Chapter Eighty: Carol's POV

Chapter Eighty: Carol's POV
I grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her back behind me.


Her textbook hit the ground with a dull thud, but she didn't bend down to pick it up.


"Go." My voice came out low and tight. "Now."


"What—" She started to turn, looking where I was staring.


"Don't look. Don't ask. Just go." I tightened my grip on her arm. "Run back to the dorm, lock the door, and don't come out no matter what you hear."


Her face went pale, lips trembling, but she didn't ask again.


"Go. Now." I said.


She turned and ran.


I didn't know if she looked back. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. It didn't matter.


What mattered was that she was leaving.


I turned slowly, my hand already moving to the knife I kept tucked in my boot, and found three figures blocking the path behind me.


The lamplight wasn't bright enough, but it was sufficient for me to see their eyes clearly.


That red color, that hunger—the kind only newborn vampires had, who didn't know how to hide, didn't know how to restrain themselves, only instinct left.


"Hey!" The one in the middle with dark hair spoke, his jacket already wrinkled beyond recognition.


The girl on the left took a step forward, her movements stiff, like she hadn't learned to walk properly yet. "You smell so good." Her voice was light and airy, like sleepwalking. "Like sunshine, like berries..."


"Back off," I said, my voice trembling. "You don't want to do this."


"Don't we?" The tall one on the right pressed forward with a menacing smile, taking another step. "We're so hungry. And you're right here. Seems like fate to me."


I reached for that ability that could slip into others' consciousness, but found I couldn't grasp them at all.


I could probably hold down one of them, but the other two would pounce at any moment. It was like trying to restrain three rabid dogs at once.


"Carol!"


It was Emma's voice, but not a cry for help—a warning.


I turned my head and saw her standing at the edge of the clearing, gripping a thick tree branch, her chest heaving. Her face was pale, but her eyes were determined.


She came back. She damn well came back, and brought a weapon too.


"Emma," my voice was steadier than expected, "go back to the dorm. Now."


"No." She said, her voice trembling but her tone firm. "I'm not leaving you."


She walked forward a few steps, raising the branch in a clumsy but serious defensive stance. I could see her hands shaking, but she didn't back down.


"Your friend is very brave," the tall vampire laughed, "and very stupid."


He started moving toward Emma. I didn't think, my body was already moving.


I blocked his path and drove my fist into his stomach with everything I had.


He stumbled back a few steps, his attention back on me.


"Want to chase someone?" I dropped into the fighting stance Marcus had taught me. "Try someone who'll fight back."


"Carol, left!" Emma shouted.


I dodged instinctively, the female vampire's fingers grazing my shoulder. I spun around, driving my elbow into her ribs. She cried out in pain and retreated.


"Thanks!" I shouted back.


Emma didn't answer, but I heard the branch cutting through the air, then a dull impact.


I glanced over and saw her hit the dark-haired vampire's back with the branch. Though it didn't cause much real damage, it successfully distracted him, making him turn to look at her.


"Hey!" She shouted again, backing up a few steps, still gripping the branch. "Come chase me!"


She was buying me time.


The tall one was faster than the others, landing a glancing blow across my ribs that would definitely bruise.


I rolled with it, creating distance, my hand finding the knife in my boot and bringing it up just as he lunged again.


The blade caught him across the forearm, dark blood welling from the cut, smoking slightly where the steel had touched him.


He stumbled back a few steps, but didn't fall.


I'd hurt him, but I hadn't stopped him.


They regrouped, the dark-haired one no longer paying attention to Emma, now staring at me. The boy I'd punched earlier straightened up, blood still wet on his lips.


He smiled at me, revealing a mouthful of fangs.


"Well," he said. "This got interesting."


"Carol!" Emma shouted anxiously again.


"Emma, run when you get the chance!" I shouted back. "Don't worry about me!"


"In your dreams!" Her voice was firm.


I knew clearly in my heart—I was in trouble.


I needed help. I needed Marcus, or Leon. I needed—


A figure appeared at the edge of my vision, moving so fast I barely registered her as a person before she was standing between me and the vampires.


One moment the space had been empty, and the next, she was there.


The blonde woman.


She wore a charcoal gray coat, her pale blonde hair particularly striking in the dim light.


Those eyes weren't bright red, but ice-cold pale blue.


"Children," she said, her tone pleasant and warm, like a teacher addressing slow students. "Did I not tell you that hunting on neutral ground is forbidden?"


The three vampires froze.


"We were just—" the girl tried to say, but the woman raised one hand, and the words died in her throat.


Her mouth was still open, like someone had hit a mute button.


"I'm not here to listen to your excuses," the woman continued pleasantly.


"I'm here to remind you of a rule you've already broken. You know what happens to children who break my rules."


The tall vampire tried to run. He ran three steps.


I couldn't track her movement at all.


One second she was standing still, the next her hand was buried in his chest.


When she pulled it back out, she was holding something dark and still pulsing in her palm—probably his heart.


He collapsed.


The other two vampires started screaming.


The woman turned to look at them, that pleasant expression still on her face.


"Want to run? Or want to listen?" They immediately shut up.


The two stood there, trembling like frightened children. I realized they were actually very young, recently turned. They were victims as much as monsters.


"Please," the girl whispered, and I could hear real human emotion in her voice, buried under the vampire hunger. "We didn't mean to. We just—we're so hungry. All the time. We can't think straight. Please."


"I know, sweetheart," she said, and she almost sounded sad.


"But that's exactly why you can't be allowed to continue. You're already dead. What's left is just a shell being piloted by bloodlust. The kindest thing I can do is make it quick."


The female vampire tried to run.


She ran further than the tall one, almost to the trees when she was caught.


A sharp crack, then silence.


The last boy stood in place, no longer trembling.


"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't want this. I didn't ask anyone to turn me into this."


"I know. Close your eyes. It'll be quick."


He did. She ended it quickly, more gently than the other two.


When all three bodies had turned to ash and been scattered by the wind, I heard Emma put down the branch with a dull thud.


She turned to look at us, those ice-blue eyes landing on Emma first, then turning to me.


"You should be more careful," she said. "Taking a human friend out at this hour isn't wise."


Emma walked to my side and stood firm. Her hands were shaking.


"What were those?" Emma asked. "Those—vampires? This is real?"


I looked at her in surprise.


She looked back at me. "Don't try to tell me I saw wrong, Carol. I know what I saw."


I turned to face Cecilia, keeping Emma behind me.


I looked at her. "What do you want from me?"


"Want?" She tilted her head slightly, those ice-blue eyes studying me. "I don't want anything from you, Carol Valodin. I'm simply doing my job."


"Your job?" My voice became sharp.


"Cleaning up newborn vampires? Controlling people's minds? Or making me a suspect in a kidnapping investigation?"


She raised an eyebrow.


"I didn't make you a suspect," she said.


"I didn't control you, and I certainly didn't tell anyone to accuse you. I'm here tracking rogue vampires, not playing games with you."