My Precious Nightmare

22: Like in the Temple of Doom

Sky's knees cracked together. Her mouth had gone dry. Her heart hammered faster than a hummingbird's. Lea's weight on her back seemed to nail her in place.

The car came closer, headlights gleaming on the bath of blood down the shorter vampire's arm and on the dark bulge of the heart in its hand.

Please let them notice. Please let them call someone. Someone. Anyone.

Just as the car neared, though, the vampire's wings shrunk away, as though from a vacuum, and he flung away Aster's much taller body as though it were a doll into the darkness of the alley.

For a moment, the scene was blinded by headlights. Then the car passed, nothing to show but its red, rear lights.

And in the orange streetlights, Sky stared back into the murderous red gaze of Aster's murderer. Their snarl had fallen away, bringing some semblance of humanity back to their--his face, but large fangs still stuck out past his bottom lip.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said in a surprisingly low, smooth voice. "Just give her back to me."

Sky clutched Lea. She couldn't run. The only reason she was still upright at all was because her knees had knocked into each other and now propped one another up.

Blood dripped off his hand. It caked his front, speckled his face and dripped down his neck. Even as she looked on, a dark tongue darted out and licked some off the side of his mouth.

"Please," the mouth said. "Don't make me take her by force."

Give Lea back to this? Sky would sooner die. And she probably would.

Digging deep into that dark part of her that had been born from the filth and violence of the streets, Sky filled herself with the cool and painted her trembling limbs with steel.

"She was mine first," she said.

The vampire made a small frown, his red eyes searching her face. "Are you that friend of hers I met that one night while you were getting milkshakes?" A tone of mocking entered his voice. "The one that ran away screaming?"

Sky lowered her chin. "Yeah. 'Cept I'm not running this time. You'll have to kill me first."

The frown deepened as he jerked his head in the direction of Aster's body. "You should be more worried about that one. Young vampires are unpredictable and bloodthirsty at best."

"Ho, and you aren't?" her throat was getting tight. She didn't know how long she could hold this out.

"Oh, I am. But I have had a few hundred years to temper it." He hesitated, glancing down at his blood splattered self. "Look, I know this is scary, but I swear to you I'll return her to you good as new in just a week. I just need her help with something."

Sky took a few steps back. "No."

And like that, the vampire's niceness vanished and his expression darkened. Once more she saw the gleam of the monster past the human façade.

He dropped the lump of thumping flesh onto the ground.

"I'm afraid I'm done asking."

Just like that, his hand was around her throat, cutting off her squawk of alarm. It jerked her down, reaching behind for the smaller girl on her back.

"Sky...?"

The vampire went still as stone.

Lea shifted a bit on Sky's back. She let out a little moan of pain.

"Ow, my head." It became a whimper. "Sky? What are you—"

Just as quick, he was gone, and Sky collapsed onto the pavement gasping for air. Lea flopped off with a cry of alarm.

"Sky! Oh my gosh, are you okay? Why is there blood around your—HUSANI!"

It was a ground rumbling roar that Sky had never heard from her tiny friend before. The shock alone nearly ruined any attempts Sky had at catching her breath.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lea's bare feet, nearly swallowed up in gray sweats, take a stance beside her. Her righteous fury was palpable.

"What did you do?!"

The meek, low voice from the vampire surprised Sky just as much.

"Lea, I swear I didn't hurt her. The blood is from another vampire she was with, one that had kidnapped you—all this blood on me is from—"

"Like hell she's alright!" And then the fury was giving way to tears, angry or otherwise, but Lea didn't blubber. "Don't you think you're doing enough damage without hurting her? Suck my blood, hurt me as much as you want, but don't hurt my friends!"

A low snarl broke through her thick words. Sky snapped her head up, staring into the darkness of the alley where the supposedly dead body or Aster was starting to rise.

The fierce shriek that bubbled up to Sky's throat came out as a squeak.

The other vampire looked away from Lea and sighed. "Of course." He started into the alleyway, braided muscles along his now bare back coiling up for attack.

And before Sky could think better of it, she was on her feet again, stumbling past her Lea shield towards him.

"Stop!"

He didn't stop, but glanced back at her as he stomped a foot down on the now writhing Aster.

"What?" he didn't sound too happy. Not at all.

"How is he—" He's undead, idiot, not important. "Don't kill him."

The other vampire scoffed even as he stomped the other's head. "If I let him go now he'll kill you, and if not you, the first three people he meets. He won't be able to help it. His human mind is eaten up by the parasite need." Another kick. A crunch. A short, animal-like squeal of pain.

"But he's managed to not hurt anyone so far," said Sky, thinking of Lane. "And he has a kid brother that will have no one if you kill him."

The vampire paused and looked back at her again. "How old is the kid?"

"Thirteen? Fifteen at most?"

For a long moment, the red eyes jumped about her, considering.

But it was Lea who spoke up next.

"Is he so much different from you? He tried to kill you, but you kill vampires too."

"It isn't that he tried to kill me," the vampire grumbled, then sighed. "Fine. Idiot's got some potential if he can still squirm after what I did to him anyways." He reached down, messing around Aster's collar.

Lea and Sky exchanged glances and edged closer to one another till their arms touched.

The vampire must have found whatever it was he had been looking for, as he lifted it up to his mouth and said, "Lane, whoever you are, best you come in with some of that blood supply you keep on hand. Your comrade's down."

A speaker crackled. "What the hell have you done to him?"

"What he would have done to me if he could," he said dryly. "Now hurry. Either he gets blood now or I finish snapping his neck."

He tossed down the mouthpiece. Then he spun on his heel and flopped down butt first onto Aster's chest like a miffed puppy.

"He'll kill you one day," he said to Sky, his serious tone only adding to the petulant child image.

Sky meant to say something snappy along the lines of 'well I won't be around to be killed, because I'm taking my friend and blowing this joint. Smell ya later.' But, of course, things never worked out for Sky like she wanted them to, her dignity being one of them. She barely managed a smart aleck smirk before the world went black and her knees finally gave way.

The supernatural and Sky just didn't mix.