Burning Souls (F.T Sequel)

Twenty-Nine

"Shhh," I whisper, beginning to bring the tip of the half empty bottle of blood back from Alice's eager lips. "Not so fast. It's all about control, Al, all about con-"

Her fingers dig into my wrist and I wince as she brings the bottle back, swallowing the rest of its contents in one, big gulp. I frown and throw it onto the ground of the quaint taint with uncontained annoyance, rising up from the small cot. Chase lifts his head from the other side of the tent and regards me questioningly. "This isn't working," I declare stiffly. Alice's wild, red eyes dart between her soulmate and I hungrily, scanning our every movement down to the bat of our eyelashes. Chase runs a shaky hand through his tousled hair, straining to stay still as worry practically eats him alive. He hasn't done anything else but watching over my sister and staying by her side since she Turned fully. Adapting isn't going very well, to say the least.

"Emma?" I turn around as Hunter's head pokes inside the tent. His eyes land on the empty bottle on the ground and then on a bewildered Alice in the corner, and his jaw clicks. "Are you ready?" He asks me. I sigh but nod, taking his outstretched hand and letting him guide me outside. The setting sun has now formed a blanket of burnt orange over the looming treetops, and I watch the shadows by our sides as we walk towards a clearing that's separate from the camp. There is no sound except for the crunching of the dead leaves underneath our footsteps. I feel Hunter's strong arms snake around the front of my waist when I suddenly lunge forwards, fangs bared in rage.

"Let- go of me!" I scream, struggling in his hold as he lifts my body off the ground. "I'll kill him!" I continue, battling with an invisible force in the air. Dominic has the audacity to chuckle as Hunter slowly sets me back down on my feet, scanning my face with worry that I might try attack again. I stare at him with disbelief, fury clouding my vision in red. "This is when you're supposed to say: 'not if I kill him first," I continue. Hunter stares at me and cups my face in his hands.

"Trust me, this is hard for me too, but just listen to him."

"In his defence," Dominic butts in before I can scold Hunter, "He did try to kill me before I told him about my master plan." I spin around to face Dominic and take a step forwards.

"You better start talking or-"

"Don't bother with your threats," Dominic cuts me off, which only spikes my annoyance.

"You're the reason that Julia's imprisoned right now! You're the reason that she's going to die!"

"SHE WON'T DIE!" He suddenly roars, his face completely red with anger. I take a step back and my eyes widen as his flash an undeniable crimson red. I feel Hunter's protective presence behind me in a second. Dominic's pale skin regains its usual colour and he coughs once, folding and unfolding his hands in front of him. He actually looks nervous. Dominic is nervous. "As I was saying, you need to keep an open mind, or else this won't work."

"Fine," I conclude, "Start talking."

"Oh no," he shakes his head, looking directly into my eyes, "I mean, you literally need to open your mind."

That's the only warning that I get before the familiar, agonising stab of flames licks away at my head, setting my mind on fire as Dominic forces his memories into it. I fall backwards and into Hunter's arms that immediately wrap around me like a protective shield. But they can't shield me from this.

Blood. So, so much blood. I'm looking through Dominic's eyes who's seated on his knees in a grassy field. Sobs fall from my lips and a strand of ice-blond hair falls over my eyes. The sun reigns high in the sky, a complete contrast to the thunder-like feelings that are tumbling around inside of me. They're dead, they're dead, they're dead-