CHAPTER EIGHT
Seven ghosts "died" that night. Ghosts don't panic around vampires, because vampires don't have the holy power needed to destroy spirits. As it was, three vampires entered the party area and started running towards the densest group of ghosts. I didn't see what happened when they first arrived, but from what I understand, any ghost that the vampires ran through suddenly dissolved into the air. The ghosts should have started to at least go invisible once they saw the first two disappear, but no one except human holy men had the power to destroy ghosts, so they didn't comprehend what they were seeing at first. After the next three disappeared, though, panic quickly ensued. Soon all the ghosts were gone (unfortunately not quickly enough to prevent losing another two) and all that was left was me and the other non-ghosts. We were all at different areas of the party area, and couldn't band together quickly enough against the vampires.
Once the last ghost was gone, the vampires looked at the seven of us that were left, then settled their gaze on me. They started running towards me, and I turned around to run away from them as fast as possible. Everyone except the goblin started running in my direction to help fight off the vampires. Nathaan-ell had pulled out a long, curved sword, the naga had a dagger, and a wolf and a bear (presumably Mr. Anders and the shape shifter) were charging our way. Jack had been behind me, relative to the vampires, and was running towards me with his stake and knife already in each hand.
One would think that the battle would have been pretty easy with five against three, but the only one there that was prepared to actually slay a vampire was Jack. I shouldn’t have stopped to watch, but I didn't want to leave and feel like a coward. I didn't want to leave my friend.
The three vampires were either very powerful or recently made; they looked like people, really, with no rotting flesh or hair falling out. There were two males and a female, and it looked like they had been very fit in life. Nathaan-ell and Mr. Anders were paired up against one of the males, Jack and the Naga were paired up against the other male, and the shape shifter was fighting the female.
I reached into my pocket for my lighter, wondering if they needed my help and if I would, in fact, be any help if I decided to join them. For all I knew I would just end up setting them all on fire. Just as I had my fist around my lighter, the female vampire scratched the shape shifter across the eyes and left the bear shaking its head, trying to reorient itself. This enabled her to turn her attention back to me, and she started running my way. She was very fast, so even though I tried to dodge out of the way, she managed to knock me back. I held my lighter up and tried to flick it on to conjure a flame, but it wouldn't take. The vampire pinned my arms down to the ground and bore her fangs. This was the first time I had seen a vampire bear it fangs, and was horrified by how long they were. Before I could scream out, she dug her teeth into my shoulder and started drinking. I couldn't scream after that, no matter how hard I tried.
I felt myself growing cold and tired. This is it, I thought. She's not going to stop drinking. I'm going to die.
Just as the edges of my vision started to get dark, I felt the vampire's body get flung violently away. I couldn't move my body at all, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Jack slashing at the vampire. Seconds later he was joined by the other four, and as soon as the vampire saw she couldn't win, she turned and fled.
Mr. Anders and the naga pursued the vampire, but Jack and the other two let her go and rushed to my side instead.
"Kenna. Stay awake. We're taking you to a hospital now. Nathaan-ell, her parents live in the house with the tall wooden fence on the other side of the graveyard. I’m worried that they don’t know that their wards were broken. Let them know we were attacked and that their daughter is being taken to the hospital. Jen, will you scout ahead and make sure that there are no surprises waiting for us on the way to the hospital?”
I heard the bear grunt, and a second later a large, white barn owl rose to the air.
Jack pulled a vial out of his coat, unplugged it and poured the contents onto my wound. I drew a sharp breath at the pain – it felt like pouring hydrogen peroxide onto an open sore.
“Kenna, I’m sorry, I know that hurt. I’m going to have to do it at least once more before we get you to the hospital. It’s going to help purify the wound.”
He picked me up and started running to the street. Apparently my weight meant nothing to him, because he was running smoothly and soon we were at his car. He laid me down in the back seat and got a blanket from the trunk to keep me warm.
We were lucky enough to be within a couple of miles from the hospital. He must have pulled out a cell phone to call ahead, because I heard him say, “Can you get a gurney to the ER curbside? Yes, I know that only ambulances are allowed to pull up, but I have a girl that’s lost a lot of blood. I’m already driving there; I need someone to be ready to take her into the ER. Yes, I’ll be there within 90 seconds.”
I heard him pull another stopper out from a vial. We screeched to a halt and he said quietly to me, “Once more, sorry, and then we’ll get you into the ER and hook you up to some morphine.” He splashed more of that liquid on my wound, then got out of the car to take me into the hospital. Sure enough, there was a gurney waiting for me, and he followed the doctors into the ER room to explain the situation. I was having a hard time understanding what everyone was saying clearly, but Jack did a good job saying what happened. We were at a party, he explained, and we were caught up in the silliness of the atmosphere and everyone tried to build up a furniture pyramid. It got too tall, too many people got on it at the same time, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a chair fell on her head, with a couple of exposed nails puncturing her shoulder. She’s been in shock ever since, and hasn’t been able to move. Her name is Makenna Reyvens, and her parents have already been notified – they should be here shortly.
I had to admit, I was pretty impressed with this story. No one was to blame for the injury, no illegal activities were involved, and it explained why we looked so scratched up and why I couldn’t move.
I was hooked up to an IV in no time, and while my adrenaline rush had passed and I wanted to pass out, the doctors wanted to make sure I was awake so they could check for a concussion.
After a whole bunch of tests, scans, shots and treatments, I was finally able to fall asleep.