When Reality Diminishes

When she had first been taken into the dark lands, it had been a horrible nightmare. Something she dreamed of waking up from, something she dreamed of escaping. Years later, she found the same thought in her mind... only distant. The cruel life she had endured was embedded into her mind, and would never leave. She could only hope for an early death. But then that small part of her mind snapped, the obedience she once had was gone... and she was left with the need to get away, the need to be free. So now, as the freedom was so close to her, within a grasping distance, she found her mind almost rebelling against the thought.

Of course she wanted to be free. Of course she wanted to leave them all behind, but what would become of her? What would she say to her parents? There were no words to describe everything she went through, but she wasn’t foolish enough to think they’d believe her. She’d be shipped off to an insane asylum within days. So where was she to go? How was she to survive? Her life had been one cruel mishap after another, and because of that, she didn’t know how to live any other way. How could she assimilate the life of a human, when she had never truly lived the normal life as a human?

Dividing up the team the way he did may not have been the wisest choice, but what choice did he have? If he sent Zenon and Austin off together, instead of Caleb and Zenon, he had to worry about them revolting. He couldn’t trust Audrey with anyone but himself, so that was a given. And Austin and Caleb? That was self explanatory. They would kill each other, as they very well would have back in the clearing.

At the moment all he had to worry about was getting around, killing everyone in sight, and meeting up with the others. In words, it sounded simplistic... but in reality, he felt the weight pushing down on him like a giant rock. With that came the added pressure of keeping an eye on Audrey. If they so much as began to waver, if their holds began to slip, he would have to kill her. He’d keep his word to his death, and the only problem he would have with it, would be killing that small part of his brain that refused to physically harm her. That would be the difficult part.

Harder. Damn it! His arms tensed yet again and he twisted, yet again... yet once again, all he got in return for it was a grunt and another spurt of struggling. Okay, new approach.

His knife was unsheathed in seconds, and before the vampire in his arms could take advantage of his loosened hold, he draped it across his neck. Well, draped was a little un-dramatic. More like shoved and pulled.

He lowered the body slowly to the ground, so not to make any more noise, and glanced up. Audrey and Austin were both watching, only with different expressions. Austin with mild interest, but mostly boredom, whereas Audrey was looking slightly pale.

That had been the fourth guy he had run into, the fourth one he had to kill. The main priority on the kills were to keep it silent, undetected. So far, so good. Only this one took a little longer. They had been spotted, so instead of just throwing a knife, he had to get up close and personal. That was fine with him, for all he would have to do would be to snap the neck... simple, when you have two hands. To keep him from alerting the other guards, he had to cover his mouth. In that time, he learned that it’s quite difficult to snap a neck one-handed. So he had to take the messy approach... and get blood all over himself.

“Sure you didn’t strain yourself?” Came Austin’s sarcastic voice. A glare was his response before he set off again. They had to be getting close to the others, or the entrance. Whoever was to come upon the entrance first was to wait, and so far, they hadn’t reached it... so hopefully the other group had. His eyes went to Audrey again, who still looked pale.

“You’re not gonna pass out on us, are you?” He filled his voice with scorn, trying to hide the hint of worry dwelling within him. Her eyes glanced at his briefly before she turned away, her eyes darting around their scenery. Little beads of sweat were on her forehead, and her breathing was getting more shallow as they went along.

“I’m fine.” He made no more comments, but made a mental note to keep a closer eye on her. It had to be the strain. The thought of either dying or finally living free, as of tonight. He wasn’t about to comfort her or console her, so he remained quiet. It wasn’t his place to say anything, so why was he feeling that he should?

His eyes were so concerned with what was in front of him, with Audrey, that he didn’t notice the small rock that rolled to his feet until it hit him. His eyes snapped downward quickly before snapping in the direction it came from.

“It’s us.” Came Caleb’s voice. “We didn’t want to come up too fast and have our heads snapped off.” There was a smile on Caleb’s face as they walked through the trees, but tension was swimming in his eyes. He was worried too. Why wouldn’t he be? Heck, everyone there had a good reason to be worried. And Caleb actually had a family to go back to, someone who he loved, who loved him back.

Oh gosh. She was going to be sick. She couldn’t do this. This was too much, just too much. Being beaten was one thing. Running for her life was another. Teaming up with a vampire, being bait was a whole other level... but walking into a room full of men just wishing to torture her, with the suspense of not knowing how she could die, how she would die, was too much. This was her limit. This was her breaking point.

A couple beads of sweat dripped into her eyes, making them sting even more with the unshed tears. Her hands, which were clamped together, were also covered in sweat. Her eyes kept darting back and forth between them, just wishing for a break. For an opening. She had to get away, she had to run, she had t-

“I think she’s finally lost it. Just kill her Damon. She’s only going to get in the way.” She barely heard Austin’s voice, but her eyes did dart to his quickly, before looking away. She was trapped. Damon in front of her, Austin to her right of herself and Damon, and Caleb to the left. Zenon stood behind her, his mass practically towering over her.

Her chest contracted and it took a lot more strength than it should have to breathe. But she managed, and it stung. Her lungs burned and it was a struggle to keep breathing.

“Audrey.” Her eyes snapped to the voice; Damon. He stood in front of her, his eyes staring at her face with too much intensity. It made her want to squirm under his gaze, made her want to run even more. “Get over it. Panicking isn’t going to solve anything. The worst thing that can happen is you die. I’ll make sure it’s quick and painless, so no foul done. So get over it, ‘cause we’re heading in, in two minutes.”

Ten.

It stood in front of them. The entrance hadn’t been too hard to get around, and seeing as they had taken out most of the scouting guards, there weren’t too many left to go.

Nine.

Sure, he could have planned for them to go in the front door. The easy way, the lest obtrusive way, the less noticeable way... the heavier guarded way, but what fun would that be? He wanted a big entrance, for if he was going to die, he wanted to at least be known.

Eight.

The guards would be alerted either way, so why bother delaying it? If all went well, he would have a deal. Zenon would have a fit about it, but he hadn’t actually planned on allowing Zenon to kill the king. If he did manage, all the power to him, but if the king agreed to his wishes? What could he do? He would keep his word. He told Zenon he could have the honours of killing the king, and he would have him. He wasn’t about to. But not once had he told Zenon that they were trying to kill the king.

Seven.

Audrey. She was going to be a problem. Austin’s idea of killing her off now was appealing, too appealing for his liking. She was just going to get in the way, just going to bring him distractions. So why not kill her? She had no value to him now. She wasn’t bait. She wasn’t a good fighter, so why keep her?

Six.

Maybe it was because he gave his word. Maybe it was because she was so fragile, so torn, so broken, yet so eager to portray a cold front. Or maybe it was the kiss. The way her lips felt... the way her body was so soft, so smooth...

Five.

He couldn’t do it. If in the end it came down to killing her... he still didn’t know if he could do it. He would have to wait and see.

Four.

He was almost shaking from anticipation. He wanted it to begin and end now. He was sick of living as a mutt. He was sick of being the lower class. It would end one way or another, and he couldn’t wait. Even if he did die, this would go down as one of the biggest mutt revolutions

Three.

His fists clenched in anticipation, but his mind almost reeled at the thought. Who knew he would ever get sick of killing?

Two.

The bomb Caleb had help rigged to the wall once they had got in, would blow inwards. A weird tactic for a bomb, but a necessary one in this case. The explosion wouldn’t kill anyone, unless they were literally leaning against that wall. But that would be their own fault. The point of it was to be able to get in, stay in formation, and wait for the dust to settle. And then... well, then, it depended on the king.

One.

Showtime.