When Reality Diminishes

Stick to the plan.

It kept repeating over and over in her mind until it seemed one with her senses; one with her body. If only she could edge the fear away, edge the factor that if it didn't work, she would be the first to know... and the first to feel the pain. It had to work. It had to.

She stumbled, yet again, and barely kept herself from falling down. The noise of it crashed hard against her ears, and it took all her will not to abort the plan. The night was as dark as it was silent, and that was saying something. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face, but Caleb had tried to engrave the path into her head, and she was thankful. If she lived past the next twenty minutes, she would certainly give him a hug of thanks.

She was supposed to make noise, supposed to draw the attention of them to her. But it was hard. It went against all her instincts to remain hidden, to remain inconspicious. Her breathing was labored, making harsh noises in the silence, and that, she didn't have to fake.

Part of her was wishing that they wouldn't hear her, that they wouldn't come running... but she knew better, and the fact that she could already hear them coming to her only made her fear what was about to happen all the more.

It happened quickly, as she thought it would, but she managed to keep her position; her back to the emptiness, and not surrounded.

The ten vampires all locked their eyes onto her. Her throat seemed to tighten and she was momentarily frozen. They were huge! Of course she knew the men the king sent out would be large and fearsome... but this? This was more than she expected. It was as if they weren’t real, they weren’t flesh. They reminded her of giant stone statutes. Magnificent in size and harsh in texture.

All of them were at least 6'5, some taller. They made her feel like a dwarf, and it wasn't a feeling she enjoyed. All were also covered in muscle, their arms bulging and their legs seeming to strain on the flimsy black fabric. All were dressed head to toe in black. On each waist was one large sword. No more weapons accompanied them, and for that, she was thankful. But even so, she didn't see how Damon, Caleb, Austin and Zenon could take all ten.

"Look who it is," one drawled, stepping outside of the others, closer to her. She tried to calm herself, but it didn't do much good. Hopefully she could still pull it off, if not, she would prove to be a nice snack to these ten. Though, she doubted she would even have enough blood for one. "Scan the area. They've got to be here someone." The man talking was probably the tallest, at 6'7. A black toque covered what she presumed to be a hairless head, but that didn’t make him any less fearsome.

Their features were all eerily illuminated by the moonlight which had managed to find a gap in the trees. Shadows cast to their right sides, their left shining as if it held the magic of bioluminescence. In a strange way, it was beautiful, breathtaking even, but more or less, it was cynical. It portrayed them to have two sides, two personalities. And that was what led to all humans demise. They couldn’t be nice. They couldn’t be compassionate, and if anyone hoped to survive in The Dark Lands they had to grasp that concept. It took her many years too, and now it may have been too late. If that one vampire hadn’t lured her away when she was a child, none of this would have happened. She had been gullible. Foolish. Idiotic. Young. It didn’t matter now. But what did matter was getting it through her head that nothing, nothing, good ever happened in The Dark Lands. She had to remember that, or it would be her own destruction.

"You... I... they're coming!" Her voice was shrill and maybe a little too frightened for it to be all fake, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

"Where are they?" The vampire stepped closer, and she stepped back, making her eyes go wide and fearful. The other nine had yet to begin the search, and were staying huddled. All was good... so far.

"I-I-I-I don't know." She whispered the last part, causing her body to shake. He went to step forward again but she stepped back, causing him to freeze. "P-p-please," she whimpered, "don't hurt me." She let her hand travel to her neck, where the twin punctures lay. Ten sets of eyes followed.

His eyes were cold; cruel, even. They were emotionless, void of all life.

His hand wrapped around her neck, bringing her against his body. Despite the gentle touch he had let off, despite Caleb's attempt to calm her, she still felt the fear. She felt it burning through her system, through her mind. Maybe it was fear for returning to what she had been, for now she was allowing a vampire to do what she had very well tried to escape from.

His lips were the first to press down on her neck, and images of the previous day, in the kitchen, flooded back to her. Heat filled her cheeks, but before she could even stutter an excuse, an insult to Damon, his teeth pressed against her neck. That alone chased away all previous thoughts, replacing them once again with fear. She may have allowed Damon to bite her once before, but that was for information she needed. For her own gain. This was for sure. This was willing.

His teeth barely put pressure on her at first. Her pulse pounded faster, waiting for his strike, waiting for his teeth to sink in. Only when she thought her heard would pound out of her chest, did she feel the first twinge of them entering.

The edges dug into her pale skin with remarkable care and speed. He went slow, the fangs moving farther into her neck with seconds, but not at an unbearable speed that would have felt like her throat was being torn open. Only when they were securely in her neck, his lips again on her, did the wave of pain hit.

Her body arched, a gasp escaping her. His arms tightened around her, his lips suddenly harsher against her neck. The pain was small, minuscule, but it didn’t stop the waves from hitting her. Her vision swam...

Then blackness.

He didn’t heal the wound. He hadn’t event tried to pull out gentle, but that was the plan. That was the intention of doing it... and she was only thankful that he had knocked her out before he ripped them out. It was supposed to be savage, supposed to look savage... and though she agreed with the concept, the fear of what had happened had frightened her. She didn’t know why Damon took pity on her and granted her those few moments of rest in the darkness, or granted her mind some sanity from not experiencing the actual cause of the damage, but she was glad he had.

“Where are they?” Repeated the man.

“I don’t know.” She barely breathed out, but they heard. The man obviously wanted to jump her and smash her against something, but held himself back.

“What happened? We...” he hesitated, “won’t hurt you.” Liar. She took a small step back.

“P-promise?” He gave a nod, a wicked smile on his face. She had seen that too much, and for once, she wouldn’t be the naive little girl falling for it. Crying in relief, thinking that the pain was over, that it was all a nightmare. For the first time, she wouldn’t fall for it. She may have felt remorse for what she had been doing earlier, but now, now she was glad they would meet the fate that was going to come to them. “There was so much blood.” She wrapped her arms around her mid section, staring once again wide eyed at the man. “I didn’t want to, I didn’t!” It was shrill, high pitched, and full of anguish.

“Hush. It’s okay now. We’ll take care of them.” She wanted to laugh in their face. She wanted to spit at them, hit them, torture them, for trying to make her mind set happy. It was a lie. A cruel unforgivable lie.

“I didn’t mean to,” she whimpered, her knees shaking, threatening to give way. Once again they believed her act, but she didn’t show any satisfaction. “I... I...”

“What did you do? We’ll take care of it all,” he stepped forward again. She stepped back. He froze again, his eyes still locked onto her. She turned her eyes to the ground, staring at nothing. His gaze remained on her.

“He’s dead.” Her voice was distant, her eyes still staring at nothing, yet keeping the man in her peripherals. “He tried to... he...” she took a shuddering breath, her hand going to press against her neck again. “I didn’t mean to,” the tears came now. One by one, slowly rolling down her cheeks. They brought a few sobs out of her, and those she didn’t have to fake. It felt good to let it all out. Real good. “But... he... I didn’t know... he’s dead! I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to, I d-didn’t... I...”

“You killed him?” She looked up now, to see astonishment in his eyes.

“It was an accident. He... he wouldn’t stop... I...” she met the mans eyes. He seemed intent on her now.

“How? Which one?”

“I’m a monster.” She hugged her body.

“Where’s the body?”

“I’m a monster!”

“Where-“ he started, his voice filling with anger.

“I’m a monster!” And with that, she took off.

Her legs beat against the ground, pushing their speed to the capacity. Her hair whipped across her face, catching on branches and tearing. Her clothes tore as well, as did some flesh. She ignored her hair being pulled out, she ignored the blood, she ignored the ruined clothing, and she ignored her labored breath.

They were coming after her. They were faster than her. Yet somehow, she had to make it, she had to. The only hope she had was they thought it was just her they were chasing, just her needing to be caught. That would be their mistake.

The sound behind her was getting closer, but she didn’t dare turn. It wouldn’t matter either way, for the darkness was once again engulfing her. The lines in her mind brought her in the right directions, turning when needed to be, and avoiding all possible accidents by tripping or running into a tree. Just a little longer, just a little!

They were so close. So terribly close that she had an urge to just stop and see what they would do, but she didn’t. It was just ahead.

Her legs pushed harder and she used the little bit of energy she had left to push into the small clearing, ringed with trees. Not even a second later they burst in, and she dropped.

Her knees buckled automatically, her head coming down flat on the ground. A dark blur was all she caught as Damon launched himself from one of the trees, over her and at the first man.

Caleb and Austin both flanked either side of Damon, while Zenon brought up the spot where she emerged from.

The sickening sound of something cracking hit her, and she used that as her opportunity to get to her feet. Her hand gripped the normal dagger Caleb had given her. It wouldn’t do much good, but at least she had something.

His arm muscle bunched as he twisted it once again as an extra precaution. He barely dropped the body when two more hurtled themselves at him. He smiled widely while jumping back, avoiding both blows.

He took the one to the left first, diving head on at him. They both tumbled to the ground, the mans bulk almost knocking the wind out of him. But he had been expecting this. Of course they would be bigger than he was, of course they would be more trained... which was why they would act like none had. They would fight without rules, without going the traditional way. They would merely fight to win, not caring about honor.

He used his smaller body to advantage, easily ducking under the massive arm. While he did that, he unsheathed a simple dagger, nothing fancy, but it didn’t have to be. It just had to be able to get the work done, and it would.

His arm had just raised when a blow landed on his head. He moved immediately, not waiting for the next one to contact. His arm raised and lowered, and without a second thought, he was on his feet. The small silver dagger now pinning the first man he tackled to the ground... by the throat. Gurgle sounds were protruding from him as his hands scrambled to remove it, scrambled to save his life... but it was too late. Far too late. He would make sure everyone he didn’t want alive, died in this clearing. Died painful.

Two down. Eight more.

Again she was stuck watching a fight scene, and again, she was left feeling horrified and frightened. The scariest fact of all was how fast they could and would kill. They didn’t even consider it.

Blood coated Damon, but the scariest thing of all was the look on his face. It gleamed, not only with blood, not only with moonlight, but with satisfaction. With pleasure. He was enjoying this, he was loving it. The man who held her life in his hands, was enjoying stabbing people through the throat, snapping peoples neck, and just plain ol’ beating people.

The man he was currently on was being beat senseless, being hit, kicked, stabbed, and somehow, being rendered powerless against a man who was much smaller, much weaker. But somehow, Damon had beat him, had beat three of them. It was amazing, yet frightening at the same time.

Austin was working on his third man also, not even bothering to avoid the large chunks of flesh that scattered the ground. She was glad she didn’t have much contact with Austin, for if she thought seeing him fight previously was horrific, it had been nothing compared to this.

He had used his teeth to tear the second man apart, limb by limb... while he was still alive. His screams of agony and anger were too mingled to determine apart, but she did know he didn’t go easily, and the scattered parts on the ground were being paid no respects to. At least this time she didn’t end up with a head in her lap.

Zenon and Caleb were both on their second kill, and both had been respectable about their first ones... or as respectable as you can be when you’re killing someone in cold blood. Each only had to finish the man they were fighting, and it would be over. The difficult part would be over, and maybe, just maybe, she would believe this plan would work.

Caleb managed his kill first. A simple be-heading, but a not-so-simple execution. It would have been simpler if he had used a knife, but he didn’t. Instead he used his foot, stamping on the neck, crushing it and deforming it until the head could be pulled off. The sound itself was sickening, and the blood that splattered all over her didn’t help.

Zenon was toying with his man. Allowing him to make simple strikes that would hit skin, while allowing himself larger ones. Eventually, if that continued, the man would die from blood loss.

Austin managed his kill next... along with Zenon’s. It was a simple kill, considering it was Austin, but still gruesome. He had managed to rip the skin off with the sword he had grabbed off his other kill, and skewer the man into it. Once his body had been lodged into it and secure, Austin made sure he was airborne, and the fact that the end of the sword caught Zenon’s guy was a coincidence that managed to kill them both. The first dying from his insides spilling out, the second dying when his head shattered against the tree from the impact of the landing, his brains spilling out.

Damon was the last to kill his guy, prolonging it the longest he could. She doubted the sound of flesh hitting flesh in such an ugly manor would ever leave her. In the end he did die... how, she didn’t know. Maybe head trauma, or blood loss... or maybe he just stopped fighting. Whatever it was, he had been beat to a pulp, and Damon showed no remorse.

“Pathetic.” Mumbled Zenon, stepping over a piece of a body and heading to her. The rest all went the same way, Damon taking his time, his eyes sweeping over the bodies.

When his eyes lifted, meeting hers, she saw happiness beyond comparison. His eyes were gleaming predatorily, yet in a way that made him seem cynical. His lips were slightly parted, and his body was relaxed, rolling with every step. This was his element, and tonight, he proved that.

“What?” He breathed, reaching her, his bloody hand going to her face. “Don’t like the scenery?”