Saints and Sinners

Fifty-six:

Fifty-six:

Alina was groggy when she woke up, and her head was pounding. She had no idea where she was. Everything was completely dark. "Oh good. You're awake." The voice sounded like Aleksander, but she knew that it wasn't him. It was The Starless Saint. He was twirling a knife in his hand and Alina felt something cold dripping down her wrists. Blood.

"What did you do?!" Alina demanded.

"I'm taking your blood," The Starless Saint said.

"Why are you taking my blood?"

"Because, that's what I need to open The Darkling so that I can get Alina back. Her soul has been trapped in there, you see. The foolish girl thought that she could sacrifice herself to escape me. The only thing she did was sacrifice her body though. But once I'm through killing you, I'll be able to open The Darkling and get her soul out to put her back in your body."

"If you kill me, you'll kill Aleksander. He's your family. Doesn't that make you pause even the slightest bit?"

The Starless Saint laughed. "I've been around for centuries. Morozova might be my ancestor, but he isn't my family. Not in anyway that matters." His shadows were hovering around them, and one reached out to stroke Alina's face. "The only person that has mattered to me for centuries has been locked in that awful thing. I'll get my Alina back, I'll be restored to full power, and everything will be great."

Alina tried to move, but the shadows were keeping her in place. The Starless Saint was making her bleed and Alina was weak. The lights started to flicker then, and then there was the sound of shattering glass.

"What the fuck?!" The Starless Saint jumped, and covered Alina's body with his as Alina let out a scream.

"Did you really think you would make it this far?" a woman's voice boomed through the hall that they were in. Alina recognized the voice instantly even with her foggy state. "That I would let you undo everything that Alina did centuries ago to put a stop to your madness?"

The Starless Saint looked up and snarled. "Luda."

The dark haired woman with high cheek bones towered over them, glaring at The Starless Saint with a kind of venom and hatred that Alina had never seen before. "I'm not going to let you make Alina's sacrifice worthless!"

"She's mine!" The Starless Saint said. "She's always supposed to be mine. I'm going to bring her back."

"We're ending this here and now. We've been doing this for centuries. I have you in my grasp, finally, and I am going to keep you there."

The Starless Saint laughed. "How could you possibly do that?"

"By doing what I should have done all of those centuries ago."

"How?"

"Making you mine. Of course."

There was a flash, and then the next thing that there was a bright blue light coming from Luda's hand. The light hit The Starless Saint, and Alina watched as the shadows he had fought with it. And the blinding light of the battle was the last thing that Alina remembered before the world faded out again.