampire. A stab to the chest can't kill her."
"There's a first time for everything..." he muttered. I lost it. My grief was converted into raw anger.
"Nate, don't you dare say she's gone!" I shouted. He tilted his head at me. "Or I swear, I will kill you too."
"Go ahead, Rose!" he retorted. "Bring it on."
*
Matt stood there, taking it all in before he too tried to run after her. He couldn't accept it. She wasn't dead. No, she can't be.
Someone grabbed his wrist and spun him around before he could reach her. His sister, Callie, was in front of him. A line of blood dripped out the side of her mouth. "Matt, you can't bring her back!" she said forcibly. "You have to let go."
"No. No no no no." He turned his gaze away slowly, raking his hand in his hair miserably.
"Hey." With one long finger, she tilted his head towards her again by the side of his jaw. With the extension of the same action, her hand cupped the side of his neck comfortingly. "She's gone. Okay? There's nothing you can do."
He stared at her as if just realizing the truth. Then with a choked exhale, his eyes closed and bowed his head, letting it fall forward onto her shoulder.
Callie wrapped her arms around him, stroking his soft brown hair while listening to his heart-broken sobs. He held her tightly to him.
Callie's green eyes opened and she caught Rose's angry brown gaze. She and Nate were fighting again, this time verbally.
She sighed and her expression softened. Callie never really liked her, but the blonde-haired girl had earned her respect. And that in itself was rare.
Damien raised his head and howled at the moon. A long, lonely howl that rose and fell like a siren.
Fallon was bent down at the demons' bodies, examining them in search of the source. But he was listening to Rose and Nate's conversation. They were both crouched down at the body.
"Diana didn't deserve this!" she shouted at Nate, shoving him back. "None of this would have happened if you didn't push her away!"
"Would you rather she died at the hands of me?!" Nate yelled back just as loud.
Rose felt a pair of hands settle on her waist. She growled and her head snapped towards him. Stoyan paused for a moment before continuing to pull her away. "Rose," Stoyan whispered. "I'm so sorry."
"Leave me alone!" she cried. "You can't take her away from me!"
"I'm not," he said gently. "She's not going anywhere."
She hung limp as he scooped her to her feet. His hands remained looped around her waist as she regained her balance. She leaned back on his chest to steady herself and closed her eyes. Stoyan stroked her arm with his thumb, muttering soothing nonsense in her ear.
An identical pair of black eyes watched from next to a tree. He stared at them, a new emotion rising inside him. He averted his gaze. It was always going to be Stoyan. She was always going to choose him over himself.
Rose's words echoed in his ears when he had watched them both in the woods through dark, beady hawk eyes.
"My feelings for you have changed."
Fallon tapped a finger against the tree trunk.
"I will not make the mistake of falling for you again."
Certainly looks like it, Fallon thought bitterly. He tried to keep his eyes on anything but them, but inevitably they landed back on the couple—this time burning red and black. Their true colors.
"Keep trying, Stoyan. But you will never win me back."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those who are confused and need the author to sit over their shoulder and decipher what I write like SOMEONE I know, Fallon was watching Rose and Stoyan interact for the first time in the woods. Except he was watching through a hawk's eyes, like I keep mentioning.
If you guys remember, I included a hawk frequently just watching her. Then I published a chapter that showed you guys Fallon using the bird's eyes to spy again. It's simple, really.