Chapter 25

"NO!" The word that tore through everything was caught between a sob and scream, cutting through until even the birds went silent.

Belladonna had taken a simple thick branch and made it into a lethal weapon and impaled it into the vampire's shoulder. He withered in pain as she twisted the wood painfully in his shoulder. "Well you finally earn some balls didn't you? Too bad it was at the wrong time." She pushed it further into his shoulder for good measure before finally pushing him away as if he were nothing but garbage.

"What a brilliant story you played out there. The tragic hero in an epic story, you truly cast the villain well Balthazar. Perhaps a bit overplayed though, after all you forgot to say that love of your life was part of a club in the nightworld. A human that let other vampires feed on her in order to obtain money. Either way, whether human or nightworld clients, she was a whore!" She laughed as the words poured out, poison etching into the young man's face.

The monster stood over laughing at the pitiful thing before her, "What did you think? Did you actually believe that you could save this human? Out smart me and finally atone for all your sins? I'm curious to find out. Can't you share with me?"

She taunted him, basking in the pain that was radiating through his whole system. That was her problem, the arrogance that one was here was stronger then her, that fear kept her ahead of the game. Her focus was so strewn on Balthazar she didn't pay attention to the girl who crept closer then, rough would in her hand and swung.

Mary-Lynnette swung with all her might connecting the thick heavy branch with the vampire's head with a sickening crunch. "Bitch"

Belladonna went down, a small dark pool already spilling into the blonde hair. Mare tossed the branch aside and struggled to pull Balthazar up. He came up strained and held him up as they began to walk away from the scene and slowly the unconscious evil had disappeared from view.

"You're an idiot" He wheezed.

"Not the first time I've heard that. I'm hoping it's not the last either. Ash is close, if we could just get to him then everything will be all right."

The poison of the wood was already beginning to set in as they struggle through the wood. "How do you know he's even here?"

"I feel him, he's close." There was no denying that, the pulse in her heart began to speed faster with very step that brought her closer. The energy that had left was slowly coming back building up, Ash was near. "I'm positive."

"Well then you better start looking for him." Quicker then she thought it was possible he fell away and shoved her down through the trees and into the air below.

Ash

He hadn't stopped running, not since the scream that shattered everything inside him. It was Mary-Lynnette; there was no mistaking it. Despite what the others had said he had run off not caring if they kept up with him or not. Every time that she had needed him he hadn't been there for her, her graduation he had shown up for the last part and then everything that had happened with Jeremy…. She always had to deal with it all by herself. Ash was determined to be there for her in the end. He wasn't going to leave her by again.

It seemed years had gone by before he finally heard something—a voice, breathing. And movement. His heart sped up even more but there it wasn't her. She wasn't here.

In the years that he had lived and seen never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that he would see the vampire before him. Ash Redfern watched as Balthazar struggled, a bloody branch impaled in his side.

Cautiously he stepped out into the clearing, every part of him was screaming for him to ignore everything but finding her. But he remembered Balthazar, from the old parties that his father had made him attend and the clubs that were held for those that ranked high nightworlders. All that he had been was a lap dog and servant of a vampire that even Maya (See nightworld volume 3) had held at an equal level in her eyes.

His muscles tightened, ready in case anything were to happen, a sudden attack. In a strange small way Ash was hoping for that, for a move to provoke him. There was anger that was built up in him, pushing him into a blinding rage that he was afraid he couldn't control much longer.

Balthazar turned toward him, the pain clearly etched in his face. Ash could now she that there wasn't only a wound in his side but in his shoulder as well. The blood loss was strong and the stench of the poisoning wood seeping through him. He reeked of death.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up." He breathed.

"Oh really?" Ash said.

"Yeah, the knight in shinning armor comes to rescue the fair maiden. Right?" Balthazar struggled to lean against a rock, his eyes growing heavy, his words barely above a whisper, " Well then you better hurry. Belladonna's found a new toy and she has too much fun with her, to let that girl go is something she isn't planning on doing. Follow the river, I…I stalled her but I didn't give her much time… As you can see she was the winner…" His breathing grew shallow, "Get going and be the hero."

There were things that Ash wanted to say, questions that he needed to ask and even answer. How he already seemed to know everything. "Why," was all he could manage.

For a moment Ash could swear that there was a flicker of anguish, it had nothing to do with the pain that had throbbed in him now. It was an older pain, one that he carried for years. "Cause her knight should be the one to save her."

There was no second bidding from him, that silver cord inside him was tugging, calling out with urgent care. There were still so many questions, but he let them go for now. "I have friends that are following behind me. I didn't wait for them but they'll be here soon. Can you wait that long?"

Balthazar barely managed to laugh, "Just hurry up before you lose her."

"I'm not losing her." Ash ran off into the woods, following the ravine that would lead him to the only one in this world would truly understood him.

Mary-Lynnette

"Belladonna is right behind us, hurry up and get going!" Balthazar hissed out.

Mare had sat in the water, confused and shaken by the sudden drop into the river, completely soaked. "Your in no condition to take her on! We should stick together! Come one, Balthazar come on!"

The vampire staggered up, posed for a fight. "You want to find that Ash guy you're always talking about? Then you better get going. I'll catch up to you later." But she still wasn't convinced, "I promise"

That didn't help anything either though. They both knew that there was no way that he could make it. Staying here wasn't going to help anyone. "I'll come back for you. That's a promise"

Balthazar smiled then, "Well I'll hold you too it."

But neither of them was sure if that was even possible. Still she ran.

Mary-Lynnette followed the river as far as she could, afraid to splash the water and make even more noise, ran along the side, scrambling over the broken and damp wood and leaves. Her mind was riddle with confusing turns and sounds. She panicked when a new sound crashed through into her thoughts.

Instinct told her keep moving, don't stop. The feeling that predator was closing in on prey. She pushed herself until she was finally able to hear the faint sound of cars, of life that was just a little further through the trees. Her mind was so clouded by the fear and spin of everything she could barely manage to function. Ash was here somewhere, but searching for him, going in circles could make everything worse.

The only thing I can do right now is get to other people, hopefully with a phone or at least a place to feel safer that way she could contact Ash and hopefully end this whole nightmare.

One foot at a time moved her through the water; the cool and fresh feeling on her skin was refreshing and soothing, coaxing her along, an encouragement. Then it pulled at her, tugging her away and growing stronger. It seemed as though the current was trying to save her from the monster that walked out into the light, the dark of red staining golden hair. The smile that usually played on her stone face was no longer there, a straight line and all the entertainment that had been built up over that time was gone and replaced.

"Well I must say I haven't had this much entertainment in such a long time. You somehow manage to anger Hunter Redfern on a personal level, manage to escape our grasp twice being human, and as well as manage to spark some balls into that servant of mine. But things are starting to get old. Unless you start to amuse me again I need to start to look for a new toy. Do you know what that means?"

Belladonna started toward her and instinct made her back up, all of a sudden the height didn't seem so bad anymore. "Do you know what that means?" She repeated, "It means that I can start breaking you in. It means that I will make you retreat so far into your mind you'll never be able to crawl your way back out. An experiment for Hunter Redfern as well as a blood bank, in the simplest terms a blood whore for him. Now its you choice to either like a good pet or to make things interesting."

Mary-Lynnette by instinct began to back away, still listening as the vampire continued to talk noting the fact that the fear was building up in her chest and she couldn't control it.

"I've already alerted Hunter Redfern about this mishap and I'll warn you he is not nearly as fascinated as I am. SO even if by some miracle you managed to find a way safe from me or these woods you won't be so lucky when running from the head of all the nightworld."

Belladonna started forward, anticipating the prey and predator's simplest reaction, the inevitable chase. "Want my advice? If you want to live longer I would suggest cooperating with me. With Hunter you can never guarantee another day."

The girl pushed herself further away, her locked on the creature in front of her. For another flash of silence she had no answer until her foot stumbled over the river swept into her. A chance.

"It's a very rare thing that I give out a chance for a choice. What's it going to be?"

Mare waited only a hair's breath, "I choose neither!" And dove into the water, her fingers curling into the chance she had and swung upward toward Belladonna.

Again there was once more a sickening crack against her temple, a stumble from the vampire, but this time she fall down and stay down. She picked herself back up quickly; any trace of a smile had been destroyed and replaced with the cracked mask of her real self. "I must say you're the only human to actual make me bleed, let alone twice. But I can assure that there won't be a third time."

Belladonna's fingers wrapped around her throat, barely pushing any pressure, yet, "well unfortunately for Hunter Redfern you seemed to have flung yourself into the river and drowned yourself in the rapids then let yourself be taken back and face him"

With that her fingers tightened on soft flesh and pushed backward into the cooling water that welcome them with open arms. Mary-Lynnette lost grip on the stick her fingers scrambling over rock as water succumbed her vision. It seeped in through in little by little no matter how tight she shut her eyes. Her limbs flared up, tasting the air and the breeze wishing that there was something solid to pull herself up with. A cruel taunt when the blankets of the water started to enfold on her, blackness blotting everything and water choking her through her ears and nose. It edged itself into her forcing itself inside her and Mare had such a deep urge to push it all out, but the breath she kept inside her was precious. What had been a seemingly soothing friend was now a suffering killer that found purchase in anyway to steal her away from Ash.

The current that still tugged and pulled at them, the fingers around her neck were relentless and tightened cruelly as small air bubbles escaped from her lips, muffled the words from above the surface. Mare couldn't make sense of the world anymore, her fingers were pressing into the mud, the blades of her fingers scrapping against wood.

Ash….Ash where are you…?

Her fingers curled desperately over something, the rough texture was no longer identifiable to her brain anymore. Things were going blank.

One last chance….

Ash….I'm…

….sorry…

Sorry that it took so long for me to post another chapter! I had such bad writer's block that my brain just didn't want to cooperate. I wanted to write more for this chapter but two things tugged at me.

I knew that so many of you guys were waiting for me to post another chapter that I felt like I should post what I have

I didn't want to put too much in one chapter without the whole scene sinking it.

…I'm also just a very cruel sinker. ;-)

But the next chapter you won't have to wait nearly as long, I promise. Expect it in the next few days! Promise!

~Triss