Vampire: The Masquerade - Hope Chronicle

Chapter III - PART 2

Jenna woke up inside of a driving car. As she was regaining consciousness, she could make out the green surroundings of a hillside forest behind the window. It was somewhere around Hope Mountain; she was sure of that. Jenna looked around herself, sitting alone in the back seat. Umbra and the beast were silent. She was driving, when the beast was licking its wounds beside her. Jenna looked through the window again and noticed for the first time the panorama of Hope. The landscape of flames everywhere, consuming the entire town, was brightening up the pitch black night. It suddenly grounded Jenna in reality, as she remembered what happened before she blacked out. It was hard to believe what happened to Marlo. The same grief that occupied her when her father died, when Riley and Dan went missing. Now the same happened to Marlo. It was a pileup of so many bad and stagnant emotions Jenna knew she had to break it somehow. Now, as she was pinned down, tied up in the back of the car, she gathered as much determination as she could to do something. She remembered hiding a pocket knife in her trousers. Jenna pulled it out and, trying to look like she's still asleep and sluggishly tried to cut the rope tying her hands behind her back.

-Hey! Human! - the beast turned around, looking at Jenna. - Mistress! She awoke.

Umbra looked at her in the rear mirror. - What is she doing?! - she asked the beast who was looking at Jenna as her arms were shaking.

-Nothing! It's just... uncomfortable. - Jenna, scared, replied with a voice that deeply confirmed that she was doing something. Fear was slowly taking over her body, but she finally managed to cut the rope and her arms stayed still as she faked having them still tied up.

-Nothing. - the beast confirmed with his growly voice. - I just probably tied you badly. Sorry. I'm awful at those things. - it said, as suddenly from the forest hill behind the left window a huge flesh monstrosity emerged, rolling down the hill and crashing into the front side of their car. They spinned around two times, landing on a tree on the side of the road. The flesh monster stopped rolling in the center of the road, covered in bleeding wounds, holding Harry in his hand. They both dropped on the black asphalt, unable to fight as in the car barely conscious Jenna opened the door and mindlessly ran up the forest hill which the monster and Harry came from. The adrenaline rushing through their veins in that moment made her run as fast as she could. The path that the monster's huge body made was easier to climb with all the trees lying around.

-Go after her! - Umbra shouted to her minion walking out of the car. Wounded and shocked, the beast, like an animal, ran after Jenna climbing up the forest hill on all fours. It was rapidly catching up with her, but this time, she couldn't let it win. They were going up quickly when Jenna suddenly tripped on one of the lying logs. The beast was just a few meters behind her as she lay on the ground. Jenna knew she needed to act. Taking up a smaller log in her hands she raised it with all her power impaling the fast-running beast, piercing the thick, sharp-ended branch through his wide-open mouth, going all the way through his skull and brain, and with that killing him on the spot. As Jenna stood up frightened and started running up the hill again, the log lowered to the ground, leaving the beast falling down the hill they just climbed. Umbra, seeing her minion fail, became furious. She walked up to Harry, who was lying near the flesh monster's lifeless corpse.

-Umbra? - he noticed her opening his eyes. - You treacherous bitch...

-Yeah, somebody called me that already... - she kicked him in the head, leaving him lying unconscious in the middle of the road.

-This is going to be so much fun... - she raised above the ground, disappearing between the crowns of the trees following Jenna to the place it all began in.

Jenna ran up to the cave entrance as fast as she could. Instantly, when she noticed the horror of all the bodies scattered around, the adrenaline rush slowed down and the fear set in again. At this point, there was no other way than to keep going regardless of its presence. At the entrance itself, Darla was lying, not able to move just yet. She noticed Jenna approaching.