My eyes slowly roll back into place, my mind clearing but my bodily shaking increasing. Almost immediately as Eddrick's voice fades out of my head, the dim lights turn off all together and there is a ghostly silence aside from the quick footsteps of the escaping supernatural creatures.
"Damn it," Jay curses under his breath, my eyes adjust to the darkness when Jay brings out his phone and turns on the light, putting it aside on a bench top. He eyes me worriedly before tugging Eliza in front of him violently to undo the handcuffs he had just put on her, "Help her, quickly!"
Eliza is just as shaken up as me as she runs to my side, putting her hand on my wrist she feels my incredibly high pulse rate.
"Jennifer?" she asks, gulping as her eyes dart around the extremely dark room and back to my constant shivering.
"G-Get me out of these restraints," I gasp out, fear flooding me. It was even hard to speak.
"What the hell is going on?" I hear Claudia's voice, a strong firm reminder I had friends here. Eddrick would be outnumbered at least.
As Eliza releases my restraints, Jay frees the last remaining prisoners. Rafael is last and he comes stumbling out towards Jaime.
"Oh god, Jaime, bebé wake up," Rafael growls huskily, tears stuck in his throat. I glance over at Jaime to see her completely still, her head laid back and eyes wide open – but only the whites showing.
"Eddrick's in her head," I blurt out, falling from my chair as Eliza finishes undoing me, "Everyone grab weapons, he's coming!"
"Who is Eddrick?" Jay asks, confused as he puts an arm around Claudia – who is staring at Jay like she is totally confused why Darrius is pretending to be someone else.
"I don't have time to explain – he wants to –" as I stand with Rafael looking over Jaime, my eyes dart to the front of the room where the door slides open abruptly and a dark figure comes waltzing in.
"Finally," Eddrick hisses, drawing everyone's attention to his small grey figure. All too evidently, we can see the long blade held in his hand. The same one he used to cut my hand, and Jaime's, to mix our blood with his in the two wooden bowls.
"Don't move," Jay yells at the small, wretched monster of a man, that he must think is unassumingly weak, "I will stun you if you come any closer," Jay pulls a taser from his belt and aims it at Eddrick.
"So confident for a mere human," Eddrick smiles, lifting a hand and forcing Jay to stun himself, turning on the electrical current I see a flash of blue and then he is down on the ground, convulsing. Claudia stumbles away from him, trying to appear meek and small as she takes small steps backwards.
Rafael ignores the whole situation as he quickly rips off Jaime's restraints as she groans awake, literally falling into his arms as he tries to lift her but she is too weak to stand. Instead he holds her close to his chest, kissing her forehead repeatedly, while glaring at Eddrick.
"I only want to protect my love, but the threats just keep coming," Rafael says with dry humour, darkness in his tone, his gold eyes hooded.
"There is strength in you," Eddrick stops by a bench, leaning his hip into it and playing with the knife in one hand.
"You are a good match for my successor, the Queen of Darkness," Eddrick grins but slowly loses the smile when his eyes dart to Eliza and then Claudia as he sniffs the air, "Another two meek humans," he adds in disgust, "Go build me a fire, now," he snaps at both of them.
Eliza and Claudia both try to resist as I see the stubborn, slow, robot like stride that is forced out of their bodies to grab things to build a fire.
I look around me, Jay passed out on the floor and Rafael holding Jaime close to his chest still.
"Don't worry," Eddrick sighs and nods at Rafael, "I will never hurt her. Only one dies tonight – in sacrifice for the rest of supernatural creatures, for magic, for the power we deserve in this world."
Eddrick isn't doing a good job of getting Rafael on his side either, he just glares at Eddrick.
"You can be a fool all you want," Eddrick reads the defiance in Rafael's eyes and instantly changes tactic, "But I'm not letting anyone stop me fulfilling the prophecy for all that is dark and worthy of life," at the mention of this, Eddrick mutters a curse under his breath and Rafael and Jaime seem to freeze – frozen as if set in stone. Jay twitches on the ground and groans to consciousness a moment later.
How was Jay going to help me? Eddrick would just force him to electrocute himself again.
This situation was getting worse by the minute.
Just as I'm about to open my mouth and beg Eddrick to let my friends go if I surrender willingly – I'm interrupted.
By the last person I was expecting to hear from.
"Sorry to crash the party," a feminine, husky tone makes everyone's heads turn to see a blonde vampire hunter – Isobel, standing in the middle of the room, knives drawn by her sides. There are a couple of thumps immediately afterwards in the ceiling and Isobel rolls her eyes, "Of course they were serious," she mutters quietly.
"Vampire hunter, my most hated type of human," Eddrick snarls. He doesn't have to throw, the knife from his hand flies through the air towards Isobel on its own accord and she instantly raises her weapons, blocking the flying knife, which collides with her own before flying back to Eddrick, right into his palm, "Who else is with you?" he snarls at Isobel, his quick attack not fooling her too easily.
"Rainmakers apparently," Isobel looks to the ceiling, "Too bad you didn't bring an umbrella, old man," she smirks and almost instantly there is a pitter-patter when dewy drops of something start falling from the vents in the ceiling.
Eliza and Claudia have built a little pile of lab coats and chemicals and light it up at the same time as the 'rain' starts. A drop hits me and I jump back in disgust when I see blood smeared over my arm.
"Maximus and Darrius are more fucked up than you realise," Isobel laughs at my shocked expression, "You look terrible Jennifer, so pale."
"Whose blood is that?" I ask, the whole lab lighting up with fire in a big flash as the chemicals ignite over the lab coats. A couple of wooden tables are throw onto the fire by mind-controlled Claudia and Eliza, to make it bigger.
"Well it wouldn't have been fun ending your life without your dear Darrius to witness your passing," Eddrick shrugs, raising his hand with the knife to inspect it. I instantly raise my arms in front of my face, scared the knife will come flinging at me like it did at Isobel. Eddrick notices and just laughs, "Stand still for me Jennifer, will you? You don't want to raise your arms, darling, this knife will slice through your arms and then your neck – don't make it anymore painful than it needs to be."
"What the hell?" Isobel yells out and I see that Eliza and Claudia have approached her and she doesn't realise they are being influenced by Eddrick as they grab her arms and pull them tightly behind her back.
"Sorry," Claudia grinds out through clenched teeth.
Eddrick smiles as he witnesses the fear in my eyes. No one else was here yet, were they still in the ceiling vents or what? Now I was the only one left to face the music.
He raises the knife.
"Help!" I scream out, knowing Isobel is now useless and Darrius and Maximus haven't even made an appearance yet.
"They're too late, Jennifer," Eddrick shakes his head and the knife darts through the air, quite suddenly.
"No!" My eyes widen as Jay leaps off the ground and jumps in front of the oncoming knife, "Fuck," there is a loud slash and crack. Jay is in front of me - facing me, falling towards me.
The knife is lodged deep in his throat, it's hit an artery and blood flows everywhere as he literally falls on top of me.
I'm silent right before I'm screaming, a dead look-a-like of my Prince crushing me beneath his dead weight and sticky rushing blood.
I lift Jay's head off me, to see if he has any light left in his eyes, but there is none.
"No, nooo..." I moan, tears falling from my eyes when I see the knife twitch in his throat and start moving to the other side of his uncut neck. Right before my eyes I'm watching a decapitation happen.
Literally right before me –
Eddrick's maniac laughter gets me moving.
I shove with all my might, until Jay's body is off me enough for me to get to my feet and turn and run.
As I run I nearly slip on the pool of blood at my feet and I fall – right into a blur.
"I got you," Darrius holds me, about to steady me when his eyes focus on something behind me, "No!" he gasps, and he lifts me up quickly. I'm half thrown into the air before the breath is knocked out of me and a sharp pain, echoes from my back, down and up my spine – through my very core.
"Ah –" I whimper as Darrius slowly brings me down, looking into my eyes.
I hear a war cry from Maximus behind me and a cry from Eddrick before I'm set on the ground, and I look down from the light of the fire to see a point sticking out of my stomach.
Right before my eyes, the tip dissipates into black smoke.
"I got the fucker!" Maximus yells out, "I slashed his arm off – oh shit."
All I hear is noise.
For some reason I feel my heart breaking as I see Darrius above me, tears in his eyes as he bites into his wrist.
"I don't want to watch you heal slowly, sweetheart, I can't bear it," Darrius growls out, huskily, forcing his wrist to my mouth I swallow his blood. I gasp out when he finally takes his wrist away and he leans down to whisper in my ear, "You're going to be okay," he then reaches into my neck and without hesitating his fangs sink in.
I know what he is doing.
He wants to turn me.
Before true unconsciousness fills me, an image of Jay is plastered into my mind.
His lifeless eyes.
His scarified body.
He died to save me.
And now I was about to die, temporarily, in Darrius' arms – the nightmare that was my life, was going to be blissfully over, at least for a little while.
***Updates ever Monday***