Chapter 38

It's Not Too Late

As Juliet continued to move she stopped debating whether or not to tell the Vampires about the Vampaneze in her head, instead trying to focus on the memories that had assaulted her and caused her the worst migraine in history. She wasn't going to question why they had chosen that moment to resurface. Adrenaline or something, she mused. But she found herself quickly realizing that she had stayed in those caves for weeks, eating nearly nothing and growing crazier by the day. Time was hard to keep track of, but she did. And she knew of those Vampaneze the entire time, she was extremely careful to stay away from the caves they inhabited, but she knew exactly where they were. She knew because she had watched them, waiting for Vampires to find them, hoping they would lead her to Mika.

Gods she was crazy. Juliet began to fear for herself then, afraid of when she would black out again, of when she would lose control to the rage that simmered deep within her.

She burst from the tunnels with fervor, rushing to her feet and straining her wound. She felt no stitches pop, no blood, but damn it hurt. As she began to run back towards her cell, she ran face-first into Darren and his mentor, Mr. Crepsley, she recalled, and a deformed person in a blue robe. She chose to ignore that for lack of brain processing power.

"Juliet, what the-" Darren began, catching her as she collapsed, heaving and sweating.

"The- the… tunnels. I was…." She couldn't get air into her system, she couldn't force the words out. She clutched her abdomen, feeling the strain on her stitches, the bruises on her hands, the pain in her lungs.

"You left and we came to get you. You can't run off like that, you'll hurt yourself!" Darren chided her. She continued to huff and puff and Larten looked at Darren worriedly.

"Are you hurt?" the red-clad Vampire asked, leaning down to inspect her.

Juliet shook her head vigorously. "NO, no no no! I'm not hurt. I remember! I can remember everything!" she groaned, trying to stand, desperate to get them to listen to her without those looks.

"What do you remember?" Darren asked, helping her to her feet.

She leaned against the wall, still clutching at her stomach. "Vampaneze." She said.

Darren, Larten and the blue-robed person looked at each other. Each with a different expression of worry on their face.

"Juliet, there are no Vampaneze here. This mountain only has Vampires." Darren spoke to her as if she was a child and it made her want to scream. She needed to calm herself, she needed to get the words out right.

"No, I saw them! I saw them come into the mountain. Dozens of them! I followed them in!" she sighed. "I followed them and I sat and waited for Mika to find me. I WAS CRAZY!"

Juliet inwardly smacked herself as their expressions changed from worried to wary.

"Juliet, the last time Vampaneze were in this mountain was over two years ago…" Darren said, looking into her eyes. "Have you been living in those caves for two years?"

Juliet went to speak but stopped herself. The memories were so painful, she couldn't properly access them. She clenched her jaw, trying to slow her breathing. She knew how frantic she sounded, how crazy she must look, but dammit why weren't they listening? There's no way she got here two years ago, was there?

"I- I don't know, maybe?" she supplied.

"Let us take her back to the med room, she needs to rest." Mr. Crepsley said, motioning for Darren and the blue-clad person to help her.

Darren reached for her and Juliet screamed. "No! Stop it! All of you, just listen to me!" she was furious and her hands were shaking and she just wanted to beat the wall into dust.

The three backed away from her immediately, aware of what she could do when she was angry. "Juliet," Darren said, hoping to calm her. "We are listening, but you're screaming and hyperventilating and you need to rest, you're going to hurt yourself."

"No, no I'm not going to hurt myself, but I'll hurt you if you don't shut the fuck up for one goddamn second and let me think!" She put her hands in front of her as if to keep them at bay. "You've got me all confused. Two years? Really it's been two years? That's not possible, it's not fucking possible! They were right there! Right in front of me, talking! That was five minutes ago, not two years! I saw them just now! So unless I can fucking time travel, you guys have a pest problem and you need to fix it!"

When she finished her eyes were closed, she had been screaming and her voice was raw, her hands were still shaking but she stood on her own. She opened her eyes and saw Darren and Larten looking at her with deep concern. But it wasn't directed at her.

"You saw them?" Darren asked. "Just now?"

"Yes, that's what I said! Down in the tunnels! They've been here as long as I have! I followed them in here but I forgot because I'm FUCKING CRAZY AS FUCK and I just let them set up camp in your tunnels." She growled. "I can't believe I let them do that. I can't believe I'm so fucking weak. I should have killed them! I should have killed every last one of their blood-draining asses. But I didn't because I was so obsessed." She cringed and Darren reached for her, realizing she was about to fall. Her knees hit the ground and she groaned. "I couldn't control myself. You don't understand. I couldn't control myself." Tears brimmed in her eyes and Darren was right there, his arm around her shoulder as she began to let them fall.

"I've seen them kill children, mothers, grandparents," she gasped. "I thought you people were monsters, but I knew they were true demons. Disgusting soulless bastards. And I let them sit there. I let them sit there because I was too busy with revenge. Revenge I don't even WANT!"

Darren looked to Mr. Crepsley. "Go to the Princes. Tell them." He said.

Larten nodded and ran down the hall.

"Juliet," Darren said. "It's okay. It's not your fault. You weren't in your right mind. You told us now, we can fix it."

Juliet took a shaky breath, trying to further calm herself. Her hysterics had postponed her getting the news out. As Darren's hand rubbed her shoulder idly she wondered how she could have debated whether or not they deserved to know. This boy was no murderer, these Vampires had been unnecessarily kind to her, especially Mika, the one she'd nearly killed. "They're surveying the tunnels, then they're sending a scout to call for reinforcements. What does this mean, Darren?" She looked at him with hard eyes. "Is there some sort of war going on that I don't know about?"

The blue-robed person took this moment to clear its throat. "War, yes… But not many… know of it."

Juliet looked at him cautiously. Darren smiled. "Juliet this is Harkat Mulds. He's my friend."

Harkat nodded at her. "We…. Hadn't met yet. I did not... want to scare… You."

"I can see why you'd think that…" Juliet said quietly. "But Darren, seriously. What are you going to do? They'll kill everyone."

Darren felt happy that Juliet was worried about the safety of the people in the Mountain, it meant she wasn't harboring resentment towards innocent Vampires. Maybe she was growing even faster than they'd hoped. "We're going to take them out." He said, voice steely. "They won't hurt anyone."

Juliet nodded. "I can tell you where they are, I remember it… or at least it's coming back to me…" she took a deep breath. "But there's one problem."

"What is that?" Darren asked.

"Those tunnels are very small, and even more than that, the cave they're staying in is so small they're basically sleeping on top of each other. There's only one good entrance in. You won't be able to get to them easily."

Darren smirked. "Oh don't worry. We've dealt with this before."

The hall of Princes was murmuring at the reveal of another group of Vampaneze living in the tunnels beneath the halls of Vampire Mountain. Generals were outraged that security had not been increased, that further patrols had not been done in the tunnels, especially after finding Juliet down there.

Darren had escorted Juliet back to her room and left Harkat with her to make sure she had someone to talk to. He would have stayed himself, but he knew he would be needed by his fellow Princes.

"How do we know we can trust what the girl says? Could she be leading us into a trap?" One General shouted from his seat. A few murmurs went up in agreement and Mika silenced them with a long glare.

"This woman has encountered the Vampaneze before, and she harbors and extreme hatred for them." Mika said. Arrow looked over at him and saw Darren nodding in agreement.

"She said she's seen them murder mothers and children," Darren nodded. "She was hysterical. She's not lying. If anything she's upset she didn't tell us sooner."

"This is the same woman that attacked Prince Mika?" someone asked. More murmurs went up. Mika tried to speak but stopped himself as they voices became louder. He tried not to be defensive.

"The situation is complicated." Arrow barked, surprising all of his fellow Princes. "But from what we can see this woman is offering us information she has no reason to give. She has been more than open in telling us the reasons for her attack against Mika ver Leth, and she has not resisted attempts to keep her in custody since Master Shan promised her leniency. We should look into this." He nodded to Mika, telling him to speak.

"If what Juliet says is true," Mika said, returning Arrow's nod. "And these Vampaneze are staying in cramped quarters, we will be in hand-to-hand combat, since I doubt they will be willing to surrender."

"You suggest we rally our finest close-quarters combatants?" Paris asked.

"I believe that is our best option. The location Juliet gave us places them underneath the store-rooms, which would explain how they were able to take so much from our supplies without our notice."

"I will begin re-arranging the stores to find and plug any holes I come across!" Seba Nile said from the front row. "I apologize for this. I wish I had noticed the missing supplies sooner."

Paris shook his head. "Do not worry, old friend. It is being dealt with now."

"Because they're so close the store rooms, we can't smoke them out can we?" Darren asked.

Mika shook his head. "The tunnels are cramped, and we cannot risk them escaping through hidden routes, or the smoke damaging our stores above. We cannot take a whole army of men down there due to the small tunnels, either."

"This is all sounding eerily familiar." Paris said, stroking his grey beard.

"Indeed," Arrow huffed. "Perhaps we can employ spiders again, as Darren suggested the last time?"

"It is a possibility," Seba said, Darren and Larten nodded in agreement. "However unless there is a second entrance to this cave, Darren, Larten and I will simply be in the way of the warriors who will be fighting. The spiders as well…"

"The only option sounding feasible is Mika's." Paris said. "And that worries me. A handful of fighters against two dozen?"

"The odds are not in our favor. But I believe we will surprise them, and then they will not have enough room to attack as a full force. The spacing is so small they will have to attack us one at a time."

"You'll need a bit of endurance to make it through wave after wave," Arrow said, smirking. "It's a shame I can't go. These tunnels sound far too cramped for my weapons."

"And your shoulders." Darren laughed. The hall was becoming excited as opposed to agitated, Vampires itching for a fight.

"Well then, Mika, I suppose it is time for you to pick your fighters." Paris said.

Mika nodded as he looked at the Vampires in the room with him. He prayed that the battle went as he strategized, otherwise there could be a bloodbath.