Torn Asunder

Chapter 16 Dante

A/N: This story is wrapping up soon. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, I could stretch it out for a lot longer, but I don't want the story to drag on. I think there's about 4 or 5 chapters left. We shall see :D

This chapter is going to have some uncomfortably graphic content. I'll mark off the area for people who really don't like squick.

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Nothing felt real as I watched the light fade out of Luka's eyes. The tall man fell to his knees and his body slumped to the floor, an ever widening pool of blood congealing to the floor under his corpse. The gun in his hand clattered to the floor as the rest of time caught up with my shock and the room erupted into action again. We were beaten, caught, captured and shackled. Luka’s body wasn’t even left in peace, instead they collected the man’s cooling corpse and brought it along with us.

As much as I hated Salvatore and his Mercy, I had to begrudgingly give the man credit for being smarter than wet paint. He separated us immediately, ensuring that even if I were to come up with a dastardly brilliant escape plan, I’d be abandoning my friends to their fate. Of course, since these weren’t actually MY friends, but instead my Valentine’s friends, I could care less. However, she would not kindly take it if I were to just ditch them. Of course, considering the fact that I had a hunting knife still imbedded in my chest, I didn’t figure I’d be going anywhere right now. The bleeding body I wore was dumped in the back of a van and I was strapped into a stretcher as if I could actually pose a threat right now.

The moment the Mecy was sure I was secured, they tore the knife out of my chest, cut my shirt away and proceeded to perform amateur surgery in the back of a quickly moving van. I'd say colour me impressed except that I was currently coloured red. I was also starting to really wonder why I wasn't dead yet. Not that I wasn't grateful but the body I was wearing was still mortal, still fragile. And that had been a massive freaking peace of metal rammed into my chest not ten minutes ago and I shouldn't be alive. But this strange rope of strength chilled my core and stole the pain away, leaving in it's place a strange sense of regeneration. It wasn't quick, but even as I felt them try to wipe off all the blood to stitch my chest closed, the flesh was crawling closer together. My body, my Valentine's body, was healing itself and that made no sense. When I gasped for breath I realized I didn't need to breathe anymore and my heartbeat had slowed greatly. But I wasn't dying; in fact I knew this sensation, it felt like being a vampire. I hadn't realized that my Valentine could do this, could leech my vampirism like this. It had stuck with my body, back in India and with my Valentine and I had assumed that all the perks of it were locked there too. This gave me hope, I could be stronger, faster and harder to kill than even Salvatore was and that meant I could get the fuck out of here.

Screw loyalty to the others, the moment I felt the needle pierce the flesh I wore, I swore I would get out of this and back to my Valentine at all costs. Then we would get our bodies sorted out properly and she would be my first Childe to Turn. It would take a long time before either of us was anywhere near over this but I planned to give us forever to get back to how we should be. My vision was blacking out but I wasn't worried, I somehow knew that the body I wore was just shutting down unneccessary functions to put energy into surviving. I was passing out, but I would wake up far stronger than they would expect me to be.

I was in my dreamscape again, only this time there was no Valentine to offer support and comfort, or distraction. It was seriously fucking eerie to be standing alone in the middle of an abandoned carnival. I had never been afraid of clowns or the one to flinch in the haunted houses, no that had always been my sweet, clumsy Valentine. But standing here alone, I felt unbearably exposed. At least I wore my flesh here, I once again stood looking down at a masculine body and it offered a strange conflict of relief and disappointment. So I did what I always do when I don't understand my emotions; I ignored them and focused on the area around me. I could see the Ferris wheel in the distance, partially blocked by a show tent. The sign out front was a display for all the freak shows contained inside.