60

Trinity

Mark picked me up and carried me into another section of the forest. I heard Vash on the phone talking to someone behind us.

“The church is on the way. They’ve lost a guy already.”

“It’s Lucian,” Mark said, panting as he carried me forward. “He’s coming. I… I can’t tell how far, but he’s headed our way.”

I tried to turn back to see. I wanted to call out, but I closed my mouth. Now wasn’t the time if the look on Vash’s face was anything to go by.

“We’re going to run into trouble soon,” Vash said. “I can’t reach the other forces from the church.”

Mark stumbled to one side and crouched down. His grip on me slipped, and I slid down his back onto the ground. The dizziness hadn’t stopped, but having had a bit of time to rest, I felt a little better. Vash shoved me aside and forced Mark to turn toward her.

“Fuck,” she cursed. “Cut the link, Mark. Cut it now!”

“I…. I can’t,” he said breathlessly. Blood started to trickle out of his nose. “He can’t.”

Vash went still, and she clenched her jaw. “Get out of his head.”

“Where is Trinity?” Mark asked, and my heart leaped. It was his voice, but I knew that it wasn’t Mark talking.

“She’ll stay alive for as long as I know Mark will,” Vash said. “I’ve got a whole clip of silver with her name on it. Break the link now!”

Mark laughed, his shoulders shaking. “You think that I’m the only one after Trinity? You think that if you kill her that it will do anything for this man?”

“I don’t care!” She said and cocked her gun, aiming at me. “You’re trying my patience. Cut the link, now.”

Mark said nothing for a moment. “I can’t.”

“What the fuck do you mean you can’t?”

“The hook, as you call it, is too deep now,” Mark said. “One of us will have to die, but you should take solace in the fact that you won’t have to see that.”

Vash pressed growled. “Damn it, Mark, what have you done?”

“You know as much as I do that the church when they find out he can withstand such a connection, will dissect him. You want him alive. I’m not the one you have to worry about.”

Vash’s hands trembled on Mark’s collar. “What do you want, you fucker?”

“Let me in.”

She flinched. “Why?”

“I have need of you,” he said, meeting her gaze. “I have no need of a hook in you. I need to know what you know as I deal with these… Chaplains.”

Vash clenched her fists.

“Come now, Vash… you have so little time left… Is it not worth it to save his life?”

I looked between the two of them as Vash seemed to struggle with herself. Then, her eyes started to glow like the moon. Mark’s eyes glowed as well, and they were quiet for a long time.

Then, Vash tore away, choking and retching. Mark groaned.

“Damn it, Vash,” Mark choked. “You shouldn’t have—”

She went still as she lay there, and Mark grunted, getting onto his knees.

“Vash? Vash!” He said, turning her over. Blood gushed out of her nose and mouth. Her eyes were bloody. The scent of it made my stomach cramp with hunger as Mark continued to talk to her.

“Stay with me,” he said softly. “Stay with me, Vash.”

He dug around in his pockets for something as something rustled deeper in the woods. He lifted his gun and fired into the darkness. A glint of blue flame filled the air. I shuddered as he turned back to me. He looked down at Vash and then back to me.

“Go,” Mark said. “Follow the hiking trail until you hit the stone monolith, then turn right and head into the forest. You’ll hit camping ground.”

“But—”

“Just go!” Mark yelled at me. “I don’t have time to argue with you! Go!”

My jaw clenched. “I don’t have anything to protect myself with.”

Mark scoffed. “He’s nearby. Get moving, and you’ll probably run right into him.”

I turned back. Was Lucian that way? I stood and hurried down the path. I didn’t look back at the sound of gunshots and hissing vampires. Soon, the sound of the fight started to fade away. The quiet of the night started to bleed into my memories as if I had run into a forest like this before, but I couldn’t place it.

Instead, I saw the stone monolith up ahead and turned into the forest just as things started to get blurry. I stumbled and fell over a tree root as I tried to catch my breath. I heard something or someone coming up behind me.

A rabbit jumped out of the bushes, sending my heart into my chest.

For a moment, I just breathed. My eyes burned as I tried to focus. Lucian was near. Mark had said so. If I could just find Lucian, everything would be okay.

I lifted my head and met a pair of glowing eyes I didn’t recognize, not even a few feet away from me. The woman smiled at me, showing her sharp fangs.

“I found you,” she said softly. She wrinkled her nose. “You look nothing like I thought you would.”

I shuddered.

“I expected some great beauty, you know? To tempt the great Lucianus… but you just look like his dead wife… I suppose it doesn’t matter either way.”

She reached out to me. I screamed, trying to pull away, but two others appeared out of the shadows and lifted me off the ground. I tried to fight. My heart was hammering as they dragged me through the forest and away from the direction I was heading.

“Lucian!” I yelled. “Lucian, help me!” I cried.

They laughed and continued carrying me as tears started streaming down my face. Then, we reached a clearing that was full of moonlight.

There was a group of men in dark clothes. Each of them looked so severe as they threw me into the dirt at their feet.

“Wh-Who are you? What do you want with me?”

“Hold her,” the man in front said. “Let’s make this quick.”

I struggled as they grabbed me again, tilting my head back as they grabbed my hair. I screamed and tried to pull away as he opened a vial and grabbed my jaw.

“And with this, you will be as one of us,” he said. “A child of darkness with untold strength.”

My heart pounded in my chest. He shoved the vial into my mouth and tipped the dark liquid into my mouth. It was thick and coppery. I wanted to spit it out, but I couldn’t. Soon, it turned sweet, and I could feel something inside me changing. My heart slowed. My insides burned. For a moment, I wondered if our baby would be okay, but that thought faded in the back of my mind. Soon, I felt nothing. I heard nothing.

For a long moment, it was like my mind was cut off from everything in the world.

Was I dead?

No.

The warmth started turning hotter, burning in my blood like fire. I felt it filling every cell of my body, burning away everything that I had ever thought about it.

I saw Mark vanishing into the fire. My dad, my mother… then, Lucian vanished.

When I opened my eyes, the world felt too close and too real, as if everything was magnified. The sounds of the night sounded as loud as thunder. The crunching of dried leaves grated my ears. I tried to draw away from the sound, but then a scent caught my nose.

It was sweet and kind of meaty. My stomach clenched with hunger. I sat up stiffly and looked across the clearing where several people were gathered, talking about something that I couldn’t make out. It was like we were separated by water.

Had I been tired? It felt like I had been once, but I wasn’t now. I got to my feet easily. One of them turned to me and started coming towards me.

He lifted his hands. He gestured. He tried to grab me. His grip tightened as he kept talking to me. He was so close, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Then, I heard the thudding, a soft sound drawing me in like music. I was so hungry. I searched for the sound, unable to focus as the sound seemed to echo and multiply around me. Soon, I realized that the sounds were coming from these people.

From their hearts…

From their blood…

Something pricked inside my mouth. They looked like they had started laughing, but the hungry started to grow as I the sound of their hearts, the sound of the blood in their bodies seemed to grow louder. I lunged forward at the nearest person, a man. I heard someone scream as I sunk my teeth into his neck and drank.