Alex groaned and struggled to move his weighted limbs. His head was pounding, and a large portion of his body ached and stung, covered in small cuts and bruises. He was lying on something soft, the ground moving ever so slightly beneath him.
Where was he? What had happened? He remembered coming to the ship...Squints! Was he still alive? What had happened to the vial Vivian had given him? Vivian...where was she? Had the men who took her killed her?
His nerves all went on high alert as he felt something brush against his face.
"Don't try to move just yet, you're still feeling the effects of my blood in your system. Nasty effect on humans I'm afraid, you'll have quite the headache."
Nerissa. She was sitting next to him. He could now feel her presence beside him. She was still brushing her fingers through his hair and across his face slowly.
With an enormous amount of will, he opened his eyes.
"You're stronger than I gave you credit for, normally you'd still be unconscious."
"I guess I'm just too stubborn for that." His voice was weak, and already his eyelids were protesting, pushing to close once again.
"Thank you by the way, for leading Douglas' men straight to Vivian."
At that, Alex managed to push himself onto one elbow, gaining a surprised look from Nerissa. "Where is she?"
"Alive, for now. Oh and you needn't worry about your lanky friend either, with that lovely potion my little sister cooked up, he's right as rain, just resting now."
Alex felt just the slightest bit relieved. "Where are they? You said you would let them go once you got Vivian."
Nerissa smiled. "No, I said I would let them go once you delivered Vivian to me, since you did not, I don't have to keep my promise."
Alex's arm was beginning to tremble from the effort of holding himself up, but he refused to show weakness to Nerissa, pushing himself into a sitting position and leaning his back against the wall. For the first time, he took a good look around.
He was in a cabin on the ship, it was fairly extravagant, the captain's cabin perhaps?
His attention was pulled back to Nerissa as she slid closer to him, trailing one long finger across his face and down his neck.
"What is it about you?" She murmured, more to herself than to him. "Why did Vivian go to you? Why is every instinct in my body screaming for me to run away?" She shifted so that she was sitting across his legs, and slid her hands down his chest. "And why do I desperately want you?"
Alex was too weak to push her off, but he could still talk. "What is it about you that makes me want to run away screaming? Oh, that's right, you're a demon fish."
Her eyes slowly glowed red, and her already pale skin turned ashen. "You had no qualms about being with my sister. Tell me, what does she have, that I do not?"
"Morals. Plus I'm not that in to narcissistic, tyrannical, violent fish bitches."
She snarled and grabbed a handful of his thick hair, raising her free hand, she elongated her claws and held them at his throat threateningly. "I should rip your throat out now and be done with it."
Alex met her gaze evenly. "Go for it, I'm not sure why you haven't killed me yet anyway."
Her claws slowly retracted and returned to their normal color, her eyes fading back to silver. "What spell has she placed on you?"
"She hasn't."
"Don't lie to me, no one can resist our powers unless they're already under the influence of another Nymph."
Alex shrugged, confidence growing in his chest as he felt the sluggishness slowly fading away from his body. If he could keep Nerissa distracted for just a few more minutes, he'd have his strength back and be able to use his powers...or so he hoped.
"Maybe Vivian didn't need to use any magical powers on me."
Nerissa was growing frustrated, and she could feel her power tugging at her control, pushing to be released, to maim and kill. Not yet, she could wait.
"Well, if you aren't under a spell, maybe I should fix that." She slowly leaned forward, and pressed her lips against his. A surge of energy shot through her, thrilling every nerve in her body. Was this reaction because he had been with Vivian? Had her powers left residue on him somehow?
Alex felt it too, a bolt of cold energy shooting through his veins, causing his muscles to tense and his power to crackle angrily beneath his skin, but he wasn't strong enough yet to use them.
Nerissa pulled away and took a deep breath, her eyes flickering red. "What was that?"
Alex played dumb. "What was what?"
Nerissa regarded him carefully. "You didn't feel anything?"
Alex raised his eyebrows. "Besides that you're not a very good kisser?"
Her lip curled back and she smirked. "You think that was a real kiss? Oh baby, I haven't even started yet." She suddenly seemed to remember something, and looked intently in his eyes. "Now, that kiss has placed a spell on you, which should be kicking in right about now."
She straightened up slightly and rested her hands on his shoulders. "How do you feel?"
Alex's mind was racing. He couldn't give away the fact that he was immune to her spell, not without tipping her off that he was a Guardian, and she couldn't know that...not yet, not until he had his full strength back. The only safe course of action was to play along, and pretend he was under her spell.
"I feel...empty."
Nerissa's eyebrows rose. "Empty?"
Alex nodded. "Unfulfilled, like there's a hole in my chest that only you can fill."
She smiled, her eyes lighting up gleefully. "Oh really?"
Alex nodded, lifting his hand to stroke her cheek, pretending that it took a lot of effort so she didn't realize how much he had already recovered. "Yes. And you're so beautiful...the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
Nerissa allowed the flattery to bring a slight flush to her cheeks, enjoying her victory. "What about Vivian?"
Alex frowned. "Who?"
Nerissa threw her head back and laughed. This was even better than she could have imagined. Now, at last, he was hers to command. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and bat her eyelashes at him. "Alex, do you want to kiss me?"
He felt a shiver crawling up his spine at the thought of the cold energy he had felt, not ever wanting to feel that again. Just one more minute. One more minute and he'd be able to use his powers. Taking a deep breath, he nodded.
"Good." She curled her fingers in his hair and brought her lips to his, determined to prove to him that she was indeed an excellent kisser. A small thrill shot through her as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.
As the kiss grew more heated, she could feel her powers surging with added energy, her canines grew into fangs and she could feel her claws slowly growing longer. Her savage side began to dominate, and she bit Alex's bottom lip lightly, her fang just piercing the soft flesh enough to draw blood.
Alex winced as her fang split his lip open, watching her pull back and stare at the blood hungrily. Her eyes were completely blood red now, her skin the color of ash, her hair darkened to midnight, her fangs long and pointed.
"You know, we're the source of vampire lore." She said, her voice crackling with power. "The fangs, and our true appearance helped with the pale fanged stereotype for vampires nowadays. It was always us though, my less careful sisters would take people off the streets, and suck them dry."
"So...vampires exist? but they're actually just Nymphs?"
Nerissa nodded, her eyes still glued to the blood now slowly trailing from Alex lip, crawling towards his chin. "Yes. Human blood gives us a temporary boost in our powers. The whole, undying, never aging aspect was us as well. As well as being able to compel people, bend them to our will."
Her voice trailed off as the blood lust grew, and unable to hold back anymore, she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, and once again placed her lips over his.
Nerissa cried out in surprise and pain, pulling away from Alex quickly. She held a hand to her mouth, it felt as though her lips had touched acid. "What the hell!" She hissed, her lips struggling to heal.
Her eyes landed on his shirt, which was glowing blue slightly. With a snarl, she slashed her claws across his chest, ripping his shirt open and leaving shallow wounds across his chest. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the glowing blue mark, fear clawing in the pit of her stomach.
"Your..." She looked up, her eyes returned to silver as she met his lightning filled gaze, the crackling blue energy in his eyes sent a cold shiver down her spine.
"Surprise bitch."
Alex let go of all the pent up energy he had, causing a bolt of blue energy to pulse outward, flinging Nerissa across the room and slamming her into a wall.
He jumped off the bed and winced, holding a hand to his clawed chest, he carefully approached Nerissa, a good portion of his energy had been used up in the blast.
Nerissa was slumped against the wall, limp and still. He could see her chest rising a falling slightly though, so she was still alive.
He glanced at the door. He had to move fast to rescue his friends.
He pulled the door open slightly and looked out. The coast was clear. Taking a deep breath, he slipped out and moved towards the stairs leading down to the bottom deck. The crew must be above deck, because he didn't see anyone as he made his way back towards the cells.
"Alex!" Libby said as loudly as she dared, running to the bars and clinging to them in relief. "Squints is okay, they poured this glowing potion on his wounds and it healed him."
Alex placed his hand over hers through the bars and smiled reassuringly. "Great, I'm going to get you guys out of here, okay?"
"You couldn't let me be the hero for once could you?"
Squints said weakly, holding an arm across his ribs.
Alex smiled and shook his head. "Not if that meant you sacrificing yourself. Do you know where the keys are?"
Libby's eyes narrowed. "That nasty man, Sark has them."
Alex stared at the lock. "Okay...step back, I'm going to try something."
Libby and Squints moved against the back wall and waited.
Alex took a deep breath and placed his hand in front of the lock, channeling his powers down into his palm, and focusing on the lock. Slowly, the air between his hand and the lock began to shimmer. Then suddenly, a small bolt of lightning shot from his hand and exploded on the lock.
Alex looked away quickly at the bright flash, and when he turned back around, the lock was melted, the metal bars holding it in place drooping downward.
Libby cheered quietly and pushed the door open, immediately giving Alex a tight hug. "My hero!"
Alex laughed and placed a quick kiss on the top of her head. "Help me get Squints."
He stood up and moved towards the door. "I can manage, thanks." He clapped Alex on the back and then grew serious. "Alex, Libby and I can get out on our own, almost all the crew is back there." He gestured farther into the belly of the ship.
"Why are they back there?" Alex asked.
"That's where they're keeping Vivian."
Alex froze, his stomach knotting tightly. "You sure you two will be okay?"
Squints nodded. "If we run into a crew member, we'll run for our lives."
Libby gave Alex a slight nudge in the side. "Go get her, we'll be fine."
Alex hesitated just a moment longer, and then moved farther back into the ship. Casting a glance over his shoulder, he saw his two friends make their way to the stairs and head up.
"How long can she hold her breath?"
"Not for much longer, I'll wager that!"
"Just change already little fish!"
Alex ground his teeth together as the shouts and jeers reached his ears. He slid behind a stack of crates, and carefully peered around the side.
Vivian!
She was trapped in a large glass case, a long chain shackled her feet and hands together. She was floating in the middle of the tank, looking around fearfully. She pressed her palms against the glass, then recoiled quickly, holding her hands against her body tightly.
The crew members gathered around the tank laughed cruelly, tapping the glass tauntingly.
"Why don't you just turn tail little fish?"
"I bet you're aching for a breath right about now."
Vivian couldn't hold out any longer, her eyes turned gold, and the water shimmered with light as her legs wound together, scales appearing as her skin knit itself together to form a long blue green tail. Patches of scales appeared on her arms and around her collar bone and neck as well. She opened her mouth and took a deep breath, inhaling the water in eagerly.
"I don't see any gills, how's she breathing the water without gills?"
One of the crew asked curiously.
Douglas suddenly appeared, his eyes lighting up in awe as he looked at Vivian. "The gills are internal, they appear in her throat, and filter the oxygen out."
Vivian's golden eyes glared at Douglas, her tail moving back and forth slowly.
"You can stare at me all you want darling, but that tank is coated in wolfs-bane, it puts a damper on your powers doesn't it?" He turned to one of his crew and nodded. "Go get Nerissa."
Alex bit his lip, he was going to have to act fast if he wanted to get Vivian and himself out alive. But there were too many men, he couldn't take them all, and even if he did somehow manage to incapacitate them all, he'd be far too weak to move, let alone get Vivian out of the tank.
"Sure thing Captain." The crew member moved towards the stairs.
Alex had maybe ten minutes before he came back and raised the alarm. He had to come up with something fast. He noticed one of the crates he was hiding behind was open, and then he spotted the flare gun.
Douglas circled the tank slowly, running his hand over the smooth glass casually. He smiled, and was about to say something when the world turned red, and he was blinded by the sudden flash of light.
He vaguely heard his crew crying out in surprise, and he blinked furiously, rubbing the spots from his eyes. Then he saw the boy. How had he escaped Nerissa?
"You!" He shouted, stumbling as he tried to take a step forward. Suddenly he was faced with blue, and he hit something that sent a violent shock through him, and knocked him off his feet. Through the blue energy, he saw the boy holding one hand up towards him, little sparks of blue lightning traveling across his palm and darting between his fingertips.
He was controlling the blue energy? Was he a Nymph too? No, that was impossible, Nerissa would have been able to tell. Then he spotted the glowing blue mark through on Alex's chest through his torn shirt. So he was some kind of creature...a new kind perhaps?
He would never find out if the stupid force field kept him and his men trapped.
Alex wasn't sure how long he could keep the force field up, but he hoped he could long enough to get Vivian out of the tank. She was looking at him with hope and fear in her eyes, bubbles escaping her mouth as she tried to talk to him.
"Get back Vivian!" He said, his voice tight with the effort of keeping the force field up. He waited until Vivian was backed as far away from the glass as she could, before he raised his free hand and concentrated on the glass.
A bolt of lightning shot from his palm, slowly melting a hole in the glass. The water began to drain out of it quickly, and Vivian quickly shifted back to her legs as he feet touched the bottom of the tank and she could draw in a breath of air.
"Alex! You need to get out of here!"
He shook his head. "Not without you."
She gasped suddenly and fell to her knees on the bottom of the cage, her skin slowly turned blue-green, patches of scales appearing scattered across her skin. Her eyes grew slightly larger and intensified in color and depth. Her lips turned a deep shade of blue, and her hair seemed to shimmer with the same pattern as light reflecting off water.
"Vivian, what's wrong?"
She gasped as she looked down at herself. "Oh no..."
"Vivian what is it?" Alex shouted, his arms beginning to shake from the effort of holding the force field up.
"It's my true form! If I don't get to salt water soon..."
Alex nodded. "Right, hang on." He moved closer to the tank, and placed his hand on the glass, slowly widening the hole.
Douglas was watching carefully, as the boy began to use his powers on the glass, the force field flickered, and grew more transparent. He grabbed the man closest to him. "Do me a favor?" Before the man could reply, Douglas had shoved him towards the force field.
As the man came into contact with the shield, he was scorched and flung back in a bright flash of light, then force field flickered and disappeared.
Alex gasped at the sudden surge of energy and fell against the glass.
"Alex!" Vivian tried to reach him, but had to pull away from the glass due to the wolfs-bane.
He struggled to produce a force field around Vivian and himself, but was grabbed before he could. Douglas had two of his men hold him tightly, forcing him down onto his knees.
"What about the girl captain?"
Douglas glanced at Vivian, her skin already paling, her skin beginning to peel as she slowly dried out. "She doesn't have long, leave her." Then he turned and faced Alex. "Now...what are you?"
Alex struggled to pull free of the men holding him, but keeping that large of a force field up for so long, and melting through the glass had drained him.
"He's a Guardian."
Every head turned in the direction of the voice, eyes landing on a weak and pale Nerissa. She stared at Alex in terror. "Kill him! Quickly! Before his powers regenerate!"
Douglas was surprised, he had never seen her nearly this scared before. "Can't we use him? What of his blood and tears? Are they worth anything?"
Nerissa stared at him in disbelief. "I don't know! I didn't even think Guardians still existed, I've only ever heard rumors about them."
Douglas' eyebrows rose. "Well then I bet he's worth a hefty sum, seeing as how rare he is."
Nerissa shook her head, desperation overcoming her fear of being close to Alex, she darted forward and latched onto Douglas' arm. "Don't you see? He'll kill us all!"
Alex looked desperately to Vivian, who was now on her knees in the tank, curled up slightly as she gasped for air.
"How do we contain his powers?"
Nerissa cried out in frustration and shook Douglas by the arm. "I don't know! I don't know anything about Guardians except that they are very powerful, and twice as dangerous! Kill him now or seal all of our fates."
Douglas hesitated for a moment, and then let out a sigh. "Alright, we'll do it your way. How do we kill him?"
Nerissa shrank back, as if she was afraid the death sentence would cause Alex to go all barbarian and rip her head off. "I...I don't know. Shoot him? Slit his throat? I don't know, try anything."
Douglas pulled a pistol out of his shoulder holster, and cocked it. "Where do I shoot him?"
Nerissa backed away. "I don't care!"
Douglas pointed the gun directly at Alex's head, motioning for his men to back away, which they did quickly, having looked nervous from the moment they learned what Alex really was.
"You're making a big mistake." Alex said coldly, meeting Douglas' eyes evenly, his beginning to glow with blue lightning once again.
"Make one move and I swear I'll blow your head off."
Alex blinked and the lightning disappeared. "What does it matter? You're going to kill me anyway."
Douglas shrugged. "But I could hunt down your little friends and kill them as well."
Alex ground his teeth together. "Don't hurt my friends. Just get it over with."
Douglas shifted slightly and aimed right between Alex's eyes, his finger slipping onto the trigger.
"Alex..."
He glanced sideways and caught Vivian's gaze, her eyes glazed over slightly. She didn't have long.
"It's going to be okay." He said quietly, giving her a small smile.
Douglas' finger tightened around the trigger. "Time to die."
Just as he pulled the trigger, a savage growl cut into the air, and a blur flashed in front of Alex, tackling Douglas to the floor, the gun firing up into the wooden planks above their heads.
Alex inhaled quickly and gasped, adrenaline surging through his veins. His eyes widened as he saw what had tackled Douglas to the ground.
The body of a woman, with thick sharp claws and large sharp teeth set in a strong jaw. Her eyes glowed intensely silver, bright like twin stars instead of cold and dead like Nerissa's. Her hair was long, thick, and curly, hanging down to her mid waist.
She let out a low growl as she looked at Douglas, who's neck was twisted at a sickening angle, his eyes staring blankly at the roof. She glanced at Alex for a brief moment before turning and looking behind her.
"Where's the she devil?" She asked, her voice rumbling low and fierce.
"Caught her trying to slink away! Along with the rest of the crew."
Alex's eyes widened in surprise when he caught sight of several men cuffing some of the crew and leading them back towards the deck.
The creature in front of him stood up and shifted, claws, teeth and glowing eyes disappearing quickly. Now a human looking woman stood before him, eyes turning to a more natural, less luminecent, silver. She was tall and lithe, the very essence of savage beauty.
"Are you alright?" Her voice was a slightly higher pitch now, but still a rich, Spanish accented, alto.
"I...I'm fine."
She nodded once and then directed her attention to Vivian, walking forward, she was about to touch the glass when Vivian shouted. "Don't touch it!"
Her hands froze in mid air.
"It's coated in wolfs-bane." Vivian explained weakly. Shuddering as more color faded from her.
"Damn...can you get her out?" She asked, turning to Alex.
"I don't know...I'll try." He placed his hands on the glass and concentrated. "Who are you?"
The woman placed one hand on her hip, watching him closely as she replied. "My name is Tala."
Alex felt the glass give way slightly. "What are you?"
Before she could answer, the glass gave way and fell to the ground in small droplets. Alex stepped inside the tank and gently picked Vivian up. Her skin was ice cold and bone dry.
"Quickly, she needs the water." Tala placed her hand on his arm and pulled him towards the stairs.
"Alex..." Vivian's voice was unbelievably weak, trembling slightly as her hair turned white.
"Hold on, we'll reach the water in just a moment."
She shivered and fought to keep her eyes open. "It's...too late." She closed her eyes. "H-hold me?"
Alex fought the tears in his eyes as he held her to him, cradling her in his lap as her breathing grew more shallow. "I love you Vivian."
She smiled weakly. "I l-love you...too." With one final shiver, the color left her body completely and she closed her eyes, her breath becoming still.
The tears he had been fighting flowed freely down his cheeks as he rested his head against hers. "Please no..."
Tala placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Alex...she's gone."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hellloooo readers!
I hope you all had an absolutely fantastic Christmas! And I wish you all and equally wonderful New Year!
So, this chapter turned out longer than I thought it would...but oh well! There will be one final chapter after this to just sort of wrap things up.
I hope you all have enjoyed reading it! Also, I might do a prequel about Tala, it depends what you guys think! You might want the prequel more after you read the last chapter, so...keep that in mind ;)
To the right you will see a picture of what the tank Vivian was in looked like. Oh! And I went back and added a picture of what Alex's eyes would look like while he was using his powers. (except not quite as exaggerated)
Be sure to vote and leave a comment if you enjoyed! I would LOVE to hear what you guys think :)
Wendy