Crimson Rebirth

Part 2

  He smirked, watching the red-head slam her head against the forest floor. "What happened to you, eh Gene? It's like you got soft..."

 Riskel slammed a foot into her ribcage, causing her to fly back into a tree. Damn his strength... She thought in a haze of pain, her back slamming into the rough, uneven bark of the tree. Another round of blood spilled out of her mouth as she landed on the ground. At this rate, I'd be surprised if I had any teeth left....

Riskel, much to Gene's surprise, took his time walking over to her, a twisted smile on his face. Blood stained his chin, her blood, a crimson red against his pale flesh. The thought of becoming his 'forever' meal twisted her stomach in ways that she could barely begin to describe.

 She struggled to get up, either to run or fight, she wasn't sure. Blood trickled from her mouth, collecting on the ground as she fought to get to her feet.

"Spending time with all those fragile humans must've messed something up in your brain." Riskel continued to taunt, sauntering over to, in his eyes, collect his newest toy. "Why waste your energy and bet to keep them safe? They're going to die anyway, after all. It's what humans do."

 "Not...." Gene started, finally getting her arms under her enough to start pushing herself up. "Not by your hands..... I will..... I will never let them die by your hands."

 She slowly pushed into a sitting position, thankful for once that she was what she was. With how much blood-loss she was experiencing, a normal human would've passed out, or died.

 Small blessings. Gene spat out a glob of blood, but didn't try and stand. She knew her legs would give out on her if she tried. Her heart was pounding in her ears, as Riskel came closer.

 He scared her. And he knew it.

He knew it in all the ways a predator knew the prey was afraid. He knew her mind intimately, her deepest regrets, her worst nightmares, the grief and self-hatred that she had carried with her through her life. And he twisted it against her.

 "Even if you managed to escape, my dearest treat." Riskel licked his lips. "I'd be able to find you anywhere on Terralis. No matter how safe you think you are, I shall forever find you, because you are MINE."

 "I am NOT YOURS." Gene responded, the fear being temporarily replaced with fury. "I was NEVER YOURS."

 Her anger drove her to pull herself up, despite her ribs screaming in protest. A drumbeat sounded in her veins, overriding any of the pain she was feeling as she spat out another glob of blood. "I am not some toy you can claim, Riskel! I never was! And how dare you label me as such!"

 The flicker of green entered her vision again, the veins of light that moved with every single living creature, yet all seemed to gather to her.

 "I'll label you as whatever I'd like." Riskel sneered, stalking to her, quicker than he had been. "You're my toy, my treat, my pet."

 "I am NOT YOURS." Gene finally shouted, her voice raw with pain and anger and fear and a million other emotions she couldn't name. "I BELONG TO NOBODY BUT MYSELF!"

 Before Riskel could respond, a deep thrumming shook the air, even the very ground they stood on. He froze, and any color that was on his face left it.

 Gene had rarely heard such a sound before, one that made her bones vibrate with the frequency of a thousand cymbal crashes. She fought the urge to cover her ears, knowing it would be useless.

 And she risked a look up.
 
High in the clouds, perhaps higher than the clouds themselves, she saw a streak of red, in a familiar shape for any citizen of Terralis.

 "A dragon...." She breathed, as Riskel looked up as well, his face contorting into a scowl.

 "This isn't over, Genevieve." He sneered, taking a series of staggered steps back, covering himself with the shadows of the foliage. "I will get you, and you WILL be mine."

 She had never seen a vampire run back to its den quite so fast before, as the thought struck her head.

 Riskel was afraid of the dragon.

 Somehow, that lessened her own fear of the vampire, knowing he was afraid of the creatures that governed Terralis. Made him more human and less of a nightmare that had plagued her for the better part of a century.

 She listened carefully for any more vampires, pressing herself against a tree as she checked to make sure her legs hadn't broken. A sigh of relief left her lips the moment she realized they weren't. Her eyes cast back up to the dragon again, who was flying out of sight, another, sadder sound shook the ground.

 A sad dragon? Gene's brow furrowed, as she watched the dragon start to fly out of sight.

 "One day." She whispered, her eyes fixated on the red underbelly of the dragon. "One day, I hope I get to meet you, and tell you 'Thank you' to your face. Without knowing it..." She took a deep breath, pain wracking her ribs. "Without knowing it, you've saved my life today."

 Gene listened quietly for another moment, not hearing anything but the beating of her heart and the breaths in her lungs as they came and went. No cracked sticks, no feet running towards her. Nothing but silence.

 Her legs shook with relief as she started to walk back towards the edge of the forest once more, knowing that she was close to gaining freedom.

 Once she broke out of the treeline, she watched the retreating dragon once more. "Thank you."

 Gene cast one quick glance around, feeling every ounce of pain quake through her bones.

   Still no vampires.

 She breathed a sigh of relief, looking behind her once more. There was no time to go back, to save her clan. She had to keep running before the vampires came back for her. 

 With tears burning her eyes, Genevieve took off running again, leaves falling from her hair and sticks falling from her tattered dress.

 "I promise."