Demon in Ruins

Chapter 7

“Better to fight for something than live for nothing.”-George S. Patton

Chapter 7

-Karen-

“Ouch!” I screamed when another bush scraped my right leg. I didn’t want to stop and examine my leg for we couldn’t risk getting caught.

“I have no idea where we are heading to, Karen.” Jon coughed starting to walk slowly.

The situation we were in right now reminded me of the first time we had come to the Escoffier mansion. The only difference was we were now trying to escape the horrors.

“We can’t stop. We have to keep moving,” I said looking around worryingly. “They’ll find us.”

“Can’t we stop for a minute or so?” He asked. “I need a breather.”

“For a sports person, you look more tired than I do.” I exhaled. I wasn’t doing any better.

“When we are running laps we don’t have to fear bloodthirsty vampires chasing us,” Jon scowled at me. “Let’s just walk now.”

I looked up at the night sky. There were too many stars; making it seem like a vast black canvas with glitters spread on it unevenly. We had been running for nearly an hour however, we were not able to find any way to escape this place. The kingdom only expanded as we ran. Now Jon and I were moving like snails, exhausted and drained from energy.

I stopped walking and sat down on a rock. Jon followed, sitting next to me.

Suddenly, an image of Nate came in my mind. He was a cute vampire, sometimes he was brooding and sullen but he was so sweet to me. He wasn’t the monster I initially thought he was. I had been afraid if he was going to bite me whenever he saw me after he had gotten the taste of my blood. But he didn’t. I had made him show his fangs now and then to entertain myself with the real vampires’ existence theory.

This was a very weird statement to make but I kind of missed him. Maybe running away was not a good option.

Whatever. He was a vampire for crying out loud!

“How far?” Jon asked breaking the silence. “How far do we have to go?”

“I don’t know,” I said wiping off the sweat on my forehead.

I really didn’t know where we were going. There was no GPS to provide us with directions. We hadn’t come across s house or anything yet. The forest was never-ending. Thank goodness, there were no wild animals. I mean we didn’t hear any wild animal making noise.

Safe, right?

“You don’t know?” Jon screamed. “Karen I thought you had a plan!”

I smiled sheepishly. I had a plan. Plan A was to escape the mansion somehow but plan B was never in its beginning stages. I feared Jon’s anger if I told him this. The only plan I had now was; keep moving.

“I think—”

“Shhh…” Jon placed a finger on his lips to signal me. Narrowing his eyes he whispered, “What’s that sound?”

We listened in the pin-drop silence (of course there were sounds of birds and crickets chirping). Some footsteps made my heart clench in my chest with fear. I could estimate more than two people approaching us.

“Can’t believe they found us,” Jon whispered getting up.

I also got up and concentrated on the footsteps. They were sounded closer now.

“We need to run,” I said to him. Agreeing, he nodded quickly.

We didn’t wait for another word. We just ran and ran. I knew it was Nate’s guards. They will keep searching until they will find us and bring us back in. We had to get away. I moved all the bushes that came in our way. We ran like maniacs. Getting caught meant never being able to leave the place. There was no way I was going to spend my whole life in that mansion surrounded by vampires.

I knew the guards would catch up with us soon but I wasn’t letting go of the hope without trying.

Even though Nate was always nice to me, his brother had some other plans for me and him. I was sure he hated Nate and wanted him dead. He would be planning this for years. I had to stay away from court politics. There must be a way to escape this nightmare.

Jon was running behind me. I could hear him breathing heavily. He had a body of an athlete and obviously could run faster than me. But he was protecting me. He thought he could protect me from Nate’s guards. A boy could dream. I didn’t mention to him how strong they were. Jon barely read books about vampires. His general ideas about them were: they slept in coffins and drank blood. Sleeping in a coffin was clearly out of question. Nate slept on his bed. Drinking blood was the single thing the books got right.

I hit a very hard surface, and Jon stopped dead on his tracks.

I cried out in pain.

Looking up, I saw an unknown person. A very pale person. He didn’t seem older than us. And he was smiling down at us. He had fangs. There was a sardonic look on his face. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out. He took my hand in his. I was too frozen in fear to move. He raised my hand to his face. Closing his eyes, he inhaled.

I realised my hand was bruised.

“You smell so good, darling.” He said. “Doesn’t she, Marcus?”

I heard footsteps beside me.

When I looked in that direction, another vampire appeared. He was taller than the one who was gripping my hand. His dark skin was glistening in the moonlight. “Indeed,” He said with a flash of his fangs.

“I bet her blood tastes sweet as well.”

“You never lose a bet, Raymond.” Marcus smiled.

The guy, whose name was Raymond clenched my arm forcefully and spun me around to face him again. He brushed away my hair from my neck and stared at the neck as an animal looked at its prey.

Jon tried to move but Marcus held him in his place. “Easy there, boy. You’re next in the menu when we’re done with her.”

“Let’s taste heaven,” Raymond said before tilting his head down to my neck.

Helplessly, Jon tried thrashing and kicking but nothing happened. I shouted, trying to push Raymond back. He was like a real wall. He wasn’t moving, and I knew it was my end. Feeling dizzy, I closed my eyes, giving up.

I waited for the pain of the pointed teeth sinking in my neck, but when it didn’t come I opened my eyes. The grip was gone along with a breeze, and the vampire was being held against the trunk of a large tree by his neck.

Nate was here.

His eyes were burning with fury as he tightened his clasp on Raymond’s neck. “I’ll kill you,” Nate growled. “Do you know who she is?”

I stared, my eyes opened wide. The guards were holding Marcus. Jon was as white as a sheet with fear, his expressions mirroring mine. I couldn’t decide what to do or say.

I had never imagined Nate to be this angry. He was always calm and composed. But now the person standing in front of me was someone else. His entire posture screamed of blood and murder. I had to stop him.

“Nate,” I called and when he didn’t listen I raised my voice. “Nate, please don’t kill him.”

Nate turned around and his eyes landed on mine. They were filled with a murderous rage but I could see there was hurt in his eyes behind the mask of anger. He took away his eyes away from me and increased the pressure of his death grip on Raymond. Raymond was trying to force the words out of his mouth.

“Forgive…me,” He was saying. “I didn’t…know her.”

Nate never gave him a chance to speak whatever he had to say. A bone cracking noise echoed, and I looked at Nate in horror. He had snapped Raymond’s neck. He dug his fangs in the other vampire’s neck and tore his head off. Tossing the head deep into the forest, he pushed the body away. The lifeless body of the vampire fell on the ground, blood forming a pond.

My breathing became heavy. I lost it completely. A strong feeling of nausea washed over me. Placing a hand on my stomach, I looked down at my feet, trying not to throw up. I had just seen a person—a vampire getting killed in front of me.

I heard Jon vomiting.

Nate walked towards me slowly. Shaken, I took a step back. I was with a killer the whole time. I thought he was different but no, all vampires were the same. He was made to kill. He wasn’t a cute, calm vampire in reality. He was a demon.

“Karen,” He whispered my name.

Hearing my name from his mouth calmed the turmoil in my stomach. This voice was nothing but an illusion to lure me in. “Stay away from me,” I raised my hands in front of me to keep him away. “You’re a monster.”

“I know,” the whisper was closer now.

His cold hands touched my warm ones sending a wave of shiver through my body. I hated the feeling. I wanted to hate him. I looked at his lips which were tainted with blood. There was blood smeared on his face.

He had just killed a vampire. One of his own kind.

“You broke the trust, Karen.” He said quietly. “I thought you’d stay.”

I looked at him. He seemed all calm and composed but there was something in his eyes that told me he despised me greatly for what I had done.

He was still looking at me. His barred fangs indicated one situation.

He was going to kill me.

-Nathaniel-

She was afraid of me. She must be. I had killed a vampire in front of her, and I was expecting her to be afraid of me. If fear was what held her here, I wanted her to fear me. I had tried to be her friend. I had trusted her even when mother had warned me against it numerous time. I had given her all the respect she needed while she was in the mansion.

I was even talking about sending her back to her dimension.

“I want to go home, Nate!” She screamed.

I looked at her with surprise. I thought she would be scared of me. But she was screaming at me. Her eyes displayed anger and sadness. Tears rolled down her cheek.

“I had to escape,” She shouted. “I can’t live here. Why don’t you understand?”

I could not let her go even if I wanted her to. Mother had told me Karen’s blood was special to me. It had brought me back from the sleep, and it was what kept me powerful enough to walk around. She was like a power source for me. I couldn’t let her go to her world back right now.

“I told you,” I said calmly. “You can’t go anywhere.”

I was acting calm when the veins in my body were exploding with anger. The foolish rogue vampire had to die because he had touched Karen with lethal intentions. He was going to drink her blood and kill her. He had to be executed. Why couldn’t Karen understand this?

“I have to.” She muttered.

She touched my arm and looked straight into my eyes. I felt her emotions clouding my head, making me light-headed. I was suddenly weak. My legs trembled. How was she doing this? She wasn’t a vampire to have the power of compulsion or persuasion.

“I have to go, Nate.”

I blinked twice. Confused, I pulled myself away from her and felt the anger return in me. I walked towards the only thing she cared about here.

Her friend.

I took him by his hair and dragged him in front of her. She screamed and pleaded for me to stop. I couldn’t stop, the anger was blinding me. Her friend cried out in pain and that sound made me enjoy the scene somehow.

Jon tried to free himself but all in vain. I was a hundred times stronger than him in my weakness. He could do nothing when my hands were on him. He tried pushing and pulling. He howled in pain, his teeth were gritted and he was fighting me. I smiled. He was like a small boy to me. I was the one who had the power to finish him. He was brave. I give him that but his bravery was leading him nowhere.

I was behaving like my brother, Victor. He always smiled and rejoiced the moment whenever he killed someone.

“Leave him, Nate.” She screamed in horror. “Please.”

I hated to hurt her this way. I knew she had a very soft corner for this boy. I felt jealousy rising to my chest. What was so special about this human boy? What made her fear for his death when she wasn’t scared for her own life? She was ready to get bitten by a rogue vampire. Yet she wasn’t ready to see this boy in pain.

“Nate, you can’t hurt him,” Karen said as if she knew me. “Please leave Jon. He has done nothing wrong. This is not his fault. I was the one to make the plan to get out of the mansion. Not him.”

The boy succeeded in standing up on his wobbly legs and the guards took steps towards us. I stopped them with my hand. I could handle him on my own. Jon was moving his hands in the air rapidly. Maybe he was trying to get a hold of me. I tightened my grip on his hair and pulled his head back. There were tears welled up in his eyes because of the pain I was giving him. He didn’t seem to let them go.

What made these humans strong enough to fight me?

“I’ll do anything. Just let him go.” Karen cried out. “Please don’t hurt him.”

That caught my attention.

“Say you’ll never leave this place on your own,” I said.

“I can’t promise,” She shook her head.

I pulled hard on the boy’s hair. He let out a scream. “Karen, don’t make any deal with the devil,” He said with gritted teeth.

“I should just kill you.” I didn’t want to.

“Okay, okay,” Karen said quickly. “I’ll never leave this place.”

“Swear on it,” I growled. “If you don’t follow it, you’ll die.”

“I’ll swear on it at one condition.” She said in a firm voice. “I won’t ask you to let me go home but I need one favour in return for another.”

I could let her give me any conditions she was talking about. All I wanted was her to never leave without my permission. What could she possibly ask for when I had her dearest friend’s life in my hands?

“Tell me the condition.”

“Do you swear you’ll complete it?” She asked back.

She was playing my game on me.

“Tell the condition first,” I said. “I will decide after hearing what I have to do.”

“No,” She insisted. “I swear if you fulfil my condition then I’ll never leave this place unless you want me to.”

I groaned. She was impossible. She had sworn so intelligently. I had never given a thought to create conditions like this. In a way, if I wanted her never to leave I had to fulfil her demand. Her demand could be anything. I thought for a while. She could ask for anything but because she had already sworn she could not change it and she wouldn’t leave this place ever again. So I was in the winning position.

“I swear, I’ll fulfil your wish.” I let the words come out of my mouth.

“My condition is,” She started and looked at Jon who was still struggling to get out of my hold, “let Jon go back to our world.”