River of Red

XXXIII

Metal, ash, and debris fell from the sky like mutated rain.
Screams, moans, and painful grunts echoed through the shredded cabin. The pain in my body was comparable to that of being hit by a car. Cuts sting the edges of my body, but the unseen parts screamed with a deep fury.

I didn't know how extensive the damage to my body was, I did notice a metallic, familiar scent which permeated the air. It was held stagnant, the sickly smell, but it tugged at the deepest recesses of my mind, the pungent odor bringing the deepest and most feral of my thoughts to the surface.

Hunger.

My shredded stomach growled, the flesh slowly knitting itself back together, but not fast enough if I wanted to live.
I cranked my neck to the room opposite mine, where a woman lay, open eyes glassy and unseeing.

The human part of my brain registered the fact that she was holding a baby.

And the baby's head was crushed under a rogue metal slab.

I paid no mind to the baby as I pushed my body out of the seat, which was soaked to the bone with blood.

My blood.

My canines extended into sharp points, the red rivers that flooded from the metal in her neck drew my eyes like a magnet. I let out a groan when my lips met her still, warm skin. I felt slightly less guilty that she was already dead, but I couldn't help but feel a teeny bit guilty for eating her, dead or no.

I bit down hard, the blood that flooded into my mouth a heady release. Blood that wasn't my own mingled with the blood on my clothes. I gulped and gulped, until my stomach felt like it would burst, from being full, not being cut.

My skin was once more than, flawless, and virtually scar free, no open wounds in sight. Gravel's tiny heartbeat was frantic against my chest, not wanting to get blood on him, I simply whispered to him that he could come out soon.

A thought nagged at my shattered mind, Domitius.

My eyes scraped over the wreckage: over people that had once held life, but life abandoned them. I stumbled through the rubble, breath coming in quick succession.

"Domitius!" My voice was more quiet than the wind that pounded through the plane. I picked my chapped lips and tried again.

"Domitius!" My voice was louder, but only just so.

I heard nothing in response.

My legs shuffled to the gaping hole in the aircraft. Five strips of metal torn off in perfect lines, as though a God himself had clawed the plane out of the sky.

That idea didn't seem so out of place.

I looked at the ground, maybe eight feet below, and jumped from the plane. I landed on the soft, pasture smoothly. The soft, cow-eaten grass felt heavenly under my hand. I mentally shook myself, until had to find Domitius.

I walked over the grass, and realized the ground was riddled with people, alive people. Groans and whimpers reverberated through the gusty wind. I wondered how they got there, but my question was soon answered when I noticed a man bent over a small girl. I let out a relieved breath. , but noticed something was amiss.

I looked to his dark shirt, dark pants, but realized that his back wasn't as well muscled, and his hair not quite as dark. I realized who it was.

Nolan.

I stifled a gasp, but a tiny sound escaped. He swung around, his own beautiful blue eyes met mine. A broad smile slid across his features.

"Hello, love." His voice was like ice water, cool and collected. He stood, leaving the little girl whimpering on the ground in pain. He took a step toward me, and I took a step back.

"Stop. I know who you are." I stated, my voice had the slightest shake. A laugh crawled out of his throat, like a beast trying to escape.

"You know nothing."

I looked straight into his eyes. "I know that you are the moon."

He laughed, the sound echoing off the rolling hills.

"You got it all wrong, love." He said, his voice low.

He walked right up to me, and I let him. With my chin jutted up, my eyes slitted and feirce, I met his eyes. He stood not two feet away, his anger rolling off in waves.

"Your wrong," I told him, "I know I'm right."

His eyes took a downcast shade, the irises blackened in the dark.

"I'm sorry, love, but I am the moon, and you cannot win."

He leapt at me, fangs ablaze. I jumped out of his reach just as fast, his nails just grazing my shoulder. A black blur rammed into Nolan from the side, and I caught a pair of infamous black eyes.

They snarled, ripped, and pulled. This time, though, it seemed that Nolan had the upper hand. I watched, frozen in fear, as Nolan pinned Domitius on the ground, one hand pulling his hair, the other pushing his neck.

He was trying to sever his head.

"So, Neavius, " Domitius said, his voice strained and wheezy, "what is the meaning of this?"

Nolan laughed, "Well, brother, as you know of the prophecy, I have learned your part in the play." His voice was casual, as of they were talking over a meal.

Domitius scooted one hand toward a wicked piece of metal.

"Oh? Yes? Please, fill me in?" He replied easily.

Nolan pushed harder on his head, to where some parts of his soft hair pulled out. I willed myself to move, to defend Domitius, but my legs suddenly couldn't hold me.

I crumpled to the ground in a heap.

I looked to where four claws had sliced my shoulder, and was surprised to see they hadn't healed, instead, they grew larger, red and purple liquids oozed from the cuts. I looked on, confused, but a hammer suddenly slammed into my skull.

I wheezed in air, my lungs not working.

I looked to where Domitius lay, but instead of him under Nolan, Nolan was now under him.

"What did you do to her!" He snarled.

White noise rang in my ears, black spots danced in my vision.

I heard a lighthearted chuckle, "She's one to lead all supernatural to hell, you are helping her along. You were supposed to be by my side brother, not hers! By the time I got to you, her claws were already sunk too deep." He laughed again, "I did the only thing I could do: kill her."

I heard a pop, the rush of liquid, and silence.

"Dove?" A voice sounded over the voice. My vision swam in and out. I saw a handful of thick, black hair, pale skin, and a scar.

I barely felt his hand on my cheek, the softness of his touch, the kiss on my lips.

"Dove?" He asked again, his voice pleading and frantic, "Katrina?"

I tried to move my head to his touch, but I could not.

Sirens wailed somewhere in the distance.

My vision went black.

Forever.