'Wait… Claws, fangs, wings?' I thought and then I looked into the puddle below me and screamed. I stared into the demon sapphire blue eyes that stared back at me, unable to stop the screams of horror emanating from the creature that mirrored me in every way. I had turned into the thing that I had just killed!
Chapter 2: To Sanctuary
When I finally stopped screaming, my actions finally hit me. I had killed someone. No matter that he was a monster, the spawn of hell. I had killed! The thought instantly revolted me. I huddled on the ground and retched. When I was finished, I saw that instead of food, I had vomited blood. The sight brought on another bout of vomiting until I could no longer bring anything up but air. I stared at my reflection again in the puddle, absently noticing that I could see in the dark.
"What have I become?" I asked aloud, hoping for a sign from God that I hadn't been damned. I went to cradle my face in my hands when I realized that I still had claws. They were wickedly sharp, made for tearing flesh from bones. I panicked. I stuck my hands into the puddle in a futile attempt to try and wash away my horrible new disfigurement. I even tried to scrub my arms and face with mud to see if it would go away, but I was horribly disappointed to see that my demonic face still looked back at me. I almost started screaming again when I was distracted by a noise in the villa. I could hear it almost as if it were right next to me instead of being several hundred feet away. It almost sounded like a drum, with a steady thump-thump thump-thump. I could almost dance to the rhythm, it was so fast. It was such an intoxicating sound.
I walked back to the villa, almost hypnotized by the sound. I could feel the mud ooze between my claws as they dug into the rain soaked earth. Before long, I was standing in the courtyard. My feet made clicking sounds as my talons touched the cobblestones beneath me. I sniffed the air like a dog, and the most tantalizing scent wafted from the kitchen. As soon as I entered, I was bombarded by scents, each one more divine then the rest. It was almost like standing in the kitchen when Mama helped the servants cook a birthday dinner, or the smell of chocolates as you walk into a confectionary store. My nose twitched and caused me to turn towards the hearth. The fire that been burning there earlier was almost completely out. The few coals that still burned were almost as bright as the sun with these eyes. My eyes pick out a small wooden object on the edge of the hearth. It was covered in some sort of liquid and it smelled like heaven. Unfortunately, it was imbedded in something white and foul smelling. I would have gagged, but the smell of that liquid almost had me licking my lips. I began to peel off the white stuff in effort to get to the object, a wooden stake, and then I came back to my senses. It wasn't imbedded, it was held… in my father's hand. My screams of horror were stifled as I almost retched again. I gasped for air as my silent sobs threatened to choke me. I was so intent on smelling the new scents around me, I didn't even realize that I had walked into the carnage that the two vampires had made in the kitchen. I felt tears threatening to fall as my eyes fell upon my mother's mutilated body. I turned my head away, but it was too late. The image of my parents, butchered like cattle, was etched into my mind forever.
Finally, when I almost couldn't bear the flood of tears and sobs that threatened to escape from me, I heard the noise that originally brought me back into the house. The beat of that constant drum was slowly getting faster, and I heard something amidst the beating drum that broke my heart: the broken sobs of my little brother. I ached to run and comfort my brother as I always have, but I held myself steady. I couldn't let him see me as I was. I silently made my way up the stairs, making sure that I extinguished all the candles so that I wouldn't frighten Lorenzo. I saw him at the end of the hall, holding Mario's hand as he sobbed into it.
"Lorenzo?" I called out, making sure that he knew it was me. Lorenzo's head shot up and he looked in my direction, trying to make out my figure in the dark.
"Sister, please help Mario. He said he can't get up and he's bleeding." Lorenzo ran up to me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me towards our older brother. I could see that his body was laying in an unnatural way.
"Oh my god…" I whispered. I stared at the large slinter of wood that poked through Mario's torso. It was almost as large as a small tree. I could smell his flesh as it was eaten away by his own fluids. In the back of my mind, I was amazed that he was still alive. It was all I could do to take his hand and try to comfort him, "Mario…"
"Sylvia… You must listen to me." His voice was laced with pain. "You must return to Roma. Go to the Vatican and ask for Cardinal Jinette. Tell him…" Mario shut his eyes and swallowed hard. I could tell that the pain was unbearable for him. "Tell him what happened here tonight. He will keep you safe. Promise me that you will go…" Mario pleaded. "Promise me…" He whispered again, the light was beginning to fade from his eyes. I felt the silent tears slide down my face as I nodded.
"I promise, brother…" I said, placing a delicate kiss on his forehead.
"Go… take my amulet… That way they know… you speak… truth…" Mario clenched his teeth as he weakly held back a scream. "Go now!" I took the amulet from his neck before picking up Lorenzo. He cried as he buried his head into the hollow of my neck.
"Whatever happens Lorenzo, don't be scared." I said, petting his head like our mother used to when we were upset. He nodded his head against my neck, unable to speak a word, as I carried him into the wreckage that used to be his room. I swallowed hard before stepping through the whole in the wall onto the roof.
I knew that I couldn't walk all the way to Roma. Not only was it a long journey, but with the way I looked I would be hunted down by all who saw me on the road. I sent a silent prayer to God, pleading that I wouldn't kill us both as I looked up into the midnight sky. I took a deep breath and then jumped up as high as I could. I spread my strange new wings and instantly Lorenzo and I were pulled high into the air. My muscles strained against the gust of wind as I tried desperately to gain some control, but the wind was determined to try and throw me every which way. I tried to picture a hawk flying in the air, but the turbulent air of the remaining storm broke my concentration when Lorenzo and I were pushed back down towards the ground as a neck breaking pace. I flapped my wings as we spun and flipped through the air. I tried as hard as I could to right myself, but the wind was determined to slam us into the ground. I spread my wings in the hopes that we would be swept back up in the air. As the ground came speeding towards us, I hugged Lorenzo as hard as I could, and then my wings caught another gust of air and we shot back into the air. I battled the winds for dominance as they threw us in every direction. My poor brother feinted after the first few free falls to the ground, which was a blessing. I wouldn't have been able to gain my balance if he had been screaming and struggling in my arms. My wings burned with the strain of fighting the winds, but finally I gained some control. My breathes came in ragged gasps as my lungs burned from exertion, but I was finally able to glide through the air currents towards the villa. I found that it was much easier to coast from gust to gust then to flap my way through the air. I circled above the villa, trying to catch my breath before I began my journey. The clouds had cleared enough for the moon to cast its glow upon the major road that either lead east to Florence or west to the coast. I thought long and hard before I finally broke my circle and followed the road west to the sea.
I lost track of time as I flew. My body felt like lead as I pushed myself to stay in the air. It took everything I had just to glide from draft to draft. I tried to distract my mind by observing the cities and sea vessels that passed below me, but after a time each ship began to look the same and the towns blurred together. It wasn't until light began to seep into the sky when I finally saw the great city of Rome. I almost sighed with relief, and for more reasons than one. I was grateful that I had made it to Rome before the sun had risen. I didn't want cause a panic, for being this creature was horrifying enough as it was. Also, I was relieved that I had made it at all. I didn't think that I would make it at all with how my body screamed in agony and exhaustion.
I forced my heavy wings to flap as I began to follow the Tiber River. In my exhaustion, I began to sink lower and lower towards the ground. I feebly tried to stay air borne when I finally saw the gilded dome of Saint Peter's Basilica. However, as I tried to fly over the walls into Saint Peter's square, my foot caught on the arm of one of the statues around the wall. I screamed as I felt the bone snap. From there, my wing caught on the Vatican obelisk. As I went down, I tried my best to protect Lorenzo, using my body as a shield. I hit the ground at full speed, I felt my wings and skin tear and the delicate bones snap and crumble. From there I bounced and rolled across Saint Peter's Square. I don't know how many bones I broke, but it was pure agony. I screamed as I finally came to a stop at the steps leading into the Basilica itself, but it seemed that no one in the world could hear me. I didn't even feel Lorenzo's small hands on my bloody cheek.
The pain threatened to engulf me into the dark abyss, but I fought it until finally I could force intelligible words out of my raw throat.
"Sanctuary!" I screamed, praying to God for someone to hear me. Over and over I screamed the one word until red filled my vision. At first I thought it was blood in my eyes, but then I heard a voice that wasn't my brother's.
"Please!" I cried, "Please… Cardinal Jinette… Must warn.. the Cardinal. Sanctuary… My brother… Please!" I tried to say what Mario had told me, but only the jumbled words came out. I screamed and cried when I thought I felt red hot pokers touch my ruined body, and then the blackness took me.
Author's note: Hey y'all. So, sorry that it's more of a filler chapter. I wanted to do more with it, but it also seemed like a good place to stop before the big chapter. So, it's a definite guarantee that the next chapter will be longer and have more to sink your teeth into, so to speak. Anyways, I do love to have the occasional review that is more than one word, and I don't care if you're French, Italian, German, Russian, Greek, English or whatever. I have dictionaries galore to translate text in different languages and what not (isn't it great being a music major?). Anyways, Have a good Weekend!
