Realm of the Rogues

Chapter - LXXXIII

- - [POV: Dom] - -

A few moments earlier

I lay on the floor, gasping for air and trying to regain control over my body, as the precious drops of Athena's blood start to revitalise my body. The nourishment she gave me triggers my healing process, granting my own blood to overpower the foul and rancid blood, that Slayer has been pumping into my veins for hours. I almost want to rip open my arms to quicken the process. The thought of that blood being in my veins makes my entire body crawl and squirm, making me have to fight down my urge to vomit.

I pull myself up onto my knees while I hear Slayer taunt Athena. I have to kill him. I won't let him think, that he has broken me. I pull my feet under me and rise on shaky legs.

"You'll pay for that, you bitch!" I hear Slayer yell and then a horrible crunching sound, as he's either beating or stomping her. Even in this void darkness, I see red, as the disgusting feeling in my body is tuned out and I lock in on my new objective; killing Slayer.

I follow the sound of his heavy breathing as I practically teleport up behind him. I shoot out my hand, wrapping it over his head and hooking my fingers into the upper edge of his eyesockets, before yanking him backwards with such ferocity, that his entire body is airborne for a moment before he impacts skull first with the stone floor.

For a moment he is completely silent, and then he lets out an unnerving scream, partly in pain and partly as a battle cry. I won't let him stand, I'm going to make him submit and cower beneath me, as he wanted me to do. I'm going to make him pay for what he did to me, and my parents.

I start stomping down on his face, feeling bones break and bend at every step. As he starts to make gurgling sounds, he wraps his hands around my ankle, trying to make me lose my footing. I won't let him. I bend down and grab his wrists, my foot still firmly in his face, before pulling myself upright, and his arms with me. He screams into the sole of my shoe, as his shoulders and elbows pop out of their sockets in a satisfying wet noise. 

I let go and his arms fall to the ground with a loud thud. Even though I know they will heal quickly, I feel satisfaction as he moans and squirms under me. I want to drag this out, so I let him squirm for a moment, as I find Athena lying up against a wall. I find her arms and help her up.

"My nose," she says with pain in her voice. I feel my way up to her nose. It must be broken from the way it's bent. I grab on either side of it with two fingers, making Athena dig her finger into my arm to brace for the pain. I've done this many times before, so in a quick motion I press and twist, but to my surprise, nothing happens. Almost as if it has already healed in this bent position. 

I furrow my brows and shake my head in confusion. It couldn't have, unless she's she's a vampire. No, probably not, maybe it's just something to do with her being a banshee. I'll ask her later. For now, it's too dangerous for her here, and I don't want her witnessing the thing I have in store for Slayer.

I grab her and pull her towards the door before yanking it open. I quickly look down each side of the hall. Far down the left, I spot Farlan, Alasdair and Isobel in the midst of fighting a couple of vampires. They seem to be doing alright, so I look back at Athena, about to send her down to them. For a moment, I'm stunned as I see her in the dim light. She's stunning, almost glowing. I don't remember her being this breathtaking. This means she must have turned. 

I battle between being mad that I didn't get the pleasure of turning her, to being stunned as I realize how much pain she must be in right now, only having had a couple of days since she must have been bit. Then I feel simultaneously honoured and ashamed, as I realize she must have done this to save me, and that I haven't been there for her when she needed me.

My thoughts are cut short, as she's suddenly yanked out of my hands and back into the pitch-dark room. Before I have time to comprehend, Slayer's terrifying figure steps out of the void and towards me. His face is completely covered in blood and disfigured, making his eyes only seem that much more soulless and petrifying. I think he has a self-indulgent and hungry smile playing on his lips, but it's hard to tell from the damage. It was a lot easier to hurt him in the darkness, as his horrifying eyes couldn't make me freeze, as they do now.

"Not so cocky anymore?" he mocks as he takes slow steps towards me. I start to inch back towards the wall before catching myself and stopping. I won't let him break me! I scream in my mind, as I lunge towards him. He evades my attack, before slamming the door to the room shut behind me, him on the other side.

"Can't wait to break the both of you!" he yells at me through the closed door. I can't believe he fooled me like this. I let out a frustrated scream, as I begin to pound on the door and try to force it open, by running into it with my shoulder first. 

"Let me try," Athena says from behind me, so I take a step back. Maybe she'll have greater success, being newly turned and all. In one powerful motion, she delivers an impressive kick to the door, making it fly with the doorframe out of the wall, and colliding with the one on the other side. A big cloud of dust erupts, as the bones and skulls behind it explode. I give Athena an impressed look. She herself looks proud but also surprised by her own power.

"Let's go get him," I say, and Athena nods in response before we walk out into the hall.