Part Four: End - k

“I honestly thought better of you,” Bendis said. Her voice was quiet but deadly. It whispered of vindictive, ruthless intent. That darkness creeped back into the hollows of her eyes. The dark veins stretched across her high, elegant cheekbones. “I thought you would be my weapon. I thought you would be the Bane Pack’s destruction. But something has changed inside you. Something I blinded myself to but now I see it.”

One of her fingertips traced down the sides of his face. She leaned in close to him so that her lips were just about pressed up to his ears.

“You will regret your choice to betray me.”

Drake’s eyes widened and it was clear he was trying to say something.

“No, no,” Bendis said with a cruel smile. “No need to talk. I’ve seen through the lies. The deceit.”

Then she grabbed his hand in hers.

“It’s time to end this.”

Drake tried to move but found he still couldn’t. He was forced to stand still and watch as a bright, purple light tinged with inky blackness at its edges started to pulse from her eyes. The pulsing was slow at first, and then got quicker and quicker until a bright blast of purple-black light exploded outward.

Then there was nothing but destruction and chaos.

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Kendra wasn’t sure what just happened. All she knew was that she was suddenly buried by tons of debris and chunks of building. It was heavy but she was strong and it didn’t crush her. She wasn’t sure about the others though. She felt pangs of fear when she thought about her friends and her wolves.

Where were they?

Were they all right?

She didn’t know. Couldn’t know. She didn’t even know what just happened. This, whatever this was, wasn’t part of her carefully, meticulously planned strategy to finally rid this world of Bendis and the evil she leaked into it like toxic waste. It had been crafted to the last detail and was actually starting to...to...

Tears suddenly slipped out of her eyes. Tears of frustration and anger but tears of sadness too.

She moved around, testing her surroundings. She was still in her alpha state. That much was clear at least. She felt the power still coursing through her. Filling her with strength despite the fact that she also felt like she’d just been hit with a semi truck. The curious thing, however, was that whatever hit her did not affect her like it would have someone else. She wasn’t sure how she knew that but knew it was true nonetheless. She felt like maybe it was a last ditch effort on Bendis’ part to preserve herself. Maybe something unconscious. After all, if the goddess had used her power against her, it would bounce back on her as well. Bendis might have unleashed hell and death on everyone but Kendra was exempt from its killing power. Everyone else, however, was a different story. They were vulnerable to Bendis and Kendra was afraid that all of her friends and allies had just been brutally murdered. Their lives extinguished without a second thought.

“Kendra.” a voice whispered.

She recognized it immediately.

Conor.

“You’re okay. Don’t worry.” His voice was trying to be reassuring.

“I’m fine,” she muttered, her own voice hoarse and gravelly. “What about everyone else?”

She wasn’t sure where Conor was exactly but she could feel him next to her. His presence was like a healing salve to an open wound.

“I’m not sure. I’ll go look.” She felt him disappear but he was only gone for about three minutes maybe. “It appears that most of the mages were able to erect magical shields. There’ve been some deaths but it looks like a lot of people managed to survive whatever the hell that was. Your team is safe. For the moment at least.”

Conor’s demeanor changed and she felt his frustration.

“What?” she asked.

“You should get the hell out of here. I told you before this idea was not going to work. Turning Drake? Taking Bendis by surprise? There were too many variables. Too many unknowns. Now look. Everything has gone to shit so just run.” Conor was obviously mad but at this point, his attitude was unhelpful.

“I made the decision, Conor. There’s no going back now. Continuing to rub my nose in this obvious failure isn’t doing any good.” She was irritated but she couldn’t say she didn’t deserve his rebuke. It had been her plan. All of it. It had happened from that moment in the diner when she had connected with Drake’s mind. She had seen inside him again, but this time the anger and resolution to kill all of her kind was gone. Instead, she had seen remorse. Regret. His goal of revenge had a terrible price and she had seen how much it tore at him.

That price had been death and a horde of monsters that kill without thought or consequence. In essence, a world of death because of his choice. He had never wanted to be a monster but in a world full of them, there seemed to be little choice but to become one.

“He was on our side,” Kendra growled. “This, whatever this is, wasn’t his fault. I can...I can feel it. I would know.”

“I hope you're right because if you aren’t, everyone here is as good as dead,” Conor said.

“I can still feel your frustration,” Kendra told him, her voice still gravelly.

“What do you expect, Kendra?” he retorted. “A whole building was just dropped on top of you and I’m worried Bendis has something worse in store for you”

Kendra didn’t respond. There was nothing she could really say that would make him any less worried or frustrated with her. So instead, she took a second to marvel at how unafraid she was. There was a massive amount of rubble and ruin on top of her, a vampire army still trying to kill her and everyone she cared about, a psychotic goddess still out to get her and yet despite all of that, there was absolutely no fear boiling up inside her. Instead, all she felt was determination to see things through to the end. There was no other way. After everything that Bendis took from her, she refused to let the goddess walk away.

She felt the weight of the destroyed building on top of her, pressing down. It didn’t hurt but it wasn’t exactly comfortable either. She planted her hands down on some semi-stable bits of what used to be floor and then pushed with every bit of power and strength she had. There was a moment when the rubble wouldn't budge and a spike of terror slammed into her. The animalistic, primitive part of her mind wanted to panic but she didn’t give in to that fear. Instead, she felt her resolve harden even more and she poured even more strength into her body. A growl ripped out of her throat and finally, the rubble began to move and give way. She managed to force her way up and through it, clawing and ripping until, with one final, massive punch, she was out in open air and standing (somewhat precariously) on top of giant chunks of what used to be the Hotel Lycaon. During her struggle to extricate herself from the rubble, her arm had been broken in several spots. Seconds after she was free, she felt the familiar pops and crackles as the bones knitted themselves back together.

She glanced around her. At first, everything was dim and blurry. Clouds of dust swirled around. Rays of sunlight lanced through those clouds, creating bars of light in several spots. Part of the back wall of the hotel was still partially up but for the most part, the spot where the Hotel Lycaon had been was now just a crater. The destruction was immense and everywhere she looked, there were bodies. Her heart thumped uncomfortably in her chest until she realized that most of them were vampires. Unfortunately, there were several that were members of the Order, crushed by falling debris or worse and hadn’t had time to save themselves. She felt a twinge of guilt at their deaths, and the deaths of everyone else so far, but she couldn’t let that distract her.

She kept scanning the destruction and was relieved when she spotted Jenna, Felix, Deirdre, Ian, and most of her wolves. There was, however, no sign of Elijah, Abraham, or the rest of Charlie Team.

“Be careful,” Conor said. His eyes weren’t focused on Kendra though. They were locked onto Bendis and Drake, both of whom seemed to coalesce out of the dust-choked air like specters. There was a quiet, dark tone to his voice that she didn’t like very much. It reminded her of a different version of him. One she was not a fan of. For a brief second, there was a memory that flashed through her mind. The memory of a woman carrying grocery bags and walking across a parking lot at night. She tried to shove the rest of it away but it came to her head anyway, despite what she wanted. In a few moments, the memory showed Conor coming up behind the woman and then he…

She visibly shook her head and thankfully, that part of the memory dissolved before it could torture her again.

[I’ll be fine.] Kendra’s voice was a little harsher than she might have originally intended.

“Dad!?” Jenna suddenly yelled. There was fear and hysteria in her voice as she rummaged through all the debris.

Others started shouting for their missing friends and loved ones as well.

“Keep to the plan!” Kendra yelled, her eyes never leaving Bendis’.

“Have you seen my dad?” Jenna asked. The tips of her fingers were red and in some spots, bleeding from where she’d been digging in the rubble.

“No,” Kendra replied. “But we can’t worry about him or the others right now.”

“The hell I can’t!” Jenna yelled back. “He’s my dad, Kendra! I have to help him.”

“I know you do,” Kendra replied, her voice rough but still full of sympathy. “But I guarantee that if we don’t stop Bendis now, she’ll kill all of us and then make sure to slaughter anyone that survived the blast. We have to end her right now if we want to stay alive.”

Jenna didn’t say anything back but Kendra could tell she wasn’t happy with that response. Again, however, Kendra couldn’t let that distract her. Not if she wanted to save everyone from certain death.

“Kendra!” Bendis suddenly screamed. There was a shrill note of insanity threaded through the goddess’ voice.

Once, she might have been terrified of that voice. But that version of herself was gone now, replaced instead with a version that refused to lose anything or anyone else.

She started walking across the rubble and debris toward the goddess. She was growling low in her throat that was threatening to turn into a full-fledged howl. There were so many things, so many emotions, that threatened to overwhelm her as thoughts of all the messed up things Bendis had ever done to her swirled around her head.

Kendra pointed a long, clawed finger at Bendis. All that fury and rage was rushing up to meet her, comforting in its familiar embrace now. She wrapped herself in it and felt it slide across her mind like plates of armor. Whatever else happened, she was going to stop the goddess.

“You can’t hurt me!” Kendra yelled. “And I’m going to fucking end you. Right here and now!”

She was joined by Jenna, Ian, Deirdre, Felix, and everyone else that was able to stand on their feet. They fell into step behind her and although everyone still remembered the Bishop Media incident, no one showed any fear on their face. Instead, they looked determined.

Kendra turned her head to Jenna and gave her a slight, barely perceptible nod. Then she leaped into the air, using her immense strength to propel herself forward. Bendis, for her part, didn’t move. Not even an inch. She just let Kendra come at her, her eyes were eerily wild and filled with madness and the hollows there were thick with creepy, black traceries. Kendra closed the gap between them in record time. A few seconds and she was standing directly in front of her. She lashed out with everything she had, slashing with her claws and trying to tear out chunks but nothing seemed to work. It was like they were on two different planes of existence, which was, more or less, accurate she supposed. But that wasn’t the point of her seemingly pointless attacks.

The point was to bait her.

After the first round of useless attacks, Kendra bounded back, breathing somewhat hard. Her eyes darted to Drake for a split second and saw that he seemed unable to move. His body was stiff and rigid. There was a slight hesitation in her when she saw that and for a moment, all the threads of her plan felt like they’d just been cut in one cruel slice, but there was no turning back now. She knew that. Whatever the cost, she had to push forward and hope for the best. So, she dashed forward again, impossibly fast but Bendis was ready and this time, the goddess wasn’t content to just simply stand there and let the attacks phase through her. She wanted to embarrass and humiliate Kendra. Her arm flashed out and seized Kendra by the throat. Despite the fact that Kendra weighed several hundred pounds, Bendis was able to lift her off the ground with no trouble at all.

The hand around Kendra’s throat was like a solid band of iron was clamped there. She kicked and struggled, her hands scrabbling at Bendis’ in an effort to try and free herself. No matter what she did, however, she just couldn’t. The goddess was too strong. So she stopped struggling and instead, began laughing. It was insane, she knew that, but she couldn’t help it. It was all just so damned hilarious.

Bendis’ look of triumph vanished from her face and one of confusion replaced it.

“What is this?” Bendis screamed, clearly enraged. She yanked Kendra closer to her.

“Kendra!” Jenna screamed.