17. Breaking Down

Laura - Sohodol Canyon

At first, I run after the wolf. Soon, I slow down my pace and regain my composure. I see the markings on the trees he left for me. But I don't need these to follow him. His heart beats differently, faster, warmer. I can feel it from miles away.

He comes to a halt, and I catch up. However, as I go closer, I smell blood. There's a lot of blood. I nearly trip over a little dry branch on the ground since I'm no longer paying attention to my surroundings. As my hopes fade away, my teeth gnash beneath the weight of my jaw. There is no heartbeat except for the wolf and a few squirrels in the trees. Those girls are no longer alive.

I go past Paul and stop in front of the crooked door that barely remains on its hinges. The strigoi is inside. His mind is cluttered – his thoughts all over the place – but all he can think about is more blood.

He’s on a rampage and will kill again if he’s not stopped. I gaze over my shoulder back at the wolf. It seems he doesn’t want to come inside. Indeed, Ion Corvin asked us to bring the strigoi back alive for them to punish him according to the Council’s wishes.

As I cautiously push the door open, it creaks. Like a ravenous beast after a feast, he is drenched in blood. His hair is similarly red-coated, shining under my gaze. His glistening eyes crave for more.

As I lower my eyes, I gulp. Dry patches of dark blood intertwine with crimson liquid that gathers in a pool next to a girl’s lifeless body. I look upon the mangled remains at his feet, and the illusion of my rapidly beating heart overwhelms me.

I've encountered strigoi who are too numb to care about anything anymore. It's easy to become immune to pain and suffering when you're immortal. But this hasn't happened to me yet. I pull my sight away from the pile of corpses as a pang of sorrow burns in my chest. I wonder when I'll get so used to death that I won't notice it anymore.

A low voice yells and cries, muffled in the back of my mind, attempting to remind me of something. But what I'm experiencing is too much of a distraction. I can't think of anything else to do except kill the man in front of me. Anger takes over, and I don't want to let it go. I don't have anything left to lose.

His lips move. “The Council sent you?”

I don't respond. He knows the others are on to him. I dash toward him. When I reach my target, my hand clutches his neck.

"Let me taste another one, and then I’m yours." His mouth says one thing, but his mind says something else entirely. ‘Just a few more inches, and I’ll stake this bitch.’

I follow his right hand as it reaches behind a slanted wardrobe to find something. A stake won't kill me, but it may weaken me enough to make me unable to stop him from feeding on another innocent girl.

The bloodthirsty strigoi pushes me, sending me tumbling backward, and I land on my back due to the slick floor. As his thoughts didn't reveal anything to me, he may have acted purely on instinct. He pulls out the stake he was looking for and advances towards me.

My eyes seek something around me that might help. I see the wolf at the threshold and the indecision in his eyes. If he were to help me and kill the strigoi, the accord would break, and the war would ignite.

Before the stake impales the wooden plank beneath me, I roll over at the last second. My hand reaches into a puddle of blood for one of the girl's shoes. When the strigoi pulls the spike from the floor, I stab the sharp heel into his heart. As he drops his wooden weapon, his face contorts into a shocked and horrified expression.

I let him collapse on the floor. Closing my eyes, I pray for these girls to live and for me to die. I know no one would answer to a despicable being such as I. Plink! The sound of blood dripping from my squeezed fingers into the pool already formed on the ground.

My knees buckle, and I fall heavily on the wooden floor. Splinters scrape both my legs and hands. Only the smell of blood surrounds me, and I burst out crying. Until something else disturbs the silence. Something familiar that soothes me.

His heart is a melody I can distinguish from a thousand. A lullaby that makes me feel warm and safe. Too bad his warmth is not mine to keep, and the safety he can provide is as much as an illusion like my heartbeat.

His golden eyes sparkle in the dark, and his snout gives a little dip, pushing his muzzle into my shoulder to make me get up. I feel like I can smile at how adorable he looks, but instead, another wave of tears comes rushing down my face. I cover my face with my hands, smudging it with blood while my body shakes along with my anguish. The wolf howls, joining in.

Too much death. Too much suffering. I can’t take it anymore. I crawl on all fours with my head bowed. “I beg you. Please, kill me.” My voice is barely a whisper, but I know he can hear me.

I'm waiting for his bite, for him to rip me apart. Instead, a warm hand wraps around my shoulders, and another one raises my head. It's still dark in the ruined dwelling, but the full moon must have set.

Paul gives me a soft kiss on the forehead, and I feel the warmth rippling from that spot. He doesn’t say a thing, but he nestles my head on his bare, hot chest while his hand caresses my cheek. My shivers soon go away.