Just as Patrick stood up, he saw Thomas slowly move away from Pete as move to the other side of the room. Yet Pete didn't try and fight back.
Patrick watched in horror as Pete simply stood up on his feet, although his movements were stiff, as if they had been forced like a robot and his face was just a blank expression, showing no emotion in any way, like a shut door. Instead, Pete just stood still for a moment, blood marking the floor where he had just been, with his eyes fixed directly on Patrick.
From the other side of the room, Patrick heard Thomas gave a wicked burst of laughter.
Patrick tensed slightly. "Pete?" he asked nervously.
But Pete didn't reply, or even make any signals in any way that showed he had heard him. Shit, he's- but before he could finish his thought, he saw Pete's lips curve up into a snarl, fangs exposed, and rush at Patrick with the increased speed of a vampire, lunging towards him- although Patrick now had lightning fast reflexes, he still wasn't fully prepared for the incoming attack, so he managed to dodge to the side slightly to avoid a full attack but Pete still caught Patrick's shoulder and sent both of them stumbling to the side before falling to the floor just a few meters away from each other.
Patrick hit the stone floor hard on his side from the force of being knocked over, the nerves in his body flooding with the shocks of pain- he tried as hard as he could to bite it back, he knew he had to act fast. If Pete's mind is hell-bent on killing me, something tells me he won't stop to recover or hesitate. Patrick rolled his body to the side as far away from Pete as he could get so it would be easier to recover, making sure to stay out of the sunlight's reach as he did so; Patrick tried to shove the pain and the sense of panic to the back of his mind as he swiftly stood back up, his new vampire powers meaning that his body quickly healed itself and his muscles were once again flowing with strength and power, his veins coursing with adrenaline while the aching sensation in his brain and limbs was already fading away.
However, to Patrick's dismay, it seemed that Pete had also recovered faster than he thought he would have and, like Patrick, had recovered into a standing position and was snapping his fangs in his direction once more, looking like an angry bull ready to charge. Patrick noticed a fresh, long bloody gash on the side of Pete's face where he had hit the floor, but in no way did it look like it was going to slow him down.
Nothing's going to stop him until he kills me.
Patrick looked to the side to face Joe and Andy, hoping that they would be able to give any sort of help- the two of them were still against the wall where Thomas had flung them and kept them there, as if they had been stuck upon the wall with glue. Patrick could see them both tensing, still trying to break free with all the strength they could master, but it seemed that Thomas's power was too strong and all their attempts were just a waste of energy. Joe gritted his teeth as he tried to thrust his body forward as if trying to throw himself off the wall, while Patrick caught a glimpse of Andy's eyes which showed his emotions, a mix of shock, determination and worry all at the same time.
Suddenly, Patrick felt something slam into his side with a strong force and sent him tumbling to the ground once more, his head slamming against the stone as he landed; he'd been distracted with Joe and Andy that he hadn't registered Pete's move to attack him and he had gotten the upper hand, having knocked him over, Patrick noticed Pete standing directly above him, looking seconds away from striking out again- Patrick couldn't let Pete get more of an advantage, so in blind panic, Patrick kicked out with his legs hard and felt as his feet connected with Pete's legs as they went out from underneath him, Pete growling like an animal as he fell down to the floor and landed next to Patrick. As Pete had fallen, it had given Patrick enough time to scramble to his knees, putting his hands against the floor to help push himself up, however, in his right hand he felt the smoothness of sharp metal rather than stone. A knife.
Andy or Joe must have dropped it...Patrick was brought out of his thoughts as he heard a low growl from beside him and spun his head around to see Pete trying to sit up once more, clawing at the air and the floor beneath him as he did so as if trying to tear it apart. Patrick knew that as soon as Pete managed to stand back up, he would try and attack him all over again- I need to slow him down. Patrick moved and clutched the knife in his hand; Pete was a vampire, meaning that the knife wouldn't keep him down for long and his body would quickly knit itself back together instantly, still, anything he could do to slow him down for a moment would be good enough.
With that, Patrick took the knife and sank the tip into Pete's leg.
Pete screamed as the knife pierced his flesh, although there was still no emotion behind the scream, as if was just on instinct rather than actual agony. Pete began to lash out towards the knife, attempting to pull it out, but the distraction had given Patrick enough time to push himself to his feet and swiftly move to the other side of the room, far away from Pete; Pete viciously pulled out the knife that was embedded into his leg, grunting as he did so, and started to slowly stand up as his body healed the injury.
Patrick felt fresh blood run down his lips, and realised it was his own where he had bitten down with his fangs.
Under normal circumstances, Patrick might have cringed away from the thought of his own fangs, except now, his mind was simply a whirlwind of panic. If I can't figure out a way to stop him without killing him, we'll all die.
"Patrick!"
Hearing his name, Patrick spun towards the familiar voice that had yelled it; Joe's voice came out forced and hoarse, but still full of concern and hysteria. "You have to stop him!"
The blood had stopped flowing from Pete's leg, and he was halfway into a standing position.
"Yeah, any suggestions on how exactly I do that?" Patrick called back, and edge of annoyance in his voice. The only way to fully stop Pete is to kill him...Patrick shoved the thought deep to the back of his mind- he'd only kill Pete as a last resort. There has to be some other way to stop Thomas's compulsion...
Pete was now fully stood up and looked ready to strike out again. He began to make his way towards Patrick once more.
"You're a vampire too!" Joe shouted again, to which Patrick shot him a look. "You also have powers! Use them against Thomas's!"
Are you actually fucking serious Joe? "Does it look like I know what I'm doing?!" Patrick snapped.
Pete moved closer.
"Just do it Patrick!" This time, it was Andy that shouted.
Oh yeah, you two are so helpful...But with both of them attached to the wall, unable to move, it seemed that they were both pretty helpless and not able to aid him. Despite Patrick wasn't fully sure what to do, he knew that both of them were right. He had to try.
He'd seen a few vampires done it before- Patrick raised one of his hands outwards in front of him, as if attempting to block something while trying to connect to some sort of power inside of him and concentrate. How the hell do vampires even do this? Pete was almost upon him, his fangs bared and sharp to the point and prepared to strike out and Patrick again, when he felt it- Patrick wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it felt like waves of power flowing through every nerve in his body like a shock of electricity, flowing towards his hand that was stretched out in Pete's direction.
And that's when Pete stopped dead in his tracks.
Patrick felt his hand pulse with telekinetic power, keeping Pete in place, who was still snarling and growling as he tried to fight against it. A smile of triumph was about to break out on Patrick's face until he felt the power slowly fading from his hand, weakening, as Pete was breaking through like a wild animal being restrained. Patrick could feel himself losing hold of the invisible force that was stopping Pete from killing him. Crap. Patrick mind felt like thousands of alarms going off at once, telling him to act, fast, before he fully lost the hold he had on Pete, who was still trying to battle against Patrick's weak power.
Without thinking, Patrick rushed over to Pete, mastering all the strength he could to keep Pete in place with his powers- before Pete could react, Patrick hit Pete over the side of the head.
However, Patrick misjudged his own new strength and sent Pete flying into the wall next to them; Pete's head was the first thing to collide with the stone wall as his skull smashed against it and Pete slumped to the ground with a thud, completely still. For a second, Patrick became filled with fear, scared that he may have accidentally killed Pete, but even from where he was stood, Patrick could see Pete's eyes move from underneath his eye lids, indicating that he was still alive. Patrick let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding.
And then a vicious cry, full of anger and hatred, tore itself through the room. Patrick completely forgot that Thomas was in the room; as Patrick turned to face him and saw that Thomas's eyes were fixed upon him from across the room, blazing like a fire full of pure loathing towards Patrick and his fangs were fully exposed into a ferocious snarl, looking like a savage animal taking sight of its prey. Seeing Thomas, Patrick felt like someone had poured ice water down his back.
Thomas's glare suddenly switched towards Joe and Andy, who were still pressed up against the wall, and it felt to Patrick like his heart had plummeted 5000 feet. No! But before Patrick could react, a large monstrous growl tore its way through Thomas's throat and in a split second, flung his right arm out to the side whilst using his telekinetic powers- Patrick heard Joe scream behind him and Patrick spun around briskly and saw Joe flying to the side of the room, as if being pulled through midair by a powerful invisible power- a dark one. Patrick's eyes followed Joe's movement through the air until finally Joe collided straight into the stone wall, on the edge of where it had broken apart from the explosion. The sickly sound of Joe's head hitting the solid rock sent a shock of horror through Patrick's entire body as Joe let out a groan before falling and slamming into the floor beneath him. Joe didn't get up.
"Joe!" Andy screamed in pure fear. Joe didn't reply.
Andy opened his mouth to scream his friends name again, when suddenly he dropped to the floor, flailing his arms out in front of him to steady himself as he landed on the ground, the power that had been holding him on the wall no longer being there. Andy gasped from the pain of hitting the floor, his hands and knees shuddering from the impact, his hair falling over his face. Patrick almost felt relieved until he felt something whizz past his head from behind him and embed itself into Andy's left leg- an arrow.
Andy! Patrick wanted to shout out his friends name but felt like the fear and the feeling of horror was numbing him and preventing him from doing so. Andy screamed a sound of torment before falling back against the wall, unable to stand, gasping and groaning against the pain. Blood began to slowly pour from the wound- Patrick caught a smell of its richness and sweetness and his fangs began to ache with hunger- he swallowed and fought against it.
Patrick turned once more to face Thomas, just managing to catch sight of him throwing one of the hunter's crossbows to the floor, glaring and Patrick once more with eyes like daggers.
"You bastard little vampire!" Thomas screeched, making Patrick fill with dread. "I killed you once, and I can easily do it again."
Alarms felt like they were going off in Patrick's head again, yet the rest of his body felt as if he were paralyzed. Patrick's eyes widened as Thomas moved his hand once more, focusing purely on Patrick, and before he knew it, Patrick's feet was lifted off the ground, hovering slightly, before he felt himself being yanked by a strong force of power to the side- and directly into the sunlight.
Patrick's skin began to burn and the searing pain shot in. He screamed.
***
The rest of his body felt numb, but Pete's head was still spinning like a hurricane.
Back from unconsciousness, he grit his teeth together as he lifted his head to see what was going on around him, feeling too tired to open his eyes but forcing them open anyways. He lay on his stomach on the harsh floor, covered in blood, particularly on his leg where it felt like he had been stabbed although the fresh injury had healed up by now. What the fuck just happened? He searched his brain for answers: the first thing that came to mind, and the last thing he remembered, was Thomas standing directly in front of him speaking to him before something had taken over and he had blacked out.
Yet, he remembered what Thomas had spoken to him: 'I want you to attack the vampire and the two hunters. And I want you to kill them.'
Pete felt like he couldn't breathe. Did I do it? Had I actually killed them? Whatever had happened to knock him unconscious had clearly made the compulsion from Thomas wear off, but still Pete had uneasiness about what he might have done whilst under the compulsion- as much as he didn't want to, he had to know.
All of a sudden, screams of torture rang through the air and filled Pete's ears, making him shudder, although it soon became terror when he recognised the source of the screams- Patrick. They were the sounds of him in absolute agony.
Pete forced his head upwards, despite the aching of his neck, and let his eyes scan the room: the first thing he noticed was Andy across from him at the other side of the room, although he smelt his blood before he actually saw him, and looked to see him slumped against the wall, sat in a small puddle of blood as his face was slowly turning white- the thing that Pete noticed the most, however, was the arrow that was sticking out of Andy's right leg and the trickle of blood that was flowing down his leg from where the arrow was.
No Andy....did I do that? Pete wasn't sure if he wanted the answer or not. He began to search for Joe, who he found laid in the opposite corner of the room in the patch of sunlight, his arms sprawled out at his sides and his eyes closed, not moving. The panic magnified. Did I....did I..... kill him? But just then, he could see the shallow movement of Joe's chest rising and falling, before repeating over and over again. He's still alive. The reassurance was enough to make Pete feel a little better.
Yet, it didn't last for long. Where's Patrick? The screams that he had heard that were undeniably Patrick's suggested that he was still alive, but they didn't mean that he was unharmed either. The screaming rang through the room once again, the exact same as before and caused the frenzy Pete was feeling to grow inside of him, his eyes scanning the room for any signs of Patrick, hearing him but not being able to find him. Patrick, where the hell are you? He heard Patrick's screams again, this time sounding more desperate and turning into sobs, which only made the feeling of distress worse for Pete. He kept on looking.
And then he caught sight of Patrick- just when he thought he couldn't feel any worse, he was wrong.
He watched the scene in front of him- as much as he wanted to turn away- but it was if he couldn't tear his eyes away; he saw Patrick, hovering in mid air just inches off the ground within the path of the sunlight, screaming from the top of his lungs in agony as the sun turned his skin a violent red and burnt it, just seconds away from bursting into flames.
Patrick! No! He wanted to shout the words, but his lips wouldn't form them. Patrick's screaming continued but above it, Pete heard a malicious laugh of twisted amusement; craning his neck to the source of the laugh, he saw Thomas, now standing on the edge of the sunlight's reach, but still keeping within the shadows, his hand raised in front of his body holding it out in Patrick's direction. Blisters began to form on Patrick's skin, only a second away from igniting into flames, but before they could, Thomas moved his hand to the side in the direction of the darkness, and Patrick moved and went flying, being dragged back out of the light and into the shadows of the room, the power disappearing as he did so, causing Patrick to go crashing into the ground beneath him. Patrick panted harshly and coughed, chocking up blood as he did so, as his skin began to turn back to pink and heal itself, however, Patrick didn't have the power left to try and escape and Thomas was too quick, waving his hand again almost instantly and using his powers as Patrick became aerial once more and went flying back into the sunlight, the screaming and the burning resumed.
Still, Pete's attention was now fixed on Thomas, who was still laughing, taking satisfaction from Patrick's suffering. Seeing it made the anger boil his blood.
You son-of-a-bitch. Not only had Thomas destroyed Pete's life, but he had also destroyed Patrick's and no doubt that if he got his way, he would do the exact same to Joe and Andy. And now he was moments away from killing Patrick for the second time.
Not if I have anything to do about it.
Pete knew it was either him or Patrick, a decision that his answer was clear to. If I'm going to die, I'm at least going to take Thomas down with me.
Without a second thought, Pete moved his legs and placed them underneath him so he was into a crawling position, trying to stay focused on standing by blocking out Patrick's screams, although the sounds were still bouncing around and replaying in his mind as if they were ingrained there. The burning in his muscles was trying to prevent him from doing so, as if shouting at him to stop, but he ignored it as he placed the palm of his hands on the floor, although they felt like seconds from giving out on him. He pushed up off the floor, wobbling and trying to keep his balanced as his back arched before returning straight into a standing position, yet he still had to throw one of his hands out on place it on the wall to steady himself and stop him from falling back over. Pete was groaning under the pain that it caused him, gasping and panting but luckily, Thomas was too distracted to Patrick to have noticed him.
The words that Thomas had said to him earlier were still in his mind: 'I have powers unlike any other vampire: I can tolerate sunlight longer, I am unaffected by holy water, a stake through the heart won't kill me....'
That doesn't mean he can't be killed. I just need to find a way, someway to hurt him that he can't come back from...
And then it hit him.
Pushing himself back off the wall, Pete slowly made his way across the room, trying not to be noticed- he needed the element of surprise for his plan to work- yet his muscles felt rigid and forced to move rather than by will, as if he was dragging his body to where he needed to go. As much as he didn't want to hear it, his sensitive vampire hearing made him hear Patrick's sobs, which had now turned into begging and pleading before the shrieking and screaming continued. I'm going to help you Patrick. Pete thought, even though he knew his friend wouldn't be able to hear it. Just hold on for a few more seconds, please. I'm sorry. Although he only needed to move a few more feet, it felt like the distance had streached out before him and made it feel more like miles, yet he kept on moving, occasionally glancing back to Thomas to make sure he hasn't seen him move.
Pete caught sight of Andy watching him, having removed the arrow but blood still leaking out from the wound in his leg, although he had managed to rip part of his T-shirt off and was now tying it around his injury. Concern washed over Pete as he saw Andy's face turning paler as Andy's eyes met his- he half expected Andy to try and say something to him but Andy stayed quiet, realising what Pete was trying to do. Go ahead, Andy's eyes indicated. Do it.
A few seconds later, a wave of relief consumed Pete as the finally reached his goal- he reached down, trying to keep his balance to avoid falling over again, but his hand found what it needed and clutched it firmly cutting into his skin as it did so and drawing blood, but Pete didn't feel the pain, and instead just held on tightly in a way that was almost comforting.
For he held in his hand one of Andy's large blades.
Now with the weapon in his hand and the advantage of surprise, Pete knew that he had all he needed. He turned his head around to face Thomas; he was now laughing almost maniacally as he continued to use his telekinetic abilities to toss Patrick around in the sunlight, his expression half angry and half amused. Blood had now begun to run down Patrick's face and body from where the burns had caused his skin to blister and peel off and even though Patrick tried to stiffle back the screams, it didn't work. He's not going to hold out much longer, Pete realised, its only a matter of time before the sunlight finally kills him. I can't let that happen. Pete knew he had to attack Thomas now, or else.
Pete gathered all the strength he could, letting it build him up and letting the feeling of adrenaline take over as he focused directly on Thomas; Pete felt like a building storm, growing and growing as if black clouds were forming inside of him and the thunder and lighting ready to strike. And he let it.
Pete charged at Thomas from behind, still clutching the blade and a inhuman growl escaping his throat as he did so, and slammed his entire body into Thomas- both of them went tumbling directly into the sunlight.
Luckily for Pete, he just caught a quick sight of Patrick falling back to the floor and rolling swiftly back into the shadows, as well as managing to keep the upper hand since Thomas had been taken completely by surprise, meaning Pete was able to grab him by the throat and pin him against the wall deep in the reach of the sunlight. However, the sunlight still bore down on Pete, causing his skin to burn and his nerves to feel as if they were on fire- being in the sunlight was burning in the fires of hell, and no matter how much he tried to surpress a scream, one of pure torment still managed to rip its way through his throat.
Meanwhile, Thomas also begun screaming, in hatred rather than pain, but it was the only thing allowing Pete to keep Thomas against the wall, otherwise he would have already been able to push Pete away with ease. Unfortunately, Pete also noticed that Thomas was burning at a much slower rate than he was.
Shit. Despite the burning and the agony, Pete knew he had to finish what he started.
He moved the blade and pressed it up against Thomas's throat, pushing as hard as he could, although his fingers were fumbling with it as all they wanted to do was let go from the fire and heat they were being put through, but Pete kept his hold and continued to push the blade deeper into Thomas's throat, a large amount of blood gushing out from the deep cut. For the first time, Pete saw panic behind Thomas's piercing grey eyes, and although Thomas was snapping his fangs and hitting Pete's chest in an attempt to escape, he was still hissing from the pain the sunlight caused him and his efforts grew weaker and weaker as Pete continued to push the blade through.
The burning grew more intense- Pete could feel his skin heating up and sizzling, boiling as if he were about to explode into flames. His head was growing dizzy and the screams of torment were still ringing through the room, bouncing off the walls, but Pete only just realised that the screams were his.
I'm dying. Pete knew it was true, as he could feel his muscles and limbs failing him and growing weaker, shutting down, and yet he kept on digging the blade into Thomas's throat and felt Thomas's neck becoming slacker and his head starting to roll to the side- he had almost done it. Every nerve in Pete's body was screaming at him to get out of the sunlight, but Pete couldn't bring himself to stop, not until he knew that Thomas was dead.
His strength was fading away, and fast, and he could feel his body shutting down. No! I have to finish this! He forced himself to think. However, just then, Pete felt the blade lurch forward in his hand slightly, the metal hitting against stone as well as Thomas, from beneath him, went slack.
Thomas's head, no longer attached to his body, rolled to the side.
Pete didn't have any time to register anything as in an instant, he let the blood stained blade fall from his hands and used every part of his remaining strength to throw himself out of the sunlight, hitting the floor as he went back into the shadows of the room, yet this time, it didn't cause him any pain.
The burning had ceased, yet Pete's skin was struggling to heal itself and could still feel his muscles failing him growing weaker so he couldn't move, even the blinding sunlight was starting to fade from his vision. Pete hadn't caught on fire, but I didn't mean that he hadn't been at the sun's mercy long enough for it not to take its effect, for it not to kill him.
I'm dying. Pete didn't try and convince himself otherwise, as he knew it was true. He felt.... light. I killed him, that's all that matters.
Patrick, Joe, Andy, I'm sorry. I didn't want any of this to happen to you. You didn't deserve any of this, especially you Patrick and I'm sorry for what happened to you. If you hate me, then it's fine, I guess I deserve it, but I'm also hoping that you can forgive me. Thank you for being there for me. I'll always appreciate that.
He wanted to think of more, but his brain was failing him and wouldn't let him. He spoke those words- or at least he tried to. Just as the words reached his lips, his eyes closed and Pete fell into darkness.