AUTHOR'S POVEarlier at the DW Hospital
The hospital corridor was nearly asleep. It was the dead hour of the night, and the strange stretch of time when even the fluorescent lights seemed exhausted. Most patients had settled into uneasy slumber, and the nurses' station had finally gone quiet. The nurse planned to go on a short break after her rounds. Another cup of caffeine and a light snack would probably keep her eyes up until her shift ends. On her last patient to check in the surgical wing, the nurse stands on the door and glances at the chart clipped beside it.
Kate Williams.
Kate had been admitted for days due to a stabbed wound. On the day that she is about to be discharged, her fever became persistent as she suffer severe postoperative pain. Unfortunately, she had to stay a little longer in the hospital bed for another round of antibiotics and higher dose of pain relievers.
The nurse knocked softly and pushed the door open. "Good morning Ms. Williams, nurse's rounds", she said softly. Only the wall sconce above the bed remained lit. Its dim bluish glow painted long shadows across the room. The air inside felt stuffy, and heavy. She went in and found Kate sound asleep. "Ms. Williams, I'll be checking your vital signs", she said. Kate mumbled words with her eyes closed as she turn to her side. The nurse smiled and proceeded to her usual routine of patient monitoring.
Relieved, Kate's vital signs finally normalized after days of spiking fevers and wound infection. Her visitors has been restricted for a while to promote fast healing and recovery. Hopefully, if this goes on, she'll be discharged tomorrow. Wrapping up, the nurse suddenly heard something. A light scrape across the room. It was as though a chair leg had dragged an inch on the floor. The nurse stopped, looked over where she heard the soft sound, and listened.
Nothing.
Her eyes swept the room. They are alone. The nurse released the breath she didn't realized she was holding. Old buildings make noises, and this isn't the first time she had the same experience, not just in this room. The nurse walked to the window, unlatched it and opened the glass with a click. The breath of the night made her shrug her shoulders as the light overhead Kate's bed flicker. Such a nice feeling, and yet the nurse decided not to open the window too wide.
"Hello..."
The nurse flinched. The whisper was so hushed she almost thought she imagined it. She slowly looked back. Her eyes landed on the chair that she thought have moved earlier. The cold pricked her arms, and all the hair on her nape raised. She could feel it. The heavy presence inside the room that the naked eye couldn't see. The nurse swallowed and forced to move her frozen legs.
She approached Kate, who remained asleep on her left side. The nurse then gently tucked Kate under the blanket, as she inspect the IV bag. Brightening the wall sconce, a figure of a woman standing behind her appeared. Her dark outline against the wall stood motionless. The nurse caught a glimpse of it, but when she spun around... it was gone. Her pulse throbbed harder. Hurriedly, she placed the nurse call button near Kate. "Ring if you need anything", she whispered in Kate's sleep, before stepping out of the room.
Kate slept deeply. Her body finally surrendered after days of fever and pain. A light breeze brushed her shoulder. Carefully, she turned to the other side pulling the blanket over her. Just then, something tugged at her hand. She frowned in her sleep. Another pull tugged again. A gentle one that didn't really interrupted her. Then comes another tug. The IV line shifted against the tape on the back of her hand. Through her haze, she assumed it was the nurse checking her fluids. She let it be.
Then it happened again.
A little harder this time. Her brows knitted together. She was too sleepy to open her eyes, in need of a few more hours of sleep. Yet, another tug came after another. Harder than the ones before. Her eyes remained closed, as irritation slowly replace her drowsiness. "Nurse", she murmured hoarsely. "Be gentle... I want to sleep".
The pulling stop.
Kate sighed and sank deeper into her pillow. Then, the tugs returned. The IV Line jerked sharply. Another tug pulled her hand off the mattress. She winced and this time, annoyance flared inside her. With a groan, she pushed herself upright, ignoring the protest of the stitches in her abdomen. A sharp pain tore through her side, but she gritted her teeth and sat up. As she look to her side, her eyes widened in horror. Before she could scream, a pale face has emerged from the dark and her cold hand had clamped over her mouth.
Back in the Devlin's Mansion
It has to be tonight. On a special night marked by the timely death of the Devlin mansion owner which have opened doors to vampires, Claudia, an original vampire who have abandoned time in her early twenties, invaded the wolves' home where the woman with peculiar blood is sheltered. It is such a peculiar blood, so unique that it defies the laws of every vampire's existence. The blood that turned her into human. It was a repulsing moment in all of Claudia's century life when she had a taste of it. Its sweetness felt wrong in all ways. As she turn to something she despised, her human emotions came in like turbulence. All the more, she have forgotten how it feels like to be helpless, weak... human. After relishing the fragile while of being alive, she knew to herself that the blood which carried poison to her kind should not exist.
In the brief moment where Claudia hid her vulnerability, she felt as if she was at the bottom of the food chain. Nonetheless, she still made it worthwhile. At a distance, she learned everything about Diana. She watched the people who are close to her. She wandered, dipped her nose on everywhere Diana's acquainted with. Her home, her workplace, and her friends. And there she found Kate Williams. As soon as the curse of immortality embraced her being back, Claudia need not to waste more time as she begin to creep in Diana's world like fog.
Claudia didn't came alone. She came prepared with an army of newborn vampires and a few of her creations. The more, the better. And like a storm, she arrived as the calm clear center of a spiraling pandemonium. With a deep sense of revenge, she crossed the territory of the wolves as she paint her art of war in red blood. Her newborns attacked first, like pawns in a chess match. Marked with no fear and driven with only the call of blood rage, they went in all entrances there is.
Outside the mansion, Claudia looked as though she had stepped out of another century. Her beauty was not the kind of invited admiration. It inspired unease. Her blonde hair with the color of pale champagne, was neatly chignon at the nape of her neck where every strand were perfectly in place despite the carnage around her. A small black hat rested atop her head, its delicate veil of netting draped one side of her face. Four of her vampire creations, in pinstripes and wool rayon blends, await with her under the moonlight with the very special package she brought along.
On her knees in her thin hospital gown, Kate weeped uncontrollably. Her wrists bruised from struggling, and her hair had fallen over her face. She held her trembling body engulfed by suffocating fright and paralyzing freeze. "Call her.", Claudia ordered in her deep threatening voice of measured cadence.
"G-go to hell!!"
Claudia's eyes, vivid like fresh blood which seemed to hold centuries of death within them shimmered, tilting her head at Kate as if she was a rabbit shaking at her feet. The hem of her black dress stirred in the wind as though even the night itself feared brushing against her. Kate glanced at the primal predator who had taken her. She could hardly look into Claudia's eyes which carried a weight of countless graves and long forgotten names. Instead of doing what she was asked, she only replied with her jittering teeth. "Call her", Claudia said again, with tone now laced with sharp aggression.
It was only two words.
Two words that made Kate's heart miss a beat. As she find her voice, she clutched her hand on her gown into a fist. "Di.. Diana!", she called, not minding the pins piercing in her stitches. "Do-don't you come out!! Don't come out!!", Kate whimpered the message opposing Claudia's expectation.
Despite the wrong message, a smile cracked on Claudia's marbled face. "Oh please.. Make it even louder so she could hear.", Claudia inched her face on Kate's neck as she grazed it with her hand covered with long black satin gloves. Kate muffled her cries, her white breath steam from her pursed lips. "Call her again", Claudia whispered in her ear.
"Claudia", Richard, one of Claudia's favorite creations from the 40's, drew near. He brushes his popular thin mustache with his two fingers, as he glance on his pocket watch tugged from his high waisted baggy peg-leg trousers. "I don't think the woman is gonna come out anytime soon.", he crouches beside Kate, poring over very closely. "Why don't we take a bite on this fresh blood first?", seething through her hair.
"Don't you... touch me!", Kate glared. "Go to hell!"
Claudia grabbed Kate by her hair, and yanked her back. The sweet scent of Kate's blood rose in the air which made the other vampires standing close by drool. "You misunderstand your position.", she leaned closer. Kate strained at the strong grasp of Claudia, breathing rapidly that her chest felt as if it was pierced by shards of ice. "But you're one brave soul, I wish I can keep you", Claudia whispered.
Meanwhile
No matter how hard Scott and Roman block the window overlooking the vampires, they couldn't conceal Kate's screams that have reached Diana's recognition. It didn't take her too long to discern Kate's voice that Diana had to force herself between the two Alphas. The ragged screams went on as she draw near. Beyond the glass, she sees Kate down the lawn, the sight made her skin crawl. "That's Kate...", Diana rushed out, but Scott caught her arm before she could pull the curtains aside.
"No."
"Let me go!!", she struggled against his grip, panic consuming her. "I have to save her!", she flinched when another scream echoed outside. "Please", she implored. "If I don't come out, it might be too late!"
"That's exactly what she wants", Scott's jaw tightened. When it involves an original vampire, it will no longer be a negotiable matter. "You're not going out there.", it was final.
Diana looked up to him, breathing hard. "I have to save her! That's Kate!", her fists slam Scott's chest, pushing him with all her strength. However, her pleas didn't budged Scott.
Roman stepped forward, standing beside Scott. "And what Luna?", Roman furrowed his eyes at Diana. His tone was sharp as his piercing stares. "What do you intend to do?", it was a question that struck her like a slap. Her fists slid down, leaving her mouth open. "You can't shape shift. You have no claws. You can barely take on one newborn child vampire, much more an original or its four other creations", lambasting her with words for her to fully understand the danger of the situation.
"Enough, Roman", Scott warned, steering Diana away. Even Gunner and Troy who were guarding the door choked on their Alpha's words.
But, Roman wasn't finished. He followed them both, forcing his words into her ears. "You'll offer your blood? Pat them on their heads with your charm?", every line was merciless. A brutal truth that Roman thought needs to be heard by the stubborn Luna.
Diana felt the weight of those barbed arguments, that it brimmed in her eyes. Yet, she listened at every word, staring at Roman. It was everything that have made her feel small and unfit as Scott's Luna. Hearing her thoughts in Roman's mouth tore her heart into shreds. "Roman, I said enough!", Scott grits.
Roman took another step. "They will slaughter you on sight! They will not think twice. They will have no remorse. And with an original vamp hunting you, she'll make sure you'll die a slow painful death. So why can't you just stop being so stubborn! You can't always put your life on the line for Scott, for Kate... for---"
The slap cracked through the room. Roman's head turned sharply to the side that even Scott, Gunner and Troy froze. Diana's hand trembled in pain where it hung in the air. "That's... my friend. The only family I have left", she says calmly, with her voice cracking. There was no anger in her eyes, as Roman turns to her. There he found not the realization and faltering that he expected, there was pain and disappointment. Diana swallowed hard. "I know I'm weak. I may not be able to save her, but I could at least die trying", a small tear trickled down her cheek, as her chest rose shakily. She wiped it with the back of her hand, with her eyes refusing to turn away from Roman.
Roman had no answer to that. Because for his brutal honesty, he understood loyalty, friendship and family. "Diana, please calm down", Scott held Diana in his arms. "Roman's right. There's no point of you going down there. Leave this to me".
"I can't just do nothing. Can't you hear?", Diana painfully listens to Kate's screams. "The longer I stay here, Kate's suffering won't end."
"I'll deal with it", Scott says. "I'll make sure nothing happens to her.", his assurance neither dries her brimming eyes, nor the sound of it calms her heart. "But, promise me you'll stay here. I'll bring her back", his voice was firm, but gentle. Diana shook her head, almost immediately. Scott's eyes held hers, as he cup her face with the warmth of his palms. "You trust me don't you?"
Roman scoffed. "Right. You should take responsibility. This is your fault anyway.", he turned away from such unwarranted sight of Scott and Diana. "Troy stay here. We've got business. For what it's worth, I'm not leaving this mission to some incompetent Alpha".
"No", Scott opposed. "Your dog's scent will lead the newborns here."
"And what? Leave Diana unprotected? That's some shitty plans of yours again Devlin", Roman exhaled through his nose.
"Diana has no scent.", Scott turned to Diana. "They won't be able to track her. Besides, she can protect herself. Right?", it wasn't comfort or encouragement, but it was absolute trust that she won't do something more reckless. Diana held the marbles that she wrapped with linen.
"This is absurd. How can she--- Where's the elf?", Roman searched with his eyes. Ofir has vanished from where he was resting. "That's one more of a problem"
Scott ignores Roman. "I'll be right back. Stay hidden, and keep Ofir's marbles with you at all times", Scott kisses Diana's forehead, before walking away. It was best to leave her there, he believed. Or else, he wouldn't win a fight against the vampires along with his weakness.
Diana nodded, crossing her arms. "Will you be okay?"
"We're Alphas, Luna", Roman cocks his head. "Just stay hidden for your reckless friend."
The next second, all four wolves left the room. Gunner and Troy lead the newborns away from Diana's threshold, while Roman and Scott left together going down another floor. The journey downstairs was a massacre. The sounds of snarling and fighting erupted through the hallways down to the ballroom. The grand staircase was stained red, and some ashes covered the floor like black snow. Bodies of servants and omegas littered the marble floors. Some were left hanging on the windows, and some laid on broken furniture. All dead. Despite all the deaths, still, more newborns invade the mansion. "Just how much newborns did she made?", Roman grunted.
The large hall that was mourning with flowers and candles now turned into a battlefield from a nightmare. The roses lay crushed beneath muddy footprints and streaks of blood. Candles had been knocked from their stands, wax spilling across the marble like melted tears. The chairs were splintered into pieces. And the urns that held Scott's loved ones were toppled over.
In the middle of a somewhat slaughterhouse, Scott found his pack surrounded by newborns. Bodies of vampires disintegrated among the overturned chairs and broken glass. The pack fought endlessly like war machines. A newborn lunges at David, he side stepped and drove his fist on its face. Another attacked Austin, only for Cory to tackle it from the side. Lucas tears another newborn's head with his bare hands, while Allen grabs a newborn old lady by her hair and tramples her under his feet.
And Sebastian...
His brother rips a newborn away from the omega servants, and slammed it into a pillar hard enough to crack the stone. Another immediately kept his brother's hands busy, as the fight never seemed to end.
Lucas looked up first. A grin spread across his face. "Look who finally decided to join the party", he tears a newborn's arm clean off.
"You're late , Alpha!", Cory barked a laugh.
David ducked under a swipe of claws. "Very late."
"This is the only time I've ever been so relieved being late", Scott stumbles over a newborn whom Roman tossed to him.
"Let him be", Allen smirks. "He had a rough night with the Luna", he blocks an attack from a newborn.
"I had 20 bucks, Scott was crying at Luna's door", Cory punches a newborn on the face, breaking its neck. Teasing Scott, he lifts his brows at the Alpha with a grin.
"Thirty on him smooching with her behind a locked door", Austin grabs a newborn by its neck, twisting it in an incredible turn as its body turn to ash.
Laughter erupted among the wolves. Even Sebastian found humor in the midst of the turmoil. On the flip side, only Roman didn't find it pleasurable. "Your pack's pathetic. I'll be outside", Roman walks to the exit door of the grand ballroom,
"So you're friends now? I'm hurt Scott, I thought I'm your best friend", Lucas kicks a newborn going
"Shut up Luc",
"You guys got this? I need to get outside, they got Kate"
"Kate's out there?",
"Then what are you still doing here?"
"I needed to know you had this covered
"Go on!!"
"We got this covered"
"We'll keep the party going until you come back"