I'll Justify My Reasons With Your Blood

My chest heaved up and down as panic began to settle in. I was going to die here, only 25 years old, in the hands of crazed creatures that I had thought to be only fiction.

I’ll never get to see Jared or Shannon ever again. I’ll never get to teach my cute little students. I’ll never get to eat M&M’s anymore. Hell, all those random snippets of reality made me cry more than the feeling of blood oozing over my skin or the burning I still felt after the flesh had been split.

“I’ll ask you one more time, Nikki, do you want me to save your life or not?” he asked in a flat tone, probably disappointed that I haven’t started begging for his help.

Am I really willing to live at the expense of accepting his terms? I mean, if I never escape from here, what is the point of living? Then again, I don’t really want to die like this. His offer can’t be that bad. It’ll at least give me a second chance at escaping.

“O-ok, what do you have to do?” I breathed out, practically wheezing.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he smirked, taking a small black box out of Zacky’s hand.

It was narrow and about ten inches long. He opened the box to reveal a long, shiny dagger complete with a hilt covered in rubies and sapphires.

“You need a small portion of vampire blood mixed with saliva to flow through your veins. Essentially, it will heal you from the inside out,” he said simply.

Of course the method of healing couldn’t be particularly simple, or dangerous.

“I – I don’t want your blood near me,” I spat, trying to sound disgusted to mask my ever present fear.

He shrugged, “I’d say it’s a small price to pay to live a little longer.”

He slowly slid the fancy dagger across a thick, evident blue vein on his forearm. A small glint of what looked like amusement or enjoyment was present in his eyes. That creep was savoring watching his blood surface onto his undead flesh.

Something about this entire process didn’t sit well with me. Usually, I never wasted my time reading silly books about vampires, seeing us up until recently, I assumed that fictional creatures were not real.

His once tattooed covered arm was now soaking wet with blood, and with each step forward he took, knife still in hand, I began to wonder whether I’d made the right choice.

“Here’s how it’s going to work,” he began to explain once he got close enough to me, “my blood and saliva need to make it into your bloodstream. Sounds simple enough right?”

I remained frozen in place, but out of my peripheral vision, I could see that he was about to raise the knife. “Ok, so then how does your simple plan involve you coming at me with a knife?” I asked, surprisingly calm.

He gave me a look before saying, “I need to find a way into your bloodstream through a defined, bleeding cut.”

I mocked the look he had give me before and replied, “Are you blind?! There are clear cuts all over my body. I’m sure one of them will work out just fine for you.”

He laughed, “Silly Nikki, even if what you said is true, why would I ever pass up an opportunity to cut you again?”

Before I could dodge the knife, Shadows came up behind me and held my arm in place. I cringed as I felt the all too familiar burning, slicing sensation of the cold, pre-wet blade making contact with my skin. Hell, my arms were so bloody and sliced, I’m surprised he was able to find a usable piece of skin.

Once the cut was made, he slammed his arm down onto mine and I swear, in that moment I thought I was going to die. I could feel his slimy, tainted blood crawl into my stream and spread through my body. My skin crawled, and it felt like I was being infected.

He brought his face down to the location of entrance after removing his arm, which had stopped bleeding by now. His tongue slithered out of his mouth and traced the newest slice wound. And oddly enough, the cut mark disappeared right before my eyes, looking as if it was never even there.

Then an odd feeling crept through my body. I could feel blood being pulled back and recreated in the veins. Skin appeared out of nowhere, replacing damaged locations. Pain tingled momentarily before disappearing. Layers of rawness inside my esophagus repaired itself. My eyes became moist and tears shed from before returned.

Within 10 seconds, I felt better than I ever have in a long time. I was speechless and astounded at the amazing recovery my body had just endured.

But if there was one thing you think I would’ve learned by now, it would have to be that anything done by an evil vampire can never end well. Nearly an instant after the relief had flooded my body, my veins swelled in my arms and my stomach churned. I dropped to my knees, lost in a whirlwind of dizziness.

“W-what’s happening?” I cried out.

Synynster, once again, shrugged very nonchalantly. “Oh, it’s probably nothing too bad. Shit, did I forget to mention that vampire blood really doesn’t mix too well with human blood?”

My eyes widened and my heartbeat began racing. “What does that mean?”

Shadows rolled his eyes, “It means that the mixed blood in your veins created a venom that is essentially weakening your body’s strength.”

Damn, I knew I should’ve let myself heal on my own.

“This is amazing,” the Rev grinned, “now with her so defenseless like that, we can practically do whatever we want!”

“Now, now,” Johnny added, “keep in mind today’s date. There are only two days and we don’t really have a solid plan yet. She’ll be in this state for a while. Let’s play later and plan now, alright?”

Shadows nodded, “Agreed. But, in order to avoid distraction, we need to get rid of the bitch.”

Zacky smirked, exchanging glances with Syn, “Allow us to handle that for you.”

They each roughly picked my up by both of my arms, and despite my efforts I couldn’t break free. They counted to three before hurling me down the staircase near the bloody river. I cried out as in addition to the weakness and fatigue, I felt the harsh bump of each of the wooden stairs as my body rolled down the staircase, never ending until I ran into a concrete wall.

My body was so soar, I couldn’t even roll over into a more comfortable position. The door at the top of the staircase was slammed shut and I was swallowed and paralyzed in the darkness.

*Jared’s POV*

I looked at the five men before me: Uncle Jack, Tomo, Matt, Gage, and Shannon. Compared to Shadows’ gang of gangsters, they weren’t exactly the best, but they’re all I’ve got.

“Well, to start,” I spoke up, catching their attention, “I’d like to thank you all for coming here today. I know you probably think we’re crazy for going after Shadows, but he’s got my little sister Nikki. She’s human and incredibly vulnerable. Anyway, here’s what we’ve got so far.”

The screen in front of me lit up with a detailed map of the Huntington Beach area, a picture of his house, and pictures of the members themselves. Before I could continue with anything further, Shannon pointed to the screen with a look of urgency in his eyes.

“You have a new email.” I turned the computer screen around so that it was facing me, and anxiously, I opened the email. It was from…mom and dad?

“It’s from our parents,” I glanced up at Shannon, who tripped out of his seat and ran over to where I was seated. The email read:

Dearest Jared,

Your father and I are so incredibly sorry for spending so much time away from you, Shannon, and Nikki. As I’m sure you already know, a rival clan of Shadows has descended upon our territory and threatened our royalty. We fled so that we could protect the Leto name.

However, I do have some fantastic news for you! Your very own coronation is only two days away. I’ve been simply dying to see who your new bride is going to be, and clearly I’d have to wait until this very moment, as stated by tradition.

Well anyway, your father and I have arranged your ceremony, so be sure to wear something nice.

See you on Thursday, darling!

Shannon and I started dumbly at the screen for a good minute or so before we realized the severity of what was said.

“Dude, what the hell, your coronation is in two days?! That can’t be right,” Shannon gasped.

“They must’ve changed the date or something. Shit, what stupid timing! And you want to know what the worst part of this is? I haven’t dated a girl in like a month. How the hell am I going to meet a girl to marry in two days?”