Walk Into The Light - Shadows of the Night 6

Chapter 40

Hey,

I won't be able to post something tomorrow, so I thought, what the heck, I'll post the new chapter a little earlier than usual ;-) Oh, and I found another great song that, I think, goes well with the chapter: Fate/Apocrypha OST #1 - Main Soundtrack.

A word of warning, I'll be out of town for a few days next week, so if I can't make it on Sunday, the next chapter will follow only on Monday!

Have a great week and let me know if you liked this one :-D

Lara

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Chapter 40

Time slithered forward fast as the burning sensation in my stomach exploded. I gasped and felt air sear all the way down my lungs, then righted myself, crouching, and peered through a curtain of hair that had at some point come undone. I couldn't see Andy, but he had to be somewhere behind me, facing off with Fabrice.

The background noises dropped to an all-time low, the sound of gurgling blood like a hissing radio in my ears. There was no magic, no tension or motion – everything seemed to fall away and fade as I watched and focused on my opponent.

He was one of the vamps I'd seen when I visited Fabrice with Andy. Brown hair tied in a low, braided Ponytail, French style. It fit the rest of his outfit, which vaguely looked like something out of the late Nineteenth Century – as if he, like so many vamps, seemed to have trouble accommodating to the right century fast enough. His blue eyes were vamped out, fangs bared.

There was no aura, just a soft push from that dark power of the night every vamp owned. Like a personal scent that carried a particular pressure and flavor. I could almost tell how old or powerful the vamp was, could taste it in the rawness of the power of the grave licking my senses.

The unknown vamp righted himself, smiling. Time slowed down again, enough for me to step out of its wheel and watch from the sidelines. He approached, sliding forward, detouring to the left.

I stepped aside, mirroring his move, and rushed him again with vamp speed. The pain in my stomach surged, as if a set of invisible claws was ripping into tender flesh.

I went for his neck and did something I'd seen Alexander do – it was in fact the first method that came to mind that would incapacitate another vamp without killing him: I snapped his neck. The sensation registered, coming through that biting pain in the pit of my stomach; followed by a hollow sound of a body falling to the ground, hitting the asphalt hard.

No time to stop and think. Just keep moving.

Background noises returned, coming to life in a massive crescendo. The world righted itself and my vision cleared enough to see Giuliana, keeping the rest of the attackers trapped with her water magic. One after another the vampires and werewolves started falling, unconscious for now.

The sound of fire crackling had me turning around. Andy's palms were flat on the ground, a wall of fire surrounding Fabrice like an oversize-fence. He was trapped too.

"Talk to me Fabrice, now!" Andy yelled.

Fabrice stepped forward, as if attempting to break the ring of fire. He retreated with a hiss, baring his fangs to Andy.

I approached slowly, watching him. The vamp's eyes looked like black-red mirrors in the quavering light. There was no sense of recognition in them, as if he had indeed never met Andy, less had an understanding of a sort with him. I had no way of knowing, but a gut feeling told me that Vladislav had an iron grip over Fabrice and his followers' minds.