Chapter 10: Claire
Unbelievable. This can not be happening yet I know it is because the half-breed vampire's words are still ringing in my ears.
We won't hurt her if you don't hurt us.
I try to fill the hollow void that has eroded its way into my chest with anger but it quickly dissipates, replaced by a daunting sadness I've never thought was possible for just one body frame to carry. And then I laugh because I realize it is not my body experiencing this dead dread and sorrow but instead, my soul. My souls. Each one of my souls, all fifty-three of them, are crying out because I am not the only one that has connected with Nela.
I am not the only one that considers Nela more than just a friend. Not the only one that sees Nela as a mentor. A guide. A cool breeze on the hottest of days. An older sister.
I've always guessed at how much the girl means to me, always wondered what I would do without her but it wasn't until she was gone that I finally know.
I'll crash and burn without her. Every soul I hold within my body will die a slow and tortured death, while my body withered in the unrelenting pain. I realize now that Nela has always been my rock. The one that has grounded me to reality and told me with complete confidence that I could surpass every hurdle that was thrown my way. She was my second in command. The one I turned to when I didn't know what else to do.
And now she is dead. At least that is what it feels like. At least that is what she might as well be in the hands of them.
I sneered at the word as i thought of the vile creatures that had the audacity to kidnap my best friend. The anger welded up to hot within me that I thought my skin would melt right off. Instead, I succumbed in misery once again as I thought of the reason she was kidnapped.
Me. I'm the reason. Because I was too weak to protect her. Because I hesitated for just a second. Because I allowed the half-breed to consume my I allowed my hatred and fury to get the best of me so much that I was incapable of protecting my team.
My heart and souls wallowed again as I knew that that was not the only thing I was incapable of. I wasn't able to protect my team because I wasn't fit to be Doyen. I knew this the moment I was accepted into the Omega Hunter Organization and again during the tests every hunter had to take in order to determine who is eligible for the Doyen position. I know someone switched out my scores with Nela's. That is the only explanation. There's no way that she would have failed and I had passed. The thought of it had been completely ridiculous to me and I thought it was a joke. I found out how much it wasn't a joke when I was assigned leader and my superiors actually supported it.
So now, because an incoherent idiot was put in a position she neither wanted nor equipped for, her team was slowly starting to fall apart. And I had missed all the signs of it. I thought falling into an even deeper misery. And Nela is going to pay for it.
For the entire weary walk back to camp, my feelings changed just like that. One moment I was angry, the next I was wallowing, then chastising myself then angry all over again. In the back of my head I knew I looked crazy but it couldn't be helped. I am an idiot. An unfit leader and it is costing the lives of my team.
"Doyen,"
Smith's strong voice stopped me up short.
At the sound of the word, all the anger and hatred reared up within me and I felt my body rock with the intensity of it. I turned quickly and as soon as i looked up into the broad man's face, all of it rolled away. Because even though I have come to hate the word, I knew that it still meant something I could not deny.
I was still in charge but that didn't matter. What did matter was that I still had four other lives under my protection. Four other lives that were still here with me. And as I looked from face to face, I realized that these four lives still believed in my. They weren't rebuking me or trying to overthrow me. No, they were trailing behind me, silently watching me succumb to emotions. Right now, their faces told me that they were feeling the same sorrow over our kidnapped comrade. The souls they each carried within them were crying as well yet they were waiting. Waiting for me to pull myself together and lead them like I was supposed to. There was no calm and inviting air that usually surrounded this merry bunch of men.
Instead, the air around them was deadly. Murderous. In front of me stood four warriors ready to carry out the next order. Yet here I was, mourning a life that is not yet lost.
We won't hurt her if you don't hurt us.
I could not afford to unravel like this. Not now, not ever. So I closed my eyes and took three deep, calming breaths. When I opened them, I was all game.
"We won't hurt her if you don't hurt us", I repeated to them. "She is not dead yet which means that this is far from over."
The four men shifted where they stood. They obviously were thinking the same thing so I waited patiently until one of them spoke up.
"Guideline 32. When one hunter is down, keep going. Leave them,"
Kohn's voice was strained as he recited a rule that was incorporated in our heads back during our time at Hunter's Academy. I knew where his mind frame was. Nela was his sister. Even though they pestered each other on nearly a daily basis, there was no doubt that they loved each other. But he was conflicted because he was a hunter. And a damn fine one at that. I knew that if I gave the order, he would leave her.
I laughed and it was cold and hard.
"Kohn, let me assure you, if I was any other person, any other Doyen, that would be the exact thing we would do. But there is a reason why all five of us work so well together. In many different ways, we are the same." I paused and looked at Issac full on before continuing. "We are natural delinquents. it can't be helped. We were born to break the rules. Remember this when I am flogged by Framer: I will never leave a comrade behind. Fuck everyone else that thinks otherwise. We only have each other out here."
All four men, even the entire forest seemed to release the breath they had been holding. They knew from experience how cruel I can be. I guess they just didn't know how far I could go. They were relieved to find that my cruelty does, in fact, have at least one boundary.
"But I must say, this makes things a lot harder on us. We won't be able to attack without the fear of them harming Nela," I spoke to make sure they understood that the vampires had an upper hand.
"Don't you know?" asked Isaac, his face shadowed with a cruelty that almost matched mine. "It only gets worse before it gets better."
"We just need to play our poorly dealt hand carefully," Hansel added.
In that instant, I knew all four were game. Isaac had unofficially declared war but the vampires have accepted by taking Nela. There's no way we are going down without a fight.
At that moment, an unnaturally strong wind blew between the five of us. I could hear the trees whine in their effort to stay up straight under the unexpected stress. The trees didn't know what was going on but I did.
My arms had reflexively went up to protect my face but I fought to put them down in the heavy wind. Through slitted eyes, I saw the four men to do the same. They knew what was happening. The spirits that have been sleeping in the woods have been awakened by our determination and by they way they were making the wind spin in a miniature tornado around us, it seems like they like it. I laughed in pure bliss as I felt them caress us with their warm, feather-like bodies.
In a way, it struck me odd that this was happening. I mean, it wasn't odd for spirits to be attracted to us, it was just odd that there seemed to be more than one attracted to each of us. Usually, they only appeared to one of us and only when we were completely alone but it seems the spirits were picking which one of us each of them liked.
A cold chill ran down my spine. It seems as if it only took a few minutes for each spirit to choose it's host. I closed my eyes and waited. I didn't have to wait long as i felt the spirit slip into my body through a small, feather-shaped birthmark just below my ear.
I shivered as it rolled within my body, trying to settle. When it finally did, the color behind my eyelids slowly started to change from red to a dark and earthy green. Already I could tell that this particular spirit had lived as one with the earth during it's human life. It only took a few seconds for his silvery-ghost body to take form.
He wore a simple arrangement of leaves held together by a thick braid of leather around his waist. Tall, broad backed and muscled all over, the only other clothing he wore was a headdress made of feathers, beads, and animal leather. He bore ancient tribal tattoos across his bare chest, arms, neck and legs. Like every spirit that has contacted me, I observed him closely and was awed. What struck me more than his strong and overbearing presence was his face. With a sharp nose and dark eyes, the Chief's face was etched with experience, knowledge, wisdom, strength and above all kindness. With a walk that was humble but powerful at the same time, he came forward until he stood but three feet in front of me. Still awed by this incredible enigma, I forced myself to talk. It was crucial for my kind to greet the spirits that are compatible with our own soul.
"I am Claire Blant. Claire Blant of the Dark Kin." I introduced as I bowed in respect.
'What occupation do you hold, Claire Blant of the Dark Kin?" he asked in a low rumbling voice that reminded me of an earthquake.
I Frowned before answering. This is not the way it usually went. Usually a spirit introduces itself back to me. But something told me he was not like the other souls.
"I am a Hunter. I hunt vampires."
"How do you go about this?"
The fact that he was asking me questions confused me but I answered him anyway.
"I fight with instruments that penetrates the vampires skin."
"Even if their were such a weapon, how are you able to use it against them? They have any arsenal abilities keeps them safe."
I smiled.
"I assure you, so do we. That is why we take in souls that are compatible with our own. Those such as you, gives us the advantages we need to ... level the playing field."
He thought of this before replying.
"Why?"
"Why? Because they are but a menace to humanity. They prey on those that have no way of protecting themselves."
"And let me guess, you believe are protecting the defenseless? That your cause is noble and necessary?"
His voice wasn't patronizing by kind. Still, I didn't answer him, confusion showing clearly on my face. Was he trying to tell me something. That what I was doing was wrong? That my entire belief system is wrong? If so, then how in the hell are our souls compatible. Before I could say anything, he sighed and put a heavy hand on my shoulder.
"Then I must be a guide," he said so silently that I must have misheard him.
Before I could think anymore of it, he spoke louder, his voice filled with the strength and power of a chief.
"Claire Blant of the Dark Kin and Vampire Hunters, I am Ephraim Black, former Quileute leader and Alpha. On this day, I proudly declare myself another part of your overall soul. Bound to you forever, I shall aid in any task and challenge as if it were my own."
Placing my hand on his chest where his heart should lay, I spoke the final words that would complete the ceremony of our union.
"Ephraim Black, I accept you."
There was a flash and I opened my eyes, the ceremony completed. I could feel the Chief settle, for the final time, within my chest and heart. His voice also blended with the one that is my subconscious. I had just acquired my fifty-fourth soul.
As I opened my eyes and senses to the outside world, I heard the four men in front of me complete their own ceremonies.
"Susannah Black, I accept you," sighed Isaac.
"Joseph Black, I accept you," breathed Kohn.
"Quil Ateara II, I accept you," boomed Smith.
"Levi Uley, I accept you," whispered Hansel.
A/N: Susannah is Ephraim's younger sister and Joseph is his father. Hope you love this chapter like I do! Comment, follow, favorite, whatever ... just read and love !