Chapter Twenty Eight – Dagger To The Heart
Sang
"How many?" Safire asks Sofia. "And who?"
"Half a dozen vampires," Sofia answers running her fingers through her hair. She moves her eyes to Mr Hendricks. "You need to get everyone out of this school. It's about to get ugly."
"Of course." I notice Mr Hendricks' hands shaking as he reaches for a microphone at his desk. "What do I need to say?"
"Just tell everyone to evacuate the building," Ella tells him. "Tyler, send us to the exits of the school. We'll get the students out while you and the girls deal with the Vampires."
He looks to me and I nod my head. "Got no choice. I won't let any innocent people get harmed."
Tyler nods his head and then takes a hold of Ella's hand who reaches for her sisters. Just before they leave, Ember looks to me. "Be careful, Sang."
I nod my head and look to my cousins. "What about the guys? They can't defend themselves."
More screams come from outside the door and I flinch, my heart racing in panic and fear for those outside. I don't want to leave the boys unprotected. "Who have you connected with?"
North, Luke, Sean, Nathan and Gabriel raise their hands. "They can tap into your power if you let them," Saskia says. My eyes widen and my head swings towards the guys. I find their shock mirrors my own. "Just close your eyes, focus on Sang. Your soul is bound with hers, you'll know the moment your soul reaches deep enough inside her for the power source. I just want you to do it now so you have some kind of magical protection."
"And we can do this whenever?" Sean asks. They all close their eyes and I watch as their brows furrow in concentration. Kota, Silas, Victor and Mr Blackbourne watch on in wonder.
"Over time you'll do it without even realising, but right now we need you to focus," Skyler mutters. I watch as she opens the palm of her hands and a beat later two daggers appear out of nowhere. Seeing me watch her, she sends me a sly grin. "A dagger to the heart – instant death for a vampire."
My whole body starts tingling and a burning sensation starts below the surface of my skin over where my marks are. I grunt. "What's that?"
Saskia grins. "They've got it. Naturals already." She looks to me. "The burning sensation will ease. It shouldn't be painful, just uncomfortable." She does a similar move to what Skyler did, daggers appearing in her hand. She throws one to me and I catch it. "You'll need that."
Sofia is back at the door, stepping further out this time. "What's the plan?"
"Make that announcement," Safire says to Mr Hendricks. She looks to the guys, the ones who has their souls connected with mine. "Stay here." She waves her hand and daggers land on the floor at their feet. "Straight to the heart, don't let them bite you. We'll have a huge problem on our hands if you do."
Mr Hendricks presses a button on the microphone. "Members of staff and students of Ashley Waters, please exit the premises immediately and with caution. Everyone is welcome to go home until further notice."
Sofia reaches over and pulls the fire alarm. The blaring hurts my ears. Sofia, Skyler and Safire fly out the room, just as Tyler comes back.
"Stay here," I tell him. "Don't let anything happen to them." I go to the door. "I will hurt you if you do."
"No you won't." Saskia says, glaring at me. "We'll have a huge problem if you lay a finger on him ever again." She looks to Tyler. "Be safe."
I glare at Tyler as Saskia leaves the room, running right into a tall man who is ghostly pale with blood red eyes. She shoves the dagger straight into his chest. He screams, drops to his knees and then disappears into nothing. Then Saskia is gone. Tyler didn't waver his eyes from me the whole time. "I'll protect them, Sang. Trust me."
"Finding it hard to, if I'm honest." With that, I walk out of the room, shutting the door behind me. Looking down the hall I find Sofia being held up against the wall, a vampire with his mouth wide open, fangs out, heading straight for her neck.
I wave my arm back. He flies straight into the back wall, taking Sofia with him but it's enough to distract him and to give her time to do what she needs to. A dagger straight to the heart.
I scream when an arm wraps around my neck. The skin is cold and horrible, I immediately hate it. I grip the dagger tighter in my hand as cold breath whispers over my ear. "Your daddy will be so proud of me."
I grunt, trying to shove him of me but he moves me and shoves me into the wall, my head turned to the side. His face comes into view and I met with black eyes. He presses his nose into my cheek and inhales deeply. "You smell so good; good enough to eat."
He moves his head back and I don't hesitate. I throw my head back into his face, catching him in the chin. I spin around, raising my foot and kicking him in the stomach. He stumbles back into the wall. "She's feisty."
"You're sick," I mutter. A fire ball glows in my hand and I throw it at him. He lets out a bellow as it hits him in the chest. I do it again and again until he can't even try to pick himself up off the floor. Moving in front of him, I raise the dagger.
He tips his head back and meet my eye. I falter. My eyes go to the pointy sharp end of the dagger and then to his chest. "You can't do it." He lets out a laugh. "You've never killed anyone before. You can't do it. Daddy has no idea what he's thinking by bringing you into our world. You're weak."
"I don't want to be in your world," I sneer. "I never wanted a life like this." He's right, I can't do it. I can't bring myself to shove the dagger into his chest and into his heart. It's not me. I'm not a killer. Yet, the magical good side of the world expects me to kill my father.
As my anger and frustration rise, so does the power inside me. It flows through my veins; thick, blazing, hot fire. It burns, but I barely feel the pain. My hair starts slapping at my face, a wind storm swirling around me. The vampire's eyes widen and his face pales. I'm not even sure how that's possible considering his skin is as pale as snow.
The wind turns into a fire; a real, orange, hot fire, heating my skin as it continues to swirl around me.
"Sang," someone calls.
I ignore them, my focus on the vampire before me. I smell smoke, but I ignore that. I'm not sure how I do it, but something tells me to send the fire straight towards the vampire, so I do. I move my hands in front of me and the flames hit right at him, just as he's pushing himself back to his feet.
He stumbles back, the fire hitting him straight in the chest. He screams, trying to pull himself away from the onslaught but he can't. He's frozen in place. Right before my eyes, he burns and burns until there's nothing but ash where he stood.
I freeze in my spot, the flames dying down around me until there's nothing. I stare at the ash for several long seconds before an unknown gush of wind blows the pile away. "What just happened?" I whisper, my eyes wide as I look around me.
My eyes settle on the cousins. They're looking at me in disbelief and shock. I don't understand. "What was that?"
"You just fully tapped into your power," Safire says. "It's impossible to kill a vampire unless it's with a dagger or a specially made potion."
"You're powerful Sang," Sofia whispers, wiping at a scratch on her face that has beaded blood on the surface. "More so then we realised."
xXx
The school receptionist lost her life. It gutted me. She didn't deserve to lose her life to some evil, greedy vampires that came here looking for me. But I was able to save a thousand students and members of staff. Ella, Eva, and Ember managed to get everyone out of the school without any problems. Once everyone had left, they locked the doors and sealed every entrance and exit with a spell so no human could use the windows or doors to get in.
When we returned back to the office, Saskia immediately told Tyler about the receptionist. They went off together with Ella to sort the receptionist out. I didn't know what that meant, but I did ask if the family would be notified and that she would have a funeral. The answer was yes and I left it at that. I don't know how her death is going to be explained.
North and Gabriel tried to fuss over me, to see if I was okay when I walked back into the room, but I shook my head and told them to leave me be. Then Eva and Sofia started making arrangements for Hendricks and his family. I didn't pay attention, I was too lost in my thoughts, the words the vampire spoke echoing round and round in my head. I also feel drained and weak, tired, like I could sleep for a solid week.
When Hendricks leaves with Eva, Sofia, Ember, and Skyler to take them to their safe place, I'm left alone with Safire and the guys. My eyes drift over each of them; Safire's shirt is ripped in a few places and her knees and dirtied up. Nathan, Luke and Silas sit on the floor, Mr Blackbourne and Sean stand near the door, while the others stand in various places around the room.
"Sang, are you okay?" Sean asks, pushing off the wall and striding over to me. He crouches down in front of me and places his hand over mine. I draw in a shuddery breath as that familiar tingling takes place and somehow it gives me energy; I feel it slowly traveling around my body. My fingers twitch in response to the unexpected source of energy.
I sigh and it's a sigh of content. "I don't know what you're doing, but that feel great."
"He can sense you're weak, those who have bonded with you can. You used a lot of power out there, power you didn't expect to use so you couldn't get yourself ready for it. You'll feel yourself again in an hour or two, but let him, them, touch you. You'll feel better," Safire says, sitting down in the seat Mr Blackbourne was in not long ago.
"You know a lot about this," I say. "How?"
She smiles and drops down the left side of her shirt. Wrapped around her shoulder is what looks like a tattoo, but I know better than that. It's a mark. "I have my own soul mate, my One."
"Who?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.
"His name is Devon and he's...well, he's a Cupid." I stare at her really hard. She just stares back and I'm not sure if she's twisting my leg right now or being serious. When she just continues to stare back, I finally let myself blink.
A laugh bellows out and I turn my head in Gabriel's direction. "I'm fucking sorry, but I'm sure you just said Cupid."
"I did," Safire smiles. "My One is a Cupid."
I start staring at her again because a Cupid, really? Like wearing nothing but cloth, has wings and flies around with an bow and arrow?
Gabriel's smile falls from his face. "Jesus fucking Christ, you're fucking serious."
"I am," Safire smiles. "Couldn't believe it myself to begin with."
"What did he do? Shoot you in the ass?" Nathan asks, disbelief clear as day in his voice.
"No. It doesn't work like that," Safire replies. "My soul recognised his, like your souls recognise Sang and vice versa." She pauses, giving Nathan an amused look. "And he doesn't have a bow and arrow; it doesn't work like that anymore."
"Where is he now?" I ask, actually intrigued.
"He's around," Safire answers. "I don't like him around when things get heavy with demons like they have here. He stays away unless I call for him."
"What about Sofia and Skyler? So they have a One?" I ask, disappointed that I didn't know about Devon, the Cupid. It brings a smile to my face.
Safire nods her head. "Skyler does; his name is Jamie and he's human. He goes to college in Chicago and she visits every weekend if she can. He knows she's a witch and understands if she can't make it. They're always texting and on the phone the though. As for Sofia, well, she's found hers but they haven't bound their souls yet."
I tilt my head, a frown forming between my brows. "What about Ella and Eva? I mean, you have to have dads."
"Them too." Safire smiles. "Mom is bound with an Elder. He was a guardian angel – like Tyler – but he got...well, promoted – that's the best way of putting it. We don't see dad all that often because he's needed with the other elders but they make it work and so do we."
I just want to know more. I want to know everything, not because I'm curious or intrigued, but because I want to know. They are blood related family after all.
"Eva is bound to a witch; he's a teacher at Magic School."
"Magic school?" Luke repeats.
"Yes. It's the same as this place, just we teach magic to young children and help them expand in their knowledge as they grow older," Safire says.
"Have you been Magic school?" I ask.
"Yes. I left a couple of years ago, but I go back to help out every now and then. You'd still be there if you were....never taken." Her words get me straight in the chest. They probably shouldn't but for a moment, as I listened to Safire tell me about her cousins, aunt and Mom, I was able to forget, just for a little while.
Her words are a reminder of what's just happened, what has happened, and what's going to happen and it's all down to me. I have to kill my father to save the world. An hour ago, I would have said that I'm not a killer, but that's not how it is now and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
A jolt of energy travels through me and I look down, straight into Nathan's serious but concerned blue eyes. His fingers are wrapped gently around mine, giving me energy I'm not sure I need, but will take. "We're here, Peanut," he assures me.
He is. They are. It's all I needed to hear.