** A young woman sees a walking dead in the open streets of Whitby. A train full of corpses crashes into Kings Cross. In an Asylum, a gruesome nightmare becomes horrible reality.
All this should have been a warning to Kyle and his partner Benjamin...
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"Tekis, értéktelen patkány!" (1*) it growled at them. The honey and sweet sound had disappeared. All that remained was the devastating hum that preceded the painful sting. The vampire pulled back her lips, revealing her yellowish rows of razor-sharp fangs. Then the beast spun around at breathtaking speed and lunged at the girl like a wild animal.
With a scream, Millicent fell backwards to the ground and, in a quick reflex, threw her arms up. Her screams mingled with the vampire's wild, shrill laughter as she reached for the soft flesh with her sharp claws.
"Millicent!"
Sharp thorns from the bush pierced Kaylee's clothes as she quickly scrambled to her feet, tearing at the fabric like dry fingers trying to hold the seeker back. Stinging and pinching, the thorns left minor wounds and scratches in her flesh. The fabric tore with a rip as the threads gave way to the thorny branch. For a brief second, this drew her gaze to the bleeding spot that had become visible through the tear in her sleeve.
The image of the vampire flickered before her eyes: How she had snarled as she crept around the bush. Kaylee's eyes took in the thorns, the leaves, and their shape: multi-lobed and deeply cut, with striking red berries. Black words suddenly flashed across the white pages of a book in her mind. Sentences like "According to folklore, this plant drives away evil spirits" or "According to ancient legends, the bushes and trees mark fairy mounds" flashed through her mind. Then it dawned on her.
"Hawthorn," Kaylee gasped. At that moment, she had an idea of how they might defeat these damned revenants.
In one jerky movement, the seeker spun around. The brown-haired beast lunged at poor Millicent, who lay beneath her, screaming and crying, unable to do anything but defend herself with her bare hands against this overwhelming creature. The terrible scene was reminiscent of a horror story whispered on cold winter nights.
Claws tore through flesh, and red blood mixed with the pattering rain as the sharp claws cut through clothing and skin like paper, leaving torn wounds behind.
"Kaylee! Do something!" yelled Ben, sliding down the slope. He was limping more than he was running, as his leg was injured.
In his left hand, the soldier held the walking stick Kyle had lost.
"Archer, throw it!" Kaylee yelled at Ben as he charged straight at the brown-haired vampire. "Are you deaf? Throw me the damn stick!"
Ben looked at her in confusion for a second, then nodded. Even though he didn't understand what Kaylee wanted him to do, the Seeker did as he was told. In moments like these, they had to trust each other and not question. They didn't have time for that. It was a matter of trust, which couldn't be taken for granted.
But now and here, it wasn't just their own lives at stake. Obviously, there was more to all these incidents than a randomly spotted revenant. Millicent knew something. She was the Seekers' only lead and their only chance. She couldn't die!
