Stone Cold

Chapter 45

Before she could run back towards him, a pair of large hands came from behind covering her mouth with one and her waist with the other, holding her firm in her place.

“Mmph!!!”

“Stop this, Credința!”

The familiar voice immediately put an end to her struggles as she stared wide-eyed in space, realizing who was holding her down tightly in his grasp, Gabriel.

Slowly her teary gaze slid up his brown tunic to meet his steely irises, so much similar in appearance yet extremely different in terms of emotions than her owns.

“I saw them crossing the iron gates. They went straight for the stairs going underground. I did not know my way around so it took much time for me to reach you both.”

His hand was still clutching her mouth rendering her unable to utter any word.

“I shall remove my hand from your face but do not let a single word out. If they see you, they will take you along with him.”

Not nodding her head to give him approval, she kept glaring at him.

“My daughter’s life is at stake too, Credința. If she dies, you die and If I die… she will be sold to a brothel. She is but a child!”

A deep frown formed above her helpless eyes as she stared silently from a corner, her wounded husband surrounded by a town full of humans.

‘He wouldn’t kill them. He wouldn’t be able to.’

He was stronger than them but just as it’s impossible to get a hundred or so ants away from one’s self without harming some in return, it was the same in this case as well. He took pride in his morals, he wouldn’t want to turn into the monster they imagined him to be.

“You killed our people!”

Someone from the crowd had roared out furiously.

“It was not me.”

In spite of his deteriorating condition, his voice had come out firm.

“Then who was it? That wench you brought into this town? It must be her! It all started since she came to the town.”

She could see his jaw ticking at the random villager’s accusation.

“It is that man who has you all fooled.”

“He is our savior! He told us about you. You used us all. You are a devil cursed by the heavens to live off of other’s lives. You are nothing more than a mere leech!”

His hands folded behind him were slowly curling into tightly clutched fists, making the blue green veins pop out more against his pale skin.

“You are betraying me but for what reason, because I am not one of you? Yes, I need blood to survive but I have never harmed a human for my needs. Animals and humans are continuously hunting each other to satiate their hunger. Does that make them wretched demons as well? Did I not serve justly as your leader for the past few years? Did I not help you flourish your barren land?”

“You did it all for your own benefits! You nurtured us to be your little hoard of nothing but mere blood sacks!”

They sounded blind with rage, refusing to listen to any reasonable explanation.

“Attack him!”

A loud screeching voice followed by rustling of feet and clattering of metal caused both of their heads to shot up. Gabriel hurriedly pulled them back, further into the shadows while her eyes almost popped out of her skull watching the scene unraveling before her eyes.