The ride was incredibly boring and long. The ship was small, probably meant for one Yautja pilot, and only consisted of the cockpit, the narrow hallway, and a small room toward the rear of the ship. Since the small room contained a flat surface that might pass for a bed, Ali claimed the room in order to look after Rick. And since Scorpios would scream at her every time she came anywhere near the back room, Cathie was forced to stay in either the hallway or the cockpit. Not that she was complaining too much, she'd much rather stay away from Ali and her accusing gaze anyway. She was afraid that if she was alone with her for too long Ali would try to kill her.
Cathie had been dozing off in the pilot's chair when the ship gave a sudden shake and the ride became a lot bumpier.
"What's happening?" Ali asked, appearing beside Cathie so fast she jumped.
"I don't know," Cathie replied as a schematics popped up on the screen, flashing unintelligible symbols, "There're no windows."
The ship gave another immense shake, knocking Cathie off balance and sending Ali to the floor. It got rougher and rougher, jarring Cathie's teeth to the point where they felt like they were going to fall out. Nausea claimed her, she had never been good with rollercoasters, and she closed her eyes, wishing the awful ride would just end. And it did end, it ended with a bone jarring crash that nearly sent Cathie into the screen in front of her.
"I think we've landed," she said, but she got no answer.
When Cathie opened her eyes she found herself standing alone, Ali was nowhere to be seen. Cathie sighed and pushed herself out of the chair and walked out into the hallway. The front hatch was already open, and Cathie was once again left thinking how fast Ali could move.
"Ali, wait up!" Cathie begged, running out the opening.
The second she stepped out onto the ground she dropped to her knees and touched the grass with her hands, needing to make sure that it really was there and that this wasn't a dream. It was night and they were in a large field, but Cathie still felt like she was home. She was so excited to be back on Earth that she didn't notice Ali kneeling a short distance away. When she finally did notice, she caught sight of Rick lying on the ground in front of Ali.
"Is he alright?" Cathie asked.
Scorpios, who was perched on Ali's shoulder, looked back at Cathie and shrieked at her accusingly. But when Ali looked back at Cathie she saw that the anger in her eyes had dissipated and all that remained was sadness. She didn't answer Cathie, but turned back to Rick. Cathie moved over slowly, ignoring Scorpios' growling. She kneeled down next to Ali and stared down at Rick. His breathing was shallow, his eyes twitching and fluttering beneath his closed lids.
"Ali?" Rick asked. His voice sounded so weak. His eyes opened slowly, but he couldn't focus. "Are we on Earth?"
"Yes, we made it."
Rick smiled and tried to take a deep breath, as if to catch the smell of Earth. "I never thought I'd see Earth again. I thought I would die on that planet."
"Don't worry, you're here. You'll never go back to that place again."
Rick's smile faded and his eyes closed slowly. He gave one ragged breath before going silent. Ali brushed her hand along his neck and gave a small sigh.
"He's dead."
She rose smoothly to her feet, lifting Rick's body into the air as she went. Cathie rose too. She wanted to turn and run, but she felt like she should at least watch Rick be buried, seeing as everything they went through together. She followed Ali stiffly, aware of two aliens materializing out of the darkness to walk alongside them.
"Where are we going?"
"To my cemetery."
"Well where's that? For all we know, we could be halfway across the state or the continent!"
"No," Ali answered, "We're basically in my backyard."
"But how is that possible?"
"Na'sval wasn't an idiot, he knew where I'd want to go so he gave the exact coordinates to bring us back home."
They walked for only a short distance before Ali stopped in front of a lake.
"Where are we?" Cathie asked.
"This is right by the city park," Ali said.
"You live this close to the city?"
"No, I live much farther, in the abandoned subway tunnels, but I come here to bury the bodies."
"What bodies?"
Ali shrugged. "Bodies from the people that die in the Hive or bodies of people that I kill on the streets."
Another alien stepped out of the shadows to join them and when he got closer, Cathie saw Ali burst into a smile.
"Hello, Hermes," she said.
The alien, Hermes, hissed lovingly and ran his cheek against Ali. Ali's smile brightened and she rubbed her cheek against Hermes, sighing happily. Scorpios and Hermes then exchanged sniffs before Scorpios scuttled over to Hermes's shoulder, settling herself in like she had done with the alien from before. Ali then turned her attention back to the lake. She waded into the water until it was up to her waist and waited for one of the aliens to follow. She handed Rick's body off to the alien and it slipped completely under, vanishing into the dark waters.
Ali stood still for a moment longer before turning and slipping forward gracefully back out of the water. Hermes and the remaining alien backed off, but stayed close.
"Now it's time to deal with you."
"What?"
"You thought I forgot, didn't you? You were hoping that I would spare you and let you go free. Well, I've kept my promise to Rick; we'd all get off that planet alive. And now that we're on Earth, alive, I get to finish what I started."
"You're really going to kill me?"
"Especially now that Rick is dead."
"I'm not going down without a fight and I plan to walk away from here alive."
Ali smiled darkly, the bloodlust evident in her eyes. "Finally! Prove to me that you're not the coward that I saved over and over again."
Cathie's courage was short live as she stared at Ali apprehensively, did she really have a chance against Ali? Even with a recent feeding? Yes, she could; Ali always underestimated her, thought she was weak, unable to cope with stressful situations. Well, she'd show her!
"Fine. But just remember, you brought this on yourself."
Ali smirked, but Cathie tuned her out. She focused on her vampire side, the part of her that she had always tried containing, and let it out. Cathie lifted her head, her fangs flashing, and noted that Ali's grin had turned to one of glee. Cathie recalled how every time Ali fought, she made the first move to ensure her chances of victory. Cathie planned on not giving Ali the chance and immediately shot forward. Ali took a defensive stance and waited for Cathie to come. But Cathie had a plan; she waited until she was almost on Ali before veering to the right and aiming an attack at Ali's side.
She gasped as Ali's hands tightened around her throat and flung her away. She gasped again as she slammed into the ground and all her air escaped her.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Ali said.
Cathie recovered quickly and pounced to her feet. She gave a growl and came at Ali again. This time, she kept her momentum going and waited for Ali's counterattack. Sure enough, Ali's hand once again tightened around her throat, but before she could fling her, Cathie latched on to Ali's arm. If the move surprised her, Ali gave nothing away, only sent her knee up into Cathie's stomach. Cathie tried to jump back, but Ali's hand was still around her throat, holding her in place. She doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach and trying to catch her breath.
"Please make this interesting," Ali said, her voice sounded different.
When Cathie looked up she saw that Ali's eyes were burning with excitement and bloodlust, more than she's ever seen. Cathie recalled what Ali had said about hiding her bloodlust behind a wall. Had that wall been broken? She tried to move backwards out of the way, but Ali's foot connected with her face and she was knocked to the ground. Now her face throbbed along with her stomach. She began feeling the doubt creep up inside of her, quenching the darkness within. Who was she kidding, thinking she had a chance against Ali?
If a Yaujta, born to hunt, couldn't win against her, what chance do I have? She wondered.
She kept her cheek pressed up against the grass, trying to will the pain away. Ali's feet came into her field of vision and she couldn't even find the strength to lift her head. She gave a yelp as Ali yanked her into the air by her hair.
"You're making this way too easy," Ali taunted.
Cathie growled, the darkness inside of her rising up again to claim her mind and senses. She threw herself at Ali, knocking her to the ground and pinning her hands. Instead of looking afraid, Ali started laughing.
"Finally!"
But Cathie no longer registered what Ali said, she could only focus on the slight pulse of a vein in her neck. Cathie's mouth watered and opened wide, she started quivering with excitement. Before she could think, she plunged her fangs deep into Ali's neck. She bit down hard, the vampire inside of her excited over Ali's scream of pain. Before she could take a drink, she pulled back, gagging and gasping in agony.
Ali started laughing, although the pain was evident in her voice. "Forgot my blood was acidic, didn't you?"
Cathie pushed off Ali and backed away. All of her senses had returned with that bite as she realized her horrible mistake. Ali rose to her feet slowly and rubbed her neck, looking down at the blood on her hand.
"You don't understand," Cathie said, "This is bad!"
"What do you mean?" Ali demanded.
"I just cursed you! I'm so sorry! I wasn't thinking! I—"
"What. Do. You. Mean?" Ali demanded slowly, growing angry.
Cathie sighed. "I just bit you. Which means my venom is starting to work its way through your body."
"How is that possible? I thought you said biting a person doesn't turn them into a vampire."
"I did, but that only applied because I had drunk Rick's blood. You see, vampires' fangs contain venom, kind of like a snake, and when we bite someone, we infect them with our venom. When we drink blood we suck the venom back out so the person ends up unaffected."
"And since you didn't drink from me, that means I'm now affected with your venom?"
Cathie nodded. "I'm so sorry! I—"
"The venom wouldn't work, though, because of my blood," Ali said.
Cathie was aware of the desperate hope in her voice and she was confused; was Ali really worried about this? "I don't know. Vampires may not be immortal, but we heal a lot quicker than normal humans. It makes sense that our venom, since it is the route of vampirism, that it would be able to withstand your blood."
"Fix it!"
"I can't, there's no way to reverse the venom once it's started to spread. Once it reaches your heart you'll feel it and you'll start to change."
"Are you saying that I'll become a vampire now?"
Cathie shook her head. "Not exactly. It's hard to explain because it's different for everyone. Basically your bloodlust is going to increase, but I don't know what else is going to change."
Ali opened her mouth to respond but she didn't say anything. Instead, her face contorted in pain and she clutched her chest. She started gasping and fell to her knees. She groaned in pain and the hand not gripping her chest dug into the ground.
"I forgot to mention the transformation is painful," Cathie said, but Ali wasn't listening anymore as she begun going into convulsions.
This is my chance, Cathie thought. She started backing up, but froze when she heard the sound of hissing. She had completely forgotten about the aliens and when she searched for them she was shocked to only find two. Where was the one called Hermes?
Her inquiry was answered when she felt long fingers wrapping around her ankles and yanking her feet out from underneath her. She glanced over her shoulder to find Hermes standing waist deep in the lake—she hadn't been aware of how close to the lake she was. Hermes hissed and began walking backwards, dragging Cathie with her.
"No!" Cathie screamed, clawing desperately at the ground.
Hermes continued marching back slowly, dragging Cathie into the lake despite her struggles. She took a deep breath as her head was pulled beneath the surface and she was dragged down, down, down. The water made her movements slow and sluggish and she could only struggle weakly. She looked around as she was pulled down further, wondering how deep this lake actually was. At that moment the moonlight finally peeked out through a patch of clouds and shown down through the water. Cathie's eyes widened as the moonlight illuminated the dozens of polished white skulls that grinned all around her. Without thinking her mouth opened and she started screaming.
The fire that had spread through her body finally faded and Ali was able to get to her feet. Already she felt different; hungrier, more powerful. She walked over to the edge of the lake and looked down, a gleeful smile on her face.
"I think I could get used to this, if only I could have thanked her before she left," Ali said as several air bubbles broke the surface.
Thank her for what? Tilda asked.
Ali quickly forced her feelings and thoughts behind her mental wall before Tilda could catch their vibe. Luckily, Tilda hadn't seen what happened earlier. "Nothing," she answered.
She lifted her eyes to the full moon above, her lips curling up into a devilish smile.