Thane #2
I’m not sure if it’s the hopelessness in her voice or the way she’s looking up at me like I’m her salvation, but it releases me from my frozen stupor.
I glance around at the chaos ensuing, knowing I should run for safety, but something is keeping me from doing just that.
A couple of wolves thrash about nearby, but one of them is hairless with black veins marking up its enormous body.
Just like the vampire, its eyes are a pit of onyx.
The grey wolf struggling to fight it off, swipes its paw across the beast’s face, drawing black blood.
“Please.”
I turn back to the woman still slouched against the kiosk and rush to kneel beside her.
“What are they?” I ask, as my thundering heartbeat begins to pound in my head.
“Reapers.” Her voice has grown hoarse, and thin black lines have begun to crawl along the outskirts of her eyes.
“The humans—” She coughs, and thick, inky blood spews from her mouth.
“They tried to kill our kind by injecting us with deadly viruses, but it didn’t work.
” She coughs again, but this time the black blood drips from the inside corner of her eye like a tear.
“Please,” she begs, grabbing a hold of my hand and placing it against her throat. “Kill me before it’s too late.”
I shake my head as the truth of her words begins to pump me full of adrenaline.
“I can’t,” I breathe, trying to pull my hand away.
“Please, you have to.” Her hold on me tightens with desperation. I’ve killed vampires before, but not like this. Not with my bare hands and not when they aren’t even a threat. “Do it!” She lunges forward, snapping her fangs out, and my hand instinctively tightens around her throat.
“Wait! I’ll do it, but not like this.” I stand up and pull one of the thin metal rods holding a row of phone cases from the wall.
As I press the tip of it to her chest, I exhale a shaky breath.
“Together,” she whispers, wrapping her hands around mine.
I nod and close my eyes as I plunge the rod into her heart.
Her hands slip away, falling into her lap as her head drops forward.
Tears burn the backs of my eyes, but there’s no time for emotions.
It’s already a miracle I haven’t been attacked yet.
I pull the rod from her lifeless body, deciding to keep it for a weapon as I glance around for any sign of refuge.
I take off for one of the stores, rounding the grey wolf that now lies still on the ground. When I reach the doors, I yank on them, but they’re already locked.
“Please!” I yell, banging my fists against the glass. “Let me in!”
I cup my hands to peer inside, but whoever is in the store seems to be hiding.
Vampires and wolves continue to fight off the reapers as terrified shrieks rain down around me.
It’s almost guaranteed that the other stores will already be locked, and there’s no exit in sight.
Seconds feel like minutes as the adrenaline courses through me.
Before I can second guess my decision, I sprint for the escalator leading to the second floor.
I take the steps two at a time, refusing to look back at the carnage taking place below.
Just as I reach the top, one of the mutated wolves comes flying overhead.
It collides with a vampire, and the two of them go barreling into a trashcan.
I’m not sure where to go from here, but I take off down the walkway as fast as I can.
Most of the attacks seem to be taking place on the first floor, but when I round the corner, a wolf rams straight into me.
It feels like every bone in my body has simultaneously broken when I go sailing into one of the stores.
The impact of my body sends the glass shattering around me.
It’s still raining down when the back of my head ricochets off the floor.
My vision instantly goes black, and all of the pain seems to numb as I lie completely still.
I try to lift my head, but it feels like it’s glued to the floor.
I’m not sure how long I’m lying there when the shadows around my vision slowly begin to retreat.
Just as the world is coming back into focus, a vampire lands on top of me.
The numbness still dulling my body seems to prevent me from feeling their weight bearing down on me as their sharp fangs glisten with saliva.
The vampire tosses its head back, releasing a vicious hiss while I continue to lie helplessly beneath it.
Out of nowhere, a white wolf yanks the vampire off me.
I attempt to turn my head to follow them, but no part of me is able to move.
Overwhelming panic claws at my chest as thoughts of being paralyzed begin to creep in, but before they have a chance to swallow me whole, Kole is kneeling over me, fear painted along every inch of his face.
“She’s losing too much blood!” a high-pitched voice cries from somewhere beside me.
In a moment, Sienna is looking down at me with tears streaking her cheeks. She’s naked, covered in blood, and I realize that she was the white wolf who just saved me. She strokes my hair, but I can’t feel the comfort of her touch.
Kole looks completely frozen in place. His eyes glazed over like he’s in some sort of trance. I try to speak, but nothing comes out, and the panic that had been clawing at my chest, suddenly feels all-consuming.
“Look,” Sienna says, rolling me over on my side. They both fade from view as my eyes lock on the mutilated vampire a few feet away. “When I remove the shard of glass from her neck, you need to bite her in that exact spot. It’s the only way to stop her from bleeding out.”
“I-I can’t. I’ll lose control. I won’t be able to stop.” There’s so much fear and sorrow in his voice that it sends a fissure down the middle of my heart.
“You have to!” Sienna barks. “If you don’t try, she’ll die anyway.”
Time seems to stop while I wait for death to claim me, and I close my eyes, not wanting to look at the mangled vampire in my final moments.
Just as I banish the panic and replace it with peaceful acceptance, a searing pain surges through my veins.
Any numbness that had resided a moment ago ceases to exist as excruciating agony burns the deep recesses of my body.
A torrent of thoughts whip through my mind before falling completely silent as a blanket of darkness settles over me.