Bloodbank

Twenty Three

As much as I had enjoyed the week of staying in one place, which had felt more like eternity to my weary lifestyle of moving around, having a purpose again felt good. The desert air at night was chilly, but the fast pace at which we were moving rendered it blissfully cool. The moon shone directly ahead of us, putting the time at around three in the morning, and the dusty cobbles glinted silver.

Scott led the way, shouldering the pack of our belongings, and I had no concept of how far the bunker was, or even how large the city was. If I was going to kill Lord Tenebris and take his power, I figured I needed to have a concept of these things. But a human with that kind of power was unheard of, and I had a lot to catch up on.

Unexpectedly, Scott turned sharply, and I followed, into an alley. Darkened by the tall buildings blocking out the moon, I followed Scott by sound rather than sight as he sped up, feet effortlessly gliding over the cobblestones. Upon catching up with him, he grabbed my arm and pulled me forwards, his ear beside my ear in a heartbeat.

"We're being followed."

A figure appeared ahead of us, blocking our path, before I had the chance to even hear them coming. I turned, slowly. Too slowly. Another figure behind us.

I had forgotten what perfect predators vampire were for just a moment, and we had been herded like sheep.

"Mason?" I asked, directed at either of the figures. It was too early for him to come for us, the whole plan was ruined and the scraps of hope I had been clawing at were fading away.

"Who's Mason?" The figure ahead of me asked. I heard a click and turned, the other one illuminated by a flickering lighter that they clicked on and off, "we heard there was a type C in the area."

Scott's breath hitched beside me, and the two strangers ran at us at once. Suddenly thrown back against the wall of the alley, it took a moment for my brain to catch up and realise that Scott had pushed me out of the way and was now tousling with both the man and the woman.

Feeling a dampness at the back of my head, I reached a hand up and it came away bloody; dark in the red light. The three vampires ahead of me moved at impossible speeds, with one holding Scott down as the other pummelled him. Scott made no sounds, but it looked as though he was hurting, his face contorted with pain at each punch. I had to do something. Woozy, but lucid, I turned and found the sharp, broken piece of brick that had cut open my head and sliced my arm with it. 

The man holding Scott in place dropped him, wheeling on me. In an instant my arm was in his icy grip, and his teeth were on me, needle sharp as he drank. I gasped at the sudden pain, dazed for a moment, as Scott regained the upper hand over the woman. He threw her to the ground, her replacing where he once was, no longer overpowering him in numbers. I pushed forwards to escape the man's iron grasp, but he slammed me back against the brick wall. Distracted by my blood, I fumbled about for anything to help me, hands reaching forwards into the man's pocket until I grasped a metallic object. Confused, I pulled it out to discover his lighter. I gasped for breath now as the world began to turn, but I opened the cap and span the wheel again, again. Only sparks greeted me. I span the wheel, Scott grappling with the woman again as he attempted to rip her head off.

The flame took, the man still distracted. My eyes lit up in the small fire, illuminating the dark corner of the alleyway, and I pushed the lighter onto his jacket.

It took him another minute of drinking my blood to realise he was on fire.

He shrieked, instantly removing his teeth from my arm. To my right, Scott stood over the woman's broken body, her limbs all at impossible angles, and stomped on her head until she stopped moving. Flames grew from the man's jacket, engulfing and consuming him; the whole alley lit up in brilliant orange now as he blindly swung around. Smoke billowed into the clear night sky, blocking out the moon for a moment. Scott stood beside me, watching. The man spun once more and then collapsed, face first, what was visible of him charred beyond recognition.

I pocketed the lighter, pulling some fabric from my shirt around my arm to staunch the bleeding.

We turned away from him and proceeded on our journey back to the bunker. The man's body continued to burn, lighting the way.