CHASE

Chapter 6

     Rugui and Orsmund went on a hunt in search of a desolate field. Silence raced behind them, desperate, mad, and breathless, dragging the darkness with it. In this passage even the smallest prey cowered in its hole. Even the most dominant predators bowed their heads. They knew how to identify the purity of danger and would never dare challenge the mighty superiority.

     Then they came across a two-story affluent house built of brick. Orsmund smelled the life that inhabited it. Rugui walked around absently. She stopped by a tree and remained attentive. With her shoulders she pressed the torso. Due to the slope of the land, the tree gained balance and fell, catastrophically, onto the house. The impact was remarkably deafening. Screams followed. Two adult men got out. Behind him a middle-aged woman holding hands with two children. Disoriented, they looked for the source of the damage. Without hesitation, the vampire positioned herself beside the family. Noticing her presence, she smiled at the panic that consumed them. Her true nature had flooded her physical figure. Before they even had a chance to react, Rugui's claws pierced one of the men's windpipes. This little display called Orsmund like a siren's song. As a result, he took possession of the victimized man. Rugui didn't protest and growled at the woman who held the boy and girl by the hand in a firm grip. The second man threw himself to their rescue but was unconscious within moments. Enraged, the vampire sank her teeth into the woman's throat in a barbaric motion. The pain caused loosened the grip she had with the children who hugged themselves against the wall.

     "Run!"  The gurgling erupted through the airways.

     Rugui narrowed her gaze at the running of the little siblings and produced a prolonged hiss. Prepared to begin the pursuit, Orsmund appeared to make her deliberate intentions impossible. She didn't settle down and the Viking gave her a fearsome growl that made her suppress a second hiss. Mildly, Orsmund cornered the children to compel them. So, they could go on with the future with a forgotten past.

     "They were the tenderest! Waste!"  Rugui commented, dragging the unconscious man by the hair.  "Let's proceed with the experiment."

     In the moonlight her skin resembled the liquid silver from her vampiric transfiguration. Influenced by nature, she considered the one who carried with her a mere insignificant male. So, with a hand behind the back of his head, she lifted him sloppily. As the violent jerk came, he moaned in agony and reopened his eyelids a little disoriented. Rugui kicked him brutally and forced him to kneel with his back rigid.

     "Please!"  Through his whisper the two attackers smelled a wave of cowardice.

     In a supernatural push, which it was possible to hear the dry timbre, the vampire broke his neck. She pulled his head back at an unnatural angle. Compared to her strength, his bones were worth no more to her than withered and rotting branches. It pleased her to watch the torture on her preys. In this case, the downturned head, which hung only by a thin layer of skin, made a good impression. However, what pleased her even more were her last spasms. That image. That bountiful fountain ignited Orsmund from within.

     "Don't even think about approaching!"  She warned him.  "I need to know your resistance!"

     Rugui wet two fingers in the blood. Forefinger and middle, and she ran them over her tongue as she watched Orsmund's behavior. In addition to the change in the color of the eyes and the exposure of the canines, the body initially suffered from slight modifications.

     "On second thought... come here and stay two steps away. Slowly..."

     Without making a sound, the vampire stepped forward. The vampire dipped both hands over the dead flesh. With her fingertips she began to brush across his cheekbone and then down his nose, careful not to touch his upper lip. In response she received a shudder from a compressed growl. Intent on risking further, she placed her soaked palm, directly over his mouth. To patent proof of the quality of the resistance, Orsmund kept his lips pursed. He retracted the canines and returned the greenish hue to the irises. However, it was possible to see how much he struggled to deceive his sense of smell through the tension revealed in his muscles.

     "That's right! You learn fast! I like your ability."  She waved.  "Go, treat yourself if you want. Tomorrow we will meet again. I will reveal my plans to you. I am ready to take risks. I won't waste time on training. No more than I've already lost! I count on your innate disposition. Then, if you succeed in carrying out the task, I'll assign you to, you can be sure that you'll be rewarded! So, we will honor the pact!"  She surmised at the time of farewell.

·

     Another night in which Orsmund was coordinating the architectural plans before the interruption of Rugui. Familiar with their presence, she approached him to feel his long braid. He tilted his affectionate chin and stared into her eyes.

     "What do we have in mind?" He questioned her without picking up his arms from his records.

     "I'll tell you where they imprisoned her."  Enunciated.  "Since The Brothers have a fortification inspired by the pyramids of Egypt... My sister is chained at the top. Weakened."

     "You didn't tell me her name."  He interfered.

     "Tahísa."

     "What else do I need to know?"  Crossed his arms over his chest.

     "There is a creature..."  She walked in a circle.  "With a styrge nature. It was born long before me. It belongs to them! A dedicated servant. One day I was told that it would never be able to survive independently. The Brothers have something that keeps it submissive to them."

     "Have you ever lived with it?"  He frowned.

     "Never!"  She stopped for a moment.  "That's what they were preparing me for. I would be an offering. It is not, properly, a self-controlling creature... it just obeys its owner."  She looked at the great incomplete moon.  "The Brothers educate it by smells so that it recognizes others who belong to the brotherhood or else it would attack anyone who moved in that area."

     "With such long longevity..."  He muttered.  "After I've become what I am, I don't know what I can say anymore..."  He pointed to himself.  "I would say it is impossible for a witch or even another supernatural being to live that long. However, this is not a vampire, right?"