Blood Battles Chapter# 2

Chapter# 21

Centuries ago, Lycans and Vampires, both descending from the same ancestor, lived harmoniously together. Vampires reigned as sovereign, while the werewolves acted as their day-keepers. 2

A handful of each species had become mischievous and wandered into the society of humans, making enemies, friends, and lovers. This in turn split the vampires and lycans up, each forgetting about their blood connection and running to do their own mischief.3

The werewolves, not being able to control themselves around the very thing they ate, were forced into hiding from the rest of the world. They watched from the side lines as the vampires mingled with them like they were gods among ants. Jealousy consumed them and filled them with hate that resulted in a war. 4

Once secret, humans were now aware of the monsters that watched them from a far. The war began quickly and lasted for a hundred years, but no one could of foretold that the humans would win, since no one knew the vampires were helping their mortal opposites. Unfortunate for the lycans, there were less of them than the mortals, and weapons like guns stopped them quicker than they thought. Once the humans had found their vitals, they had no chance. The lycans were again forced into hiding while the humans lived under the lie that they had been wiped from the face of the earth. Instead of taking they’re revenged once they had improved their numbers, they instead revealed the vampire’s existence, watching in triumph as they were also forced to hide from society. 5

One lycan clan, one that considered themselves superior to all others, gathered themselves in their home country of France. Their ancestors crossed the ocean to France by way of a slave ship destined for Africa. The Clan Mistress, or (Mistress of Wolves and Hunt) sent the boat on a crash course for Monaco, giving the lycans their chance to escape and join their brothers and sisters in France. The last clan to arrive on Monaco came as a result of The Arcane Battle, started by the Arcane Clan. They were the survivors of a number of small scattered clans that banded together to exact their retaliation.6

The Mistress steered all the minds of her brother lycans that the fault of their misery was the vampires. After coming across new powers, they came out of their hiding places once again and began a new war. One that they were victorious in. The un-expecting humans didn’t see what hit them and fled in fear. The news of the war was carried across lands and countries everywhere and lycans all over the world joined in, driving away the humans and becoming their new superiors; taking control.7

Now the only thing left to do was to dispose of their equally matched enemy. The vampires.8

***9

The story kept running through Kit’s mind. One question lingering in the back of his head, but he ignored it. Walking through the forest at night was putting him on edge and Avi would of told him not to worry about something so trifle, if he were here. Since he wasn’t though, the question came forth. 10

“Claws, what does existence mean?” The small boy clutched his substitute guardians hand tighter when he heard the bushes move beside him. The wind was moving everything around them and making it hard to tell what was the wind and what wasn’t. Claws stared down at the small boy holding his hand and blinked.11

“Is that relevant at the moment?” He said, his head snapping in every direction and looking for any signs of an enemy.12

“Avi tells me to think about other things when I’m scared. I was remembering the story he told me-“13

“Not now, kid!” Claws pulled him farther into the forest. Kit was practically running to keep up with the older boys large strides. 14

The forest was dark and shadows moved against every tree, casting scary shapes and figures. Any normal human would have seen something that probably wasn’t there by now, but the two moving through the forest were ignorant of them. They could sense the presence of another a mile away so the shadows couldn’t play their tricks on them. 15

Kit was scared again and his mind focused on the dark span of green that was the trees. He then looked down and focused on the pebbles that he stepped on as Claws pulled him along. This was boring him, but it was keeping his mind off of them suddenly getting attacked. He began to name the things he saw as they passed by them. Tree. Tree. Bush. Tree. House. Tree. 16

“Claws?” The young vampire looked to where the small boy was pointing and his eyes lit up. A small abandoned log house stood in the back of a clearing, shrouded in moonlight. It looked old, like it hadn’t been lived in for a long time. Pieces of the roof were missing, but extra fire wood was still stacked along the side of the house. The door was creaking open and kept slamming open and shut from the wind. A few of the windows were broken and the paint was peeling on their frames. A stone walk way could barely be seen buried under leaves and brush.17

Claws let go of Kit’s hand and squatted down next to him.18

“Hurry.” He instructed. It took Kit a minute to realize what he wanted before he quickly mounted his back and let Claws carry him to the house. They arrived in less than a second and Claws let Kit down. He quickly shut the door and latched it shut. 19

Kit looked around curiously. They were in the kitchen of the house and a small living room connected from the right. He looked at the kitchen counters. Pots and pans had been left on the stove and cluttered in the sink. As he approached them, he could smell the left over food inside them. Some of the cupboards were half open, food contents and more dishes inside and spilling out of them. 20

He stood up on tip toes to grab a glass cup, but a hand caught his wrist. He looked at Claws in confusion and Claws picked him up around the waist and showed him what he was about to grab. Inside the sink, the pots and pans were filled with rats. The food residue was what was keeping them their.21

“Rats bite.” Claws explained before setting him back down again. “Infection is not something you can handle.” he added before walking into the living room. Kit followed behind him quickly. 22

The floor was made of slowly rotting wood. Dirt and leaves were everywhere and it crunched beneath their feet. Pieces of glass were pooled around the ground by the broken windows and the walls smelled of mold. A very old and dusty chair stood in the middle of the room in front of the fireplace. A couch was lined against the back wall by a half open door. A bottom chunk of the door was missing and if Kit wasn’t so scared, he would of liked to crawl through it for fun; like an archway made for his own personal size.23

Claws plopped down into the chair, making dust fly. Kit coughed once and waved his hand in front of his face. Claws sighed and shrugged the boy an apology. He rubbed his face in exhaustion while rummaging in his pants pocket for his cell phone. Kit found himself wandering over to the door while Claws was distracted from him. He ignored the small talk behind him and ducked down to fit through the door. A bed was in the middle of the room with a small side table on it’s right. A window was on the opposite side, the moonlight shining through and lighting up the sheets on the bed. 24

Kit gasped when he saw what was also being lit up by the moonlights’ rays. A woman was strewn across the sheets. Her pants were ripped at the bottom and the sleeves of her shirt were sagging down her shoulders. Her eyes lifelessly starred at nothing. Puncture marks were in both her wrists and her neck. Kit only noticed them cause the blood leaking from them was smeared all over her body.25

Kit shivered at the thought of her being dead, and then a worse thought of her being one of them. His hands gripped the front of his shirt as his breath was lost from fright. He ran from the room and to Claws side. He grabbed the older boys hand, knocking the cell phone from his hand, and pulled on his sleeve indicating he wanted him to follow him. 26

“I can’t tell if she’s dead. I can’t!” He yelled, before Claws had time to get a word of protest out. Kit starred at him, confusion and worry laced on his features. He let the boy pull him into the bedroom and like Kit, his reaction was to gasp in horror when he saw the woman’s mangled body. 27

“I can hear her pulse,” Claws approached the bed and felt her neck. “But it’s really weak.”28

“Is she...us?” Kit’s voice cracked. Claws starred at her a second longer before nodding sadly. Claws politely fixed her blouse, pulling the sleeves back over her shoulders.29

“Why did they leave her hear?” Kit questioned again. Claws sniffed the air and leaned down to pick her up, but stopped when he noticed the way her body glowed. 30

“The window.” He said turning towards it. “In the morning when the sun rose, she wouldn’t of had the strength to move herself out of the way of it's killer rays.” He lifted her into his arms bridal style, her head falling against his chest almost lifelessly. “The cruelest form of torture for our kind. Whoever did this is no friend to us.” He carried her out into the small living room and gently laid her against the chair. He picked his cell phone up and stuffed it back in his pocket. 31

Kit touched the girl’s arm gently and watched her unmoving face with sad eyes. Claws went over to the kitchen sink and grabbed the cup that he had earlier stopped Kit from touching. He then grabbed one of the rats from the sink and cracked it’s neck, a squeak coming from it as he did so. He used his finger nail to rip it’s stomach open and then began to drip the blood into the glass. Once he’d squeezed as much as he could from the animal, he threw it back in the sink for the others to feast on. He took the glass back over to the chair and put it to the girl’s lips. He tipped it and her head up; forcing her to drink.32

River sputtered the blood back up and awoke with a start. Her hands immediately went out to defend herself. She knocked Claws back and stood to run. The glass in Claws hands fell to floor and shattered. Blood spattered against the already dirty floor. Someone else grabbed River’s wrist and she fell forward in between the others legs. She continued to spit the foul tasting stuff out of her mouth. She knew it was blood, but she hoped it wasn’t her own. She pulled her wrist free from the persons grip and succeeded in knocking them over. She was ready to run again, but the other had recovered and tackled her to the ground. He wasn’t hurting her, but instinct told her to get away and she struggled and thrashed against him, her lungs starting to weaken from screaming so much.33

Claws held her down and shushed softly into her ear. He could feel her fear, but he tried to calm her down as best he could by not squeezing her wrists too tightly, just enough to keep her in place. After hopeless struggling, she began to calm down and Claws sighed before looking behind him at Kit. The boy was sat on the floor from being pushed over.34

“Kit, you alright?”35

The boy lifted his cut up hand away from the sharp shards of glass he’d landed on and held it in his lap. He winced from the pain and breathed deeply.36

“My hand’s cut.” He whimpered. 37

“Who are you?” Claws looked back to the girl. Her voice was hoarse and weak and she was crying.38

“Friends. Promise.” He said while rolling off her back. 39

River sat up slowly and looked up at the boy. He had light skin that almost sparkled and bright green eyes. His short, yet wild hair was dark red-orange and pieces of it were falling slightly in his face. She watched him as he motioned the other boy over. This one was much younger and had dark curly black hair. He had piercing azure eyes that seemed bottomless and he walked with a small stumble in his step. 40

Claws took hold of his hand and picked the pieces of glass out, Kit wincing each time and tugging on his hand to get away from it. Claws held his hand still and when he had finished he ripped the cuff off his own shirt and tied it tight around Kit’s hand. He told him it should be ok in a while and then turned back to the girl.41

Long black hair fell around her shoulders and fearful green eyes starred at both of them. Her slim body was backed into the edge of the chair and her petite hands gripped uselessly at the grimy floor. She was obviously scared.42

“What’s your name?” She starred at him and blinked.43

“River.”44

“Are you ok?” She nodded and took a minute to take in her surroundings. “We found you in the room over there.” Claws motioned with his head at the broken door. “You were unconscious and whoever did this was planning on killing you.” 45

Her eyes widened when he said that and they snapped back to look at him.46

“How?”47

Claws and Kit exchanged knowing looks and then starred back at her. 48

“You don’t want to know.” Claws shook his head at her and Kit kneeled down and sat on his feet.49

“I’m Claws and this is our Cub.” Claws ruffled Kit’s hair. The small boy smacked his hand away and they both shared smiles.50

“Kit.” He corrected. 51

“Our?”52

“Our other friends are back at the mansion. We’re waiting for Avi.” Kit explained.53

“Who’s Avi?” She rubbed at her aching head and shifted so she was more comfortable.54

“Kit’s guardian.” Claws watched her as she looked around her and then back at them again. He felt sorry for her. She had no idea what she’d become or even what they were. She wiped her mouth and looked down at the blood on the back of her wrist. She looked at him for an explanation, but he could only smile and shrug.55

Claws offered her a place back where they lived and she excepted thankfully. If she hadn’t, Claws knew she might not of survived on her own once her stomach started to growl. 56

They sat in silence for a long time until the wind from outside began to get to them. Claws grabbed a few pieces of the wood from outside and lit the fire in the fire place. Claws introduced himself better and River did the same. He noticed, she talked with an accent and asked about it. She then went on to explain how she was from America. Claws then proceeded to give her a humorous history lesson about Paris and that’s when River learned about the catacombs.57

“That’s where they live.”58

“Who?” Claws raised an eyebrow.59

“The ones who did this to me.” She said wrapping her arms around her.60

“In the Catacombs? Of course, they got to them first.” 61

“How far do they go?”62

“The catacombs? The whole span of Paris and farther.” River sat back and thought about everything that had happened. More than anything, the fact that the whole city was sitting on top of a graveyard sent chills down her spine. This was almost too much to handle.63

“What did you mean they got to them first?”64

“The Werewolves.” Kit said, his eyes downcast in shame.65

“But, they weren’t.”Kit and Claws both looked at her in confusion.66

“They were vampires.”67

“What?” Claws shrieked. He was about to jump up, but a hand on his arm caused him to stop and he looked down at Kit angrily.68

“Not everyone can be like us.” He said, trying to calm the older boy down. River looked at them in confusion and Kit covered his mouth in shock, realizing what he had said.69

“Your...” She didn’t finish her sentence and backed away until her back hit the chair. Claws opened his mouth to say something but then closed it and froze. A moment later so did Kit. River was confused. They weren’t looking at her anymore, but past her.70

“I thought I took care of you earlier.”Claws snarled.71

River blinked. She thought for sure he was going to attack her and braced herself by putting her hands up in front of her face, but the older boy leaped right past her as a crash of glass came from the window. She screamed and ducked down out of the way of the flying glass. There were grunting sounds and struggling heard behind her, but she could only focus on the scene in front of her. The boy hadn’t been smart enough to duck from the glass and small beads of blood streamed out of cuts in his face and arms. Tears began to stream from his eyes and even though she saw him as a monster, she couldn’t help but crawl towards him and help. 72

He clutched at her arms and starred up at her with pleading eyes that said ‘help’. She knew the pain must of been horrible and the only way to stop it was to remove them. She tried to be gentle when removing the glass, but he screamed every time she ripped a piece out of his skin.73

River was suddenly pulled away from the crying boy. A set of claws dug into her back and teared at her skin, making her scream. 74

“Get away from her!” Claws jumped at the lycan and knocked him off of River. 75

River watched in horror as Claws and the lycan rolled on the ground in a fight full of teeth and claws. She crawled away and reached out for the fireplace poker sitting in the fire, but somebody had gotten to it before her. An older man stood in front of her, holding the poker up in a threatening way. Small wounds littered parts of his body and bled out. His eyes scanned her and glared in anger and then they softened when they saw the look in her eyes. His eyes darkened again and looked beyond her at the fight. He walked past her, toward the fight. 76

River covered her head incase it was her he was going for. The rustling noises behind her suddenly stopped and a blood curdling howl broke through the quiet night air. 77

She turned around to see what had happened. The poker, still in the older man’s hand stuck out of the werewolves’ back. Claws rolled the lifeless body off of himself and sat up. The man reached out a hand and pulled Claws to his feet. They both turned to look at her. She sat up, still shaking. The older man ran over and picked the now unconscious Kit up.78

“We’re leaving.” He said before running out the door. River could only follow when Claws grabbed her hand and pulled her out behind him. She was too speechless to argue the fact that they were all indeed vampires.