Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 62

I don't mind dying as much as I am infuriated at being pinned like an insect. It's mortifying.

Is this how the great Huntress is supposed to die? Helpless?

I refuse to accept that! I will die fighting like all the great Huntresses of the past did!

"Now I got you. All I need to do is make a few snips with my teeth, and you are done." Vincent says, his teeth glistening as he smiles at me as the creep that he is.

Trying to wedge the sword out of my body is far more challenging and slower than I anticipated, which makes his lazy approach even more terrifying.

Alright, I admit it! I, Helen, the great Huntress of my tribe, am terrified of ceasing to exist. Especially now that I've found something to live for.

It's funny how I've spent centuries thinking I don't need anyone and hiding away my emotions. Now that I've cracked that door open for love, I am going to die.

Vincent's face is so close that I can see the bloodlust written in his blood-red eyes. Clearly, he isn't only going to kill me as I anticipated, as I secretly wished.

He is going to feed on me.

Vampires feeding on each other isn't unheard of, but it's always consensual. The fact that he is planning to do so now adds insult to injury and makes me double my efforts to free myself.

However, Eliot's blood has completely worn off, and I'm left at the mercy of the crazed vampire who seems to have lost all sense of reason.

I try to lower my head to protect my neck as I claw at him with my free hand, but my attempts are weak and thus quickly subdued.

He secures my hand with one of his and uses the other to forcefully lift my chin, allowing him free access to my neck.

As his teeth sink deep into my neck, I want to scream out in pain, but I bite my lip to stay quiet. I refuse to give him the pleasure of knowing how much pain I am in.

He sucks my blood so savagely that I wonder if I have more than a few seconds left before I lose consciousness. Would that be a blessing or a curse?

Before I can think any more about my fate, I suddenly feel his teeth retreat from my neck as he is violently pulled away from me.

I lift my head to look closer, having a clear idea of what I will see. However, when I do so, I am surprised by what I see before me.

Instead of Seymour dealing with Vincent, I see Alarcos violently attacking the older vampire.

"Helen, are you okay?" Seymour asks, rushing towards me and pulling the sword out.

"I'm fine," I say as I fall into his arms.

I am about to yell at him for getting distracted yet again when I notice that the only enemy vampire left standing is Vincent. The rest of them are all cut up to pieces with many body parts already carried away.

"I'll be okay. Go help Alarcos. Vincent is a tough cookie to crack." I say.

Seymour immediately flies off to his darling's aid, and all I can do is watch the three vampires fight.

The thing that worries me is that although Alarcos and Seymour are working together on defeating Vincent, his years of experience give him a clear advantage. This is not a fight that the two vampires their age can win easily.

I try to lift myself up to help, but all I manage to do is crumble back to the ground jostling my already painful injury.

"Seymour, use your speed to your advantage. He's slower than you. Use that." I say as loudly as I can.

Seymour tries to follow my instruction, but it's not enough. They need more to win.

"Alarcos, you're the strongest among us. Stop relying on speed and use your strength," I say.

Alarcos obeys, landing a solid punch on Vincent. It has him flying a few meters before landing with a boom. Even though he is clearly disoriented, he is nowhere near done, and it worries me.

However, before I can try to get up again, two blurs whizz into the battlefield and close in on Vincent, effectively pinning him to the ground as the others cut him to pieces.

Although I am relieved to see our last enemy defeated, I am more focused on the fact that Cecilia and Tobias are so incredibly fast. Did they dare feed on the one I love? Do I need to murder my friends?

"How are you so fast?" I growl the moment Tobias reaches me.

"We fed on a Healer," Tobias admits.

My blood starts boiling, and I realize that I will have enough strength to kill him.

"Relax, it wasn't Eliot." Cecilia quickly reassures me.

"Who was it then?" I ask, still not convinced.

"His sister," Cecilia explains.

"Olivia? She would never do that!" I exclaimed.

"Tobias rushed to us when he thought you would lose the fight with that vampire, and Eliot heard what Tobias said. So, he begged his sister to allow him to draw some of her blood and feed it to us.

"Seeing how worried he was for you, she agreed as long as no one got to bite her," Cecilia explained.

I allow myself to relax since that makes sense.

"We should take you to Eliot. He was worried about your safety," Cecilia explains.

"Yes, that sounds good," I say as Tobias picks me up to carry me to my love.

As we start moving, Alarcos catches my eye.

"Take me to Alarcos first. I want to thank him," I say.

"Sure," Tobias says.

"Alarcos, thank you for saving my life," I say.

"No problem," he says as if it was nothing at all.

"Why did you do it, though? I killed your family. You wanted me dead. You even tried to kill me yourself. Why didn't you let him get the job done, pretend you didn't see him killing me?" I ask.

"I don't know, maybe because I like you, Helen, you are my friend. What's more important you are Seymour's friend, and he would've never forgiven me if I let you die.

"Besides, before I learned about your past, I thought that maybe...well..." he starts stuttering.

"What?" I ask, curious what would make him so hesitant.

"I thought Seymour, you and I could find a way to be together, all three of us," he says, looking awkwardly to the side.

The fact is that deep down, I have considered that option though I didn't allow those thoughts to reach my conscious mind. I thought that we were vampires, unbound by human rules or conventions and that we could live however we chose.

"Honestly, it did cross my mind, but I think this is for the best. Even if you didn't hate me, this is the best for all involved. Seymour and I bring out the worst in each other when we are together while you bring out the best in him." I say.

"You need to understand that I don't hate you, though, not anymore. I finally understand that what has happened wasn't your fault. However, I could never again see you as anything more than a friend, a friend whom I can never fully trust.

"So I guess the way things turned out is for the best. Besides, I don't think Seymour would have been able to deal with such a relationship.

"Also, you have Eliot now. He seems to be good for you." Alarcos says.

"He is," I say.

"Tobias, take me to him," I add after a moment of silence.

Then we are off to see the one who changed my life, who changed me, and I couldn't be happier. Happy that I have survived so that I can finally be honest with him, with myself.