The Willow and the Wolf

Chapter Ten: Back Home

The vision of green eyes sparkling darkly at Clara from behind her closed eyelids made her smile. The thought of Cage always made her want to smile. At least, more recently it did. Before, she only looked at him with disdain and frustration in her eyes.

She could almost feel the sensation of her fingers running through his dark locks of hair. They were soft and plush, yet rough and spiked. The perfect representation of Cage himself...

Clara opened her eyes and frantically looked around. She sat on the hard, clay ridden forest floor. The sun had not fully risen, and the cold crept through her cloak which she gripped tightly around herself.

Confusion set in as she glanced beside her, nothing there except for a brown shoulder bag and a few nuts and berries Orion had left for her.

Orion- Clara suddenly remember the man's name. Where did he go? She stood up and looked in all directions. The forest was desolate, not even a single small creature in sight.

Scratching her head, Clara closed her eyes and rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. Last night felt like a dream, but she knew it wasn't.

Gathering her wits, she bent down and retrieved the worn brown bag and nuts and berries from beside the place she had slept. Eyeing the berries carefully, she decided against eating them. She hadn't eaten in over a day, yes, but she needed to conserve.

Clara reached into the bag and pulled out the canteen of water before slinging it onto her shoulder, opening the bottle to taste the cool refreshing liquid.

She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and did a momentary double take. Clara had drank from a canteen that wasn't hers... Can vampire germs spread? She asked herself and shook the ridiculous question off.

~~~

The rest of the trip north towards the mountains near Glen Meadow went by relatively fast. A few hours it took Clara at most.

Orion was no where to be found, and she thought about everything that had happened last night. Dream, definitely a dream. Wasn't real, it wasn't real. She told herself.

The reoccurring remembrance of glowing red eyes and the tremors of pain that racked the man's body made her cry. The tears rolled down her cheeks even though she tried to stop them. Seeing innocent people in pain always made her break down, it was her weakness.

Her sister had once called Clara an empath, and her mother once called her sheltered. Clara did not feel like she was either. What she had endured was proof enough that she was strong and capable. Backhanding a werewolf who happens to be your soulmate takes courage right?

Clara stopped her reminiscing and looked around in all directions of the forest. She was close to home now, she had walked through these woods before.

One more step forward seemed to trigger a scream that was up ahead through the clearing. It was Mari, Clara's sister.

Her sisters eery scream set Clara's legs in motion. Running and jumping over branches had her heart racing and her legs feeling a slight burn from the sudden movement. She clinched her fists in anger and concern.

When she reached the clearing, she ran straight into chaos. She watched as a tall man grabbed her sister and hoisted her over his shoulder, forcefully pulling her out of the small tent they called their home. Mari kicked and screamed her sisters name when she saw Clara break through the clearing. Another man had her mother in his animalistic grasp.

A moment passed and all eyes seemed to fall on Clara. She wasn't prepared to see what she did. It was too early in the day for vampires, she thought to herself as she laid eyes on the crimson red orbs of the men who held her family. More vampires emerged from the forest quietly- five, six, seven, eight, fifteen, twenty, the number of vampires who stood surrounding Clara and the clearing kept increasing.

Clara shut her eyes. What she would do to have a werewolf or two at her side in this moment, defending her. She couldn't protect herself from two vampires, let alone twenty.

Unclasping her black cloak from around her shoulders, it fell to the ground. The sliding sound of metal rang out as she pulled her fathers dagger from it's sheath on her belt. Clara opened her eyes to see the attention of the vampires surrounding her focus on the blade in her hands.

The dagger began to glow a dark red as Clara held it up, the tip of the blade pointed in front of her. "Your eyes glow red, and your teeth are those of a wild animal. You attack and steal what isn't yours. You're ignorant to think humans are weak! I am not afraid of you!" She said loudly and everyone paused, silence ensued for a brief moment, before the vampire who held her younger sister growled in anger.

The vampire who growled unclamped his left hand from Mari's arm and continued to hold her with his right hand firmly. Holding his hand up in the air to signal the rest of the vampires behind him, he tightened his hand into a fist.

The vampire who held Clara's gaze studied her from head to toe, his eyes glowed a pure red, unlike the rest of the vampires. He said nothing as he stood in silence, Mari still trapped in his grasp.

He threw Clara's sister to the ground forcefully with his right hand. She let out a whimper as her body hit the ground, her cream colored dress now stained with mud. Another vampire staggered forward and picked Mari up from the ground, following his leaders silent order.

The man who held Clara's gaze, lowered his hand to his side, but no one moved. He stalked forward towards the girl in front of him, clearly intrigued by her defiance. He wanted her to himself, it had been a long time since he'd had a fight in which his opponent wasn't cowering in defeat. She wasn't like the rest.

Clara had gotten better at bluffing, that was for sure. Her expression of determination and confidence didn't falter as the man walked closer to her. He was now within arms reach.
This was really happening, she told herself as she prepared for what was to come.

Clara would fight every single vampire she could until she could no longer take anymore. She wouldn't back down no matter how afraid she was inside, that she promised herself. Today, the warrior inside of her was going to be tested. Her strength and determination, and well, every single thing that made up her entire being.
Hope, hope made up most of her.
Breakable, fragile pieces of emotions made up the rest.

God, those pieces of emotions were pathetic. Clara wished she could turn them off and shut them out.

Dodging a punch and a spinning kick from the vampire twice her size, Clara lunged with the glowing knife in her hand in the direction of the man, nicking his forearm. He screeched demonically and gripped onto where Clara had cut him.
No blood spilled from his wound, the knife simply left a gaping black hole in his arm.

Clara stepped backwards and idly stood and witnessed as someone she recognized tackled the vampire to the ground and teared into his neck with his teeth. It was Orion. He was changed.

Orion's eyes were a solid black, and as
the claws on his hands shredded the red-eyed vampire into pieces of stone, Clara watched the vampire fade into nothingness. His ashes returning to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Orion asked as he reached down to grip Clara's hand protectively. She nodded shyly, lowering the dagger in her hand. The red glow of the blade had now faded.