Chapter 28
"Wait, I thought you said this is not real!" Bo exclaimed as she turned to Elizabeth.
"It...shouldn't be real," Elizabeth replied, though her voice sounded hesitant. "Everything you see here...is just a reflection of the real world in your mind. Or...at least everything I've seen and touched was that way."
Bo licked her lips as she turned to Tamsin again, and the blonde gave her a smirk.
"What, Bo?" She asked. Her voice was soft, and joy danced in her blue eyes.
Bo threw herself to her and hugged her, tightly. The Huntress was startled. "I didn't know that you needed me this much," she chuckled as she hugged Bo back.
"Is this real?" Bo asked as she buried her face under Tamsin's chin. "Are you...real?"
Tamsin pulled back and cupped Bo's face. She stared at Bo intently with a frown. "You didn't hit your head hard on something while I was cooking, did you?"
"How? How did you get into my mind? I saw you...I mean, I saw you flipping the steak but everything stayed the same."
"Shit!" Tamsin let go of Bo and quickly ran to the kitchen to check on the steaks. "Damn it they are a bit overcooked now."
"Let's not...how are you real?"
Tamsin was beyond confused. "Are you okay, Bo?" She came over and embraced Bo again. "Are you low on your go-go juice or something?"
Bo took a deep breath as she placed her hand on Tamsin's chest. The flutter under her palm was as real as anything could ever be. She closed her eyes and nuzzled that flutter gently.
"Not that I don't want to do dirty things with you right now, but...we've got a Vamp Queen's grave to find, remember?"
It was Bo's turne to be confused. "We found her grave already, Tamsin."
"Huh? When?"
"Yeah, do you not remember? We went to the place marked on the map, and found her body. We found Isis' dagger lodged in her chest, and I pulled it out. Then...Isis' ghost showed up and we had a strange conversation with her. Then, we left and went to find that Charles Bathory guy. He told us about the ritual ..."
Bo paused when she noticed the genuine confusion in Tamsin's eyes. "You don't remember any of it?"
Tamsin shook her head. "I have no idea what you are talking about, sweetheart. Did you fall asleep and have a dream or something while I was cooking?"
"Wait," Elizabeth suddenly chimed in. "I think I might have an explanation."
"That she's another memory of mine, a reflection of the real world, only more real than the others?" Bo answered. It was then that she noticed that when she was talking to Elizabeth, Tamsin would go idle as if she wasn't able to engage in the conversation.
"No, she's not just a reflection. I think she might actually be real."
"I thought that wasn't possible."
"You've had her blood not too long ago, haven't you?"
Bo nodded. I've had a lot, she thought.
"
"To us, and of course the Huntresses as well, blood is sacred. The power it holds is enormous," Elizabeth explained. "Blood rejuvenates us, while the weapons charged with the power of a Huntress' blood kills us. Maybe, when you took her blood, it somehow stayed in you, at least for now, and she has become real right here right now because of that."
"So, this is all because I drank her blood."
"It's just a theory of mine. I've experienced something similar a long time ago. Back then, I was able to hold a conversation with her in my mind. We thought it was telepathy but...now when I think about it...it might just be a bond, a bond created by blood."
"Are you still able to…."
Elizabeth shook her head as a look of agony fleeted across her eyes. "I said that was a long time ago."
Bo nodded as she turned to Tamsin. The Huntress had resumed her task: cooking. Now she seemed to have returned to the looping memory status, but when Bo called her name, she turned and gave her a smile.
"I'm just gonna cook some veggies," she told Bo.
Bo nodded as she gazed at Tamsin. She let her eyes wander affectionately from her blonde locks, to her jawline, to her shoulders, then to the pendent that was dangling under the dimple between her collarbones.
Suddenly, she had an idea. "Hey, Tamsin."
"Hmm?" The blonde raised her eyebrows.
"Can I have one of your weapons?"
"Ummm, I would give one to you, if I had any. The bitches burnt all my stuff, remember?"
Bo sighed as she turned to the corner of the living room. There it was, a box with Tamsin's remaining things. The only weapon in there was a greatsword, something she could barely lift.
She pondered, then she told Elizabeth, "wait here."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna go get a weapon," Bo said, before she disappeared in a flash.
The old mansion of the Bathory family was a castle standing on top of a steep mountain. It was shaped, ironically, like a cross if someone would look at it from above. The main castle branched out into four wings: north, south, east and west.
The only accesses were one drawbridge to the south wing and another to the east. The north wing of the castle was backed tightly to a deep drop into a bottomless gorge, and the west wing was guarded by a roaring river.
The castle must have had its days of glory, but that glory was long gone. Now it was just an outdated, ill maintanenced monster, whose center part had collapsed, severing the south wing completely from the main castle. Both the east and the west wings had seen a lot of damage, while the north (also where the Queen had lived) remained untouched somehow.
"I hope you are right about him taking her here," Naomi told Tamsin when the car they were in stopped at the drawbridge.
Tamsin sneered. "What exactly are you going to do here?"
"I was thinking about going in and finding that Vamp of yours. If she has not gone through the ritual, good. I might let her leave with you. If she has, too bad. She's going to die."
Tamsin sighed, for she knew any argument, any threats, or even begging at this moment, would be futile. "What about that man who brought her here, assuming that you can find him here."
"He needs to die as well, after he spills everything he knows about the ritual. That doesn't really matter much. I don't think it'll be too hard for me to figure out how to perform that ritual myself."
"You...want to go through that ritual yourself." Tamsin murmured. She was a little shocked, but somehow not that surprised.
"Oh come on, Tamsin. You didn't just figure that out, did you? I mean, as powerful as I am, also a natural awakened one, it would be stupid not to go through that ritual myself. After that ritual, no one will ever be able to stop me," Naomi bragged with great arrogance.
"What if you can't kill him? He killed Nephtys, remember?"
"That old hag is no match for me," Naomi scoffed. "She had her prime days but that didn't last. She was weak. I am not."
"I'm glad that you've got everything figured out already, your highness," Tamsin bit out. "Shall we go inside?"
"I will go inside, but you are going to stay here. Can't let you screw up my plan, Tamsin."
"I thought we agreed that-"
"I did not agree to anything," Naomi smiled cruelly as she exited the car. "Your life is spared. Be grateful, and pray that I'll have enough mercy to spare that little Vamp whore's life as well. Though, mercy is not something that I usually have ..."
She laughed as she headed to the castle with her army. Tamsin, growling in frustration while trying to go after Naomi, was seized by two Huntresses immediately. They shoved her back into the car and cuffed her to the seat. Then, they guarded the car outside with four other Huntresses.
Fuck. Tamsin thought as she pulled on the cuffs hard. She knew exactly why the Queen would bring her over but not let her inside. Naomi wanted to use her as a bargaining chip as needed, but was afraid that she'd pull any tricks and escape with Bo.
She tried to open the cuffs, even though she knew that with herself injured and weaponless, the chance of her defeating six Huntresses was indeed slim.
After multiple failed attempts, she slammed it hard and closed her eyes in despair.
With a flash, Bo reappeared inside her apartment. To her relief, both Tamsin and Elizabeth were still there. The Huntress seemed to have gone back cooking the meal again.
"I see you've figured out how to navigate inside this...world," Elizabeth nodded.
"Yeah, it's really not that hard. I figured that since this is all in my mind, I can make anything appear, and I can go anywhere I want," Bo replied.
"Where did you go?"
"I went to get this," Bo waved Isis' dagger in her hand.
"That's my little-that's her dagger," Elizabeth said as she took it over. She caressed it with a bitter smile and a gentle look. "What are you going to do with this?"
"I am going to use this to kill that bitch. Then, I am going to get outta here. I still have a date to go to."
"You are not serious," Elizabeth huffed out a light laugh. That laughter died when she realized that Bo was indeed serious. "This is madness. You can't kill her with this."
"Why not? She's a Vamp, and this is a Vamp killing weapon."
"Okay, first of all," Elizabeth sighed. "This has not been charged for centuries. And this isn't even real! It's in your mind, remember? Even if it was real, and even if it was charged, how do you know she could be killed by this?"
"She's a Vampire after all."
"She's not just a Vampire. She is the first Vampire. She's the strongest and the most powerful. The entire purpose of this ritual was to make you as powerful as she was, to become immune to Huntresses. So, it's highly likely that she's immune to Huntress' power."
"Well..." Bo murmured nervously as she stared at the dagger. "I don't have a better plan, and I'm afraid that this might be my own plan. I have to try."
Elizabeth shook her head. "Okay, let's say she could be killed by a Huntress' blade. This is not a Huntress' blade. It's not charged."
"We do have a Huntress right here, don't we?" Bo pointed at Tamsin. "Hey, Tamsin, could you come over here for a moment?"
"What?" The blonde seemed to have suddenly snapped out of a trance. She put down the pan and asked, "you need something?"
"Can you charge this...dagger?"
Tamsin frowned a little as she came over to Bo's side. She examined the dagger, before she asked, "why?"
"Ummm...just...can you charge it?"
"Of course I can," Tamsin shrugged. "This is not mine, though. Where did you get this? It looks familiar."
"I'll explain later. I promise. I really need it charged, like right now," Bo put both of her hands on Tamsin's arm and pleaded.
"Alright..." Tamsin murmured as she cut the side of her index finger. She let a few drops of blood fall on the blade's blood rune. The strong, metallic smell drew both Vampires' fangs out.
Tamsin gripped her pendent, and chanted. The pendant burst into blinding rays of light, while the blood rune glittered. The red glitter became stronger and stronger, until it turned into a bright flash.
After the light went out, Tamsin disappeared. The only thing remaining there was the dagger, with a blood rune of the pattern of wings.
"Wait, where did she go?" Bo asked as she searched for Tamsin in her apartment. "Tamsin! Tamsin are you still here?"
No one answered her. Bo turned to Elizabeth and asked, "where did she go?"
"I have no idea," Elizabeth admitted honestly. "I didn't even think she could really charge this weapon…."
She picked up the dagger, and immediately let go of it for it burnt her hand like flames.
Bo picked it up from the floor. Unlike Elizabeth, she seemed to be immune to the burn.
Elizabeth gaped at her. "How...how are you able to-"
"I have no idea. Trust me. I don't have a single ounce of idea of what is going on, or what is going to happen," Bo replied as she gripped the dagger tightly. "I think it's time for me to go find that bitch and kill her."
Elizabeth sighed. "Good hunting," she muttered as she watched Bo disappear in daze.
"Do we really have to do this?" Tamsin asked as she stared at the two Huntresses sitting in the car with her.
"The Queen's orders," one of them replied indifferently.
"Right, you do know that she lied to all of us, and she's now in fact a Vampire, right?"
"With honor we follow our Queen to glorious victory," the other one answered.
"Great, brain washed, and also brain dead..." Tamsin murmured, giving up searching for the answer of how and why these Huntresses would still follow Naomi after what she had done.
Maybe I could take them if I do it fast. She thought as she peeked at one of the Huntress' weapons. It was a combat dagger, usually for close combat experts.
Or maybe I should create a distraction. She thought. But, how?
Then, she paused, as she saw one Huntress outside the car fall, with an black arrow in her throat.
The other three pulled their weapons out, but weren't able to figure out where the arrow had come from. The second Huntress fell, with an arrow in her left eye.
"What the-" one of the Huntresses in the car opened the door and rushed out. Tamsin took the chance and slammed her head at the other one's nose. She caught her head between her arms and locked her arms against her neck. She squeezed till the other Huntress stopped moving.
She pulled her hairpin out with her teeth and unlocked the cuffs. "Thanks, sister," she snorted as she snatched the unconscious Huntress' knife.
By the time she had got out of the car, all five Huntresses outside had been taken down. They were squirming and muttering, but weren't able to get up and fight.
Tamsin rolled her eyes, when she saw Mel standing ten feet away from her holding a crossbow.
"Now is really not a good time, Mel," Tamsin said.
"Relax. I am not here for you," the blood covered Huntress bit out.
"Finally you figured out that I'm not the bad guy, huh?"
"That lying bitch is going to pay for what she's done," Mel said as she pulled the arrows out of the wounded Huntresses. "I am going to kill her, and I will kill you too if you get in my way."
"Trust me, I'll stay far, far away while watching."
Bo sent herself back to the white mansion. As she suspected, the little girl was there. With a blood stained white gown, she stood there, bloodied and barefoot.
A brief moment of silence. They stared at each other as a gust of wind wailed. The metallic smell in the wind was thick.
"Are you ready to surrender?" The girl asked Bo. It was the first time she had talked. There was no emotion in her voice, nor warmth in her eyes. It was as if the void itself had spoken.
Bo took a deep breath, feeling her heartbeat on her fingertips now. She gripped the blade tightly and bit out, "never."
With that, she leaped and shoved the blade right into the girl's chest.
The blood rune flashed as the blade cut into the girl's flesh, but it was as if the blade had cut into thin air. The girl didn't bleed, nor did her wound turn gray. Instead of being in pain, she seemed to find it funny, so funny that she started to laugh.
Her laughter pierced Bo's ear like needles. And then, the dagger disappeared, like it had never existed before.
The girl, unharmed, laughed again. She grabbed the stunned Bo and brought her closer, before she sank her teeth into Bo's neck.
Tmasin rushed into the castle and headed to the throne room. Just as she had suspected, a fierce fight had already taken place there. The old throne had been knocked over to the corner of the room. The chandelier had fallen and smashed into the floor, tearing a corner off the already frail carpet. The man who had killed Bo's family was lying on the floor unconscious. Huntresses who had come into the castle with Naomi were down as well, though Tamsin wasn't sure if they were dead or just knocked out.
Beside the fallen throne, there lay Bo. She was in an old gown and had her eyes closed. A burning brazier was placed right beside her. Some weird smelling incense was burning inside, giving the flames a purple tint.
Beside her, there knelt Naomi, who seemed to have barely recovered from a fight. She was holding a blade at Bo's throat.
"No!" Tamsin yelled as she lunged at Naomi.
Startled, Naomi turned to her, moving her blade away from Bo momentarily.
Before either of them had spat out any threats, Bo's eyes suddenly shot wide open. She stared at Tamsin for a second or two, before she turned to Naomi. Then, she pulled herself up from the floor and picked up the nearest sword. The blood rune on the sword flashed when she touched it, but she didn't seem to have felt the burn - if there had been any at all.
"Bo...?" Tamsin called her name hesitantly.
The brunette turned to her again. Her eyes were bright blue, fueled by cruelty and blood thirst. Tamsin didn't recognize those eyes. They weren't those soft, warm eyes that she had known and remembered.
"No..." Tamsin shook her head slightly as her blood ran cold. "You are not..." she muttered. "You are not Bo."
A/N: Took me a while but finally here's the new chapter. I think next chapter might be the last (or at least the second to the last). Everybody stay safe and stay healthy!
