Chapter 4 - Aurora

It feels like my entire body turns to ice; the pain is sharp and debilitating, my blood runs cold and begins to spill from the wound in my chest, soaking my already crismon-stained clothes. I wrench the dagger out, dropping it to the floor, where it splatters droplets of blood across the stone.

“Did it work?” I ask my dad in confusion. I’m still alive and the pain is rapidly subsiding. I look down at the bleeding hole in my chest and watch it heal, leaving no evidence behind except my ripped and bloody shirt.

He opens his mouth to answer, but at that moment, the door bangs open again and another witch barrels in, “Dean! What the fuck are you-” His mouth hangs open when he takes in the scene in front of him; my father and I on the floor in our cell, with my bloody dagger and Dean’s dead body laying next to us, his face completely unrecognizable.

I don’t hesitate, I feel an ache in the fangs that definitely weren’t there a second ago. The cell door is no match for the new power flowing through me, and in the blink of an eye I’m in front of the witch, covering his mouth so he can’t scream and tearing into his throat. His blood hits my tongue, causing unimaginable pleasure to explode through me, so strong it makes me lightheaded. I suppress a euphoric moan as I gulp the witch's blood desperately, only drawing back when I hear my father call my name.

He looks at me, taking in the blood dripping from my lips and staring into my eyes, “I think it worked,” he says quietly.

“Stay here” I tell him, my voice coming out hoarse and raw. He nods, and I drop the dead body to the ground and tiptoe to the door, opening it a crack. Peeking out I see three other witches relaxing in a large office. There’s two desks, a big sofa, a couple of armchairs, and two bookcases lining the far wall, but my eyes are drawn to the small box laid on a side table, filled with syringes, no doubt prepared with doses of aconite and wolfsbane.

One of the witches are asleep, draped over one of the armchairs, while the other two are having a muttered conversation on the sofa. I no longer need Danika to hear what they are saying, my ears pick up their crystal-clear voices, as if they were speaking normally right next to me.

“Their next dose is in about fifteen, I’ll make Dean do it. He has a thing for the girl anyway.”

“She’s not hard on the eyes though, is she?”

“If you’re into that… I think she’s kind of creepy looking.”

I huff out at his insult causing both of their heads to spin towards the door. “That was rude,” I say with a pout.

Pushing the door fully open, I walk into the room baring my fangs. They both rise to their feet, bracing for a fight, but I move faster than I ever have, and I’m tearing into the flesh of the closest one before they can fully straighten up.

His screams wake the sleeping one who jumps up with a cry of fright, taking in the scene. Before either of them can comprehend what’s happening, I drop the first body to the floor, power coursing through me from his blood, and I plunge both sets of claws into the other’s chest. His eyes widen as blood rapidly plumes under his shirt, spreading through the fabric.

I smile at him, “you think I’m pretty?” I ask, batting my eyelashes.

He just gurgles on his blood, looking at me in shock, and I rip my hands apart, tearing through his flesh and exposing his insides. He drops to the ground, his chest torn open and bleeding out quickly.

I turn to face the one who was asleep, he looks terrified and backs away slowly, seeming to completely forget he can fight back. I smile again, “you’re making this too easy. Cassandra really overestimated you guys, didn’t she?.”

I stalk towards him, watching the fear in his eyes and getting high off it. The blood of the other two still courses through me, filling me with euphoria and strength, and I want more. I need more.  

I’m a blur as I speed to him, and his gasp of surprise turns to a scream of pain and horror when I sink my fangs into his throat, swallowing mouthfuls of his blood like I’m dying of thirst. My claws dig into his shoulders as I hold him to me, draining him completely, and eventually dropping his lifeless body to the ground.

I hear my fathers footsteps coming up behind me and I spin around to see him cautiously approaching me with his hands up, my dagger held in one of them. I wipe the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand, and try to calm my racing heart, taking deep breaths and trying to ignore the fact that I can hear his blood pumping through his veins and my fangs still ache for more.

He extends a hand, holding out my dagger to me; the glass is broken, and now there’s just a hole in the hilt where the sphere once was. I sigh as I take it from him, “Samael gave this to me the night of my first shift, he said he wanted me to always have him as a source of power… I don’t think this was exactly what he had in mind though.”

“I think he’ll just be relieved that you found a way to survive” my father says softly.

“You’re right, I need to get back to him. Do you know where we are?” I ask him hopefully.

“I think I have an idea, but I’d have to see outside to know for sure, and there’s no windows down here.” He takes my hand, “Come on, let's find our way out.”

I follow him out of the office, leaving behind the room with the cells and the five dead witches. We walk down a narrow hallway that ends at the bottom of a staircase; we must be underground, which explains the lack of windows.

We pause at the first step, exchanging a cautious glance, “do you think there’ll be more of them up there?” I ask him.

“I do. Cassandra always keeps a small army of guards surrounding her, I would assume she’d leave a fair amount here with us.”

I nod, “Ok, let’s go. I can do this.”

“I’m right here with you Aurora. I might not have my wolf to help me, but I can handle myself against a couple of them.” His words spread warmth throughout me; my dad is here with me, and he has my back.

I blink back the quickly forming tears and throw my arms around his neck. As soon as he returns the embrace, I feel myself break; a strangled sob escapes me, and I cry into his arms.

He holds me tightly; one hand around my back, the other in my hair, stroking it softly, and his lips place a gentle kiss on the top of my head, “Shhh, sweetheart. You’re Ok, I’m here now. I won’t ever leave you, Aurora. I wish I could have been there for you sooner”

I look up at him and he cups my face, his thumbs wiping away my steadily falling tears, “I’m going to get you out of here, and you will find your way back to Samael.”

I put a hand over one of his, “we’ll get out of here. Both of us.”

He nods, a soft smile on his lips, and begins leading the way upstairs. There’s a small window in the door at the top, and we peek through it; there’s only a dark, empty room, with another door across from us. We make our way through it, and my dad slowly opens the other door, which unfortunately doesn’t have a window.

We each take a breath before bursting through, ready to attack anyone in sight, but there’s no one here. We’re in a fancy kitchen with blue marble floors, an excessive amount of counter space, a large stone oven, and what I think is an ice box, though I’ve never seen one before. There’s two windows through which I can see stars dotting the night sky, which is showing very subtle hints of dawn on the horizon.

We walk through the kitchen and into a dining room where my eyes are distracted by the huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the candles burn lowly, casting shadows over us. We go through the archway on the other side of the room and find ourselves in a small foyer; bypassing the stairs that go to the next floor, and the doors leading to other rooms, we run straight to the large front door, with a stained-glass window.

The intricate glass work makes it difficult to see through properly, but the shadows of movement stop us in our tracks. I listen closely, picking up on some muttered conversation, but it's mostly quiet. I have no idea how many are out there.

I twist the doorknob, but it doesn’t open. “What the fuck?”

The shadows moving outside stop, probably watching the door rattle as I attempt to open it, but it must be locked from the outside.

“Aurora, wait!” my dad warns me but I’m already moving; I take three steps back then rush at the door using my new vampire speed, which seems to come naturally. I ram into the door causing it to fly off its hinges and crash to the wooden deck outside with a loud thud.

My eyes dart around, taking in the scene in front of me; two men are sitting on a bench at the end of the front porch, three are guarding the bottom of the stairs, and one is standing right in front of me, staring at the broken door.

I act without thinking, grabbing the closest one and sinking my fangs into his neck, tearing out a chunk of his flesh, and throwing his body into the guards at the bottom of the steps.

I spit out a mouthful of flesh and blood, and, still benefiting from the stunned surprise of the guards, I’m able to kill the two on the bench; too easily, I snap the neck of a pretty blonde, then plunge my claws into the chest of the older man next to him. His screams pierce the night and I sink my fangs into his throat, tearing through muscles and tendons until his head detaches from his body, hitting  the wood and rolling back towards the broken-down door.

My father walks out, his foot stopping the decapitated head from rolling further, and he looks at me with a mixture of pride and worry. The guards at the bottom of the steps that lead up the front porch are finally getting to their feet, the body I threw at them lying off to the side.

I watch in almost slow motion as my father looks in their direction and all six hands raise, palms pointing towards him; I move faster than I thought possible, and I’m in front of him just as the three powerful streams of water shoot from their hands, hitting me square in the chest. The water freezes on contact, encasing me in a layer of ice.

I glare down at the three guards, their surprise has turned to smugness as they look up at me, trapped and at their mercy. My blood boils with rage, and my fangs are desperate to plunge into their throats so I can drain them of theirs.

They slowly make their way up the steps, and my father comes to stand at my side. I focus on the one on the left; I can hear his heart pumping rapidly, sending blood flowing through his veins, I’m drawn to it, I can feel it. My extremities tingle with anticipation as I feel my magic emerging from behind whatever blockage the aconite caused.

The relief of getting my magic back is short lived once I realize I don’t really know how to fight with it. Adelaide said it’s all in the mind but what does that even mean? I saved Sarah by touching her, I could sense her blood clot and focused on it, but how the fuck do I take out three witches when I’m literally frozen in midair with no idea how to get down?

My dad takes a deliberate step in front of me, preparing to fight, but the witches simply laugh, “What’s the matter, Crescent? Can’t get it up? Wolfsbane still coursing through your veins?” One of them sneers, while the others chuckle darkly.

The one in the middle points at me, “I don’t know what the fuck she is, but Cassandra will be back any minute to deal with you two.”

I begin to panic internally, we need to get out of this, but how? My mind races with half-formed strategies that would probably never work out, and only end up with us dead by dawn regardless, when I’m joined in my head by a comforting and familiar presence.

“I’m here, Aurora. Shift, now!”  Danika’s voice intrudes on my jumbled thoughts, and I almost pass out from relief.

“Danika! Oh my goddesses, you’re still here!” I start to sob, overcome with emotion, but she growls at me.

“Shift, Aurora! We don’t have time.” I’m taken aback but she’s right, in the couple of seconds since I was frozen, the witches have surrounded us; two of them stare down my dad while the other watches me closely.

I let Danika take control, and she shoves me into the back of my mind; I instantly feel my body begin to shift, my bones snap and change form, the ice coating me is no match for the transition from human to wolf, and it shatters, sending shards flying.

Danika pounces on the witch in front of me, her fangs viciously tearing him apart; she rips his arm off, tossing it across the small yard, then attacks his throat, piercing into him and letting his blood gush into her mouth, swallowing it eagerly. I can feel the effect it has on her; pure power pulses through her body, and she kills the two witches, who are basically using my father as a shield, before either of them can blink.

Her large maw closes around the neck of one of them, snapping it easily, and she slashes her claws deep across the chest of the other; he hits the floor, choking on his own blood and dying quickly.

Danika stands before my father, breathing heavily, and he extends a hand, giving her a pat on the head, “that was impressive. You’re the fastest wolf I’ve ever seen.”

Danika lets out an impatient huff, lowering herself slightly and nudging him to climb up on her back. He obliges, giving her instructions, “I know where we are, and there’s no way we’ll be able to get back to my city from here, but I know a place we can go. Head east for now.”

I have no idea which direction east is, but Danika seems to, because she takes off without hesitation. I look back at the house, decorated with blood splatters and dead bodies, settled in a clearing in the middle of a forest. The trees surrounding it are larger than any I’ve ever seen before, and the branches are covered in little pink flowers. 

What could have been a beautiful place disappears from view as Danika speeds away, quickly putting as much distance between us and the clearing as fast as she can.