Chasing Atlantis (22 page)

“Yeesh! Why must dragons be so overly dramatic? Chill out dude. The dead generally don’t have much to worry about.” Henry’s casual tone shocked me. Ending Adam’s life really didn’t bother him. The nausea burned fresh in my throat as I tried very hard not to picture Janice and Mathew’s limp, unmoving, bodies. Their marvelous faces frozen forever in the blank stare of death. I gagged loudly, but it didn’t matter, the fight would continue.

In one blinding moment the tag team’s bodies were flying in the air, mouths open wide, arms outstretched with nails at the ready, the next moment they crashed into where Adam’s body had been.

The hair splitting roar reached me first. Ty threw me down in the bed, shielding my body with his own. I was momentarily dazzled that the ceiling would just suddenly start falling on its own, but it wasn’t. Adam had transformed into the very beast I feared, ripping the roof off with him in mid-flight.

Pieces of the ceiling crashed down around me, but Ty never so much as blinked when they struck him. It was impossible to miss Adam, even with the grey dust and debris scattering around us. His strong shoulders supported massive wings that spanned twenty feet in length, his body was cloaked in dark grey scales that covered his entire frame, from snout to the end of his tail he must have been fifteen feet long, but his eyes, they were the one thing that hadn’t changed.

Adam had ripped off the roof, the only boundary in the room that could have kept the fight contained. I saw the fading light of the sun glint suggestively off his tree trunk thick neck, and I realized with a slight awe that the necklace was still on him, his skin was still burning. Adam roared again, not as menacing this time. His roar was filled with pain and desperation. My human compassion kicked in, and I began to feel sorry for him. It was a good thing the Grey’s house was so secluded I doubted anyone could even hear this fight.

Patrick gurgled a string of profanities in his own language. For once I was glad that I didn’t understand any of them. I didn’t want my friend to die, I wasn’t as cold hearted as I imagined. My heart ached more with each roar, it suddenly didn’t matter to me that he wanted my soul. I just wanted him to live.

“So how much time do you think we have if he keeps this up?” Henry asked.

“At this rate, he has an hour tops before that necklace melts his neck from his spine. I am quite impressed that Amy managed to get that on him. Very ingenious, especially for her.” Patrick replied.

Ty placed his cool lips on top of mine, quenching the fire. He began to kiss each spot that Adam had, healing the burn marks in his own mysterious way. Another stab of pain racked me when the realization that Ty must have figured out how I got the necklace on Adam. I was too ashamed to look him in the eyes.

My eyes drifted to find his, the deep pools of his eyes were alive with anger. I shrank away from him. “I’m sorry, Ty. I did what I thought I had to do. But now I don’t know if that was the right thing. I don’t want him to die.” I admitted truthfully.

“What? I’m not angry at you, silly.” He half smiled towards me. “I’m angry we didn’t get here in time to prevent him from getting this far with you.” Only Ty had the ability to make his voice mirror the strength of the ocean and croon of a lullaby all at the same time. Despite his words, it would be hard for them to kill Adam. They had each attended the same school since childhood, St. Edwards by the Sea, developing a familiar rivalry since birth. Adam and Ty were the same age, and spent most of their time competing against each other in school. This would be the final competition to end all of them.

“HEADS UP!” Henry shouted. Ty shoved me back down on the bed, poising himself so that he formed a barrier around me. Another terrifying roar filled the evening sky. Adam hurled himself, full speed ahead at the four of us. Patrick and Henry stood in the very spot he was aiming for; immobile. I began to squirm with the realization that I could lose one of them. All because of me, they could die.

“NO!” I bellowed. Ty held me forcefully down on the bed, there wasn’t even a worry line to crease his perfect face. I wanted to look away, but my eyes were frozen to the spot. It resembled something similar to a train wreck, you don’t want to look but you feel compelled to watch just the same.

I heard the snap of the wooden floor boards as Adam’s talons pierced it, exactly where Henry and Patrick had been a second before. I wasn’t prepared for what happened next. The tag team just appeared, almost out of thin air to bite forcefully into Adam’s scales, one on each side of his neck. He shrieked in his pain and agony. Adam thrashed about the room wildly but Ty’s brothers had gotten their sharp claws embedded into his harsh scales.

Ty stroked my cheek gently. He murmured soothing words into my ear I heard them but I just couldn’t give up the hope of what if we could fix him. With each cry my hatred ebbed away more completely, to reveal that stupid human emotion of hope. So many people have died because they believed in that one paradoxical word. But I believed, with all my heart and soul, that there was a way that we could fix him.

One second Ty was near me, protecting me from the debris that Adam was causing, the next instant he was splayed out on the floor on the other side of the room. The sound of the crack reached me seconds after I saw it. I cried out in horror.

It wasn’t Adam that did this. It was something far worse.

The long, gangly creature that stood before me, pupils blood red, and hungry only vaguely resembled the sham that Steven had portrayed. The paleness of his skin was accentuated more by his tiny red pupils that stared at my fresh, dripping blood with insatiable hunger.

Ty leapt easily back to his feet with a loud threat. Steven smirked at him, and then turned his burning eyes back to mine. “I’ve waited far too long for this moment to have it ruined by a couple of mutts with no taste, and a very stupid teenage girl. You understand I don’t mean anything personal by this Amy, strictly business.” His tone betrayed no hint of emotion; it was like a business meeting to discuss profits rather than my soul at stake.

Ty answered for me, leaping at Steve with all his strength. Steve sidestepped it with ease. He snaked one of his long arms out, grasping Ty firmly by his neck. I cried out in horror while the vile creature flung Ty into the wall. Ty crashed noisily through the plaster, straight through until he was in the adjacent room. He didn’t stir.

“No!” I cried out. Henry stopped scratching Adam to fling himself at Steve as well, but Adam was too quick. He caught Henry by the ankle to claw at him savagely. Steve sighed, as if out of boredom. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Ty’s limp body. The tears spilled out of my eyes uncontrollably.

Steve pulled his shirt sleeve back to check his watch. He groaned impatiently. “I don’t have much more time for this foolishness. Don’t make this difficult, Amy Jane. Be a good girl, just for this once, won’t you? Your mom would be so proud of you if i told her how you bravely sacrificed yourself for him. Just come here quietly so I don’t have to kill your boyfriend in front of you.”

With those words something deep inside of me snapped. I felt liberated, for a fleeting second. It was something much stronger than anger that held my soul in a vice grip. A pool of warmth infused throughout my entire body, I could feel myself tapping into that for the strength I wanted, no I
needed.

Maybe this was the power that they all thought was possible inside of me.

I don’t care. I will make Steve pay. He’s ruined too many lives.

He’s the one who needs to die.

Only a few seconds passed. His unanswered question hung in the air, lingering as if to make worse my vacant expression. Steve scoffed, irritated that for once it was his turn to wait on a human. I didn’t give him enough time to make his facetious statement. He wasn’t going to be making anymore of them. Ever again.

“What the hell do you know about my mom?” I screamed wildly. Carefully I placed both of my feet on the ground, striding very slowly towards Steve, each movement more deliberate and slower than the previous. “She was such a different person before you got your claws into her, quite literally.” I spoke with such venom even the separate brawl that raged on between the air and floor slowed to listen.

“It must be pretty hard to control your hunger with so little space to work with,” I said. I stalked casually towards him, the antelope walking straight towards the hungry tiget. Steve’s sharp mind was momentarily baffled, he had a right to be. I have absolutely no idea what i’m going to do. I’m just bidding time. I won’t let him destroy Ty, not like he destroyed Gaby. I will die before I let him lay one more of his rancid hands on anyone of my friends, Adam included.

Steve paced the floor. A slow worry line creased his perpetual boyish face, the only indication that he wasn’t in control. I’ve never made a vampire nervous before. First time for everything I guess. Or last.

“I don’t follow you.” Steve’s diamond hard chest stopped to a dead stand still. He wasn’t going to breathe, to make the scent easier on the façade of his human body.

“Well, I mean how hard it must be to live in the same house as humans, day in and day out, without ever taking a good snap at them. Their blood racing through their veins, fueling their basic, uninte
lligent human desires. It must be so hard on you not to fantasize about having just a little taste of their blood, just a slight
indulgence
, if you will.” Every human instinct inside my body begged me to turn and run out the door, as far from hell as I could. My heart told me to stay. So call me crazy but that’s what I did.

Steve closed his eyes, licking his lips hungrily as saliva formed on the end of his tongue. I kept my bloodied chest in his line of sight, never bothering to cover it, there was no time for modesty now, not when so many lives were at stake.

Steve took a step away from me, resisting the urge to bite the apple, for he knew as well as me that once he started there would be no turning back. I would die. But so would his sick twisted dreams, maybe it was better that way. It would be the right thing for me to do, just die.

I tried to believe it, but humans are complex creatures. The will to live was strong inside of me, but not as strong as the desperation I felt at never being able to see Ty’s face again, at not being able to hold him in my arms, or talk to him when I needed him most. That hurt me far worse than death. Maybe if I did this one honorable thing in my life I might be able to watch over Ty, to protect him. That would be my reward in death.

But it wasn’t enough. I wanted him. I needed him. There really was no getting around it now. I was trapped to him.

I don’t deserve him. I know it. This just proves my point, the club was wrong about me. I’m just a useless human. Goodbye my love. I’ll try to watch over you.

Tears leaked out uncontrollably now. My mask peeled away quickly, much too fast for me to gain control of my composure again. I trudged towards Steve now. I tripped over my feet, but it didn’t matter. Ty was still lying where he fell. There was nothing that mattered anymore. Ty was dead. I was going to join him.

I ripped the sling off my wound, exposing the fresh blood not completely congealed yet, still warm. The growl that ripped from Steve’s throat was so inhuman it disgusted me. He lunged forward unable to stop himself even from achieving his ultimate goal, more than the world he just wanted what he could have right then, right there.

I shrieked in horror. I didn’t have long to wait. Two seconds, maybe four at the most. Steve would be quick and effective. Hopefully he might rip my head off my neck before I really felt the pain of his teeth sink into my soft flesh. I stood straighter than a board, expecting the teeth to find their way to my heart quickly.

Three things seemed to happen at one time. The first was Ty’s face loomed in the distance ripped between agony and fury. He lunged but it appeared he was a second too late. He wasn’t dead but I soon would be.

“AMY, NO WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?” Patrick’s voice was much too far away now. Could it be that he was in the same room as me?

The second thing was Adam’s face, even in this form bore a mortified expression, as if he couldn’t, or wouldn’t bare the thought of me dying. It was implausible to him. His powerful legs kicked off the ground still carrying Henry and Patrick’s wriggling bodies with him, only they weren’t biting him or hurting him, they were
helping
him.

Finally Steve’s body was only a meter away from mine, he quickly maneuvered around fallen debris much too swift for my eyesight to follow—he wasn’t on the ground any longer, he was in the air, leaping towards my pathetic human frame. There wasn’t even time for me to scream.

Adam’s wings flapped earnestly, the gust of wind they produced was so great that it knocked me off my feet, landing sharply on the wooden floor. I slammed my head back, yet again. I jerked my head up to see Steve’s animalistic face a foot from mine. I yelped with fright while his strong hands stretched for me. A loud dragging sound, like stone being dragged against wood filled the room. Steve’s hand closed centimeters from my body, then he was thrown to the ground far away from me. I panted heavily.

“Adam?” I breathed. None of it added up.

The reason that I was still alive was because of Adam? I understood now that Adam’s maniac flying was so that he could latch his gigantic talon around Steve’s rock hard ankle, dragging him away at he very last second. I wasn’t sure who looked more surprised, me or Steve.

Steve shrieked with fury, one moment he was on his back, then the next he was in front of Adam’s massive snout biting and chomping with fury. Adam howled with rage, he took his massive claw slapping Steve harder than being hit with a car going seventy miles an hour. Cracking, and popping filled the air, but it wasn’t enough. Steve still frantically lunged at Adam, ripping bits of his scales from his body. Adam’s snout pulled up at the edges like he was smiling. His smile was short lived however. Patrick snapped his head back then brought his razor sharp teeth back down into Adam’s scales, where his jugular should be.

“STOP!” I screamed. I ran forward in desperation. “Don’t kill him. He just saved my life! You can’t kill him, you just can’t!” Henry pulled his head out of Adam’s flesh, his mouth dripping with a purplish substance that churned my stomach. His eyes dazzled me momentarily, before his voice softer than a breeze drifted into my ears, telling me to go and sit down on the bed, everything would be alright. My legs involuntarily started taking me in a circle, away from the real fight, away from the one thing I could do right.

No. He wasn’t going to win. This was my fight, not theirs. I broke free of Henry’s enchantment just in time to watch Adam’s face twist with the torture. He couldn’t hold back three people at once, and fight against the iron. He was going to die.