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Part Eight. Sharon put her fist in her mouth and bit down hard until she could feel her teeth reach the bone. It was all she could do to keep from screaming. She had watched as Darwin had been incapacitated resisting the vampire’s will. She had watched, as her colleagues had died one by one at the hands of this terrible monster. Even Anton, whom she hated, and who had fought bravely, had suffered a horrible death. And now her leader, a man who was good and wise and kind was about to be killed by this fiend. She had to act. She made to stand but Michael’s fear strengthened hand pulled her back down. ‘No.’ He whispered, a tear in the corner of his eye. ‘We have to wait here and live. We have to get a message back to Section 12. If we go out there we die too.’ Sharon knew he was right but couldn’t sit here and watch her mentor of five years be cruelly murdered like this. She just couldn’t. She could see the vampire standing over him. He was taunting the man, making him suffer. He put a single hand around Darwin’s throat, lifting him up off the ground. The old man kicked at his tormentor but the vampire held him out further so his feet couldn’t reach. Desperate hands pulled and scrabbled at the vampire’s wrist, nails digging uselessly into the supernatural flesh. Sharon could take no more. She cried out and found Michael’s hand over her mouth, gagging her, pulling her down. She fought against him and pushed her way up. Their movements and Sharon’s muffled scream had drawn the attention of the vampire. The fiend stood still, head facing their direction. It had forgotten their leader high above its head, still kicking and struggling weakly with his dying strength. Michael and Sharon crouched as low to the ground as they could. The beast’s eyes peered straight at them. He sniffed the air like a dog. Then smiled. Sharon bit her tongue. ‘Are you going to come out?’ The vampire called to her and Michael. He looked at the dying man in his grip, then his gaze focussed on the bushes again. ‘If you make me come after you, his death will seem like the biggest pleasure on earth compared to what I’m going to do to you.’ Sharon said nothing. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t even breathe. The vampire shrugged, threw Darwin to the ground amidst the mangled bodies of his men, then started walking towards Sharon and Michael. Sharon willed her limbs to run. But all she could do was huddle in the bushes, watching this spectre, covered in her friends’ blood, stride across the moonlit oval towards them. She heard a rustle of leaves and heavy boots next to her and Michael’s voice whispering in her ear. ‘This is for you Sharon. I only wish I’d had the courage before now. Goodbye.’ She saw Michael burst from the bushes, running headlong out to meet their stalker, a cry of defiance on his lips. He held a gun with a silencer in one hand, and a sword in the other. The vampire seemed to find this amusing, but the smile ended when Michael began firing. Of the ten shots fired, three found their mark in a burst of leather and blood, causing the creature to hold its advance and weather the attack. Although the bullets didn’t harm the monster, judging by the snarl of outrage and the feral glow in it eyes, they still hurt. Michael met the vampire bravely. He didn’t stop his charge but dove headlong into it, sword raised. His momentum, which would have knocked a normal mortal flying, caused the vampire to stagger backwards and Michael brought his sword down on its shoulder blade. It carved deep. The vampire spat angrily, growled ferociously. It grabbed Michael in both arms, opened its mouth, revealing razor canines that gleamed in the moonlight, and bit into Michael’s neck. Michael screamed, dropped the sword and thrashed wildly. The vampire brought its mouth away from its victim’s throat, tearing a huge mouthful of skin, jugular vein and muscle with it. Blood spurted from Michael’s neck like a fountain. The vampire dropped him to the ground. Sharon was beyond screaming. She cowered in the bushes shivering. Everything she saw seemed like a dream. She had no control over it. Hardly breathing, she waited for the vampire to come finish her.
"When I was a child I flew! Then as an adult- I watched others soar."
[ Edited by Chained Wings at
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