Chapter 7.7
1068 Words
The knife was shaking in his hand. The blade rattled, but he kept his ground. He didn't break eyesight with the vampire. His racing heart stilled for a second and then it skipped a beat. Time seemed to slow. Each aching second was another one lost to an endless black void which he couldn't control. He needed that control back. Faced with the vampire whose blue eyes looked down at him like he was merely a speck on the road, it was all he needed to send him over the edge.
Ryan had been trying to settle Taylor's anger for years. Since they were young children, his temper had divided them and divided him from others around him. Taylor knew it was a falt in his personality, a thing that wasn't attractive nor helpful when he needed to keep his cool and think clearly. But in situations like this, when he needed strength and vicious tactics to get his way, his anger was his optimal weapon.
The first strike was a miss. The blade swooshed through the air. It made a sharp sound. The vampire moved to the side with ease, holding Ryan over his shoulder with his hand over Ryan's back. He looked at Taylor, that brow still raised and a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"That's it?"
Taylor growled and circled around. He slashed once more. The blade caught the edge of the vampire's sleeve, cutting down his arm. Blood seeped into the fabric. Taylor smiled. He kicked off the side of the building. He flew through the air and knocked into the side of the vampire. The vampire turned around and raised his arm to block the attack. Taylor brought the blade down. It sunk into the vampire's shoulder.
The vampire groaned out. Taylor pulled the knife out and was ready to take another hit, but a hand grabbed his wrist. He jerked back from the hold and tried to wrench his wrist free. The vampire laughed.
"I've got you now."
Taylor twisted around in the hold. The blood was pooling under him. The vampire had him pinned and their bodies were pressed firmly together. Taylor was shorter than the vampire. He was almost a head taller. The blood soaked into Taylor's jacket and through his shirt. He looked down at where his knife was embedded. He gave an experimental tug and the vampire only twitched in discomfort.
"Don't." The vampire pulled Taylor tighter to him. "This we'll be easier if you come willingly."
"Why do we have to come at all?"
The reason didn't seem to matter to the vampire. He stared down hard at Taylor, contemplating his thoughts. His head c****d to the side and Taylor held his breath. He was on the edge of his invisible seat, waiting for whatever would come next. The vampire could kill him and take Ryan, do whatever he wanted. The knife didn't do any damage. The vampire had batted it off like it was merely a splinter or a small cut on his finger. Nothing had worked on him and Taylor wasn't strong enough to take him with fists. Even now with one hand on Taylor's wrist, the vampire had rendered him immobile.
His cheeks colored as he felt the hardness of the vampire's body beneath his. The warmth coming from him wasn't like what he thought it would be like. He'd been taught that vampires were dead walking carcasses that were cold to the touch and had no emotion. The rumors around the city and the district had been all the same. The vampires who lived in Nio were rich, were out for themselves, and brought in human slaves to have food whenever they wanted. They took them as s*x dolls and food bags and that was it. Humans to them were bugs and tools to be used for their own. Taylor saw that now when he looked into the vampire's eyes. He didn't care about Taylor or Ryan—he didn't even know them. But he was doing whatever he wanted for his own gain.
"You saw what they turned into." The vampire's breath fanned across Taylor's cheek. He went still, rigid against the vampire's side. He felt the tightening in his lower belly, the burning heat he only got when he was around Ryan. He hid the shock from his face, but inside he was panicking. The breath would have disgusted him if it had been any other stranger, but from the vampire, it smelled sweet like chocolate and felt cool like fresh mint.
It was just another trick, he told himself, but the more his body reacted to the vampire, the more he found it harder to believe.
"I have to be sure you're aren't infected either."
Taylor blinked away the haze. The scent was still distracting, but he tried as best as he could to focus. "We're not."
"Are you sure?" The vampire patted Ryan's back. "You might not be infected, but your friend here isn't responding. It could be laying doormat."
Taylor swallowed and then slowly nodded. "Fine."
He ripped his hand from the vampire's grip and the vampire didn't resist.
In one last effort to solidify some kind of power, Taylor pressed closer to the vampire. The vampire looked down at him, a curious look flickering over his face.
"I don't care what happens to me, but if you hurt him, I'll make sure you suffer."
Those eyes staring back at him held just a flicker of emotion, just enough that made Taylor more confident he wasn’t talking to deaf ears. He wanted to make sure he knew what Taylor would go through to keep Ryan safe. He wanted his message clear.
“I only want to make sure you’re both clean before I let you run in these streets,” the vampire said.
Taylor didn’t know if it was the way he said it or whether there was an actual promise behind those words, but Taylor believed him. He didn’t trust him, not in the least, though he felt less on his toes.
He grabbed the hilt of his pocket-knife and pulled it out from the vampire’s shoulder. The vampire grunted, wincing as blood spilled from the wound.
Through clenched teeth, Taylor said, with a slight nod of his head, “Lead the way.”
- Writer
