Heart of Ashes

The Face of Death

Dmitri's throat was dry. He knew exactly what the pile of ash on the floor had once been. A heart. A vampire's heart that Caine had ripped out and fed on.

One day, Dmitri thought to himself, all I ask is one day.

The two guards he'd placed outside the vault were dead. Mercedes was right, Caine was hunting. Although he knew cannibalism wasn't as uncommon as it should've been amongst vampires, he hadn't actually seen them kill each other for a meal. It was just as horrifying as he'd imagined.

He turned his head as far as he could without taking his eyes off of Caine, "Evelyn," he whispered, "get the hell out of here."

Evelyn's eyes were wide as saucers, "B... but..."

"Please," he added, urgently, "now."

"She might be able to help," Mercedes whispered, "she has magic."

Dmitri saw Ragnar shoot her a glare and hiss, "Are you joking? She's not ready!"

They didn't really have time to decide because Caine, slowly, turned to face them. Dmitri knew that he'd known they were there since they'd arrived, he'd been giving them time to run. Tension gripped Dmitri's muscles as his fight or flight instinct kicked in. He wanted to take flight, he wanted to run and save his own life, but he knew that if he did that, the price would be Katrina's life. Evelyn, Ragnar, Mercedes and Theodore. So he stayed put and got ready for a fight.

The gun suddenly became the heaviest thing in the world as he aimed it at Caine. Caine was covered, from lips to chest, in blood and gore. His right hand had also been stained red. His eyes were so bright, they were almost orange and his pupils had constricted so, that they were tiny, black specks in the midst of the fires of hell. His claws were longer than Dmitri had ever seen them. The case was the same with his fangs. They poked out between his lips, it was a wonder they weren't stabbing into his bottom lip. Dmitri didn't really want to shoot Caine. Partly because he felt they'd become closer, and partly because he knew it would only serve to further anger him.

Dmitri ignored his feelings and fired four times in quick succession. The first shot went wide and he missed altogether, the second bullet hit Caine's shoudler, Caine dodged the third bullet as he started sprinting towards them and the fourth bullet grazed his cheek.

The gun went flying and a strong, ice-cold hand closed around Dmitri's throat. Caine picked him up and threw him aside like a torn rag doll. He hit the wall hard enough to crack the wood paneling along with the paint and masonry underneath it. He took a moment to recover and looked up to see Caine turning towards the others. Ragnar's muscles flexed under his tight, borrowed jacket and he was grinding his teeth. Theodore was trying his damndest to keep the women behind him. Evelyn didn't need much persuading but the others were stubbornly trying to join them on the frontlines.

Dmitri sprung into action. He launchef himself off the wall at Caine, putting him in headlock, they both crashed to the floor. Dmitri felt several sharp, needle-like fangs penetrate his throat. He tasted his own blood and he reached up to grab Caine's collar. He pulled and managed to throw Caine onto his back. He quickly got on top of him and grabbed his wrists. He held Caine's wrists above his head, making sure to dig his thumbnails into Caine's arteries.

"Caine!" he spat, "Get a damned hold of yourself!"

He got a growl in response and he knew Caine was lost to them. Caine ripped his wrists away, Dmitri's pointed nails tore through artery and flesh, and reached for the back of Dmitri's collar. Dmitri felt himself sail through the air then land, hard, on his back. He also saw the others running back the way they'd come. He drew up two conclusions; either they were deserting him or they were going to fetch reinforcements. He was banking on the latter but he knew, either way, he was probably going to be torn to shreds before anything could really be done.

Caine got up and grabbed a handful of Dmitri's hair. He dragged Dmitri to his knees and hit him in the mouth, causing his lip to burst open. Blood spattered the wall and floor. Caine wrenched Dmitri's head back further. Dmitri felt the vertebrae in his neck pulling on the tendons. The number of times he'd reckoned Caine was going to rip his head off for things he did or didn't do, only in the metaphorical sense, but never actually thought he'd do it. Yet, he was trying. Dmitri raised himself a little on his knees to ease the strain and, by some miracle, regained focus. He felt a little ball of heat in his hand and it gradually grew larger until he could hear the flames licking at the air. He tossed the fireball over his shoulder and fell forward as Caine let go of him.

"Bite that, you motherless son of a bitch," he muttered more to himself than to Caine.

He quickly turned around. Caine had put the flames out and his eyes burned with a new fiercer fire. Dmitri considered what he'd just done.

Well, that didn't work.

Before he even had time to blink, Caine was upon him. A being of pure fury. It really hadn't worked. Dmitri tried to get the worst four letter word he knew out, but, for about the fourth time that half-hour, blood gushed out of his throat and spewed out between his teeth. He knew he was never going to be able to use that tux again.

He prepared himself for the worst as he stared into the face of Death - literally - and Caine positioned his hand over his chest. Caine still pinned him to the wall with the claws on his other hand and he was still struggling not to make gurgling sounds as he tried to swear at Caine. He figured he'd put up a pretty good fight. He'd gotten the chance that he believed many didn't get, the chance to duel Death. He'd lost, he knew that, but he also knew that someone would be able to say he fought valiantly for others.

He felt a sharp pain in his chest as something sharp passed through him. He was surprised Caine had missed his heart but that was when he realised Caine was a lot closer than he had been. Caine was pressed up against him with a strange expression on his face. He looked like he was having a hard time deciding whether to show anger or shock. He didn't take long to make the decision, though. His lips curled into a snarl as he tried to turn around, causing the long, sharp thing to move a little inside Dmitri's chest. He screamed and that was when he heard another voice.

"Dmitri!" it was Katrina, bless her heart.

He looked past Caine to see a cylindrical object hurtling through the air towards him. He raised his hand and, to his surprise, he actually caught it. He jabbed the needle into Caine's neck and pushed the syringe down. Caine went rigid against him and would've slumped to the ground, had he not been pinned to the wall and Dmitri by a long, javelin-type thing.

Ragnar and Theodore rushed forward. Theodore clamped a thick, metal collar round Caine's neck and Ragnar shackled his hands. Dmitri noted that they were both wearing gloves and he heard Caine's skin sizzling under the silver. He winced as Mercedes and Evelyn pulled the spear out of his chest then he, himself, fell to his knees.

After getting over his pain and healing, he stood up and said, "What the bloody hell took so long?"