Fade Into Black - Shadows of the Night 5

Chapter 46

Hi,

I've got a question for you this time and it concerns the last few chapters. In the light of recent events, is what Anna's doing right or wrong? Is there even a "right" or "wrong"? Let me know what you think.  ;-)

Lara

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Chapter 46

Something in Andy's face changed and he shook his head.

Ah, yes. Andy would go in there, were he alone. But he was hesitant because he was afraid for her life. He wanted to go in alone. Without her.

What a waste. What an inconsistency.

She turned her head back to building. She should have done this alone.

Her old life. She could carry it to the grave without regret and walk that line like a devoted soldier. Survival, no matter the cost was her coveted price. No looking back. No regrets. No fear. The axis on which the whole world spun was after all power.

She scanned the old, broken down cinema, restless. Abandoned as the Red Zone seemed, there were whole worlds of power, there for the taking. Even here Spirit was potent. All she had to do was reach out.

How could she have missed it all that time, even back then when she was still tethered down by elemental magic alone? The tips of her fingertips were aching for power. Power she hadn't used for so long.

Invisible ribbons of dark magic swirled through the streets, moved by an eerie undercurrent she couldn't even begin to fathom. If she raised her arm high up in the air she could just grab them.

She licked her lips. She wanted to use the magic. She felt she might die if she didn't.

Andy grabbed her arm, squeezing. She blinked, clawed herself out of the vision of her using the power offered. His eyes were questioning, a silent question mark.

She shook herself mentally. She would use Spirit. Soon.

She pointed to the building mutely and started walking, not waiting for his consent. She had made up her mind long ago. If talking to Fabrice would bring her one step closer to the truth, she would do it, no matter the risk.

Knowing why and how she became what she was now was her first priority. Only in understanding it, she could figure out who her remaining enemies were and learn more about their goals.

Only in understanding one's enemy, you could defeat him. Only in understanding the powers offered, could she master them. And survive.

She sensed Andy behind her before he overtook her. His jaw was set in stone, as if he was angered by her having made a decision he would have taken all along, had he come here alone. Foolish, to be distracted and tethered down by emotions.

She concentrated on the faded, crumbling steps as they approached the old entrance. They would enter the cinema from here. If the vamps left before they reached them, the chase could turn out to be tough, perhaps impossible. Even with all her power she couldn't move as fast as a vampire.

But she was betting on the vamps' cockiness, on their curiosity and sense of superiority. Five vampires against two witches – a no brainer for any vamp over a century old. It was a risk she was willing to take.

The broken doors hung at a weird angle – a crooked finger that might have invited them in. The red carpet was faded and torn in places. Mold crawled along the walls, a silent witness to the passage of time that, slowly, but surely, was eating away the building's substance.