Selena
Sakura made a dash for it. A V had her pinned to the ground before she'd made it ten feet. The V's reddy-brown locks fell around Sakura's face as she grinned viciously down at her screaming prey.
“Hold it, Melinda,” Ravenos ordered and she stilled, turning to him.
“You said you only wanted the raven haired girl.”
“I know what I said!” he roared and the wood fell deathly silent.
Cass crawled to my side as we lay in the damp grass, awaiting our fate. My stake was clutched in my hand as I ran over and over in my mind what Varick had taught me about Ravenos, but what use did it do me now? If he didn't kill me, there was nearly twenty other Vs that would.
“I'm glad we met, Selena,” Cass whispered. “Made it pretty far, didn't we?”
“Don't talk like we're dead,” I hissed back, though I couldn't see any possible way out of this. I simply couldn't give up. Not yet.
The Vs stood as still as statues, some veiled in the mist, others as pale as ghosts, gazing at us with hungry expressions.
“We take them to the Blood Caves. Remind the Helsings what we're capable of.” Ravenos smiled, marching toward me and snatching a hold of my hair. He dragged me to my feet, tugging me close as he breathed in my scent. I used the moment to my advantage, angling my stake upwards and ramming it toward his chest. He caught my wrist with ease, laughing in a low chuckle before plucking the weapon from my grip.
“Take the other one, Iskender,” he ordered a nearby V with wet black hair that hung in a mop over his shoulders. He was broad and thickset, approaching Cass at a terrifying speed. Taking her weapon, he chucked her over one shoulder and she screamed bloody murder.
“Quiet, woman,” he ordered in a thick, Turkish accent.
Ravenos snatched my waist and threw me over his shoulder, mimicking Iskender. I kicked out, but if my impacting boots affected him at all, he didn't show it. We moved through the forest at speed until the world was a blur of green and grey. My gut writhed with nausea and I shut my eyes to try and save myself from vomiting up the berries I'd eaten earlier.
We stopped abruptly and I was strung upside down, my ankles aching as rope was tethered around them. My pack and cloak were ripped from my shoulders and someone stuffed my skirt between my legs so it didn't fall over my face. I groaned as my vision swum before me and the dim red glow of a cave became visible. The light was emitting from fiery torches, planted upright in the muddy ground. From the growth of moss across the walls, I guessed we were still somewhere in the forest. The earthy scent of it remained in the air.
The cave stretched away into the darkness and Vs gathered hungrily from the shadows. I could tell from their expressions that they'd been here before. And probably done this very thing to previous contestants. Ravenos stood before me, my neck swaying at mouth height, painfully vulnerable to him. I swung up a hand, slashing at him with a shriek of defiance. He caught it, raising my wrist to his mouth and breathing in. “Two more entire days, until those capsules in your heads detonate. We're going to have quite some time together, you and I.” He opened his mouth and sank his fangs into my wrist.
I whimpered, but didn't scream, not giving him the satisfaction of my pain. The more he drank, the more woozy I became, and the more the other Vs grew restless.
Ravenos released me, wiping his mouth before gesturing to the other Vs to approach Cass and Sakura who were strung up either side of me.
“One at a time,” Ravenos ordered and the Vs took turns drinking from them. No one touched me, but the Vampires sniffed the air near my swinging body, evidently tempted to take a bite. When a female with a bald head got too close, I spat at her, making her strike out at me with her nails. They slit my cheek open and, in an instant, Ravenos was upon her, wrenching her head off with two hands.
I watched on in horror, twisting my ankles in a desperate attempt to escape.
The other Vs backed up, eyeing Ravenos with caution.
“I said, she's mine!” he bellowed at them and a murmur of assent ran through the cave.
I caught Sakura's eye as Melinda fed on her arm. She was quivering, but a steely determination flared in her expression. She hadn't given up yet, and that gave me hope.
Blood was rushing to my head, making an ache grow behind my eyes. My arms swung uselessly below me as my hands grew heavy.
Ravenos fed from my wrist again and I closed my eyes, shutting out the feel of his cool mouth on my skin. With a jerk, he pulled away from me, clawing at his head. His eyes met mine, filled with horror, disgust. He remained silent as Vs filed past him, taking their turns feeding on Sakura and Cass.
Ravenos gazed at them like he was seeing them for the first time. He touched his mouth, his hands shaking.
“What have you done to me?” he snarled and I gazed on numbly, my body weak from blood loss.
“GET OUT!” he roared at the other Vs and begrudgingly, they obeyed, melting away into the darkness, heading deeper into the caves.
Ravenos launched at me, snatching hold of my neck. “What have you done, witch?” he spat at me.
I shook my head, trying to breathe through the press of his fingers. “Noth-ing,” I choked out.
He released me, covering his face and wailing in horror. He didn't seem in any physical pain. I had no idea what was happening to him.
I stole a glance at Cass, but she was passed out, blood dripping from her wrists to the floor. My heart raced, labouring to pump the remainder of my blood around my body.
Sakura was still with me, swinging back and forth, trying to reach her feet. It was no use, she could barely touch her knees.
Ravenos started crying. I wasn't sure at first, but there he was, sobbing on the muddy floor whilst we swung above him like animals rigged up for the slaughter.
“What's wrong with him?” Sakura hissed and I shook my head, having no answer.
A snarling and snapping of teeth made my insides constrict. I tried to understand what I was seeing in my upside down world as a flash of ebony fur moved through the cave. The beast launched at Ravenos and I realised what it was with a jolt of disbelief. A black wolf, tearing at Ravenos's neck. The V didn't have a chance to scream as the wolf snapped its jaws violently and he fell still, red blood seeping across the ground.
I almost screamed, but clamped my lips together, not wanting to draw the Vs back to us. The wolf rounded on us and I tried to lift my head out of its reach.
It was no good. The animal was huge and no doubt it could jump as high as the rope holding me in place.
The wolf paused before me, gazing into my eyes with a tilt of its head, then padded toward Cass, opening its deadly jaws.
I thrust an arm in her direction, trying to stop the animal from hurting her.
The wolf easily dodged my feeble attempt, snapping at me. It darted back toward Cass and I flapped my arms, desperate to keep it away from her.
Before I could make any more pathetic attempts at saving my friend, the wolf licked the side of her face, cleaning the blood that was dribbling down her cheek from her neck.
“What the-” Sakura started, pausing mid-sentence as Cass woke up; she came nose to nose with the animal and screamed to high heaven.
“No!” I hissed, trying to quiet her.
The wolf sprang into the air before her, making her writhe in her bonds, trying to keep clear of its sharp claws. With a loud clap, its teeth locked around the rope and broke it in two. Cass slammed into the wet earth, swinging her legs around as she tried to right herself. She scrambled to her feet, backing away from the wolf, but it bowed its head, stepping away from her to show it wasn't a threat.
“Cass,” I hissed to get her attention.
She stumbled dizzily towards me, bent down and took a knife from her boot.
She reached up, and slashed the rope holding me in place. I smacked into the ground, my hands sinking an inch into the mud.
“Ow,” I mouthed, finding my way to my feet whilst Cass cut Sakura free.
When I found my balance – still shaky from blood loss - I spotted the wolf hovering in the cave entrance. It padded back and forth as if it were waiting for us and I tentatively took a step closer. Moving to Ravenos's body, I bent down, extracting my stake from the back of his waistband.
The wolf made a whining noise and my hackles rose. “What does it want?” I whispered to the other girls, adjusting the stake in my hand.
“Looks like it wants to help,” Sakura said, moving toward the animal.
I threw out an arm, halting her. “Are you crazy? It just ripped off that Vampire's head.”
The wolf moved toward us and I backed into Sakura, my heart flipping over in my chest. Slowly, the animal pressed its head into Sakura's hand and she smiled.
“See,” she said, following it from the cave.
The sound of footsteps pounded from deep inside the cave system. Without a word, Cass and I broke into a sprint, grabbing our discarded packs, cloaks and stakes on the way out.
As we darted out of the cave, Cass grabbed my arm, dragging me sideways toward a boulder where we ducked down behind it. Sakura was already there, pressing her back to the rock. The wolf howled and we all flinched from the noise as it darted off into the forest, disappearing into the thick mist. A group of Vampires followed it into the trees and we held our breaths whilst they passed.
“Everyone saw that, right?” Cass whispered and we nodded, wide-eyed.
“What kind of wolf was that?” I asked in astonishment.
“The kind I like having on our side.” Sakura stood, looking out toward the trees. “This whole place is screwed up. Maybe the animals have been messed with too.”
I scrubbed my eyes, trying to process what had just happened, but my mind was still in a daze from the blood I'd lost.
Sakura's legs wobbled beneath her. “We should find somewhere to rest. I'm not going into that forest until this fog lifts.”
“Agreed.” Cass stood, rubbing the bite marks on her neck. She gazed back in the direction we'd come.
“What?” I breathed.
“We should go back for Ravenos's blood. To heal.”
Sakura placed her hands on her hips. “I'm not going back there. Only half the Vs followed that wolf. Which means there's a pack of Vampires still sniffing around that cave.”
Cass sighed and I gave her a comforting look, regretting not having taken advantage of the V's blood back in the cave.
“I don't know if I'm glad I stuck with you guys or not,” Sakura muttered, wrapping strips of her dress around the bites on her wrists.
“Well, you're still alive, aren't you?” I said.
She broke a smile, the first I'd ever seen her break, showing she had dimples. “I think that's because there's something special about you, Selena.”
“What's that supposed to mean?” I huffed.
“That V had some kind of breakdown after drinking from you. If that's not special, I don't know what is.”
I pursed my lips, having no retort to give her. She was right after all. Ravenos had acted strangely, but I couldn't figure out what exactly my blood had done to him. “Other Vs have bitten me. None have reacted like that before.”
Cass looked awkward as if she didn't want to side with Sakura over me, but clearly felt the same way.
“None of them had that much blood though, right?” Sakura folded her arms, gazing at me like I was a puzzle to be solved.
“No,” I murmured, checking my map to try and get firmly off of this subject. “Let's look for somewhere to regroup, get some rest.” I glanced toward the dark forest, still thick with mist. With the way I was feeling, I could have slumped down in a bush and fallen asleep right there and then.
“We could move up the mountain a bit,” Sakura suggested, gazing up the steep hill that led away from the cave, back in the direction we'd come. “I reckon most of the Vs will stick around the forest, waiting for girls to pass through. It's the only way to the checkpoint.”
It was as decent a plan as any, so we followed Sakura up the hill, forcing our way through the brambles and low bushes that lined the mountainside.
After a few hours, we found a fairly level patch of ground, sheltered from the wind by an overhang of rock. We made camp beneath it, making the damp ground as comfortable as possible using our cloaks as blankets. Our meal consisted of berries and nothing more. We started a small fire to keep warm, praying it didn't draw any unwanted attention, but desperate to dry out our damp clothes. It was worth the risk; the freezing air combined with our wet attire was a dangerous combination.
Huddling close under the rock, we took turns taking watch. Cass went first, and Sakura and I snuggled together for warmth as we tried to get some rest. It wasn't easy, considering what we'd just been through. And I knew Vampires awaited me in my dreams. But better those than the real ones who were waiting for us out in the woods.