Chained To Fate

The past “Autumn, this way. Turn down this hallway, hurry. We only have seconds before they discover us.” Autumn nodded, understanding the urgency in his voice as she clutched the cloak closer over her body. She pulled it down low over her face, hiding herself. The man clutched her hand in his, warming her and lighting a blush to her cheeks as she allowed him to lead her down yet another dark hall. “Charles, couldn’t we take any others with us? The others, the things that are being done to them…” She whispered, panic in her voice. He gritted his teeth, trying to be patient while he half dragged her down the hall. “You have to understand, there’s a very small window of escape. I understand you want to save them, all of them. But honestly, all I care about is you, Autumn. Once you’re free, we can talk about regrouping. Finding others, coming back, destroying them. But, I need to make sure you’re safe first.” He whispered to her. They heard footsteps and he grabbed her thin frail arm, feeling the bones under her skin as he pulled her against his chest, holding her close to him as they hid in an alcove, waiting for the men to leave. Well, as close to him as he could, with the obstacle in between them. She was pregnant, but then again, all of them were. In this place, all of the women were pregnant. “But, they are important too! And some of them, they could be...they could be...my children,” She whispered, horror on her face as she pressed her hands against her eyes. Charles sighed, feeling her tiny body falling limp against him as she cried, already exhausted. It didn’t surprise him, she didn’t walk much. They weren’t allowed to. “I understand, and as I said, we’ll be back, but for now; no one is more important to me than you are. You first. Then I’ll come back. Somehow, someway, I’ll make sure.” He said to her, pulling her up against his chest as he carried her frail body. He wasn’t running, but walking as fast as he could, quietly as he darted from hall to hall. He needed to save her, at least her. No matter what promise he made, it didn’t matter to him. She was dying, and he needed to make sure she lived. “You’re not going to want to save them, after I’m dead,” She whispered, sadness in her voice. He gulped, trying to take deep breaths as he bared his fangs in anger. They pulled out of his mouth, elongated and sharp, and he had to calm himself before his hunger took over. After all, she was a pureblood, and her smell was intoxicating to him. “You’re not dying!” He hissed at her, his eyes flashing red as he glared down at her. She didn’t even flinch, her beautiful blue eyes flashing in a calm and uncaring gaze. She was used to the sight, the sight of a vampire. “You’re not leaving me,” He ordered her, watching as she stared dully at him. He managed to retract his teeth as he darted down another hall, carrying the woman he loved, trying to free her. “You know as much as I do that I’m dying, Charles. We all die young, the burden we bear, for being women.” She said, closing her eyes and gripping his shirt in her hands. Her touch was warm, too warm, but no matter how much it burned his ice-cold skin, he’d never pull away from her. She might be a werewolf, but she was his werewolf. They passed a hall with a large room to the left, and footsteps coming down another hall, coming towards them. He gritted his teeth, sliding into the room, shutting the door behind him and locking it. She was lowered to the ground as he pressed his ear against the door, his heart pounding as he listened to the others. They were just outside the door, talking to each other. Muffled voices, voices of those that he had once called his family, his brothers, his friends. Not anymore, never again. He heard Autumn give a gasp and turned, frustrated as those outside the door heard her. They were trying to open the door, to get inside. Their voices were louder as they called out to us, trying to see who we were, to unlock the door. Charles panicked, glancing around the room, seeing Autumn staring with wide eyes at the rows...the rows of bodies dead in large bags. Of course, they had to duck into the crematorium. Of all the rooms, it had to be this one. Charles considered grabbing Autumn to slide into a fresh bag, pretend he fell asleep, and locked the door for privacy. He grabbed a fresh bag, contemplating whether or not this would be just what it took to finally drive this beautiful innocent woman mad, before the alarm blared. It was loud, shrilling, enough to wake the others that were sleeping. It was almost daytime, and most of the vampires would be asleep. Or they would be, if it wasn’t for that alarm. The loud blaring alarm was enough to wake the others, and soon the whole coven would be on them...the largest coven in America. There was no time, they were discovered missing. After all, Autumn was the Alpha’s daughter, long ago, before this happened. She was the most special, the purest of all. Honestly, Charles was surprised they hadn’t been discovered earlier. If only they had gone down one more hall, then they would have made it to the door he was supposed to have been guarding. The door to their freedom. Charles ran to Autumn, grabbing her arm as gently as he could, knowing his vampire strength could break her as easily as a twig, with how malnourished and weak she was. The moment he grabbed her she gasped, turning to look at him, and that’s when he heard it. The trickle of water. He looked down in surprise, watching in disbelief as her water broke, days early. “No, no no no!” He whispered frustratedly, feeling tears burning in his eyes as he pulled her into his arms and cradled her close to him. The pounding on the doors didn’t cease, but got louder, and he knew without a doubt that more vampires were there, reinforcements. He wouldn’t be able to hide her, not now. She was going into labor soon, and she wouldn’t be able to survive without a doctor, not with how weak she was. “My love, it’s alright. You...you tried your best.” She whispered softly, a calm sadness in her eyes. He panicked, wishing he had known this room more, seeing there were four doors on the other end. He ran to the first one, opening it for an instant to see vampires charging at it and shut it, locking it as they pounded into it. “Nothing is going as planned, Autumn. Nothing, not a single thing! I just...I just wanted to save you,” He muttered, feeling a tear fall from his eye as he locked another door, leading to a hall filled with vampires. “I just wanted to love you, and show you that you could be loved, the right way.” He choked out, locking the third door. The fourth door was farther away and he sent a small prayer to the Moon Goddess before he opened it. It was a dark corridor, but it was empty and it was all he had. He locked the door from the inside so they wouldn’t know where he went and shut it, running softly down the hall as he searched everything cautiously. He had no idea where he was now. “Charles, you did love me the right way. I was brought here when I was a newborn, and I’ve never known anything except the inside. You showed me a flower for the first time. You gave me extra food. You gave me my first kiss, my first hug. You’re the first vampire that didn’t want to drink my blood, or anyone else’s. To me, you are love, Charles. You’re the definition of love.” She whispered, her eyes closing as she gripped his shirt, letting out a whimper of pain. “My only regret, was not being able to see the sun. I’ve never seen the sun before, and I...I was looking forward to seeing it, at least once in my life.” She whispered through the contraction. Charles let out a choked sob, pressing a kiss against her forehead as he opened doors, doors that were filled with empty rooms. Equipment, tools, useless, all useless. There was nothing here for him, and he was fairly sure the vampires were in the hall now, coming for him. He ran into a room on the left and closed the door behind him, locking it. There, it was subtle, but he saw it. A back door, blocked off by boxes. Could it be? Was it possible? He pushed through the boxes as quietly as he could, hearing the footsteps of others running past the door, not stopping to check any of them. He wondered if there was an exit that way and they were running to it. If so, maybe he could double back and go down the hall he was supposed to guard. No, at this point, they would know he was part of this. He needed to keep going, he needed this to work. He needed this to be an exit, for both of their sakes. He managed to move enough to pull the door halfway open, and for a moment he wasn’t sure how to do this. It was dark out still, barely so. The sky was growing lighter, and he had never drunk the blood. From the start he refused it, just working for the leader, without question. That was, until he fell in love with her. She seemed to understand it wouldn’t open anymore and she pulled out of his arms, staggering under the pain as she fell through the door to the outside. He slipped out behind her, closing the door and ignoring the sound of the boxes falling back into place. They were trapped out here now, but that didn’t matter, not to him, at least. She was holding onto the wall, her hands flat on the sides of it as she bit her arm, her sharp canines clamping down on her arm to muffle her moans of pain as her sickly sweet blood trickled down her arm, enticing Charles. For the second time that night, his teeth sunk out of his mouth and he gasped, his eyes glowing red as he fell to his knees. That didn’t help, because the stream of water was mixed with blood now, her blood was everywhere. “Charles, I have to push! Help me!” She screamed, her voice muffled from her arm. He gasped, panicking as he lifted her gown, moving it out of the way as she pushed. He’d never delivered a baby before, but he’s seen it done many times. “This wasn’t how this was supposed to happen!” He repeated, frustrated as she screamed a muffled scream into her arm while she pushed. Tears rushed down his cheeks as he saw the head, and he touched it faintly, his eyes wide. “We were supposed to be in a hospital room! A real doctor, one that cared, one that could help you!” He whispered with a sob. She ignored him, either that or she wasn’t able to speak because of the intense pain she was feeling, but she pushed again and he watched in horror as her teeth clenched tighter onto her upper arm, her blood pouring down into the soft grass around them. He was having difficulty breathing, everywhere he turned her rich dark blood was there, enticing him, begging him to drink it. Before he could focus on it, the shoulders came free and he grabbed it, pulling the baby the rest of the way out of her as she shuddered in pain. He stared at it as she pushed again, the afterbirth falling down as she fell to her knees in pain, unable to stand any longer. He handed her the baby with shaking hands and he watched with fascination as she bit the cord, tying it at the end and scooping the afterbirth out of its mouth and nose. The baby let out a shrill scream and Autumn laughed, a beautiful sound. Charles was amazed at her laugh, it was the second time he’s ever heard it. “You’re beautiful,” He whispered, scooping her and her new baby into his arms. She stared up at him with an exhausted smile on her face, moving her gown to the side without an ounce of modesty to allow her new baby to drink from her. He watched her, the way she cradled the baby in her arms, the love on her face. “You know, this is the first time I've ever held my baby in my arms.” She whispered, a tear falling down her cheek. “Do you think the others will understand?” She asked him. Charles didn’t have the heart to tell her, that all of her other babies had been men, and men didn’t last long here. Even still he smiled at her, feeling her heartbeat growing fainter and fainter and wanting her to have something to hold on to. “They’ll understand, Autumn. They’ll know how much you loved them, every one of them.” He whispered to her, trying to calm her sadness. Charles hissed, his teeth scraping against his bottom lip as he took deep breaths. Her blood, mixed with the fear of the sun rising and burning him to death, it was making his body shake. She seemed to sense it and lazily laid her head on his shoulder, a soft smile on her face. “My love, you must drink from me. You can’t die, it’s not your time.” She whispered to him. He hissed at her, trying and failing to pull his teeth back. “No, if you’re going to die, then I’m going to die with you.” He stubbornly said, holding her close. “You said earlier that I’m love, Autumn. But if I’m love, it’s only because you loved me. I didn’t know love, until you loved me. I didn’t know who I was, until you smiled at me. The first time you laughed, I was reborn, for you.” He whispered to her. She smiled, lifting her hand to her mouth, before smiling at him. “Even still, I need you to live. Live, for my son. Promise me,” She whispered, biting into her wrist. “Take him far away from here. Far away, where they can’t find him. Give him to someone who deserves him. Please, save him,” She whispered, pressing her wrist against his mouth. It was too much, the blood was against his lips, touching his teeth, and he couldn’t stop himself any longer. He sunk his teeth into her wrist and drank the last of her blood, tears pouring down his cheeks as he watched her die in his arms, the softest smile on her face. Just before she died, she turned to look at the sun rising over the horizon and smiled, her eyes shining in the rising sun. “I’m so glad, I got to see the sun, at least once,” She whispered, before closing her eyes and taking her last breath. Charles held her close to him, the baby in her arms asleep, and he sighed, pressing his head against the wall behind him as he too stared at the wall. “It’s the first time I've seen the sun as well,” He whispered to her, a tear falling down his cheek. “I’m glad the first time, was with the woman I’ll love for the rest of my life,” He said to her with a soft chuckle.