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tvdversefanfiction · 4 years

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Canary Carnage

Chapter Three: Original Carnage

Fandom’s: The Originals, Arrowverse, TVDverse and DC Universe.

Warnings: I don’t own any of the rights, content or characters belonging to any of the DC content I use within the story along with not owning any rights, content or characters within The Vampire Diaries, Originals or Legacies.

18 Rating: Moderate/Graphic displays of violence, sexual innuendos, sexually charged scenes, SMUT, strong language and potentially triggering scenes.

Pairings: M/M, F/F, M/F.

Rebekah Mikaelson returned to New Orleans ready to keep an eye on the canaries, her siblings and her former lover Marcel Gerard not because she wanted to but because Klaus pleaded with her and she’d rather be the one taking action if needed than her brother knowing he’d mess up their plan to rid themselves of The Hollow once and for all and they were so close with only Elijah left to go.

However, upon her return to the city her family called home she was dealt some devastating news about her sister Freya and Freya’s werewolf girlfriend Keelin deaths as everyone found themselves convinced the Red Canary was to blame which was a fair assumption considering he did try to murder her that day.

Freya Mikaelson’s death had changed everything for Rebekah she wanted revenge and she wasn’t willing to give it up even if it meant giving up Elijah she had to honor her sister and kill Freya and Keelin’s killer no matter the cost knowing Elijah himself would agree with her decision to kill the Red Canary.

She just had to deal with the Black Canary first hoping to catch her by surprise so she’d be an easy kill hoping for Hayley Marshall’s partnership only for Hayley to refuse believing Laurel Lance to be innocent over Freya’s death although she did promise to help kill Lucas if she didn’t wind up killing him first. Hayley was royal to the Mikaelson’s, but she wasn’t one for needless bloodshed especially one who had already done the hybrid so many favors but Rebekah like her siblings was no stranger to backstabbing and betrayals.

The Mikaelson’s had funerals to plan and loved ones to mourn but that was all put on hold while they plotted their revenge on the Red Canary for killing their sister, not knowing he was innocent of this kill.

Rebekah and Kol were determined to make the canaries cry for last time as they once again found themselves in a situation where allies became foes.

Laurel Lance was as smart as they came having learned a lot from her father about keeping her ear to the ground making sure she knew everything going on in this city she was temporarily calling home which meant she knew Freya Mikaelson and her ER doctor girlfriend Keelin Malraux was murdered last night and just like everyone else she was convinced her brother was to blame.

The kill had Lucas Lance written all over it or at least that’s what Laurel believed not knowing her supposedly drowned sister Sara Lance had made a return from the dead as well as somehow making her way to Earth Blood.

It was a family reunion that was just waiting to happen shocking everyone involved but first she had to deal with a vengeful family a family of original vampires who couldn’t be killed.

“I hope you weren’t intending on going anywhere in particular now!” Rebekah said after kicking down the door of the hotel room to find Laurel throwing clothes into a rucksack clearly ready to flee New Orleans. “I know my sister’s death isn’t on you but it is on your brother and I know more than most how a sister never wants to see a brother die so I’m afraid where here to kill you to stop you getting in our way when we kill your brother.”

“Well I guess the joke is on me for believing vampires could honor deals even if I honored my side.” Laurel replied as Kol vamp sped his way to stand next to his sister. “See here’s the thing I’m not dying today neither is my brother so I’m afraid that leaves us with no choice but becoming enemies.”

Kol threw large shards of glass he had in his hand in Laurel’s directly with his vamp speed and force cutting Laurel’s throat with the shards several times causing her to fall to her knees in pain as blood began pouring out from her throat, knowing it would weaken her canary cry before the Mikaelson siblings vamp sped over to Laurel only to stop midway when a canary cry coming from behind dropped them to their knees.

“Hey sis did you miss me?” Lucas said to his sister Laurel as he appeared at the doorstep before releasing another large canary cry continuing to shake the room and make the two originals scream in pain until their heads exploded in bursts of blood and gore splashing all over the hotel room and his sister as the two headless Mikaelson siblings’ bodies fell to the floor. “Now are we going to team up again or have you found yourself some wolf in the woods?”

Laurel slowly rose to her feet holding her bleeding neck only for Lucas to speed over to Kol’s headless body as he pulled out a knife and cut his the chaotic original’s hand before speeding over to the Black Canary and force feeding her Kol’s blood.

“The blood has healing properties so take it in and let’s get the hell out of here.” Lucas demanded as Laurel pushed herself away from being force fed vampire blood as she held her neck and felt it instantly healing.

“Why did you come to my rescue?” Laurel asked, shocked by the entire situation.

“Because you’re my sister and only I get to kill you when the time comes.” Lucas replied to her. “And before you ask, I didn’t kill the witch although I had every intention too and I’m guessing you didn’t…”

“Which means there’s another screamer in town…one that’s probably came from our earth.” Laurel realized.

“I can’t promise not to double cross you if this screamer turns out to be a better alliance, but I can promise you won’t end up a blood bag to this family.” Lucas honestly told his sister, both knowing that now more than ever they needed each other.

“Deal!” Laurel agreed. “Now let’s get the hell out of here!”

Klaus Mikaelson stood outside the gates of the Salvatore Boarding School in Mystic Falls eagerly awaiting his reunion with his Tribrid daughter Hope Mikaelson after over half a decade without visiting her.

He never meant to leave it so long but being without her was worse than any torture he had even endured or impacted and the odd phone call here and there would just serve to torture him more so instead he did the typical Klaus Mikaelson move and vanished for a few years getting soaked in other people’s blood taking out potential foes and making new ones like he always did so well.

At first he believed there’d be someway to reunite him with his family but as the years went on he found himself giving up that notion until his sister Rebekah’s chance encounter with a certain Black Canary had changed everything for him and now he was standing outside the gates eagerly awaiting to see his daughter completely hollow free like his sister Rebekah and his brother Kol hoping soon Elijah would also be in the fold, not having checked his phone, not realising his sister Freya was no longer with them or at least not yet knowing.

“Dad I’ve missed you so much.” Hope stated with a sad smile on her face, her eyes red raw from crying after walking up to the gates which automatically opened allowing Klaus to give his daughter a tight hug. “I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“What’s wrong Hope?” Klaus asked his daughter after breaking off his hug with his daughter, knowing something had got her devastated.

“It’s Aunt Freya,” Hope reluctantly revealed as she began to cry once more. “She’s dead!”

A stunned Klaus quickly took his daughter in his arms once more hugging her as she cried over the loss of Freya while he stood there refusing to let go of his sobbing daughter as tears formed in his eyes as he struggled to come to terms with the revelation his eldest sibling was gone just like that without warning and without a proper goodbye.

He couldn’t believe the news he had only got his family back and now one was gone forever. The only thing he knew for certain in that moment was whoever caused his sister’s death was going to suffer incredibly for their vicious act before Klaus eventually released them for this mortal coil.

Lucas Lance was never one to come to the rescue that was always his sister Laurel’s job but he was definitely all about self-preservation and after hearing news of the witch’s death he knew he’d be the number one suspect so coming to his sister’s aid would give him the only ally in the world who wouldn’t want to see him dead.

Lucas’ relationship with his eldest sister was difficult at best and that’s before he chose a path of villainy. He was close to his father but Laurel was closer he was close to his mother but Sara was closer when it came to family ties he always felt alone even more so when his sister was pronounced dead, then his father died and his mother left town.

The Red Canary may have been a cold calculating psychopath who reveled in murder and mayhem but in his own twisted way he still loved his sister The Black Canary sure he’d back-stab and betray her at the whim of the hat but he’d never kill her or at least he didn’t think he would and god help anyone who tried.

Laurel Lance was the last shred of humanity Lucas still had after the rage within him took over under the influence of his first boss Slade Wilson who taught the Red Canary to harness the darkness within before Lucas broke free from him to be his own boss although he never admit to still having a fondness for his eldest sister.

“Not to be complaining considering you saved my life and everything but when the hell did you take over a hotel?” Laurel asked her brother Lucas as they walked into the luxurious and abandoned reception area of the same hotel Lucas had slaughtered a bunch of people by the bar.

“We all need temporary accommodation while we look for something a little more permanent.” Lucas replied to her.

“Yeah well your number one target here on a list of people who don’t seem to know how to die so sticking around permanently is probably not the best move for you mind you neither was killing their sister.” Laurel bluntly suggested to her brother.

“Like I said that wasn’t me there’s clearly another screamer in town maybe from this earth maybe from ours besides on the whole Mikaelson family being unkillable I’ve heard that’s not completely true in fact a certain Marcel Gerard has exactly what we’ll need to kill them all.” Lucas informed his big sister stating his innocence while making it clear he had the situation handled.

“Last time you underestimated an enemy you had to leave Gotham City this time you might not get a chance to escape.” Laurel warned her brother.

“Why escape when we can kill them all?” Sara asked her siblings after speeding into the reception area to greet a stunned Laurel and Lucas who had believed their sister had died many years ago.

Laurel remembered the time she first heard the news that her sister Sara Lance was on her boyfriend Oliver Queen’s boat when it sunk when her devastated mother Dinah reluctantly revealed all about her sister and boyfriend’s betrayal while delivering the heart breaking news of their deaths.

She remembered how she was so confused by whether she was supposed to be more angry or heartbroken following the news as she struggled to come to terms with losing her younger sister while attempting and failing to hold her family together.

Lucas never recovered from the news of his sister Sara’s death as he found himself falling apart along with his family before an alliance with Slade Wilson gave him purpose no matter how twisted that purpose wound up being the infamous Deathstroke gave him meaning when he needed it most.

As far as both Laurel and Lucas were concerned their family unit had been completely and destroyed and they never believed there’d be any healing happening but the return of their supposedly dead sister the White Canary was about to change everything.

“How is this possible? You’re supposed to be dead!” Lucas said to his sister Sara while him, Sara and Laurel all stood within the reception area of the hotel that the Red Canary had made his temporary home.

“Well not exactly I was just presumed dead.” Sara replied to her younger brother.

“I guess that’s why we never found a body.” Lucas realized as Laurel stormed over to her sister and furiously smacked Sara across the face.

“Your death destroyed our family!” Laurel shouted at her. “Dad drunk himself to death and Mum bailed on us unable to cope with your death and yet you were alive all this time.”

“I didn’t mean for anyone to believe I was dead Laurel I washed up on some deserted island where we had to force ourselves to learn just how to survive until we were eventually rescued by a top secret organisation I can’t tell you about.” Sara revealed to her siblings. “By the time I got anywhere near civilization the world believed Sara Lance was dead.”

“Why not seek us out? Why not tell us what happened?” Lucas questioned the White Canary. “How the hell did you wind up on this earth?”

“I got myself into a situation and had to live a life on the run I did think about contacting you both but my life was just too complicated until I heard about the portal in an alleyway back in Star City that nobody can seem to close.” Sara continued to inform her siblings. “I didn’t know you both would be here or that this world would be so different to all the others.”

“You said we…is Oliver…” Laurel began to ask.

“Yes, he’s alive too and he’s also here we both came here in an attempt to avoid a sticky situation.” Sara answered her older sister only to be smacked by Laurel once again.

“You should’ve stayed dead!” Laurel snapped at her younger sister coldly before speeding her way out of sight and as far away from her siblings as possible.

“Oh, great the last thing we need right now is her running loose in this city.” Lucas complained to his newly returned sister. “I’m guessing you’re the canary who cried the witch and her wolf girlfriend to death.”

“It’s kind of what I do or at least what I used to do.” Sara replied to her brother.

“It’s totally what I do,” Lucas smirked at his sister. “In fact, I was intending to kill her myself until you beat me to it.”

“I killed because I had no choice it’s how I earned my survival I don’t take pleasure in it like you Red Canary.” Sara quickly made it clear she was not like her brother. “This path of villainy you’ve chosen for yourself isn’t you or at least it never used to be.”

“Yeah let’s cut this hypocritical speech you seem to be going into newly revived sis because right now I have to go clean up the mess you made and make sure it doesn’t wind up being the death Laurel or me.” Lucas told the White Canary, realizing all questions he had for his sister would have to wait until after they sorted out the Mikaelson problem which he just decided in that moment he was going to take a different approach towards.

Freya Mikaelson and Keelin Malraux’s deaths had the Mikaelson family completely torn as they were forced to deal with another loss which Hayley Marshall had found herself slowly becoming more and more accustomed to while staying close with the original family of vampires.

During her time with the Mikaelson’s she had been around for Kol’s ex Davina Claire’s multiple deaths, her friend Camille O’Connell’s death, Elijah’s brief death, her own husband Jackson Kenner’s death and many other losses both she and the family had suffered as she started to believe her family really was cursed.

“I figured we’d be needing some drink right about now.” Hayley said after vamp speeding into the dining room with a bottle of whisky to find Rebekah and Kol sat at the table silently clearly torn up by the loss of their sister. “Hope called me she’s with her father right now trying to talk him out of coming back here to slaughter the two canaries.”

“He can leave that job to us we almost had Laurel until her bloody brother showed up with that bloody infuriating canary cry, I can’t wait to snap that bastard’s neck.” Rebekah admitted to her brother and Hayley.

“I’m starting to wonder whether or not killing these two is the best move we could make.” Hayley suggested as she placed the whisky down on the table. “Trust me I want that Lucas dead as much as the rest of use but we’re so close to getting Elijah back and so far, they’ve been proven to be the only ones capable of giving that to us.”

“Absolutely not!” Rebekah snapped as she stood up from her chair. “Our sister has died and for that blood will be shed as for Elijah at least he gets to be blissfully unaware where he is now and if I have to choose between cursing my brother to be back in this family or get vengeance for my sister then I choose the path where I get to kill things.”

“I agree with Rebekah sure Hope maybe able to postpone Klaus’ vengeance until he returns home but once he does, he will stop at nothing for vengeance just like Freya would for any one of us.” Kol said as he too stood up from his chair. “Lucas caught us off guard by his newfound affection for his sister, but we will be prepared for them both now and they will die at our hands.”

“Careful now anymore talk of bloody, betrayals and murder may just get me all fired up for round two now Kol.” Lucas told them with a sinister smirk on his face after vamp speeding into their home.

“I guess we know which Canary we’re killing first.” Rebekah announced while looking at the Red Canary with hatred in her eyes.

“Is that really the way to speak to the person who brought you the body of your sister’s killer?” Lucas asked the original female vampire.

“What do you mean you brought us the killer’s body?” Hayley wondered, confused to see Lucas suggesting his innocence.

“I’m touched that I’ve managed to be here a mere five minutes and you assume I’m your number one enemy but sadly there’s clearly more people on the list before me.” Lucas revealed to Hayley, Kol and Rebekah. “You see the witches here hate you all very much as you all know and while you were busy blaming me straight away they were enjoying making you all look like fools and destroy for yourselves the thing you want most.”

“Are you really trying to tell us you’re innocent?” Rebekah scoffed. “How bloody stupid do you think we are? You already tried to kill her once on the very same day she winds up dead in an alleyway.”

“Exactly I tried and failed normally I’d take a day or two before striking again.” Lucas replied. “Let me make myself very clear I didn’t kill your sister witch but the witch who did is now laying headless outside your gates.”

“She’s already dead how very convenient why would we believe a word you said?” Rebekah quizzed the Red Canary refusing to believe his innocence.

“Trust me when I kill someone, I take full ownership and pride in the act I don’t go denying it and offering alliances.” Lucas told Rebekah.

“I mean it’s not the first time a New Orleans witch made a move against us they’d have been top of our list if he wasn’t around.” Hayley admitted to Kol and Rebekah. “Maybe he really is innocent and we’re just starting a war to screw ourselves over.”

“If you’re telling the truth which I don’t believe you are why the hell do you want to build alliances suddenly when you were just happy killing everything that moves?” Kol asked Lucas.

“I thought that something you liked about me.” Lucas flirted with the chaotic original vampire before taking a deep sigh. “As for alliances I just don’t want to see my sister wind up dead for something I didn’t even do which would then force me to take every last one of you out.”

“You genuinely think you can take us.” Kol laughed at the idea of anyone managing to survive a feud with his family.

“Oh, I can guarantee it.” Lucas promised him.

Klaus, Rebekah, Kol, Hayley and Hope had gathered together at the bayou having put what remained of Freya and her girlfriend on a boat by the bayou and pushed it outwards after putting it on fire as they prepared to say their goodbyes to Freya Mikaelson and Keelin Malraux.

Klaus remembered how he first tried killing his older sister when she first came back into his life refusing to trust her only for her to prove herself time and time again as she continued to help them all when they needed her most.

Rebekah thought of how she genuinely believed her sister would be the first Mikaelson sibling to make it down the aisle and how she wanted it so badly for Freya how she wanted Freya and Keelin to live a long and happy life wishing neither would fall prey to the family’s curse only to be stood at their funeral instead of their wedding.

Kol couldn’t help but feel guilt over the many times he had wished both Freya and Elijah dead after the part they played in betraying his former love Davina Claire as he realized, he had got his wish and could never take it back.

Hayley stood there looking outwards to the boat on fire and found some comfort in knowing that Freya and Keelin’s finale moments were spent together without ever having to part and wanted nothing more for the two of them to find peace now and be from all the carnage that comes with their family.

Hope cried while being hugged by her father Klaus as she realized one of the few family members that was never taken from her by the hollow was now taken from her forever and there was no amount of tears of spells in the world that would ever change that.

The five of them continued to stand within the bayou for some time bonded by their grief over Freya and Keelin before Hayley took Hope back to the bayou as Klaus, Rebekah and Kol continued to stay put staying silent for quite some time until grief turned to vengeance.

“So, do we believe this psychotic canary and the tale he spun to you both?” Klaus asked his siblings, finally breaking their silence.

“I don’t believe it for a second however we do need them to believe we’re on side if we’re going to get Elijah back.” Kol answered his brother. “Which means we should make them believe that we believe them until we get what we want…”

“Then slaughter them both and whether it was them or not at least all suspects will be dead.” Rebekah revealed, ready to slaughter all canaries once they got their brother Elijah back.

“Good because I personally can’t wait to rip their heads right off and make them suffer more than they ever thought possible.” Klaus replied.

Laurel couldn’t get over the fact her sister was back that all the pain and suffering that destroyed her family was over nothing because Sara was never dead. She wanted nothing more than to despise her sister for everything she had done but she couldn’t stop herself beginning to feel sorry as she began to wonder what Sara’s life must’ve been like on that island as she worried about this secret organisation her sister was on the run from.

Laurel walked through the streets within the French Quarter of New Orleans as she continued to try and adjust to her younger sister’s sudden return from the dead while walking through a city where she suddenly had many enemies, realizing her newly reconnected family were far from safe only to be left stunned to see Oliver Queen appear from out of an alleyway and stopping her on her tracks.

“Olly…” She managed to say as she was re-introduced to another ghost from her past.

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reveriequill-rai · 4 years

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Blood Candy: Chapter 11

(penultimate chapter, let’s GO bois)

But first, both of us had to tend to our wounds.

Raiding the closets for bandages of any kind, I wrapped them around my injured shoulder as I kept walking, in search of Jasper’s office. Kaveri seemed a little more than annoyed that I didn’t stop to help her, but I didn’t care. I just kept counting the room numbers as I went along.

0129, 0130, 0131, 0132, 0133--

0134. Jasper’s office. This was it. I quietly motioned for Kaveri to pick up the pace.

I then rammed into the door, ignoring the pain in my arms and shoulders as I pressed my full body weight onto the door. I heard Oliver scream and Akira cry for help, their fear only fueling me to ram even harder.

“JASPER!” I shouted. “Let them go NOW!”

I kicked at the door. Suddenly, Jasper slammed hard on the other side, causing me to fall on the floor.

“You’ve been enough of a nuisance!” Jasper cried. “Just sit tight for once!”

“You want me to just sit here and watch you murder my friends?! I’ve already lost one friend because of you!”

Kaveri pulled a knife out of her sheath.

“This will be a lot less painful if you just open the door--” she started.

Jasper growled and slammed the door open, his own knife in hand. Akira and Oliver were tied up in two chairs back-to-back, tape over their mouths.

“I’ve had enough of you, y’know…” he hissed. “Especially you, Vigil. This is your last chance--get out of here now while you still have every ounce of blood in you, and don’t say a word to anyone else about what happened, or I will kill them both right before your eyes.”

“Neither of them had anything to do with this!” Kaveri cried. “They’re innocent people. To think you vampires would go as low as to rope in just anyone into your schemes--”

“Innocent?” Jasper laughed mirthlessly. “Really now? Then why did they even come here in the first place? Why did they break into my lab looking for a plan to stop me from saving my entire species? And don’t even get me started on all the fledgling vamps that your kind has killed--”

“I had nothing to do with that, humanoid leech,” Kaveri hissed with just as much venom in her voice as Akira had when they met earlier today. “I don’t know about those other hunters, but I am here to save my kind from people like you who take advantage of us and act like you’re above consequences! I don’t care about your experiments, or your ‘grand scheme’ to ‘save your entire species.’ I’m sure there are other ways to fix your little starvation problem than experimenting on your sick patients, kidnapping a random student and your kid brother, or tricking another random kid into eating his best friend’s blood!”

I froze.

“What are you talking about, Kaveri?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“That candy Jasper gave you?” she said. “When he finished your blood drawing, your blood went straight into that piece of candy. When you gave it to Seb, he basically ate your blood, and whatever other chemicals that altered Seb’s mind to give him bloodlust.”

I...had no clue how to process this information.

That candy...it was made out of my BLOOD?!

I felt myself going nauseous at the thought. That, at least, explained why his teeth and tongue were dark red after eating it…

“You…” I said to Jasper, “you REVOLTING piece of trash!”

Jasper stayed silent, with nothing but a glare to defend himself against our words.

“Got that out of your system?” He folded his arms. “Congrats. You found me out. But that changes nothing. Fact of the matter is, your best friend is still staked through the heart for the crime of simply being a vampire. And a fledgling, at that.”

Kaveri’s knife shook a little in her hand.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better,” Jasper said, giving a small smile, “there are still some fledgling vampires that your kind hasn’t gone after yet...though you may find that to be a mistake.”

“We can deal with them later,” Kaveri said, still determined on killing Jasper.

“Really?” He gestured to me. “Take a look at your friend’s neck. Notice anything...different?”

To my surprise, Kaveri listened to him, and her eyes were fixated on the bite wounds on my neck from Seb. Her eyes widened with horror.

“Seb passed on the vampire virus from himself to Dakota before you staked him,” he explained, then turned to me. “Just look at her face, kid,” he said. “She’s terrified. Of you. You think that stake isn’t gonna turn on you the second she yanks it out of my heart? Well…y’know, if you guys ‘win.’ You should probably save yourself now while you still can.” He held out his bandaged hand to me. “I can help you. I can train you to control your bloodlust, use it to help your kind, save you from these merciless hunters…you won’t have to worry about being in any sort of danger ever again.”

If I’m being honest, Kaveri was probably gonna come for me once--if--she was done with Jasper. But she’s human, with a...decent...moral compass. Seb did try to kill me. She had a good motive for staking him. That being said, what would stop me from doing the same to her? After all, I had a motive too; she killed my best friend.

Maybe...I could join him...just play along for a bit...get some intel...work as a double agent…

I found myself slowly reaching out for his hand as a smug grin crossed his face.

With my other hand, I aimed a punch at his face.

He blocked it with the same hand he had held out, letting out another joyless laugh.

“I will never stoop so low as to associate myself with living scum like you,” I hissed.

“Figured as much,” he said simply.

His smug facade quickly gave way to raw fury as he aimed a strike at my neck with his other hand, still holding the knife. Kaveri grabbed his hand just before the knife reached my neck, pulling him away from me and onto the floor. He kicked at Kaveri’s ankles, sending her on the floor as he got up to go after me. Pocketing the knife, he landed several punches on me, the side of my face and chest stinging with pain. I backed against the wall, praying for any remaining strength that the fight against Seb robbed me of.

When I came to, I watched as he and Kaveri fought. It was clear that Kaveri was much more experienced in fighting than me; her movements were more coordinated and graceful--or as graceful as a fight for one’s life can get--and she handled her knife with ease. She blocked each of Jasper’s hits, blow for blow, and if she didn’t, she took them like a champ. All the while, an expression of focused tranquility stayed on her face, not even remotely phased by the events that transpired, nor by the immortal human leech who hissed and raged as he tried to strike her down. It was here, of course, that I realized the now-obvious truth.

The reason she even bothered to associate with us this morning, the reason she was so willing to help with our supernatural problem, the reason that she remained cool under all this pressure…

...was likely because she’s been doing this for a long time.

Unfortunately, even years of combat experience likely didn’t prepare her for what Jasper was going to do next.

He looked up at Kaveri with a furious look in his eyes, his red eyes appearing to glow in the dim hallway, and I silently commended Kaveri’s insane resolve to not quake in the presence of such a terrifying glare.

“You…” he hissed at the young vampire hunter as he unwrapped the bloodied bandage. “You’ve bothered my clan, FOR THE LAST TIME!”

Suddenly, he pulled out a syringe filled with a strange red liquid--fortunately, it didn’t look thick enough to be blood--and plunged it into his left arm.

What was happening…? I thought. I tried to regain my strength; I had to stop him before whatever weird vampire-voodoo magic was finished. I stood up, balling up my fist as I ran over to Jasper, trying to ram him into the wall. I realized I was too late when his entire left forearm transformed into a dark red claw. I was only inches away when he sucker-punched Kaveri with his new arm upgrade and sent her flying down the hallway. He then turned around and grabbed my neck with the same arm, slamming me against the wall. His claws dug into my neck, and I noticed that there seemed to be blood flowing into the claw the longer he held on.

“The reason I’m doing this are far beyond your feeble understanding,” Jasper said in a low, furious voice. “Your measly human existence means nothing compared to our immortal legacy. That’s just how things are here--the weak serve as stepping stones for the strong. You humans are our prey. Now act like it.”

“Shut up,” I snapped, kicking him in the stomach just I had done to Seb. “I don’t care what you vampires think of us humans. Our existence is just as important as yours, be it limited or not. You’re all a bunch of parasites that feed on those you think are inferior!”

“What other choice do we have, Dakota?! Feast on animal blood? What happens when they revolt, huh?! How are we going to survive then? Do you want us to just die? Do you think you mortals are above us, after we’ve lasted for thousands of years? We are the superior species, and we are the ones that deserve to LIVE!”

Just then I saw Kaveri ram into Jasper. His grip was iron, though, and I fell to the floor right alongside him, my scarred neck still in his mutated arm. The two of them struggled on the floor for a while, though Jasper only fought with his other hand.

Kaveri then let out a cry of pure fury, and stabbed him through the heart with the stake.

Jasper gave a weak laugh as he stared at the stake. He looked up at Kaveri, who now had at least two vampire kills I had witnessed under her belt.

“Okay…” Jasper said wearily. “Maybe...maybe I...was wrong…”

“About what?” Kaveri snapped.

“You humans…” he chuckled, “aren’t...j-just some...worthless prey…”

Kaveri knelt down to his level.

“I don’t care what you think of our species,” she said. “I just care if you leave us alone.”

Jasper only continued to laugh.

“That’s the thing, see?” he said with a sly grin on his face. “You can...take out one of us...but our number...remains the same…”

His dying eyes looked directly at me.

“Vampires...are immortal…” he said, “be it...the individual...the clan...or the c-curse…”

Kaveri simply scoffed and stood up, walking over to Akira and Oliver to cut them loose.

I wanted to be relieved that the man who took away my sense of security and my best friend finally got what he deserved.

At the same time, I wanted to break down into tears, as this was the second casualty I was forced to witness.

“Dakota!” Akira cried, now free. “I...oh my god, I have so much to tell you…”

Oliver, after greeting the rest of us, walked over to his older brother’s body, just barely clinging to life.

“Come...to say goodbye?” Jasper asked weakly.

I expected Oliver to break down and cry at the sight of his dying brother. The two probably spent at least some time together, and I figured that there had to be at least one point in time where Oliver actually cared for Jasper...and hopefully Jasper, at some point, felt the same way.

However, that theory shattered into pieces as I watched Oli look down at him with an expression of pure contempt, and spit in his brother’s face.

Jasper only gave a somber smile in response.

“Th-that’s fair, I guess…” he said, his voice trailing off. “I...I’d hate me, too…”

And with that, the once-immortal Jasper Kermit went limp on the floor before me.

“Serves him right,” Akira hissed. “Now with that out of the way...how did things with Seb go, Dakota?”

Tears began to fill my eyes. I dropped to my knees.

“...what happened?” she asked. “Where’s Seb?”

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

“Dakota! Answer me!” she yelled. “Where is he?!”

“...she killed him…” I mumbled.

“Who killed…?” Akira turned to the only other female in the room.

“Listen, I didn’t want to do it,” Kaveri snapped. “Seb seemed like a nice kid. I didn’t want to kill him. But it was either that, or Dakota becomes a vampire...well...I suppose he already is…”

“I don’t care what my friends are!” Akira cried. “I just wanted Sebs back! That’s how it was supposed to be! You promised to help us!”

“Akira, please! I swear, I didn’t want to hurt anyone! I never meant to hurt any of you! I didn’t mean for any of this to happen! I didn’t even want to get you involved, but...it appears I had no other choice. I...just wanted to keep you safe.” Kaveri sighed. “But it seems I can’t even do that anymore.”

“Kaveri…”

“Just...just go,” Kaveri ordered. “Take Dakota, get out of here. I’m finishing what I started. Just know...I really am sorry. For everything.”

Kaveri gave Akira a quick, tight, hug that was never returned. She pulled the stake out of her sheath and stormed down the hall quickly.

My eyes immediately focused on the stake. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t look away. I ran towards her, and grabbed the stake, but Kaveri refused to let go. The stake slid out of my hands, leaving Seb’s blood on my hands.

I stared at my bloodstained hands.

It shouldn’t have ended like this.

She lied to me.

His blood is on--m̷̥̩̭͗́̍ý̶̜̪̊́ --her hands.

She promised to save him.

My attention turned to a bandage on her arm—no; the red seeping through the bandage. An odd red hue seemed to fill the room gradually, like a camera filter.

She lied to me, I thought, trying to focus on what was really important here. She had betrayed me, she’d killed Seb. She was a liar, and that’s what really mattered. Not whatever stupid apology she was trying to give me now, not the wound on her arm, not the wound that I knew was underneath her bandage. Kaveri murdered Seb, his blood was on her hands, and that’s what was important.

His blood is on her hands, I reminded myself. But then I looked at my own hands, stained from the blood on her stake. I felt my heart race, and my mouth go dry.

His blood is on my hands.

I looked up at Kaveri, toward the bandage on her arm. I suddenly felt a pain in my mouth, like something just bit me from the inside. I put my hand to my mouth and felt my teeth--and noticed that fangs had been growing.

Her blood is on her arm.

Kaveri pushed me back, trying to get me to leave her alone, and I fell to the floor. My head started to ache as the red light in the room became more vibrant. As I stood up and brought my hands up from the floor, I saw red handprints where my hands had been.

His blood is on my hands.

Her blood is on her arm.

There was red leaking under the doors, stained on the walls.

Her blood is on her arm.

I took one step forward. Then two. Then three. I shot forward towards Kaveri—towards the red on her arm.

Then the world went black.

#blood candy #original story #fiction #urban fantasy #vampire

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theclacks · 7 years

Text

Buffy (Season 5) & Angel (Season 2) Thoughts

So, I was watching these at a pretty slow pace... and then Fool For Love happened. And I went from watching approx 1 episodes a day to 5 episodes a day.

As always thoughts below the cut. (Previous thoughts: Buffy 1 & 2, Buffy 3, Buffy 4 & Angel 1).

Buffy - Season 5

On how it compares with past seasons...

So, season 2 is STILL my all time favorite. I did like season 5 over both season 3 AND season 4 though, which is probably because of totally because of Spike. But at the same time, I don’t think it can be disconnected from season 4. Like season 5 is really the second half of season 4. Xander finding his place in society is directly linked to his issues of being a basement bum in season 4. Giles becoming the Magic Box’s owner is directly linked to his issues with being unemployed in season 4. Riley’s issues with being Riley is... well, because he’s Riley but yeah.

On Riley...

Going to get him out of the way, so I can talk about other things. I like that their relationship fell apart naturally over the course of several episodes. And I think it was a good tie that Spike was the one who “caused” it because, like The Yoko Factor last season, it was him “causing” rifts that were really already there. (And in this case didn’t even “cause” it so much as play delivery boy.)

I’ve been reading some fanfic in between eps, and so much of it (in fics where Riley’s involved) includes lines to the general tune of “Buffy never REALLY liked Riley” or “Riley rarely ever gave Buffy orgasms” and I think that’s unfair because Riley was a nice guy. And I appreciate the writers tried her out in a relationship like that because sometimes relationships aren’t this grand life-or-death emotional cocktail. Sometimes one party’s just a little bit more in love with one side than the other. Sometimes they have miscommunication issues. Sometimes that’s enough. And sometimes it isn’t.

On Dawn...

I liked her. I thought she was going to be annoying, but I liked her. Maybe it’s the younger sister in me. I loved her buddy-buddy relationship with Spike. I liked her whole backstory and status as the key, which I had no idea/prior knowledge about going it. In fact, before I started watching, I knew Buffy eventually got a sister, but I assumed it was some divorce thing and Joyce eventually got full custody or something. Then as I started watching the show, I knew that couldn’t be the case, and for the first four seasons I was theorizing between long lost sibling, Joyce suddenly has a baby and the baby gets stuck in a time loop or demon dimension until it reaches middle school age, etc, so it was kind of cool having all of that play out.

On Anya and Giles...

I just want to give a little shout out to them because other than Dawn & Spike, theirs was my favorite unexpected relationship. I like how their development both paired and contrasted Buffy & Giles, how the writers balanced the fatherly aspect of Giles with the more short-tempered, professional boss aspect.

On Ben/Glory...

I think they could’ve done a bit more with the Ben side of Ben and Glory. I liked the development he got at the end and how he ultimately picked Glory’s side without fully picking it, and I loved how Giles tossed aside the “hero” mantra and ended him, but yeah. I just feel like there could’ve been a bit “more” even when I don’t know what that “more” is.

As for Glory, I love her. And even though I get from Glory’s end why her appearances were scattered throughout the year (being literally scatterbrained and all) but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense why Buffy waited until after Dawn had been kidnapped to try and take her out. Like, yes, Buffy was scared and had to be backed into a corner (and Willow-pep-talked out of it), but their main attack plan revolved around having the God-forged hammer and the golden orb thing. THEY HAD THE GOLDEN ORB THING THE ENTIRE TIME. THEY KNEW IT HAD GLORY-REPELLING POWERS. WHY WERE THEY LETTING THE ORB CHILL IN THE BASEMENT THIS WHOLE TIME? I mean, and considering the fact the orb only stopped her for a couple seconds, narratively, they could’ve used it earlier. I kind of wish there’d been a mid-season episode where they tried to launch a full attack with the orb and what not, and failed and almost got Dawn discovered/killed, and THEN they could’ve been like “welp, we tried a full attack and exhausted our god-repelling items, okay, NOW let’s go into avoidance mode.” IDK, this is me. Backseat writing. Because I think that was the one main issue for me this season that could’ve taken the overarching plot from good to great.

On Joyce...

The Body was an amazing episode. I didn’t even realize until I was reading AV Club’s recap/review of it that there was no background music during the whole thing. And I was still riveted. I think one of my favorite bits of the entire season, perhaps the entire series, is when Willow is freaking out over her blue sweater and Anya - who’s missed the majority of the freak out - ends up sitting on it and stuffing it back into the closest drawer. It was such an understated moment, and while watching I wanted Tara or Xander to notice, or for Willow to check her drawers one last time, but then she would have her sweater and things would be okay... except they wouldn’t be because Joyce is still dead and something as small as a sweater doesn’t matter at all in the long run.

And Joyce is another reason why I’m glad that Dawn became a thing this season because it gave her more screen time. Lack of Joyce-screen time was probably one of my least favorite things about season four. I mean, it made sense because of college and independence and all of that, but I don’t care. I love Joyce. I like having her on my screen. And I will miss her.

On Spike...

HELLO NEW FAVORITE EPISODE IN THE FORM OF FOOL FOR LOVE. But before I get into that, let’s have a moment of silence for the glorious friendship that was Spike/Joyce. From shared relationship-talk over marshmallows and chocolate to geekish fangirling over the soap opera passions, they were and forever will be, my Buffy BroTP. I’m so happy that the writers gave him a small scene where he showed up with flowers for Joyce because I would’ve needed closure. (*shakes a fist angrily at Steven Moffat for writing off Amy and Rory without a filmed canon scene of saying goodbye to Rory’s dad*)

But yeah. Fool For Love aka MY DEMAND FOR A SPIKE FLASHBACK EPISODE IN SEASON THREE WAS RETROACTIVELY MET. And it was awesome. Spike as a repressed poet was amazing, and what makes it even better is that I was reading a fanfic last month and got spoiled for that detail, but the fanfic was just off enough with its dialogue and characterization and the idea of Spike as a bloody awful poet was so ridiculous that I tossed the detail aside as fluffy, silly head canon. Also did I miss/misinterpret some dialogue in season 2? Because I could’ve sworn in season 2 that Dru and Spike were vamp-siblings with Angel being their mutual sire. But I’m totally fine with it being this way too.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the Buffy/Spike relationship in this season, but I won’t because I want to wrap this up and start season 6, so I’ll just say:

- favorite bit of James Marsters acting, beyond the end of Fool For Love with him in the alley with Buffy’s cash and beyond the end of Gift with him outright sobbing, would be his bit at the end of Crush where he realizes Buffy has dis-invited him from her house; I think I rewatched that bit 3+ times because the betrayal and hurt in his eyes is just so good

- also re: the end of Crush, I love how his hurt stems not just from Buffy shutting him out, but him getting shut out from the whole Summers family because at that point he’s friends with Joyce, he’s friends with Dawn, he wants to be a part of their family... which I think really ties into the flashback bits of Fool For Love too; the night in Shanghai was the best night of his life, not just because he killed a slayer, but because he had his whole family to revel in the chaos with; saying it right here, right now, screwing being on Team Angel or Team Spike, I am firmly in TEAM GIVE SPIKE A FAMILY

- I love how in the entire season, there was only one Buffy/Spike kiss and it was a chaste one at that; I love how Spike’s development was one from conditional love (say you love me and I’ll spike Dru, say you love me or I’ll get a buffybot who HAS to love me) to unconditional love (I know you don’t love me and you won’t ever love me, but that’s okay). I think it was important that Spike not get “rewarded” for slowly changing sides

- also the buffybot, I thought it was going to be a terrible, awkward episode but it ended up being one of my favorites in the season; i mean, it was still awkward in spots (as buffy said, “gross and obscene”) but the buffybot was just too plain funny for the awkwardness to stick long; the bits where the buffybot asks Anya about her money and starts listing off insults about Angel had me bursting out in laughter; especially the Angel insults because I could just imagine with Spike and a pad of paper in his crypt, scrawling them down like, “YEAH. AND HIS HAIR. GRANDSIRE HAS STUPID, SPIKY HAIR”

- so... with Buffy (temporarily) gone, is Spike just going to hang around Sunnydale? he’s the main vamp killer, so is he going to be the vampire slayer in order to help protect Dawn (aka Buffy’s legacy)? will he and Dawn hang out because they’re still bros and they both miss Buffy and don’t have any other family? I JUST WANT SPIKE AND DAWN TO BE BROS LIKE SPIKE AND JOYCE WERE BROS. THEY CAN GO WATCH EPISODES OF PASSION TOGETHER AND LAUGH AND CRY AND BOND. THIS IS ALL I WANT FROM SEASON 6, JOSS. IT’S ALL I WANT.

On miscellaneousness...

- Anya is officially my favorite character on Buffy after Spike. When I whole bunch of rubble fell on her at the end of the Gift I temporarily stopped breathing because I was just like “NOT ANYA. SHE CANNOT DIE. NO, NOT ANYA. NO.”

- Joel Grey as a demon, yay emcee from Cabaret

- before I started watching Buffy, I, like the buffybot, also thought Giles’ name was pronounced with a hard-G

- so... with Giles still alive, I’m starting to get pleasantly confused. At the beginning of season three, I posted this list of stuff I got pre-spoilered for before I started watching the show. But now I’m starting to wonder if Giles actually dies. Because I thought I remembered something about him dying in season five, or like stuff about a dying scene... except now I’m thinking that the “dying scene” was actually talking about a “dying” scene. Like dying but not ACTUALLY dead. Because I think it was the one that happens at the end of the season with him impaled... which would mean Giles doesn’t die. I think I might’ve gotten a schroedinger spoiler

Angel - Season 2

On the Darla arc...

I thought I would hate this arc, and I half-did. I hated the whole start of it with Darla in his dreams and Angel distancing himself from his crew via restlessness/extensive sleeping. I loved everything after they ended up meeting in real life, from her coming to grips with her humanity to becoming a vampire again with a bit confusion, to her slipping fully back down the darkside. It helped that Dru was there. I was starting to think that Dru would only ever appear in flashbacks again. I love Dru

On the post-Darla arc...

I really kind of hated this arc. I get what the show was trying to do, showing Wesley, Gunn, and Cordelia coming into their own WITHOUT Angel (among other things), but the Angel episodes with just Angel were so borrrrrrrring. (With the exception of the Angel/Lorne episode. That was awesome. Lorne in general is awesome. He’s my favorite Angel character after Cordelia.) They’d show W/G/C fighting a fire-breathing monster or solving a murder mystery clue style for 5 minutes and it was awful because I’m like “no, stop cutting back to Angel, THAT’S the show I want to be watching right now.” And because of the short screen time, I felt there was less W/G/C teamship than there was Wesley and Gunn becoming closer bros with Cordelia getting shafted. Cordelia, I felt, got shafted a lot in this season with the except of the finale, which speaking of...

On the Pylea finale...

OH MY GOD I LOVED THESE EPISODES SO MUCH. Like they were definitely silly in spots but I LOVE silly and the whole off-world aspect reminded me of Stargate in all the best ways. I want to print these episodes off somewhere and frame them. (NUMFAR! DO THE DANCE OF JOY!). And Cordelia got so much focus that I actually got pretty dang worried towards the end that these would be her send off episodes, that she’d choose to or be forced to stay behind and be princess of a demon dimension. (Which would’ve been an awesome send off, ngl.) If Angel ends up moving in a direction more like that, I’m going to be super stoked because while a lot of this season was objectively “good”, it didn’t pull me into watching it like Buffy season 5 did.

Also the finale made me realize, just how much I want to see more of happy!Angel. His whole bits with the sunlight and the mirrors were puppy-endearing, comedy gold (”There’s some branches over in that patch of sun. I’ll get ‘em!”). :D

On Lorne...

Lorne is my perfect man. He loves music, he’s at inner peace with himself and helps the inner peace of others, and his wardrobe is fabulous. The fakeout with his death was terrible... and then awesome as soon as his eyes popped back open. You guys have no idea how scared I was in the Pylea finale, that I might’ve been about to lose BOTH of my favorite characters.

Which, by the way, I’m starting to think that’s one of the reasons why I don’t love season 3 of Buffy quite the way that others do. Spike and Cordelia are my two favorite characters; Spike wasn’t in season 3 and Cordelia got largely shafted after Xander broke up with her.

On Lindsey...

He’s a bro. I’m hoping we see more of him... but also not because he seems to be in a good place and if he pops up again, he probably won’t be in a good place anymore.

On what I hope for going into Season 3...

- more team bonding

- Cordelia being awesome

- more Cordelia/Angel friendship moments because theirs is a beautiful friendship

- more team bonding

#buffy the vampire slayer #buffy meta #btvs #btvs meta #/////#clacks from theclacks

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pbpress · 4 years

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Blood Candy: Chapter 11 and 12 --Conclusion

By Ruqayyah Pickel

[Chapter 11]

But first, both of us had to tend to our wounds.

0129, 0130, 0131, 0132, 0133--

0134. Jasper’s office. This was it. I quietly motioned for Kaveri to pick up the pace.

“JASPER!” I shouted. “Let them go NOW!”

I kicked at the door. Suddenly, Jasper slammed hard on the other side, causing me to fall on the floor.

“You’ve been enough of a nuisance!” Jasper cried. “Just sit tight for once!”

“You want me to just sit here and watch you murder my friends?! I’ve already lost one friend because of you!”

Kaveri pulled a knife out of her sheath.

“This will be a lot less painful if you just open the door--” she started.

Jasper growled and slammed the door open, his own knife in hand. Akira and Oliver were tied up in two chairs back-to-back, tape over their mouths.

“Neither of them had anything to do with this!” Kaveri cried. “They’re innocent people. To think you vampires would go as low as to rope in just anyone into your schemes--”

“I had nothing to do with that, human leech,” Kaveri hissed with just as much venom in her voice as Akira had when they met earlier today. “I don’t know about those other hunters, but I am here to save my kind from people like you who take advantage of us and act like you’re above consequences! I don’t care about your experiments, or your grand scheme to ‘save your entire species.’ I’m sure there are other ways to fix your little starvation problem than experimenting on your sick patients, kidnapping a random student and your BROTHER, or tricking another random kid into eating his best friend’s blood!”

I froze.

“What are you talking about, Kaveri?” I asked, my voice shaking.

I...had no clue how to process this information.

That candy...it was made out of my BLOOD?!

I felt myself going nauseous at the thought. That, at least, explained why his teeth and tongue were dark red after eating it…

“You…” I said to Jasper, “you REVOLTING piece of trash!”

Jasper stayed silent, with nothing but a glare to defend himself against our words.

Kaveri’s knife shook a little in her hand.

“We can deal with them later,” Kaveri said, still determined on killing Jasper.

“Really?” He gestured to me. “Take a look at your friend’s neck. Notice anything...different?”

To my surprise, Kaveri listened to him, and her eyes were fixated on the bite wounds on my neck from Seb. Her eyes widened with horror.

Maybe...I could join him...just play along for a bit...get some intel...work as a double agent…

I found myself slowly reaching out for his hand as a smug grin crossed his face.

With my other hand, I aimed a punch at his face.

He blocked it with the same hand he had held out, letting out another joyless laugh.

“I will never stoop so low as to associate myself with living scum like you,” I hissed.

“Figured as much,” he said simply.

The reason she even bothered to associate with us this morning, the reason she was so willing to help with our supernatural problem, the reason that she remained cool under all this pressure…

...was likely because she’s been doing this for a long time.

Unfortunately, even years of combat experience likely didn’t prepare her for what Jasper was going to do next.

“You…” he hissed at the young vampire hunter as he unwrapped the bloodied bandage. “You’ve bothered my clan, FOR THE LAST TIME!”

Suddenly, he pulled out a syringe filled with a strange red liquid--fortunately, it didn’t look thick enough to be blood--and plunged it into his left arm.

Kaveri then let out a cry of pure fury, and stabbed him through the heart with the stake.

Jasper gave a weak laugh as he stared at the stake. He looked up at Kaveri, who now had at least two vampire kills I had witnessed under her belt.

“Okay…” Jasper said wearily. “Maybe...maybe I...was wrong…”

“About what?” Kaveri snapped.

“You humans…” he chuckled, “aren’t...j-just some...worthless prey…”

Kaveri knelt down to his level.

“I don’t care what you think of our species,” she said. “I just care if you leave us alone.”

Jasper only continued to laugh.

“That’s the thing, see?” he said with a sly grin on his face. “You can...take out one of us...but our number...remains the same…”

His dying eyes looked directly at me.

“Vampires...are immortal…” he said, “be it...the individual...the clan...or the c-curse…”

Kaveri simply scoffed and stood up, walking over to Akira and Oliver to cut them loose.

I wanted to be relieved that the man who took away my sense of security and my best friend finally got what he deserved.

At the same time, I wanted to break down into tears, as this was the second casualty I was forced to witness.

“Dakota!” Akira cried, now free. “I...oh my god, I have so much to tell you…”

Oliver, after greeting the rest of us, walked over to his older brother’s body, just barely clinging to life.

“Come...to say goodbye?” Jasper asked weakly.

However, that theory shattered into pieces as I watched Oli look down at him with an expression of pure contempt, and spit in his brother’s face.

Jasper only gave a somber smile in response.

“Th-that’s fair, I guess…” he said, his voice trailing off. “I...I’d hate me, too…”

And with that, the once-immortal Jasper Kermit went limp on the floor before me.

“Serves him right,” Akira hissed. “Now with that out of the way...how did things with Seb go, Dakota?”

Tears began to fill my eyes. I dropped to my knees.

“...what happened?” she asked. “Where’s Seb?”

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

“Dakota! Answer me!” she yelled. “Where is he?!”

“...she killed him…” I mumbled.

“Who killed…?” Akira turned to the only other female in the room.

“I don’t care what my friends are!” Akira cried. “I just wanted Sebs back! That’s how it was supposed to be! You promised to help us!”

“Kaveri…”

“Just...just go,” Kaveri ordered. “Take Dakota, get out of here. I’m finishing what I started. Just know...I really am sorry. For everything.”

Kaveri gave Akira a quick, tight, hug that was never returned. She pulled the stake out of her sheath and stormed down the hall quickly.

I stared at my bloodstained hands.

It shouldn’t have ended like this.

She lied to me.

His blood is on--m̷̥̩̭͗́̍ý̶̜̪̊́ --her hands.

She promised to save him.

My attention turned to a bandage on her arm—no; the red seeping through the bandage. An odd red hue seemed to fill the room gradually, like a camera filter.

His blood is on her hands, I reminded myself. But then I looked at my own hands, stained from the blood on her stake. I felt my heart race, and my mouth go dry.

His blood is on my hands.

Her blood is on her arm.

His blood is on my hands.

Her blood is on her arm.

There was red leaking under the doors, stained on the walls.

Her blood is on her arm.

I took one step forward. Then two. Then three. I shot forward towards Kaveri—towards the red on her arm.

Then the world went black.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Chapter 12]

I don’t know how long I was out for.

But when I woke up, I found myself lying on an old bed, surrounded by what looked to be a garage of some sorts. There were shelves full of what looked to be tools--some of which I never recognized, and did not appear to be for any sort of construction--several bookshelves, and a mother computer with at least six screens.

“Wh-where am I…?” I asked Akira when I woke up. “What happened?”

“Well, let’s see…” Akira explained, “you tried to attack Kaveri, she knocked you out, and told me to take you far, far away. So now we’re in some old warehouse my dad used to work in.” She turned away from me and towards her desk, appearing to be working on or reading something. “My dad was a paranormal investigator, and this is where he and his team would work. Why else do you think I agreed to work with Seb so quickly?”

I...attacked Kaveri?

“Why did I attack her?” I asked.

She shrugged, and I suddenly felt like I was missing something important--very important. But I couldn’t figure out what...it felt like it had been at least a day since I last spoke to Seb. I pulled out my phone and tried to call him.

“Hello?” I cried into the phone. “Seb? Where are you?”

No answer.

Akira whirled around.

“What are you doing?” she asked me.

“What does it look like?!” I snapped. “I’m trying to call Seb!”

She stood up and walked over to me, a solemn look on her face.

“How much do you remember from last night?” she asked me.

“U-uh…” I struggled to recall. “Not much. Why? What’s wrong?”

Her eyes shifted elsewhere.

“I...um...I’m gonna go try to find us a place to eat,” she said. “I-if you don’t remember anything by the time I’m finished, I’ll explain over lunch, okay?”

I shrugged, and desperately searched my memory for what happened--and where Seb could possibly be. All I remembered was taking care of him when he was sick and working on my essay…

And Seb attacking me…twice.

And fighting Jasper.

Suddenly, everything came back to me in a flood of information. I remembered my heart pounding in my chest as Seb’s maniacal giggling rang throughout my house that first night. I remembered hauling his unconscious body into the closet and locking him in. I remembered the coarse, thick rope constricting around my neck when Seb jumped me the next day. But those only came to me in blips. What stood out the most was...red.

The red on Seb’s and Jasper’s shirts and the stake through their hearts.

The red light that filled the medical center suddenly.

The red on Kaveri’s arm.

I suddenly started to feel parched, like I haven’t had water in ages. My mind raced and raved, trying to process everything that happened as one, final memory slithered its way into the timeline of events I was repairing. In fact, I could almost feel Seb’s fangs sinking into my neck as I finally remembered his parting “gift.”

I turned to Akira, choking back tears. I had a million questions, but only worked up the courage to ask one.

“Am…am I a vampire?”

Akira paused whatever she was working on, but still didn’t face me.

“Yes.” She opened up a drawer, took something out of it quickly, and turned to face me with a smile on her face. “But it’s okay. I’ll keep you safe. We can live here until the coast is clear and we can move you to somewhere safer. I heard there’s a city where the living and the dead can coexist. I believe it was called...Vita...Vitamorta! Yep...it was...one of the articles that Seb and I wrote together…”

I felt the area on my neck where he bit me. It still stung a little, though it may have just been the memory.

“Akira,” I said, “are you okay?”

She gave an empty chuckle.

“Okay as I can be, I guess,” she replied with a somber smile. “But…please don’t worry about me.”

She pulled me into a tight hug with her free arm. I hugged her back—and then froze.

Behind Akira’s back, in her other hand, was a stake.

The same stake, in fact, that took the life of my best friend.

#ruqayyah pickel #poetryfiction

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