Vanilla Lace

Analiese raced through the cemetery gate against the cold wind, her legs skipping the countless graves and roots along the way as her bag on her back jumped along with her. The moon was shining brightly down on her as the night gave her power. She felt unbeatable. Never had she felt the unquestionable need to be somewhere until then when she knew something was wrong. Where else could her love be if not the Central Cemetery? There had to be a reason behind his disappearance and she knew that if Bill was not anywhere else, he had to be there by hook or by crook. Everything that ran through her veins at that moment was spurring her on because she knew that he was there. He had to be kidnapped. It was only logical that he went missing without a trace. Besides, she had nothing to lose if she went there . . . if she does not get caught.

A gunshot was suddenly audible. Leaping through as fast as she could, the mahogany-haired girl found herself slowing down when she found herself going the right direction. There was a spotlight further down at least a mile off for the cemetery was vast and its edge was the woods. She took a less prominent route by zigzagging while crouching down through the hundreds of tombstones long forgotten. It was considerably pitch black where she was but her heightened sense of sight helped her pave her way through without tripping. She was confused by the commotion that started abruptly and from where she squatted, she saw what seemed to be the one she had been looking all over for . . . among a myriad of light-footed figures who seemed to be bounding all over the place to the soundtrack of relentless gun shots fired by weaker-looking ones.

“Bill,’ Analiese muttered under her breath. At the same time, she stood up and ran towards the center of it all where Bill and Tom were trying to crawl out. She risked herself being shot. The twins were unhurt by either party but it was not easy at all for them to escape the fray. “Bill!” She shouted.

“Ana?” The younger twin’s eyes widened dramatically. Bill felt like as if all his energy had been replaced, though merely subconsciously, and he pushed himself up with the help of his brother. “Stay there!”

“Get down!” A vampire roared at them as in a blink of an eye, he yanked the rifle from an unsuspecting soldier and pointed it back at him just as he was about to shoot. The human ended up taking his own life without even knowing it. The three teenagers were stunned.

“Don’t come over—” Tom shouted as a silver bullet shot past his face. He immediately fell silent, a victim to a jolting prostration. It was his first time in such a close encounter, caught in a crossfire. Beads of sweat trickled on the sides of his face and seeped down his back. He did not know whether to move or not. Bill was just as indecisive, in fear he could be hurt in the process. The younger twin had more on his mind. He could not seem to wash away the fact that blood was all around him. It excited him further, making him salivate more than usual.
“Bill!” Analiese exclaimed before two shots were quickly fired from behind her. His attention was caught. She did not hesitate as she lunged towards the twins and helped by pulling Bill’s other arm over her shoulder. The vampires and humans were all over the place and at the vampire’s speed, the humans were being subdued gradually. “Let’s go!” She ordered.

An all too familiar voice hollered her name following the shots, “Analiese!” And she turned to see it was Oliver with his large hands on a human’s neck, his thick and sharp nails digging in. The victim wailed in submission before his voice weakened. He died. “I’ll cover you. Get out of here! Get him out of here!” He bellowed at her firmly before avoiding a few bullets that went his way. The vampires who hid behind the pine trees only made the humans wait in anticipation for their next move.

Oliver was constantly on his toes, making sure he changed places constantly and was as fast as he could be. He had to avoid getting shot by the random bullets at all costs because dying like that was not his style—he would never die under an opposing human being. His brothers and sisters were as flighty as he was, making every possible lunge as accurate as possible so that they could defeat their enemies with one strike, and it was what mostly happened.

Mikael, who escaped Fabian momentarily, was overwhelmed by the speed of the supernatural beings. Whenever he blinked, another of his underlings was attacked. His attacker had fled, proceeding to take cover with the rest of the vampires. He remembered clearly the orders given by the leader of the enemy: spare no one. In disbelief that he was losing the fight, he gave out a loud cry before shooting blindly. He ended up wasting all his bullets but he took a vampire’s life in return. It was nothing to him as the being dropped to the ground on his knees and started to shake. A few more bullets were lodged to his chest and he took his last breath before falling face down into the soil of the dead. In a matter of seconds, he started to sizzle up and wither, traces of smoke escaping his body like he had been dried and burned. The vampires were much more angered. Taking lives seemed easy to them but if theirs was taken, they saw no justice. Their blood was boiling, enraged, and one by one, they took their chances and set upon an unassuming human soldier.

Tobias was left unguarded, unnoticed as he cowered behind the nearest headstone that was twice his size the moment the fight ensued. Not once did he turn back to see the situation because he could feel that he was losing. If only he had never made himself join the militia that night, this would not have happened to him. Learning about vampires was too much for him to handle. He could not believe his father was hiding such a huge secret from him, from his mother and from the world.

Analiese and Tom dragged Bill behind another headstone. It was not large enough to shield all of them so they separated, just a few feet away from each other. There was sufficient light to illuminate the place and Bill could see how bloodied he was. Being left alone, his mind was free as it roamed endlessly/ He felt a terrible need to feed on something at that very moment for he was dying of hunger. He turned to Tom who looked delectable but another part of him resisted taking his own brother’s life. His breathing quickened dramatically as his eyes dilated. Calling his name broke his train of thought. “Bill!” Analiese called out. She was leaning against the tombstone trying to catch her breath.

“I can’t . . . do this,” he gritted his teeth, a tear slipping down his face unknowingly. He felt pain and he felt hunger and he knew Analiese could read him. He could just jump up and enter the commotion just to satisfy his own wild cravings but he knew it was wrong. He was fighting a war in his head of whether to do or not to do it. His hunger was calling and the intoxicating smell of blood overwhelmed him further when an unexpected gust of wind blew across him. A groan was emitted as he sank lower.

Analiese could sense Bill’s susceptibility at that point in time and she raised her voice at him without a care. “You don’t need that, Bill!” She said, staring desperately at her boyfriend. “You can do this. You don’t need the blood. All you need is to relax and think about getting out and back home. Everything’s going to be back to normal, Bill.”

“Tom…” Bill swallowed, chewing on his lower lip.

Tom frowned when he realized what Bill’s weakness could have been attributed to. “Look at me, Bill!” He punched the dry ground and repeated loudly to his brother. “Look at me! Focus, come on! You can do this!” He could tell that Bill was distracted by the overpowering scent of blood. It made Tom want to throw up but he tried his best to pull himself together. He was not about to let Bill fall. He still had his weapon and instinctively pointed it at his twin brother regrettably. Bill noticed Tom’s action and another tear slid down his bruised and bloodied face.

Amidst gunshots and last cries behind the tombstones, Bill decided to take his chance. Just one would not hurt, would it? He could feel it, he could sense it. He knew there was just one behind him, still alive though he was eventually going to die. The heart was still beating but it slowed with each palpitation yet all Bill could think of was how sweet the blood was going to be. He relished it so much that in a moment of impulse, he shot up from his hiding place and leapt over the headstone, landing on the almost-dead human whose neck was ripped open. Analiese and Tom did not think twice before leaving their spots and springing on a ravaging Bill.

“Stop it, Bill!” Analiese cried, pulling him away from the body. Tom brought the rifle over Bill and in front of him, yanking him back with the weapon choking his neck.

“You’re not a fucking monster, Bill! Wake up!” Tom said exasperatedly, tears mixed with sweat rolling down his ashen face. Despite being it colder than usual that night, it still felt warm to Tom as he tried his best to choke his brother so as to stop his disgusting act. Bill merely forced himself on against Tom’s will and strength. So many bodies, so little time. They were all calling out to him and he could not resist it. “Don’t make me do this to you . . . please!” He was shaking, at a loss entirely, his face contorted into one of great bewilderment and contrite. He could not ever picture himself handling his brother like that as if Bill were an animal; he would not even dream it.

From the corner of his eyes, Fabian caught sight of Bill together with Tom and Analiese. It was the first time since Analiese entered less than a few minutes ago that he had noticed her. His eyes enlarged, not believing she was here of all places. “Analiese?!” He called out. It seemed like he was staring at them for a long time and it slipped his mind that he had to be consistently moving about. The next moment, the next shot he heard fired resulted in him having two bullets one after another embedded in his thigh. His mission to retrieve the drugged Karl had failed when he fell from the tree to the ground with a loud thud. Karl was obliviously looking around through half-lidded eyes.

“No!” Oliver yelled, quickly jumping down after to retrieve him while other vampires distracted the soldiers that were about to kill Fabian entirely. Karl watched blurrily while metal restraints kept him away from the tumult.
At the same time, Analiese decided that Bill was doing too much and she raised her hand high. Bill raised his head for a breath of fresh air and the next moment, a tight slap was heard. Tom watched in disbelief as Bill remained frozen, barely flinching as he stared at her. A low snarl was released but Analiese was not intimidated. She only wanted Bill to snap to his senses. “Stop it!” She cried out, feeling her hands sting from the tight slap. “You don’t have to do this, Bill!”

When she saw that Fabian was shot, she quickly pulled Bill with her to hide behind the tombstone again. She held his face close to hers as they were both on their knees, trembling from fear and confusion. Her clammy hands graced his bloodied face and rubbed his lips before deciding that there's was probably only one thing she could do before Bill resisted her and gave in again. She took a deep breath and through teary eyes, she leaned in and kissed him. The taste of warm blood filled her mouth, his sins spilling into her while their tongues slowly entwined with each other. Before he could hold her, before his urge had entirely dissipated, there was another gunshot like as if it was right beside them. This time, Analiese was the one who felt the pain. She gasped the moment it penetrated her shoulder near her heart. It hurt like a thousand burning arrows for she had never been hurt before by silver. For her, it was the most unusual of reactions in her body. She did not sizzle or wither or burn. She bled profusely like a human would and her eyes were dilated as she stared at Bill. Physically a human, mentally a vampire; it was how her body was built as she finally realized. For a moment, it seemed that time stopped. He was in complete shock when she stayed there lifelessly, slowly giving in when she weakened on her knees.

Analiese could hardly feel anything as she fell onto Bill into his open arms. All she did was stare at him, albeit rather confused. It was like all her pain caused her to go numb. Bill was finally awakened but it seemed like it was too late. His voice was lost when he needed it the most to scream her name.