I Sacrifice Myself

  Dimitri paused before he answered. I wondered what he would say. I didn’t wait long.

  “I would, but my schedule is full, and I’m taking on more hunts with the others now,” he replied.

  I approved. I didn’t want to share him.

  “What about training her while working with the Angelissa girl?”

  I could just imagine how Dimitri reacted to that.

  “She’s a lot more advanced than the others. I’d be afraid that the new trainee would be hurt. We get quite aggressive sometimes, and our advanced strength and speed could prove fatal, especially when we’re in full battle mode. I could not guarantee her safety.”

  The other guy, whom I assumed was Colonel Briggs, sighed.

  “I figured as much. I told him this but no one listens to me. I’ll relay the message. Sorry to have bothered you.”

  Him who, I questioned silently from my crouched position, where I was completely hidden behind Dimitri’s closed bathroom door.

  Dimitri closed the door and locked it.

  I dressed and opened the bathroom door. We got back in bed and held each other.

  “I’m glad you told him no,” I whispered.

  “Why’s that?” he asked, sounding amused. I was tucked neatly into him, with both of us on our sides, his arm holding me close and his mouth next to my ear.

  “Well, I kind of need all your spare time and I don’t get along well with competition.”

  “There’s absolutely no competition Shade, no one could come close to being you. You’re the only woman, here in this facility or anywhere, which I think about or want. I’d run away with you now, if they didn’t need us.”

  I was awed by his comment.

  “I love you, Shade. I always have, even before. I denied it and denied you, but I can’t any longer. It feels like there is a hole in my chest and I can’t breathe when I’m not with you,” he added. He kissed me before I could reply.

  I loved him too, but we’d never told each other that, before tonight anyways.

  My insecurities had provoked him. They always spoiled stuff.

  I kissed him back fervently while sliding my hands over his chest. His hand found the small of my back, and clenched the shirt there in his fist.

  I sensed the time was late and I huffed.

  “What?” he asked, looking at my face, and pushing my hair back from my eyes.

  “I want you rested for tomorrow. I’ll be worried about you especially if you’re tired.”

  He laughed. I took that offensively.

  “Why are you laughing? I’m serious Dimi.” When I called him by my pet name for him, he knew I meant business.

  He sobered instantly. His hands cradled my face.

  “I’ll always come back to you, no matter where I am. Nothing will stop me from being with you. I should be more worried for you. I know you and how you focus on your partner more than yourself, and it’ll get you killed. I’ve battled these monsters for ten years, love, and I know how to stay alive.”

  It was true. He’d been on his own for three years before he made it back from Siberia. He’d been stationed near there and it’d been overran and demolished. He was the only one to survive. His guilt at not saving the others ate him almost every moment, except when I distracted him. Something I did as often as I could.

  I shouldn’t have brought it up. I could see the startling pain in his eyes now, almost reflecting my own back at me.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  “Why?” he asked, clearly confused by my admittance.

  “For upsetting you, of course. It’s just that you mean so much to me. I love you too, Dimi, and it’d kill me to lose you.”

  He gripped my face harder, and gave me a gentle shake, as fury replaced sorrow.

  “No! If I fall out there, you stake me and move on. Save the others and don’t look back. They need you here. Say it!”

  “I will,” I said weakly. My response was poor and he would not accept, just as I would not have had this conversation been reversed.

  “Mean it,” he begged. The terror in his voice shattered me. To see this man broken and on his knees was my ultimate fear. This moment came so close to that, I choked.

  I sighed and pulled away. He let me go, knowing I would answer him.

  After a moment of picking at his blanket I looked back.

  “I mean it Dimi. I’ll stake you and save them.”

  He pulled me roughly into his arms and held me tighter than ever before.

  “I… I’d do the same even if it killed me inside Shade, even if it killed me too…” he replied, his voice catching at first. I thought he was crying but no. I’d never seen him cry. His body was shaking now, but he had no tears.

  I held him just as securely and pulled him back to the pillows. I kissed his face lovingly and pulled him to my chest. He let me.

  I held him until the shakes faded from him. He must have finally fallen asleep. I decided it’d be best to do the same.

  Not before one last thought crossed my mind. I’d die before I let him fall. I would not leave him. I was incapable of it, but not the lie.

  Sometime later his cries woke me. He’d sat up instantly and was looking around the room.

  Nightmares… the same one I was sure. The first night I’d slept with him he’d had one. Embarrassed, he’d told me his macabre story. Explaining how all the humans at the camp in Siberia had died horribly and painfully. How he’d been forced to watch.

  His description of how savagely the people had been mutilated, torn to bloody shreds, hung from trees, or beheaded, had me in tears.

  Whoever, man or creature, which had done this… this thing, was sadistic, vile and carnal. He explained things I could barely stand to hear.

  Dimitri had spared me the worst of it, I know, but what he shared was more than enough to drive me crazy with thoughts of vindictive and vengeful violence.

  I could just picture this camp utterly annihilated and destroyed. I had seen enough death and chaos to envision his tale of sorrow and horror.

  Imagining the younger and innocent victims had me close to being sick. An iron strong stomach was all that saved me. To completely retell the story would be the only way to impart the hell he lived through.

  As his breathing slowed, I knew he was awake and calming down. Nonetheless, I pulled him into my arms again, and whispered to him. He clung to me and made no sound. We fell back asleep this way as we normally did when these nightmares haunted him.

  His alarm blared disturbingly close at us to get a move on, so early it felt as if we’d only just closed our eyes. It’d been after two when we’d forced ourselves to shut it off and wake.

  I was tired, but not. I could’ve slept longer, but I wanted a few minutes with him, before we had to dress and head to the feeding room.

  Dimitri pulled me into his arms again. I was facing away from him, and inched closer, so that our bodies touched from head to toe.

  There was no need for words with us. We were comfortable in the silence. We were each lost in our own thoughts.

  Unfortunately, my bladder believed it was time to get a move on, as much as the damned annoying alarm. I dragged myself from his warm and cozy embrace, but not before he could steal another kiss.

  I saw his wound was completely healed. The sight left me feeling uncomfortable. I dismissed it and ran to his bathroom.

  After we both dressed, we headed up top to eat, and debrief before gathering our supplies and leaving.

  The hunters and I ate quietly and quickly. We had to load the Hummers and trucks still, and make sure we were not leaving anything behind. It was required that we warmed up in the gym as well. Last thing we did was go over the plan and figure out who was paired with whom.

  “Ash and Shade, Dimitri and Santos…” I drowned out the rest of the names after I’d heard ours. The rest was of no concern to me.

  Ash, Dimitri, Santos, and I would take one Hummer into the east with the others following. Once we reached the ci
ty, we’d all take a street and work our way out, while leaving the trucks at the end of the road. The keys would be left in and one hunter would remain with the vehicles. In an emergency, we could haul ass, and be gone before anyone fell, well so far we had been able to.

  I grabbed my bag and sword and then got in line for them to issue our guns. My flak jacket was on and my knives stored in their rightful places. Dimitri gave me a meaningful look, which I understood. He was reminding me of my promise.

  Ash looked between us, but did not comment. His pain was obvious in his eyes. I ignored that too, despite the raw feeling it left inside me.

  Once in the trucks, we headed out, stopping only long enough to remove fallen trees or other debris along the way. Dimitri drove and I rode shotgun. No one questioned the hybrids, usually. Our vision and hearing was without doubt a tool they relied heavily on. With us in the lead, we would see or sense anything out there, before they would.

  It took us thirty minutes to get into the city, and on the street that we suspected the monsters had decided to hole up in.

  We had a pharmacy on one side, a school on another, a gas station, and an abandoned apartment building. The light we all parked at was on two main roads leading in and out of the city. It was a good place to start.

  I took what I needed from my bag, as well as my silver chain with silver charm. It was a five star pagan symbol I only wore when hunting. My aunts had it blessed by a priest under the moon. I think it had belonged to my mother. There was a dark jewel at the center, which glowed bloody red in the moonlight.

  We each headed our own directions, discussed and decided upon when we were on the way. I gave Dimitri one last loving, and tender, look before I led Ash down an alley.

  At least Ash was smart enough to move silently behind me and be aware of his surroundings.

  I knew Santos had Dimitri’s back as they took the road parallel to ours. We would meet at the corner.

  I focused on Ash and I as we worked our way door to door, checking for signs of recent life, or in a vamps case, death.

  We were in the clear until we reached the last section of our block. We kept our guns up and rotating so we could get maximum footage for the cameras. If we missed something maybe the cameras would pick it up.

  I heard Ash pause, listening to his headset, as I turned to check out a shadow, while keeping one eye on the road in front of me.

  I could hear something just beyond the edge of my senses, just barely out of reach, almost a moaning.

  Ash was focused on a room in the building to our left. If Santos and Dimitri had been in the clear as well, they’d be at that building along with us, on their street.

  We’d heard nothing from them, so we assumed they were even with us. I saw movement just as Ash looked away and he started moving towards me. I threw my hand up, to order him to stop. He saw the puzzled, but aware look I wore.

  I motioned for him to go to the door, ahead of me, and wait. I watched the windows, and the door, while he crept over to it. I held my gun on the window so if anything moved, the camera would see it and relay it to the com units Ash was carrying, and the rest of the team.

  After Ash had reached the door, and found a secure position to hold down, I joined him.

  I motioned for him to stay put. He shook his head no.

  Looking around, I saw no reason to make him, but I’d rather he be here if shit hit the fan inside or we got barricaded in.

  He must have reached the same conclusion, and reluctantly agreed. He shook his head, but didn’t follow me, when I inched open the door silently.

  That was when I heard Santos’ cries.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  I darted in the building and scoped it quickly while on the move, heading toward the other side, to meet up with Santos and Dimitri.

  Santos was standing in the doorway looking out, blocking whatever was happening, clearly horrified. I shoved him aside in time to see a bloody vamp, literally, toss Dimitri aside. He’d drained him within seconds, and now was looking from me to Santos, as if he was still hungry.

  The vamp was familiar but not. The rotten stench that reached me was beyond nauseating. His eyes sent chills down my spine, yet I could not look away.

  It took everything I had, not to rush to the blood sucker and take it out, or to Dimitri. I felt Ash at my back, looking over my shoulder. He tensed when he eyed the vamp. He too was without sound at the horror that was before us, the reality of what was became too much, still I could not look away.

  Vamps are predatory creatures, with long fangs, red eyes, and a need for killing. Their stature was brutally animalistic and spoke volumes. Deadly, venomous, treacherous, heartlessly cold, and dead to humanity. How could one choose this life, willingly, and not regret it!

  Vamps, newborns and some elders that is, usually were solo but a few would run in packs which were run by that elder. They gave off seriously perilous vibes. Most humans would panic or go into shock, leaving them vulnerable to the attack.

  I hesitated between my promise and the vamp standing before me. If it could so easily take Dimitri, by surprise or not, then I was nothing but a feisty chew toy.

  It eyed me, snarling, waiting on me to make a move. This one was no rookie, he meant business. He was definitely an elder. We were totally screwed.

  Ash and Santos backed up, but when they realized I was not coming, they hesitated with Ash reaching for me.

  “Go,” I told them.

  “No!” His voice was stern, without hesitation now, and I knew how stubborn he could be.

  “It won’t let us all leave. Get to the others and warn them! I can slow it down so you can get out of here.”

  They both knew they couldn’t take me, even together, but they also knew this vamp was more than a match for me. I was seconds from being a tenderized and fleshy morsel.

  “She’s right Ash, she can take it, let’s go!”

  I heard them back out and then I positioned myself. I was dead, hopelessly dead, and we all knew it.

  Fire burned in its soulless eyes, fingers clenched, and its knees bent readying itself to attack.

  If I could unload the whole clip into the bastard before it reached me though, I had a fighting chance. I was nothing more than a flea to this thing, but my bullets were not.

  It’s red glowing eyes glared deadly daggers at me, as he sized me up, contemplating what in the hell I was. It was obviously aware of the fact that I was not human. Which was probably the only reason it had not gone for me. I was a meal ticket worth the short throw down I would give it.

  I was not sure if Dimitri was dead, or would turn, and it was taking everything I had to not look at him to find out.

  Just as I pulled the trigger the vamp moved. One second he was twelve feet away, and the next, he was in my face ripping the gun from my hands while his fangs dripped Dimitri’s blood. I’d gotten about half a clip into his chest and neck, before he reached me, so he was slowing down.

  I was instantly overcome with a chill that drove deep to my core, as if death itself loomed precariously close. My heart quadrupled its beat as adrenaline kicked into overdrive, my pulse beating its drums in my ears. I refused to cower, to back down, to show fear. I knew better. This hellish demon from nightmares beyond our imagination, this dark beasts unbelievable existence rocked me once more. Only when its snarling, noxiously drooling, rank fangs came close enough to devour me did I remember how much these things terrified me. The hairs prickled all over my body. I curbed the urge to shiver.

  What little bullets had hit it wouldn’t take long to affect the vamp, but it also wouldn’t take long for it to rip out my neck either when it stopped sniffing me and took a bite, which meant I was totally fucked either way.

  As he reached for my neck oh so slowly, I pulled my sword free and swung with what little momentum I could obtain, considering how little room I had without stepping back. The vamp blocked easily, as I feared it would, clearly surprised at my speed and lack of trepidation. If Dimitr
i’s blood was sex on rocks to me, then the vamp would think the same of mine, but once ingested he’d die.

  I tried to take off his head again, only to gasp, as it grabbed my sword between his hands. I’d never seen one move so lightning fast. Nearby, I heard a muffled sound, but I never let my gaze leave the vamp before me. If I did I was without a doubt dead, sooner rather than later. Only a miracle and time could get me out of this shitty predicament.

  A blade appeared out of nowhere, and punctured the back of its head, startling me. Somehow Dimitri had thrown it, keeping his promise to me. Either way he’d given me the opportunity I needed to wrench my sword free and give it another weak attempt.

  As the vampire tried to remove the thrown blade from his head, I swung. My momentum was enough that when the monster realized its mistake, it was over. I sliced through his arm and neck, and took its head completely off his shoulders.

  I was instantly soaked in vampiric blood and gore, and shocked. Somehow I had managed to survive facing an elder. Something unheard of.

  A human would’ve never done it. I was just barely fast enough, especially with the distraction my beloved had given me.

  Its head fell to the ground, bounced once losing an eyeball in the process, and a moment later its body slowly followed. I saw the light fade from its dead eyes and the revelation freeze permanently upon his too human face.

  At one time this vamp had been a human, a man, maybe a father or brother with family that missed him. I wondered how I could let them know he was no longer a dead thing, a blood thirsty demon, hell-bent on feeding on everything in his path. The flesh on his clothes disgusted me, but the thought of such loss saddened me, and confused me.

  I swallowed hard and cleaned my sword quickly, and then heard Ash come up behind me. He’d come back despite Santos dragging him off. I was not surprised.

  I had another heart wrenching job before me, possibly or rather probably, and I didn’t want him here when I went through with it. I wanted to be alone, if I had the guts to do this.

  My soul mate would cease to exist, something I could not bear, and by my own hands. My heart shattered into a trillion slivers, piercing my insides. I needed to be cold and methodical, a hunter not a love sick moron. I shoved aside what little sanity I had left and forced myself to follow through as protocol would have it. I would be a machine, a half dead monstrous hunter with nothing left to live for.