The Vampire's Bride

Chapter 24

Possibly triggering content ahead

So damn cold...

Iris slumped against a tree, shivering. The jacket wasn't helping any against the new frost that now coated everything. She gripped the fabric and pulled it tighter around her, giving a muffled sob.

It had been an accident.

It had been an accident.

Iris fell into the snow and completely broke. The look in Jason's eyes had made her blood run cold. The hate, the pain, the anger, the grief. She'd made him look at her like that. She pawed at her eyes, desperately trying to wipe the tears away. What was she going to do now? She was completely alone.

Forcing herself to stand, Iris walked into the snowy clearing. She breathed out and held her fists at her side.

Smack

Iris fell to her knees, her hands flying to the back of her head. Her ears were ringing, her vision blurred. Shakily, she reached back to her skull. When she pulled her fingers away, they were stained red with blood.

She forced her gaze up. Iris felt her stomach turn as Ignis walked in front of her, turning a club over in his hands. She tried to reach for her power in a surge of panic.

There was nothing.

Iris was floating, dazed with pain from the blow Ignis had landed to the back of her skull. Where had he come from? She couldn't even push him away as he shoved her onto her back, letting out only a muffled groan of protest.

"No butterflies now, princess?" He asked sarcastically. "No lover, either? Did you enjoy watching him die?"

Iris couldn't bring herself to glare at him. The blow to her head had made her weak, but not so weak that she couldn't carefully begin to pull the small dagger from her jacket. She was going to murder this son of a bitch and send Adelaide his head if she had to. Iris forced her eyes to focus, staring him down as he paced around her.

Ignis took a knee and leaned over her. He ran his fingers through her hair, brushing them over her cheek. Iris flipped the dagger over in her hand and jammed it into his arm, sending the demon hissing back in fury. Blood dripped onto the snow as she rolled onto her stomach. Iris pushed herself to her feet, stumbling forwards.

She was shoved backwards again as Cor appeared in front of her. He stood against the cloudy grey sky, hulking and towering over her form as she hit the snow again. Ignis ripped the knife from his arm and snarled. He stalked to Iris, grabbing the girl by her hair and slamming her head against the ground. She cried out, letting out muffled whimpers as she held her head in her hands, curling her body forwards in agony as her brain seemed to throb.

"I was going to be nice. I was going to give you a quick, clean death, out of respect," Ignis spat at her, sliding the dagger into his belt. Cor walked near Iris' head and grabbed her wrists, holding her against the snow stained dirt. She was sobbing now, struggling feebly for any whisp of her power through the agony. She was aware of everything they intended to do, but was completely and utterly helpless against the demons. Iris couldn't fight them, not as a mortal. Not with the human part of her twisting around her like fragile vines that snap and bleed. Still she tried, landing a kick to Ignis' crotch that sent the demon to his knees in front of her.

Her head was slammed into the ground again, leaving her plunging into darkness.

Iris cracked her eyes open again to find her vision coated in white, her head locked to one side, eyes stuck on the same pine tree. She could feel the ache of bruises on her wrists. She could feel the rough fingers that wrapped around her hands and kept her pinned to the ground. With a smothered whimper, Iris lifted her head, recognizing the ice cold snow had bit into her bare legs like knives, lacerating her flesh.