The Invincible (CHP 24)
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Summary Of Last Chapter – The vampires lock up Audrey but she manages to break it and free the others. She has a fight with the vampires and flees with the others. She assigns everyone a task to help free Theo. As Aiden, Sophia, Lydia and Audrey grow closer to where Theo is being held, they realize they will have to fight over 70 vampires at a time, which is practically impossible…
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CHP 24
“I’m not ready for this…” Sophia whispers to me.
“None of us are ready…” I say as I look at her.
“But we are doing this for a member of our pack. And if they have one of us, they mess with all of us..” Aiden mutters.
“So we go in there and get Theo out..” Lydia says.
“Just Remember… only fight if it’s necessary, our main aim is to avoid and distract them..” I say.
The lights above me start to dim and soon it’s almost pitch black but still enough light for us to look.
“Seems like Zack has done his job..” I say smiling.
“How much time do we have now before the lights regenerate again?” Sophia asks.
Aiden peers at his watch and says “Exactly 18 minutes…”
I take in a deep breath as all of us walk in. I don’t see anyone or hear anything. We just keep walking in deeper and deeper.
“Are you sure this is the right way?” Aiden asks stopping.
“Yeah I’m sure..” I say, still getting hints of a musky scent.
I walk ahead and they all follow without a word, suddenly I’m thrown back with a force and land on my back.
“Audrey! Are you okay?” Sophia exclaims.
“Yeah,, Ow!” I say, getting up.
“What was that?” Aiden asks.
He puts his hand through the place I just walked in and pulls it out with a scorn and a yelp.
“What is it?” Lydia asks.
“It’s a barrier of mountain ash. It’s very highly concentrated… I don’t think any of us will be able to go through it…” He says.
I get up and look at my arm. It’s a bit burnt. When I touch it I immediately wince.
“How concentrated is it?” I ask.
“Very, Look.. You just touched it and your hand burned… If you attempt to go in.. You’ll be fried alive!” He says, raising his eyebrows.
“So going through it is not an option…” I say…
“Guys.. Do you hear that?” Lydia asks.
“What?” Sophia asks as she attempts to listen.
We all hear the sound of crackling fire, as if someone has just lit a match and put it on a bonfire. A shadow approaches closer and a person enters.
The man is wearing white clothes and his entire body is on fire. He isn’t in pain or anything. It’s as if the fire is part of his body and it’s his aura. His eyes are glowing just like mine: Yellow with streaks of orange.
“A hellhound!” Aiden whispers
“A what?” I ask
“Hellhound!” Lydia says, nudging me.
“So what is he?” I ask
“I’m the rope between supernatural and humans. An ally of werewolves. My job is to help you…” He says, his voice so hoarse, it sounds robotic.
“Don’t hellhounds only appear when someone is about to die?” Aiden asks.
“That’s another reason. Today one of you will die gloriously. I will take you and do my job..” He says as he walks towards us.
We all move away and he walks through the mountain ash barrier, burning it with the heat of his body.
“Woah!” Lydia says.
“I still don’t understand his purpose!” I say, nudging Aiden as we walk through the mountain ash.
“The Hellhound is a powerful shapeshifter within the universe that appears to protect the secrecy of the supernatural. Similar to a Banshee, the Hellhound senses death. When several of the werewolves died, he knew where to find and retrieve their bodies. The Hellhound appears unaffected by venom and electricity. The flames generated around its body allow it to burn through Mountain Ash barriers. Today it’s come here to help us as it’s our ally and as he said… Aiden says but stops.
“One of us will die..” I say, blinking.
“Understand now?” He asks.
I nod my head. We walk through the barrier without a scratch and soon it front of us stand 50 vampires.
“Here we go!” I say, shaking my head.
“Don’t!” Aiden says holding back my hand.
“What why?” I ask, puzzled.
“The hellhound will protect us… It can kill them all with one blow. Watch!” He says.
The vampires quiver as they advance the hellhound. They hit it hard with sticks and bats but they hellhound doesn’t even move an inch. All the vampires move back, astonished with their utter failure and in the blink of an eye, the hellhound breathes out fire and all the vampires have evaporated into thin air, turning into pieces of dust.
“Oh My Freakin God!” I say
We all look at each other and smile.
“We thought we wouldn’t be able to do this, but 50 are gone which means only 20 more to defeat!” Sophie says smiling.
We walk ahead with a sense that we will be able to make it out with Theo unharmed with the hellhound on our side.
When I turn back to look, he doesn’t walk with us but stands at the same spot he had just burned down the vampires.
“Why aren’t you coming?” I ask.
“I can’t help you anymore. I have done my job. The rest of the mission is yours to complete on your own.” He says, huskily.
We all look at each other with re-assuring faces.
“We’ll be able to do it!” I say, pressing my lips into a straight line.
“Yeah! We can do it!” Aiden says.
We walk ahead to see a glass door closed and inside on a bench, is sitting Theo, his head against the wall and his eyes closed.
“Theo!” I yell, as I run towards the door.
He opens his eyes in confusion and as soon as he spots the four of us, he gets up and runs towards the door.
“How to open this?” I ask.
“Break it!” He says, his voice muffled by the glass between us.
All four of us move back and slam our shoulders against the glass, but the glass remains unaffected.
“Why is it not breaking?” I ask.
“I think it needs the fingerprint of any vampire!” He yells from the other side.
Just then around 30 vampires enter in, crackling their knuckles with swords and bats in their hands.
“Oh Shoot!” Lydia says, shaking her head.
We prepare ourselves for a crazy amount action. The first few attack and are knocked down within a few minutes. I realize my power is a lot less than it was in the beginning. I take more time to knock them down. The others don’t attack but watch.
“Open the door and we’ll let you go!” I yell at them.
“Not so easily…” One of them says.
“Well, then I’ll do it the hard way too!” I say.
I pull up one of the vampires on the ground and pull off his thumb. I wince in disgust but it’s the only way I have. I press it against the sensor near the door and surprisingly it opens and Theo immediately walks out. There are wounds on his arm and his face is scarred on a side.
He cracks his knuckles as he says, “I was restricted and tortured by you all under the excuse that you’ll hurt my pack, but now that they’re free, I have no inhibitions!”
He makes his hands into a fist and when he releases them he pushes them against air with force, I literally see waves of force flying through the air as all the vampires fall over as if a storm just took them of their feet.
“How did you that?” I ask.
“Something I mastered with practice..” He says, winking at me.
I shake my head as a smile creeps up my face.
“Time to show them how 5 werewolves can knock down 25 vampires!” Sophia says, smirking.
They all get up and attack with swords, spears and what not. We all do our best to defeat them. By the end of 2 minutes only 3 more vampires are left, who flit around trying to confuse us. One of them is knocked out by Theo. I suddenly spot one over Aiden’s shoulder, ready to make his attack. From there it seems as if the whole scene is in slow-mo. The vampire raises his spear to stab through his back and Aiden stands unaware of the danger. I pick up a spear from the ground and aim it at that vampire. My hands shake as I quiver. Aiden can’t be the one who the hellhound takes away today. I have to save him. It’s just like shooting a bow! I say to myself. I set it and pull it back and as soon as I release it, the scene come back to normal form and the spear hits the vampire in his chest just as the his spear was a 1 cm away from Aiden. He collapses down and Aiden look at me smiling gratefully. I put my guard down, giving him a small smile but then suddenly I see his eyebrows raising as if he is about to warn me and I hear Theo’s masculine voice screaming “Audreyyy!!”.
Just then, a vampire stabs a huge spear through my stomach. At first there is no pain at all, but then my body goes into shock right away. Soon a dull throbbing begins at the wound site. And soon it’s taken over by a sensation of nothing of all.
I fall down on the ground, with Theo’s arms wrapping around my back.
“Audrey! Audrey, look at me!” He says, but his voice sounds muffled in my ears.
He pats my cheek lightly as his eyes start to fill up tears.
Aiden, Sophia and Lydia stand above me, their eyes with tears and their whole body trembling.
The pain just becomes a constant throb and my eyes return to normal.
I see Theo crouching, holding on to my dear life.
“Audrey.. look at me!” He says.
“Is everyone okay? Is everyone okay?” I ask, my voice trembling as I pant.
“Yeah, everyone except you..” He says, and now a tear actually falls down his face.
“The hellhound.. It’s you Audrey…” Lydia whispers while whimpering.
Theo looks from me to Lydia “A hellhound is here.. He’s outside..” Aiden says as if understanding what Theo wants to ask.
Theo’s Point Of View.
A hellhound. A hellhound is here? My heart jumps up to my throat as I tighten my grip around Audrey. The warmth in her body grows colder by every second and her eyes are rolling back into her head as her breaths grow deeper. I circle my hand around her’s trying to take away the pain. But I feel none.. I can’t take away her pain.. Why?
“Your pain.. I can’t, I can’t take away your pain!” I say to her.
She takes a breath before saying “It’s because it doesn’t hurt…”
“No.. No!” I say, shaking my head as more tears spill down. I’ve never cried in my life.. so why now? It’s because a pricking pain is endlessly eating up my heart.
She just gives me a small, weak smile as her grip loosens up.
“Why did you save me?” Aiden asks, crouching, his eyes glistening.
“It’s what you do for family..” She whimpers, I can barely hear her voice.
She turns her head towards me “It’s okay Theo, It’s okay, It’s perfect!” She says, her voice cracking as tears spill down.
“No, it’s not okay.. It’s not fine!” I say, shaking my head.
“It’s perfect! I’m in the arms of my first love.. The first person I’ve ever loved… I love you Theo!” She says.
Just those three words… It’s something I always waited to say, to hear.. And now when I’m losing her… I’m not able to say it. I shake my head in despair as I give her a small smile within my tears to show her how much those words mean to me. She strokes her hand against my wet cheek, idly moving it in circles
“Theo, Theo Cavanaugh..” She whispers.
Her eyes search mine as she says “You have to find Vanessa, you have to tell her, tell her, you have to…” She draws in a last air as her hand falls from my cheek and her eyes close, drawing in peace and incompetence of her last wish.
I get that feeling in my stomach as my heart crumbles. It’s like all the butterflies just died! Red all around me. Blood is such a strange colour. Dark. I don’t feel anything. All I can do is sit still. I feel like if I just sit still I can stop it from happening. I can pretend that everything is all right. Sophia hunches over, unable to support her own grief and Aiden embraces her, and
All I’m doing is sitting still.
A few minutes later the hellhound walks in, his arms outstretched to pick up her lifeless body and take it away. He pulls her out of my arms, and I do nothing to stop him. I cant. I’m a werewolf. He’s a hellhound. But he doesn’t take her away immediately. He stands there, holding her up as if he is reading my mind. For a moment I think she is just sleeping and when I touch her she will wake up and smile at me and press a kiss. But when I touch her she is cold, her body stiff and unyielding. Aiden sniffles and sobs. I hold Audrey’s hand, praying that if I hold it tight enough, I will send life back into her body and she will flush with colour and wake up.
I don’t know how long it takes me to realize that she is gone. But when I do feel all the strength go out of me, and I fall to my knees and I think I cry, then, or atleast I want to and everything inside me screams for just one more word, one more kiss, one more glance, one more…
Precap – No Precap!
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