Chaser of Faith

Nicholas’s hands immediately latched onto my arms, trying to pry them away from my face. The sounds he made were animalistic- snarling and spitting and biting. I put my hands on his shoulders, closing my eyes and turning my head away instinctively. I groaned and strained to push him back as Nicholas snapped his teeth at me.

“Nicholas, stop!” I said between gasps of breath. “Please,” I pleaded. I felt my arms getting weaker. I couldn’t hold him anymore. I wasn't strong enough. No one was going to save me. I felt my elbows give little by little, until finally…

As I felt his fangs rip into my neck, I was so overwhelmed with fear and pain that I was ready to welcome death. I don’t think I was even able to scream. He pulled at my arteries and veins, and my neck, chest, dress, stomach, arms- everything… was flooded with my warm blood. I heard the snap of metal and realized he tore my necklace off. The pain I felt was nothing compared to the sounds of his teeth ripping through my flesh. It overwhelmed me, sickening my failing self.

Soon, the sounds he made were combined with his sudden screams. He seemed to cry in pain as he drank my blood. His furious, monstrous screams were far away by this point as I started to fade. My eyes closed, or they stopped working- I wasn’t sure which. In this silent darkness, I saw my mother. I saw her, young and happy, warm and inviting. She looked down at me as she held me in her arms. Almost as if she was there to comfort me as I died.

I couldn’t feel my body, but I did manage to see once more. Before me, Nicholas writhed on the ground- clutching his throat, screaming and screeching. It felt like I closed my eyes again for hours, but when I opened them again he was still squirming on the ground. He spat up white pearls that shone ruby red. When they were open, his eyes flickered from black to red, black to red, black to blue. Waterfalls of crimson and pitch flowed from his mouth violently.

We’re dying, I thought dreamily.

I couldn’t see again. My world went black as the blood on my dress went cold. My ears finally stopped working, and the last sense of touch that I had maintained slipped away. I was empty. And, I welcomed the dark.

-*-

“Claire…”

I vaguely heard someone saying my name, but it was far away. I couldn’t open my eyes, but I was aware of my body taking up space in a warm environment. My mind was slowly beginning to whir back to life.

“Claire… Please… Wake up…” The voice was distressed, as far as I could tell. “Claire,” it said once again. It took every ounce of strength I had to open my eyes, and it took a few moments for my them to finally focus.

Not dead…

As I blinked the shadows away, blue eyes stared back at me. The sun shone behind him, making me squint as I took in the features of his face. I wracked my brain, trying to place his face. He looked familiar.

“Who are you?” I slurred. He looked pained. I hoped that I hadn’t hurt him. “What happened?” I adjusted my shoulders and back, cringing as something protruding from my back scraped against the tree that I happened to be leaning against. “Ow,” I muttered.

“You don’t remember me?” He asked. I thought hard, studying his face. His dirty blond hair and blue eyes looked familiar to someone I knew. I tried to remember why I was leaning against a tree. Why there was something on my back. Why this man was talking to me.

“I remember…” I trailed off, putting my hand to my neck. I could feel dried blood covering my skin and hardening the fabric of my dress. But I couldn’t find the gaping wound I suffered. “It hurt,” I whispered, shutting my eyes tightly.

Blood, pain, teeth, blue eyes. Nicholas.

“Nicholas,” I said, opening my eyes again. I felt fear and shifted away from him. “What happened to your eyes? Your hair? Why are you in the sun?”

Sun… Vampire. He’s a vampire.

“I woke up like this,” he replied, becoming more distressed. When he spoke, I took note of his mouth.

Chapped lips, white teeth, he had such a handsome smile…

“No fangs,” I marveled. “You killed me.” I was coming back to my senses. My fear was starting to grow. His eyes were teary.

“I don’t remember anything,” he admitted with a wavering voice. “I woke up in the sun, covered in blood. The last thing I remember was putting Rahmiel in his bed.” He blinked, a few trails of tears falling down his cheeks. He swallowed hard. “Where are we? What did I do, Claire? Dear God, what did I do?” He closed his eyes. “How many people have I hurt?” He put his hands on his face, rubbing his eyes.

I reached out to him and pain shot up my spine, radiating down my arms and legs. The bony parts of my wings felt like they were snapping into place again as they cracked loudly. Perhaps they were dislocated when Nicholas pushed me against the tree. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling him to me.

“It’s okay,” I whispered, not sure of how to best console him.

He was warm.

“Nicholas…” I didn’t know what to say. As my mind began to work at its regular capacity, images of Nicholas attacking me were all I could see. “You’re in the sun.” From my view on his shoulder, I saw the field of tall grass in front of me covered in a warm light. “What happened to you?”

“I could ask the same,” he said softly. I felt his hand stroke along the feathers of my wings. “Where did these come from? What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?” I pulled away from him, shaking my head.

“I don’t really know what happened.” I took in a shaky breath and let it out slowly. “It’s a long story. Adriel… took me,” I admitted. Nicholas’s eyes narrowed. “I managed to get away, but I was in the Angel States. I tried to find my way back home, but wound up in Herith. And… I met the King,” I added. I wasn’t sure how much I should tell him. “He thought I was someone else, and he wouldn’t let me leave. I escaped yesterday. Now… I’m just trying to get back home.” Nicholas’s view went back to my wings. He laid a hand on the white feathers, stroking along the length of them.

“And these?”

“It’s a charm gone wrong,” I whispered. I closed my eyes, enjoying his gentle touch. I hadn’t felt such comfort in so long.

How many times have I died now?

“A charm? Did King Simon do this?” I shook my head slowly.

“No, it was a box of matches that I got from an artificer back in Beythas.” I opened my eyes, looking up at Nicholas. I found myself continuing. “Remy and I were trying to find something to protect us from Gage. When we got there, he was dead- Cal. We don't know if it was Gage, or just a low life who might have been angry with Cal. Adriel found us in his store searching for a way to defend ourselves from Gage’s illusions. That's when I found the matches, but I didn't know they had any sort of power. We were trying to get back to the cottage when Remy told Ariel that he was Gage’s brother. Adriel just… lost it.

“It was when I tried to get back home from Rath. I made a fire using the matches. When the light from the fire found my back... It hurt so much.” I closed my eyes again. I took in a deep breath, turning my head down and to the side, and let the breath out slowly.

“Claire, what is that?” I looked back to Nicholas.

“What?” His eyes were fixed on my neck.

“That scar- have you always had it?” I felt my cheeks heat as my heart beat faster and I began to panic.

What do I say? What do I say?

“Yes,” I found myself saying. “I've had that for years, it's nothing.” Out of the corner of my eye, something shone in the sunlight on the ground. I looked to it and saw a necklace- my necklace. “Oh,” I gasped and reached for it as more pain shot through my back. I frowned, picking the silver chain and charm from the dirt. I brushed off the mud and small pieces of grass, inspecting it carefully.

“I broke your necklace,” Nicholas stated solemnly. “Claire, I'm so sorry.” The clasp of the chain was torn in half, leaving part of the chain open and exposed. I would have to find another clasp to repair it.

“I can fix it,” I assured him. I looked back at him. He had his head in his hands, covering his eyes. “Are you okay? Do you feel okay?”

“Is it always this bright out?” He asked humorlessly. I felt the corners of my lips lift slightly.

“Only during the day,” I replied. He lifted his head up to stare at me. I smiled at him. His gaze became distant.

“Could I be cured?” I pressed my lips together tightly.

“Is that possible?”

“I didn’t think so. But…” I closed my eyes, putting a hand to my temple and rubbing slightly.

“I can’t remember much from last night. Do you think there’s something in the air here? I think you ate an animal. Maybe it cured you,” I offered pathetically. I really didn’t know what to say- I didn’t know much about vampires and I didn’t remember anything that happened between the time Nicholas attacked me and when I woke up.

What if Gage had something to do with it?

My stomach dropped at that thought. I peered around me, looking up into the trees and through the tall patches of grass.

What if I’m in an illusion?

My heartbeat picked up speed and I had to take in a few deep breaths to try to calm myself as I grew dizzy.

“What’s wrong?” I shook my head. My mouth and throat were dry. I felt nauseous.

“Is this real?” I fretted, paranoid. “How do I know this is real?” I looked down at my necklace in my hand. I adjusted my grip on it, trying to run my fingers along the dirty metal chain. I tried to take in every detail- how each textured felt on my dirty, dry fingers. Nicholas’s hand was suddenly on my own. He squeezed it once, and craned his head down to meet my eyes.

“Hey,” he said. “It’s okay.” He said nothing else, but held eye contact with me. His eyes were a light blue- almost clear. He took in a breath through his nose, and let it out through his mouth slowly. He repeated this, until I found myself matching his actions. I blinked a couple of times. He smiled warmly. “You ready to go back home?” I shrugged quickly and swallowed hard. My mouth still felt like it was filled with cotton.

“I guess we’ve been gone long enough, huh?” I picked myself up off the ground, pulling Nicholas up with me. I let go of his hands gently, turning to the path that took me there the day before. “I think I know the way back. It might be a couple more hours of walking.” Before I headed on, I went back for my cloak-bag and sword, slinging my bag over my shoulder and holstering my sword to my hip and thigh. I walked back to Nicholas, who had his hand on his stomach.

“You okay?” He squinted his eyes, staring at the ground.

“My stomach hurts…” He paused, tilting his head and pressing his lips together. “I think… I’m hungry.” I said nothing, but searched in my bag for what I had bought yesterday. I held a piece of fruit out to Nicholas and he took it carefully. He studied it for a moment.

“The last time I tried to eat food… I threw up blood and black shit for hours.” I closed my eyes as a memory scratched at the back of my mind. It struggled to form, but I couldn’t reach it. There had been something familiar about what he told me, but I couldn’t picture it. I opened my eyes in time to watch him take a bite of the fruit. He chewed slowly and swallowed. He sighed and closed his eyes. “I haven’t tasted anything as sweet in decades.” He tore into the fruit hungrily. I smiled and let the memory slip away.

“Come on, doc,” I called softly, heading towards the line of trees. “We have a dark angel to beat up.”