When Night Falls

I am going to die here.

That thought flashed through my mind the moment I opened my swollen eyes. The rank smell of decomposition filtered through my nose, and I glanced at the decomposing body before me, the bile rising up to my throat. My stomach clenched in response, and I hurled, throwing up what little of the contents of my stomach to the floor. The acidic taste remained in my throat as I continued to retch, even after there was clearly nothing left in my stomach to throw up.

I gasped for air, and cocked my head, lifting my good shoulder to my head, so that I could gingerly wipe the cold sweat off my battered face with my sleeve. I could feel that the wound on my right shoulder was very deep, and that it was badly infected. Every inch of my body hurt, from the beatings that I had taken, and from the stab wounds that had been scattered throughout my body. I examined the latest major injury that Raymond had given me. The knife was still embedded in my palm, blood slowly dripping from the sides of the wound. Trepidation filled me as I realized that my hand was numb, and I tried to move my fingers, moaning as I felt some pain shooting through my fingers and palm. It was bad, really bad… The amount of pain that I should have been feeling should have been more. It should have been much, much worse. But at least I was still feeling some pain…

I leaned backwards, feeling the numbness spread a little more through my body. I was growing weaker from the loss of blood, and already I was having difficulty breathing. I knew that if I couldn’t get out, I would most likely die here. I didn’t know how long it would take for my friends to realize that I was missing. I knew that it was impossible for my friends to find me. I began to pray… I wasn’t hoping for them to rescue me, but I was praying that at least they would find my body. And give Amber and her family a proper burial…

I began to sob. Raymond was right, everything was my fault. I had turned a clown, someone who made people happy, into a monster. A ruthless killer. I saw the craziness in his eyes. The pain of losing his daughter had torn him apart from within, destroying him. I was responsible for it all… I was responsible for tearing apart his world, his beliefs and his life.

If I hadn’t killed his daughter, this wouldn’t have happened. He wouldn’t have hurt all those innocent people, he wouldn’t have hunted, he wouldn’t have killed Amber and his family. He wouldn’t have turned Sarah and killed her parents. That was why I took all his beatings, accepted all his anger towards me. I didn’t say anything against him, I just took it all. At least he wasn’t hurting anyone else anymore. If I were to die, at least… I wouldn’t be around to hurt anyone anymore. If I were to die… there would be no reason for anyone to hurt my loved ones. I knew that my friends would protect my mother if anything were to happen to me.

Desperation flooded through me as I remembered Sarah. I had wanted to become stronger, to help her get revenge… but I had been caught by her enemy instead. It was ironic…

Jamier… he had been such a good friend to me. Would it hurt him if I were to die?

Ryan… oh Ryan. I would never be able to tell him how I felt about him. I would never be able to look into those lightning blue eyes, those beautiful eyes that could send my blood racing in seconds. I would never be able to see his dimpled smile again. I would never feel the electricity crackling on my skin, feel the rush of blood into my cheeks and my heart pounding like crazy whenever he neared me. I cried out, the pain flooding through my chest as my heart winced at the imminent parting ahead of me...

“Hi Christine. Did you sleep well?” I heard a familiar purr. I closed my eyes, breathing out shakily.

“Ohh…” He cooed. “Why are you crying?” Raymond brushed his fingers against my cheek gently. I recoiled, moaning as his fingers touched my swollen face. He chuckled, and he suddenly removed the knife from my palm. I screamed in agony as I jolted backwards instinctively, my eyes momentarily blinded with pain. Blood began to drip more fiercely from my wound, and I bit my lip, biting back my cries as I closed my eyes, trying to compose myself.

“You know... There can only be be two endings to our story.” He purred. “In either case, I would die.” He brushed the bloodied knife against my neck, the warm blood rubbing on my skin. “In the first case, I kill you… and then your friends will come after me. Revenge.”

“In the second case… you manage to survive this. Somehow.” Raymond looked at me with an amused look, as he sat down in a chair, turning it such that its back was facing me and he was straddling it, resting his arms on the back of the chair as his eyes watched me. “And your friends kill me… or hunt me down.”

“I came to you, prepared to die. But either way… I will win in the end. Do you know why?”

I kept silent, the tears flowing down my cheeks.

“I already died here,” and he pressed his hands to his chest where his heart was, “when you tore my daughter into pieces. It doesn’t matter to me anymore, whether I survive this a not. If you die… it would be good. At least I would have brought you down… I would have avenged my daughter.”

“But if you survive… And I die… One thing I know for sure… is that the guilt would crush you. It would destroy you from the inside. That is why I chose this path… regardless of my end. Because you know that I am right… that everything was your fault. If you hadn’t existed… no one would have been hurt. You are an abomination… You don’t deserve to live.”

As Raymond neared me with a crazed look in his eyes, I knew that if this beating wasn’t going to kill me, the next one would.


Kyrie - X-Ray Dog
It would be good if you would listen to this while reading this chapter. (: Thanks

-Ryan’s POV-

We burst through the door, snarling. I was horrified by the sight that lay before me. It was obvious that Christine had been tortured brutally. Her clothes were drenched with blood, and the numerous stab marks, and bruises and the cuts that littered her body pained me. She was already barely conscious. I let out a tortured cry, clenching my fists as I headed for the vampire responsible for hurting Christine. The vampire swung around, shocked. Then almost immediately, he positioned his knife over her heart.

I shouted, horrified, “NO!”

Before I could stop him, the vampire had slammed the knife into her chest. I flew to his side as he pulled it out, attempting to stab her again. I grabbed his hand. Ice shot out from my palms and encased his arm in a prison of ice, and I ripped his arm from its socket. The ice shattered into a million pieces. The insane rage that flooded through me almost blinded me. I wanted to hurt him badly, to utterly rip him into pieces. He let out a cry of pain as Sarah jumped on top of him, knocking him backwards.

“This is for my parents!” She howled, ripping his other arm off him, and she began to tear him apart. I snarled, turning towards him, but stopped when I heard Christine’s cry of pain. I nodded towards Jamier, and he took my place.

I rushed to Christine’s side, removing the metal chains around her arms and legs, ignoring the burns that the chains caused. She fell limply into my embrace, and I fell backwards to the ground, cushioning her fall, and cradling her head towards my chest.

“No, no, no…” I cried out helplessly. “This isn’t happening… Christine… No… No please…” I pressed my hands against her wound, trying to stem the flow of blood. She spluttered, coughing, ribbons of blood pouring out from between her soft lips and her chest. Too much blood…

“Ryan…” she muttered weakly.

“Hush…” I held her closer toward me. “Stay awake, please.” I begged. “Look at me… Don’t sleep.”

She smiled, her left hand searching. I held her hand, pressing it to my cheek, feeling her warm skin against my cold skin. She said nothing, and simply caressed my face.

Sarah fell to her knees beside me, sobbing as she surveyed the extent of Christine’s injuries. Jamier too, sat, stunned beside her. He merely stroked her hair quietly, his midnight blue eyes agonized.

“Will you bury her for me?” Christine whispered. I nodded. My heart swelled with agony. Her heart was already beginning to slow. She turned to Sarah, reaching for her hand.

“I’m sorry…” She said faintly. “Take care of my mum, for me?” Sarah merely nodded, pressing her lips to Christine's forehead as she held Christine’s hands in hers tightly.

No… No… Please don’t take her away from me…

“Jamier… Take care of yourself.” She turned back towards me. And she smiled at me, one last time. Her fingers were soft against my cheeks. I began to cry, hot, silent tears rolling off my cheeks. I leaned downwards, pressing my face against her cheeks, kissing her forehead, rocking us back and forth, desperately wishing that God could produce a miracle, and save her.

“No… please no… Don’t leave me…” I choked.

Her heart shuddered once more, and was still.