With A Side Of Blood

Chapter Twenty-One

(A/N: Yet another anticipated chapter! Part three of my annoyingly cliffhanger-y climax.

This will be in Celeste's point of view.)

Cristian stopped. Just...stopped. Halfway towards the car, he froze like an ice sculpture. His expression was pained, as if...

I stared at the wooden stake that protruded out of him. Oh God, no. I turned back to the school, where Dimitri stood. His contrasting blue hair, stuck up like a mad scientist after one of his experiments blew up in his face, made me feel nauseous.

"Celeste," he said softly.

Beside me, Cristian stared. His expression was pained. But why wasn't he dusting? Why isn't he a pile of dirt by my feet?

"Damn it," Dimitri whispered. "Hit his inner arm."

Like Dimitri said, he hadn't pieced Cristian's side at all. Instead, his stake's pointed edge had embedded itself into the innermost part of his arm, and stayed there.

Cristian let out a tiny yelp.

"Tug...it...out..." he gasped. "Please..."

I took hold of the stake, ignoring the tiny splinters that entered my fingertips, and pulled with all my might. It flew out of his arm and clattered to the ground.

As soon as it was out, Cristian seemed to have regained his energy. He turned, anger in his brooding blue eyes, and scowled at Dimitri.

"Why won't you die?" yelled Dimitri. "Why aren't you gone?"

"Because a) your throwing aim sucks balls, b) I'm not an idiot, and c) I'm still here, and always will be." Cristian grinned wolfishly. "You're a monster."

"Excuse me? You're the monster. You bite people for their blood. You kill people. You ruin their family members' lives." Dimitri sneered.

"Is that what your group of slayers told you? Because it's not true. It's not!" I exclaimed, surprising the two boys. "We don't drain people of their blood. We have some blood, taken from the recently deceased. We don't want to kill people."

Dimitri stopped sneered. All of a sudden, his tone was softer, quieter. He spoke to me like how he used to; back in the bookstore, outside of the ice cream parlour, on our dates.

"Celeste," he whispered. "You don't need to be a vampire anymore. I found an antidote. You can be like me. Come over here, okay? Step away from him. Come to me. Everything will be all right."

Was he seriously going to make me choose between him and Cristian?

If he'd asked me several days ago, I would have definitely chosed him. Back then, Cristian was a nuisance, a boy who winked at me whenever we briefly looked at each other. I hated him (but secretly adored him), and he liked me.

But now Cristian and I are together. Things have definitely changed for us. We've kissed. We nearly had sex. We're together now.

"No," I replied softly. "No, Dimitri. I can't be with you. I can't be like you."

Dimitri protested, "You don't understand! As soon as you pick me, this war will be over! I'll make the others spare the rest of the leeches. We'll leave this place forever. Just...please."

"'Leeches'?" I looked at a stranger. "Who are you?"

"The boy who loves you," Dimitri gently responded. "The boy whom you had fallen for long before this stiff snatched you up like the rotten monster he is. Deep down, you love me still."

My lips trembled. Two voices in my head began to debate.

He wants you back.

But he's a vampire slayer!

He'll turn you into somebody normal. You won't be the one-of-a-kind girl anymore.

But he's a vampire slayer! He could kill me anyways!

But he loves you.

Cristian loves me more. I bet Dimitri's lying!

But you love him, too.

I pressed my lips together, tears spilling down my face. This was all overwhelming.

Inside of the school, people are dying. Innocent vampires, who had no idea about the vampire slayers until tonight. He did say that if I went with him, he'd stop the fight.

But if I left with him, Cristian would be torn. Destroyed. Hurt forever. And I don't want Cristian to be like that. I want him to be happy.

I don't want to hurt anybody else anymore, I realized. I don't want to ruin people's lives. I don't want to hurt. I want to stop the hurt.

I turned to Cristian. He stared back at me, his blue eyes searching my face for any hint to my answer.

I pressed my lips serenely against his. As I slowly pulled away, I whispered into his mouth, "I love you. Please don't be mad."

And I closed the distance between Dimitri and me. As I did, his smile grew. As soon as I was standing next to him, he pulled out a walkie-talkie and declared the fight officially over.

I couldn't bear to look at Cristian's expression. I knew that he would be mad at me, no matter what I do or say.

The sound of a car door slamming, a car engine revving, finally made me turn. Cristian was in the car, speeding away to notify the rest of Romania.

What we planned to do together, just five minutes ago.

It's amazing how things change in less than an hour.

Dimitri slid an arm around my waist, making me shudder. "It's all right," he cooed. "It's all over. We're going to leave now, and I'm going to help you. I'll save you."

I wept silently.

^o^

The vampire slayers' headquarters wasn't nearly as neat as I thought it would be. Dimitri had promised me that it would be comforting, relaxing, and cozy, but it was just messy. It stank of evil plans.

"We're going to cure you," Dimitri assured. "You'll be like me soon. We'll be together." A grin spread over his face. "We'll be together for a long time. We'll fight vampires together - that is, if you want to - and we'll grow up together. Then we'll marry and have a lot of me's and you's."

I mumbled, "Great."

My thoughts were still with Cristian. Where was he now? Was he saving the rest of Romania? Was his mind plagued with thoughts of me, like mine was of him?

And what about the other boys? Were Emilio, Gareth, and Vivacus all right, or did they drink the human-making punch? Did they die in the hands of one of Dimitri's friends?

We entered a dark room. In the middle of it was a single lamp, standing on a mahogany table. Its light was weak, barely illuminating the floor.

"I thought you'd like a dark atmosphere when you change," Dimitri remarked. "I know it must be hard for you to do this. But we'll be together soon."

Beside the lamp was a small glass. It seemed to be full of a blue liquid. I stared at it, wondering if I should really go through with this.

"Drink up," Dimitri encouraged. "Soon, you'll be normal."

Normal. Was this normal for him?

Yes, my brain answered immediately. Yes, it was.

I held the glass in my hand, wordlessly staring at the goop. Ingesting it wouldn't be difficult, but it certainly would feel weird. Like swallowing the insides of a lava lamp.

Dimitri smiled, then leaned forward and pressed his lips against my cheek. Before, that gesture made me blush. Now, it scorched my skin.

I shakily said, "Bottoms up."

Dimitri grinned. "Drink up, Celeste. I love you."

I raised the glass to my lips.