Adriana
"Don't do anything stupid..."
Those very words ring out clear in my head as I throw myself toward Becca's closest attacker, slicing a blade across its neck. It gargles, eyes darkening as its stumpy hands inspect the wound. For a second I feel a surge of disgust - the things skin is curling outwards away from the cut, and a thick black substance oozes out, forming in thick bubbles as it comes into contact with the air.
We take advantage of the creatures' temporary distraction, Becca leading the way out. I swipe up my steel Chakrams as I go, placing them over my wrist. Despite running as fast as possible, unlike Becca, I'm not a vampire - I'm not fast enough to avoid getting snagged by a creature. Its jagged nails rip through my shirt. I whip around, my blades slicing wherever they can.
The creature stumbled back, clutching the stump where its hand once was.
I waste no time bolting out, scanning for Becca and Emily.
They're not here.
Looking back, I notice the creatures, all surrounding their now handless accomplice. One of them appears to be trying to push the hand back on, visibly grunting when it falls back to the ground. The injured creature lets out a broken whine. The others move to comfort it, slapping their hands clumsily on its back.
Not gonna lie, I'm confused.
Accepting the fact that the creatures are now preoccupied, I break into a run. I'm not even sure where to go - Becca has seemingly disappeared so the only options are to either follow the sound of fighting, or run from it, potentially getting lost in the process.
I can't leave. I need to be here for Emily. Even if I can't take her home yet.
Making my final decision, I follow the sounds of the battle. I try not to think about the shouting, cries of pain, clashing of weapons; instead I focus on my friends and Emily, letting determination take hold. I have no idea how to fight, but I'm damn well going to try.
I close in on the battle, mouth hanging open as I come to a quick halt, taking in how many of those creatures there are. Mahlia is the first person I notice, knelt down away from the fighting, surrounded by bolts of lightning that occasionally reach out to strike the creatures, though this only disorients them. As she does this, she tends to an injured, unconscious Venus. Amongst the fighting, Kellen and Alec fight side by side, Alec pinning the creatures in place for Kellen's wolf to tear into their chests.
I watch wide eyed as a creature approaches Kellen's wolf from behind, grabbing his tail and slamming a club down onto his back. He wails in pain.
Alec's head snaps toward him at an inhuman speed, his eyes glowing an impossibly darker shade of purple. His lips twist and his skin appears to tighten, his features appearing sunken and greying. He's... Growing?
His shirt tears at the back, revealing his now hunched spine, the skin tightening over it and making each bump protrude. His arms and legs have lengthened, and long claws adorn his fingertips.
Now in what I assume to be a vrykolaka's true form, he leaps at the attacking creature, gripping it by the neck and digging his claws in before brutally ripping it apart, his lips forming a hellish smile.
I stumble back, not able to look away from Alec's blood covered hands. This can't be Alec.
He's a monster.
Barely noticing the hand on my arm, I find myself tumbling straight into Eros's chest. I don't move despite him shaking me, the image of Alec still imprinted on my eyelids. My eyes catch sight of the hammer placed on the ground, and my chest continues to tighten painfully. I don't want to look at it but I can't stop. I don't want to close my eyes. But I can't look away.
No matter how hard I try, I can't stop seeing those murderous eyes, only vaguely aware of something gently wiping the wetness on my cheek.
Eros stoops down, blocking my line of vision. His brow furrows, his lips moving but no sound reaches my ears.
He takes hold of one of my clenched fists, opening it. As his lips move, his thumb traces light outlines on my palm.
The tingles where he touches my palm captivate my focus, until slowly, the pain in my chest decreases, my heart steadying. I become vaguely aware of his voice, softly talking, though not about what I expected. He first describes when we met, the bewildered look on my face when he read my mind, how my butt was completely covered in mud... He smirks up at me and chuckles as he recalls my insults, mainly directed at myself, which brings a small smile to my face as I remember how flustered I was. I also remember how surprised he was when I first insulted him, and how amusing it was too see him sulk helplessly, not knowing how to respond.
Seeing my smile, he straightens up, looking straight into my previously teary eyes. "We need to get out of here, ok? You just need to follow me. Nothing will happen, I promise."
Despite my heart now having slowed, I can't help but feel nervous. He helped me to calm down, but who's to say I'll stay this way? However, one thing I do know is that I believe him.
Noticing my initial hesitation, he touches my upper arms. "Ria, trust me. We just have to get you to Emily. Trust me when I say you are safe."
"I trust you," I nod, confident.
"Good," He lets go of my arms, a serious expression taking over his face. Stepping to the side, he picks up his hammer, my chest tightening as he does so. I try to ignore the feeling, knowing that he won't let anything happen. I can't help but remember my previous confusion however, not knowing where else to go.
"How do we get to Emily? I don't know where Becca took her," I ask, worried that he may have no answer.
"We have a few safe houses. Kellen's is one, as you've probably figured out. We have another one not too far away that Becca will have gone to. That's where we'll be heading."
"What about the others?" They can't be coming with us - I can faintly still here the battle still going on. And beside that, won't Eros want to stay and fight?
"The others will take care of this mess. It shouldn't take too long. And as much as I would like to stay, there's something I'd like to deal with before the fighting ends," he explains, scowling as he assesses the area. I nod slowly, wondering what he could be referring to.
After a few seconds, he beckons me over. "I need you to follow me. We'll get through most of it without being noticed."
"Most of it?"
He turns. "There might be others, and you won't kill them with the chakrams. If one of them attacks you, aim to cut something off, then run."
This made sense, considering the last creature I encountered became severely distracted by the loss of its hand. The idea of removing a limb still doesn't quite sit right though.
"Don't feel so guilty about it. They're not like you, whatever you cut off will grow back eventually," he rolls his eyes, failing at putting my nerves at ease.
"But they looked so sad when I did it before, doesn't it hurt?"
"No," he sighs, knowing I'm not convinced. He beckons me forward, muttering "humans" as he does so, earning a glare.
He steps out from behind the tree, assessing the are one last time before reaching out, picking up my gilded blades that I never realised I had dropped. He hands them to me, proceeding to grab my wrist and tug me forward. "I can't see anything with all the trees, were going to have to just run."
My breathing quickens as I stare at him. "Just run?! What if we get shot!"
"Ria, trust me, nothings going to happen. Now I'm going to count to 3 and you better run."
I nod hesitantly, drawing in a shaky breath.
"1, 2, 3..."
Author's note
I'm so sorry this took so long guys, I'm really going to try to get back into the swing of writing, maybe a 2 week deadline.
Thank you for being patient 🙏
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