Katrina: {The blood. The blood is life! I must feed! Was all she could think. She recognized no one. She was entirely under the control of her blood lust. It was what her parents warned her to never let happen, but she was too hungry and too amped up from all the combat.
Some other wolf was trying to prevent her from getting what she needed so she slammed him against the wall again and again until he finally stopped struggling.
Useless animals, she was far superior to anything that walked on this planet. Although something made her pause and look at the wolf. Did she know it? What did it matter she thought as she turned and saw the two humans drifting weightless.
Helpless.
Time to feed!
A small voice in her head was screaming at her to stop as she looked at the boy. She knew this one, didn't she? He was a...friend? Oh God what was she doing?
No! She growled at herself. He's food and nothing more. She could smell his blood still dripping from his hand and it called to her. His beating heart called to her. His lifeforce called to her. She had to eat. She had to drink or die. That was the only way.
Her body moved on its own. Propelled by the desire to survive. She leaped at the boy.
Zach! His name was Zach, she suddenly realized as her powerful legs shot her forward. Her fangs extended. Her arms reaching to tear his throat open. What was she doing? This was wrong!
The dog slammed into her then and they tumbled about this tiny metal cage. She tossed the oddly fierce animal to the side just as they crashed to the ground. She was dazed and battered as it bounced around. She was finally able to shake the blood lust enough to realize what she had almost done. She was trying to get hold of something to see if Zach was ok and apologize as the pod smashed into a house and she was flung into a steel plate, cracking her head again.
Then it bounced up again and she was floating. She saw the wooden post beneath her just as they crashed to the ground. The last thing she was aware of was the terrible pain and the raw tearing of her flesh as it ripped through her body, and then she knew no more.}
"She's gone. I'm terribly sorry." My father said with evident sadness in his voice.
Alexei started laughing then and all the village men and women backed away thinking there was something wrong with him. A few of the women made the sign of the cross warding off evil spirits in case this young man was crazy or possessed I guessed.
Seeing the scared and concerned looks on everyone's faces he attempted not very successfully to stop laughing. Through chuckles and teary eyes, he rested a hand on his twin's shoulder like he was holding her down or something.
"She's not dead!" and before anyone could stop him and amidst screams and gasps from everyone in the room he grabbed the wooden shaft and yanked it from his sister's chest.
It came free with a sick sucking noise and he threw it to the side just as a large group of people entered the tavern, one of them holding a medical bag. He was an older, grey haired man with wire rimmed glasses, long sideburns and an unlit cigarette sticking out of the side of his mouth. They all stared at the young man as though he had just killed his own sister.
"Look it's not what you think," he said looking at all the shocked faces, "but one thing I might suggest is that if you could bring a lot of rare meat it might prevent a lot of people from getting hurt."
"Excuse me?" the man that was supposedly the doctor said.
"Food!" he said worriedly, "and lots of it, as rare as you can make it or else we will need some live animals that you can spare losing."
"Young man," the old villager began, "I don't think."
"Listen!" Alexei shouted again clearly afraid, "Please if you value your lives I am begging you just bring all the food you can or a live cow or two, but just do it now we don't have much time."
"Ok, ok we will bring food just relax young man there's no need to be rude we just wanted to make sure you were ok and to find out what is going on." The doctor said and spoke to a few of the other villagers who went off to prepare food and drinks.
"Thank you," Alexei said relieved, "I can explain everything but first I need to make sure there is food coming and coming fast."
"Now may I look at the young lady to see if there is anything I can do for her." The man said stepping a little closer.
"I wouldn't recommend it," the young twin said glancing at his sisters still form.
"Well I'm sure you know your sister well but that wound looks very serious and I would like to take a closer look if you..." he began saying as he walked closer.
"Sir," Alexei said interrupting him and stepping in front of the old geezer, "you really don't want to do that."
A few of the bigger sailors stepped forward and some from the back of the room moved in from behind Alexei.
Aware of what they were doing the young twin who was now beginning to sweat profusely turned so his back was toward his sister and before we saw him move a muscle the two ancient etched blades were in his hands and glinting off the firelight.
"Please I don't want to hurt anyone, but you don't understand what is happening!" he said and now he was beginning to shake.
I stepped forward not knowing why but not liking the look in Alexei's face and said shakily, "Please, he knows what he is talking about just bring food and make if fast!"
"Uh yes," my Dad said from my side, "I would strongly tend to agree with the young man it would be to everyone's advantage if we could get lots of food in here quickly."
"Woof," Tesla barked agreement from my other side.
The village doctor looked from Alexei to us and then back to the prone Katrina shaking his head.
"Look, I don't know what is wrong with you people, but this young lady needs my help," he said once again trying to get close to the injured girl.
Suddenly the old man was being lifted into the air as Alexei grasped his shirt with one hand and held him six inches off the floor while keeping the others at bay with the sword in his other hand.
"My sister," he growled into the man's face, and it didn't entirely sound human, "doesn't need your help but these people will need yours if you don't get some kind of food in here now!" and he threw the doctor five feet back into the group of people by the door knocking a couple of them to the ground.
I saw his eyes were beginning to turn black again as he began shaking even more violently while trying to reign in his anger and almost uncontrollable hunger.
While the people near the door climbed back to their feet and dusted clothes off, the large overly muscled giant stepped towards Alexei. He clamped one massive hand onto Alexei's sword arm holding it in place, so he couldn't hurt anyone.
In a thick Russian accent, he said in fairly decent English, "Look we are only trying to help you people. If you don't want our help why don't you just leave before someone gets hurt?"
The man, easily seven feet tall was probably close to three hundred pounds and nearly all of that was thick corded muscle towered over the young twin. Alexei very slowly and with no obvious effort on his part used his free hand to grasp the giant's shirt and lift him off his feet.
He hoisted him over his head and said in an almost whisper, "That's what I am trying to stop from happening. If you people don't get some food in here, you will be the food if she..."
Katrina suddenly gasped and sat bolt upright. Her torn and bloody clothes revealed a generous amount of cleavage along with the gaping hole that you could see all the way through now that she was sitting up.
Her eyes snapped open and I could see they were black as the night and the blazing fire behind them was not the reflection of the fireplace as she was facing away from it. She opened her mouth wide and shrieked that banshee wail.
The wall sconces holding candles shattered as did all the glasses behind the bar. Beer and Vodka began flowing down the well lacquered dark wooden shelves.
All of the windows in the tavern exploded outwards into the darkness letting the cold wind and snow swirl and slither into the room snuffing out the few remaining candles on the walls.
The flickering firelight in the room glinted off her long ivory fangs, visible now as she screamed that terrible cry. Her wet silver hair lay plastered against her face.
Between that and the long shadows cast by the now only remaining light of the fireplace made her look even gaunter than she actually was.
When she stopped that piercing screech and as it echoed off into the night one of the women closest to the door pointed and shouted in a high pitched voice that carried almost as far as Katrina's scream, "Oh my God she's a Vampire!" and that's when all hell broke loose.
Alexei, who was already not thinking straight and further worried about what his sister's sudden revival meant for these people. Wasn't prepared when the huge man he was still holding over his head as if he weighed no more than a small child, suddenly punched him in the side of his face.
As this was not a child but a thick bull of a man, there was some weight behind the blow. Not enough to hurt him but enough that it caused Alexei to falter and drop the man to the floor with a loud crash.
Realizing that this was no mere teenager, the big man backed quickly away and pulled a sword and a wooden stake from somewhere on his person.
The other villagers were doing the same thing as they all saw and heard what Katrina was. Soon there was at least twenty crossbows pointing at the young lady and nearly as many swords and/or guns.
Someone shouted to get torches and sound the alarm from outside. There were more shouts and cries of "Vampires!" from the other villagers in the town as a crown began to form beyond the door.
"Wait, Wait!" I shouted holding my arms up in the air in surrender and walking closer to Katrina's side as she growled and hissed at the gathering people.
"We don't want to hurt anyone! She just needs food, so she won't need to drink blood. They are just really, really hungry."
"Who are you, that you travel with Vampires?" the doctor asked stepping forward a bit.
"We are just normal people like you" I said, keeping my arms in the air, "We are just trying to survive so that we can get back home."
"Back home?" someone else asked from the crowd, "where you from stranger? Your accent isn't from anywhere around here."
"We are from..." I began, and would have said that we were from America and we just helped kill the Vampire Lord thank you very much.
But two things prevented that statement from being uttered. First the sleeves of my shirt suddenly slid down past my elbows revealing all the Soul tattoos on my arms. In the firelight they seemed to shift and move as if they were alive.
The second thing that happened was Uncle Leo decided that now was a good time to activate the holographic projection system on my Dad's wristband.
As the image of Uncle Leo floated in the air between us and the villagers, he said,
"Bill, how are you doing? Is Zach ok? I am getting some odd readings over here. Wait what the... how?...Hey who are you and how did you... no get back... Q initiate emergency pro....." and then it went black and shut off.
"Um, Dad what was that about?" I whispered, suddenly very frightened as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
"I don't know son but there is nothing we can do about it right now" he said looking at the frightened faces watching us.
The villagers, staring between my seemingly alive, mystical arm markings and the floating image of a talking miniature man, you could have heard a pin drop as the snow swirled about our feet.
The silence was broken however as the terrified villagers began shouting, "Demons" and "Warlocks" at us.
One old crone of a woman pointed at me and said in a crackly voice, "You are from hell that's where you are from!"
Tesla began barking and growling first at the villagers and then at Katrina and then at Alexei as the frightened townsfolk brandished their weapons.
One scared and shaking young man off to the left of the tavern door accidentally squeezed the trigger of his crossbow and the bolt thudded into Katrina's right shoulder.
She hissed and bared her fangs at him as the wooden quarrel sizzled and smoke rose from where it sank into her flesh.
And that was the beginning of the end of that village.