Grim Echoes

Chapter 63 - Maeve

Maeve sat against the wall, much more comfortable. Paden had chained her to the wall and put the zipties back, but less snug than before. He'd also placed her hands in front of her instead of behind her back. She'd smiled at him when he left the room. Ander's eyebrows lifted with surprise. Will glared, full of suspicion. She shrugged. At least now she knew where the back door and side door were and which rooms were empty. It didn't make sense to sit and wait until the vampires woke up. What chance did they have then? Maybe Will and Ander were waiting for a signal of some sort. Maybe they needed to wait until the vampires were in a deep sleep? Either way, they hadn't told her, and she had no choice but to sit and wait, frustrated.

Maeve's mind wandered in the silence. She recalled the words of the unseen vampire Lady Thana, this brings great rage and suffering to them, when Lady Thana had mentioned draining her. She could see how it would bring rage, especially to Will, but great suffering? Perhaps with Ander, she'd sensed something from him, not love of course, they'd only known each other for a week but it was powerful. Could be just the bond from her soul touch. Will might be generically upset she'd died, but probably because he'd feel responsible for her death versus actual attachment.

She replayed the last week in her head. A tumult of emotions coursed through her. Most of them conflicted with one another. Her eyes pricked with tears. She put her head on her knees. No witnesses to these tears, if possible. A week ago her largest concern was to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. She'd been frustrated and going through the motions. The consistent nagging that her life wasn't her own, and she needed to leave. This wasn't what she'd intended when she craved change. This was chaos.

In the depths of her soul, she still wanted to help Ander and Will, but she wasn't sure she could handle everything that brought. When she'd done it before, she hadn't been in jeopardy or constantly around those who she'd connected with. With them, there was no reprieve, no downtime to contemplate things. Part of her was almost desperate to remain with them. Before the angel showed up, every step she'd taken away from them felt like she cleaved a piece of herself off. There were times she couldn't stand the sight of Will. It was a constant back and forth with Ander. She wanted to touch him and then was disturbed by the alien nature of him and hesitated to be close to him.

Drained, Maeve wanted to sleep to make her thoughts stop. Unsure how much time passed with her face planted on her knees, but movement caused her to lift her head and find Will and Ander. Will's eyes scanned the room, his body tensed for action. Familiar with how his arms and chest tightened just before he moved. Ander was completely still. Also now familiar with how Ander seemed to turn into a statue just before a flurry of movement. Whatever was happening was going to happen now.

Doors at the opposite end of the room burst open and four children barged in. Children? Seconds later, Paden and two unknown people followed. No time to react. The crazed children came at all of them. It wasn't until a young boy of what looked to be around eleven was on top of her and tried to rip her throat out she realized these weren't children, but vampires. Maeve fell against the wall as the boy jumped on her. Desperately, she tried to make her power knock him back. Nothing happened. The boy was strong, far stronger than he should've been. She barely kept him off her neck.

In her peripheral, Will stood and grabbed the throat of a teenager that charged him. How had he freed his hands? More movement on the other side of her, more vampires. Her heart raced. The boy lifted off of her and into the air. She expected to see Ander, but it was Paden that held the raging boy away. The doors beside her burst open as Lady Thana stomped into the room. Maeve's eyes widened at the surrounding blurs.

Except for the boy still above her, there were creatures everywhere, moving too fast to know who fought who. A head rolled until it hit her foot its empty eyes gazed at her. Maeve shrieked from the surprise. Paden was gone, as was the wild vampire boy he'd pulled from her.

"Betrayer!" someone screamed before a body went flying and hit the wall to the right of Maeve and caved it in.

Blood sprayed into the air in front of her in what seemed like slow motion before it rained down. Maeve stood and searched for the doorway she'd come through. She felt something on her neck. It was the lightest touch, and then it stung. Her fingers reached up. It was wet. Damn it, not again. Blood smeared her fingertips.

All movement in the room stopped for a heartbeat, just enough time for all the vampires to turn her way hungry. She backed against the wall. Couldn't breathe again, the same intensity she had when Lady Thana had cut her. They were going to drain her. They all advanced at once. A male she hadn't seen previously leapt into the air to reach her first.

Maeve covered her neck wound and screamed. A pulse radiated from her and pushed them all back. The leaping male to fell to the ground with a hard thud. She slid down the wall as her eyes rolled back in her head.