The rumbling has drawn itself closer and the fog moves in along with him. He's there and even as I can't see him, I know he still is. His movements are slow paced as if his entrance would make everything in this situation less sweet for us and more sweet for him.
His form flashes in and out of focus, I can see him but I'm not sure my friends can. They stand close but not close and spread apart, in their stance ready for anything. The trees spread as he makes himself known, his body coming visible in full view from toes to head with his arms spread apart. The fog around him makes it seem as if he's floating before he moves his arms in a go away gestures, it causes the trees to still, the fog to dissolve into the air and the storm to clear.
I can fully see him now, the memory of the nightmare I've had of my Mom's death comes to me. It was him, he was the one who ordered her death and now I want to rip his head off only I can't, not yet.
I squeeze my hands together and close my eyes sending a silent message to Mom and Hades again. The power in my blood begins to heighten and makes me want to rage, let it loose and allow all of earth to come crumbling down starting with my enemies. My friends begin to move forward as I'm still standing in the same spot trying to contain the power coursing through me.
"Guys wait" I hold up my hand and they all look to me.
"Don't, he wants me. You don't fight unless I do" I tell them and they all nod.
My eyes scan over each and every one of them, remembering what they look like but as my emotions begin to surface, both anger and sadness, I can feel the creatures begin to shift and change. They grow stronger and scream my name, and it's the loudest I've heard them. They wish to be released but I can't, not yet.
"I love you guys" I tell them as my eyes land on the leader.
"Come on Zoe" Will begins, I look over at him and my friends. They all stand tall and proud to be on my side, they'd do whatever it took to make things right for me.
"Your going soft on us already" he spins the sword in his hand, "the fight hasn't even started yet"
The corner of my mouth rises just a bit before I look forward. All of us in one line make our way forward, approaching him as he stands completely still from afar just beyond the trees edge. I hold up my hand for them to wait and they do just that before I keep going a little more. I stop about twenty feet away from him. I can see his aura, a red mixed with a black, he brings so much hate with him just like I had seen in the vision. He wears all black just like his minions did everytime they'd try to attack us, only now they were nowhere to be found.
"You've made a real mess killing all my people Zoe Hyland" he speaks, his voice hard and demanding. Even as he's a distance, I can still hear him like he's right in front of me.
"And you've picked the wrong time to come out here" I stand my ground.
"Actually, I've picked the perfect time to show up here Zoe. It's when your at your greatest" he holds out his hands to signal my powers, "and your weakest" his arms come out and his eyes land on my friends.
I take a step forward and he holds up a finger before he begins to pace. I stand in one spot, not moving but my eyes stay on him.
"You know," he begins by looking over at me then back elsewhere, "your Mom, she was a fighter-"
"And there's no use of talking about her when she's not here now is there?" I challenge him, "and it's a coward move for you to be stalling"
He releases a laugh, its sound feels as if it vibrates through the ground.
"Oh your gonna need the stalling Ms Hyland, once you see who I have with me" his eyes meet mines.
I clench my teeth together, the darkness under my skin waits impatiently to be released into the wild. There's movement through the trees and my eyes land on two people, they hold their arms out as if to carry someone. But then I see them, who the person is. They drop him onto the ground but he gets up as if stronger then ever, my eyes widen when his meet mine and I now know why he hasn't been answering my calls.
"Dad!" I run to him. He sees me and runs toward me and I catch him in a strong embrace.
"I'm okay Zoe" his hand lands on my face, I look up into his. He looks the same, so strong and so energies yet his eyes tell me something else.
I move him away from me so I can see the leader in full view. The blood in my veins boils and I have the sudden urge to kill, the voices in my head laugh at my thoughts. I walk toward him until I begin to run but he stands there as if stuck until he holds up a hand, I stop my movements.
"Bad idea" he smirks and with a flick of his finger, someone to his left appears. He wears all black, his arua matching his leaders, then another to his right a girl this time. Then another and another until theres abouts fifty to a hundred of these Dhampyrs waiting around for the perfect opportunity to attack. He's made an army and theres no telling if theres anymore at this point, they just keep appearing as my eyes scan the lot.
"Why couldn't you come get me? Why bring them along, why did you wait till now to come out?" I ask, resisting the urge to kill every single one of these vamps on sight.
The corner of his mouth lifts, "because this time, unlike them, I'll actually be leaving with what I came here for" he starts walking toward me this time, his hands out to his sides.
"We'll see about that"
On instinct, I grab the dagger from my back pocket and throw it as hard as I can toward his body, it slices right through him and spirals back toward me. All the other mem and women who have come with him are gone. The only thing I'm focused on right now is killing the one who kills.
He appears in my view, I catch the dagger with my right hand and toss it again. He disappears and my eyes scan the lot for him, the commotion of fighting all around me reaches my hearing as I turn around to face everyone. I catch the dagger without looking and at the same time someone rushes pass me. They hit my left shoulder and I do a spin before landing on the ground. I look up, it's one of them. Then two more come over as well.
I stand to my feet, making sure to keep an eyes on each of them. Even as my powers have heightened my sight, my eyes still travel over their forms. I hold out my hands and the one to the right charges first, he swings an arm toward my face but I catch it and turn his body around so his back faces me. I hold both his arms in place, my hands come up to his head and he screams right before I tear it from his body. The other two don't react as his bottom half falls lifeless to the floor before it completely disintegrates. I look to them.
The one in the middle comes charging for me but I stand my ground completely still, out of nowhere a wolf grabs his entire body in its mouth. My head follows it as its feet slide against the ground to stop, he crunches down on the body and rips it in half. The other waits to the side until I spot Emily, she uses tree tendrils to wrap around his ankles pulling him back. His nails pull the grass beds up, she tightens one of her hands and the other motions for another tree branch to wrap around his neck. He struggles to breath before his head snaps apart from his body. The branches drop him and I meet her eyes, she nods and I smile before the wolf to my right growls. I notice its yellow eyes before she runs away.
I spot Chelsea, running over to her to at lightning speed before someone grabs her from behind. I grab them by the leg and they fall to the ground on their back. My hand goes around the neck and I feel my fangs sharpen themselves, I lift the head and bite the neck of them releasing the poison in my veins into there's. She screams right before I grab the knife and stab her into the heart, her body goes limp and turns completely pale before turning to black smoke.
I stand to my feet and try spotting the leader, nowhere to be found.
"Where are you?" I push my teeth together before grabbing a tendrils from around my wrists. It extends like the image in my mind, I hold it out to my right and it hits the floor turning the grass black.
I see Stacey fighting beside Alex, John and Margaret fight beside each other. I notice Dad's wolf form is unlike anything I've ever seen, like a leader. It stands so tall above the other wolves around, Jake and Susan fight along side him and I wrap the dark rope like snake around my waist before I run toward Ava. The things in my outside view blur pass me, all I can think about is helping my friends right now and finding...him.
She struggles to use her powers as they surround her. I take a double look at them, they all look completely the same only theres two girls and two guys. I hold my arms out in front of me, the dark smoke that comes from my palms shoot out in front as I walk toward her. It surrounds her in a ball of darkness, she uses her powers to change what they see but it's as if they aren't affected at all. They try their best to reach her inside the circle but it's no use, my powers stop them.
I rush in full speed toward them, my feet moving faster under me and the images in my outside vision blur pass. The power coursing through my body doesn't allow me to stop and I don't, they all look to me now and before the first one can even think to react I tear his head from his body. The others fall back but I keep going, making sure there's nothing left of them.
Zoe
He speaks into my head and the sound of his voice seems to throw everything off. My vision begins to cloud, I shake my head and turn to his voice. In my view, I see him for a minute before he disappears again. His laughs echoes in my mind and the midnight blood tries over powering it with screams.
The leader rushes pass me, this time I hold my ground but my body turns toward the figure. He appears no less then a foot away from me and I take the opportunity to swing my right hand toward his face, he ducks the blow. His arm comes out and I lean back away from it before standing straight and kicking my leg out toward his stomach. His entire body spins away from me before he comes rushing back. He grabs my neck and we both rise off the ground, higher and higher. I open my eyes to see his face, his fangs hang so low and dangerous. His eyes are so red and the blood in his veins are the same color, they move when he squeezes my neck even more. I grab the dagger from my pocket and grip the rough handle lifting it into the air before it comes down onto his chest. His eyes meet mines and for a minute, I think I've done it but he disappears again leaving me to plummet toward the ground. The breath I've been holding is pushed out of me and my arms falls out into the air as if I'm flying.
I hit the ground hard on my feet and stand up straight. If I don't get rid of him already, this will never end. But how?
My eyes spot Will and Madsion fighting, he picks up the sword and drives it through the heart as Madison holds the body. They both turn and the next dhampyr rushes toward them, hands out. Will drops the knife and they fight one on one for a bit until Madison takes her dagger right across his throat.
Theres a sharp pain in my back and a scream that releases from one of the many creatures still hiding under my skin. I turn around and they grab the knife in a quick motion, it exits my body and my hand goes up to the place I'd been stabbed. I let out a breath and look up into the face of a girl, she holds the red and black knife in her hand. I feel the darkness make it's way to the open skin and it seals back together in seconds.
"Big mistake" I tell her but she smiles.
I turn my whole body toward her, she begins to pace as I keep my eyes on her. She spins the dagger in her hand over and over again without meeting my eyes.
"You wanna know something um, Zoe is it?" She has red hair that matches her eyes.
"I killed someone who was just as strong as you were" she begins again and I wrap my hand around the extended rope around my waist.
"With this exact same knife, she had red hair" her fingers graze her chin as if she's in thought, "she had blue eyes and her name was Thea"
Her eyes meet mine and she knows she's gotten me. I remember now, the memory comes flooding back into my mind of her. She was the one who stabbed Mom with the knife in my dream.
"You-"
"You know I never got to say how sorry...or not sorry I was for doing it. It was her time to go, you have to admit that at least"
"And now its yours" I finish for her before I walk toward where she stands. She holds up the dagger and swings it toward my face but I punch her in the stomach making her double back a couple feet.
Aim for her weak spots Zoe, make her mad
She changes the grip on her knife and swings it low but my hands come out and block the blow just inches away from my stomach. My hands come up and hit her in the nose making her step back a couple feet again. She grabs her nose and the red blood drips from it, her eyes fume with anger when they land on me and I hold my hand out signaling for her to give everything she's got.
Her skin turns red before she rushes over to me, disappearing and reappearing again the closer she gets so I grab the rope from around my waist and clutch it in my hands. I lift it into the air and twirl it in a circle before I swing my arm toward her at the right moment. It circles her body and she stares down at it before her hands try grabbing the rope to remove it but she can't. She looks at me and the corner of my mouth lifts.
She begins to float off the ground up into the air and I stare at her not letting go of the rope, my feet stays planted as she tries her best to wiggle out of the grip as it tightens. The strength I have is beyond her own and she knows this as she scream for someone's help, I pull the rope once and she groans loudly. I pull it again with great force this time and her entire body breaks into pieces that fall from the sky but they disintegrate before hitting the ground.
I smile to myself before I turn around to face everyone else.
Hey Zoe
I hear again, this time my eyes scan the lot of everyone that continues to fight. The smile on my face disappears when I see where the voice comes from. He lifts his arm into the air and a light reflects the silver shiny object in his hand, and then I see he holds Dad in his grip. He brings the knife down in slow motion and it sticks into Dad's chest which he then cries out.
The heart in my chest begins to hurt. I run toward them as fast as I could and see Dad lays on the ground. I slide on my knees and cradle his entire body in my arms. The tears begin to fall from my eyes and I hadn't even noticed I was crying until now. The only thing I can feel throughout my body is pain, the darkness in my veins can't clear the ache I feel as I hold Dad in my arms. I look up and around at everyone still fighting, but I don't see him anywhere. This was his plan all along, he said my family and friends were my weakness and he was right, he knew I'd be too busy helping my friends then to pay attention to the real situation which was him.
I look down at Dad, "I'm so sorry Dad, I'm sorry" I tell him through my cry.
He tries moving and winces from the pain he feels, I look down at his chest. The blood spreads across his shirt. I place my hand over his open flesh, closing my eyes I try bringing my healing powers on to heal him. The palm of my hand heats just a bit but as soon as I feel the powers begin to surface, everything around me starts to heighten.
The fighting between my friends and the enemies, the thought and sound of his voice in my head, Dad in my arms, my powers as they begin to scream again from the anger and hate I feel. I feel like theres nothing I can do.
"Zoe" I look down at him, his eyes begin to close slowly but his hand comes up to my cheek, "it's okay"
"No, Dad I can heal you. I promise" I sniff, the tears that rush to my eyes blur my vision. My powers have completely vanished on me. Maybe I've lost them for good, maybe it's just better this way. There's no me without Dad and I can't live without him.
His breathing slows, and my head falls to his chest. Everything around me begins to fade away, all the commotion of fighting and noises and thoughts fade away from me as if I was the one moving. The only thing left to hear is Dad's heart beat in my ears, it begins to slow and the hand that he holds my hand with falls from my own. I squeeze his shirt and lay myself in his arms as if he's holding me instead of me holding him. The memory of a little girl comes to me, she's me when I was small and her blonde hair was in pigtails, her purple eyes smile more than the smile on her face as she runs and jumps into her father's arms. I jumped into his arms and he lifts me up and kisses my head. Then another woman comes into view, I turn to her. Such a beautiful person she is and she brings light with her as she walks toward us. Its Mom, she kisses Dad and then she kisses me on the head and I hug her. The feel of her embrace holds such energy like no other and the world around us fades.
Zoe sweetheart
I open my eyes into Dad's shirt and listen to the only voice that belongs in my head. Moms.
Your still my Moon Child Zo, finish this
I swallow before I lift my head from his chest. I squeeze my eyes together and the midnight blood begins to slowly return to my palms. I look at my arm and the darkness fills every single inch of creamed skin, slowly before it begins to speed. My every part is filled with pain and sorrow replaced with the power I've always known to have, the power that belongs to me. I stand to my feet and close my eyes letting the darkness cover my skin, my eyes, my face and my hair. Everything turns black as if I'm night, the ground begins to shake and I look up at everyone around me. They all try their best to stand still but the more the ground shakes, the more they all fall.
Those who hunt, shall be hunted
I push my teeth together and hold my hands out to my sides before walking forward.
Those who kill, shall be killed
The voices in my head mix, Hades and Mom. The sounds together are unlike anything I've ever heard.
My hands come open, the powers in them shoot into the air in a fast motion. Everything that surrounds us begins to darken, the sky, the ground and I open my mouth letting our a curdling scream loud enough to shake the grounds even more. The creatures release themselves from me and begin to circle in the air as they laugh and scream. The sounds around us are loud and all the Dhampyrs that surround us begin to cover there ears. The dark creatures that float around in the air, act as demons before they begin to race for what they want. They power to consume, each and everyone of the Dhampyrs that try to get away are attacked by them. They kill them one by one just by the consume of their bodies using them as a vessel, they can't take the darkness my powers hold.
My friends stand back as the creatures race around them wanting to kill the others. Then I see him, the leader out in the farthest corner of the yard. I turn my body completely to him, he smiles as if intrigued by my powers before he begins to run over. I turn my head to the side, drop my arms and the image in my mind begins to form into the air. The creatures who have killed begin to form a figure, so big and so powerful its unlike anything earthly. It forms a face, hungry and desperate for need and want, I look to the leader who stops when he sees what's happening in front of it. If he wants powers, he can have it. He reaches up to touch of of the creatures that circle the sky around the face. It latches on his arm and he thinks he's won but the one around him screams for more of his friends before they all come rushing over. They act like a hand lifting his entire body while he struggles to catch his grip on something steady, it's no use. They carry him to the mouth of the face and he gets devoured by the figure.
Those who are powerful, shall be powerless
The leader screams and begins to fight his way out of all that power I've released, I watch as he struggles. His body then goes still and I raise my hand in the air to rid the sky of such horrors. They begin to form a circle and my palms come out, they push and pull themselves toward me, screaming before racing back into the veins under my skin. The sky clears just before I close my eyes and fall to the ground on my knees, a whimper escapes my mouth and I swallow the anger I still feel. One I'll never be able to rid myself of.
I look up as my friends rush over, I stand to my feet and slowly make my way over to Dad's body.
"Zoe" someone says and I look up at Susan's face, the tears return to my eyes and one escapes. Her hand falls onto my arm.
"Um Zoe-"
I stand again, looking out at what they see. The leader, he begins to run for the trees limping and not looking back. I squeeze my hands tight, the powers coming to me again but then someone grabs my arm just as I'm about to go for him. He disappears.
"No Zo, he's hurt. He won't live for long" I turn to Margaret and she let's go of my arm.
I rush my over to Dad, his body still looks alive and completely well except for the stain on his shirt and his breathing isn't there.
"The guys can carry him. Bring him in the house please" Susan tells them.
Jake, John, Xander, Alex, and James lifts my father's body in their hands as we all make our way into the house again. I'm the last to go, as I look around for any sign of attack on us once more relieved there isn't any.
We all head into the house and I think Susan's first instinct is to take him to a room with a bed but she goes to a completely different section of the house. Theres a door and she opens it and it leads to a library, my eyes widen at how sculpted and neat everything looks and all the books she seems to have hidden away in this room. Theres another door and she punches a code in the silver lock that secures the room before it opens and everyone rushes inside.
The room is huge and theres a bed that looks like it belongs in the hospital. The room is a whole different color then the rest of the house, they lay him down on the bed and Susan makes Stacey go get some supplies. She moves the covers from under him and everyone stands back before she grabs some scissors and cuts open his shirt. She looks back at me and I stand there not knowing what to say. I'm the one to let this happen and now he's paying the price, I can't lose him.
"Zoe" I look up into Xander's face, his green eyes with worry.
"I'm fine" I mumble before I head over to the bed my Dad lays on. Stacey comes back with a bucket full of things for Susan and I move even though she shakes her head for me not too. I move around to the other side of the bed and grab my Dad's hand, it still feels warm and alive but as I close my eyes and focus on his body, it begins to feel cold.
"You can't save him, can you?" I ask her, my tone harsh than intended.
She meets my eyes, "I'm going to try Zoe" before she grabs a cloth and gets up to drag an IV pole over to the bed, it holds different types of liquids that I wish I could understand but I can't. She puts on some gloves and begins to stick him in places that draw blood and give off some of the liquid in bags before she reaches over to wipe the blood from the right side of his chest. I don't let go of his hand even as I feel it grow colder.
"You guys can leave if you want" Susan tells them but all they do is look lost before some of them begin to stride toward the door.
"Thanks guys" I look up at them, a tear beginning to escape, "I couldn't have done any of this without you guys, is anyone hurt or anything?" I begin to stand.
"No Zo" Margaret half smiles, "thank you, and we are totally fine. I promise"
I look at John and he smiles before he begins to make everyone leave. Jake meets my eyes and I smile at him, the last to leave was Mia and she meets my eyes and nods but doesn't smile before she leaves the room.
I look back down at Dad and memorize his features, how his long lashes lay on his cheeks but the tone of his skin begins to pale little by little.
"Do you want me too?" I look over at Stacey, she talks to her Mom as she holds her hands up signaling on using her future see. Susan finishes the stitches in his chest before she looks at me then at her daughter.
"No, I think it's better if you don't take a look" she tells her and Stacey nods.
I turn back to my Dad and lay my head on his chest. Susan gets rid of the gloves and she and Stacey head for the door.
"Let me know if you need anything Zoe" she smiles before she makes her way back over to the bed.
She places her hands on Dad's chest and closes her eyes. She scans his entire body within seconds to see if theres anything else wrong with him. She opens her eyes and looks at me.
"He's completely healthy Zoe, the cut hadn't touched his heart but the venom that the dagger held was lethal. He's strong Zo, he doesn't want to leave you either I can feel it" she finishes before heading to the door. It closes behind her.
"I don't want you to leave either Dad" I whisper to him and for a minute I thought I could see his chest rise and hear him and my Moms laugh in my head.