Chapter two: An escape
"You're back home." Someone said behind us. I spun around, and forced Catalina behind me, and forcing a space between me and Dark. Even if Dark is a better fighter than me, I'm the maid. I'll risk my life to protect them.
"What do you want?" I said harshly, feeling my eyes turn red. I saw the figure. They appear to be all demons, and worse, there was a whole gang of them. The leading one had silver hair, and blue eyes.
"Aren't you a lady-like girl?" He mocked. "I'm here, to take a girl I was ordered to obtain." A girl?! Why does he want Catalina? I won't let them have her! Whoever they are! I sprung forward, and lashed out my claws. He blocked with his claws.
"Attacking so fast?" I jumped back. I had tested his ability with our interaction. He's truly strong. There is a chance I might lose.
"Dark." I called behind me, "Take Catalina and get the heck out of here. I'll see you do the back door." I backed up, and shoved Catalina into Dark's arms. "Go!" Dark started running with Catalina on his back, I followed close behind. I heard footsteps follow us. I bite my arm with my fangs so that my blood oozed out. I hardened my blood into a pair of blades and pulled them out of arm and threw it behind me. Weapons made of vampire blood are very strong. I can control the blade too, since it was my own blood.
"We're almost there!" Catalina said quietly. "I wonder if our parents escaped." Both Dark and I cannot say anything back since we're running with all our strength. I felt my blade cut through flesh. Dark opened the back door and I followed him outside.
"Crap, they're still after us. Let's head into the woods." I panted. Dark followed as I directed him. The woods are not far from our mansion. Soon, we entered the woods, passing the sign. "Stop for a second." As we stopped, I closed my eyes. I felt that my blade isn't injuring any more flesh. "Hmm…where did they go?" Suddenly, a hand grabbed the blade, and I felt the blade snap. "Agh!" The break affected me a bit. I had to restrain myself from stumbling to the ground. Dark looked back.
"Are you alright?" He asked. I nodded, and stood back up.
"This is bad. They're definitely after us." I looked back, since I had keen eyesight, I could make out ever so tiny black dots, advancing at a frightening speed. "Don't care about me, just protect Catalina! For whatever reason, they must be after her! Run!" We took off once more. Heading deeper into the woods, with no general direction in mind, I sent another blade flying behind me.
"Don't, it is just going to get snapped again." Dark warned me. "You'll get hurt in the end." I shook my head.
"It's worth it. After all, if I send a blade after me, my mind's eye can tell me about how many demons are after us, and how powerful they are." I breathed. "I think they're pretty scary to break my blade."
"Well, I can break your blade." Dark commented. Catalina whimpered.
"D-don't overwork yourself!" She whispered. "I don't want you dead over me. I-if you're going to risk your life, I'll turn myself in!" I sighed.
"Don't be so stupid. I exist for my masters. Without a master I am nothing." I looked back. "Oh, by the way, Dark…they're catching up." We sped up, going as fast as we can. I sensed the distance we were at once again. Using my mind, I sent the blade straight toward in a line. It hit many bodies, but that kind of wound won't kill a demon, but only to slow them down. Then, suddenly, a giant shadow loomed over the blade. With a quick glimpse, I saw the silver haired boy grab the tip of the blade, and I felt a piercing pain. He had broken the blade once again.
"Ivory?" Catalina asked. I spat out some blood. "Ivory, are you alright? Did you just cough…oh my!" Catalina cried as she turned around and saw blood covering my lips.
"Don't worry about me, Catalina. Just don't get caught." I managed to say. I stumbled a bit. Making three weapons under the span of five minutes would be almost impossible for a vampire, but I knew that somehow I would obtain more information about that silver haired boy if I did. As I started to bite myself again, Dark grabbed my arm.
"Stop, and that's a command." The bond between masters and servants are strong. With the word command, I cannot disobey, even if I wanted to.
"Why?" I asked, as the spell forced by hands down and my fangs dull. "I'm totally fine."
"You call that totally fine?" He glanced at me. "Anyways, just concentrate on running. You're 0.002 seconds slower than you're supposed to be." I raced harder, firmly beside Dark. I glanced back, making out a group of five demons hurdling towards us.
"Oh god, hurry up!" I ran with all my might. I might have done way better than that physical exam now that I am seriously in danger of being murdered. Dark caught up and ran ahead of me. I ran just a centimeter behind him. Dark glanced back. His eye sight was better than mine.
"I see a silver haired boy we met, two blue haired demons, a red haired one, and a white haired one." He reported. "Since I can see the colors of their hair, they must be pretty close."
"Yeah, about 7 miles behind us." I agreed. "Hurry." Dark smirked just a slight bit.
"You're telling me? I've got Catalina on my back and I'm a tad faster than you." I pouted and ran forward, 6.4 inches ahead of him.
"I was trying to be behind you, so that if any attack was fired at Catalina, I could block it." I glared, "Now it's your turn to catch up." I kept my pace, going slower by 0.0004 seconds. Soon, Dark was once again ahead of me.
"Hey…did they slow down?" Dark asked. I glanced back, they seems farther than usual. "Did they give up or something?"
"No…wait. Let's not make assumptions." I said, looking back. Although it was true, they were getting farther and farther away, as if they simply gave up. "But we've only ran 19 miles. That's not very far."
"Perhaps a change of plans?" Catalina said. She seemed out of breath, even if she wasn't running. Probably because she was too scared. "I sure hope so." Soon, they were completely out of sight.
"Where are we?" I asked, and then it hit me. "Could it be because we're out of the territory? They can't chase up beyond the kingdom, can they? Since we lived in the countryside already, we may be in another kingdom."
"That's true…but it that was the case, aren't we going to get caught?" Dark said, looking around. "I wonder where mom and dad are."
"I bet they're held captive." Catalina said. "I saw strands of mom's hair left on the ground, and they're leading right out the door. I bet she pulled them off to let us follow them…but we ran the opposite direction."
"Mistress wouldn't do that." I concluded. "She would not want you in danger, Catalina. I bet…they pulled them off of her to make us notice them."
"But that still means they are held captive." Dark said. I nodded, and sighed.
"I hope they're alright."
"Yeah." I agreed. "Let's…rest a bit." Suddenly feeling the effect of the blades catching up to me, I stumbled and fell. "Ugh…" I moaned. Dark put Catalina down. Catalina bent down towards me.
"Those are fairly large blades you released." She commented, looking at my bite marks. "I'm proud of you." I smiled, and whispered.
"Take care of yourself first, Catalina." Then I blacked out.
I didn't wake up until I heard frantic voices of Catalina and Dark. I forced my eyes open. What I saw was almost unbelievable. There was crimson red all around us. Fire engulfed the safety of the forest. I jolted up. "What happened?" I screamed.
"I don't know, but suddenly a fire started." Catalina whimpered. "I bet that silver haired boy set it off!"
"Catalina, get on my back." Dark said, offering Catalina his shoulder. Catalina shook her head.
"No, carry Ivory! She's severely injured!" I managed a laugh in this situation, which I find pretty amazing of me.
"I'm fine! It's not called 'severely injured', Catalina!" I shoved Catalina towards Dark, automatically on his back so that he could carry her. "Even though I just woke up, let's go for a morning run." I soon as I said that, we took off east. Catalina started crying, I heard. "Don't worry. We won't die because of a fire." I tried to sooth her.
"Mother and father are kidnapped…and here we are, in the middle of a fire." She whimpered. I looked behind me.
"This is not called 'trapped in the middle of a fire', Catalina. Look at how far we are." Catalina wasn't convinced by what I said, but she kept quiet. After a while, the fire seemed to have died when it hit a river. We had run across the river around 21 minutes ago. This means we are safe. "Yep, now Catalina was this sc…" When I turned around, I saw the most horrible thing ever. Catalina, who had a wild scared look in her eyes, had sunk her teeth into Dark's shoulder. Dark, which wasn't even resisting, let her.
"…what the heck?" I asked. "Are you a vampire?" Dark sighed.
"No, ever since she was little, when she got scared, she always bit something." Dark explained. "Today, that 'thing' was apparently my shoulder." Catalina let go of Dark. She plopped herself down on the ground.
"I-I'm sorry!" She started sobbing. "I'm sorry, Dark! I'm sorry!" I smiled; this was quite funny, and cute.
"Next time, please bite me." I offered. "I don't mind, since I bite myself once in a while." Catalina looked up at me.
"T-that's not funny."
"I was being serious." I smiled. "Well, maybe I was half joking." I admitted. Well, I was also being serious, I thought. Catalina smiled.
"Y-you can't take back your word!" She said. I laughed and nodded. She leaned towards me.
"Wow, aren't you horny today." Trying to lighten mood after the escape, I leaned towards Catalina. She bit into my arm hard. I winced, and laughed. "Ouch."
"Mmph…" That was Catalina's attempt to say sorry. She bit for a while and let go of me. I saw some blood on my arm, which was quite a lot. I licked it up. Catalina started tearing up. "Sorry…"
"You shouldn't have bit her if you're going to be sorry for it." Dark commented. "Besides, Ivory already has blood loss." Catalina's eyes widen at the word "blood loss".
"Don't worry." I assured her. "That's long over. How long was I out?"
"Only 3 hours." Dark replied. That was not long enough to replenish my blood, that's for sure. But I acted like it wasn't a big deal.
"That's a long time!" I said, and patted Catalina. "I'm completely fine!" Catalina stared, and scratched her head.
"You know, Ivory, when you lie, you sound very animated." Catalina said, and I flinched. "You're a bad liar. That's probably why mother always caught you. You'd always pay for things I did too. Because I'm a better liar, and when you try to get out of trouble, it never works." Catalina laughed. "Remember? I broke a vase when I was trying to catch up with you. When mom came back, she asked about it. I said it wasn't my fault, and then I pointed at you. When mother asked you if you knew anything, you said "yes"." Catalina closed her eyes. I fidgeted at the memory.
"You sure know when to feel nostalgic." Dark broke the moment of silence. Catalina nodded.
"When you said "yes", Ivory, do you remember? She asked you what happened, and you refused to tell her because you don't want me in trouble. In the end, mom thought you were the one, and punished you by beating you?" I grunted.
"Yeah, thanks for that piece of memory, Catalina. Okay now, I don't want to hear more." I shivered. Mother had beaten me many times, to punish me. It wasn't a pleasant memory having to lie on my back to sleep. She had never beaten Catalina, because her body was fragile. There were times where she had beaten both Dark and me. I sat down near a tree stump, exhausted.
"Are you okay?" Dark asked. I didn't think he was talking to me, so I didn't reply. "Ivory?" He asked. I nodded a yes.
"Just a tad tired, that's all." Soon, I drifted off once more. Sleeping is important for replenishing blood and energy.
I woke up a few hours later by myself. Catalina was sleeping beside Dark, who was leaning against a tree. I hoisted myself up, and stretched. I didn't like the position I was sleeping in. Trying to walk silently, and walked near the river. I saw fishes swimming in the water, hurrying. They must have been shocked by the sudden rise in water temperature due to the fire.
A noise of twigs breaking sounded behind me. I spun around. There, lurking in the shadows was Catalina, with her eyes flowing red. I breathed. "Catalina? You were up?" Almost suddenly, Catalina's eyes turned normal.
"Huh? I was up?" She asked herself. "Oh, was I sleep walking?"
"I don't think so…" I said, "You had your eyes open." I shrugged. "You're probably too tired." Catalina nodded, and rubbed her eyes.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"I was walking alongside the river…" I replied. "It was beautiful." I glanced at Catalina, who was still rubbing her head. "By the way, what was that? Your eyes were red…you were preparing to attack. You can possibly kill me…you know?" Catalina stared.
"I did? I didn't realize that." She replied.
"Did you ever touch anything around the house? Or did you directly touch anything that the silver haired guy touched?" Dark came out of the shadows. His ears are as keen as always, must have heard the conversation when he was half-asleep.
"Oh…I grabbed one of the weapons randomly scattered on the ground back at the mansion…" Catalina reached in her pocket. "Eh? It's not there anymore."
"This is bad." Dark said. "There is a possibility that someone performing dark arts used that weapon, which contains a little bit of your power, to control you." I thought about it.
"Oh yeah! They talked about it!" I sprung up, suddenly remembering. "I don't think I sensed any dark art user in that group of demons though." Dark eyed me.
"Some demons can hide their abilities so well we can't sense anything." Dark warned. "Just because you don't sense anything…that doesn't mean that they aren't any demons preforming dark arts in that group. We would be careful…"
"Of me?" Dark and I looked at Catalina. "Be careful of me?"
"Of everything." Dark answered. "Be careful of me, of you, of Ivory…of that group of demons. Catalina, never trust anyone besides me and Ivory. However, if we ever turn back on you and attack, you are going to attack back." Dark narrowed his eyes to show the severity of his words. Catalina started back into Dark's eyes, without fear. Ivory would be scared, but sometimes Catalina can be a very fearless girl.
"Don't trust me." I said. Just in case, I ever get controlled by dark arts, I wouldn't want Catalina or Dark to die. "Only trust Dark. I'm not trustworthy." Catalina was surprised by this. "After all, he broke my blades, and I attacked him. There's a chance I'm infected." I said, and kept walking along the shoreline. I know this wasn't the nicest thing to say, but I didn't want anyone to be hurt, besides me. I am enough.
Later, I found myself beside a giant oak tree. Touching the bark, I breathed. "What is happening?" I whispered to myself. All the tears I've been trying to hold back suddenly came out. I was crying, crying like a little baby. "What is happening?" I repeated myself. My mind is a mess right now, and I don't even have the energy to think about the events that had led up to this day. I sat down, and tried to whip away the warm water from my eyes. "Why is it happening?" I whispered to myself.
"You sure cried for a long time." I jumped and turned. Dark stood there, leaning against a tree.
"Oh, it's you." I said. "Sorry, but do you think you can…leave me alone for a while?" I absolutely have to have some time to think.
"Sorry, but I'm still your master." Dark said. "You can't command me." This guy is sure stubborn.
"You're leaving Catalina?" I asked. Dark smirked.
"Your senses are very dull." Catalina stepped out of the shadows. "We've been here for nearly 3 minutes." I stared, and laughed at myself.
"Oh really, that's hard to believe." I looked back at the ground. "Just feeling…kind of confused." I shifted my position. "That's all." Then we were just silent, saying nothing. Catalina sudden laughed.
"Is this the part where you are supposed to say 'awkward silence'?" Dark smiled. They both walked towards the large oak. "You know…Ivory, when you said "don't trust me"…I felt…" Catalina began.
"…wanting to trust you more," Dark finished. "We wanted to trust you more." I looked up, seeing Dark bending down, and Catalina sitting by me.
"Oh, that was not the effect I wanted," I paused. "Though how could I say this…I'm glad." I smiled, and with the two of my best friends are beside me, perhaps I was too stressed. They are very precious to me, and I cannot afford to lose them. "I wonder…about lots of things."
"Yeah, me too," Catalina agreed.
"You're just thinking too much." I looked up at Dark, and smiled when I saw his scowl. He must have been thinking about lots of questions too.
"You know…I was always bothered about something." I said. "I don't know anything about myself, including my parents. Perhaps I'm the one endangering you all. When that boy said he wanted to capture someone, what if it was me? Then, I mean…I…" Catalina patted my shoulders.
"Hey…you should look at your expression." She said. I frowned.
"Am I that ugly? I know, I was never pretty to begin with, but isn't that too straightforward?" I said, smiling. Catalina smiled and shook her head.
"You're very beautiful, right Dark?" I glanced at Dark, expecting a no. Instead, he just shrugged and looked away. "Oh, he's so shy."
"Last time I checked, you were the shy one." Dark shot back. Catalina just smiled, and I smiled along with her.
"Well, is it really that hard complimenting a girl?" Catalina said. "Just say she's pretty, and that's it."
"Hey, I prefer honest opinion." I said, half defending Dark. "But Dark will never get a girlfriend if he stays like that." I laughed. Catalina smirked.
"Well, no." She said. "I know of a girl that would suit him just fine."
"Sharon kind of dislikes Dark." I said, "Sorry about that, Dark." Dark shrugged.
"I don't like her anyway." Catalina's eyes mockingly widened.
"Then who is it? Who do you like?" Catalina asked, excited. That excitement didn't last very long, when someone stepped out of the shadows.
"That's where you are…you were rather loud." The voice said. We all turned. A silvered haired boy stood before us, alone. "My name is Evon." He smiled, but somehow it gave me a chill.
"What do you want?" Dark immediately stood up, and growled. I jumped up along with him, trying to get in front of him so I can protect them, but he didn't seem to let me.
"Whoa, what a temper," Even sneered, "I just wanted to say hi." I narrowed my eyes, letting my eyes turn glowing red. "That white haired lady back there…oh yes, that one that attacked me." He pointed at me. I glared. "What's your name?"
"I have no right to tell you." I replied. "What do you want?"
"I wanted your name." Evon laughed a cold hearted laugh, "and that girl, of course."
"Who exactly is that girl you wanted?" Dark asked, narrowing his eyes, as if Evon was his prey. "Why do you want her?"
"Ooh…but if I told you, it would be no fun." Evon said, shrugging his wide shoulders. "You'll have to find that out for yourself." He eyed Catalina. I drew back, ready to pounce anytime.
"If you're going to fight," I said, forcing Dark's arm back so I can be in the front. "How about you fight me first?" Evon sighed.
"I have no intentions to harm the innocent, but I only want the girl." Evon smiled, "I bet you know which girl I'm talking about, right, Ivory?" I flinched.
"You are that dark arts user…aren't you?" Dark asked. "You could read minds."
"Well…yes, I suppose I'm the dark arts user, but no. I cannot read minds." Evon kept smiling, like a demon. "Ivory knows why." I twitched once more.
"Why would you think I know? I don't know you!" I growled. "Don't harm any of my masters, or you'll get it!" Evon mockingly stepped back, afraid.
"Well, isn't the cute vampire girl showing her fangs?" Evon suddenly turned serious. "To tell you the truth, I don't have time for chitchat. All I want is this: I want one of you girls gone." His smile returns. "Why? Because the process of elimination says so! If you want to find out which girl I want…make one of you go away. I don't mean kill, but just…literally walk away by herself."
"You're more nuts than I thought you were." I said. "Is it because if the girl you want leaves, you'll have an easier time? But if she doesn't leave, it still benefits you because you have one less enemy?" Evon thought about it.
"Well…yes…and no." He said. "So, do you plan on leaving?" I paused.
"What if I say yes? What will you do?" Evon smiled.
"Information is withheld!" I gritted my teeth. That tricky demon, I hated this Evon guy. "But I'll tell you this…as soon as one of you disappears; I make my move on that girl. But if you don't disappear, I'll have to kill all of you to get the girl I want. That includes your parents, who I have held captive."
"What?!" Dark yelled. "You scrum! What did you do to them?!"
"Think about what I said…until then." His body turned to mist. We stood there, and breathed.
"I'm leaving." I declared. "There's a possibility it's me he wants judging by the way he's talking to me." I noticed Catalina didn't make a sound. "Catalina?" I looked back, and there she was, still sitting there, with a smile on her face.
"Catalina?"