Nexus [COMPLETE]

48. Domare

August 2013

I ran at Michael, and he pushed Hazel out of the way. I saw more than felt Winston run to her aid, but barely had a second to register the thought, before I was chasing Michael out of the room.

"Coward!" I screamed in hot pursuit.

He stopped at the end of the hallway, turning to flash me a wicked smirk, before running up the wall to his left. He shouldn't be able to do that! I thought, running up the wall after him. I got close enough to snag his wrist, gripped it tightly, and used my weight to yank him backwards, slamming him against the floor below so powerfully that his body cracked the concrete beneath the tiles. All the while, the alarm system continued to screech in my ears.

Michael found his feet in an instant, seemingly uninjured, and when I came at him again, it was he who sent me flying. I crashed into a wall, then spun to catch myself on hands and feet as I fell to the floor. I sprung up again in an instant, just in time to see Michael's fist flying at my stomach; the two merged with all the softness of a wrecking ball and I wailed in agony as my ribs were shattered.

Domare! Winston screamed through our connection.

Michael laughed menacingly and stepped back.

"Now, you're mine," he hissed, reaching out to pull me forward, but I wouldn't let him. I let my secondary fangs slide free, growled gutturally at the blond, and launched myself forward. I tackled him to the floor and buried my shark-like teeth into his jugular. He screamed so loudly into my ear that I had to jerk away almost immediately, ripping the flesh from his neck and spraying blood all over the both of us. I found my balance and glared at him furiously, his torn skin still clenched between my teeth. I spat it onto the floor and Michael gripped his bleeding neck.

"Monster!" he shouted in accusation.

"Then why in God's name won't you leave me alone!" I roared. "I am not Lewis Covington!"

"You're close enough," he snarled.

The alarms blaring around us suddenly took on a new tone, increasing in tempo and shrieking as loud as ever. I saw Michael's eyes widen and remembered that the prison was due to explode at any moment. There was no time to waste.

Michael didn't hesitate. He disappeared into the stairwell and I didn't waste time trying to catch him. I raced back to the ward.

"Domare!" Winston shouted when I ran in. He cradled Hazel in his arms, trying to staunch her bleeding with a sheet. "She's not healing!"

"Help me wrap up the wound. We're running out of time!"

I held up my Grandmother as Winston quickly wrapped the sheet around her throat as tightly as he could without cutting off her breath.

"Will she die if she can't breathe?" he asked desperately.

"I don't know," I admitted, lifting her onto his back. "I never thought to ask before. We need to get to the exit. Follow me!"

I took off down the hallway again; Hazel's weight didn't even hinder Winston's speed, but I knew that we had to be careful with her. The slayer stayed hot my heels as our thunderous footsteps echoed on the hallway walls, drowned out only by the sound of the blaring alarms. We finally reached the north stairwell and started our ascent. When sunlight first touched my skin, I didn't think to worry. It wasn't until we burst into the open desert and the sky stretched out above me that I fully realized why that was bad. I screamed as my sensitive eyes started watering and burning in a way that I never knew they could.

Winston groaned as his own eyes slowly adjusted, but he'd walked in sunlight before. In a minute or two, he'd probably be fine. I, however, would not. I was practically blind until my healing could catch up with my injuries. For the time being, I snapped my eyes closed and tried to rely on my other senses.