A New Breed Of Animal (A Michael Corvin One-shot)
I was sitting in a pub in Russia just ordering a lot of ale. The horrible stuff lost all flavor on my tongue and felt like dust going down my throat. I'd been going through cravings for so long the gagging and pain was no longer a problem. The door opened and I, like everyone else, looked up. It was a man I had thought to be dead and who thought me dead. The man stumbling into the pub was Michael Corvin. I recognized him as the only other hybrid out there. No one but me knew what I was and I kept it that way mostly. I had been a vampire but I got bitten by a werewolf. I was still vampire though… mostly… I was getting blood cravings and I wanted so badly to leap upon one of the men who kept walking by and ogling at me. I watched as Michael ordered and began wolfing down the beef and potatoes. I walked over and spoke not even knowing if he would recognize me after what I'd gone through, "The food doesn't satisfy anymore does it?" He looked up with craving in his eyes and froze. He suddenly doubled over and shouted in pain. I knew that his body was rejecting the food and forcing him to drink blood. He vomited a few times and suddenly the human authorities were surrounding us. They pulled me away from him but I threw them off. Michael overturned the table and leapt on a man. He was about to bite him when I put a hand on his shoulder, "Michael you are not this monster…" He looked at me then his reflection and jumped away and raced out the door. I followed without pausing and took off into the air. My massive wings lifting me high above everything so I could see if his vampire girlfriend Salene would come to rescue him. I smelled her before she was in my view but she moved faster than I remembered her being able to. I watched without intent to interfere. I knew that she should be the one to save him. As much as I cared for him he loved her above all. She finished the fight and another once thought dead face appeared, "Marcus… Brother…" I flew down and landed between my elder brother and Salene. Michael looked up at me with total shock in his features, "Zech!?!?!" Salene and Marcus were glaring at me. My brother spoke, "Zechariah… Little sister you survived." I nodded curtly, "No thanks to you brother. I thought you'd died when I couldn't find you again." Salene ripped my body around to face her, "Who are you!?!?" I wrenched out of her grip and turned back to my brother, "Marcus. Why are you here?" He smiled, "I could ask you the same thing." I sighed, "I don't care what you could ask me I've lived here for three hundred years. Ever scence you went missing in this area. Where have you been brother and why are you here?" He smirked, "She killed her own family. I have come to reap vengeance for the murder of our kind." I chuckled, "Revenge? Interesting that you should care… To answer the words before they leave your lips, I'm not going to let you harm either of them." He looked from the two behind me into my eyes, "You still care for your enemy…" I nodded, "I do. But because he loves Salene I will protect her as well." Michael made a faint noise behind me and I glanced to see him refusing Salene's bleeding wrist, "Michael. Drink it now or you will die." He looked at me and nodded once drinking from the cut. I turned back to Marcus, "Do you still intend to kill them?" He smiled, "You always could read eye as well as most read words in a book." I had only asked him to give him a chance to change his mind even if I knew he wouldn't. I mean he was my brother and I had to have some kind of faith in him. His eyes grew vicious the instant before he attacked. He tried to go over me but I leapt up and grabbed hold of him, wrapping my arms around him and his wings so we both crashed to the ground. Even though I hit the ground and he landed on top of me I ignored the scratches and leapt to my feet letting go of him, "Marcus you won't kill me. And you'd have to do that to harm them." He stood back up and spread his wings leaping high into the air. I followed and the aerial battle that ensued must have been that terrifying kind of amazing to any humans below us. I flew straight into him and slammed him against the top of a huge pine tree, "MARCUS! You. Will. Not. Harm. Them." With each word I punched him in the face, chest, neck, anywhere I could currently reach. His eyes bore into mine as they burned with hellfire, "Zechariah… I was intending to let you live. But this is treason. I am the oldest and final Vampire Elder. You have betrayed not only family by inhibiting me but the entire Vampire Race." I sighed and hit him again, "I can't allow you to take away the only person I ever loved… Even if he doesn't love me I will protect him with my very life." Marcus threw me off him and took off into the air again and I followed. I flew right into him again but this time he was ready and met me with his hands out and grabbed my shoulders as I barreled towards him. The dead stop it caused jarred my entire body but I ignored it and jerked loose getting several scratches from his clawed hands. Blood streamed out of my shoulders but I flew around him a few times and dove at him from above and behind. The force of my dive pushed him down into the trees again but he fought me back up into the sky. I was thrown hard and fast into the top of a tree. Having thrown me off Marcus flew fast to catch up with Michael and Salene. I was impaled in the tree-top but I powered my wings and got off. I inspected the wound I had sustained as I flew off to catch up with Marcus. The tree had gone through my heart and I knew I would die soon but my supernatural body would live on long enough I hoped to at least get Michael and Salene to a safe location as day was fast approaching. I spotted them below only by Marcus attacking the truck. A werewolf leapt on him and suddenly I realized that Michael was battling my brother. I flew down right into the fight and ripped Marcus off Michael shouting, "Salene drive faster dawn approaches!" The truck below me sped up. I ripped Marcus over the edge and onto the road, "YOU WON'T HARM THEM!!" I slammed him harder and harder into the asphalt. I knew that if I didn't get to Michael soon I would never get to say good-bye. I leapt into the air and flew as hard and fast as the fatal wound would allow me to. I found the truck and followed it. As the sun rose I dove into the trees and threw leafy branches over myself as I waked fast into the building. Michael was throwing paint on the windows and Salene was nowhere to be seen. I ducked into a storage container and closed the door. I dropped the branches and the space lit up with an orange glow. I looked around and saw Salene with a glow-stick, "Salene." I turned away from her and sat on a high box and leaned against the wall assessing how much time I had left. I knew that this wound wouldn't heal because the tree had punctured my heart. I coughed and blood sprayed out. Salene looked up at me quickly, "You're not healing." I nodded painfully, "No I'm not… A tree limb through my heart isn't going to heal… No matter how different I may be I will not live past this day." Michael came into the space and saw Salene and me talking, "Salene… this is an old friend. Zechariah is the sister of Marcus as you saw but she is also a hybrid like me. I've known here scence I was a little boy… She hasn't changed at all… In physical and mentally ways she is still the same girl I met then." I nodded, "Call me Zech… for as long as I have…" Salene was guarded now, "Marcus's sister and you would help us? Enemies of not only your race but your own brother?" I nodded, "I loved Michael always but I see that you are his one and only affection." I coughed more blood and fell off the box with the violence of the spasm of pain the cough brought. Michael was at my side instantly and lifted my head, "ZECH!!!" I laughed through my pain, "Marcus is the traitor. He has killed his only family…" Michael shook his head, "Don't talk like that. You aren't going to die. You'll heal. Vampires heal!" I sighed, "Salene he has much to learn… Michael a tree branch pierced my heart… I will die during the day today…" Salene nodded and Michael hugged me close to his chest, "Zech… You can't die… You're my friend." I coughed blood again and looked into his eyes, "Michael… Friends die… I am dieing so you and Salene have your chance to defeat the corrupt Marcus… My brother must be stopped." I coughed and coughed each one bringing new pain to me. Michael just hugged me tightly. I felt warm tears fall on my face. I looked at him and saw that he was spattered with my blood and he was crying silently. I kissed his cheek, "Michael. You have your love. You have your health and you have your strength. Continue on even when I'm gone…" Another coughing fit wrenched me from Michael's arms and landed me on my face on the floor of the storage container, "I'm sorry Michael…" Salene was apologizing at the still silently tearful Michael. He stood and walked over to me again lifting me into his lap. I looked into his eyes and saw agonizing sadness was wracking his brain. I tried to smile at him, "Good-Bye Michael. I hope you win your little war… I have to go now… I have pushed my body too far and too hard even for this supernatural frame." He smiled back, "You really are a new breed of animal…" I looked into his eyes and my vision dimmed slowly to black as I died. Michael was right and I knew it as I died. I was a new breed of animal but so was he…