Bite

1

He ran. His feet were burning and his lungs were screaming for air but he couldn't stop. Stefan had to save her. He saw the hunters holding various weapons and he saw Raynor holding Katalina.

"Kata!" He hollered. She looked at him.

"Stefan." She had a smile on her face.

"That's adorable, you came to her rescue, even after she told you to leave her alone." Raynor had a huge grin on his face.

"I won't let you hurt her!" He hollered at him.

"What are you going to do about it?" Raynor squeezed her tightly.

"You will die screaming." Katalina looked at him, nervously. "By your own blood."

"You're an oracle, aren't you?" Raynor then grabbed her by the hair.

"Raynor, stop this or-" Stefan looked at him.

"Or what?" Raynor grabbed a knife from his holster and slit the girl's throat.

"KATALINA!" Stefan ran to her. She was gurgling and grabbing at her throat. He couldn't heal her. He couldn't save her. She looked at him, her eyes struggling to stay open. She placed her hand on his cheek and smiled.

"Katalina, no, no, please no." Stefan grabbed her hand. "Hold on, please, you can't die just yet."

She shook her head slightly. Then she stopped moving and her hand fell to his lap.

"KATALINA!" He held her lifeless body, crying. They took her from him. She was dead. She'd never see the sun again. He stared at them. The last shred of his humanity was gone.

He felt himself shift and run towards the Hunters. He managed to slash one's face before a bunch of arrows hit him. He fell down, hacking up blood. He then saw Anastasia running towards him. He got up but suddenly felt burning in his chest.

She had buried a silver blade into his chest. As he fell, she slammed him into a stone coffin that was summoned by another Hunter. Anastasia cast a spell on him, wrapping him up in thorns. The box completely sealed him off and he felt it burying itself into the ground.

He was in too much pain to fight it.

"You shall suffer for eternity, alive but sealed away, left to rot." He heard a booming voice away. "Only the blood of a Hunter will unseal you!"

He suddenly felt weak. He was losing a lot of blood. Granted, he was immortal but still. His mind flashed back to his life. He was a small child in the woods, playing with wolves and other spirits. He was a teenager, running in the woods. He was an adult, falling for Anastasia before she turned on him the first time, his time at this village, surrounded by his friends and Katalina. Meeting her, courting her, loving her. Asking for her hand in marriage. Her death.

He hoped if he ever died, he'd be able to see her again.

Two hundred and fifty years later..........

I was in so much pain. I lay there, on the cold, wet grass, waiting for death to release me. My mind flashes to them grabbing my limbs, tearing at my dress, laughing as they took turns beating and raping me. I can still smell their sweat on me. I can still feel them claws and biting at my skin, making fun of me.

I hear myself screaming and pleading. God has abandoned me. I see it in the distance. It's a coyote, staring at me.

"Go ahead." I whisper. "Just kill me!" I see a purple light and the coyote transforms into a woman. She's not human. She's pale and white. Her face is nearly skeletal with only a thin layer of skin covering it. Her cheekbones and eye area are black but her soleras are completely white. There's two purple butterflies on each side of her head. Her hair is long and black. She's wearing a purple and black striped poncho and a matching skirt. She has butterfly wings.

"My poor, poor child." She kneels towards me. "Look what they've done to you."

"Please take me, I can't do this." I start to tear up, managing to get up. "I can't do this anymore, I don't want to."

She hugs me.

"My poor daughter. I know you're hurting. I know you want to die. You have to live." She looked at me.

"I can't. I can't do this, I don't want to." I sob. She touches my arm.

"Ashara, you are a daughter of warriors. You are a warrior. I can help you get revenge on those monsters. You can save other women from that fate like you did. Accept my gift and get your revenge." She looks at me. I purse my lips and close my eyes, weeping. I nodded my head. I felt my skin burning and my face felt hot. I'm glowing. Finally, I collapse into the dirt.

I wake up to two men shaking me.

"Miss? Miss?" One asked.

I look up.

"It's gonna be okay, we're calling for help." He was trying to comfort us. There was a woman calling. Between flashes, I feel myself being picked up and carried to a stretcher. They're trying to examine me when I scream, starting to kick around and cry out.

"Calm down, calm down!" One of the EMTs was trying to get me to calm down. I think I kicked one in the face. I scream and cry, pulling at my hair and tearing at my face with my nails. The next thing I remember is getting restrained. I feel them slam the IV port into my arm. I'm reduced to just crying.

"We have a black woman in her twenties, lacerations and bruises all over, a few bite marks on her shoulders, neck and right breast. She also appears to have been sexually assaulted." The EMT was speaking.

Someone throws a blanket on me.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." The female EMT looks at me.

I nod and turn to my side, tearing up.

"What's your name?" The other one asked me.

"Ashara Reynosa."