I was stood at the edge of a lake and I lifted my bloody hands in front of me seeing the strong hands of the man I knew. It soon became clear what was happening and it wasn’t a surprise when something started to emerge out of the murky water. I now knew exactly what was happening after I touched that sword as it had formed some kind of physic kinetic link straight into Lucius’ memories. And now that very weapon was rising up out of the water, only instead of fingers of stone it was the hand of both the dead and the living, changing in and out between flesh, bone and decay.
The sword gleamed like a beacon just as the moon finally escaped the shadows of the clouds and just as Lucius’ bloody hand reached out to grab it I was suddenly transported back.
“Wh…what was that?” I asked shaking my head trying to regain my senses enough to focus.
“Are you alright?” Lucius asked coming up to me and holding my face in his hands. I frowned down at the tingling in my own hand and then looked up at him to give him my uncertain answer,
“I think so.”
“Well that will teach you to touch another man’s equipment without asking.” He said on a forced laugh that I could tell was faked to mask his concern.
“Thanks for the tip.” I said only now noticing that he had placed RJ back on the ground to come to my aid.
“We need to leave.” He said looking up abruptly as if hearing something in the distance.
“Good plan.” I said watching as he decided to sling the limp RJ over his shoulder so that he could reach down and this time, grab his own sword. We started walking towards the door when my foot caught on something.
I tripped, falling to the floor and for the second time coming up close and personal with the mosaic tiles that painted the picture of a raging storm beneath me. Lucius had just made it to the door before he turned.
“Keira!” He shouted making my name boom around the space but even hearing it repeated as it echoed off every surface wasn’t enough warning before I was grabbed.
“Get her out of here!” I yelled nodding to RJ as I turned in time to see Alex yank my foot with one of the vines that had been lassoed around my ankle. I quickly found myself skidding along the floor as Alex both pulled the vine and ran towards me. I looked back at Lucius and saw him practically throw RJ down and slam the door behind her.
“GET OFF ME!” I screamed up at him as he continued to drag me back and closer to the tree. I looked back to see an enraged Lucius storming our way with nothing but murder in his red eyes. Then I was brutally hauled up by my neck as I reached my destination and was swiftly slammed up against the tree.
“Let her go, Nephilim.” Lucius said with deadly calm.
“How about I let her blood go instead?” Alex said holding my neck to the point I could barely breathe and my fingernails scratched at his hand squeezing my throat. He brought his face closer to mine and sneered saying,
“Let’s see how fast you bleed.”
I decided to take this opportunity to forget about the breath I needed to survive and used the last of my strength to hurt him. So I lashed out as black spots appeared in front of me and only just managed to press a thumb into his eye until I heard him crying out in pain. I tried not to think of the gross factor and let my adrenaline and need to defend completely take over. Thankfully it was enough for him to let me go but due to the lack of oxygen I didn’t make it far. My legs gave out and my blurring vision barely took in the sight of Lucius erupting into his demon side.
“KEIRA!” I knew the moment my name started ringing in my ears that I needed to move but it was too late. I was now being forced backwards and my arm was being held outstretched to the side.
“Too late, Vampire!” Alex said and then all I felt was a pain ripped from my past. Alex had sliced my wrist down to the vein and the searing agony had me screaming till my lungs burned.
“Now let’s see if your screams can really wake the dead!” Alex spoke to the room, clearly lost in his madness. Then without another thought I felt him thrust my bloody arm into the vines that surrounded the tree and had encased the colossal trunk within its protective cover.
“NO!” Lucius roared but it was too late. With my arm firmly embedded my life had already started to flow back into the dead tree forcing it to once again take on a new life. It held me locked there just like the door’s vines had done, feeding from me like a suckling child in need of nourishment. This was when I noticed that Alex had taken careful steps back to look around the room as if waiting for something. My fogged mind only took in parts of what was happening and the colour of evergreen was soon blurred tubes in front of me. What were those I wondered as I felt myself being drained of energy.