Just One Bite »ᴄɵᴍᴘᴌᴇтᴇ«

FORTY-TWO

FORTY-TWO

As soon as Ashley stood, the room went silent. Looking out the window showed that some of her vampyre's were still digging the tunnel. She'd asked them what they were doing earlier, they'd told her that Maize Darun had asked them to connect lakes and rivers and to make the end point here. All Ashley had replied with was a smile. Maize had finally stopped running.

But it wasn't the digging she was listening to. Humans were heading for the hotel. And if she was right, there were forty-two of them making there way through the maze of trees at the back of the hotel. Ravin appeared by her side, looking out the same window. Then Damon came over as though he'd suddenly heard them as well. Ashley wouldn't be surprised. Originals had got their hearing from the angels so of course, Damon had the same type of hearing as them. Or better.

"I can hear heartbeats," came from Damon in a quiet voice, as though if he spoke any louder the humans would hear him. "But it's different to theirs." He pointed at the dracan in the room at the last.

And he was right. The dracan hearts held two quick beats before a slow, blood filled pause. Thud-thud-humm thud-thud-humm. The humans had a thud-thud-thud, over and over again.

"Humans," Ashley explained to him.

As the first human came into view. Ashley knew why they were here. She snarled. "The angels have decided to start playing games."

"So it seems," Ravin replied with this thunder voice echoing the snarl Ashley's voice had held.

The humans looked like they usually did. But there was one difference that told Ashley the angels had possessed them. Their eyes. Completely black and dead. They were tools now, not humans. Vessels for the angels to commit harm without too many questions from the other humans around.

Exiting the hotel, Ashley hoped that Damon didn't follow. Unfortunately he tried, until Spirit told him to wait inside. Ashley would have snarled at the leader of her Brotherhood if she hadn't agreed with him.

Possessed humans were stronger than the average human, almost as strong as a vampyre. But that wasn't what worried Ashley, where was the angel that had possessed the humans? She couldn't sense the angel. And through the link she shared with Ravin, she knew he didn't either. But he was here. The humans were too directed for him to not be.

As more humans came into view, Ashley recognised several. Willow with her brown pigtails, Lizzie with her scar, Matt with his brown hair, and Dane with his blond-brown streaked hair. The other thirty-eight she didn't recognise.

"Ashley?" Damon's sudden use of telepathy startled Ashley. She'd never heard his mental voice before. But thanks to her mark on his neck, she could.

"Yes, Damon?"

"Don't kill them."

Ashley turned back to face Damon who stood on the other side of the glass. "Your friends are possessed Damon."

"So I'll unpossess them."

"And if you can't?"

Damon stared at her with strong silver-blue eyes. "At least I'd have tried."

Sighing, Ashley turned back to face the humans who were coming at them at a run. No... they were all running at her. So the angels knew that she'd bound them all to her. Glancing at Ravin, Ashley spoke. "Kill them but don't kill these four."

With the link that was now between them, Ashley sent him an image of–

Sparrow interrupted her with an image of one of the humans. And Ashley knew by the feel of the image that Sparrow had just found his mate among the possessed humans. And so, hoping Damon would be able to unpossess them, Ashley showed Ravin an image of Willow, Lizzie, Dane, Matt, and the unknown human female.