Chapter 31-
(Catarina)
Ten minutes in Vancha says to try to throw them off. We go a different route through the tunnels. Vancha announces that he is going back as a decoy then leaves. The vampet is placed in Harkat's hands. Eventually the Prince returns and we all can hear vampaneze close in the tunnels. They swarm in on us. Vancha tells us to go while he throws Shurikens at the vampaneze. Mr. Crepsley reaches for me but I am not close enough to him on purpose. I choose to stay for now and defend my friends. He shoves Shan up onto the street through a man hole. Steve goes next. I push Harkat after him. Mr. Crepsley finally picks me up and practically throws me onto the street. He and Vancha follow quickly.
"We should leave this town," Harkat says. The dim morning light is keeping the vampaneze in the underground tunnels.
"I'm not leaving Debbie," Shan argues.
"And I'm not leaving while the vampaneze Lord is still here. It's our job to kill him," Vancha adds.
"I agree but first we rest," Mr. Crepsley replies. "Do we return to the apartments?"
"They could attack," Harkat says. "They know where-"
"I doubt they will come after us on our own turf after Gannen let us go," Shan says.
We all agree, Harkat is reluctant though. Vancha and Mr. C pull up hoods on robes to protect them and we all go back to the apartments.
I go into the bedroom I shared with Shan, slamming the door. I throw things angrily. I destroy the red roses, rip apart the teddy bear, smash the box of chocolate, and shatter the perfume against the wall. I even tear the blanket to shreds. I scream and growl and go on a rampage. Finally I just sob. Harkat comes in and pulls me to the living room where everyone else is gathered. I sit in the corner, refusing to look at Steve. Vancha was in the other room, torturing the vampet until he talked. The vampet said Gannen let us go because only the Vampaneze lord is allowed to kill us due to Mr. Tiny's rules. The vampet is dead.
Outside police swarm in, blocking all routes of escape. They think we are the killers due to an anonymous tip. They think the vampet and Steve were hostages and are upset to find out only Steve is still alive. Vancha tells us if we are captured now by the police there may be chances to escape later. We all jump down from our fifth floor window, shocking the police. The jump is fine for us all but Mr. C lands wrong and fractures his ankle. Shan says he will stay with Mr. C to give Vancha better chances of escape. He can't flit with us all. "I'm staying too," Harkat decides.
"We don't have time for this rubbish!" Vancha complains.
"It's not rubbish. I go where Darren goes. Besides...you have better chances without me."
"And you too Catarina?" he asks.
"Yes," I nod slowly.
"We'll do our best to break out. If I cannot walk these three will escape on their own, yes?"
"Yes," Harkat agrees.
Shan hesitates the mutters Yes reluctantly. I growl quietly, refusing to answer Yes.
"Luck," Vancha leaves using the police chief as a shield. He flits and to the humans it seems he vanished into thin air.
We are arrested and put in separate windowless (thank the Gods) jail cells. Various cops try to interrogate me and ask millions of questions, most of the same ones over and over again. I sit in the far corner of my cell with my head down. When they take me to be interrogated I still keep my head down and I am silent the whole time. That is until they mention they confiscated Harkat's mask that he needs or he will die from the air. I am in my cell so now I rattle the bars and scream at them. They demand answers I cannot give them before leaving me. I sit down in my corner and sob. I can hear the cops saying things about me like "She's one crazy messed up bitch" and "She's a stubborn one" and "I think she might be dangerous. Stay away from her. She's a feisty one."
Soon I find out Steve killed and injured various people on as he broke out of the medical area. He escaped. The cops are frantic.
(Shan)
The cops leave Shan with one who tells him to make it look like he knocked him out then escape in the ceiling. When Shan questions the officer he just says "You'll see." What he does see is a tattooed V, the symbol of the Vampets. He crawled to Harkat's cell then they both crawled to Catarina.
(Catarina's POV)
Something bursts through my ceiling. I am startled but I don't move. They drop to their feet and I see it is Shan. "I'm here to break you out. C'mon," he grabs my hand and pulls me up through the ceiling. The only other thing he says to me the whole way to Mr. Crepsley's cell is "I'm sorry." It's not the same apology as before. This isn't I'm sorry for making a mistake, please take me back. This was I'm sorry for hurting you but I care for Debbie and that won't change.
There is a guard and a cop in Mr. C's cell. Harkat jumps down with Shan, surprising them. I wait in the ceiling. Harkat knocks out the guard and Mr. Crepsley uses his knock out breath to take care of the cop. He picks the locks on his handcuffs then joins us, very calm. Shan had broken his the same way I had mine. They are still on our limbs, chains wrapped around our wrists and ankles.
We get out and attempt to go the tunnels underground but Shan finds vampets are blocking all entrances. We go through darker ally ways until Shan suddenly says he has to do something and runs off before any of us can stop him.
(Shan)
He finds what sun block is left in the store since it's autumn and steals it. On his way out a news story plays showing his and Catarina's pictures with sketches of Vancha and Crepsley. The story says they are wanted murderers. People chase after Shan. He is frantic when he gets to the others. He tells Mr. C to put on the sunblock in a hurry. He does then an angry mob shows up with weapons. They run.
(Catarina)
We race up a ladder onto a roof of an apartment building only to find we are trapped. There's a police helicopter above us and humans advancing behind us. "Follow me, I have a plan," Mr. C instructs. We go into the building through a window and he yells "Vampires in the building! Everybody out!" When a few people emerge he shoves them towards the stairs. "Quick! Head for the ground floor! We have to get out! We will die if we stay! The vampires are here!" They run down them fast. He smiles proudly and tells us to do the same as he had. I hear him yelling behind me "Vampires! Vampires! Beware the living dead!"
I walk up and down the hall but say nothing. I have no energy to waste on this so I let them do it for me. It's chaos but it works. The humans fleeing in a panic block the mob ones trying to get in. Mr. C leads us to an abandoned factory building. We run down through it and out the back into the alleys. Mr. C's leg is swollen up to the knee know so Shan and I help him walk. The sky is getting kind of cloudy.
Shan tries to ask Richard for help hiding but Richard freaks out and Mr. C has to come in and knock him out with his knock out breath. Shan is kind of sad but we move on. Eventually we find an old abandoned farm and climb into a silo to rest until tonight when we can go into the tunnels. Mr. C picks the locks on our cuffs. I rub my wrists and ankles while Shan asks Harkat why he didn't have any cuffs. "They didn't know what I was...or what to make of me. They asked...if I was in pain so I said yes...Then they asked if the handcuffs hurt so...when I said yes they took them off."
"Lucky."
"That's also why I was alone. I...could see they were uneasy around me so...I told them not to touch me, said I had...an infectious disease. You should have seen them run!"
I giggle and they all laugh. I try to sleep but only wake up after a fitful dreamless state with tears on my face. I sniffle and keep by back to Shan, curling up next to Harkat. "You are stupid," Mr. Crepsley tells Shan quietly. "You should abandon Debbie. This is our mission as companions and that is your mate. These should come before Debbie. You are foolish Darren." He doesn't answer.
I do talk to Mr. Crepsley about Steve. "I want to kill him. He is evil and I hate him. It took me so long to finally trust him. When I was having relationship problems with Darren, I let Steve comfort me. I let him sleep next to me. I can't believe I was so stupid! Why? The people I trust, betray me constantly. How am I ever supposed to trust anyone again Mr. Crepsley?"
"I understand but I do not think you are stupid. He tricked everyone. It is not your fault. Do not blame yourself."
"The people I care about have all died or betrayed my trust. I feel...alone...and sorrowful. My heart aches..."
"You are never alone. You always have our clan until the end."
I shake my head, a few tears falling. He puts a hand on my shoulder. "Catarina..."
"You and Harkat are all I have now. Please promise you won't leave me."
"I promise I shall never leave you until I take my last breath."
I nod. "Thank you," and dry my face on my hand.
On the way through the tunnels Mr. C suddenly remembers we have no weapons because we had to give them up when we got arrested. "Brilliant! The most important fight of our lives and we came unarmed. What kind of fools are we?"
"The greatest ever," Vancha appears.
"Vancha!" Shan cheers.
"The one and only," he grins. Harkat, Shan, and I all run and hug him at the same time. He is surprised then smiles and hugs us back. "Sappy idiots!" he laughs. "Haven't you got a hug for me too Larten, old buddy?" he asks.
"You know where you can stick your hug," he replies.
"Oh the ingratitude!" Vancha sighs. "Let's get you some weapons. The vampaneze left these behind."
I am delighted to find my weapon of choice, daggers. Vancha also reveals to us that he still has police chief Alice Burgess and convinced her to fight with us.
We soon arrive at a steel door with combination locks. Shan knows it is designed by Steve and easily figures out the code. It is Steve Leopard in alphabet numbers. A is 1, B is 2, and so on. It opens. RV is in the tunnel. He says Shan can go with him and save Debbie but if he stays with his companions he will kill her. "Remember what we discussed in the silo," Mr. C warns. Shan refuses RV's offer so he goes away. "You did well Darren."
"I did what had to be done," he responds.
We get to a room where there is a pit and a rope to climb into it. There is a tunnel to go into but spikes on the floor. Vancha goes first to see if it's a trap. Steve emerged from the tunnel and lights a match. Flames explode. I gasp. When they go, Vancha is singed but alive on the rope. "Vancha! You're alive!" Shan exclaims.
"Of course I am," he grins.
"You're a tough old badger, aren't you?" Steve replies.
"Aye."
"I'll cut this rope and you won't be so tough anymore!"
Vancha moves up and joins us.
"Wise move," Steve tells him. He whistles and dozens of vampaneze and Vampets swarm in. The police chief spots the officer who let Shan out and is shocked. She can't believe he's "one of them." She says she wants to kill him herself.
Shan points out Gannen and the Lord on a platform where Steve joins them. Gannen says "Greetings brother," to Vancha. Then he tries to make a deal as Debbie is brought out over the pit. Gannen says he will let the humans and Harkat free and give Shan a chance to fight Steve and the lord alone but if he fails us vampires have to turn ourselves over and drop our weapons. Shan agrees reluctantly. The police chief says she can make a distraction for us. She starts to walk with with the others then suddenly attacks the cop vampet. They wrestle over his gun and it goes off in his face. Vampaneze swarm. Mr. C and Vancha argue over who should go to the platform. Shan says Mr. Crepsley should because he is the only one who can truly focus on the vampaneze lord. Vancha would be too much on Gannen and Shan and I would be too much on Steve.
Vampaneze attack and I can't even look at how my friends are doing because I am fighting so hard with my daggers. My emotions are all over the place but I let my anger fuel my fighting. I am determined to win this and get out alive.
When Mr. Crepsley reaches the platform everyone stops and watches silently. Mr. C injures Steve and knocks Gannen's weapons away. Then he jumps behind the vampaneze lord and shoves him into the pit. He lands on the spikes and dies. Everyone is in shock. Part of me is cheering that We won! It's over! But I can't even react because I'm still in awe.
That's when Steve lunges at Mr. C and he almost falls into the pit. The chain Steve had stops Mr. C's fall for a moment but the weight pulls them both down. Gannen grabs Steve's hand and struggles to hold both of them. "You'll kill us both!" Steve warns.
"That is what I mean to do," is Mr. Crepsley's response.
"Stop!" Gannen says. "Stop and we'll let you go!"
"I swore I would kill Steve Leonard!"
"Don't do it!" Vancha shouts.
"Don't leave me!" I plead.
"We have to save him," Debbie mutters.
"We can't do anything," Shan replies.
"It seems our paths must part Sire," Mr. Crepsley tells Vancha.
"Aye."
"We shared some good times."
"Great times!"
"Will you sing my praises in the Halls of Vampire Mountain?"
"Until my voice cracks."
"Catarina...you are strong and you will get through this. You will get through anything. You have the others. Follow your heart always. Don't let anyone talk down to you or hurt you. Stand up tall because you're better than them all. Only my best wishes for you. Farewell."
I nod, holding back tears.
"Darren, do not let hatred rule your life. My death does not need to be avenged. Live as a free vampire, not a twisted, revenge-driven creature of despair. Do not become like Steve or RV. My spirit will not rest in paradise if you do."
"I can't...hold...any longer," Gannen announces.
"Even in death may I be triumphant!" Mr. Crepsley bellows. I give the death touch symbol and watch him fall. Steve grabs the rail and saves himself.
The stakes don't kill him instantly. He howls. Vancha, Debbie, Harkat, and Shan are crying.
(Shan's POV)
Cat falls to her knees and sobs loudly, unrestrained. Her screams and howls echo through the tunnels, radiating a deep sorrowful pain. It's absolutely horrible.
Most of everyone leaves. Steve says he has to tell Shan something with Gannen. After they do they knock him out. They leave him asleep on the floor with his comrades.
(Catarina's POV)
My world has ended. My life is over. Pain...so much pain. I gaze down at the pit where a fire is slowly engulfing the bodies. I take a step off the edge and no human would have been able to stop me quick enough. I would have gone in and died too. But Vancha is a vampire and has faster reflexes. He grabs me and pulls me back onto the ground so quickly the force throws us both down. I sob more.
"Catarina...do you think that's what Larten would want?"
"I don't care. He's gone. Everyone's gone. I have no point in living anymore. Please...just let me go. Let me end the pain. I can't do this."
"No!" he says firmly. "No Catarina."
I hit him but he keeps a firm grip on me, not letting me go. Finally I collapse on the floor and sob more. "Vancha..."
He sits down and pulls me closer to him, holding me in his arms. "You have lived only a short time Catarina and already so much hardship has happened to you. It is not fair. You don't deserve it. I cannot image all the pain you must feel. But I know that you will make it through this and everything else to come. Larten was correct. You are strong."
"I don't want this anymore. I can't do it."
"This is your fate Catarina, it's all of our fate's. You were chosen. This path was already set even before you were born. This is what's meant to be."
"I loose everybody I love...and the others I care for betray me. I am and will always be alone. My heart is broken from all the sorrow. It hurts too much."
"I understand how you feel Catarina but as Larten said, you are not alone. The clan is here for you always."
"Vancha...how am I supposed to go on without him?" I cry.
"You will find a way, we all will. He died honorably. He would want you to not cry and go on with your life like the amazing person you are. He wants all the best for you. He wouldn't want you to go on forever overcome with grief, not even being able to function. Besides, the whole clan depends on us Catarina. We can't just give up now."
"What if I can't do this? What if I fail?"
"We will not."
"You cannot be sure."
"I know it in my heart."
I cry against him and he comforts me, hugging me tightly. Harkat sits beside us silently. Eventually I calm down enough. I crawl over to Shan and gently touch his face. He is still unconscious. He was so exhausted...Despite how he hurt me and betrayed me emotionally, I still have an overwhelming love for him. I always will.
Finally I just sit on the floor, gazing at the pit. I am silent and I don't move, just kind of shutting down.
When Shan awakes he says Steve told him the truth. Mr. Crepsley's death was in vain. We were tricked about the vampaneze lord again. It was a decoy. "So we're back at the beginning now?" Vancha questions in disbelief.
"No, they told me. I know who the vampaneze lord is."
"Who?"
"Steve."
That sets off my sobs again. Vancha wraps his arms around me. When we all finally decide to leave he carries me.
[A/N: I almost cried when I wrote this chapter. I loved Mr. Crepsley. Who doesn't love him? PS- tell me what you think about this chapter.]