THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS - BWS

nineteen

"What are those things?" I asked, shuddering at the memory of the creatures' claws digging into my flesh.

Wlliam, Caelan and I were sitting in the living room, both of them with a glass of whiskey in their hands while I ate a piece of chicken pie William had one of their 'friends' deliver here earlier. Dee was sitting next to me, uninterested in our conversation. The house had been cleaned from the bodies of the creatures and from the mess the fight had left, and except for the black stains of goo on the carpet and the few missing pieces of furniture, it looked as if nothing happened.

"We're not sure," Caelan answered, making my eyebrows arch. "We've never seen their kind before."

I lifted my head to look at him. He was sitting to my left, on the couch that my back was leaning against while I sat on the floor, closer to the coffee table. He had changed from his bloody and ripped shirt, and his stabbing wound was almost healed. Apparently vampires didn't heal as fast as I thought. William was sitting across from us on a twin couch to ours, his eyes fixed on me since the moment we sat down.

"How did you know how to kill them?" I asked, realizing they had as little clue about those creatures as I did.

"Well I know very few creatures that'd survive without their head," he answered with a mocking laugh. He made a good point though. Memories of Caelan ripping off the creature's head flashed back, and I swallowed back the content of my stomach as I pushed my plate away from me. Those images would haunt me for a long time.

"There were so many of them," I said quietly, my gaze fixed blankly on the table in front of me. "I thought it was just that one from the tunnels–"

"There will be more coming," Caelan interrupted me, his face blank of his usual smirk.

"You're not safe here," William said, and I turned my head back in his direction. He looked sorry, although he had no reasons to be. "Your powers feed from the Gates' energy– and the more powerful you become, the easier it is for creatures to track you. We're drawn to that power like bees to honey."

My eyebrows furrowed. Was he insinuating I should leave? For some reason my heart tightened at the thought. But the hard truth was that I couldn't leave. Not before the Gates were fixed at least. And considering I had no clue how to fix this mess, I was going to have to stay longer than I'd have liked.

"So I either go back home, safer from all those– things trying to kill me, and leave the Gates as they are, taking the risk of them breaking, or stay here to fix them and fight for my life on a daily basis– awesome."

The hard and sickening realization that this was now my life made my stomach curl. I felt lost, alone and defeated.

"I can't promise that what happened today won't happen again," William said as he leaned forward on his seat. "But I can promise you that we will protect you for as long as you need to fix the Gates."

It was easy to read through the lines. Despite it looking like a kind promise, it was a reminder that I didn't have the option of leaving.

"And if I can't fix them? If I'm not strong enough?" I asked, because surely they must have considered that eventuality.

"You better be," Caelan answered. "For all our sake."

I swallowed hard. Because although I knew he was right, it wasn't the answer I wanted to hear. I wanted them to tell me there was an alternate way to fix the Gates, that the fate of the world didn't rest solely on my shoulders.

"But you're right, Will," Caelan added. "The longer she stays in the city, the worse it's gonna get. She can't stay here while she figures out how to use her powers."