a/n: This is it! For all of those who have actually bothered to read I thank you from my heart! This is my most proud moment! When I finish my story! please read and review!
The laser was green, very bright compared to the red ones that also were around us. I looked down on the floor and saw that it was a symbol, a symbol that sent a chill down our spines and caused us to freeze...
It was the sign of the Nightshifters! The crude sign was a territorial marking, it showed a rose being held by a fanged creature and he was tearing the petals off. Also there was a winged creature hovering above, and when drawn, cast a shadow over a beautiful landscape full of the roses, all of which were pink, red, and white. The sign had the true meaning of "Beauty shall live on but love and righteousness shall die at the hands of the damned". That was their original motto, now tweaked to "Love and righteousness shall be forgotten".
We were in a bar that had been over run. We had fallen for a trap.
I looked around and didn't see Moonbay, he had left, he either knew, or was already trapped. I couldn't imagine what I would do if it was the latter, but at the same time I was worried about myself and Drirletlan.
A shadow moved in the corner of my eye, disappearing as quickly as it appeared. I looked around and saw no trace, until what it was came upon me.
He jumped, faster then lightning, that Aubrey, and he made sure that I didn't make a move. He was on top of me before I could defend myself.
The hunted never win his thoughts shot into mine.
The hunter must always be on guard I answered with a cold feel, even a little cold to myself.
Now you're talking like a hunter! His thought disgusted me.
I turned and saw Drirletlan struggling to get free from the grasp of a shadow. They moved closer and I realized the shadow was really Kristina.
Where's your pet?! I yell in my head, knowing he picks up the thought, knowing if I started a commotion that it would be the end of me.
Jessica? She's already taken a different sport under her wing, a long pause... no smart come back? Well... at least this gives me a chance to give you a clue; it deals with a moon, a special moon.
It was Moonbay, she had Moonbay, and all I could do was sit and wait...
He heaved off of me, but I found that I still couldn't move, frozen in the fear of the moment. He quickly grabbed me by my hair and dragged me to my feet. There was a scream on the tip of my tongue, one more second and I would have lost it... but I held on, I couldn't scream, it would please him.
He got me on two feet and allowed me to drop, the impact causing me to falter, but I regained composure.
Scream. He demanded, I know you want to.
I'll be damned if I let you have that pleasure my answer the hiss of a rattlesnake.
But you don't understand. He smiled, so vividly the face still haunts me you already are.
My eyes widened in recognition of what he was trying to say, of what that truly meant.
Just one scream he begged again, if Aubrey even can beg.
It was hard to not scream, the very thought of trying not to made it harder on my will, but I forced the thought from my head, this bastard was getting nothing from me.
Why do you try so hard when you know you will lose?
Because seeing you after I win makes it all the more better with a little taunting on the way there! What I was thinking was not what I truly felt. Sure I wanted to see Aubrey fall, but did I really expect to have a chance?
Kristina, I think our little girl here needs a reality check he hadn't even finished when Kristina took Drirletlan's wrist and snapped it, filling the loud corner with an even louder sickening crack of bone breaking. Dritletlan's face showed defeat, it was worse than a scream, because I knew he was in pain. Those eyes then turned to me, pain filled, not masking everything he should have, and I had no way of reassuring him without being shot down myself.
"Stop it Aubrey!" I finally found my voice.
"Aubrea, do you think I would EVER take a command from you?" his voice sent a chill down my spine, and it might have anyone else, had the room not cleared out just minutes before.
"Aubrey!" the familiar chill of Jessica's voice floated through the thick air.
He lifted his head, allowing his hair to fall into his eyes, "Yes Jessica?"
"It's the werewolf... he... he..." she couldn't finish because just then Moonbay burst through the back door and started to charge at the sight of Aubrey.
Again Aubrey was a quick thinker. He swiftly pulled my body in front of him, holding me right against his body, and with this said I won't complain about it. I could feel his muscles tighten, gripping me sternly to him. Seeing me, Moonbay stopped his charge, his face inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my face, a warm and sickening feeling washing over me.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Aubrea's little savior, Moonbay. Tell me, old pal, what would happen if I told you the only way to get to me is through her?" I looked back to see a glint in Aubrey's eyes.
Moonbay growled and then through back his head in an enraged howl.
"Tsk, tsk, you are a little tramp aren't you? How do you put up with him Aubrea?" he looked down to me and whispered, "It seems you are wanted by another. How ever will you choose?"
I looked at him in confusion, so he elaborated, "On one side you have him," he looked to Drirletlan, "A viscious little bastard, but a vampire none the less. And on the other," he returned his gaze to Moonbay in hate, "a werewolf," he spat the word.
Aubrea! Don't listen! Moonnbay was desperate.
"That's right, don't listen to me, the one who may have started your own clan, you should never listen to me!"
"No," I choked out, "you never did start my clan! I have no clan!" seeing the hurt looks on Drirletlan's and Moonbay's faces I added softly, "only friends."
"Clan, friends, it's all the same! I gave you them!" he yelled in my ear, a terribly painful sound.
"You never..."
"Oh but I did," he cut me off. "You see, without chasing you from the bar, you would never have met your precious werewolf there. And without over throwing Drirletlan you two would still be enemies, so in a way you ARE in my debt, you owe me a lot. I won't ask for a lot though, just one favor."
"And what's that?" Drirletlan demanded.
Though he shot a hateful look at Drirletlan Aubrey answered, "Kill your friends!"
His words hit like a bullet. How could I do that? But he had a point, and when in the debt of a vampire you must obey, or pay with your immortality.
I hung my head in defeat, "No," I still managed to whisper.
"What was that?" he leaned closer.
"I said 'no' you scum," I kicked his heal and with a quick glance Kristina pulled out a gun and shot at Moonbay.
There was a quick howl and then a long, ringing silence.
I looked down to see a man there, no longer a proud werewolf, one that I had come to know and love.
"Now see what you made her do? She had to take care of your favor to me! Now kill the other one," he shoved me towards Drirletlan.
I stood towering of the figure, lying on the ground, with those eyes that always showed so much emotion, but now they showed nothing, they were blank.
I can't do it. I know I can't kill him. I start remembering when I first learned about the betrayal of the Nightshifters.
There was a sudden knock at the door. I figured it was Moonbay. I had only told him what was up the day I stopped drinking, so he was still trying to get all that he could out of me, I had only given him a short version
I walked over to the door and opened it, chain still in.
What I saw sent me into shock.
It was Drirletlan. He was beaten badly and his clothes were tattered, but he was there, still okay!
"Drirletlan!" I couldn't say anything else.
I closed the door, un-did the chain, and reopened it to let him in.
"Aubrea. I'm so… sorr…y" he passed out at my feet.
Why him? I could kill anyone else, now that Moonbay was gone. Drirletlan is the only person I have left! I can't leave him, not now, not like this.
But then something hits me. I've been weak all my life! This whole life of mine I was weak: a pushover with my parents, a coward with Angel and the gang, and now a supposed leader among friends who shared everything. I was never a leader though. I took the back way out of everything.
But that isn't possible anymore. I can't be weak all of my life, sitting around and pondering life, pondering death, and doing nothing about any of it. Nothing to change my life.
I am a vampire, and it took me until now to realize what that truly means. Being a vampire is about having strength, and that means leaving whoever needs to go behind.
And yet, how could I kill the one I love.
But, vampires don't love.
Then again, I never followed vampire rules.
And this was my downfall.
My world won't stop spinning. My head is liable to explode, and yet, I know what I must do. I must choose between my half as a human and my half as a vampire. All this time I thought I had changed, not only physically but also mentally. Until now I didn't realize how much of a joke that idea truly is. I never stopped being human, even when I became a vampire.
I look back into Drirletlan's eyes, and whisper, "Give me a sign."
"Give you what?" he barely chokes out.
Goddamn it! my mental message clear. You heard me.
What sign is there to give, Aubrea? His thoughts enter my head and I realize that I'm about to make a mistake, no matter what I do.
I silently take his hint. I walk over to a table three feet away, shatter it with a punch, and pick up a sliver of wood.
I spin around and pin both Aubrey and Drirletlan to the wall.
"There are two of you here, but only one has to die tonight. I am a soul condemned to hell, no matter what I choose. If you don't decide I shall, and I assure you it will not be based on friendship, or love, but on the instinct that only a real vampire has: bloodlust," the words scare me. I say them so naturally and yet I am afraid of what I have just done. I have signed someone's death warrant, and they're not going to get out of it.
I look to each. I see nothing in their eyes, but in the soul of Drirletlan I fell fear. Yet in Aubrey's I sense nothing. There is no happiness, no fear, and no love. He will never love anything, and he will never be a great person, but he's the only real vampire in this room, and for that I congatulate him…
By quickly driving the shard through Drirletlan's heart.
With one last 'I love you, Aubrea, no matter what' he is sent to the ashes of nothingness. His soul condemned to hell, as is mine.
I hear Aubrey's voice, "Always remember, you are strong Aubrea, possibly stronger than I. If you survive tonight make sure you are never the hunted again."
I stare pointedly at him, but say nothing, and understand everything. But I keep on staring, taking in everything I can. I never want to forget this moment.
And I shall never forget this moment. I am what I always wanted to be. As I watch Aubrey inch slowly from the wall, my hand still gripping the stake tightly, I see what I truly am, but I see it where I never thought I would. I see this in Aubrey's soul. And it shows me as the cold-blooded killer that was born in my head, what seems like only a few moments ago, and an eternity to go at the same time.
a/n: not how i thought it would end either... I know this surprised many... or few depending on how many people read this. Please review, and let me hear what you think! And no this is not the end... there is an epilogue!