Derrick

Twenty-Four

A gasp tried to escape my lips, to no avail. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. The sounds of Sebastian's shouting began to fade as I started my slow descent, away from consciousness.

Meanwhile, Derrick stared into my eyes with an almost obsessive level of sick admiration.

One of his guards yelped, and Derrick's head snapped up. Wind brushed past me, confusing me; my brain wasn't working quite right anymore. Several sluggish moments later, I realized that the wind was coming from Derrick as he dodged whatever attack was being aimed at him. I couldn't move my head to see who was behind the acts.

Derrick launched us backward and opened his mouth to speak.

"Enough!" His boomed. If I wasn't paralyzed, I'd have jumped in surprise.

The cabin was silent. His voice had changed; it was no longer simply annoyed or angry. It was murderous, chilling. The air around us seemed to turn into an almost palpable thing, a nearly-visible force that swirled angrily around all of us.

Derrick continued, quieter this time. More deadly.

"You do not have a choice," He murmured. "She is dying, and I am running out of time to save her."

As if emphasizing the urgency of our situation, my arms fell limply to my sides. I lost the small ounce of control I'd been using to at least keep them curled against my chest.

The cabin remained silent as my friends unwillingly deliberated. They'd said earlier that they couldn't help me, that I'd die. Nothing could counteract both vampire venom and werewolf poison.

Did Derrick really have a solution? Was this some sick plan of his, so he could be with me in my last moments?

I didn't have enough control of my body to shudder at the thought.

As breathing only became more difficult, Derrick's arms tightened around me.

"You," He whispered menacingly. "Are all trying my patience greatly. I am leaving with her either way. This is a matter of fighting the inevitable."

As the last bit of my consciousness faded away, the last thing I heard was Sebastian's outraged shout and Isaac's warning growl in response.

Despite the situation, in that tiny moment before death, I was comforted. Isaac wouldn't let Sebastian get himself killed. He was the only person strong enough to prevent that from happening.

~

It was cold. Dark. Water, under my feet, and there was a faint blue light ahead.

I was in what seemed to be an old sewer system. I walked forward, lightly dragging my hand along the damp bricks. As I got closer to the end, I heard faint music. I walked faster.

Faster.

Faster still. I began running, frantically trying to reach the source of the music. The closer I got, the more desperate I felt.

I burst through the entrance, and the music stopped.

I was in a golden room, and a blinding light peeked through the matching gold curtains. I looked to my left and found a fireplace and a couch.

A familiar figure stood at the fireplace. I tilted my head, trying to figure out who he was. His inky black hair was longer than I remembered it being, reaching well past his shoulders. His pale hand held a glass of deep red liquid as he stared into the fire.

Who was he?

A light tap on my shoulder made me turned around, but instead of the room continuing behind me, all I could see was a wide expanse of woods. I walked toward the largest tree, dazed and curious.

I touched the bark. It was rough under my hands. The crunching of leaves sounded behind me, and I whirled around, expecting to see the golden room I'd just left.

Sunlight, broken by the leaves above me. A different man heading my way, this time his eyes gold, gold like the room that was slowly fading from memory.

His hair was cut short, and he carried wood in his arms. He look strikingly familiar, and I felt my eyes narrow as I tried to figure it out.

Surely, I'd met him before. So why couldn't I remember?

I glanced down and noticed a glint in the ground. I dropped to my knees to get a closer look.

A ring. It winked at me in the sunlight, and I grabbed it, mesmerized.

The gem was green, like his eyes.

It blinked at me, and I opened my mouth to scream.

"Don't," A gentle voice ordered. The sound coming from my mouth stopped as soon as the word left his mouth. A hand touched my shoulder, and I instinctively scrambled away.

"Elizabeth," he continued. "I understand that this is disorienting. It is necessary."

I couldn't find the source of his voice as I looked around wildly.

"You are very sick, kitten. I very nearly lost what I needed to bring you back," He whispered in my ear. I whipped around, only to find nothing.

"I wasn't open with you before. I see that now. I will fix it, and it will fix us."

"Where are you?" I croaked. Abruptly, I was on the very top of a mountain.

"To do that, I need you to realize something." His voice said, behind me. I turned.

Derrick stood behind me, his arms at his sides. His outfit was dark, and a deep black cloak was draped gracefully over his shoulders. His hair gleamed in the harsh light, and he offered a hand to help me stand up. I took it, wanting to be able to run if I had to.

Despite the snow and our altitude, I wasn't cold. I looked down and found that I wore an outfit almost exactly like his; the only difference was the glittering jewels attached to mine.

"Elizabeth," He murmured. "You cannot run from me. Do you understand why?"

He raised his hand and lightly grazed my cheek, and suddenly, we were in a cave. I backed away, trying to put the pieces together; how was this happening?

He stepped closer and held my face in his hands. His eyes glimmered as he stared into mine.

"You cannot run," he whispered. "Because wherever you are, I have the power to bring you back to me."

Approximate word count: 1005

Thank you for reading!