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Chapter 26
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She was falling.
She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
There was darkness all around her. Inky blackness that penetrated the very eyes in her skull, slithering like a snake into the depths of her brain.
She could feel the wind on her face…
In her hair…
Stinging her eyes.
There was a dropping in her stomach, a feeling of ice freezing over her insides.
And she continued to fall into the dark abyss. She was sure it had no end.
A never-ending chasm of shadows that would leave her falling forever.
Or lead her to the depths of Hell…
And then there was a blinding pain, spreading from her toes up her legs…
Winding up the veins in her thighs, into her stomach, through the bones of her ribs—
Up into her lungs, to her shoulders—
It flowed down the strands of muscle and tissue in her arms, swirling down to her wrists—
To the very tips of her fingers like the very blood inside her was burning up, scalding hot, steaming—
White-hot light slid up her throat, into her nose and eyes—
And into the very edges of her brain, still winding into the organs in her chest—
To her heart.
Into the very essence of her being…
And there it resided, hot, painful, impartial…
Increasing until she finally couldn't take it anymore, and when she opened her mouth to scream again there was noise.
And she did scream…Stop all the pain! Stop it! Stop it! her conscious mind was screaming somewhere in the depths of her head.
Meryl's eyes shot open suddenly, her pupils dilating as they were hit full-force by a wave of light. The intensity of it blinding her as though she had just dared to stare into the face of the sun.
Light!
Where was she? Where was the light coming from? Why did she hurt so?
There was pain somewhere in her neck; a burning that caused her head to ache. Panicking, she gasped out loudly, blinking against the light and the pain. But it would not leave, and she shot up from her position on her back.
Something latched onto her arms and legs, winding its way around her body, and she yelled hoarsely in fright and frustration. Weakly, she fought off the attacks, but only managed to become more entangled in the nameless monster's embrace. Angrily, she tried to clear her vision, pain aching in her head and muffling the sounds around her.
Something else grabbed her around her middle, forcing her to stop thrashing within the grasp of the monsters, but she would not be subdued that easily and give into the evil creature's will.
Regaining some of her strength, she struggled angrily within the creature's grasp, clawing and screaming profusely. Her elbow connected with the thing behind her, and the grasp around her loosened slightly. It was enough, and she pushed away from the monster to grab the tentacles entangled with her legs. She pulled at them fiercely, a scream of pure animalistic rage tearing from her lips.
Somewhere behind her, there was muffled noise. Shouting, maybe? Yelling? She couldn't see. Couldn't hear properly…
Meryl's temper flared as she was entrapped again, and she kicked her entangled limbs wildly, knocking both herself and her attacker over. They hit a hard surface, the monsters clawing at her legs still holding her within their grasp.
She threw a punch at the creature, and her fist hit a hard surface. Madly, she grasped at the thing, her fingers entangling within some sort of fabric. Furious at her entrapment, she clawed angrily at her attacker.
There were shouts again, muffled and unintelligible. She ignored them.
Her hands found it's neck, and she wound her fingers around the creature's throat, a feral snarl on her lips.
Shouts echoed in her head.
White lights danced across her vision.
Meryl's brow furrowed suddenly, and she stilled as she realized there was no movement around her except the harsh heaving of the creature beneath her. She watched as the sparkling light across her eyes began to dart away, and her stormy grey eyes followed them around as they faded.
Slowly, she began to realize something.
The small lights, like small fairies dancing before her eyes, slowly dissipated, and Meryl screwed her eyes shut for a moment. Her were still wrapped around the neck of the…the something under her.
And she realized that the monsters entangling her legs were not moving, not breathing, not pulsating with evil life.
Her attacker was still, breathing slowly as if afraid of provoking her.
Meryl's eyes snapped open, and she nearly shrieked out in fright at the face before her.
"VASH??!" she exclaimed, bewildered.
Indeed, the creature she had pinned to the floor, her hands wrapped tightly around his neck, was no other that Vash himself. Weakly, he managed to smile up at her.
"Nice to see you're…up," he all but gasped.
Meryl stared, still somewhat horrified to find the nameless creature she had been fighting off had just been Vash…a harmless vampire, well he was as harmless as a vampire could get. Slowly, then, she turned her head to glance behind her. Her legs, which just a moment before had been entangled within the tentacles and claws of faceless monsters, were now wrapped up and snared within the sheets of the bed sitting behind her.
That was when she noticed she was in her room, same as ever except the overturned chair by her dresser.
She stared down at Vash, confusion written upon her face. "What…?" she asked, letting the sentence hang, as she didn't quite know herself how to end it.
The blonde winced slightly, and raised a hand in meek objection. "First, maybe, you could…let go of my neck?" he turned the statement into a humble request.
It took a moment, but eventually Meryl's eyes snapped down to her hands, which were wrapped firmly around Vash's neck as though she was going to choke him. Which she had been trying to do only minutes before…
"Oh!" she exclaimed, somewhat embarrassed, and quickly pulled back from him, sitting more or less on her haunches. "I…I'm…sorry."
"Oh no, no need," Vash began sardonically. "I quite enjoy being strangled to death by half-dead short women."
Meryl glared, her fingers hooking into what resembled claws.
Fortunately—because Vash would have been doomed otherwise—or unfortunately—because of the position the two were in—there was a quick knock on the door, and not waiting for an answer, someone stepped into the room.
It was none other than Wolfwood.
Vash and Meryl turned their heads to the priest, looking abashed at the look they received from the man.
He stared at the two for a long moment, a cigarette held poised halfway to his lips, eyebrows raised in mild surprise, with a completely incomprehensible look in his eyes. Then, he took a long drag from the cigarette.
A long trail of smoke was blown from Wolfwood's lips as he finally spoke. "Really, I'm glad you're back with us, Meryl…but should you really be engaging in such activities so soon?" he drawled on teasingly.
Meryl scowled, and immediately she was up off Vash and standing on her feet. All the blood seemed to rush down from her head, and she stumbled slightly as black spots marred her vision. She noticed she was dressed in one of her long nightshirts, and it hung just below her knees. Despite being clad in her nightwear, she still managed to keep an air of authority about her. Ignoring the dizziness and it buzzed around her head, she shot a pointed glare at Wolfwood.
"Dirty priest, get your bloody mind out of the gutter!" she snapped irritably.
Vash slowly hauled himself up from the floor. Meryl cast him a quick glance, one unseen by both men. She noticed he was looking even more flaccid and paler since the last time she had seen him. He looked much weaker, and she suddenly remembered she had been the one to let the serum Milly had made into Knives's hands.
Quite suddenly, a hundred questions were running madly through her head.
How she made it from the street to her bed? She couldn't remember.
What had happened? Anything beyond losing Vash's serum was lost on her.
Why had she been in her bed? Had she been injured?
How long had it been since she had last seen Vash? Time seemed to be lost on her.
How long had she been trapped in that nightmarish state? Her mind was drawing blanks on all her silent inquiries.
And why was Wolfwood staring at her so strangely?
Frowning, Meryl met the priest's dark-eyed gaze. "What's going on?" she demanded, as that seemed the most logical question to ask.
Both men regarded her even more strangely after she said that. Perhaps that hadn't been the most logical question to ask. But when they noticed her genuine confusion, both exchanged a knowing look.
Tipping his head to the side slightly, Vash tapped the side of his neck with his finger, and silent answer to her question.
Meryl's brow knotted, her eyes scanning over Wolfwood's before met with Vash's sea-green gaze. Her own hazy grey eyes narrowed slightly, but not in anger. Hesitantly, she reached up, her fingers hovering over her neck in uncertainty. She tipped her head slightly, eyes drifting from Vash's face to fix themselves on the hardwood floor beneath her feet. Cold, uncomforting. The fire blazing merrily in the hearth to her side did not reach her, it's heat repelled by the blood in her veins.
Her fingers brushed over a bandage, and for the first time she noticed there was a wrapping around her neck. The brief and gentle touch caused by her fingers seemed to upset the bandages, the contact sending and unseen aggravation to the wound. It ached painfully as her hand fell to her side.
And everything seemed to fly back with the force of steam engine, colliding painfully inside her head and increasing the dull thudded ache within her skull.
Vash and Wolfwood watched as Meryl's entire being seemed to slump, weary lines of fatigue drawing under her dull, dreary eyes. Her lips pulled into a thin, white line, and her shoulders sagged with the impact of the memories inside her head.
Almost instantly, Vash regretted his harsh words from earlier.
Meryl's however, wasn't the one to break down and weep. She straightened her shoulders and raised her chin almost proudly, the only element setting her off the desperate sorrow radiating from the depths of her grey-pool eyes.
"How long has it been?" she asked, a muscle in her cheek clenching as if she was fighting an oncoming tide of tears.
Although the question itself was vague, Wolfwood and Vash both knew what she asked.
"Two days, this being the second," the smoking priest answered calmly. "It's almost dinner, and Milly is downstairs waiting for Vash and myself. We can talk more over burnt stew and homemade rock-bread."
The barest hint of a smile flickered over Meryl's face, and she nodded silently.
Wolfwood let a rare, lopsided grin fall on his lips, and he blew a steady stream of smoke at the vampire beside him. "Good. Needlenoggin and I'll leave you get dresses and whatnot, so be down in five minutes," he announced, and took the half-blood by the arm, steering them both from the shelter of Meryl's room. He stopped as they reached the door, and shoving Vash out unceremoniously, he took the doorknob in his hand and turned to the petite woman. "And try not to fall down the stairs, shorty, I know you're not in the best working order."
And with that, before Meryl could reply, he was gone and she was left along in the warmth of her bedroom, the crackling of wood in the fireplace the only sound besides the beating of her heart and the quiet intake of breath.
But not for long.
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As Wolfwood had indicated, the supper presented to the four individuals was less than perfect, but they ate anyway. Wolfwood because he apparently liked it. Milly because she wouldn't notice the difference between burnt and perfectly baked bread if her life depended on it. Vash ate simply because he could, and Meryl forced down the meal with fake enthusiasm because she knew she needed all the strength she could get.
Over the time spent conversing with the three, Meryl learnt that many things had gone on with the absence of her conscious mind to inject her professional opinion.
Quite simply, the things she was told over dinner was nothing less than spectacular.
All three had told her of the fight they had entered to get her back, and the brief and horrible moment they had thought her dead. She spoke of the cross Wolfwood had carried into battle, the sheer amount of vampires that had attacked them, how they had been close to losing, how Knives had retreated with a self-satisfied smirk upon his face.
Upon questioning the bandage around her neck, Milly had replied that she had made a special poultice with garlic, meant to slow down the effects of the turning for a good few days. Upon being reminded that she was turning into a heartless devil of the night, Meryl's mood had abruptly turned for the worse, a scowl taking up permanent residence on her
That had brought them to the questions around her situation. Meryl had reluctantly told the three of Knives's intentions towards herself and the world, her attention fixed on Vash nearly the entire time. She watched every single emotion and reaction that flitted across his face. He betrayed nothing. She knew not if he had told the priest and her partner of his upbringings, the fact that he was none other than Knives's brother by blood and family.
Grudgingly, the small woman did not bother to bring it up. Even in her sour mood, she knew that Vash was trustworthy. He had stayed with them this far, had fought of his brother, and had shot his own kin trying to get to her. She decided she would bring it up later, just to see what he had to say for himself. And, of course, to see him squirm. She was still bitter about his comment on her height earlier.
She deserved payback.
As she brooded, Meryl hadn't realized Milly had spoken to her, and now she glanced at the woman to her right. "What? Sorry, Milly, I didn't catch that…" she said, somewhat distantly.
"I said, Sempai, that the three of us, while you were sleeping, came up with a solution to all of our problems!" Milly announced, cheerfully despite the atmosphere.
Meryl quirked an eyebrow at her partner before her eyes swept over the two men. She had noticed the slightly uneasy air around them the whole time she had been sitting in their midst, but now it intensified, doubling into a stiff tension.
"A solution to all our problems?" she asked.
Wolfwood shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. Perhaps Milly wasn't supposed to tell her for a while yet, Meryl mused thoughtfully. She fixed her gaze on the priest, deciding he was the one to tell her. No doubt, it had been his solution, or he wouldn't look so apprehensive.
"Care to fill me in, Nicholas?" Meryl asked, leaning back in her chair.
It was Vash, however, who revealed the "plan."
"We plan to go to Knives's castle and get the serum he had hidden away there. With that, Milly can easily take it apart and find what its made of, and not only will you be cured and be unturned, you can use it to change everyone who ever walked the earth as a human back into one," Vash explained, but he didn't sound very enthusiastic.
Blunt Meryl thought idly, and turned her attention to Vash. "You don't even know what that serum can do. You don't even know if it actually exists."
Milly cut in abruptly. "But there's the hope, Sempai. We can't sit around and do nothing."
"And the hope is scattered once you find there is no serum and nothing can be done, and the inevitable is just that!" Meryl spoke harshly, not knowing exactly why she was arguing but for the fact that she was doing just that.
Wolfwood spoke then, his voice low and serious, "That poultice won't last the rest of your life, Meryl. Don't be stupid, Milly's right. If my count is right, Milly's only made up for the two days you've spent in your bed. And you know what that means, Meryl." He fixed the petite woman with a piercing gaze. "Three days maximum. That's all you have."
Meryl leaned back into her chair as the grave reality of her situation fell onto her shoulders like a dead weight. Why was she arguing? Was she so far infected, so far gone into the grasps of vampire-hood that she no longer had the ability to think or speak rationally? Wasn't this what her father had always wanted? To rid the people of the world of the infectious plague known as vampires?
Why was she argueing? Her last hope was held within that serum.
And yet, she still protested. "You don't even know where his castle is."
Silence settled over the group as that realization hit them full in the face.
"I do," Vash spoke then, and the remaining three turned to stare at him. "I've been there," he insisted.
Meryl's eyes hooded as she translated that subtle hint in her head. "And you're willing to lead us there?" she asked him suddenly.
The half-blood's aqua gaze met her steely grey eyes, and they simply stared for a moment. He seemed to search her face for a moment, slight unease trailing over his features. Meryl noticed he had paled even more, so much his skin seemed ghostly. Dead.
He needed that serum as much as she.
"I wouldn't offer if I didn't plan to, shorty," Vash stated coldly.
Milly and Wolfwood exchanged a worried look as the two bickered.
Meryl smiled coldly. "Just making sure you don't plan on selling us out, blondie," she announced as a finality, and gathered her dishes from the table.
Despite the coldness of the hunter and vampire, there was no mistaking the undeniable emotion that had entered the room.
Hope.
Milly had been right. There was always the hope.
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--Cayenne Pepper Powder