Sorry, I know this is a long time coming. I honestly didn't realize how long it had been till I had someone ask me if I still wrote on this site. Oops. I have been super busy with getting into this program for teachers, taking the Praxis 2, and trying to get all my life together! This update is long and action packed so I hope it makes up for the long wait a little bit. Dependng on how long it is, I'm going to try and make the last chapter the last one. I hope to get it out soon-ish as I am spending most of my day studying. But after I take the Praxis and do a few other things to finalise myself in the Indy Teaching Fellows, I will have more time to write. So bare with me for just a little longer please!
Anyways, you've waited long enough. Let me know what you think!
The Blood Countess
Ch 10
"I bent over him, and tried to find any sign of life, but in vain."
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 4, Dracula
Rei went back to the temple. She had no choice, her grandfather was insistent. So this left Serena to walk alone back to her house. She knew it wasn't the smartest choice given all that had happened lately, but it was good to just have some time to herself to think. Think about all that she had seen and felt in the past few days. There had been moments of absolute terror, fear she had never experienced before in her life, it was enough to last the rest of it.
Even with all the scares, she couldn't help but laugh at herself. Here she was in the throws of a strange and dangerous mystery and all she could think about was Darien. Any girl in her situation, minus the threat of possible harm, would be the same way. She had long ago realized that Darien was unobtainable. Sure they had been childhood friends, but after they split up, he only grew in popularity.
He was accepted into the top schools in the area, he grew tall and lean, she had never seen him with a single blemish on his perfect face, and he was graceful. It was a weird thing to say about a man but it was true. She had watched a few of his soccer games and track races, unbeknown to anyone not even her mother. He was like an unearthly creature when he moved. It really wasn't fair to the other players, they never had a chance.
Add in the fact that he was quiet and "mysterious" only made him more attractive to the other girls and now he was kissing her?! All these years of getting use to him being far and away out of her reach, now she had to get use to the idea that he was her...boyfriend?! It was just too much!
Shouldn't she be more afraid? Afraid for her life or more importantly, her sanity? No matter how scary things got she still couldn't get rid of the butterflies in her stomach from Darien's kiss. Nothing was making sense anymore, but at least she wasn't alone in this madness. She hadn't said anything to anyone, God knows Darien was sitting on a trigger as it was, but deep down in the darkest part of her she knew all this had some relation to Nicolas and his family.
When she arrived at her house late afternoon, Darien was sitting on the porch swing waiting for her. It was the same thing he use to do when they were kids. So many times she would come home to find him waiting for her on the swing. Her dad didn't like it too much, but her mom always made sure he kept it to himself. She unlocked her door and the two of them went inside.
He sat down on the couch and gestured for her to join him, "So how was your night?" His tone was sincere, but it still had and air of business to it.
The tears she had gained control of broke free once again. He pulled her into his lap and rocked them both until she calmed down enough to speak.
She managed through sobs to tell him as much as possible, "It was awful Darien. We watched Mina sleep walk to her garden and meet her dream lover. Only it wasn't her dream lover, it was a monster."
"You and Rei saw it?" He was calmly questioning her, but it wasn't that he didn't believe her. He was really trying to understand everything.
Mean while, she was trying not to hyperventilate next to him on the couch, "Rei could see Mina, but not the monster. All she could see was the spot he held. But it wasn't like before, I could see it all more clearly. And I could see that the monster was...drinking Mina's blood. I tried to stop it but it was too late and Mina drank it's blood too."
She felt sick, reliving the memory. Darien didn't look at all shocked at what she had seen. He probably didn't believe her.
Taking a steadying breath, she looked him square in the eyes, "You don't believe me do you?"
Without missing a beat, he replied, "Of course I do," he kissed her nose, "Of course I believe you Serena. Every word."
She cupped his face and brought his lips to hers. Kissing him sweetly sending shivers went down her spine. Like a moth to a flame, he couldn't help but deepen and intensify their embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her slightly. Then he laid her down on the couch beneath him. She bent her knee up, allowing him to lay in between her legs.
She should have been scared, being this intimate with someone. But she wasn't. Maybe all the craziness of this weekend had numbed her to fear permanently. Leaving her with the heart racing adrenaline
Her arms around his neck and his around her back, his tongue licked her lips. She opened her mouth, allowing his to enter. His tongue played with hers, making her whole body tingle with pleasure. His hand stroked her side gently, tickling her. Her fingers tangled in his hair, holding him in place. He eventually broke the kiss and kissed her nose and forehead before lying beside her.
She didn't know if she should be upset that he broke away or thankful. She knew that, with Darien he would give her the choice of proceeding to the next step every time. The problem was, she wasn't sure she would be able to say no. She would just have to be happy that she didn't have to choose for now as he pulled her close and she continued to play with his hair.
She wasn't sure when, but they both fell asleep. It was clear that neither of them had gotten much sleep lately and being in his arms was the safest and relaxed she had felt since hell broke loose this weekend.
Her dreams began with memories. Sun filled days running around on little legs without a care in the world. Out of breath, she laid down on the soft grass. Her mother was nearby, reading on a park bench, too lost in her current romance novel to yell at her for getting grass stains on her dress.
She was busy watching the clouds above her when a mass of dark hair blocked her view. The sun shone behind him, hiding his face from her. She wasn't afraid, that she remembers the most, but at that age she rarely was. She was scared of monsters under her bed, but not people. Sitting up and shielding her face, she was able to make out the young boy. He was a little older than her; taller and thin having shed all his baby fat already. He didn't say a word to her, just stared at her like he was in shock.
Hopping up to her feet, she squealed with delight, "It's you! The boy from the hospital. The boy with no name."
He stood there, unmoving even from her sudden actions, "It's Darien. Darien Shields."
Surprise turned to happiness that quickly spread over her small face, "You remembered?!"
"No. My Aunt and Uncle told me. They came to get me a few days ago." Even with the sad details, he seemed un-phased by it all.
She tried her best not to let her disappointment show, "Well it's nice to meet you Darien."
The boy, Darien, was like a mystery for her to solve. The boy with no name and no memory? It was like a great adventure! But his Aunt and Uncle had ruined the chance for them to have that adventure. It was like someone had skipped to the end and shouted it to them before they could cover their ears from the sound.
Darien finally showed a small amount of emotion, confusion, "But we've already met."
"My mom says that learning someone's name is important to knowing who they are. So now that you know your name we can truly meet and get to know one another!" She had put her hands on her hips and said it as close as she could to the way her mother said it.
He kept his blank stare even as she smiled her brightest smile at him. He had yet to smile. Since the first day they met, he had never smiled. She was determined to do that today, it was her goal!
They had been standing still for about 5 minutes at this point, which was a record for her. She silently wished her mom watching this, "You wanna play a game?"
"What kind of game?" Already he didn't seem to want to play.
But she wasn't going to let that stop her, "I don't know. We could play tag or hide and seek."
"You pick."
He was standing perfectly still just a few inches from her, giving her an advantage, "Okaayyyyy...TAG YOU"RE IT!"
She ran as fast as her little legs would carry her. Her pig tails flapped in the wind and her pink jumper flew around her legs. But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't lose Darien. She ran zig zags to try a throw him off her trail. Then she ran around the big oak tree in the middle of the playground. It was the same tree that they would later have their first kiss under. She moved around it, trying to hide. When Darien didn't come around to find her, she stopped and looked for him. She found him on the other side of the tree. He had tripped over a root and scraped his knee. It was a nasty scrape but he didn't shed a single tear. He just watched as the blood pooled on top of his knee.
"Oh no! Are you okay?" Ever the brave one, she neared herself to him, regardless of the blood.
With a slight shrug of his shoulders, he replied, "Yeah. It's nothing." And the way he said it, she truly believed him.
"I'll go get you a band-aid." Before he could protest, she back on her feet and halfway to her mom.
She quickly returned and carefully covered the scrape with the bandage. Still, he showed no sign of pain or discomfort.
Diverting her eyes from the injury, she watched his face, "Does it hurt?"
Again he gave a small shrug of his shoulders as if indifferent, "A little."
She was in full admiration of him now, "Wow. You are so brave!"
"Brave?" A storm played in his eyes as they where washed with confusion.
"Yeah! I would have cried if it was my knee." She said, almost as a cheer.
The confusion left his eyes and had returned to their blank, emotionless, dark blue. Then he stood and helped her to her feet.
He looked to her, "Did you want to keep playing?"
She was a bit surprised at his eagerness, since he showed little interest, "Yeah! Oh, but wait! Your not ready!"
She leaned down and kissed the bandage over his knee. When she faced him again, his eyes were very dark and his expression was one she had not seen before in her young life. She thought that it must be anger and worried about what she had done wrong.
But she hadn't done anything wrong. She was just being nice and he had to get over it, "I had to kiss it to make it better!" She argued.
Then it happened. His face cracked. It was small at first, but when he saw that she was serious he burst into laughter. It was the sweetest sound she had ever heard, even better than the ice cream truck's music. His laughing was slowly subsiding and he put a hand on her shoulder and leaned into her ear to whisper.
"Tag, you're it." And it was like he had changed into a completely different person.
Gone was the lost boy she had met in the hospital. The boy named Darien, with no emotions or feelings, had disappeared as well. He ran without a care and she chased him, screaming that it wasn't fair as he laughed loudly. It was clear that he didn't care if it was fair or not.
But as her younger self ran, she pulled away up into the sky. She watched as the two children from her memory raced around. Time sped up and the park darkened, slowly disappearing beneath her feet. The sun set and she was dropped from her perch in the sky to the hard and now cold ground.
It was as if she was ripped from her warm and happy dream and plopped right into a nightmare.
A wet and cold fog settled around her. When she pulled herself off the ground, she saw that she was no longer in the park. Instead she was in some kind of castle. The air was stale and the ground under her hands felt slimy. She rose to her feet, freezing, wrapping her arms around herself in a futile attempt to stay warm. Taking a few shaky steps, she made her way into the darkness.
There wasn't a single shred of light making her feel like she was under ground. Her head found a wall, making her stumble back a few steps. After regaining her footing and using the wall as a guide, she made her way down what she could only guess was a corridor. The surface of the wall was cold and rough like stone. The wall ended, leaving her grope the air wildly. A spark of light appeared down the hall and once she found the wall again, she made her way to it.
The light came from a thick wooden door that was cracked open. It pushed open with squeal of old age and light flooded her eyes. In her temporary blindness, she tripped and landed on her already sore knees. Before her sat a large marble tub. It's thick sides where white with gray interruptions sprawling across it. It reminded her of the old mausoleums, where the famous and the famously rich were buried. The room smelled strongly of decay to the point that it made her stomach turn. It was all she could do to keep from vomiting.
She couldn't see if their was anything in the tub but she could hear the water splashing. She slowly got to her feet and looked in the tub. But it was not filled with water, it was filled to the brim with blood. Hands rose out of the blood, and she tumbled backwards, trying to get away. The creature pulled itself pulled out of the tub. Its dark eyes stared through her and it's lips curled into a smile, showing it's sharp white teeth. Once the thick blood had dripped from its flesh she could finally make out the face. It was Elizabeth...bathing in a tub of blood.
"Welcome, little one."
Her heart moved into her throat and her body froze. She was completely defenseless in every way. Elizabeth was bathing in blood, and she had no place to hide even if she could move. It was then that she realized that Elizabeth wasn't looking at her. She was looking at someone behind her. She turned, slowly as her heart raced, choking her. Standing behind her was Ami, Mina, and Lita. She felt hot and cold at the same time as panic filled every ounce of her body. The scream she wanted to release wouldn't leave her throat since there was no air behind it to support it. She wasn't breathing, she knew it, but she just couldn't seem to make herself breath. It was all too much.
It was the lack of air in her lungs that finally brought her back to reality, ripping her from the nightmare. Sweat covered her face and neck. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but the house was completely dark when she woke. The only light came from the street lamps outside. She turned on the table lamp next to the couch and saw that Darien was still asleep beside her. The sight on him, so peaceful, calmed her a little.
As children, they had slept next to each other many times. He would sometimes climb her into her window at night. Ever since the hospital, he said he couldn't fall asleep without her. That was when she learned how little his Aunt and Uncle paid attention to him. They never missed him, as long as he had good grades and stayed out of jail they didn't care. Even as a child, it had made her sad that she was the only one who gave him any happiness.
He had always had a hard time when they were younger, dealing with his parents' death and living with his Aunt and Uncle. Yet, just like now, you would never think he had any troubles. He looked so innocent and so sweet. His hair had fallen over his eyes, so she carefully brushed it aside. After removing herself from his hold, she made her way to the kitchen. The light was harsh on her eyes at first, but the clock told her it was after 9. She checked her phone. No messages or missed calls not even a text message. And there wasn't another soul in the house. Where were all her friends?
It was the loss of her warmth that woke him. He woke up alone on the couch and got nervous right away. He headed towards the light from the kitchen and found her on her phone, pacing.
"No one is here. They should all be here by now and none of them are answering their phones." A shaking hand fiddled with her messy bangs. She had been freaking out for a while.
He quickly pulled out his phone, "I'll call Andrew", and made sure to be out of hearing distance from her. At this point, he didn't know what to expect as he called his dear friend. He hoped that he would actually answer.
Luckly, Andrew did answer, but didn't have any comforting news. After a quick phone call and turning on some more lights, he returned to the kitchen to find her sitting at the table with her face in her palms.
He slowly crouched next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Andrew is on his way. He said he dropped Lita off thirty minutes ago."
He didn't tell her that Andrew had freaked out when he told him that Lita wasn't here. After a string of curse words, something about walking her in, and a hurried goodbye Andrew was on his way here.
Just as he was about to sit down, Rei burst through the door. Serena got up so fast, she knocked over her chair. The loud snack on the tile floor fell on deaf ears as their only concern was the new arrival. He watched as she hugged her friend with all her might crushing Rei, but Rei didn't give a single sign of discomfort and simply returned the affection.
Rei pulled away and held Serena's face in her hands, "Are you okay?" It was as if Rei knew everything that had happened without having to be told.
Serena seemed un-phased by this, as if it was a usual thing, "Yes. What happened to you, I was so worried."
With a critic air, she simply replied, "I had some things I had to do."
Rei didn't explain any further than that. Serena didn't push it so neither did he. After a few more freaked out minutes with the girls, a knock came at the door. Serena moved to answer it, but he stopped her and moved towards the door. Understanding, Rei pulled Serena back to the kitchen with her.
He opened the door to find Andrew, but as Andrew just stood there, a knot formed in his chest.
Andrew stood impatiently as Darien refused to move from the door, "Aren't you going to invite me in?" He had a small amount of sarcasm in his voice, but it was only to hide his annoyance.
He hated to do this to his best friend, but he had to be sure, "...No."
Icy dread spread over him as Andrew continued to stand before him just outside the door. One of the things his research had taught him was that, Vampires had to be invited in before they could enter someone's home. Even if they had been there before they had "turned" and it had to be by the owner of the house.
If Andrew had been turned, he may be able to get him, but Andrew wouldn't be able to touch Serena or Rei as long as they stayed in the house. He was banking on the idea that Rei wouldn't let Serena come to his rescue. He wasn't sure how or why it work if it even did, but it was worth a try.
Less than a minute had passed but it felt like eternity as he waited to see if his best friend was now a monster. When Andrew pushed past him, into the house with no problem, he released the breath, and the fear, he was holding. They both made their way to the kitchen where Serena and Rei lay in waiting.
Andrew turned to Serena, "Where is Lita?"
This only upset Serena even more, "I...I don't know. She was with you last."
"I haven't seen her since I dropped her off here."
Rei stepped between them, "Serena, I think you should tell them what you told me."
Serena sat heavily at the table. He had heard the two of them chatting while he waited for Andrew to prove himself, but he had been too wrapped up in the possible danger to listen to what was said.
The rest of them remained standing and waited for the bomb shell that was sure to be dropped on them.
"It was just a dream Rei..." Serena sighed; she was very tired.
But Rei wasn't going to give her a break. She crossed her arms and shamed Serena a little, "Just like what happen to Mina was your imagination?!"
Serena quickly gave in after that and told them about her nightmare; the dark basement; the tub, full of blood; and the worst part, Mina, Ami, and Lita with dead eyes.
Andrew sat down across from her and buried his head in his hands, losing all hope. "Okay Darien, I believe you now." Andrew murmured.
Serena looked at both of them, "Believe what?"
He struggled with whether or not he should tell her. But Rei took the choice away from him.
"Vampires. Nicolas, Louis, and Elizabeth. They are all vampires." She stated it quickly and unmoving.
Serena's eyes grew wide, "But that stuff is just something people made up for movies, right?"
"Not really", Rei hesitated. Clearly she was unsure of how much to tell Serena too, "My ancestors wrote about them in the temple's records."
He pulled the book he took from his Uncle's study out of his pocket, "This is full of folklore about vampires," he flipped to the picture of the wolf attacking the woman, "this can't be a coincidence."
He could tell by the looks on their faces, when viewing the image, they felt the same way he had.
Andrew jumped up from his chair, clearly frustrated, "Okay, so they're vampires. Now what the hell are we suppose to do about it?!"
Rei yelled, "We don't know but freaking out isn't going to solve anything. You need to calm down."
"Calm down? They have Lita and all of our friends. And if they are anything like they are in the movies, then they are nearly impossible to kill. Most of the time the hero wins out of luck or some weird technicality. But this is real!" Andrew shouted. He was almost in Rei's face at this point.
He put a hand on Andrew's shoulder and forced him back into his chair, "Look, I know it seems impossible but we can at least go over what we know and try to come up with a solution" he turned to Rei, "you said that Vampires are in the temple's records, what do they say about them?"
Rei suddenly got a look of defeat in her eyes, "All it had were some protection methods you can use. Nothing about killing them."
"I'm still translating this book, but so far it's the same; how to protect yourself but not how to kill them." He was getting frustrated.
"What about how they do it in the movies?" Serena asked.
He looked and saw all the hope she had in her eyes. But he honestly didn't know. Some movies seemed to follow the folklore more closely than others but then again, it was still folklore.
Folklore is based in fiction, they were stories told to explain why a culture did or believed certain things. Sometimes, it was to scare children into acting a certain way.
That said, a stake through the heart was hard to argue with. What creature alive could survive that? But Vampires weren't alive. And what would happen to Lita, Ami, and Mina if they killed these Vampires? Would they die as well? Would they return to normal? Or would they stay Vampires and force their best friends to kill them?
She sat patiently, waiting for his reply. He just couldn't lie to her, "I'm not sure Serena. But here are a few rules we should keep to. Don't invite anyone in. Supposedly, if you don't, they can't enter the house. Don't go anywhere alone or stay in highly populated areas. They like to keep their existence secret, so they are less likely to attack in front of others. Don't make eye contact with them, it's how they...I can't believe I'm saying this...control your mind."
Andrew had finally calmed down enough to join the conversation, "Maybe we should go to your place Darien. There is a lot more security and we can keep looking for answers in your Uncle's study."
"I charmed Serena's house so we are safe here, but if there are answers at your place then that is were we need to go." Rei added.
All eyes were on him as he had some how become their unspoken leader. It would be dangerous to be out in the open, but it might be worth the risk.
"Alright, pack up what you need. We're going to my Uncle's place."
Having done nothing but move from one place to another this weekend, Rei didn't have anything to pack up, but Serena did. Neither of them had ever been to Darien's before, which she found hard to believe, what with Serena and Darien having been such close friends before. Seems the only person to ever been inside Darien's house was Andrew. Which spoke volumes to what kind of person Darien was and just how close he and Andrew truly were.
Serena didn't take very long, but tension was already high among the group. Serena bounded down the stairs while the boys made their way out the door and into the yard. Serena was making her way to the door, but stopped and ran back to the kitchen quickly. She came back with a large butcher knife.
Even though she was tired and on edge,it took all Rei had not to laugh at the girl's nativity, "Serena, these are Vampires, not burglars. That knife isn't going to do anything to them."
Serena looked a little disappointed, but it was better than her getting killed while trying pointlessly to stab a Vampire.
Serena just shrugged her shoulders and continued out the door saying, "You never know."
She knew they would be safe until they crossed the threshold of the front yard. She had placed a protection spell around the house's perimeter. Of course, now she knew that they wouldn't be able to get into the house, which made the spell useless. Now she wished she had focused on the street out front and around Darien's car. Once they stepped onto the street, they would be sitting ducks.
Just as she knew there wouldn't be, the front yard was clear. Even the street was empty which helped to dispel the rocks in her stomach a little. But it also meant there was no one around, which, according to Darien, was bad. She wasn't about to let her guard down for a second.
Serena was huddled close to her, but not for protection. They had both lost all their friends and neither were prepared to lose each other. But she was more worried about Serena than herself. Rei couldn't shake the feeling that this all had something to do with Serena. Sure, Andrew and Darien hadn't been touched, but all of the girls had been attacked or drugged. All except Serena. She remained relatively untouched. She should be glad that her friend was unharmed, but the thought only filled her with more dread.
The world was eerily still. Even the birds seemed to have flown off as there was nothing but silence. At the head of their small convoy, was Darien. Her heart stopped as soon as his foot hit the sidewalk outside of her spell. But nothing happened. He made it all the way to the car without incident.
Maybe they could make it after all. Andrew was ahead of them and made his way to the car next, stopping half way to stand guard.
Once the two were sure it was "all clear", they ushered the two them to follow.
It was clear that the boys were not in any danger. That the path was clear and they could easily make it to the car. But she couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.
She made it five steps outside the protection spell with Serena before her fears came to life.
Appearing out of nowhere, was Nicholas, Louis, and another man she had not seen before, but his eyes were strangely familiar. It didn't take her too long to realize that they were the same eyes the creature had that attacked her. Or that they were surrounded.
In a blink of an eye, Louis had Andrew by the neck and was holding him a foot off the ground like he was nothing. The stranger stood dangerously close to Darien, but she couldn't help but notice that he didn't lay a hand on Darien. Nicholas slowly moved towards her and Serena. There was nowhere to run that he couldn't catch them.
He sneered, showing his dazzling white fangs, "A protection spell? Clever. But not clever enough."
Now she was really cursing herself for not making the spell bigger. Before her mind could wrap around what was happening, she was frozen and there was a pressure on her chest that made it hard to breath. Her brain caught up in a few seconds and she realized she was pinned by a pair of arms. Serena stood a few feet away from her with a horrified look on her face. It was then that she managed to look behind her to see that Nicholas held her tightly to him, and was preparing to bite her. All she could do was turn to Serena and give her a smile, in hopes that it would comfort her.
Nicholas was right at her ear as he spoke, "I detest the blood of a priestess. But I can't have someone putting up protection spells and keeping me from Serena, now can I?"
It was all about Serena. She could tell by the look on her face, that Serena had not only heard what he had said, but had put it all together just as Rei had. And then Rei saw it, a look she had feared, coming over Serena's face.
Her fear was replaced with anger and she struggled against Nicholas' hold, "Serena...DON'T!"
But Serena wasn't listening to her; all of her focus was on Nicholas' fangs as they neared her neck.
"Stop, Nicholas! I'll come with you." Serena shouted.
She could feel Nicholas' breath on her neck disappear as his attention turned to Serena, "You would come with us? Willingly?"
She hoped Serena's bravery would falter, even just a little bit. But it didn't.
Serena stepped closer, "If you let them go and promise to leave them alone, I will not fight you. I will do whatever you want. Just, please, let them live."
A loud crashing sound pierced the quiet night air, but she couldn't take her attention off of Serena. Her friend was a fool. How dare she trade her life for hers?!
She could feel Nicholas' smile on the back of her head and his grip only tightened around her, "Why don't I just kill them all and take you with me?"
The fight drained from Rei's body. There was nothing they could do now. It was all over. Soon they would all be dead and Serena would be Nicholas', to do whatever horrible things he could think of to the sweet innocent girl.
There was only one thing that she could do now, "Serena look at me", she spoke carefully.
When Serena's eyes met hers, she gave her a sincere and loving smile, "It's not your fault sweetie. None of this is. I love you."
Tears welled up in Serena's big, blue eyes and her vision was blurred by hers as well. But they weren't blurred enough to keep her from seeing the large butcher knife, that Serena had grabbed from the kitchen, rise up in her hand and perch right over Serena's heart. Serena stood strong and held the knife tightly in her hand, un-wavering over her chest. Now she had everyone's attention. Rei barely noticed the spot of crumbling wall that use to be part of the fence that surrounded Serena's house before her attention was brought back to Serena.
"Let them go or all you will bring back is a body." Serena was serious. She was going to kill herself.
She could hear Darien screaming at Serena, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She was in shock. Andrew was still being held by Louis and was turning blue at this point. But Serena didn't move.
Clearly Nicholas believed her as well as the others. His grip on her began to loosen, but not enough for her to get away and grab the knife from Serena.
"If I let them go, and promise to let them live, you will come with me ALIVE?" Nicholas threatened, but his hold on her had yet to lessen, leaving her to watch in horror as her friend made a deal with the devil.
Without moving the knife, Serena replied, "If you let them live, I will come with you."
Darien again began to cry out, but was cut off by something.
It was all she could do to regain herself to protest, "No Serena, you can't!"
Serena hushed her, "This is the only way Rei. Either way, they've got me. At least this way you can live."
"Alright, put the knife down and we will let your friends go." Nicholas is trying to scam her.
But Serena is too bright for that, "No. You let them go first. And tell your friends to get lost. Then I will come with you."
"And put the knife down..." Nicholas starts, but Serena stops him, "I will put the knife down when I am absolutely sure you hold up your end of the bargain. Now tell your cronies to leave or I will push this knife through to my spine!"
Rei wasn't sure whether to believe her or not. But it didn't matter because Nicholas did. The other two monsters disappeared in a blink, Freeing Darien and Andrew, the former regained himself and quickly made his way to the three of them, but not fast enough. Nicholas released her and was instantly on Serena. The two of them disappeared together, leaving the knife to clatter loudly on the once again silent street.
For those of you who have read Dracula, I wanted to create a little parallelism with Nina and Serena. Nina gives herself willingly to Dracula and is never forgiven by John. But Serena is much stronger than Nina, so she is not swayed by Nicholas. She only gives herself as a sacrifice. But you will see in the next chapter how well that works out for both of them in the next chapter! Yes, I am still here so please send me reviews!