the Vampire and the Assassin

Chapter 35

It's faint, but I hear it just the same. The snap of a twig that no one else hears vibrates through the woods, announcing the coming of something not quite normal. It is proper I will tell myself later. Proper because the woods had been the start of it all, and not surprisingly, will be the end.

My fingertips grow numb, but it isn't because of the cold. The monster inside me threatens to come out right then and there, but I hold her in, willing myself to remain calm despite the mounting fear trickling inside my pores little by little. It's unlike me to be scared, especially considering everything that has happened. I'm scared, but not for myself. I'm scared for my friends, the small amount of humans that still believe in me. Drew, Bryn and even Jen, although our relationship was complicated— I didn't want anything bad to happen but fear tells me something is coming.

We never should have left. I never should have talked them into leaving, but I didn't think we had had a choice. Right now, I doubt everything. They have no idea what is near; I can tell by the conversation.

"Do you think they'll have running water?" Jen side-eyes me, probably thinking I'm judging her. I ignore it, instead keeping my eyes on the trees. The woods seem to get thicker and thicker with every noise amplifying around me.

"Probably not, but better than being dined on, right?" Drew's so practical as of late. He's changed a lot from his playboy comic days.

"But it wasn't really all that bad, was it?" Bryn asked the question, and I feel the pit of my stomach sink. One glance over, and I know guilt is consuming her. Jen and Drew also look her way. For once, Jen has no snarky comment.

"What's going on, Bryn?" I have to say her name, or I won't believe I'm looking at the same rebel that had defied everyone to be my best friend. That girl didn't care how many times Roselyn had been mentioned around town because she didn't care what others thought. She didn't care I was a pariah in elementary school because I told everyone we have to be prepare for what is coming. She's my friend and had been for as long as I can remember.

"I'm sorry." Bryn looks at each of us, her eyes finally landing on mine. "It's the way things are now."

"You've got to be kidding me?" Jen attempts to step forward, but Drew catches her arm.

"He promised no one will get hurt," Bryn states before the numbness overwhelms me.

My eyes dart to Jen and Drew. "They're here." I call upon the ancient beast inside me. I feel her stir as she makes her way to the surface.

"And what do we have here?" His voice is meant to be soothing, but a trace of bitterness cuts me to the core. This man, the leader of vampires with his curly blonde hair and porcelain skin, he's a sight I haven't been able to erase since I'd last seen him. I can tell he's hungry from the looks he gives Bryn and the others, but his gaze never sweeps across my neck. I'm not sure if it's because of Ian or the fact that my eyes blaze a blue so bright he can't bare to see me for what I am. "It's over." As he says those words, his group of guards steps from the thickness of the forest. I count four of them. He smiles then, just to show me his fangs. "You did well." His eyes meet Bryn's. He stretches out his arm to her, and without hesitation she goes and stands by his side like she's his queen and not the blood bank I know her to be.

"Why?" I ask her, the sting from the numbness biting at my very insides.

"We're not in high school anymore. This is what the world is now." Her eyes tear up as if she feels sorry for what she's done, but it's too late now; there's no turning back. "Don't hate me. I had to do it. I'm a survivor." She turns to him then, the vampire all the others felt some type of loyalty to. It disgusts me— the whole hierarchy of their society. The fact they still live by some sort of peasant code but act like they're doing us a favor by drinking our blood and not killing us in the process makes me sick.

"We're dead now because of you," Jen screams as she struggles in Drew's grasp.

"No one is dying tonight," the blonde one says, his voice carrying the sentence with the ease of asking for directions to the local mall. His arm goes around Bryn and she smiles. His eyes center on me, a deep gray— unusual color to say the least. "Calm down before I'm forced to become barbaric." He winks like he's made a joke before turning and handing Bryn over to one of the guards. "Take her back. I'm not done here, and I can't have her getting upset."

"I'm sorry," Bryn mouths as she's led away. All I can think about as I watch our distance grow broader is that I've lost my best friend. She's all I've known for so long. I remember in elementary school when the other kids had called me crazy. Bryn had stood up for me by putting herself between me and our classmates. We'd been inseparable since, but things have changed, and she's a survivor that doesn't want me to be mad.

The pain of her betrayal invades my senses, and it's that very reason he gets close to me. I feel the edge of the blade on my throat before I can take my next breath.

"Normally I would use the fangs that I was born with, but I'm still not quite sure if Ian is under some spell because of what runs through your veins." His voice is warm against my ear as the hand holding the knife grazes the delicate skin of my throat. "Take them back."

"But sir..." The guard to my right starts to question his decision. "Of course," the guard says, quickly realizing his mistake.

"I'll be fine." I say the words, unsure if they're true. I know that look I'm getting from Drew, and I don't need him dying on account of me. "He said no one's dying." I hear him chuckle from behind while I watch the group leave.

"What exactly am I to do with you?" He whispers the words in my ear as if he's speaking to a lover, but then he grabs me by my hair, forcefully yanking me backwards onto the ground. He's on top of me, pressing the knife deeper into my throat. I feel my blood slowly trickle as his eyes lose focus with the appearance of the sticky substance.

"If you kill her, it's over." Watcher Guard's voice feels like salvation, but I'm still unsure what may come of this.

"Of course." My attacker jumps up with vampire speed, pulling me up in the process. "I trust you'll see she gets back safely." He leaves me to Watcher as I struggle to hold myself together.

"Thanks," I manage to say, occupying myself by dusting off my clothes.

"I'm sorry for what's coming."

I stop messing with my clothes. Look up at him. Things are about to get so much worse.