AN: While reading that chapter, please listen to Breathe Me by Sia. I listened to it on repeat throughout the whole chapter and it kind of wraps up how I was feeling and how Marcy was feeling. Big thanks to Queen of Dead Hearts for beta'ing.

-x-

Chapter Ten: Help

The aching and pain in my back was what kept me from going under. I really wanted to let go, I really did, but every time I slumped forward, the stabbing in my back pulled me straight again. I felt my skin, my flesh, and my bones burn and wear away. Whatever was lodged in my back was eating me away. I could feel the huge gash it was stuck in heal over only to be reopened with any movement of any kind. I groaned, winced and cried out in pain but I was so weak. Trying to force any sound through my throat was like swallowing sandpaper.

"Help," I croaked, grasping helplessly at the musky air around me. It tasted like death and was damp and foul; an air that was hard to breathe in. But I wasn't really sure; my senses had been dulled impossibly. I wasn't even at a human sensory level anymore. I was blind, deaf and as unresponsive like a plant. I felt like I was going to slip into a coma and turn into a vegetable. Why couldn't I just go? I wanted to leave this Earth and leave everyone behind; but I couldn't really do that, could I? It was my burden to bear now. The lives of my friends were in my hands. It was up to me, it all was. I had to save everyone from this. I knew that no one actually placed this job upon my shoulders but I could sense it, feel it almost. I knew that deep down, way in the bottom of their hearts, that they were all blaming this on me. And I didn't disagree with them. I agreed one hundred percent. It was my fault, forcing Greyson to turn me into a vampire. I should have died the night Lucifer found me. But I was still alive, barely, but still breathing nonetheless. Was that fate? Is that how I was destined to live? Forever weighed down by the lives of my friends? One wrong move and they would be dead. I couldn't live like that, in constant fear. I'd go crazy and even my vampire mind wouldn't be able to dig its way through that.

What were they going to do when I couldn't take it anymore? When I made the wrong decisions and it was their lives I was putting in danger? Was it really me to blame? Of course it was me to blame.

It was always going to be me.

-x-

I opened my eyes; slowly and painfully, due to the fact that they were crusted over from tears and blood.

Focusing, I blinked rapidly a few times to adjust to the lighting of the room. It was mostly dark except for a few slabs of light that peeked in through the cracks of the wooden paneled walls that surrounded me.

Where is Helena? Where is Lucy? And Taryn? And Logan? And Greyson? And Cody? Where are they all? Am I alone? Panicked thoughts swarmed through my mind like a hive of enraged bees.

I shook violently, trying to break free of my bondage. My wrists started burning a little as they rubbed against my shackles.

"Wood," someone hoarsely whispered from nearby. I looked down towards the source of the sound. It was Lucy. Her blonde hair was caked in blood and mud. There were scratches, cuts, gashes and dark bruises all over her. Her clothes were torn and ripped in various places. I looked at her hands and ankles, which were also bound to the wall by wooden chains.

"Wood?" I snarled. How can such a powerful monster like a vampire be restrained by something so weak like wood? We could crush rocks with our hands but we can't break the wooden chain that hold us back?

She nodded weakly and coughed up a mouthful of blood. I looked away, heart-broken by the sight of her pain and suffering. "The wood, it hurts us. It kills us. You were stabbed in the back with a wooden stake yesterday. You could have died," she muttered faintly.

I twisted my back slowly and felt the familiar stabbing pain, except this time it wasn't as harsh. I winced and sighed, slumping forward so that the only way I was upright was by the chains that held my wrists to the ceiling.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked her quietly.

She nodded to the opposite corner of the room. There laid Helena and Logan. They were both equally battered, bruised, cut and blood covered. They were both chained to the walls with wooden chains and handcuffs. I gasped and hot tears started flowing down my cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," I sobbed. "This is my entire fault. If I hadn't even shown up in your lives, you guys wouldn't be suffering like this."

"No, silly girl," Lucy laughed faintly but coughed up some more blood. "We chose to have you in our lives. We brought this upon ourselves, Marcy. It is all of our faults."

I cried harder, my sobbing causing my back to burn and throb with pain. I felt my scab rip open and warm blood slowly oozed out.

"Damn it!" I screamed and trembled roughly, trying to break out of my restraints once again. "Get me the hell out of here! I'm going to kill all of you that did this to my friends! I will rip you limb from limb. I will make you suffer!" I screamed with all the power and anger I could muster.

There was no response. Helena and Logan still lay there silently, either unconscious or dead. Lucy crouched in the corner and coughed silently to herself.

"LET ME OUT!" I screamed, rattling the shackles. If I had enough strength, I would be able to rip them out of the ceiling, but I was weakened so much by the wooden stake that all I could do was shake up the dust that gathered in the cracks of the ceiling.

I sobbed quietly. "This isn't fair… they don't deserve this. Just kill me and let my friends go… please…"

Suddenly, the door creaked open and Lucifer's smirking face came into view. "I might just take you up on that offer," he said, calmly.

I growled and thrashed around, trying to hit him.

He shook his head and clucked his tongue at me. "Now now, Marcy. That is not the kind of behavior I can tolerate and you know that. Remember what happened last time?" He grinned evilly and out of nowhere, he was inches from my face. I gasped, narrowed my eyes at him and spat him in the face.

He backed up, chuckling. "Bad idea."

All of a sudden, there was a rough piece of fabric tied around my face, gagging me. My eyes started tearing up as the cloth rubbed roughly against my cheeks.

"That's better, now isn't it?" He asked me, slowly rubbing a strand of my hair between his thumb and pointer finger.

I wanted twist out of his grasp but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I watched vengefully as he toyed with me, tracing his finger down the side of my cheek and dragging it across my collarbone.

He was suddenly standing behind me and there was a jabbing in my back, right in the sore spot where the stake had stabbed me only hours ago. I jolted away in shock and pain.

"Do you remember how it feels, Marcy?" Lucifer asked as he traced a circle around my wound with something sharp. "Do you remember what it feels like to be stabbed in the back?"

Slowly and painfully, Lucifer dug the pointed object into my shoulder blade. I felt it move in my flesh and immediately recognized the burning, melting sensation. It was wood.

I tried screaming but they were muffled and hopeless. Lucifer pulled the stick out, walked back to face me and smiled, revealing his fangs.

He held the blood covered stake up and examined it with mock interest. "Recognize this?" He smiled at me. "This was the exact stake the pierced your back twice."

I whimpered, feeling the wound in my shoulder healing slowly.

Lucifer nodded. "Wood has some damn effect on vampires. Just look at what it did to you little friends over there." He nodded towards them with his head.

I looked at them and my heart clenched painfully. They were my friends. They were the only thing I had left that was even remotely close to family.

"I see your little friends mean a lot to you," Lucifer said, following my gaze, as he walked around the tight little room we were trapped in. He pointed to Logan. "And this one… this one must be just a little more than a friend to you."

He paused and glanced at me. I shook my head frantically. I didn't like Logan like that, we were just friends. But Logan saved me. . .

Still, I can't reveal that I had any relationship with them at all. Maybe that way, Lucifer will leave them alone.

Lucifer chuckled.

"Watch what I can do," he said and kicked Logan in the stomach so forcefully that Logan flew back, breaking the chains and crashed right through the wall. I heard his painful groans from outside.

"No!" I screamed as more hot tears pricked my eyes. "Noooo!"

But my screams were muffled and my movements were useless. I was going to stand here and watch every single one of my friends die.

Lucifer moved on to Helena. "Ah, the best friend, the roommate. I wonder what will happen when I do this. . ." He cocked his head to the side and pulled out the stake again. He smiled at me, and then stabbed her in the arm.

Helena thrashed and shook uncontrollably. The skin around the stake turned a nasty purple and the veins darkened. Then Lucifer kicked her through the hole in the wall just as he did with Logan.

I cried harder. "Just kill me!" I begged. "Please, just kill me and leave them alone. Please."

Lucifer walked up to me. "What was that? Sorry, I couldn't hear you."

I was about to kick him, but he walked away towards Lucy, laughing. My eyes bugged out as he stepped on her shackles, snapping them. Then she held her up so that she was standing.

There was blood all over the entire front of her shirt and some where still dribbling down the corner of her mouth.

He let go of her and she wobbled some, but managed to stay standing up. Her eyes were fluttering open and closing as if she were trying to fight between life and death.

"Marcy, what's going on? Why does it hurt so much," she groaned and was cut of by another coughing fit.

Lucifer nodded and pouted sarcastically. "Yeah, Marcy. Lucy here looks like she could die. Maybe I should put her out of her misery."

I shook my head violently. "Please no! Don't, please!"

Lucifer shrugged and put two hands around Lucy's head. Then he twisted her head to the side with a sickening snap. Lucy crumpled to the floor, lifeless.

"Oops, too late," Lucifer smiled.

"You son of a bitch! You monster!" I screamed. Rage burned like poisonous fire in my mind, engulfing all rational thoughts. In that moment, I was an animal. A viciously upset, devastatingly furious animal. An animal with no higher reasoning. I was so angry I could probably set fire to what ever I looked at.

Lucifer cupped his ear with his hand. "What? I can't hear you."

I knew damn well that he could hear me.

I rattled the wooden shackles intensely. "Pull this damn cloth off me!" I mumbled, my voice muffled yet again by the cloth wrapped forcefully around my mouth.

Lucifer stepped towards me and in one swift motion yanked the cloth off my face, leaving a trail of Lucy's blood in his wake.

I recoiled in disgust. "Lucifer, you ruthless, heartless, and merciless bastard!" I screamed in pain and furiousness. I kicked my legs at him but he was too fast. "If you try to kill my friends again, I will kill you! I will make you regret ever being born!"

There was a silence. Amusement lit up on Lucifer's face.

"I honestly don't like empty threats. It's just so weak," Lucifer said, toying with his fingers, his eyes glistening like the blood on his hands.

The door flung open. My eyes shot there, hoping for a familiar face. Standing in the doorway was a beautiful stranger, a goddess. Her feminine features were soft and strong at the same time. Her dark hair fell in shimmering waves down her back. Her slender body was poised and elegant even when the look on her porcelain face was complete anger. She was dressed in fitted black pants and a simple gray v-neck. Even though it was such a casual outfit, she made it look like stunning.

"Hello, Elvira. Nice to see that you made it in time," Lucifer greeted with heavy sarcasm.

Her head snapped in his direction, her full lips pulled back to reveal her sharp fangs. "Cut the shit, Lucifer. I don't have time for you. Show me the girl."

Lucifer grunted moved away so that I was fully exposed to Elvira. Her lips curved up in a sinister smile.

"Sylvester would be proud that we finally got her," she murmured in approval, her tinkling voice was suddenly soft and sweet.

In a flash, she was standing right in front of me, the scent of blood mixed with a sickly sweet herb floated off her like steam. I gagged and coughed at the mixture of scents. My eyes started to water and my throat started burning, and not the thirsty kind of burn, more like the on fire kind of burn.

Elvira smiled. "I see you like my perfume. It's vervain, a very deadly herb to us vampires. But it seems as if it has no effect on me. How strange."

I coughed again. "You drank Elixir," I spat at her.

Elvira clapped her hands. "Smart girl! How did you know?"

She stuck a slender finger under my chin and roughly lifted my face up so that our eyes met.

I glared at her, not responding.

"Stubborn one, this girl is," Elvira noted to Lucifer, who was now backed up against a wall. He nodded stiffly, repelled by the scent of vervain as well.

She walked to Lucy and examined her dead body. Kicking it and poking it with her foot, Elvira grimaced at the sight of Lucy's beat up body.

"Now that she's dead, she's vulnerable to the sun, no?" Elvira asked Lucifer without even looking at him.

Lucifer swallowed and nodded. How did such an evil and manipulative man turn into such a wimp at the sight of this woman?

"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to do this," Elvira sneered and tossed Lucy through the wall and into the bright sun. I could hear the skin sizzling and burning off. I tried to cover my ears, but my hands were still cuffed to the ceiling.

Lucifer walked towards me and yanked the chains from the ceiling, sending me stumbling to the ground in surprise. He then ripped the wooden shackles off my wrists, careful not to poke himself with the wood.

I rubbed my raw wrists and groaned. "Why did you do that?"

"Sylvester is coming and he does not want to see you this way," Lucifer told me. Elvira was suddenly next to us, disdain written clearly on her face.

"What's the point of wanting her unchained when he's going to kill her anyway?" Elvira asked with a whine.

Lucifer eyed her with his reddish eyes. "You don't know that for sure."

Twisting a strand of her glossy hair on her pointer finger, Elvira cackled. "Oh trust me, I know he will. I mean, now that her daddy's dead, little Marcy here is the head of the Council. Sylvester will kill her in a blink of an eye. Not even. Without her as a road block, we can finally convert all the rest of those damned 'do-gooder' vampires onto our side and us blood suckers will finally have the power and control we deserve."

I looked around hopelessly. So this is what it's all coming down to. I'm going to die and then so is the rest of the world. But the rest of the world will come back to life. I've already had my chance.

I wiped the look of desperation of my face. "Where are Greyson and Taryn?"

Elvira picked off an invisible piece of lint on her black pants. "They're in another room, getting tested for their fucked up mind control powers. I know that Logan has some sort mind powers as well, but his isn't as strong as the others. We also tried to get our hands on the mind reader . . . what's his name . . . ? Chris? Cory?"

"Cody," Lucifer mumbled.

"Cody, yeah, same thing," Elvira snapped. "Well anyway, we looked for him in the woods, but it turns out that he isn't with us anymore." She smiled.

I gasped. "What do you mean?"

The apprehensive silence between us was only worsened by the fear the Cody might be dead, or alive.

"He's dead," she said nonchalantly.

I froze. I felt myself sink into a deeper sadness. A choked sob forced it's way out of my throat.

Elvira laughed. "Found him tangled around a tree in the most gruesome way. Have no idea how that kid did that to himself, but I'm impressed. We could've used him for some torturing strategies."

I snarled at her remark. "You are messed up, you know that? You are sick, twisted and disgusting!"

Elvira shook her head of shiny hair. "No darling, I'm just resourceful. Everything I deem useful, I won't waste."

"Am I not useful to you guys?" I asked.

She chuckled and shook her head slowly. "We're going to kill you. How useful would you be if you're going to be dead?"

And with a click of the heels on her seven inch leather boots, Elvira walked out of the small wooden room, leaving a trail of vervain in her wake.

My insides crumbled. My hope, my last chance, the glimmer in the darkness that told me one of us was still alive; it all vanished just like that. Cody was dead, and it was possibly all my fault.

I am to blame.

I am to blame.

I am to blame.

For the death of Lucy, and her mate Cody, for the pain and suffering of Helena, Taryn, Greyson and Logan. It was all on me.

I hate this guilt. I hate it so much.

This guilt hurts more than any pain a wooden stick could ever inflict on me. I would rather be staked through the heart than have this unsettling guilt stay with me for the rest of my life.

My going-to-end-very-soon life.

"Sylvester's here," Lucifer announced to me, but I wasn't listening. I was staring blankly at the wall in front of me, watching the shadows move across it in an eerie dance.

What time was it? What was the date? How come I don't remember anything even vaguely relevant to the time, day, month or year?

The shabby door creaked open for the second time today. A tall and gangly man appeared in the doorway. He was thin, his cheeks were hollows and his eyes were surrounded by dark circles. His hands were bony and pale, the rest of his body covered by a black high-collared cloak. He smiled, revealing crooked, but still white and pointy teeth.

His eyes were the most unnatural shade of violent purple.

"Marcella Carlucci, it is an honor to finally meet you," Sylvester breathed. His breath smelled like blood, thick, warm and rich blood. My throat was immediately set aflame.

"So you've met Elvira?" Sylvester asked, stepping closer to me.

I nodded.

"Mmm, she is a feisty little kitten, isn't she?" He asked me. I held back my gag.

"I take it she's your mate?" I spat at him.

Sylvester smiled, revealing his ugly teeth once again. "Yes. I am a very lucky man. With the most beautiful woman in the world by my side, I would say I am a very dangerous threat to you little Elites."

I seethed. "You fucking wish."

Sylvester pouted with his thin lips. "Why do you talk like that to me?"

"Like what? It's what you deserve!"

"Haven't you ever heard of respecting your elders, stubborn girl?"

I bared my fangs. "You are of no worth to me," I said, twisting Elvira's words from before.

Lucifer tensed but instantly relaxed when Sylvester let out a cold chuckle. "Let's not let our conversation get violent too fast, my darling. There's still so much I would like to know before I kill you."

I stepped away from both of them. "How are you so sure that you will be able to kill me? I'm not the weak human girl anymore."

"Marcy, I understand this is your first day being a vampire, and therefore you are a newborn with no training and no control. I am more than five hundred years old. I can kill you with the snap of my fingers."

"Then if you're so powerful, why aren't you the king of the Council? Why was my dad the king when he was so much younger than you?"

Sylvester sighed. "You're dad was our king even before you were born. But he wanted to have a child so he stayed human. He was given a limit of ten years after you were born to care for you. Then he had to fake his death and finally turn into a vampire." Sylvester cringed; it looked like it pained him to talk about my dad. I smiled a little, discovering a weakness.

"Why was my dad king in the first place?" I pushed on.

"He developed the damned Elixir, okay? I ran away, formed the Rogues and now it's finally time for the world to be put where it belongs, under the hands of us vampires."

I hissed in his face. "Like that will ever happen."

"Don't get cocky," Sylvester warned. Lucifer was suddenly much closer to me that he was before, ready to pounce.

"When this world is finally turned under vampire rule, it will be over my dead body," I snarled.

Suddenly, Lucifer was behind me, holding my hands in an iron grip behind my back and simultaneously yanking my head back so my neck was exposed. But what could Sylvester do? It's not like he could drink my blood.

Sylvester smirked. "That might be a little easier than you think."

I struggled and tried to fight back.

Sylvester licked his lips. "I wish so badly I could still taste your sweet blood. Too bad you're one of us now. I guess I'll just have to. . ." He trailed off and pulled out a syringe out of his dark cloak.

My eyes widened at the clear liquid inside the syringe.

"Are you going to inject that into me?" I choked out. It was getting harder and harder to breathe in the position Lucifer held me in.

Sylvester's evil purple eyes twinkled with excitement. "The vervain will only hurt a bit, dear Marcy."

He traced a finger along the side of my cheek and across my jaw line. Then he stuck the syringe into my neck.

I felt the vervain flow into me slowly and painfully, searing my veins that were conveniently running low on blood. I gasped and howled in pain.

I fell to the floor, writhing in agony. My toes curled, my hands formed fists, the skin inside my burned with an invisible flame.

The hours flashed before my eyes as my body twisted and shook with uncontrollable pain.

I watched wearily as Lucifer and Sylvester walked out of the room, pleased looks on their faces. I waited for my friends, but they never came or made a sound. I knew the Lucy was dead for sure, but what about the rest of them? Were they all dead to, just like what I was going to be?

-x-

It seemed like eternity until the wooden finally creaked open once again. The last of the vervain had finally burned itself through my body and veins, leaving my limp and numb.

From my position on the ground, I looked to see who as the door. I was still weak so my eyesight wasn't nearly as good as it could be. Plus, it was dark outside so the figures looked tall and mysterious.

"Marcy? Helena? Logan? Lucy? You guys here?" A female voice asked; a very familiar female voice. I held my breath; in case it was someone I knew that was going to hurt me. My brain was too exhausted to comprehend the good and the bad now.

"Guys? Are you in here?" A male voice was speaking now. It was also very familiar. I tilted my head up so that my ear was in the open air.

I heard the footsteps walk around the room. There were gasps and sobs as the two people discovered the mangled bodies of my half dead (and dead) friends.

Finally, they stopped at me.

"Marcy? Are you . . . are you okay?" The female asked in a soft tone. Her voice cracked a little, like she was crying.

I shook my head weakly, hoping they could see it. I didn't want to move. All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and die.

"She's badly injured," the male said. "I don't know if she's conscious or not."

"Well check! I don't want to leave any of them here to die," the female responded in an urgent voice.

I heard shuffling and suddenly two arms were flipping me on to my back. I winced as pressure was applied to the scars the wooden stakes had formed.

"Marcy, can you hear me?" The male choked out. How come I still can't tell who they are?

I coughed a little, clearing my throat. "I'm fine," I whispered hoarsely.

The two people simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

The girl broke down crying. I could hear her sobs.

"Marcy, it's me, Greyson. Taryn is with me. We're both relatively unharmed. We're going to take you home."

It was Greyson and Taryn. They finally came. They heard my plea for help. I am saved, Helena is saved, and Logan is saved. But Lucy, Lucy will never be saved. I will be forever in her debt. I will fight till my death for her because she did the same for me. I will not allow Lucy to die in vain.

"Lucy is dead," I cried out in a strangled voice.

"We know," Greyson said.

I cried a little harder. "And Helena and Logan, they're okay?"

"They're unconscious but alive."

It felt as if a weight was lifted off my shoulders. They were still alive.

"Take me home?" I asked.

I heard Taryn scramble around and carry Helena and Logan's body out of the shack.

Greyson brushed a bloody piece of hair out of my face. "Yes Marcy. We are here to take you home."

Never had such simple words bring so much relief into me. Never had such simple and plain words make me feel so safe and so protected.

I couldn't help the tears of joy that slid down my blood covered face.