Sanja

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - I'll get you out of here

I stood there, paralyzed. The world was drained of all sound, and the only thing I could hear was my heart violently hammering inside my chest.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. And then nothing.

"Any of you boys up for a midnight snack?" Behind Jose stood 3 men, their eyes boring into me. They all snickered, and one of them pushed the child out of the way, ignoring his whimper as he slammed into the solid wall. My breathing hitched.

"I always am. Although I have to admit. She already looks empty." A tall blonde one approached me, yanking me forwards by the shirt. His eyes scanned the blood stains on the white fabric. "Someone really enjoyed their meal."

The two others laughed. "And so will we."

An unexpected question popped up in my mind. But it was directed at myself. Without thinking, I dismissed it in hope it would go away, but as soon as I regained my previous state of mind, the thing inside of me decided to take over again.

I'll get you out of here, Sanja.

I didn't resist it, mainly because I knew I didn't have a choice, but also because I began to wonder if it was in fact a bad thing. It promised it would save me, and not only was I in a desperate situation, but it was notorious for getting rid of my obstacles.

And so I gave it full control of my body. "Except this isn't my blood, gentlemen." It grinned, surprising all three of them. "Now it's not that I wouldn't mind decorating my shirt with more blood, but there's somewhere I must be."  Like always, its voice was deeper and stronger, and the fear it created showed on their faces.

However, the brown-haired man lunged at my body, surprising both of us. I was terrified, but it was enjoying this.

"Idiot." It thought as it forced my body out of the way with a ridiculous speed. "He'll learn. Eventually."

The man crashed into the wall, moaning as he fell flat on the floor. "Get her."

The others dodged themselves at me, and I panicked, cussing at the thing inside of me to take action. Luckily, It did. It whipped my body around the hallway for a good two minutes, sending strong punches and deadly kicks at my opponents until they collapsed. Once they were on the floor, knocked out, my body felt a powerful force withdraw from it, and my normal human thoughts and emotions returned.

I scanned my surroundings, noticing the destruction I had made. There, in the walkway, stood the little boy, cowering under his own hoodie. I approached him, leaning down. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

He stared back at me. "No worries. But you need to go. They'll be here soon."

"They? Who's they?"

He stood up, nodding at me to do the same. His much smaller body began walking in a random direction. "Follow me. I'll help you out of here."

I was taken aback by his proposition, considering how last time he had made it very clear he'd do the opposite. "Why would you do that?"

He took a right, then a left. All the corridors looked the same to me. "Things are changing around here."

"What does that mean?" I asked as he sighed and picked up the pace. 

"They're not the same as before. You don't seem to understand the way I phrase my sentences."

I rolled my eyes, remembering how annoying this kid was. Ah, right. Captain obvious. "I was asking for you to elaborate, not rephrase what you said."

He took a left and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Things are just changing. I can tell. For example, I believe the Primus of this coven is corrupt, and even with all the information I've gathered, he's granted too much power to be stopped."

"So what is the Primus? I've heard people mention him before."

He suddenly stopped in front of a door and grabbed my wrist, placing his index over his mouth. We backed up against the wall, and he slowly creaked the door open, peeking in. He motioned me to quietly follow after him.

I couldn't hear nor see anything suspicious, let alone anyone. But I mimicked his stunt as he sprinted halfway across an empty room. "What?" I mouthed to him once we were behind a couch, proud that we both had the ability to read lips.

"Vampires. Extremely good hearing." He pointed to his ears, then lifted himself up from the checkpoint and ran to the other end. I followed closely behind.

He cautiously opened a large wooden door without a sound and ushered me out of the room. As we found ourselves back in the hallway I wondered why any of that was necessary. "We avoided the entertainment center. That's the hotspot where everyone is at this time of night." He said.

It all made sense now. Vampires were nocturnal. I couldn't believe this whole time I'd been missing such an essential piece of the puzzle. That explained why the building was so immense and yet empty during the day. "So back to my question, who is this primus everyone talks about?" I asked as we distanced ourselves from the game room.

"He's the leader. This whole coven lays in the hollow of his hands. And that's why I fear for our future." After he spoke, we fell silent. His steps guided me to a window, where a haunting moon on the other side slept. The crater's fingers of silver lit up everything it could touch, emitting a pale sheen across the forest before my eyes.

That must've been the same forest I got lost in yesterday.

He propped the latch open and lifted the window, "You must go now. I wish you well." Everything inside of me jumped and I felt my heart gasp.

"Is there a way around that?" I lifted a shaky finger at the massive clot of blurred green. Even just looking at it made my muscles freeze up.

"No. It surrounds the coven. But," he whispered, drawing out the last word as his fingers wrapped themselves around his chin, "once you're passed it, you'll be safe and sound. There's even a town right down that way where you'll be able to get help."

I followed his finger to a minuscule spec of light situated right at the end of the abyss of black overgrown trees and haunting fog. I gulped. "Go now! I'm afraid the longer we wait the more likely Z-" he stopped himself, "-your master will awake."

My heart skipped not one but two beats. I had almost gotten his name. But then did it really matter anymore? He was after all dead. And I had killed him.

I obediently nodded, deciding now was a great time to make a run for it, "Bye. And thanks."

I had already turned my back to him and lifted my first leg onto the windowsill when I heard a distant voice yell out.

It was hoarse, dry, and cold, full of power and knowledge.

"Take one more step human and you're both dead."