These Streaks of Blood

31

Amelie stumbles backwards until she hits a wall, slamming her back against it so hard that it makes an imprint. Her screams echo throughout the cavernous room, but there aren't many words to be made out; 'Amer' definitely comes up a few times; 'No', as well. Other than that, Amelie can't seem to form coherent thoughts.

Though he doesn't feel bad about what they did, Daniel understands where the girl's senseless shrieks come from; all she had was her brother, her twin, her other half. Now, he's gone.

Amelie curls her hands into her hair, tugging at it, her face streaked with dirt and tears. She's a mess, losing her mind, staring at her brother's unmoving body. Dan doesn't know how long they have until she builds up enough lucidity to realize that they're all still here, that they're the ones who killed Amer.

Dan isn't willing to let his gaze leave Amelie, but he notices Ryffin go to Natalee from the corner of his eye. Ryffin says something, and some sort of fog materializes around his feet. A few seconds later, the ropes binding Natalee's wrists and ankles are broken. She looks up at Ryffin, clearly about to say something, but he turns away too soon. Though Dan isn't disappointed, he's still confused... that is, until Ryffin walks up to him.

"I'm going to bind her. We won't have a chance to once she's coherent, and we certainly won't be able to kill her unless she's chained. She has powers that are impossible to contest when she's stable enough to use them. This is our only chance," he says to Dan, and the younger vampire nods.

"Don't you think she's going to fight you?" he asks.

Ryffin glances in Amelie's direction. Her screams have seemed to intensify in volume. Her eyes still haven't left Amer, still haven't processed anything else going on around her. But then again, it hasn't been more than two minutes; everything is just happening so fast.

"Probably. But not well; she's in too much pain to focus on any sort of technique."

Dan nods. "Do it, then."

Ryffin walks away, towards the berserk vampire. Natalee walks up beside Daniel, and her face falls as Ryffin leaves without even noticing that she had come up to talk to him. He's ignoring her, or at least, hasn't spoken directly to her. It obviously hurts Natalee to realize this, but Dan is pleased, if a little lost. Though he and Ryffin had formed a sort of team for this venture, that still doesn't mean he likes the guy. Now they found Natalee, and Ryffin hasn't talked to her, hasn't acted on any feelings he might have. It gives Dan hope that maybe he is not as crazy about Natalee as Dan has always thought. Maybe Natalee won't subject herself to being with this bastard after all.

As Ryffin reaches Amelie, the girl hisses. She pushes herself harder against the wall, growling and kicking in his direction. Ryffin isn't bothered; he simply grabs one of her ankles as a kick shoots towards him and uses it to pull Amelie off her feet. She shrieks, though it isn't out of place at all amidst the rest of her cries. When she hits the floor, Ryffin grabs the other ankle without hesitation.

He must mutter something, because the smoke comes back. It creeps across the room, flowing around Natalee's broken ropes that still lie where they had dropped to the floor. The ropes begin to move towards Ryffin and Amelie, and upon reaching them, wrap themselves around the girl's calves and torso, pinning her arms to her sides. The smoke remains until the ropes seem to reattach themselves, becoming whole again.

Amelie just lies on the floor and screams, her body heaving with uncontrollable sobs. She gasps out her brother's name a few more times, tossing her head back and forth. Ryffin picks her up and abruptly leaves the room. Dan glances at Natalee, and she looks like she understands more than he does where Ryffin is headed. Dan doesn't care, honestly. The hard part seems to be done, though it seemed easier than it should have been. He guesses they should just count themselves lucky that Amelie fell into shock rather than immediately becoming lethal.