Secrets In The Bones: The Curse of Blood Bay

Forty nine

'Rrrrroooooooaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr.'

A thunderbolt lit the dark like Guy Fawkes's night or the 4th of July. An earth-shattering roar rattled my bones. I bounced upright, lungs clawing as much oxygen in as they could, and my eyelids tore open to a screen of bright red. That roar set off a chorus of them bouncing everywhere, shaking the stone beneath me.

"Was I dead? Had I been dead?"

Questions swam around my mind. I'd been in too many close calls like this, and it had become harder to tell real from reality each time. One thing was for certain: Werewolves were calling, dragging me off the canvas. This time felt different; I felt different. Another part of me was unlocked. My claws were huge; I stood up, feeling taller and more powerful. Every cut healed in the blink of an eye; my veins burnt, but not poison or pain this time. It was like anything the vampires did had burnt out of my system.

'Shit, the vamps, the elder.' I finally remembered what I was supposed to do. No one could be seen. The cave still glittered. Their luminescence rippled through the blood. Which I now saw in fifty shades of red. I waded to get out, head on the swivel. My ears were small satellites searching the darkness. The roars continued, and I had the uncontrollable urge to respond.

'Roooaaaarrrr,'

Emptying everything I had, feeling lighter, sending rumbles around the walls. Death didn't smell far away, allowing me to follow its stink through a dark, narrow tunnel, moving fast. I sought a way out with no time to hang around and smell the roses. I was breaking out onto the open beach. Immediately faced with a vampire wall ready to fight, so was I.

There was no breaking stride; I was finding my friends and ending the nightmare. Many questions remained unanswered; most would have more than an end in bloodshed. The first vampire lashed out, 'Too slow.' I was moving far quicker; my claws shredded the first throat. I ploughed into the next, and blood sprayed through the air and over me. One by one, until six fell. I dropped the last one's heart to the light stones. The night sky was still red but layered in darkness, littered with screams.

I made my way toward the mainland atop the cliffs. The path seemed clear now, and I was breaking into the grass before long. A part of Cruden I hadn't explored, but in the distance, I could see the graveyard and the side of Montague house to my right. To the left, a series of large barns, far behind, ventured into the main part of town, where we found the library and art gallery. Everything could be a vantage point for the blood fuckers. I wanted to head to the B & B first, hoping Ruth had left Skip safe and well. If the Vamps didn't have him, someone did.

I kept close to places I could shield by; the roars had trailed off, and there was no way of telling how many there were, but I was grateful for the alarm call. One glaring detail I had to digest was the likelihood the vampire plan had worked, at least for the elder. While I was out searching, the nemeton was vulnerable, details I couldn't get bogged down by. Could handle only so many problems at once, and a worse evil could wait in the 'bat wings' once I despatched the crusty old bastard and his minions.

I owed him. I fucking owed them all. No ifs or buts. I was going to spill a lot of blood. None of it, mine. That's been done enough already; with the sickly feeling, it was the mix needed in that pool. That was on me and my impatience, thinking I had the elder in my sights, only to be traumatised by the morphing. First to Ellena and then an average Jo vampire. The elder was smart, and I took the bait.

There were footsteps ahead, but no heartbeat. I dashed to a short stack of hay next to a barn. I say short, but at least ten feet high and gave enough for me to hide on if I lay down and waited.

It was uncomfortable but safe, and a small price compared to what I'd just been through. Those footsteps came into view; I knew time was limited, so I went for it. A quick spring, enjoying my new lease on not giving a dam, I flew into a cloaked figure. We crashed along the ground, tumbling over. I went to grab hold, but they disappeared. Vanished without a trace. How was that even possible?