Chapter Seventeen

Downfall

Scent was off, couldn't smell her clearly. Must be interference. He became puzzled at the very thought. Interference from whom? He already knew the 'what'.

Vampaneze.

The thought of what would happen to Juliet if she was caught… Mika didn't hold any of his speed back. He raced to the direction the trail led, hoping with all his heart that Juliet was as agile on the ground as she'd been on the roof earlier that night. Silently he glided through the tall grass, expertly tracking the footprints and blood drops.

Blood.

It wasn't Juliet's, he reminded himself. But the fact that the trail involved blood worried him more than he could say. Slowly he dipped his finger in it and brought it to his tongue, retching immediately. Vampaneze blood, not enough to poison, but enough to make him gag. He shivered at the lingering taste in his mouth. He was proud of Juliet for managing to hurt her foe, but he increased his pace for a reason. A wounded Vampaneze was an angry Vampaneze, and mercy was never on the Vampaneze agenda.

Tree, tree, tree, ROCK! She leapt, vaulting over the boulder and deeper into the forest. 'What forest?' she thought, glancing frantically at all the trees. 'How far have I ran?' she could hear it behind her. The ridiculously strong, purple skinned… creature that had chased her from her home. It stank of blood and it had eyed her like fresh meat. Vampire? She thought of the handsome man that had kept her bed the past few weeks and immediately became disgusted with herself for comparing the two. No time to think about it, not if the scratching and panting sounds behind her were in fact getting louder, and she thought that monster was getting closer and she dreaded what would happen if it caught up to her. In her heart she prayed that her lover had noticed her absence, and she also prayed that he could run faster than the purple thing, as she turned around a tree trunk and ran straight into something solid, but far too soft to be a tree.

She panicked and lashed out with her dagger, she'd found the box sitting in the parlor room and had taken it to the kitchen for another cleaning (dried blood, worse than mustard stains!) She didn't think she'd use them, but as soon as she'd felt the breath on her neck while she stood at the oven… instinct kicked in. Her body knew it was an intruder and she'd swung and struck the purple creature in the shoulder, immediately sensing the danger she ran out the door. And it followed. She knew it would catch up eventually, but she'd hoped Mika would find her first. How foolish, she chastised herself. She found it even more foolish that she would reprimand herself right before she died. Irony, right?

She swung the dagger at the figure before her, only to have her hand caught in an all-too familiar grip.

"Calm Juliet." He hissed. Her head snapped up and she stared into Mika's ebony eyes. Tears welled in hers and her heart beat furiously with panic and relief.

"Oh Mika!" she gasped, throwing her arms around him. He caught her in his embrace and held her tightly for a few seconds before ushering her towards a tree.

"Climb." He ordered, she frowned and did as he said, climbing blindly and loudly into the limbs of the tree. "Stay put." She watched him stalk off into the darkness.

If he wasn't so busy listening for Juliet's continued racing heartbeat, the General might have noticed the snapping of twigs behind him and around him. His heart ached to know Juliet's continued fear. If only she knew how close she'd come to death. His fury rose at the thought.

"Ohhh Vampire whelp." The bushes and trees hissed at him. "Stay out of our affairs, or do you wish to die so badly?"

Mika whirred around, scoping the vicinity for any sign of his enemy. He was met with darkness and cackling from all around. "Oh he thinks he's slick saving the pretty girl."

"I'll bet blood it's his wife."

There was quite a bit of gasping and 'oohing' at that comment. The idea of the interracial relationship apparently amused the Vampaneze.

"And if she is then you know I am within the rights of the treaty to kill you for attacking her." The General growled. More laughter.

"Oh, but you're wrong, Vamp. We were merely checking the scent of Vampire on her before we chose a different target, but she attacked us! Therefore we are within our rights to first slaughter you-" louder laughter, accompanied by rustling in the trees. "And then drain her pretty little body dry."

Mika clenched his jaw, his fists, and every other muscle in his body. He managed to growl. "Well you're right about one thing-" his ear twitched. Movement to the left. "You would have to kill me first."

In a flash he had one pinned to the ground. It had been trying to sneak up on him from the side, taking advantage of the banter. Fortunately Mika had keener senses than he had let on. The Vampaneze snarled at him, and clawed at his arms and chest, but Mika had a firm grip on its neck and he squeezed and snapped it with ease. Satisfied he stood to his full, towering height and glared with livid intensity into the space where he knew another Vampaneze hid. He lunged for the foliage, but was knocked sideways as one of them lunged for him. They fell to the ground, kicking and biting, Mika managed a swipe at the purple fiend's ear and it bled profusely, disorienting his attacker. The General noticed a weakness in his foes left shoulder, and knew this was the one that Juliet had managed to strike. It's movements became sluggish and he saw an opening to slit it's throat. His hidden dagger fell right into his palm with just a little wiggling, and with a flick of his wrist Mika had sliced clean through his opponents neck. Panting, he moved to stand but pain flashed though his shoulder and he saw a dagger lodged in it.

"Stubborn boy." The Vampaneze laughed. He was huge, purple and red splotched like his accomplices, even bigger than Mika by more than a few inches with biceps as large as Mika's thighs. As sure as the General was of his fighting abilities, he suddenly found himself wishing he had just taken Juliet and ran. Pride could be a Vampire's downfall.

The Vampaneze took a step closer. "Leron Dassh doesn't like people who kill his friends."

Mika winced in annoyance at the use of third person. He was losing a lot of blood from the dagger wound, and the other two Vampaneze had managed some good scratches at his chest and legs. It was hard to stand. His grip on his dagger was failing him as he struggled to get off the ground.

"I know what to do with you." The Vampaneze hissed, dragging his other dagger across his tongue. "I'll skin you and hang you from a tree. Then I'll go find your little woman and drain her dry in front of your body." He smiled, Mika clenched his jaw in pain and made it to his feet, eyes wild, and he tried to find an opening on the purple behemoth.

"But first… I think I'll fuck away the stench of Vampire on her."

No time for tactics, Mika saw red and he jumped.

Exactly what the Vampaneze was waiting for. He struck Mika in the lung with his dagger, but the Vampire hardly noticed aside from a spray of blood from his mouth. He sliced his dagger in an arc across the Vampaneze's stomach, falling in a heap on the ground as blood splashed across his body. The creature gripped his guts and spat on Mika's body. The Vampire bit at his lips, seeing black spots. He'd lost too much blood. The Vampaneze kicked him, and he saw black. Then nothing but deep darkness as his consciousness drifted off into empty space.