Beyond the Prophecy

The atmosphere suddenly felt muggy. I yanked off my leather jacket and tucked both it and my stilettos behind the nearest tree. I stumbled a little when I walked back to Chris and Hatsumi, but at least most of my buzz was gone. The last time I was in any kind of combat was during one of the kickboxing classes I took before the gym was bought out by another business; that's if I don't count the night Chris and I met. Unfortunately, these aren't ordinary opponents.

From what I've read, vampires are stronger, faster and can take more damage than a human. Going up against them won't be easy, especially since I'm sort of out of shape. The anticipation of their arrival wasn't making things any easier.

"Where are they?" I asked, just before Hatsumi shushed me.

She stood behind me, her hands positioned over her guns like a cowboy in a western film, while Chris stood in front of me, tightly gripping the machete with his right hand. They clearly meant to protect me but didn't leave much room for me to move. Maybe they felt I'd be useless, that they'd have to do all the work. To be honest, if the roles were reversed I might've felt the same way. I love it when people underestimate me; it gives me a chance to prove them wrong.

The sound of rustling plants made me alert. I scanned the area as I reached for the dagger, but before I could unsheathe it someone dropped down beside me and hurled me towards one of the trees. My back crashed against it. Before I could even whimper, the one that threw me held me against it by my neck. The man had a wild and content expression in his black eyes, as if choking me was thrilling. No matter how hard I punched his arm and clawed at his hand I couldn't pry it away. I tried to call for help but only low, barely audible sounds came. If that wasn't enough, Hatsumi was fighting off and shooting any vampire she spotted while Chris dueled with three others. Every single vampire here though, seemed to constantly charge towards me. They only fought the others because Chris and Hatsumi were trying to stop them.

"Too bad," said the vampire with me. "Looks like I'll be the only one rewarded for this."

He was too busy shoving all his strength into his hand that it left the rest of him unprotected. With all the strength in me I swung my leg and kicked him in the balls three times, each one harder than the last. The moment his hand released me and he doubled over, I kneed him in the face. He fell back and a tree root instantly shot up from his back to his chest, immediately followed by another root that lifted out of the ground and whipped down fast enough to snap his head off.

I stood still with a gasp, eyes open wide from shock, but then temporarily shook it off; any vampires that Chris and Hatsumi were unable to stop would use my momentary immobility to attack me. "There's your reward, asshole," I said to the vampire while catching my breath. Facing the tree, I saw half of a woman's form attached to it, just like the hamadryad I met that helped me the first night I was here. "Thanks…um…"

"Dianthe. Behind you!"

Two vampires grabbed my arms while a third, the only female I've seen so far, punched my stomach and my face over and over again. I tried to use my legs but the other two blocked it with their own. The moment she pulled out a blade Chris came behind her and used the machete to slice her head off. I screamed repeatedly. Her head shot directly into a tree and rolled down, while her body instantly dropped to the ground. Blood gushed out of her neck, squirting all over the grass and partially on Chris, the vampires holding me back and on me. He moved towards one of the vampires and punched him so fast that it looked like one big blur to me.

Since that maneuver helped get my arm free, I punched the guy still holding me and then tripped him. Both of us reached for the blade the female vampire had, but I got to it first. He head-butted me before he pinned me. I clutched the dagger with both hands but he tried to pull it away and point it towards my chest. Using my elbow I bashed his face and then flipped us over. I acted quickly and stabbed him in the heart—or at least I thought that his heart was there. It should've paralyzed him but he still fought against me. I pulled out the dagger and tried again but was still unsuccessful. Someone pushed me off him, and when I saw it was Chris I was pissed. He grabbed the dagger and shoved it in the vampire's chest before pulling me up from the ground.

"If you're going to research how to kill a vampire then make sure to get the most accurate information." He used his index and middle fingers to point to a spot a little left to the center of his chest. "The heart is here. Get it right."

A female vampire swung his fist at him but I pushed Chris away before he was struck. She swung for me instead but I blocked the attack and stuck the dagger Hatsumi gave me into her heart. The fact that she fell back like a statue and didn't move a muscle told me I got it right this time.

I looked back at Chris and said, "Happy?"

His eyebrows creased though his eyes were wider than normal. I think he didn't know whether to be angry or surprised. The expression quickly changed when another vampire charged towards me. Chris tripped him and battled him, but just when I moved to help another one wrapped his arms around me from behind.

The man cackled at my struggle. I quickly shut him up when I grabbed his arm, pulled him closer to my right side and nailed him in the face with my elbow. When I turned to face him he immediately swung his fist. I dodged it and gave him a jab in the stomach, followed by a left and right hook to his face. Since I no longer had a weapon I called out to Dianthe and shoved him in her direction. She extended a few branches and protruded them into his chest, one of which pierced his heart. Dianthe left the branch there before using a thicker branch to whip his head off.

Chris had a hard time fighting off a few more vampires, but Hatsumi used her guns to shoot them in the head, neck or chest. The ones shot immediately dropped to the ground, clawing at it and behaving as if they were suffocating before they died.

"What the hell kind of bullets do you use?" I asked her.

"Rounds filled with garlic extract."

I heard someone scream behind me before I saw Chris fighting off yet another one. Chris pinned him while the vampire socked him any way he could. I thought it would be an easy win for Chris before the vampire threw a powder at his face. Chris took a breath before dropping to the side. Whatever was thrown at him made him weak ad absolutely sluggish. A gasp escaped the opening of my lips when the vampire straddled him and pulled the machete out of his hands.

"Hey, *boyo!" I called to him, successfully getting his attention.

I used that opportunity to hurl myself at him and knock him down. As a result the machete came out of his hands, so I grabbed it before he could. He tried to pry it out of my hands but my grip was making it impossible. I fought the urge to look at him and kept my stare on the machete. Even without looking up I knew we both had the same thought: only one of us will walk out of this fight alive. Though technically, being a vampire means he was cheating a little.

I don't know how long we went, both out death grip on the machete wouldn't give, not even a little. Throughout the struggle I went from tired, to frustrated, to angry as hell. Every negative thing that's ever happened to me came rushing back to me like a heat wave. I was practically kidnapped and forced to move here; gigantic animals fought over me like I was a piece of meat; Chris tortured me and made me beg for him to heal me; I abandoned my friends on the night of the competition and tonight too. The few times I can actually have some fun and be myself are taken away from me, and what's worse I can't tell anyone, not even Ava, about it. If that wasn't bad enough, painful recounts of the past came too. I thought of my da, the brilliant musician that taught me how to play my guitar and took me in what we called "adventures;" my ma, who was there for me, and my sister Innogen, who during my childhood was my best friend. I thought of all of the great times we shared and how quickly it turned to shit the day I found out about my father's death. Ma was never the same; a broken woman, just like the rest of us. Innogen changed too; I stopped trusting her after my mom married her asshole husband, Kevan. Then they went missing…

The more thoughts I had the more rage I felt build up. I didn't ask for any of this. Life always has a fucked up way of taking away the things I love the most. These damned vampires ruined the one night I had to enjoy myself. They would've gone after anyone to get to me. They put my loved ones in danger, and me. They had the fucking nerve to come after me…threaten me…attack me…try to kill me…

My fury and adrenaline shot through the roof. I suddenly had a surge of strength I never knew I had. My body acted with only one thought: kill them, before they kill me. I yanked the machete from the vampire's hands and let out a cry. As fast as I could, I swung the machete and sliced his neck. His eyes open wide and I kept striking him until his head came off. But I didn't stop with him.

The vampires that went after Chris had their heads chopped off by me. Most were shot by Hatsumi, but I didn't stop my decapitation rampage until there were no more vampires to go after. I stood in place, my knees bent and my back hunched over, pointing the machete to the ground as I listened for any sounds of enemies approaching. Nothing. The sound of my heavy breathing didn't help, but my eyes didn't pick up on anything either. That's when my eyes took in the scene, little by little.

At least half of the vampires had bullet wounds, but the rest were decapitated. My eyes didn't want to clarify the scene, as if they were protecting me from the sight so I wouldn't have nightmares about it. I avoided looking at the ones I was responsible for, as if doing so made it less real. Nevertheless I glanced at them, quickly at first, before taking in the details. I counted four; four vampires that died by my hands. They all had that shocked, glazed over look on their face while most of their bodies lied on their back. The first one had his knees bent still, his hands to his side. His neck was the worst of the four; Small bits of skin still kept his head attached to his body and the spine stuck out more from his head than from his body. The second and third was just as bad, and the fourth still had blood sprouting out from his neck.

It was suddenly too hot out here. I dropped to my knees and felt my eyes brim with tears. My body trembled, my heart raced like mad and I couldn't seem to catch my breath. I looked down at myself and immediately released the machete. My unsteady hands were covered in their blood, my shirt covered in it so much that it no longer looked white. I could see the blood even on my red jeans. My eyes kept coming back to my hands…then at them… then at my hands again…Once the tears started, they refused to stop. Dear God, what have I done?

"Natasha," Hatsumi said before kneeling in front of me. "We must go."

I looked up the moment I heard running footsteps in the distance. "There are more of them coming."

"You can hear them from here?"

I gave her a slow nod.

"The guardians will handle them."

"Chris…A vampire hit him with some kind of dust."

"I know. They ripped it out of my belt. It was a poppy powder."

No wonder he became weak. Poppies subdue a vampire. I glanced at him; he struggled to move, the same way anyone would after taking valium. I can't leave him here, especially while he's in that state. The vampires that haven't reached us would definitely take advantage of the opportunity.

Hatsumi wrapped one of Chris's arms around her neck and started to stand. I slowly moved to his other side and did the same. He managed to walk a little but Hatsumi and I were the ones that did most of the work. When we reached the front door I held Chris up on my own while she unlocked it. Then she took her place beside him and helped me take him inside. Hatsumi lead him straight to one of the antique couches in the living room while I locked the door shut. I could've gone straight to my room and let Hatsumi handle him, but I wanted to see how he was doing myself.

"Can he get over this?"

"Yes, but not without a little blood. Had he finished feeding earlier this wouldn't be such a dilemma."

"What made him stop?"

"The moment he found out about the vampires he stopped so he could find you and warn you."

He stopped because of me?

Yes, she said telepathically. For a split second, I forgot that Chris wasn't the only vampire in this mansion.

"Where are the other servants?"

"It's Kyle and Michael's night off. Calista must still be creating a diversion for any vampire that hasn't reached this area."

"Two servants aren't available while the other one's on a joyride. How convenient."

"Are you suggesting that they took the night off so they could purposely miss all of this? That they betrayed us?"

"Not at all," I said before I could make her mad. "It's convenient for the vampires; almost like they knew we'd be shorthanded tonight. It's no coincidence that they attacked us." I glanced back at Chris. The very idea pissed me off.

"Perhaps you're right." She paused but then said, "Looks like your inner bandrui is finally awakening."

"My inner what?"

"Nothing."

Curiosity lingered in my mind. What the hell does bandrui mean? I made a mental note to ask her about it later and concentrated on Chris. He had to make an effort just to sit up a little; he's getting weaker by the minute. Unfortunately, the only person around who could offer him the sustenance he needed was me. Did I want to? Could I let him take even more blood from me? Would it be a fair trade, so to speak?

Yes, it was.

I sat beside him and slid one of my shirt straps of my shoulder. Chris turned his head to face me, slight confusion written on his face. He eyed me, as if he didn't know whether or not I'd go through with it.

"Are you certain?" he asked in a voice as weak as he looked.

"I don't really have a choice. No one else is here."

"If there was an alternative source for me to feed from, would you still be so willing?"

I couldn't answer, because I honestly didn't know. Doesn't matter, because that's not the case here.

"Just do it before I change my mind."

"You have to move closer."

I sighed and slid towards him. My hand rested on the arm of the couch he had his back against, and it was in that arms that I carried most of my weight. The other arm was positioned on top of the couch's back. Chris moved his arm around me and pulled me even further down. I struggled even me to hold myself up in that position.

"Stop being so tense," he said in my ear. "I'll hold you up."

"Do you even have the strength to right now?"

"Don't underestimate me."

I hesitated briefly but then relaxed into his embrace. The combination of his lips brushing against my neck and his cool breath blowing on my skin made my heart pick up a little more speed. When I felt his canines grazing my skin, however, it made my heart race because of the nervousness a person feels just before fear settles in. Before anything else happened, I jumped at the sound of the front door opening and closing.

"I got here as fast as I could," I heard Calista say as she made her way towards us. "What's going on?" she asked while I pulled away from him.

"Master Chris took a poppy powder to the face," Hatsumi told her. "He needs a little blood."

"I got here just in time then." She folded the long sleeve of her blue shirt, just enough to expose her forearm. "Here," she said the Chris. "Take as much as you need."

I creased my eyebrows. "You didn't even hesitate."

"It's part of the reason Master Chris keeps human servants; for any emergencies."

I watched him, wondering who he chose to feed from. He looked back at me for a moment, but then turned to Calista's wrist and bit into it. It actually hurt me to see him choose her over me. I felt rejected.

"Well, I guess I'm no longer needed." I turned and stormed towards the staircase.

It bothered me more than it should have. Was it just because I'm not used to being rejected? Or was it because I didn't like being rejected by him? I thought back to his previous question: If there was an alternative source for me to feed from, would you still be so willing?

I would've, and that's what scares me.
________________________________________
*Boyo: Slang for buddy, mate, etc.