Chapter 17: A Safe Place To Hide
North followed Anton at a fast pace. They had left the car where it was as they needed to be quick and the car wasn't exactly that and a Vampire could outrun one any day. They burst through the trees with the branches colliding with their faces as they ran. Jack, who was still transformed, simply flew through the trees. Finally they came out of the forest after running for what seemed a long time and came to a large stretch of land. A small little cottage could be seen in the horizon.
"That's it?" North asked.
"That's it," Anton said proudly.
They raced down the cliff at a great speed. Gravity was helping them by pulling them down towards the ground. They hit the ground at great sped before using that sped to hurdle themselves forward in the direction of the cottage. The cottage was actually a lot further away than North seemed to believe. Even at a Vampire's sped, they had to run a fair distance before it came into view.
The cottage itself was a small cottage and it looked like something taken out of the nineteenth century countryside. It was small and had a chimney jutting out top of it. It had two windows next to a tall, thin and white front door. A veranda was outside the door, painted white to match the door, with equally white steps leading up to the front door. The steps lead from a small garden path surrounded by several different kinds of flowers such a roses and lavenders. North wasn't much of a gardener but his late wife had been. She used to love to garden and North had picked up a few things along the way.
"Your cousin lives here?" North said.
"Yeah," Anton said. "Like I said, he's not here. He's travelling around South East Asia at the moment. I have received the odd post card from him from time to time."
Anton walked up to the gate and pushed it open, it creaked as it did. The rest of them followed Anton's lead. Anton took out a small key that had been hiding in his bag. He slotted it into the keyhole and he pushed open the door. They emerged into a small hallway which was lined with pictures of people who were wearing clothes of many different time periods. Anton told North to go into the small living room which was just to their left as soon as they walked into the house. The living room composed of a couch and a few arm chairs grouped around a fireplace and a TV.
Jack squeezed into the house and into the living room. Anton and Ragnar helped Elsa off Jack's back and placed her onto the couch. Elsa rested on and stirred slightly. Jack rested himself next to Elsa. Anton crouched next to her and investigated her wounds. He seemed to be thinking hard about something.
"Is she going to be okay?" North asked. "My knowledge on sunlight injuries is not immense, I must confess."
"There's no cure for sunlight burns," Anton said. He stood up. "It's like silver injuries in Werewolves."
"Ah," North said. "So nothing we can do then?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Anton said. "Ordinary burn treatments do not work. We just have to wait for her regeneration to kick in."
"How long will that take?" North asked. "Vampire regeneration and Werewolf regeneration are different in how they work."
"They are indeed," Anton sighed. "This is because they have to regenerate against different things really."
"Of course," North nodded. "So going to be a while, I presume?"
"You presume correct," Anton replied.
"Well there is no cure but is there a way to speed up the process?" Tooth asked.
"Now that you mention it," Ragnar said, "isn't blood used?"
"It is," Anton said.
He headed out the door and was gone for a few minutes. North looked around at his fellow Guardians. They looked just as perplexed as he was. Eventually Anton came back carrying a few clear bags filled with blood.
"My cousin keeps some blood in a long-term storage container here," Anton explained. "I figured there would be some left."
"Ah I see," North said.
Anton crouched next to Elsa again she stirred slightly.
"Anton?" she said in a small voice.
Jack piped up at the sound of Elsa's voice. He got up from his resting position and placed his head near Elsa. He let out a small moan and a whimper. He tried to lick Elsa's wounds but Anton gently pushed him away. Jack growled at Anton which caused him to recoil in horror. Anton took a few steps backwards and nearly bumped into Bunnymund who was standing directly behind him.
"Easy Jack," North stroked the top of his head and back to behind his ears. "Anton is just trying to help Elsa."
Jack stop growling but he didn't take his eyes off Anton. Anton timidly approached Elsa but Jack didn't stop him. Anton crouched down next to Elsa and pushed her head up with some cushions to support her. Elsa made a small sound as he did that. Anton ripped open one of the blood bags and gently tipped down the contents down her throat. Elsa stirred a bit more as he did this.
"What happened?" she weakly asked.
"You got burned really badly," Anton explained. "We're using blood to fuel your regeneration."
"Oh," Elsa's head flopped slightly and Anton used more cushions to support it more.
"Don't talk," Anton told her. "Save your energy. You will need it."
Anton ripped open a second blood bag and trickled the blood down her throat. It seemed to be working. Elsa was coming about. The blood seemed to be doing its work. North was amazed at the properties of blood.
"Where are we?" Elsa said. Her voice was a little stronger but she didn't look very good. There was still a nasty burn in her chest that looked like a fourth degree burn. North just hoped that Elsa's regeneration abilities will work.
"My cousin's house," Anton said. "We needed a safe place from Pitch and I thought this place will do."
"Pitch?" Elsa looked a little frightened.
"Don't worry about him," North said. "We should be safe here."
"You just concentrating on getting better," Anton said. He ripped open a third blood bag and tipped its contents down Elsa's throat.
"Why so much blood?" Tooth asked as Elsa swallowed the blood.
"Blood doesn't just cure a Vampire of its thirstiness," Anton said. "It can help a Vampire when they are damaged in a fight or when seriously burnt by the sun."
Elsa managed a weak smile. Anton tipped the very last drops of blood into her mouth. Jack wandered over to Elsa and rested his head next to her. She placed her hand on his head. Jack certainly looked happier to have physical contact with Elsa. Elsa closed her eyes and rested against the cushions.
"So how long is he going to stay…wolfish?" Ragnar asked gesturing at the giant wolf in the room.
"Jack should turn back to normal sometime in the morning," North explained. "Werewolves will stay transformed for the entire night of the full moon and return to normal the next day."
"I see," Ragnar then turned his attention back to The Guardians. "There is no danger of you guys turning into wolves is there?" he asked quite nervously. "One tame wolf I can deal with but five Werewolves is way more than I can handle."
"I get it," North laughed. "No, at the moment there is not. The full moon is completely covered by clouds and should be for a while now. So at the moment, no there is no danger."
"Good," Ragnar smiled.
Elsa then said something that was incohesive. North heard a jumbled string of the words 'Jack' 'recognise' and 'me'. Everyone looked at her, all puzzled. North then chuckled slightly when he realised what Elsa was saying. Everyone then looked at him and they looked even more confused than they were before.
"What?" they all asked him.
"I think Elsa is asking how Jack managed to recognise her," North said.
"But Werewolves can't recognise people when they're transformed," Bunnymund said. "They just go mad."
"Not always," Tooth said. "They revert to primal urges really. That's why transformed Werewolves hunt their enemies."
"Ah I see," Bunnymund said. "But Elsa is a Vampire, a Werewolf enemy. Why did Jack not attack her then like he did the first time?"
"Well, I do have a little theory," North said. Everyone looked at him expectantly. North cleared his throat and spoke. "Everyone has a scent on them; humans, Werewolves and Vampires. When a human is turned into a Vampire or Werewolf, they lose this and adopt the scent of the species which is to identify the one to the other. However, I have seen cases where some humans retain their original human scent, although, very faintly and very hard to trace. Werewolves have an amazing sense of smell, even more so than Vampires and especially in their transformed state. I believe that Jack managed to sense Elsa's human smell on her and that triggered something in his brain. I believe that he managed to remember the person that he remembered Elsa to be. Elsa and Jack once knew each other as humans and fell in love. This scent reminded Jack of that and made Jack see through the Vampire scent on her. This allowed Jack to keep his mind, in a way. Jack has made a connection with Elsa through this and will stay by her side."
"So why didn't Jack attack us?" Anton asked. "Ragnar and I are Vampires. What about you guys as well?"
"And why didn't that happen the first time that Jack transformed with Elsa?" Tooth asked. "You still haven't answered that."
"So many questions," North gave a laugh. "Well Anton, Jack didn't attack you and Ragnar because Elsa told him that you were friends. Remember how I said that Jack made a connection with Elsa? Basically, Jack will react to anything Elsa does or say. She said that you were friends and she wasn't afraid. To Jack, that meant you guys weren't enemies. As to us, well a Werewolf will never attack another Werewolf. The scent I told you about doesn't just work as a way to track enemies but allies as well. Since the Vampire scent has become associated within a Werewolf's brain as being an enemy, they will always attack them as Tooth said. Werewolves in their transformed brain will always go for their enemies."
"Jack once told me he killed his father," Elsa suddenly said.
"Well, yes," North looked at her kindly. "As the person closest to him, you would have known that Jack's father wasn't a nice man. He would abuse his family, drink a lot and gamble away any money the family had. All that Jack remembers on the night of the attack was that his father was abusing his sister before he transformed. In his brain, Jack had associated his father with being his enemy and Jack's protective brother side came out at the same time. These things acted together to get rid of the enemy to his family and to himself."
"I see," Elsa said. She then paused and then suddenly blurted out what she said next. "I murdered my parents as well."
North wasn't expecting that answer. "I suppose you would have a reason."
"Not a good one," Elsa sighed. Her eyes were still closed and there was a pained look on her face. "They wanted to get rid of me as they felt I was a threat and I was, I knew that. They attacked me and I killed them. They didn't stand a chance against me. I didn't have to kill them. I could have stopped but I smelled blood and it overcame me."
"You find that is common for Newborn Vampires," Anton said. He looked surprised to hear this. Maybe Elsa didn't share too much about her family and her past. "Newborn Vampires have no control over their urge for blood."
"I don't want excuses," Elsa said. Her eyes fluttered open. North could tell there was great sadness in them. "I murdered them in cold blood. No matter what, I should have had some form of control."
North gave her a smile. "It was self-defence Elsa."
"What about all the others I killed for their blood?" Elsa spat. "Was that self-defence?"
North sighed. "Elsa, no Vampire can fully control their desire for blood."
"Try telling Frasier that," Elsa sighed. She closed her eyes again. She looked like she had used up all her energy. North knew what she was talking about. Doctor Frasier, one of Pitch's most loyal Vampires, had been able to control his desire for blood and had been for a long time now.
"Anyway," Tooth said, breaking the silence. "North keep going with what you were saying."
"Where was I?" North muttered before he realised. "Ah, yes, scents. Well as I said a Werewolf can use scents to not only identify enemies but allies as well. A Werewolf can tell another Werewolf apart from everyone else and will identify that as their ally. This works even when another Werewolf is not in their transformed state. Onto the very last question, why did Elsa get attacked by Jack in his transformed state before and not now? Hmm, that is a very good question. My guess is that the first time, Jack just saw that Elsa was a Vampire and attacked her but this time looked deeper and saw who she is."
There was a small silence following this.
"What is that?" Ragnar suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had engulfed them. They all looked up. Ragnar was standing by the window, staring out of it while he listened to the conversation.
"What is what Ragnar?" Anton asked. He walked over to where he was standing and looked out the window too. "I don't see anything."
"There!" Ragnar insisted as he pointed out the window.
North came over and looked at what Ragnar was pointing at. All he could see was the blackness of the night. There was no light as the clouds were covering the moon and the stars that could have provided some kind of light source. The light from house only illumined a few metres beyond the house and that was it. North was puzzled. To him, he couldn't see what Ragnar was on about. Then he saw it. Something moved out there. North jumped back in horror.
"What?" they all said.
"There's someone out there," North said.
"But where is the place?" Charles asked.
"I don't know," Jean said. "Anton only mentioned it to me a few times that his cousin lived around here."
"Think Jean," Pitch said sternly. "Where is the house?"
"I don't know," Jean was panicked stricken now. "I'm sorry but I don't know."
Pitch sighed. He knew there was no point in trying to force Jean to remember something she didn't know. There had to be another way to find the house.
"You sure they would have gone there?" Pitch asked.
Jean shrugged. "It's nearby and it's a safe place. Why wouldn't they go there?"
"Good point," Pitch relaxed in his seat. "Very well then, start a search. Look for a house nearby. There aren't many houses around here so it should be seen. If someone is in that house, find out what they know. If they're just human, well, they're for you to decide what to do with them. If you find those annoying Werewolves, kill them, kill them all and bring me their heads. Elsa is in bad shape, I want her alive so we can continue the execution."
"What about the wolf sir?" Alexi piped up.
"Ah," Pitch said slowly. "Bring reinforcements. A transformed dogman is not to be taken lightly."
"R-Right," Alexi said but he, like the rest of them, looked petrified.
"It's just a filthy dogman," Pitch said noticing this. "We deal with them all the time. Besides, I'm sure once you have Elsa under your control, it won't attack. I saw how it behaved. It was a friend to her. I don't know how she managed that but I'm sure with Elsa under your control, the beast will do anything you want. Elsa won't be able to fight back, not this soon. She's in bad shape. She should be easy to control."
"Okay," Jean said but she still looked uneasy. "What about Anton and any other Vampire that is helping her?"
"Bring them to me," Pitch said in a very dangerous voice. "I want to show them how dangerous it is to mess with me."
"Yes sir," Jean nodded.
There was a silence after this. No one really looked sure on what to do next.
"Go," Pitch said.
They all quickly raced out of the room. Pitch leaned back in his chair. Soon, everything was going to come together.
Everyone hurried over to the windows and looked out into the darkness that was beyond the house. Soon everyone could see the movement of people racing about. It looked like they were getting into position for something. North quickly closed the curtains so they wouldn't be able to be seen but he doubted it mattered now. They had probably already seen them.
"Those are Pitch's Vampires," Anton said. "No doubt about it."
"They've found us?" Tooth sounded a little scared. She then turned on Anton. "You said that this was a safe place."
"I thought it was," Anton replied defensively. "I didn't know that they knew where to go."
"That's because you lead them here," Bunnymund pointed directly at Anton. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted some blood-drinkers. You were on Pitch's side this entire time. You didn't want to help us. You just wanted to score some points with your boss."
"It's not like that," Anton looked scared. "They want me just as much as you."
"Guys calm down," Ragnar said.
"You're just as bad as he is," Bunnymund rounded on him. "You could be in on it just as much as he is."
"Alright," North said in an authoritative voice. "That is enough," he snapped at them and instantly everyone went silent. "There is no point turning on each other. It will get us nowhere. Anton and Ragnar did not lead Pitch Black's Vampires here."
"How do you know?" interjected Bunnymund.
"Because I do," North said. "They are friends of Elsa. Now, we need to think of a way out of here and quickly. Elsa needs more time to recover; we need to give her that time. She's still not out of the woods just yet."
"Well maybe Jack could draw them out?" Ragnar suggested. "Then we run with Elsa?"
Jack growled and moved closer to Elsa.
"I don't think that is going to happen," North said looking at Jack. "Jack seems to want to protect Elsa no matter what and I agree. They want Elsa. They won't go near here if a fully transformed Werewolf is protecting her. So thus Jack should stay with her."
"Then what?" Ragnar asked.
"Well we could use the traitor thing to our advantage," Anton said. "Ragnar and I could pretend that we're on their side, once they lower their guard Tooth and Bunnymund strike and take them out. Then you guys flee and we meet you somewhere later."
"Could work," North said. "It would be very risky. So many things could go wrong."
"It's the best we got," Tooth shrugged.
"Okay," North agreed. "Anton, like you said, you and Ragnar go out with Tooth and Bunnymund behind you. They should be distracted by you guys and this will allow Tooth and Bunnymund to sneak up and take them out. They won't know what to do before it's too late. Then, we'll take Elsa back to the car – the Vampires will ignore the car as they will just believe it's just a couple of humans on a road trip, they should just move onto their objective rather than stop for a drink – and journey towards the nearest town here which I believe is Châtellerault (1)."
"Okay," Bunnymund said. "If all goes to plan, we'll see you in Châtellerault in a day or so."
"Well we better move quickly," North said. He peered out the window again. "It looks like they're getting in close now."
"Right," they all said.
(1) Real place in France. It's south-west of Paris.
A/N: So it looks like they may have a plan to get out of the mess they're in but will it work? What's going to happen with Elsa? Is she going to be okay? Will they even get away or will they be caught? Will Anton and Ragnar manage to do the distraction plan successfully with Tooth's and Bunnymund's help? Maybe all will be revealed in the next chapter, maybe not, keep reading to find out more. I hope that everyone enjoyed this update. Please review =)
Reviews:
Owlgirl55: Yeah, I can update pretty fast. I do try and update daily but often that doesn't happen. Ah, glad that you've been enjoying Battle For Her Heart. Where are up to? Thanks so much. May have to wait about to see what will happen with Pitch and Elsa.
Frostbite Productions: Ah, okay.
WeirdWerewolfFan: Thanks! Well, they could but it would be the difference between having a snack and a proper meal. In my Vampire AU, they can consume animal blood but animal blood is not enough to sustain a Vampire, they need human blood.
lolllipop3056: Well it looks the Guardians didn't get side tracked I'm afraid and it looked like Pitch's Vampires have found them. With what's going to happen to the Guardians, guess the next chapters will tell. What do you mean about Anton? Continuing as asked. Thanks!
heartfulyumi: Yeah, Jean talks to much. Maybe she should just close her mouth but she is loyal to Pitch and wants to score some points with him. So she will say whatever to get on his good side (we've all seen him when he's nasty).
WhaleCum420: Haha, yeah that's what should happen but I have another idea in mind and I don't think it will in hugs. There's too much bad blood at the moment. I still haven't decided yet if the full moon will play a crucial role in the final battle.
ElsaTheSnowQueen2: Thanks! Well it appears that Elsa is okay but for now, hopefully it will last. Yeah, hopefully Elsa can get away from Pitch. Maybe their plan to escape will work.
Guest (MixyBell): Yeah, it kind of is but hopefully there are some characters that you would like to cuddle.
Kat-IlluminatedPurity: Yeah it looks like the good guys are in for it. Hopefully they can stop the war. To tell the truth, most wars are caused by stupid reasons just like this war (Pitch has issues). Well they got to the house alright but getting away may be the problem.
It'sMoreFunInThePhillipines: I update whenever I can. I don't have a regiment updating schedule.
Jelsalover3: Well in this chapter, Elsa appears to be okay but can she stay like that? Her wound was pretty bad. It looks like Anton has it under control, well for now it is but can he fix it? We all talk to books. I know I do at time. I know what you mean about cliff hangers, they are awful.