Chapter three
Quietly, Mike whispered that we should probably go now. Wyatt had set strict instructions for us to not fight any Strigoi unless absolutely necessary. I shook my head and they stared at me in confusion.
"I need to speak to them, need to know something," they looked at me as if I was insane.
"What could you possibly ask them? Not to mention, uh, how?" Leon snapped, fists clenched. He was one that hadn't been in great control of his temper from the beginning. I looked at Sean instead.
"I need to know," I said slowly, hoping he'd understand. His eyes widened in recognition before narrowing.
"You think they know something?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I think that the deaths only happened an hour or so away and it wouldn't hurt to find out." He bit his lip, the others staring between us.
"How do you plan on doing that?" and then I grinned, because I had something they didn't.
"By pretending to be exactly what they want," I took the wide black cotton choker I'd kept secured around my throat for when I went out, tilting my head slightly to show the bite marks that had never properly healed, still visible in the light. It'd be easy to show off, so long as I got my acting right.
"You can't exactly just walk up to them and ask about it, now can you?" our hushed voices were not heard by the Strigoi who looked to be in a heated debate about something.
I let a rare grin show on my face, making sure it looked heated and drunk before I pinched my cheeks red "All I-," I paused to hiccough, "want is another beer!" I said, words slurring and voice probably louder than intended, but that was the point. Sean suddenly leant back, impressed look on his face as he nodded, as if saying 'not bad' through the raise of his eyebrows. He made a motion with his hand to go for it and I giggled, allowing the act to sweep over me.
While I used to get drunk all the time at the Academy, sometimes acting was the only thing that stopped me from being hurt, the moment of surprise it gave, and sometimes it just allowed me the excuse of doing the things I wouldn't have otherwise. Not to mention I'd had a reputation to uphold.
I stood, pretending to stumble with the empty jug that had held beer, as I walked to the counter. Thankfully the bartender had been on the side closest to the Strigoi. While it was rare, some Dhampir's had been known to change sides to become a 'dirty blood whore.' These were the people that got addicted to the bite, to the euphoria of it, especially during sex. A small part of me had become addicted back when I ran away with Lissa, without the sex part of course, something that had come to light when I'd been kidnapped, along with my friends Mason, Christian, Eddie and Mia. They'd come to realize that, while I'd been begging for them to bite me instead of Eddie, it wasn't just for the sake of being a hero. They'd realized that deep down, in a shameful, dirty part of me I'd wanted it.
While listening into the conversation that the Strigoi held, I sat myself down on a stool and held the jug out, batting my eyelashes and smiling dopily at the bartender. He sighed, taking the jug and going to fill it up.
"—just listen! If we do it family at a time it'll strike fear. You know how she wants it to be done, if we stray away from the plan she'll kill us!" one of the Strigoi had muttered, but without looking I couldn't tell.
"But with the Moroi learning offensive magic, it'll only be a matter of time before we lose. I say all of the groups strike once, take care of all the families now," I'd heard enough…that and the bartender was back. The anger had flooded me and I knew that I needed to do something about it. I couldn't, wouldn't, let them get away. It's not in my nature and never has been.
"Listen, can I ask you something?" I continued to slur my words, stumbling off of the stool, just to catch the attention of the Strigoi.
"What?" the bartender did not look like he had time for me, even though the bar was practically empty.
"You're, like, a bartender, and I know that they tend to know where all the good shit is…" I stared at him expectantly, and he just raised an eyebrow.
"Listen, this isn't that kind of establishment," he went to continue but I cut him off, tilting my head to the side and knowing that the Strigoi caught site of the bite marks.
"I know, I know, I just…I went through something and the stuff they did was so good, but then they stopped giving it to me and I just need some new stuff…it's not like you have to hand it to me, just…can you tell me where to get it from?" my words were rushed and stumbled over, trying to seem like it was something that I really needed.
"Like I said, this isn't that kind of establishment," I huffed, pouted but nodded, about to stand up and walk away when one of the Strigoi were beside me, one cold hand on mine as he grinned down at me. I pretended to be surprised, eyes widened considerably before a lustful, dazed expression fell over my face. In a way, it sickened me that I almost didn't even have to act like I wanted it, because that part of me that had been addicted missed the feeling of euphoria.
"I think I have what you need," I bobbed my head enthusiastically, clutching on the arm that was closest to me, pressing my body against his.
"Yes, yes, please," I whimpered. He chuckled, the brown contacts finally dissolving to show his red irises.
"Follow us," he chuckled, glancing back at his extra friends before pulling me along. We walked until the nearest alleyway, where they pushed me against the wall. It was quick, suddenly it was just one of them there, holding me down, and then two, both of their heads tilted, fangs elongated and brushing my neck. A part of me wanted to just close my eyes, to accept the bite and fall into bliss for a bit. The other part, fueled by anger, grabbed the stake in my jacket and slammed it through the side of one's body, twisting it through the gap of his ribs before he fell down. The other one that hadn't been pinning me was quickly staked by Mike before I grabbed the other one, in his shock he hadn't reacted. I flipped him over, throwing him to the ground before pinning him, the side of his face smashed into the pavement and my silver stake poised over his heart, digging in and daring him to move.
"Listen here and listen good, I want you to tell me who's orchestrating the kills and I want you to do it now," the Strigoi huffed, arms going to push me off before Sean had them held, pinning them above the Strigoi's head as he stared at me, as if making sure that I knew what I was doing.
"Make me," he hissed, which wasn't the answer I wanted. I sighed, shaking my head before I ripped his shirt open, very slowly dragging the sharp point of the steak down his chest. His howl echoed around and I knew that we didn't have long.
"I want you to know that your kind has tortured me, betrayed me, turned people I knew into dicks like you and is the reason I'm here today. There will not come a day when I am not hunting your kind down and killing them because, honey, I've already died once and it's not as scary as people make it out to be, so listen carefully," I leant into face, making sure he stared into my eyes, to see that I held no fear of him or any of his kind, "whatever you and the little army of undead fucks want to throw at me…bring it." I pushed the stake into his heart. His eyes widened and I got a sick pleasure from watching the light fade from his eyes. It was silent for a long while before I got up from my straddled position, ignoring the looks I was getting.
Dumpsters were the best creation, able to hold three dead bodies for a sloppy hide before we headed back to the car. Without my music playing, it was a silent drive.
"We need to clear something up before we go back, as Wyatt is going to want to know. He needs to know," Beau said, for the first time all day.
"What's that?" I asked through clenched teeth, hands tightening on the steering wheel.
"How much does Wyatt know about you searching for the Strigoi who are killing the Moroi families?" I glanced back in the rear view mirror, slightly shocked that he knew what I'd been talking about.
"All of it, it's why he's training me," he nodded before, after a while, Sean spoke up.
"How'd you get the bites?" he didn't look at me as he said it and I wondered how much I could say.
"I'm not a blood whore, if that's what you're thinking. It was a do or die situation, my friend, Moroi, didn't have any other way of feeding and I wasn't going to let them die. So I let them feed off of me," I made sure to not use any gender specific pronouns, just to be sure that I wasn't letting anything else away. After a stiff nod from him, the rest of the drive was silent.
.
By the time we made it back to the institution, the tension had lowered only to come back full force with the realization that we'd need to tell Wyatt what had happened. We were all suddenly glancing at each other with the realization that we'd disobeyed. Other students had done less and were kicked out. I steeled my nerves, all of us taking our bags to our rooms before silently meeting up out the front of Wyatt's room. It was Layla who had gathered enough courage to knock on his door.
It opened with a creek, one heard in every horror movie ever, and Wyatt stood there. He took one look at our guilty or blank expressions before his face was controlled into a mask that would conceal all of his emotions.
"Cafeteria, now." I knew that by this time it would have been shut and locked, dinner well and truly over.
All of us, again in silence, grabbed some chairs and sat down in front of where Wyatt sat, facing us.
A few minutes of silence went by, "is someone going to tell me what happened?"
"We attacked and killed some Strigoi," Beau said. I felt like shit. They were going to get into trouble because I couldn't be patient. I felt like I'd just thrown every bit of Wyatt's training down the drain.
"How many?" if you hadn't spent a lengthy amount of time with Wyatt, you wouldn't be able to tell that he was pissed off. However, the way his breathing was controlled, every one of his movements made to look like he was in control showed us all that we really were in trouble.
"Three," I was glad that Beau had taken over this little speech because I wasn't sure I could handle it just yet.
"Why?" Beau glanced at Sean and me for a moment, brows furrowing briefly before turning back to Wyatt. Beau had no idea why Sean had let me do it but he was going to stick up for his mate, I knew this and it made me feel even more like crap. I was a metaphorical pile of shit right now.
"They came into the bar we were in, we couldn't let them leave." He shrugged one shoulder but we all knew that it was a stupid excuse. We'd all seen Strigoi out and about on our free days and we've let them go.
"Whose idea was it?" but he turned to stare at me, like he knew it was mine.
Sean sat up straighter, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, "mine." My eyes widened in shock. If anything, I'd expected him to turn me in. Wyatt's eyes widened faintly in surprise before he schooled his mask again.
"No it wasn't, don't lie for me," I snapped at him before turning back to Wyatt, "it was mine, he's just being a dick." Sean bristled at the insult, ready to send a jab back before Wyatt raised his hand.
"Everyone but Sean and Belle leave," when they hesitated, "Now!" was growled. They left quickly after that, giving us apologetic looks and comforting, tight-lipped smiles. I found that they weren't comforting at all, oddly enough.
"What. Happened?" he said slowly as if we were stupid. I sighed very slightly, shoulders slumping.
"The Conta family has been killed, all but one girl." I said in a way of explanation.
"What does that have to do with the Strigoi you killed? Are you going back to your old ways? Murdering and killing without thought as to what you're doing? We don't hunt, R-Belle, we guard." He snapped. I bit my tongue just in time to control my anger before shaking my head, ignoring the almost slip of my old name.
"I listened in on their conversation. They were talking about attacking all the families at once, now that the Moroi were learning magic, now that they could protect themselves. They said something about groups—groups of Strigoi. I had to do it, had to get rid of one of them. I hope that it slows them down just a bit. If they're going family at a time, maybe, just maybe, we can stop them before they start on the Ozera's." Wyatt closed his eyes, taking in the information before shaking his head.
"We can't do it like that, Belle. You know this! If we start attacking like that, than we're just as bad as them." I glared at him.
"How can you say that? How can you say that it would make us just like them! They murder to feel satisfied, to be stronger and more powerful, they murder innocents. What we do is kill those that have no soul."
"But aren't you doing the same thing? You kill them to feel better in yourself, and when I found you you were murdering to become more powerful, to be more skilled. They were innocent before they were turned, the majority were." I bit my lip, nose flaring and fists clenched. I wasn't. I wasn't a murder…was I?
"It's not the same." I snapped, standing and storming out of the cafeteria. On the upside, I'd never lost my flare for dramatics. Hell, I wondered if, when I died (properly), I could convince them to stuff my coffin with glitter and confetti and make it explode as they begin to lower me down. Nothing like limbs and confetti to rain down on you to make it a memorable experience.
When the others fell asleep that night, I got up and packed. Soft snoring filled the room. Sadly, I still only had a duffle bag of items. While it made it easier for me, at the same time I was upset that this was what my life had moved down to. Living out of a duffle bag and, again, having nowhere to go.
As I headed out of the room, I took a quick glance back before sighing. All of them were still in their beds, sleeping. Well…not all, some were on patrol, but that was only two girls out of us all.
"Oh, thank Christ, I thought you wouldn't be coming and that would have been awkward." I jumped out of shock, spinning around to see Sean and Mike sitting on their duffle bags against the 'electric' fence. It was never turned on, without the electricity on we just hoped it would scare off anybody trying to jump it.
"What are you doing?" I snapped as he stood, bag slung over his shoulder, just like mine was. He smirked wryly, in a way that told me he didn't exactly want to come with me, but felt obligated.
"Figured you'd start running again, thought you could use some company." my scowl and hatred deepened for him.
"I'm not running, I'm fighting back."
He grinned, "Well that's good; because once you start running you can't ever stop."
