Chapter 16
The streets were clearing slowly. Abel strode silently down the road, letting his sense of smell guide him to any vampires near him. Corpses littered the streets. Blood was slowly trickling towards him from the vampires who lay dead or dying. He saw a market center up ahead. There was a huge fire in the very center. He saw something perched at the top of a burn pile. He squinted to see what it was. A few vampires were running around it, laughing. Rubble crunched under Abel's feet as he walked forward. His slow pace quickened. He was able to make out what was at the top of the burn pile; Rina. He came to a hault in front of it. He could only stare. She was crusified. Blood was running down her body. She wasn't moving. The fire was moving quickly up towards her. Her same torn, hospital jacket was smudged with filth and nearly in shreds. Her pale skin had scars and was stained with red blood. Her black hair was matted down by dried and fresh blood. He could barely stand to even look at her. It was too gruesome. He felt the anger well up inside of him. The vampires who were running around the burn pile were staring at him, like they were just watching him.
"Who did this!?" Abel yelled, his red eyes piercing through the air.
"Who did this!? Answer me!" The vampires flinched, but didn't answer. He raised his syth and threw it at the nearest vampire.
"Ah!!!" He stabbed through his throat and pulled him to the ground. Abel retracted his weapon and glared at the other vampires.
"Tell me who did this?! Who is your leader!?" He heard Rina moan from her perch. He quickly jumped onto the burn pile.
"Rina! Rina! Please dear god, Rina!" He said. He was afraid to touch her.
"Abel..." She muttered.
"Rina, did you see his face? Please... who did this to you?"
"You... you did..." She whispered. Abel was shocked. She was speaking English. But what got him was that she was blaming him.
"No, Rina! I would never harm you! I was searching for you! I came to late..!" He cried. Rina raised her head. Streams of blood were trickling down her face.
"No... not now... then..." She grunted at the pain.
"You... trapped me... you caused me... pain!" She hissed. Abel stared at her.
"I don't understand! I didn't cause you any pain! I didn't hurt you-!"
"You mean you don't remember that little order made by the Vatican to attack the Vampires?" Ethan's voice rang out. Abel whipped his head up. He was standing behind Rina.
"You..." He growled.
"Yes, Abel, it's me. You've meddled with my business for too long. For that, you'll suffer. The entire Vatican will suffer. It'll all be thanks to you, and special thanks... to Rina..." He brushed his fingers on her cheek. Abel snarled.
"Don't touch her!"
"I have every right to! It's you who doesn't have any right to touch her, let alone be near her!" Ethan yelled. Abel looked at Rina, he didn't was him to hurt her.
"So what were you saying then? Something about the Vatican?"
"Yes, how you attacked our kind with no warning. I'm sure you remember it. You were a part of the front lines! You killed my family... destroyed nearly all of my clan, and just because there were rumors that we were against the humans! Yes, we didn't like them, but that didn't mean we killed them if one got near any of us! Rina and I were together! We were bystanders! We weren't in either vampire nor human territory! We were just walking, and what happens?! You attack us! You started to accuse us of violent crimes, and you almost... you almost killed Rina!!" He yelled.
"If you're so worried about her then why are you killing her now!?" Abel yelled. In a very calm and smooth manner, Ethan replied.
"Because she asked me to do this." Abel gaped at him.
"Don't lie to me! I know Rina would never want this sort of pain!!" Ethan perked up his ears and bent down near Rina's mouth. He chuckled.
"Rina tells me that you wanted her to have this pain when you captured her." He looked up at Abel, darkness in his eyes.
"You captured her because you knew who she was. When she was healthy and not around so many humans and forced to eat disgusting human foods, she could be recognized from ten miles away. Everyone knew of her or heard of her legend. You damned fool... you can't remember, can you? Maybe it's because you're blocking it from your mind!" He spat. Abel gripped his hands into fists.
"When exactly are you talking about? This could be at any time. Besides, the Vatican would never order us to attack your kind without a stable reason."
"Your reason was based on rumors that were created by humans. It was unfair opinion. We were caught up in it because we were of vampire blood. You named who Rina was immediatly. She feared she was going to get caught and be forced to tell all she knew of us, our kind, her life, our life. So when she got the chance, when you were distracted by other vampires, she ran with me to a secluded place and began to perform an incantation to seal away all memories involving any vampire she knew or anything that could lead to me. Her sealing was perfect, until you attack us at the middle and made her go unconcious!! You caused her so much pain! She's had nightmares because the sealing was done wrong! I could only perform what I knew! I was powerless to undo what was done... I had to wait until her mind broke it herself! But to do that... I had to push her to the edge. I had to push her so far, I felt as if I was dying instead of her!" Rina lifted her head. Ethan immediatly stopped talking.
"It was all... your fault... you faker... you tested my trust, and now... now that I remember... Guh! I... I hate you... so much! I don't even know why... I trusted you... now... I can have revenge... for all those years ago, when you attacked me... when you attacked my love..." She strained against the nails that held her down.
"Stop! You're hurting yourself!"
"Shut up, Krusnik!" She snapped. Abel froze in shock.
"You drink vampires blood, don't you?! Then go ahead! Drink it!! As long as I can fight you... and kill you, I don't care how much you drink!" She seperated one of her hands from the nails. She bit her lip to fight back the pain. Her feet got loose, blood sprinkled to the ground. Abel could barely keep his stomach down. The sight was unbearable. Ethan couldn't bear it either, he looked the other way and put a hand over his eyes, a tear sliding through his fingers. Abel gasped, a pair of wings spread from her back. White wings; broken and bloodied. She ripped her other hand from the nail and screamed in pain. Her red eyes glared up at Abel. She stood up, her stance was unmoving.
"R... Rina... This was-"
"In one of my pictures... I told you... they all come true..." She hissed. She started towards Abel, but tripped. Ethan caught her.
"Maybe you should heal yourself first."
"No... I have to kill him..."
"Rina, I really think you should at least heal your feet!" Ethan said.
"No, I have to kill him first! I don't care about my health, I have to avenge our kind... This Krusnik under Vatican command has to die!" She said. Abel shook his head.
"I don't understand what you're talking about!"
"Grr!" Rina lunged forward and placed a hand on his head. His eyes opened wide, his mind swirled.
"Run away! They're moving towards us!" Men ran as fast as they could from him. Abel turned his path towards a group of vampires who were running down the streets. Women were pulling their children along, men were trying to find places to hide their families. Abel swung his syth down on them. Blood splattered the ground, it slithered to him, feeding his thirst. He saw the waves of vampires running towards the vampire territory. They were frantically running across a large meadow with a forest to the right. He licked his lips and raised his syth. He flew upwards, towards them. He flew low, letting his syth and powers kill them in large numbers, sucking up their blood. He saw two vampires under a tree, holding each other. He recognized them. Rina and Ethan. He hovered a few meters away from them.
"Royal seats! Don't hide! Come out now!" He yelled. Rina and Ethan stared at him, confusion and fear in their eyes. Ethan pulled Rina towards the vampires territory. He followed them.
"Don't run! You're commited to many crimes!" He threw his syth at them. Rina pushed Ethan to the side. It sliced her side. She yelled in pain, gripping her wound, and continued running with him. Abel growled. They were determined. They entered the city. Abel followed them, masses of vampires were crowding around the Vatican army. He left the two and moved to them. Rina and Ethan hid in an allyway. Rina started talking to Ethan. He shook his head, refusing what she said. She gripped his hands and started drawing on the ground in blood. She closed her eyes and started saying an incantation. Abel smelled her blood and felt her power. He drifted back to them silently. He threw his syth at them. Ethan yelled, but too late. The blunt top of the syth his Rina's head. She fell to the ground, unconcious. Ethan lunged at Abel.
"Damn you! Leave us alone! You damn Vatican dog!!" He screamed, tears in his eyes.
"Quiet, traitor!" Abel punched him. Ethan sprang up again, grabbing for Abel's syth. He sliced his arm with the blades and started to absorb his blood. Ethan realized what was happening and kicked away. He picked up Rina and jumped onto the rooftops. Abel left them. He had no time for just two vampires.
Rina's hand fell to his neck. Her breathing was hard.
"Now... do you see what you did!? Do you remember it now!? You killed mercilessly! You killed clan leader, royal bloods, women, and children... How could you not remember any of that? That sort of memory is something that would haunt me forever!" Her grip grew tighter.
"All those vampires you killed... I am the last of my clan... His clan is barely over ten members! You went after me because you immediatly knew that I was of royal blood!"
"If you are of royal blood, how come the vampire council hasn't sent out a search warrent for you?" Rina grinned.
"Because... I am not a part of their council. I am related to the gods..." She hissed. Abel's eyes widened.
"What?"
"The Vampire gods. I am a Goddess' child." Rina cracked her neck.
"And when you anger someone like that... you will... not... live..." She hissed. Abel felt her hand shaking in pain.
"But why would you go so far for this? If you just told me, I would have talked to you and-"
"I did tell you!! My pictures told my entire story! You found his picture pad didn't you!? That was our story! Since you realize why I hate you so much now; name me!" She yelled. Ethan put a hand on Abel's shoulder.
"Abel, we're both very sensitive about the past years... especially Rina. So it's best if you do what she asks. We both know you know her name. Go ahead and say it," He said.
