Sworn Enemies

Chapter 3: The Sentencing

“She's the hybrid?" the girl exclaimed incredulously, looking me up and down in surprise.

“I'm not going anywhere," I argued.

“It's not a choice," he declared, his mouth curling up in disgust.

The other boy made his way towards me, preparing to grab me. I retracted my arm out of his reach and his curious gaze shifted to hate.

“You're in no position to fight," he said, eying at me distastefully as I clutched my abdomen.

“If you let me go, I won't mention this to my father."

“You think we're scared of your father?" he fired back, laughing dryly.

“Your father should be the one scared of Abel," the girl added, smirking

“Star. Leo. Let's go," Abel ordered, walking ahead as they grabbed me, holding onto each of my arms.

“I can walk by myself," I insisted, attempting to pull away from their iron grips.

“We're not taking any chances," Leo said, tightening his hand on my arm.

“Resmer is going to kill all of you," I bluffed, shooting daggers at them as I wriggled under their grasp.

“You should save your strength. You'll need it," Abel spoke up, not bothering to turn around. I couldn't read past his impassive exterior to discern whether it was an empty threat or a promise so I decided to take his advice. After all, if my own clan wanted me dead I should expect worse from our rivals.

We trudged forward in complete silence for what seemed like hours until we reached a wide, wooden wicket gate that looked both solid and fragile at the same time. Abel threw open the double doors of the gate as if they were light as a feather, ducking through the low threshold.

As we entered the compound, I was surprised to see how vast it was. There were houses dispersed carefully throughout with no shortage of plant life. Tall trees, sprouting with rich green leaves hung over the settlements almost as if nature itself was protecting it. The ground was covered with flowers of all kinds, coloring up the settlement with its vibrant colors.

The vampire settlement was nothing like this. It was dull, littered with fallen leaves and dying trees. It resembled an abandoned warzone. The only aesthetically pleasing thing was Resmer's keep, which was a large fortress that resembled a castle. He ruled as a dictator so the other vampires had to scrap around and make do with what scraps were left.

As we walked through, all eyes were on us. Although, what intrigued me was how the people reacted to Abel. Children ran up to offer him flowers and gifts while others simply watched him in awe. It was like he was some sort of celebrity which annoyed me even more. Who was he? Why was he so important?

We stepped into an open space, secluded from the rest of the buildings. In fact, the people who hustled about in the village seemed to avoid the area altogether.

“Abel, you've returned."

I turned my head from the landscape to look at the older gentleman who's voice had spoken. I watched as Abel, Leo, and Star nodded in respect.

The man wasn't alone, accompanied by a group of men and women who all were seated on a long table and quickly shifted their gaze towards me.

“What have you found?" an elderly woman spoke up, her bright blue eyes looking straight at me.

“She's the hybrid," Abel stated bluntly.

Their expressions shifted at his declaration, some flaring up with anger and others piqued with curiosity. They began to chatter amongst themselves, whispers turning to yells. I was able to single out a few phrases, ones I was already familiar with. “Abomination." “Beast." “Dangerous."

I maintained my gaze with each one of them, not willing to let them see even a trace of fear or doubt in me.

After a while, the chatter died down and one of the elders stood up.

The woman looked at me briefly before turning to Abel and declaring, “she must die."

Abel turned to look at me for a brief second with a strange look in his eyes I couldn't place.

“Take her to the field," he said, looking past me to Leo and Star. I couldn't tear my eyes away from Abel even as they pulled me away. There was a brief flicker of something there.

Had I imagined it?

I let out a dry laugh as they dragged me with them down a steeper path away from the settlement. I had escaped death by the hands of vampires just to be killed by the werewolves. My luck couldn't get any worse.

“What's so funny?" Leo asked.

Ignoring his question, I trudged forward as they led me to an open field with knee high grass. The center of the field had a circular boundary where the grass was cut off. There were wooden planks lying atop the grass with remnants of dried blood staining the wood. I gritted my teeth in anticipation. It was clear what took place in that area.

Leo and Star released me, shoving me forward onto the planks. I rubbed my arms, soothing the red rings that were left from where their hands held tightly onto me.

The field was slowly starting to fill with people, everyone's eyes on me. I bared my teeth, exposing my fangs to show them I wasn't intimidated easily. Upon seeing my fangs, the field quickly became filled with threats and accusations. I could see the anger in their faces, feel the hatred in the air. Some tried to push forward but were stopped by the elders.

One of the elderly men, seemingly the oldest by the looks of his ash white hair and frail figure finally spoke up.

“My fellow werewolves, this is the infamous hybrid. Both werewolf and vampire. We have gathered here to put an end to this abomination once and for all," he declared.

The people cheered and yelled in support.

“If anyone has any objections, now would be the time to raise them," he continued.

The cheers died down, replaced with complete silence.

I opened my mouth to object, planning to buy myself time until I could think of a way to escape before the unexpected happened.

“I object," Abel proclaimed loudly, his bright eyes peering at me under his tousled curls.