[𝟷] 𝘾𝙍𝙊𝙒𝙉 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙍𝙉𝙎, 𝘕.𝘔. [EDITING]

𝕏𝕏𝕍

25 | kill them all

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀WREN WAS ROUGHLY KNOCKED OFF OF HER CHAIR, HER BACK SLAMMING AGAINST THE HARDWOOD FLOOR. A SHATTERED GASP LEFT HER THROAT AS THE WIND WAS KNOCKED OUT OF HER, struggling to move.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Somewhere along the chaos, a voice growled in her ear. "Stay still." He used his body to cover hers. A groan of pain erupted as his body flinched from the impact of the wooden bullets connecting with him.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren trembled, hiding behind Klaus as much as she could. Tears of fright leaked from the corners of her eyes as screams erupted all around.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀The tires squealed again, and the shooting came to an end.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren gasped, trying to get her breath back as the piercing silence met her ears. Ringing erupted from her left side, making her flinch away and cover her ears to block out the noise.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus grabbed her face, speaking to her. She stared blankly into his eyes. "Wren, listen to me." Her eyes looked straight at him, looking - but not seeing. "Can you hear me, love?"

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren stared straight at Klaus, trying to focus on something to bring herself back to reality. She traced his lips with her eyes, following the perfect bow and trying to memorize the rosy color.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus stood, bringing her with him and seating her on one of the still-surviving chairs. He flashed over to Marcel, who was groaning as he plucked bullets from his chest. He wasn't hit in any vital places.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren clenched the sides of the chairs hard with her hands as she looked around the room. Shattered glass and blood were everywhere - it looked like a massacre. Charred bones lay a few feet to her left, still smoking. That had been a person, once.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Nik," Wren whispered, "what..."  What happened? Who did this? All of her questions fell limp in her mouth.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Marcel chanted as he paced around. "This is on you!" he shouted, pointing his finger at Klaus. "Now that you're in charge, those are your guys laying dead. If you're gonna run this city that better mean something to you or no one worth a damn is gonna follow you!"

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus smirked at his friend. "I was beginning to worry about you. I don't think I could've taken any more of this deferential nonsense." He gestured around. "I mean, clearly, I underestimated The Faction - but now that we've arrived at this point. Now that they have come into our home, visited this upon our people - how would you counsel me to respond?"

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Marcel snarled, "Let's go kill them all."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren looked around the room - at the havoc The Faction caused. They had killed people from their own communities - humans who were probably compelled to come and be fed on. They had killed people from the vampire community - the body count was higher than the human deaths. At least ten vampires lay dead.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀In the moment, she couldn't help but agree.

♔

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren sat on the bed, looking at her hands. They were clean - free of the blood and dirt she had found on them when she first returned to the compound. Her bags sat around the room - she hadn't the heart to unpack them yet.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Her troubled mind wasn't budging, even as footsteps appeared outside her door. She could feel his presence, his yearning to enter.