Eternal (chapter 6)

“Fighting is essentially a masculine idea;
A woman’s weapon is her tongue.”

(Hermione Gingold)

Chapter VI

Rayne- “Put him down,” Dusk yelled pleadingly at Stefan.
         I had told him the news and he had definitely not taken it well. He now had Vladimir pinned up against the wall, and I was puzzled and amazed that Vladimir hadn’t fought back yet. He had a very bad anger issue.
         “Not this time, Dusk. He has crossed the line!” he snapped.
         With little effort, he moved Vladimir from the wall just supporting him by his throat. “I’m beyond a doubt sorry about the window!” he yelled over to Nevar.
         “The window? What do you mean the window?” She cried out. “Oh no! No, no not again.
         Stefan yanked him up and sent him soaring through the window. I gave Nevar a sympathetic glance, and followed hurriedly behind them.
         I landed beside Echo who was sobbing terribly, begging them to stop. Gasping for air between sobs, she managed to squeak out a stifled cry.
         Stefan cocked his head at the noise and turned on heel dropping Vladimir in a heap to the ground. His yellow eyes, diluted with a red rage, faded to torment and sadness as he looked at his sister. His only sister being with his enemy had severely pissed him off.
         I grabbed Echo’s arm and cast a shield over both of us just in case he got violent, but he stopped no less than 4ft from us.
         “You will no longer see him,” he said finally.
         “No Stefan,” She whimpered. “Please don’t do this.”
         “It’s too late, The Bond has already been made,” I whispered, not finding the voice to speak. I had never seen Stefan this angry before, it scared me deeply.
         His face turned green with color, “You…with him… of all people.”
         “I’m so sorry Stefan, I know you would be mad I…I just couldn’t tell you,” she cried.
         He frowned in disgust, “I can’t even look at you. You’re just another stupid slut,” he spat.
         Dusk grabbed his arm pleadingly, “Stefan, please just let it go.”
         “Enough Dusk!” He flung his arm around throwing her off. She crashed against the wall, unconscious.
         The moment her head had hit the wall, Stefan gripped his own in pain. His face turned to horror in realization of what he had done. He ran to her and knelt by her side.
         “Dusk, I’m so sorry. You really need to wake up now,” He begged with a shaky laugh.
         It happened very fast, Dusks eyes fluttered and she grabbed his throat in her right hand. With a flick of her left hand, a gust of wind pushed Stefan up off the ground to his feet. With another flick of the wrist, earth soared up from the ground trapping him in a rock cage.
         His eyes never left hers, he never fought back, his expression never changed, he just stood there leaning on the stone bars, frozen like a statue.
         “Why does Stefan hate Vladimir so much,” Haven whispered to me. I had not noticed she was beside Echo and me until now.
         “I believe it was a poker game that started it all, it just escalated from there. Some people are just sore losers,” I whispered back.
         “Oh.”
         I turned my attention back to the fight. Dusk was standing right in front of the cage; if the bars were not there, they would be touching. She had his face in her hands forcing him to look at her.
         “Do you feel this love between us? It’s the very same love that courses through their veins,” She whispered to him.
He gave Echo and Vladimir one last pleading look. “Please let me out,” he said. “I won’t do anything stupid.”
She flicked her wrist, the rock and earth fell to the ground. He walked to Vladimir, head down.
He jerked his hand up, grabbing his neck. I started forward but Dusk held up a hand stopping me.
“You ever hurt her and I will personally rip you limb from limb, and Dusk won’t be there to save you next time,” He let go with a sigh, walking over to Echo beside me.
His eyes revealed nothing, but I saw forgiveness and understood why Dusk had held me back.
“I’m sorry about all this, but I’m your brother and I have to protect you.” He leaned closer to her and in a whisper said, “If he ever hurts you emotionally, or physically, call me.” He glanced over at Vladimir quickly.
He turned on his heel to walk back to the house and grabbed Dusk’s hand as he passed.
Vladimir ran over to Echo and snaked an arm around her waist. She kissed his neck and they ran into the woods.
“Well that was interesting,” Someone said with a chuckle, another, birdlike, laugh chimed in.
I turned around, Adrian was leaning up against a tree, and Kaiden was perched high up on a branch.
“Enjoying the show?” I asked.
“Very much so,” he replied coolly. “I was surprised with the twist ending. I was convinced that we were going to see Vladimir’s head get ripped off.”
“You really shouldn’t talk about your cousin like that,” I said. “Anyway, if you stick around a little longer, you’ll be able to watch me teach Haven how to fight.”
“What?” She yelled.
“Oh, this should be good. No offence, Haven,” He climbed up and sat beside Kaiden on the branch.
“Wait here,” I told Haven as I dashed up stairs to get the others.

Haven- I stood there, as I was told, and waited nervously.
         “Good luck with the training,” Kaiden said grinning down at me.
         “Th...thanks,” I said my voice shaky.
         I twirled the sun ring that Rayne had given me shortly after I had awakened around my finger. I was highly nervous about how this was going to go. I am not a violent person at all. I have never even punched someone playfully before. I don’t even like movies that have intense violence in them. I felt queasy. I wasn’t sure how I could fight someone, if I couldn’t even watch violence. It was nerve wracking just watching Stefan yell and throw Vladimir like that.
         Even if I could throw a punch, I don’t have the strength to back it up. On the other hand, according to the 600-pound weight I caught like a feather yesterday, I was strong.
         I flexed my muscles I felt strong and I craved to see what I could do.
         What the hell, I’ll try my best. What’s the worst that could happen?
         I turned back around to the house. Everyone had gathered around to watch me train. Those who were not outside peered through windows.
         I saw Rayne; she was rocking a Death Cab for Cutie t-shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans that were tucked neatly into black, laced, knee-high, boots. Her raven, black hair was braided down her back.
         Damen had an arm around her waist. He was wearing a white t-shirt and dark jeans. He had a black jacket thrown casually on, and was wearing a pair of black DC’s. His jet-black hair was perfect in its usual style. I felt a pang of jealousy as I watched them. They were so in love and I envied that. I wanted someone to look at me, the way Damen looked at Rayne.
         Then I saw Mourning walking behind them smiling broadly with his crooked smile. He was wearing a neon green, Fox Racing t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. His dark brown hair was brushed over his right eye carelessly. He was very cute, cuter than Jake Evans was by far, and if it were not for him being in my room yesterday, like a stalker, and staring at me weirdly. I would be really into him.
         When his eyes met mine, they brightened and his smile widened, if that’s even possible. I couldn’t help from smiling back.
         I glanced at Rayne. She was carrying an umbrella, and a 5ft long metal rod. Oh no, I do not like where this is going.
         She smiled and winked at me before shoving the metal rod 2ft into the ground.
         The boys, who were also carrying umbrellas, gave me a reassuring look,
         “Haven,” Rayne said.
         “Mhm,” I forced myself to look at her.
         “Are you nervous?”
         I nodded, not able to speak.
         “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything hurt you,” Her tone reassured me. “Haven have you ever been in a fight before?”
         I shook my head.
         “Ok, we can get to that later. First off, Vampire fighting is different from mortal fighting. Same basic principles, take down your opposition, but with powers and advanced speed and strength it’s different. In the fights, you can’t just knockout your opponent, you have to kill them, or rip them apart enough to be burned.
         “Vampire fighting relies mostly on the individual powers I told you about yesterday. So that’s what we are going to do today, see how far your power will go.” She clapped her hands together importantly. “Did you get all that?”
         “Yeah, uh how exactly are we going to do this?” I asked chewing my lip.
         “I was getting to that,” She laughed. “I am going to stand here beside you and call out different types of weather. You, my dear friend, are going to perform them for everyone. Got it?”
         “Yeah.”
         “So if I say rain you…?
         “Will make it rain, or at least try.”
         “You’ll do fine,” She clapped happily. “Let’s begin.”
         She hopped to my side, and opened the umbrella. Several others copied her, all except Adrian and Kaiden, shielded by the leaves of the tree.
         “Ready, Haven,” she whispered to me.
         I nodded and closed my eyes.
         “Ok, Haven let’s start with some clouds.”
         I concentrated on the look and feel of the clouds. I feel something sort of click in my mind and I opened my eyes. The once sunny sky was now littered with thick white clouds.
         “Excellent Haven,” Rayne said half-hugging me. “Let’s try another this time, eyes open.”
         I took a deep breath.
         “I say hmm light rain would be nice.”
         I concentrated once again, this time with open eyes.
         Rain, it was wet and very real, as it fell from the sky. Just as I wanted, a tiny drizzle.
         Behind us 50ft away, I heard Adrian quietly whisper “wow” to Kaiden, and saw her nod in agreement.
         “That was really good Haven, now I want a thunderstorm and some lightning.”
         My eyes widened and I swallowed. I concentrated again.
         The wind began to blow harder and faster. The rain now poured heavily in odd directions. Boom, I thought and the sky copied me with thunder. Now for the grand finale. Crash, I thought and off beyond the tree line, bright lightning struck.
         It was exhilarating to use my strength; I held back a giggle.
         “Great, Haven, this time I want you to aim at that metal. This is how you will be able to use your power in a fight. Once you have it, see how long you can hold the lighting it.” She said then bit her lip, “I want to try something.”
         I was skeptical about holding the strike longer than a few seconds, even hitting the rod would be a challenge. I swallowed and nodded stiffly.
         I stared at the rod, my eyes boring into it. The rain picked up again and the wind blew harder. My hair whipped around my face stinging my skin. Goose bumps rose on my arms and I could feel the static building in the air. Then I remembered the rod, focused then, Crash! However, it only stayed for a quick second.
         Come on focus, I yelled at myself.
         Crash, yes!
         This time it stayed, but it wanted to stop. I pushed harder forcing it to stay, for all to see.
         “Ok Haven, keep it going” I heard Rayne yell somewhere. My perception was off, all I could see was the magnificent bolt of lightning, I couldn’t smell or taste much of anything, except the metallic taste of my venom welling in my mouth.
         Rayne came into my small field of vision curiously approaching the bolt. She reached for it-
         My God, what is she doing!
         -slowly biting her lip hungrily. Her right hand clasped around it causing her arm to shake feverously.
         My head pounded as I panted and pushed harder.
         What is this masochistic vampire doing?
         She grinned broadly and I was convinced that she had lost her mind. She threw her head back and closed her eyes. Electricity coursed through her coming through the fingertips of her other hand. Her knees buckled and she fell backwards her hand still clamped onto the rod. She was convulsing like a maniac when she screamed.
         Oh my God, she’s going to die!
         I quickly let go of the lightning. I did it too quickly though, and it felt like a giant slap across my face from a rubber band.
         Her body was finally still as I ran over to her. She looked peaceful, happy. I began to fret maybe I killed her. Maybe I should have stopped sooner. Maybe I-
         A muffled laugh startled me.
         Rayne! She wasn’t dead.
(Yet)
         The laughter grew louder as she sat up, her arm wrapped around her torso.
         I hugged her and pushed the damp hair out of her face. “Rayne are you ok?” I asked panicking again; maybe she is crazy.
         “Yeah, that was totally wicked,” she grinned.
         Oh God, she is crazy, “Uh, did you hit your head?”
         “No, I am perfectly fine,” she said standing. “Uh, mind clearing up the skies. I think I’m gonna go for a run.”
         I stood with my mouth open as she jumped around like a ball of energy, or a little kid jacked up on Mountain Dew and sugar.
         I cleared the sky subconsciously; it was second thought to me now, I guess I’m a fast learner, my head hurt. I think I need a nap.
         I glanced unwillingly at Rayne dancing across the lawn like a ballet dancer. With a wave to me, she jumped into the forest.
         I turned around and looked at Damen laughing uncontrollably with Mourning.
         “What the hell was that?” I yell my voice in hysterics.
         “She’s fine,” Damen said in between laughs. “She’s high off of that voltage.”
         “Doesn’t that hurt most people?”
         “Not Rayne, she gets this bizarre buzz off of it, because of her power,” Mourning said smugly. “She used to stick forks into electrical outlets on purpose. She blew the breaker too many times, so Nevar made her stop.”
         I rubbed my temples trying to soothe my headache. No luck.
         “You’re just tired,” Mourning said, hooking an arm around my waist. “Feeding will help you feel better. Come on.”
         I follow him up stairs. His arm never left my waist. I liked it though; it felt right.
         I sat at the bar in the kitchen, and he got a glass for him and me.
         “I hope you like type +B it’s my favorite,” He smiled flashing me his gleaming white teeth. “Go ahead enjoy it.”
         I took a sip of my drink and my headache faded a little. “Can I ask you something?”
         He came around and sat down next to me, “Shoot.”
         “What’s that thing Rayne was talking about earlier, um I think it was ‘The Bond’ or something like that.”
         “Oh, The Sacred Bond. Vampires do this when they find their soul mate, that one person they want to be with forever. It connects both of them as one, so if one gets hurt the other will feel their pain. That's why Stefan gripped his head when Dusk hit hers. It is not something you can undo. That’s why you have to be certain they’re the one, before you bond, as they call it,” he said taking a sip from his cup.
“Have you made the bond yet?” I asked, and then bite my lip. Maybe that was too personal of a question.
         “No, not yet. Haven’t found the right person yet,” He smiled.
         Part of me was glad he wasn’t attached to anyone yet. My chances of being with him were too low though.
         “Why did you stare at me weirdly, when I first met you?” Crap, another personal question.
         He answered it though, “Because I was stunned at your beauty, and I didn’t know what to say to you. I felt like the nerd trying to ask out the head cheerleader. But you’re far prettier than the head cheerleader.”
         I smiled; maybe my chances were larger than I thought. I could feel us getting closer as we talked; I think I was edging it along myself.
         “Can I tell you something personal?” He said then smiled shyly.
         “I think you’ve already done that.” I laughed lightly along with him.
         “I really enjoy talking to you. It seems to make my day better.” He blushed profoundly.
         We were only about a foot apart, and I closed that up by a few inches. “Really?”
         “Yeah,” he said breathlessly.
         I smiled and leaned in.
         Unfortunately, Rayne coming up the stairs interrupted us. We sat back in our chairs and I felt myself blushing, even though we hadn’t even done anything. I glanced at Mourning; he was glaring at Rayne probably wishing her head would explode on her shoulders.
         She noticed, “What’s your problem?”
         “Nothing we were just talking.” He said icily.
         “Oh, well I need to talk to Haven.” She said. “Will you get the boys so you can go get that stuff that I told you about earlier?”
         He stood, “Bye Haven.” He smiled and left.
         I smiled at Rayne and she sat in Mourning’s spot downing the rest of his drink,
“Are you still jacked up on electricity?” I asked grinning.
         “No I’m done with that stuff.” She grinned, “For now.”
         I laughed, “What do they have to go get?”
         “Ugh, I had a feeling you were going to ask me about that. Grey uh… Grey wanted me to send the boys for… uh your things,” She finally said.
         “Why can’t I go?” My voice raised an octave.
         “I’m sorry Haven; it’s just too dangerous you might run into your mother. If she sees you… it would be too unexplainable. You won’t be able to see your mother again, not now, not ever.”
         Her words hit me like bullets, and my breath hitched in my throat.
         “Oh,” I breathed.
         It felt as though the floor had just caved in. My heart pounded loudly in my ears, and I could just barely hear Rayne.
         “I’m so sorry Haven; you’re just too dangerous to be in the same room as a human, let alone your mother. If she found out about us then she would be killed.” She said then murmured again, “Too dangerous.”
         “Too dangerous?” I shook my head confused.
         “Do you know the names Brenda or George Hynes?” She asked.
         I shook my head incoherently.
         “They are the first two people you killed,” Rayne said quietly.
         “Oh my God,” I gasped. I had, subconsciously, locked that memory away and threw away the key. When I tried to access it, it gave me a slight headache. “First two? How many were there?”
         “Around 10 or so, you had a pile in the ally.” She murmured.
         Memories came, flying back to me. The blood, the thirst, biting and drinking, draining of humans of their blood and ultimately their life.
         Tears slowly ran down my face. “Oh my God,” I gasped. “I didn’t mean to do it, it wasn’t on purpose.”
         “It’s ok you were controlled by your vampire blood instincts. I didn’t mean to upset you. Do…do you remember anything about your changing.” She asked handing me a tissue. I didn’t like being emotional in front of people but I didn’t care right now.
         I shook my head; I didn’t want to remember.
         “My father found your mortal blood on your clothes, so he tested it and it turns out you are a dhampir, but their was something else he found.
         “Have you ever heard of a drug called Rohypnol?” she asked.
         “Yeah,” I wiped my eyes clutching onto the tissue, I felt better. “It’s that date rape drug right?”
         “Yes,” She leaned against the counter. “I think who ever turned and attacked you, drugged you so he or she couldn’t get caught.”
         I thought it threw slowly, “It makes sense.”
         “If I leave you, are you going to be alright alone? Because I can stay if you want,” she said standing flipping her long hair over her shoulder.
         “Yeah, yeah sure,” I stumbled over the words plastering a fake smile on my face. “I’m just going to head to bed.”
         “Ok,” She gave me a hug and I turned to go up stairs, “Goodnight.”
         “Night.”

Mourning- We pulled up to the white two-story house. The windows were dark and no cars were in the trimmed driveway.
         This was Haven’s old place. I could not stop thinking about her. Ever since the night, I had snuck in her window and gazed at her.
         Damen, Stefan, Jack and I walked up to the white door it was open slightly.
         Damen pushed it lightly and it swung wide revealing a living room.
         I was shocked; everything was either torn or broken. The couch was flipped, a bookcase pushed over, whoever did this was looking for something, I was sure.
         It smelt like a vampire, I wasn’t sure though it was days old.
         We hurried up stairs collecting everything we could find of Haven’s into boxes, and then put it all into Stefan’s truck.
         No human had entered this house in at least a week, or left. I feared for
Haven’s mother hoping she was okay, though I knew deep down inside that she was dead.
         I walked into the downstairs bathroom, following the weird smell that I discovered. On the floor covered in blood and bite marks was Haven’s mother.
         Shit. “Uhm, guys you might want to see this,” I yelled to the others.
         My eyes landed on an empty jug of bleach whoever did this tried to cover up the smell.
         I quickly called Rayne.
         “Hello,” she answered.
         “Haven’s mother is dead,” I breathed.
         “Wait, what do you mean dead?” She whispered panicking.
         “I mean a vampire killed her and wrecked her house. She’s lying in a pool of blood and bleach on the bathroom floor right now.”

Haven- I was on the third step when Rayne’s phone rang.
         She answered, “Hello.”
         The next thing I heard came from Mourning, on the other line, at my house, with my dead mother.