Colourless Skies

52. The Element Of Strategy

The cabin was perched into a patch of undergrowth, surrounded by a dense layer of trees, which prevented even the faintest rays of light to shine upon its windows clinging to dust and grime. Overgrown branches adorned the front door, as it became increasingly impossible for Leah to look at it carefully, owing to the continuous flow of red liquid from a gash on her forehead and into her eyes.

Orion dragged her along to the door, grunting and heaving every once in a while from the bumpy road, and the unfortunate pain in his knee. His hair stuck to his forehead, with blood acting as dried glue and his cat-like eyes shining in the very little light from the moon. He was mad, and completely obsessed with Leah. But when she had turn out to be fiercer than he had expected, he concluded that she, needed to be taught a lesson.

Her cries and pleas rose with the view of the woody cabin in front of them. She tried to shake his grasp on her hair by clawing on his hand, but it was of no use. He had an iron grip on her hair ever since she had done the unspoken mistake of kicking him in the shins.

Brutally he opened the door, and threw Leah over the rough wooden floor, bruising her elbows and scraping her knees, which forced her to let out a weak cry of pain.

With tears now obscuring her transparent vision, she looked up with a defeated face at Orion, only to see him glaring back with a hungry look at her, as if wanting to strip Leah of the little dignity she had.

"Let's get started shall we?" He raced towards Leah at a speed equivalent to her heart's beating. With immense pain, she backed away as much as she could, trying desperately for her skinned hands and knees to hold their ground, and not letting her become his prey.

Orion, having been provoked by her movements moved forward, and in one fast movement pulled her towards him with her leg, her blood curling scream following suit.

Immediately, he reached for Leah's shirt, trying to rip it before she had a chance to run away as tears continuously flowed from her eyes as she begged him to stop.

Before his hand could tear the fabric into two pieces, the door behind them slammed open with a powerful force. In walked someone both of them didn't expect to see.

Momentarily surprised, Orion let go of Leah's dirty shirt to look up at Sebastian, while Leah curled in fear beneath him.

"What are you doing here? I told you I would bring her to you after I am done with her." Orion exclaimed, the inflection in his voice raising by some octaves.

"Well, you were taking longer than precedented Orion." , Sebastian said calmly, "And I had been patient for too long."

He walked towards them at a casual pace, and extended his hand over to Orion.
"Now, hand her over."

Orion sighed in annoyance and got up from his towering position on a cowering Leah, but instead of backing away, he planted his feet right in front of the aforementioned.

At his daring move, Sebastian merely shook his head, and moved to his left, baring the way between him and the opened door.

"You leave me no choice."

A blast of sound erupted in the small cabin, and it shook violently. A blink of an eye later, Alex stood before Orion, smiling amusedly, while his eyes burned gold.

As Orion's steps halted in evident fear and shock, Alex was already calling on to his power, which he immediately focused on him, not giving Orion one another chance to escape.

"Nocturnum!" Alex roared and in order, Orion fell to the floor clutching his heart through his clothes tightly. His hands clenched into fists around it as if wanting it to beat, all the while he desperately gasped for air.

Leah watched all this, with her eyes widened in horror. She stared from Orion to Alex. What was happening? And what about Sebastian? At once, her eyes roamed to where Sebastian should have supposedly been. But to no avail did she see Sebastian, her eyes only met Jay's which twinkled with determination, as he smiled and made his way towards her.

Leah's mind swam in a whirlpool of questions, before she realised it had been Jay all along. Her tense muscles slowly relaxed as only one thought ran through her head over and over. 'Jay has shape-shifted into Sebastian. '

'This was all planned.'

'Jay has shape-shifted.'

'This was all planned. '

'You are safe.'

As Jay gently gave her a hand in sitting up, and dusting off her saved clothes, she watched Alex grit his teeth in absolute anger as he eyed the dying Orion.

He was taking his last breath, whispering something inaudible to the rest, except a Vampire.

"Spare me... please."

This produced a bitter laugh from Alex, as he walked away from his recoiling body.

"People like you don't deserve second chances."

"Are you okay?" Alex inquired, his voice deeper, and concerning. Leah, being too stunned to speak, looked hopefully at Jay, and fortunately, he understood.

"She is suffering from minor injuries, though her forehead did receive a bad gash. We have to get her medical assistance as soon as possible."

He moved towards Leah swiftly, and gently raised her chin to make her eyes meets his. Her face was bruised; a busted lip, a thin streak of blood tracing her forehead. It worried Alex, and he didn't notice how his hand reached for her hair, which he softly tucked behind her ear. His eyes were focused on her face, and he saw how her ears and cheeks heated up by his stare and actions. Snapping out of his emotions, he moved away quickly and looked at Jay for a moment before he turned towards the door, and muttered. "Let's get going then.", not daring to look at Leah once more.

Jay nodded and smirked at her, which made her blush fiercely and smile, despite all the pain.

But before any of them could take another step, Alex's ears perked up. He could hear distinct conversations which meant vampires. And he knew that Sebastian and Orion were the only ones who knew about the location of the cabin, so they must be their men.

"Sebastian's army. They are gaining on us. Let's go!" His voice laced with urgency got everyone moving, but as soon as Leah took her first step, she yelped in agony, her knees skinned so badly that it hurt immensely to walk.

"I...I-I can't r-run!" She yelled as tears started to gloss her eyes again at the pain and embarrassment. Alex turned back to inspect her knees, and indeed they were bleeding badly, enough to aware of him of the fact that she would not be able to walk, let alone run.

Without any further words exchanged between the two, he reached behind Leah, and in one swift manoeuvre, picked Leah up without any effort, placing his hands gently under her knees and neck as she gripped onto his shirt tightly in fright.

The first thought that crossed Alex's mind was how light she was, owing to days or eating poorly and continuous wounds. But soon it was replaced by the threat of Sebastian's minions, and his feet picked up pace in no time, making Leah yell meekly at his fast speed.

Shaking his head, and giving himself a knowing smile at the actions of his two friends, Jay followed close behind.

Hehehehehe. *sounds like a psycho.*