Seb already had a hold of Kim and was easily restraining her. Just like I knew he would. My momentary distraction was enough for Talon to send a kick to my core. I flew back a few feet, landing on the grass. Talon charged me. I threw my foot out and kicked him in the face.
“Bitch,” he said, spitting blood
“Thanks,” I said, back flipping to my feet “I hope you’re ready to die.”
Not giving him the chance to reply, I attacked him, punching and kicking every open space on his body. I stayed on him, not giving him the chance to throw any counterattack. And it felt good! Especially because I wasn’t even using my ability. Talon fell to his knees after I grabbed his wobbling head and kneed him in the face hard. He grunted and fell on his back.
“Is that all you got? I expected more” I said, hovering over him with a smile. His head lolled before he looked at me. Talon started grinning, showing me his blood-covered fangs.
“You’re getting good, but you forgot something,” he said, still grinning like a moron.
“Oh yeah, what’s that? A stake through your heart for the sake of tradition?” I mocked.
He actually laughed; for what, I wasn’t sure.
“No. You forgot I don’t fight fair.”
He reached into his belt loop so quick, I couldn’t have reacted fast enough had I tried. Talon fired. The bullet shot right into my stomach, sending me to the ground onmy back. The pain from this one was worse than the first. I was such an idiot! I let myself get too cocky and toyed with him the way vampires tend to do. I could feel the bullet in me, but it was too deep for me to take out. The platinum in my system was making me dizzy. My eyes were losing focus. I felt warm hands cradling my head. From the sensations they caused, I knew Seb deserted my sister to come to my aide. Not a wise choice at the moment.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Ana. You put up a good fight, but now it’s time to die.” Talon said gleefully.
Kim was now next to him, and they were both pointing guns at us. How the hell are we getting out of this one?
“Put that gun down and fight me like a man,” Seb said, standing back up.
His body was shaking. And I think I could feel low vibrations coming off of him. Or maybe this platinum was making me crazy.
“No thanks, too messy for my taste. I’d rather just shoot,” Talon said casually.
Then they pulled the trigger.
I could hear the shots, but nothing was getting to us. Every bullet fired hit an invisible wall and bounced back with a spark. What was happening? Talon fired again and again, but still, the bullets couldn’t touch us. He threw the gun to the ground and charged. Instead of attacking Seb like he planned, he ran into the wall we couldn’t see.
“Come on! The spell won’t hold long!” Jace shouted a few feet behind us.
Seb swiftly pulled me in his arms, running to where Jace and the others were.
“NO!” Talon screamed, banging on the block Jace created. “You bitch! I’ll find you!”
“I’m counting on it.” I replied, barely above a whisper. From his frustrated look, I knew he heard.
We ran through the woods with me in Seb’s arms. The bullet had been inside me for too long because I was shaking. Seb clutched me tighter to his chest. For safety or comfort, I didn’t know. I also didn’t know how far we we were. What I did realize was that we stopped and Seb put me to the ground to pull my tank top off.
“What are you doing?” Jace asked rather protectively.
“I have to get the bullet out” Seb snapped.
Would these two ever get along? It was probably my fault since I was the reason they didn’t.
“Holy shit! She’s been shot!” Lily exclaimed.
Seb sat me up and slapped my face a few times. Why was he doing that?
“Ana, open your eyes,” he said.
Wow, I didn’t know they were closed. But now that he mentioned it, it seemed impossible to do. Still, I pushed all my strength into it. When they finally opened, I saw everyone crowded around me with concerned faces.
“Good, Ana. Now tell me how deep the bullet is. There is no exit point on you.” Seb was looking down at me with a mixture of emotions in his amazing eyes. I could get lost there. Oh right, the bullet. Focus Ana!
“In my ba-back. Two inches to the left of my spine.” I answered weakly.
I saw Marie immediately rummage through one of Seb’s bags that he gave her before Talon attacked. She took out a sharp blade and gave it to her brother. I didn’t need to be a genius to know what was about to happen. Seb gently turned me over on his lap so that I was face down.
“This may hurt a bit. I’m sorry.” He whispered to me.
I did my best to nod, signalling him to just do it. I needed that platinum out of me now! Seb didn’t hesitate. He stuck the knife in my back, creating a slit. I bit down on my lip to keep myself from crying out. As a vampire, platinum doesn’t just kill us instantly unless injected into the heart or head. It weakens our abilities, and we become sensitive to everything.
Seb inserted his fingers into my back. I nearly bit a hole through my lips to keep myself from screaming
“There, I got it!” Seb shouted, throwing the tiny bullet that caused me so much pain. I was panting so hard, I felt like a dog on a hot day. But my fast healing system was already reviving.
“Shit balls! The cut is closing! That’s so awesome, even better than stiches!” Lily yelled again in awe.
I took a couple more deep breaths to steady myself and shake off the last of the after effects. Simon smiled a huge relieved smile at me and handed me my shirt. Great! Now everyone had already seen me in my bra. Jumping to my feet, I put it on as quickly as I could.
“You alright?” Marie asked.
I smiled and nodded at her before turning to Jace.
“Thanks for saving us back there,” I said gratefully.
“Anything for you” Jace said sweetly. He reached up and placed a stray hair behind my ear. His touch left a trail of warm tingles.
A growl from my left had me stepping away. Seb had his steel mask on, but I could see the anger in his eyes towards Jace.
“Seb, thanks for… well, everything” I said, turning to him.
He cut his eyes at me and then at Jace before giving me a stiff nod. What was he just thinking?
“The passage into the tunnels is right below us.” Seb began. He wiped some dirt and leaves away to reveal what looked like a sewer entrance
“Damn, I was hoping Ana getting shot would make you forget this whole going-into-the dark-tunnels thing” Lily remarked.
Like usual, we ignored her side comments.
“I’ll take the lead; Marie will be in the middle and Ana at the rear. Stick close together.” Seb ordered as he took weapons from Marie’s bag. He handed knives and flash lights to everyone and guns to Marie, himself and me. Those would have been handy in the fight I just had with Talon.
“Please follow my every command down there. If the dwellers are present, we will be in the fight for our lives,” Seb said, looking everyone in the eye.
I heard five pounding hearts, beating like they were trying to escape. If I had one, I was not so sure it would be beating from fear right now.
Why?
Because I was tired of playing nice today.
I could feel the sparks already coming to life in my eyes. It was still dangerous for me to use my ability, but I don’t care.
If there were dwellers down there, they better run and hide.
Or else…
Chapter 26
Trouble Down Under
Ana
“Lily, just jump. Seb will catch you,” I said gently to my chubby friend.
We were standing above the sewer entrance that everyone else had already gone into—everyone except Lily and me. I'd been gently coaching her to make the leap, but it was proving to be more difficult than I first expected.
“No! Seb is hot and all, but what if those things are actually waiting down there.” She whined.
I rolled my eyes. This was getting irritating. Jace’s spell was starting to wear off, and I knew Talon won’t waste time coming after us once it did. Lily was wasting time, so I took matters into my own hands.
“One way to find out,” I said and then I pushed her into the hole. She screamed and flapped like a fish out of water. An oomph sounded when she landed into the waiting arms of Seb.
“Not cool, Ana!” Lily shouted up at me. I chuckled before jumping down myself. After landing gracefully into three inches of sewer water, I turned on my flashlight and surveyed the area around us. It was extremely dark, wet and smelled horribly
“Alright, stick close and keep quiet. The next exit is only a few miles if we run into trouble.” Seb spoke before leading us deeper inside.
I listened to everyone's hearts, and they were a little erratic, with the exception of Lily’s. Her heart was beating so out of control, I was sure she would faint at the first sign of danger or maybe even a rat. Speaking of rats, I could hear a few rummaging about. The others couldn't, and there was no point in telling them. We walked along in tense silence for a while. After minutes with no sign of ant dwellers, everyone seemed to relax a little.
“It smells so bad!” Lily exclaimed.
Since I was walking behind them, I couldn't see her face, but I was sure she was scrunching it up unpleasantly.
“The book said dwellers have a smell similar to rotten meat.” Simon informed.
“Oh! I think that's what I smell!” Lily cried out, flashing her light frantically around the sewer.
“No, what you smell is feces, mostly rats’, and it's what you’re stepping on, too.” Marie added.
Lily jumped and squealed. We chuckled at her dramatics. The droppings were everywhere; she couldn't get away from it if she tried.
“This is so gross! Witch boy, can't you cast a spell and zap us there already?”
“My name is Jace, and no, I'm not skilled enough for transport spells.” Jace replied, sighing when Lily clutched onto his arm.
We already walked a few miles, and hald already passed the first exit. Seb didn't say anything. I assumed he didn't want to give the others a chance to try to get out of the tunnels before we were far enough. Not that I blamed him.
Suddenly, the atrocious smell of spoiled flesh assaulted my nostrils. I whipped around, flashing my light into the darkness behind me.
There was nothing there.
But that was a lie. There was something there. I felt it.
The others continued walking and chatting, unaware of my pause. Something wet and slimy hit my right shoulder. I wiped off the snot-like substance with disgust. Where did that come from?
Slowly, I turned my flashlight up. When my eyes met the ceiling, I almost gasped. Covering the roof were hundreds of dwellers, apparently sleeping all over each other. Their skin were pale and almost translucent. You could see the outline of every bone in their thin, long bodies. Their hands and toes were claws, similar to a lion's but longer and sharper.
It was safe to say these things were frightening.
“Guys!” I tried to whisper as loudly as I could.
Lily's ranting caused them not to hear me. I glanced up again and, sure enough, the dwellers were starting to wake up. Their flat noses wiggled at the fresh scent of human flesh.
We needed to go, and fast.
“Guys!” I whispered louder again.
“All I'm saying is what kind a witch can't summon food at will? It seems pretty useful to me.”
“Witches have more important things to do than summon…”
“Jace, Lily, shut up!” I yelled, cutting Jace off and finally getting everyone's attention.
The dwellers stirred more.
“Ana, what's wrong?” Seb asked, cutting through the group and walking back to me. I rolled my eyes upward.
Seb caught on and slowly looked upward. His throat bobbed when he saw what lay just above our heads. It was a good thing he was not one to panic. We stared at each other for a full minute. No one dared move.
I was thinking of a way to get the others out without waking up the monstrous creatures. But, of course, Lily ruined that by looking up.
“AHHHH!”
The scream was so loud, it echoed.
Now everyone knew where the dwellers were.
More importantly, the dwellers had woken.
“RUN!” Seb yelled.
All at once, we began sprinting off further down the tunnels.
The dwellers began dropping like flies from the ceiling. I pulled two guns from my waist band and started to go to work. Every dweller that dropped was met with a bullet right between the eyes. Yeah, I was a good shot. I fired off rounds with precision and confidence, taking out at least twenty in less than two minutes. One dweller caught me from behind. It grabbed me by the back of my neck and tossed me into the wall. For a skinny creature, it sure was strong. More dwellers began coming down and another landed on top of me. Its white eyes moved around frantically as if it it did not see me, but rather, sensed me. The ugly thing hissed ferociously in my face, fanning me with horrid breath and saliva.
“Someone needs a breath mint,” I said, reaching up and snapping its neck.
I quickly stood up and grabbed one of my guns. The other was too far away. Shots were being fired a few feet away, and I knew I had to catch up to my friends. If only there weren’t thirty dwellers surrounding me. They moved in slowly, sniffing the air to get my exact location.
“ANA!” Someone shouted. I couldn’t tell who it was, but it didn’t matter.
I was in a corner and there was no other way but to the wall. I used the wall behind me as a launch pad and I leaped into the air. I back-flipped over them, firing rounds until I landed in a crouch outside the circle. Wasting no time, I took off the way my friends went. Lily was being held by a dweller who was seconds away from biting into her neck. It opened its mouth, revealing tiny sharp teeth with missing fangs. I quickly put a bullet in its head. It fell lifelessly behind her and Lily jumped back, squirming.
“Oh, thank god!” she said, running to me.
I heard more shots going off up ahead.
“Come on. We need to catch up,” I said.
I took her hand and practically dragged her with me as I sprinted in the dark. When we caught up, my friends were in trouble. Seb was fist-fighting a small group of dwellers. Marie was expertly firing shots at any dweller closing in on her and Simon. Jace was tackled down by a dweller. I instantly ran to him, grabbed the dweller on top of him, and broke its neck. Then I ran and took out the few gaining on Marie and Simon. I used all the fighting techniques I’d learned over the last two years to kiss some dweller ass.
“Get out of here now!” I commanded my friends before jumping to help Seb.
As usual, he didn’t need any. He was beating the crap out of every dweller he touched. And he didn’t even look winded. Jace led the others away while Seb and I fought. The only problem was with every dweller we killed, it seemed as if two more replaced it. We were outnumbered in the worst way.
“Seb, follow the others. I’ll handle this,” I said without looking at him.
He was right next to me, and we both took slow cautious steps backwards while keeping our eyes on the growing number of dwellers creeping closer..
“You know I’m not leaving you.” He replied.
I could feel the sensation of my ability starting to intensify under my skin. I roused the power within, strengthening it. My eyes sparked as well as my skin.
“This time, you don’t have a choice,” I said.
Without giving him a chance to argue, I yanked his shirt and tossed him down the path to where the others have gone to escape. I knew he wouldn’t be hurt from the throw but he would be pissed. Turning back to the dwellers, I prepared to give them a taste of who I was. It was, after all, my mother that cursed them.
“Well, it’s just you ugly bastards and me now. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Analise, daughter of Cel
este.” I honestly didn’t think they understood English, but at my mother’s name, loud hisses echoed in the tunnel. My vampire instincts had me hissing back with my fangs out. The dwellers charged. Let the fun begin!
Lightning bolts rocketed from my fingertips, combusting every creature that came into contact with it. I zapped dwellers left and right but I needed more. I knew what I was about to do was dangerous, and I had never tried it before, but I didn’t have any options left. I needed to kill these things now.
I concentrated hard and pulled all the strength I could. Gradually, I felt a surge of power in my gut. I dropped to one knee, almost overwhelmed by it. The dwellers took advantage of my state. They all pounced on me; drowning me under the pile of their disgusting bodies. The power I felt inside me reached a level I hadn’t felt before. I latched onto it and released the energy I could no longer control. A huge, blinding surge of blue energy shot out from my core. It was so bright and powerful, it blasted all the dwellers off of me and turned every one of them into white ash. The sheer force of the surge sent my own body flying.
***
Marie
“Wait, we have to help my brother and Ana.” I said.
We had run off like Ana told us, but I was done running. I wouldn’t leave my brother alone to fight those creatures.
“No, crazy girl, we need to find an exit like we were told to do,” Lily said as she panted hard.
I was growing irritated by the large cowardly girl. I didn’t care what they told us to do. Seb would never leave me had it been the other way around, and I should have never left him.
I began rummaging through my backpack for another gun. The only ones left were the ones with platinum bullets. Seb wanted to save these for other vampires we might run into, but, oh well. He needed me, and I wouldn’t let him down.
“Marie is right. We have to do something,” Simon said, standing beside me. “Jace, what can we do?”
Jace was looking at the tunnel roof and breathing heavily. His face was pale and he looked more shaken then Lily. I was surprised Simon was taking this well and wasn’t freaking out like Jace and Lily.
Pure: A Paranormal Romance Page 27
