🐺💣🔪 #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT 🔪💣🐺
🎴Happen 59 (L)
Word Count : 4,515
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
Theme: Double Alters
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You plan to kill Cain after he drinks your blood, right? Well you won’t be able to. He will be incapacitated, but so will you. That’s how the transfiguration p@rt of the Ritual works. During the time the changes are occurring, you won’t be able to fight. Cain’s counting on the fact that you don’t know that p@rticular tidbit of information.”
I stared at her, feeling my stomach plummet. Who was supposed to kill Cain if I could not? “Are you implying that you will kill him instead?”
She shook her head quic-kly. “No. I have a different plan, if you’ll just st©p asking questions and listen.” For a second I thought I saw a glimmer of amusement in her eyes, very out of place for this situation, before it vanished.
I nodded. I still had a multitude of questions whizzing throu-gh my br@in, such as the details of Rebekah’s awakening and how the Hell they had found me, but the logical side of me knew I had to wait. “Go on.”
“Angel blood all smells the same, and it’s very overpowering. You and I share the same werewolf bloodline as well, meaning our blood will practically have identical scents. Cain won’t know the difference.”
My eyes wi-de-ned marginally as I realized where she was going with this.
“Take my blood instead. I will be incapacitated for the Ritual, but you won’t be. You will catch Cain off guard because he will expect you to be weakened. He doesn’t know I’m alive.” She held out a slender, pale wrist. “You can make the cut for me, too, so the blood won’t be given voluntarily.”
“You expect me to sacrifice your blood for that bastard?” Her plan made s-en-se but something inside of me felt appalled.
“I have more Angel blood inside of me than you do. Cain won’t be able to tell the difference while drinking it, but after . . . he’ll be in even more pain than if he drank your blood.”
I observed her silently for several seconds, weighing the pros and cons. I did not want to cause her pain but if it meant killing Cain and saving Skylar and the pack, in the end it would be worth it.
“You’re sure he’ll fall for it?”
“Unless he’s drun!kyour blood before and knows the exact taste, I’m sure. Like I said, even though our werewolf genes are somewhat different, the Angel blood will overpower the slight taste variation.” She turned her head to the side, then, as if she were observing something beside me, but her eyes were distant. “Then you can kill him while he’s weak, like you planned.”
I contemplated, the more distrustful side of me not wanting to use a plan that I didn’t concoct.
You’re wasting time thinking about it. She’s out there, my Wolf snapped. I knew he was right.
“Fine. We’ll use your plan, then. Give me your wrist.”
A tiny, half-smile had graced my mother’sl-ips. “You really have turned into an Alpha,” she murmured quietly, catching me off guard. I looked away, jaw clenched. It was a foreign s-en-sation to see affection on my Mother’s face. I hadn’t witnessed affectionate care from my parents since I was six or seven years old. My Wolf stirred uncomfortably. He didn’t remember those days. They were fli-ckering images in my peripheral vision that I couldn’t quite focus on or bring into clarity, and my Wolf had long since lost the ability to recall the happiness we’d experienced when I was a child.
As she held out her arm I pu-ll-ed it toward me but paused, wanting to as-sure I had every facet of the plan worked out. “Is he still out there?” The thought of Cain fighting my pack members worried me; they didn’t stand a chance. She didn’t stand a chance.
My mother nodded once, her expression changing into a serious one again. “Raziel has Cain distracted right now. There’s a lot going on out there.”
Narrowing my eyes slightly, I listened for a moment, using my enhanced s-en-ses to detect noise even throu-gh the cathedral’s heavy doors that blocked out most of the outside clamor. When I concentrated, I realized I could hear snarls and hisses from the clearing outside of the cathedral. My pack must have ambushed the vampires a minute or two after I entered the building. My Wolf wanted me to run out there now and make sure Skylar was okay. I growled low in my throat, forcing my feet to remain still. Cain was the source of the problem. I had to take care of him.
My mother held out her wrist again expectantly, and I saw steely determination in her dark eyes.
Her plan made s-en-se. I hadn’t seen her for over fifteen years but I trusted her knowledge of the Ritual. I had no choice. Not one to hesitate, I gr@bb£d the knife in one fluid motion, pu-ll-ed her wrist towards me, and slashed horizontally across the pale skin. Dropping the knife, I pu-ll-ed her arm so the blood would drip into the goblet. Rebekah winced ever-so-slightly and I tried to keep a straight face, not expecting how much it would affect me to t©uçh her again, let alone harm my own flesh and blood.
I squee-zed her arm near the wound so that the blood pumped out fas-ter, dripping into the goblet in a scarlet stream. The stench permeated the air and my Wolf growled restlessly. Rebekah bit her l!pand looked away from the morbid scene, waiting patiently for a tense minute until it began to heal. Being half-Angel, silver ba-rely affected her, and she had an incredibly fast healing rate.
Once the goblet was full enough I gr@bb£d the knife again. My Mother glanced at me, alarmed. “What are you doing?”
“Cain will notice if I’m giving my blood but I have no wound, or even a scratch.”
Before I could think twice, I cut into my own flesh, remaining stoic despite the pain that sh0t up my arm. I carelessly let the blood drip into one of the empty bowls on the altar, not wanting Cain to scent it on my clothes.
“Will you dispose of that?” I asked Rebekah, indicating the bowl with a j£rk of my head. I had no qualms giving her an order despite our relationsh!p. It was easy to go into Alpha-mode. She nodded and handed me the goblet of her blood, a strange expression contorting her features. I turned back towards the doors to the cathedral, preparing to head back and get this over with as soon as possible.
I’d only taken a few steps when something made me hesitate . . . some tiny p@rt of me that still vaguely remembered the Rebekah from my childhood, with her gentle smiles and nurturing nature that was such a stark contrast from my father. I turned back over my shoulder, taking her in for a few seconds. It was ha-rd to accept that she was back, and ha-rder still to un-derstand how I felt about the situation.
Rebekah took quic-k strides to catch up to me until I was looking directly down at her. She slowly raised a hand and I tried not to flin-ch or back away, focusing on the side of me that had missed her all these years, instead of the p@rt of me that still condemned her actions. Instead of cu-pping my face like I expected, Rebekah gr@bb£d the collar of my shi-t and moved it aside, revea-ling the red Mark that Skylar’s fangs had created.
“Still looks fresh,” my Mother breathed.
“It took a long time for yours to fade.” There was a bitterness in my tone that I’d been hoping to avoid. Something fli-ckered in my Mother’s eyes then: self-loathing, de-ep and evident.
“Gabriel . . . before you go out there, I have to say it. I’m sorry for leaving you. I never should have. I was trying to do the right thing and protect you from the vampires-“
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Hall Of Supernatural Stories
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“And get away from my father. You replaced him pretty quic-kly.”
Hurt shimmered in the depths of her eyes before her face ha-rd ened. “If I could’ve chos£n to stay with your father and protect you, if I could’ve chos£n to keep my Mark from fading, I would have.”
“I will never leave Skylar. I don’t care if it fades or not.”
Rebekah observed me keenly, a smile curving herl-ips again. “You really care about her, don’t you?”
Something in her tone indicated that her words had a dee-per meaning. I blinked down at her incredulously. My Wolf growled in affirmation at the same time I said, “Of course.” I wasn’t sure why she was even asking me a question like that. Skylar had become the center of my universe; she had saved me from being savage and ha-rd -hearted for the rest of my life. She had shown me how to feel again. That was something I’d never be able to repay, but I’d spend my life trying to make up for what I’d put her throu-gh.
“I may have fallen out of love with David against my will, but I still loved you. You were everything I had. Everything I did was to protect you. If leaving Skylar meant saving her, at least for a while, would you do it? Would you hurt yourself to protect her well-being?”
I remained stonily silent, absorbing her words. I could recognize her logic, but it did nothing to salvage my childhood. I re-leased a heavy breath; I did not have time to explore my lost connection with my mother now. I had to st©p Cain.
“We don’t have any more time to waste,” I muttered a quic-k reply, and turned to stride off again. I had to prioritize, and rekindling some sort of familial relationsh!pcould not be the number one priority right now, no matter how strongly Rebekah’s pres£nce had affected me.
Skylar was out there. Every second could mean danger for her, and she c@m£ first. My Wolf barked his agreement and urged me on.
“I’m going to escape out the back; Cain can’t know I’m here.” Rebekah said, taking a step back towards the altar.
I growled affirmation. “We’ll talk later,” I stated, though I was still torn. I couldn’t get over the notion of Rebekah being a ghost, some sort of vision of happier times. It was eerie and made me uneasy, which was not an easy thing to do. Shrugging off the discomfort I strode towards the exit.
Just before I reached the cathedral doors, though, I couldn’t resist turning over my shoulder once more. “Be safe,” I said, very quietly, knowing she could still hear me. Rebekah’s expression softened and she attem-pted to smile as she di-pped her head in acknowledgment.
With my free hand, I r0ûghly shoved the cathedral doors and marched outside into the chaos.
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The air was torn with feral snarls and screeches of pain, and several patches of gras-s were stained scarlet. There were limp figures scattered on the ground but to my profound relief they all looked like vampires. Pride for my pack’s fighting abilities briefly flashed throu-gh me but I could not shake a pervading s-en-se of worry; this had not been the plan. This was not what Cain and I agreed on. I knew that my pack meant well, but some p@rt of me knew it could ruin the chances of my strategy being successful.
I scanned the area, looking for a familiar silver Wolf, but I could not find her. The battling vampires and werewolves stayed in clumps of two or three and were spaced out across the clearing and even into the woods. I knew she had to be uninjured, because I hadn’t felt any pain. Amidst the multitude of scents I could not precisely locate her.
Carefully clutching the goblet as to not spill a single drop of Rebekah’s blood, I sought out Cain or Raziel. The vampire leader was nowhere to be found. My own pack members had yet to notice my pres£nce and a few vampires dashed by, ignoring me completely as they headed to help more of their own.
My Wolf itched to break out of my skin and tear into Cain’s coven, protecting my pack, but I could not risk ruining my only chance to weaken him. I growled in frustration as I realized how torn I was between killing every vampire within a mile of Skylar or killing Cain, thereby st©pping the source of the problem.
My choice was made for me when I heard a vampire ra-pidly approaching. Cain’s right-hand vampire, Antonio, cleared his throat from beside me and ba-red his fangs. “The goblet, if you plea-se,” he hissed. “You’re to follow me to the master.”
I wanted to extend my claws and rake them across his face but I exercised an extraordinary amount of self-restraint, handing the goblet over.
Taking orders from this pathetic excuse for a hunter. Look how low we’ve sunk, my Wolf snarled in derision. I knew that he un-derstood why we were doing this, but his pride was insurmountable and I could sympathize with that. Remaining silent I conjured up a mental image of Skylar, the way she’d looked slee-ping beside me the last night I had seen her.
That calmed him down.
Antonio j£rked his head and I followed him towards the nearest fringe of trees, Sk-irting the dueling werewolves.
I feel like a traitor to our own kind, following this bloodsu-cker while our pack fights.
It’ll be worth it, was my short response. Nearby, Eli finished off a vampire and glanced around, his Wolf’s eyes meeting mine. Shock flashed throu-gh his expression, closely followed by confusion. I could tell he was about to approach me but I quic-kly shook my head. I willed him with my eyes not to follow. I wanted to mentally contact him, to explain everything, but opening my mind would let Skylar in, too.
The thought occurred to me then that perhaps I could let them in, explain the plan to them and why it was the best possible way that would get the least number of werewolves killed. Before they showed up to help me, I didn’t have to worry about casualties. Except for myself. Now, everything had changed.
My thought process was abruptly caught off by a sharp pain that blossomed in my che-st and radiated throu-ghout my core, leaving me reeling. I caught onto the nearest tree for balance, letting out a sharp breath of air as I recognized that the pain was just an echo. It was Skylar’s pain, not mine. I clenched my fists as the agony continued to as-sault me in waves. Blinking ra-pidly I shoved off of the tree, my Wolf howling in fury that someone had dared as-sault our Mate.
It was Cain, it had to be. He had t©uçhed Skylar, and right now the only thing I could think of was ripping his head off.
Ignoring the burning that still permeated my entire being I took off in the direction Antonio had been leading me. I tilted my head and scented the air, realizing that we had gotten a lot closer to Skylar and I could scent the delicate smell of honeysu-ckle nearby. While it normally calmed me, right now I felt the anger consume me and I was dangerously close to Shifting. I held back on sheer instinct; if Cain had her, I would nee-d to use my words to negotiate, so being in Wolf form wouldn’t help.
Even as the pain eased I plunged recklessly throu-gh the un-dergrowth, moving as fast as the blink of an eye. At that pace it only took me seconds to locate them. They hadn’t gone far from the main battle.
I c@m£ to a skidding st©p when I saw the position she was in. Skylar was in human form, her beautiful b©dy put on displ@yfor everyone to see, which only angered me further. I could see dark veins standing out against her pale skin which meant she’d been laced with silver. I snarled ferociously as I eyed Cain, who was holding her upright, one arm supporting her b©dy and the other behind her head.
*
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
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I knew instantly that if I moved to attack, he would kill her. I knew that Cain could behead her or rip her heart out in the same amount of time it would take me to lunge at him. He was strong enough to do so, and while I may have had more brute strength, his speed matched mine….or it was close enough.
Even if I thought I was the tiniest bit fas-ter, I was not willing to risk her life on it. My Wolf, too, was trying to hold back, seeing her vulnerability. With so much silver in her system Skylar was even more fragile than normal.
It was then that I wondered where the hell Raziel was. Rebekah had said he was distracting Cain, but the Angel was nowhere to be seen.
It caused my che-st to ache painfully, seeing her unconscious, lolling head. I wanted to rip her out of Cain’s arms, and I turned my burning gaze on him. Any other vampire would’ve flin-ched at my ferocity but Cain just sneered. He reached up a hand and casually brushed Skylar’s dark curls away from her pale face.
“Don’t you fv¢king t©uçh her,” my Wolf and I said at the same time, my voice coming out as a guttural growl.
“Now, now, Gabriel. Don’t be hasty. You know what I’ll do if you come closer. You may be a brute but you have enough common s-en-se to hold yourself back . . . so it seems.”
“I have the blood,” I snarled.
Cain glanced over his shoulder. “Yes, I’m as-suming Antonio got the goblet from you?”
I stared him down, knowing it was a rhetorical question. My Wolf paced back and forth, wanting to bur-st out of my skin and tear Cain to shreds. The depth of feeling he had for Skylar was proven by his restraint in that moment.
“I guess we should wait while he . . . catches up. He can’t run as quic-kly as you while carrying that goblet. We wouldn’t want to waste that precious blood of yours.” The word ‘precious’ c@m£ out as a hiss. I remained silent.
“de-siree. Val. Mordecai,” Cain barked, and three vampires appeared shortly thereafter. “Guard the perimeter. Make sure none of the other werewolves wander this way.” The vampires obliged, surrounding us and facing the cathedral a short distance away.
“She is lovely, isn’t she?” Cain leisurely looked down, eyeing Skylar’s n-ked b©dy. A red haze entered my vision and another growl erupted from my che-st, even though my logical side knew he was taunting me. I felt my canines starting to grow so I closed my eyes briefly to wipe away the image of Cain ogling Skylar’s form.
“Don’t worry, though. It’s not enough silver to kill her, especially since you two have Mated.” For some reason, a cunning look flashed throu-gh Cain’s eyes as he spoke. I glared at him as I tried to decipher it.
“I have to say, though, your wolves almost ruined everything. I was about to head out with Skylar, here. If you had tried to make some sort of grand getaway I would’ve taken her.” His teeth flashed as he smiled. “I see you un-derstand reason. Maybe I un-derestimated your recklessness.” Cain frowned, as if in de-ep contemplation, though there was a mocking aura about the expression. “Still, I wonder how they found me . . .”
I wondered that myself.
I’m going to tear his eyes out for looking at our Mate, and then I’m going to rip his head off, once all of this is over, my Wolf stated venomously, his violent nature emerging. I could not disagree with him.
“Ah, Antonio!” Cain said, just as the vampire c@m£ into sight, moving as quic-kly as possible without spilling the goblet’s contents. “Finally, I can get this over with. A wound caused by a blessed object tends to sting.” He grinned sarcastically, held up his wrist, and I saw the de-ep g@sh there.
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Hall Of Supernatural Stories
*
From what I’d picked up the last few days, the Ritual consisted of Cain re-ading from some ancient, powerful tome, slicing himself with a Holy object, and then drinking my blood, all on a holy site (well, as close as he could get to one). Looking closely I sp©tted the book resting on the ground a short distance away. Like the goblet, it had a sinister aura practically shimmering around it. I knew it was very dangerous and didn’t want to guess what he’d gone throu-gh to get it. I was un-der the impression it was one-of-a-kind and very dark magic . . . if there was such a thing.
As if re-ading my thoughts, Cain glanced at the book. “Bring it to me. I have my hands full.” He win-ked and I ba-red my fangs at him. Skylar was still dangerously still and it was painful to see her so helpless. I was supposed to be holding her and helping her, and now I was practically useless. Not a fitting position for an Alpha Wolf, failing to protect his own Mate. I felt the self-loathing unfurl de-ep within me, a familiar feeling. My Wolf was trembling, scarcely controlling his anger and snarling curses at Cain.
Trying to shake it off, I planned ahead. As soon as Cain drank the blood and bec@m£ weak, I would strike. According to Rebekah he wouldn’t expect me to not be affected at all.
Antonio held the book out towards Cain, who shook his head, eyes fl!çk!ng to me and back to Antonio. “Page fifty-eight. Find it.”
The vampire obliged, awkwardly rifling throu-gh the book while still clutching the goblet in his other hand, and held the book aloft once it was at the right page. Cain sm-irked slightly, observing me. “I trust you won’t try any sudden moves. It’ll be quite easy to kill her before you can make it. Antonio, watch him, and interfere if he tries to attack.”
The dark vampire gr-unted an approval, and without further ado, Cain began to re-ad from the book while Antonio held it in his free hand. The words were completely foreign to me, as they were spoken in a raspy, choppy language I had never heard, but whatever incantation he used was ringing with power. I could feel the energy washing over me and the hairs on the back of my n£¢k stood on end. The sky almost seemed to darken and a cool breeze nipped at my skin. It was a foreign s-en-sation, the clearing almost humming with the power Cain was using. Cain’s voice grew louder and the breeze grew stronger, Skylar’s curls wh!pping around her head and across her face in a dark halo. Just when Cain was nearly shouting, he abruptly st©pped.
The breeze instantly died down but I could still feel the book’s power.
“Now, Antonio, give me the goblet,” Cain hissed. He made no attempt to hide his eager expression, and his eyes were darkening as the demonic vampire inside threatened to break throu-gh the human façade.
Antonio wordlessly handed it over, also looking eager. I knew that Cain’s coven, every vampire he ever created, would be linked to the spell as well. They had done some preparation for the event, some sort of blood-sharing ritual that I had the fortune not to witness. All I cared about was the fact that I could now kill Cain and kill them all.
Cain glanced at me once more, hisl-ips tilting upwards in a sardonic smile. One of his arms remained wra-pped around Skylar, his hand on her che-st over her heart. The threat was very clear. sm-irk wi-dening, Cain tilted the goblet towards me and lifted it in a mockery of a toast. His eyes glittered with expectations. Then, in one smooth move, Cain put the goblet to hisl-ips, tilted it upwards, and drank.
I br@ced myself for the aftermath. Cain swallowed, ha-rd , his face paler than normal and his eyes scre-wed shut. He almost looked sickly. The clearing was absolutely silent, everyone watching with bated breath. He drained the goblet in seconds, throwing it aside when he was finished. Cain’s b©dy was wracked with a tremble and a hissing sound escaped his clenched teeth.
“Antonio . . . I only have a minute before it kicks in,” he muttered. I could tell he was alre-ady weakening. “Do it. Now. He should be weakening.”
Not liking the ominous sound to his words, I prepared to lunge myself at him as soon as he staggered, snatch Skylar from his clutches while he was weak and couldn’t kill her in time.
But I never got the chance.
Because Antonio leapt directly in front of me, hissing with his fangs ba-red and demonic claws outstretched; and Cain, tossing me a triumphant glance despite his still-paling complexion, wra-pped his arms around Skylar, turned, and vanished into the trees.
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#Tobecontinued….