Veritas

Chapter 44

With her unconscious gasp, Aislinn was brought back to consciousness. She couldn't help but let a groan escape her, the pain of her injuries resurfacing. A wicked laugh, a crash and an angry roar caught her attention, though, pushing her pain to the back of her mind.

A half-shifted werewolf was before her, and she could tell it was the drunkard. He was covered from head-to-toe in blonde fur, his legs and arms were still those of a human; but, with paws for hands and feet. His face had an elongated muzzle, and his fangs were visible when he opened his mouth to let out another roar of pain.

Taking in the scene and sounds as she tried to get her bearings, Aislinn realized the drunkard was in trouble. She didn't understand why he wouldn't fully shift, even if in pain; so, she had to assume something was wrong. Additionally, it appeared that someone had crashed through the bar counter and splintered the wood into pieces. One of these pieces was now pierced through the abdomen of her ally, who was on the floor in a growing pool of his own blood.

Realizing that he was in desperate need of help, Aislinn clumsily got to her feet and caught the attention of the vampire.

"Ah, the spunky one is awake!" He declared with another cruel laugh. "The drunk was getting boring. Come, let's play, show me your wolf" he taunted.

Aislinn glared at him, hoping desperately that the elements dream wasn't just a concussion-induced dream. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine the fire, picture the way it protected her and fought with the lightning. She held her hand out, thinking perhaps she could will it to appear there.

And got nothing. No fire. Just an annoyed scoff from the vampire who punched her across the face.

Having been focused on her attempts to use the fire, she was taken entirely by surprise with the punch and stumbled to the side. She looked up at the vampire in a panic, deciding it must have been a dream and she was in trouble.

"I said, show me your wolf" the vampire insisted, clearly struggling to contain his anger at being ignored.

"I don't have a wolf, I'm fifteen" Aislinn spat back at him, along with some of the blood filling her mouth from his punch.

"Huh...That's disappointing. You have good reflexes for a wolf without a wolf" he snorted. "Not common for a kid to be able to follow a vampire's movements...A shame I didn't get to see you at your best" he lamented, before sending Aislinn sailing backwards with a quick uppercut.

Despite his compliment, she was unable to follow his motion this time, and therefore unable to attempt any form of defensive movement. She took the uppercut fully, her head snapping back, feet lifting from the floor as she was sent back to slam into the drunkard. Landing hard, she let out a cry of pain as the various injuries to her body came to life.

Beneath her, the drunkard let out a quiet groan of pain; but, he seemed to have given up on fighting the vampire. It was as if he'd accepted his death, and was shifting back to his human form little by little.

"Don't give up!" Aislinn urged him.

In response, the drunkard merely shifted his tired, glassy eyes to Aislinn. The two stared at each other, one with no will to continue, the other losing capacity to. Aislinn's hopes for the man to work with her were dashed when his eyes rolled back in his head, and his eyelids fluttered shut.

"I think he gave up" the vampire said with a laugh. He then grabbed Aislinn by the throat and lifted her off the ground so he could stare into her eyes. The male body she was inhabiting was tall, and muscular; but, the vampire held her up easily with one hand, in spite of being smaller and shorter than her.

Dangling by her neck, with her wind cut off, Aislinn grabbed at his hand and began clawing at it in a futile attempt to make him release her.

"That's not nice" he said in a mock-chastising tone. He used his free hand to grab her left hand, snapping it back swiftly to break her wrist.

Aislinn let out a strangled cry of pain, kicking her feet at the vampire now. Anything to try to fight her way free; however, she knew time was running out. He held her there as she choked, her face shifting through the shades between red and purple while her kicks became weaker.

"You know..." the vampire whispered conspiratorially. "I love this part...Watching the life leave the eyes of my prey. I might just let you go when you're on the brink of death, and play with you a little more...What do you think?"

When Aislinn offered no answer, he shook her a little, lighting up her painful injuries. Still, realizing he wanted a reaction, she didn't cry out or make any sound of reply.

He scoffed at her, and narrowed his eyes. "That's okay...How about this? I'll just tell you what I'm going to do when I find your friends, then. You know, all the wee kiddies hiding out in those safe houses. That'll be fun...The screams. The tears. See, we like to keep the women and children alive. You're no good for blood; but, the women are good for fuckin', and while it ain't my way, some of the folks like the little ones for it, too. Otherwise, they're good for breaking and keeping as slaves, right? So I get to break them, legs and arms, and make them watch as I filet the skin off their protectors. Hear their screams of fear when I sacrifice one of the children to terrorize the others, and—"

But he didn't get to finish.

The more he spoke, the angrier Aislinn became. As if her rage was the spark to light the fire, it bloomed in her chest like a flower, and each petal blossomed out into her limbs and her head. She felt the warmth of it coursing through her, awakening, and breathing fresh life into her. She reached out with her good hand, pressing it against his face, causing him to pause his words.

And then she ended them forever, because aside from screams as his head began to burn from the inside out, he never uttered another word. He dropped Aislinn, allowing her to desperately suck in air to her burning lungs. She didn't pay attention to his final sounds, as they were merely the soft thuddings of his limbs hitting the floor after his core burnt to ash.

With no body, and no head for them to return to, his limbs turned to piles of dust that surrounded Aislinn as she caught her breath.