🐺💣🔪 #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT 🔪💣🐺
🎴Happen 58 (L)
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
Theme: The Stance Of Ignorance
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As soon as the vampires realized they were being ambushed, they swung into hissing crouches, and the two sides clashed with feral roars from the werewolves.
I honed in on the nearest vampire, a scrawny female with white-blonde hair that fixated her menacing bright blue eyes on me with a snarl. We circled each other, and I patiently waited for her to attack. I knew instantly that I was stronger. It was some sort of instinct that told me she wasn’t very old for a vampire, and the newfound power pumping throu-gh my veins would allow me to kill her easily. I ba-red my fangs at her, almost as tall as her shoulder even while in Wolf form.
With an impatient gr-unt she lunged at me, moving surprisingly fast, but I sprung out of the way and turned to face her again. Apparently my rosary truly was drained of power because she had no issue getting close to me.
“What, is the little doggy scared?” The vampire’s eyes had darkened to pitch-black and her fangs were expo-sed, letting me know the demon inside of her was ma-king its pres£nce known. What caught my attention most, though, was her voice. I recognized her from the vampires I had been eavesdropping on earlier . . . the ones talking about abusing my Mate.
In the blink of an eye I lunged fas-ter than I ever had before. She had no time to dodge or even realize I was moving before I’d knocked her over, a furious snarl escaping my jaws. As she landed on her back with me on t©p of her, I thought I heard something crack, likely caused from the sheer f0rç£ I’d used. Panic fli-ckered in the black depths of her eyes and she struggled, attempting to get leverage to sink her fangs in my n£¢k, but I didn’t give her the chance. I lowered my head in a blur of movement and clamped my jaws around her jugular, b!tt!g down with incredible strength until I felt the bones crack and she l@ystill. Then I twisted with a j£rk of my head as if I were killing prey, and broke her n£¢k. That ought to knock her out for a while. I didn’t have time to behead her because another vampire was alre-ady approaching me.
The vampires had gotten over their initial shock and were clearly realizing they had us outnumbered. I could not focus on that, though; I had to take it one vampire at a time. A muscular male was stalking over to me, his brown hair long and tangled and his eyes feral. In another situation it would have been frightening to witness the sheer lack of humanity and compas-sion in his black orbs; they were voids of emotionless cruelty. He was an abomination.
Before he could make a move, a brown blur whizzed by and Will collided with him from behind, ma-king the vampire stagger and howl in agony as Will sank his teeth into the closest flesh he could reach: the vampire’s arm. I took this opportunity to leap at the bloodsu-cker from the other side. As the vampire struggled, swinging wildly as he tried to pry his arm from Will’s iron grip, I caught his other arm in my mouth. Trying to ignore the acidity of his blood, I gave a mighty wrench, putting in every ounce of f0rç£ that I could.
With a disgusting squelching sound the arm c@m£ loose and the vampire coll@psed, writhing in pain. My stomach heaved at the macabre sight but I had to remember that these were demons and they deserved what they got. Will broke the creature’s n£¢k and tossed me a wolf grin.
I barked in warning, my eyes wi-dening as I saw a vampire practically materialize behind Will and leap on his back, hissing and burying his teeth into the skin behind Will’s n£¢k. Knowing how agonizing a vampire’s bite was, I leapt forward, attempting to st©p the as-sault as Will crumpled to the ground. Before I could help him, I s-en-sed movement to my left and I leapt out of the way to narrowly avoid another vampire.
The incoming vampire left me no time to help Will as he leapt at me and I narrowly dodged. I could tell he was fas-ter than the ones before, but I still felt as if I had the upper hand, especially with Gabriel’s ess£nce running throu-gh my veins. We continued to dance around each other, the vampire lunging and me dodging, looking for an opening to exploit his defenses.
“I know who you are,” he hissed, the words slithering out of his mouth like uncoiling snakes. “You’re the head dog’s bit-ch. The Master said you had that rosary. Isn’t doing you much good now, is it?”
I ignored his taunts, still observing him closely for any faltering step, any weak link.
“I bet you’d scream if we did to you what we did to him.” He smiled, his fangs grotesquely glinting in the dim lighting emanating from the church.
I couldn’t help it; that got to me. I sprung at him but he danced out of my reach, and as I turned to face him, I felt the brush of air above me and the heavy pressure of the vampire landing on my back.
I reacted on instinct, moving in the blink of an eye before he could sink his teeth into me. I rolled, attempting to crush him with my weight, but he flung himself off of my back and out of the way in the nick of time, skidding across the gras-s. I clambered to my feet and instantly leapt at him again as he regained his balance. The vampire tried to dodge, but he did not quite have my speed and my shoulder collided with him, knocking him backwards. I pressed my advantage and snapped at him, my jaws catching onto his shi-t and a chunk of his flesh.
As he roared in outrage I used my grip on his shi-t to fling the vampire away from me and into the nearest tree. He collided with the trunk with a heavy thud and slid to the ground, dazed. I made short work of breaking his n£¢k while he was stunned.
I glanced around as there was a break in vampires, sp©tting Will still limp on the ground. Theo was battling the vampire that had bitten Will and while they were still engaged I dashed over to my friend. He was still breathing, but his eyes were half-shut as the pain washed over him. I whined softly with sympathy.
Skylar! My mother skrie-ked, terror ringing in her tone, and I abruptly took off from Will’s prone figure as I tried to find her. I sp©tted her light-colored Wolf tra-pped un-derneath two vampires that were scratching at her and attempting to get their fangs past her scrambling paws.
I barreled into both of them without further do, knocking them clean away from my mother. I leapt onto the nearest one and sank my canines into her n£¢k until she st©pped struggling, surprise still evident in her black eyes. I spit out the acidic blood that had gotten into my mouth as I tried not to choke. Before I could finish her off, though, something cold gr@bb£d the ruff of fur on the back of my n£¢k.
Half a second later I was flying across the clearing, too surprised to get my paws un-der me and landing heavily on my side instead. I rolled end-over-end a few times, coming to an abrupt st©p when I collided with a tree. Whoever had gr@bb£d me was very strong and had thrown me far; my b©dy felt bruised. Whimpering softly, I scrambled up, breathing ha-rd . I hadn’t realized how much effort I’d expended.
There was nob©dy around me. p@n-ting, I glanced around in confusion; who had thrown me here? I turned in a slow circle, scanning the trees intently for any sign of movement.
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Hall Of Supernatural Stories
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“Hello, Skylar,” a voice drawled, dripping with derision and cruelty. My stomach plummeted.
Cain emerged from the trees, eyes glimmering with ba-rely-controlled menace. Although his voice had been light, he definitely looked pissed. I firmly held my ground and tried not to let my fear show. I knew I was no match for Cain. No other vampires approached us, and I had no doubt he told them to leave me . . . I was his target now. Where had Raziel gone? He was supposed to be distracting Cain. I wished in that moment that I could mentally contact the Angel. None of the wolves would be able to help me in this situation.
I glanced around in my peripheral vision. We were a short distance away from the rest of the werewolves engaged in battle. Cain had literally thrown me out of the fight to get me alone. Still, we were within hearing distance. I could only hope Raziel would realize what was going on.
Cain’s hulking figure glided closer completely soundlessly and he began to shake his head.
“Everything had been going so well. Your Alpha and I had a deal.” He gave an exaggerated sigh before his voice ha-rd ened into something much angrier. “Then you werewolves had to come and fv¢k it all up.”
I growled in response, eyes observing the tiniest movements he made. I expected him to strike at any second.
“Why couldn’t you just let us be? We would have left your pack alone.”
Even if I could have spoken, I wouldn’t have responded.
“I’m sure it had something to do with some misdirected s-en-se of obligation to the other werewolves of the world. Tsk tsk, Skylar. You’re a Luna now. You nee-d to learn how to look after your own.”
I snorted at the irony of his statement; Cain was telling me how to be a leader?
“I don’t appreciate that tone, Skylar,” he patronized me, infuriating my Wolf.
I realized then that Cain clutched something in his right hand. It was a book of some sort, and upon closer examination, I realized his wrist had been slashed. So he’d alre-ady completed some p@rt of the Ritual, then. That was not a good sign.
“Anyhow, I would love to stay and chat with you, but I’m afraid I nee-d your help with something.” A lazy sm-irk stretched across his face, which still looked human. He was not yet angry enough to let the vampiric side make itself visible.
There was something ominous in his words and I felt my fur stand up on end. I dug my claws into the ground and crouched lower, prepared to defend myself no matter the cost. Even if Cain was stronger I would fight him valiantly. My Wolf itched to sink our teeth into his milky skin. Slowly and deliberately, Cain dropped the book he’d been holding and it fell to the gras-s with a dull thud. The dark blood on his wrist glistened in the scarce moonlight that permeated the trees.
“You see, I have to st©p all of this nons-en-se somehow. We won’t want poor Gabriel getting any rebellious ideas.” His electric eyes glimmered. “You’re my best option.”
I should’ve expected the move, should’ve prepared for it somehow, but Cain was insanely fast. I was able to detect the whizzing blur as he moved from in front of me to behind me, and I even managed to p@rtially turn around, prepared to launch myself at him, but I was too slow and my snapping jaws missed him by a hair. As if I weighed nothing, even as a Wolf, Cain wra-pped one arm around my stomach and the other around my n£¢k while lifting me in the air, my back pressed against his front. I struggled ferociously, uncomfortable with my paws off of the ground as the vampire held me aloft. In an abrupt shift of position, Cain spun and re-leased his iron grip on me, using his momentum to hurl me towards the nearest tree.
He definitely didn’t hold back. In human form all of my bones would’ve been crushed as I slammed into the tree trunk, causing it to splinter and break from the f0rç£ of my weight. As a Wolf, all of the breath left my b©dy in a whoosh and I was unable to right myself, coll@psing onto the gras-s at the base of the tree in a heap. The side of my b©dy that had made contact with the tree felt like it was on fire and it hurt to get air into my lungs. Wheezing, I stirred, trying to get into a standing position once more, but my shaky lim-bs would not support me.
“Antonio,” Cain gr-unted an order, and the dark vampire materialized in front of us. His shaggy hair mostly obscured the leer on his lean face as he lifted something in front of me. A grotesque grin stretched across his bloodstained mouth as I registered what the object was and my eyes wi-de-ned in horror.
A syringe. Cain took it delicately and muttered something to Antonio that sounded like ‘fetch the goblet’. Nodding, and tossing me another sneer, Antonio took off in the opposite direction.
Strolling almost casually towards my still huddled figure, Cain held the nee-dle where it was still clearly visible. I felt a newfound surge of energy as I knew that whatever was in there would cause abominable pain. Again, I tried to leap to my feet, and this time I was successful although half my b©dy still seared with pain from my collision with the tree.
It didn’t matter; Cain was still too fast and I was weakened. He surged forward and knocked my front legs out from un-der me. I felt a flash of humiliation as I coll@psed again but this feeling was quic-kly replaced by horror as I felt a heavy pressure on my back.
I howled my fury, br@cing myself for the pain that was soon to come as Cain plunged the nee-dle into my n£¢k. It was silver, it had to be.
My suspicions proved correct as a wave of pain so profound crashed over me that all that escaped my jaws was a weak whimper. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I felt my grip on my Wolf escaping, sli-pping away from me. I could not hold my form any longer, all I could focus on was the overwhelming pain. Dimly I realized that I was Shifting back into human form but there was nothing I could do about it. I s£nt out a mental cry for help; that someone, anyone would come take the pain away. I knew the silver was quic-kly working its way throu-gh my bloodstream, though, and no doubt my mental call was futile.
My fur and claws receded, fangs snapping back into my mouth as a wall bec@m£ erected between my Wolf and me. I couldn’t feel her or s-en-se her, and any communications with my pack were shut off as the silver left me powerless. I tried to focus on the trees around me, the sky, even Cain, but everything was obscured by the thick haze of agony. I had lost controlled movement in all of my lim-bs. Eyes blurred with tears, I saw Cain’s dark shape hovering close by and it seemed like he was reaching for me. I would’ve sma-cked his arm away but the dizziness and disorientation prevented me from even lifting a f!nger, and my stomach roiled with nausea.
I could’ve sworn I felt Cain picking me up before I lost consciousness.
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~~~~~~~Gabriel’s POV~~~~~~~~
The cathedral stank of humans. The overpowering stench of their skin and sweat made my stomach churn. It was ironic, walking into a holy place, given my bloodline. I half expected to feel some sort of kinsh!pwith the Angelic figures painted on the walls, but instead all I could think about was the smell of the place.
Well, that and the unholy act I was about to commit.
What I really wanted to do was wring Cain’s n£¢k with my ba-re hands. I knew I could do it; he was strong, but in the end, the demon inside of him could not stand up to the holy blood pumping throu-gh my veins and we both knew it. The age-old concept of ‘good-trumps-evil’ should have proved true in this case.
*
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
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But he is persistent, and relentless. He will never st©p until he gets what he wants, my Wolf growled, his hatred for Cain seeping into his tone.
You would know something about that, I replied coolly.
I would indeed, he retorted.
My Wolf was a prideful, stubborn, and savage creature. For years now, nothing had been able to tame him. I had my father to thank for the monster he’d created . . . the monster that rarely reared its ugly head anymore. Not since that fateful Meeting, when I had found my only weakness, and only thing I truly enjoyed living for.
Unfortunately for werewolves everywhere, Cain knew this one weakness.
It was her. It had always been her and those blue eyes, too naïve and innocent to give any indication that she should be Mated to someone like me. Yet Fate had put us together, and from the first moment I saw her, I knew she’d be the death of me as much as she’d be my salvation. I knew that Cain would somehow exploit our bond, find the chink in my armor. Because no matter how much I loathed the bloodsu-ckers and wanted to save my own kind, I couldn’t put Skylar at risk. I was too protective of her. As much as I tried to resist her, my feelings had de-epened into something I never would’ve recognized before we met.
Closing my eyes briefly, I attem-pted to push thoughts of her from my mind. The more I thought about Skylar, the closer I was to letting my walls down for just a moment, just so I could s-en-se her pres£nce before I went throu-gh with this. I glanced down, seeing that the burn marks on my arms had nearly faded. As if I weren’t alre-ady blocking everyone out, Cain had kept silver chains wra-pped around me at all times, just in case I tried to call for help. Although silver didn’t weaken me as much as the ordinary werewolf, he had found the purest silver and piled it on. I gritted my teeth, not relishing the memory of the past few days. They had been painful, to say the least.
The cathedral had intricate murals and carvings on the walls depicting various Biblical scenes, but I took little time to observe the scenery as I strode down the center aisle towards the altar. Despite it being pitch-black outside, the cathedral was lit sporadically, yet completely abs£nt of humans. Cain had conveniently disposed of the security as soon as we arrived. The building had incredibly thick walls, so sounds of the outside world were practically inaudible. My own heartbeat seemed overly loud amidst the silence.
In my right hand I held a sack containing a silver blade and a goblet. My task was simple enough: slash the wrist, horizontally not vertically, and fill the goblet as much as I could. I knew that my wound would begin to heal before the goblet was too full but I had to follow instructions as best as I could.
My Wolf let out a ferocious snarl, absolutely despising the idea of following someone else’s orders . . . especially Cain’s. I ignored his protests and resumed my purposeful walk throu-gh the silent room. The Alpha side of me was difficult to push down, but I would do it for her sake. I would let the vampires walk in the sunlight if it meant my pack would be safe. After all, Cain couldn’t kill me. That was the only leverage I had. Even if he escaped my Wolf’s jaws, he would never be able to come back to haunt me. I would give my life up in an instant if it meant saving hers. Cain knew I wasn’t bluffing when I told him I’d end my life if he ever c@m£ back.
That is, if I didn’t successfully kill him tonight.
Reaching the altar, I pushed away the Biblical para-phernalia on the surface to make room for Cain’s objects. I wasn’t sure what exactly he’d done to the goblet but it had a sinister aura, as if it had been cursed in some way. I was surprised it didn’t combust into flames in this holy place. I set it down cautiously before pu-lling out the long knife and tossing the empty bag to the side.
I took a de-ep breath, reaching my arm out over the goblet. I would have to do this willingly, I knew. If Cain took my blood without my permission, it would be a Hell of a lot worse for him. The vengeful side of me wanted him to suffer. After all of this was throu-gh, when I got the chance to kill him I planned on ma-king it as excruciating as possible. My Wolf would not be satisfied with anything less. He was a vengeful best that had only shown a more forgiving side after we found our Mate.
I closed my eyes again, letting her face flash throu-gh my mind. It made all of this easier, it made helping the bloodthirsty bastard almost acceptable. Just before I broke the surface of my skin, I heard something near the back of the church.
Muffled footsteps.
I dropped the knife and instantly dropped into a defensive crouch, a low growl escaping my throat. Cain and his minions couldn’t enter the church; so who, then? A wandering human?
Slowly, a dark figure materialized in the back of the church, far behind the altar in a back corridor, and approached. It wasn’t lit in that area so I took a de-ep whiff to determine the identity of the intruder. Without a breeze and amidst the overwhelming smell of human, it took me a second longer to identify who it was.
It can’t be. My Wolf growled incredulously as the scent triggered something in the back of my mind, a faraway memory from my childhood that was almost a blur. Dark hair, radiant eyes, the smell of flowers and a chiming laugh . . .
I was sure my face registered complete and total shock as the dim lighting revealed someone I had never thought I’d see again:
My Mother.
She ba-rely looked older, with the same tumbling dark curls, brown eyes, sculpted features that ran throu-ghout our bloodline. For a split second I wondered if I was hallucinating or somehow seeing a ghost or spirit. Was that even possible? I was contemplating my sanity when Rebekah spoke gently, in her melodic voice,
“It’s me, Gabriel. I’m really here.” She spoke as if she heard what I was thinking but I was still rendered speechless as she st©pped a few feet in front of me. Her eyes took me in greedily, examining every feature of my face, likely comparing me to the child she remembered. Rebekah did not t©uçh me, though. She looked as if she itched to reach out and t©uçh my face but she resisted.
My Wolf had gone eerily quiet. I blinked once, twice, trying to adjust to the surrealism of this situation.
“How?” I finally asked, my voice coming out steady despite my inner turmoil. I could not comprehend how Raziel would’ve woken her up or how she knew I was here. Cain had been very secretive about the location and was confident nob©dy was on our trail.
I wasn’t even sure how I felt about seeing Rebekah again. I felt a flash of anger as I remembered the way she’d left, abandoned me to my Father’s clutches. I tried to squash the unruly emotion before it made me say something I would regret. I still had to come to terms with the corporeal being standing right in front of me.
“It was Skylar. She woke me up,” my Mother said gently. Hearing my Mate’s name s£nt a jo-lt of electricity throu-gh me and my heart skipped a beat.
“How did she know to-“
“I don’t have time to give you a lot of answers, Gabriel,” my Mother cut me off, irritating my Wolf. I pushed his complaints aside as I took in the look of urgency on her face. I still could scarcely believe she was really here, and I almost expected her to vanish into thin air at any second.
She continued, “The others, Raziel, your pack members and your Mate, are all here. They have a plan to-“
“Skylar is HERE?” The words were thun-derous and I felt horror bubbling to the surface. “Where Cain can get to her?” For a second I forgot how bizarre the situation was as fury struck. How could Raziel let this happen?
“Listen, Gabriel!” My Mother ordered, and I recognized something in her tone from when I was younger. A distant p@rt of me acknowledged the authority ringing in her voice. “There are some things you don’t know about this Ritual.
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#Tobecontinued……