Nocturnal, BK 1 of Lightwalkers (completed)

III - Seth

Seth

I focused on Jon's voice, raising my head to look for him. My left arm was twisted under me at an odd angle, but I pushed myself up in time to see them disappear into the forest. Jon's melody was beginning to fade from my mind.

For as long as I could remember, I'd been able to hear Jon. He had this presence, this melody that I could hear anytime we were close to each other. It was like an orchestra would start playing inside my head. I never told anyone about it. I knew I was probably crazy. But I figured, if I just kept it to myself, hopefully no one would notice.

Jon was all I had left now. His song, I couldn't lose it. I couldn't lose him like I'd lost Mom.

I forced myself up. The pain was horrible. I didn't care. Jon needed me, and I needed to help him. Out here, like this, I couldn't let them take him.

"Jon!"I ran towards the trees after him, but I was knocked to the side. I crashed into the tent, getting tangled in the lines that held it up. The log that hit me fell off to the side.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Christian was still across the clearing. He stalked towards me, reminding me of a lion going after its prey. His eyes even glowed slightly.

What the hell was he? 

I pulled at the cords, trying to free myself, when I felt something hard beneath the tarp. Hope exploded in my chest as I recognized the outline. Dad's knife. I dug for it, clawing through the material. My hand brushed the cool metal of the hilt, and pain exploded in my mind. Followed closely by the worst sound I'd ever heard in my life.

I screamed.

It couldn't get any worse, at least that's what I told myself. In a daze of pain, I pulled the blade from its casing and cut myself free of the tent. The gut wrenching, nails-on-the-chalk-board, roar that filled my mind wouldn't stop. I'd never heard something so loud before. The noise spiked its intensity as Christian moved in closer.

I had to make the noise stop, I had to kill him to make it stop. I forced myself to focus on him.

I spun, extending my arm as fast as I could but it wasn't fast enough. He was faster still. How?! 

He lashed out at me, and I couldn't move away quick enough. His blow caught my shoulder and sent me flying back against a tree. Stars burst across my vision after my head hit the trunk. I slid down the rough bark and sat for a moment, trying to gather myself.

I willed my eyes to look up and focus on something, anything that was out before me. That something ended up being the guy walking towards me. I forced myself to stand, fighting the waves of dizziness that washed over me. The fucking noise in my head wasn't letting up, and it wasn't helping.

Using the tree for support, I watched as Christian paced. I had hit him earlier when Jon had started the fight. The punch had caught him right across the jaw splitting his lip. But looking at him now, his lip was whole. How could he have healed that fast? I raised the knife again.

"Stupid human," he spat. His eyes were glowing faintly again, giving him an even fiercer appearance. "You honestly think you can fight me?"

All of them had been insanely fast, and he'd healed the split lip like it'd never happened. There was no way they could be human. But what were they if they weren't-

One word from horror movies fought its way to the front of my mind. Vampire.

What the fuck? That couldn't be right. Vampires were fiction. They sparkled or became rock stars. They did not actually exist! Right?

I listened to that screaming noise that still rang incessantly in my mind. It didn't matter what he was. I just needed to kill him. My fingers tightened around the handle. I just needed to wait for an opening.

A calmness spread over me. I raised the knife, instinctively changing my grip on the handle so that the blade ran along my forearm.

Christian circled around me, a grin parting his lips to show a pair of wickedly pointed canines. They looked like the expensive vampire teeth that stores sold at Halloween, but I doubted he was a regular Dracula enthusiast.

Closer, just a few steps closer. My body stilled, my breathing evened out. I could do this. Just one more step. 

He took it and I sprang forward without hesitation. The monster's eyes widened in surprise. He paused for a second and that second was all I needed. I plunged the knife into his chest. He stared up at me as he fell to his knees. "Or-orion...," he gurgled with his last breath, and fell to the earth in a pile of dust.

I jumped back, coughing as I inhaled some of it. The noise in my mind faded, leaving me alone with the sounds of the forest. But panic, worry, and fear crept into its place. I frantically looked around the ruins of the camp site. The others were gone.

Jon was gone.

I forced myself to take a deep breath, trying to calm my  frying nerves, and listened hard. If Jon was still close, I'd be able to hear him with my mind. But no matter how I strained to listen, I couldn't hear the melody that was distinctly his. 

He was really gone. 

"Fuck!" I sank to my knees, and punched the ground in frustration. I could feel hot tracks of tears on my face but I wiped them away quickly. 

I caught sight of the dust covered knife. Holding my breath, I dug the knife out of the pile. It glowed faintly in the light of the moon, the steel reflecting my battered image. 

What the hell was I suppose to do now?