Everlasting Bond (35 page)

He had her pinned between him and the cold hard slab of stone. There was no room to for her to move. She felt like a caged animal. There was no choice. She was forced to g
o along with his every command.

Attempting to suffocate the screams she felt wanting to come out, Katrina bit down as hard as she could on her bottom lip. It took all her strength to bury her panic down inside her. She didn’t realize how hard she bit down until she felt the pain.

With the taste of her salty blood seeping into her mouth, Katrina fought the sudden urge to gag. She hated the taste of blood, its metallic taste made her dizzy with nausea. Even as a kid, she couldn’t stomach watching the other kids suck on their own wounds. Then, Katrina had a sudden thought.
If I can’t stand the taste of my own blood, what’s going to happen when they turn me into one of them?

Donovan’s voice interrupted her thought before she could dwell on it too long and as it did, it took on a very different tone. It was suddenly very deep. Katrina’s heart stopped at the sound. It became a low inhumane grumble. At that moment, she could have sworn he was possessed by the devil himself.

“Ego adveho pro, A verus heir of Lycaon, Recipero vox cruor ut key.

I come before th
ee. A true heir of Lycaon, Accept the powers blood as the key,” Donovan uttered as he looked up towards the starry sky and sliced a small cut into the palm of Katrina’s hand.

At first there was no pain, only the silence of shock. Then as the dark wine color crept to the surface, her hand started to burn. It felt like a thousand tiny needles stabbing her all at once. Katrina’s stomach turned. Her hand throbbed like a wild fire. The throbbing sensation was starting to take over her entire body. She took a deep breath and tried to focus her attention elsewhere. Anywhere that could
hide the pain was fine by her.

She felt Donovan force the amulet into her hand and squeeze it shut. Repeating more of the strange language, Katrina shut her
eyes and tried to tune him out.

“Pa
tefacio vestri universitas volo.

Open your world to me,” Donovan finished.

There was a brief pause of silence as he finished. Then the amulet took on a life of its own. It vibrated with such force, Katrina’s hand was starting to ache and she opened her eyes in a panic. It became a blazing ball of fire in her hands. She could feel the electricity pulsate through her whole body. The pain was much different this time. It felt dark and evil, like Satan himself was trying to break through. It was starting to scare the hell out of her. She wanted to let go and throw it far away from her, but Donovan held her so tight she couldn’t.

At that same moment, Katrina could see dark clouds rolling in. The glimmering flecks of glitter Katrina had seen moments earlier disappeared. A wicked darkness enveloped the entire night sky. Soon after, Katrina heard the bellows of thunder off in the distance. It sounded like the sky above her was exploding into thousands of tiny pieces.

Drops of wetness splashed against her skin. The rain was unusually warm. It felt like blazing hot beads, stinging its way into her flesh, one by one. It was as if the sky was raining pure drops of fire, scorching anything in its path.

“Almost done,” Donovan’s condescending voice taunted. She cringed in disgust, as she felt his hands lift her off of the cold stone
slab and hold her against him.

Standing there facing the zealous crowd, Katrina felt terror overcome her. There was nowhere to run. This really was going to be the end for her. Looking into each of the creatures faces, she found their eyes empty and soulless. She didn’t want to become just like them. It was against everything she believed in.

Sickened by the sight before her, she tried to resist, but her body had nothing left. Exhaustion was overpowering her and she was no match for his monstrous strength. Instead, she was forced to follow his movements. Her body was part of his, wherever he wanted her, she had to go. She felt him squeeze her closer to him and hold her into place. Being nestled snugly against his body made her want to throw up.

“Smile at your new family. They’re going to worship the ground you walk on,” he whispe
red.

Katrina cringed in disgust. Feeling the warmth of his moist tongue slither its way up her neck sent her pulse racing in disgust. It felt like damp sand paper grazing against her delicate skin. She never felt so degraded and violated. Any fire she ha
d to fight started to dwindle.

As his arms coiled around her, Katrina could feel he was eagerly ready to pounce at the slightest sign of movement. Pressing the tip of the dagger firmly against her waist, Katrina was forced to stay still. One wrong move and she would be pierced by the jagged edges of the blade. Though it was a tempting thought to end it all right now, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. He still had her other hand clenched around the amulet.

Tears of disgust began to fall as Donovan’s repulsive lips pressed firmly against her cheek. Leisurely creeping down to her neck, they lingered longer than necessary.

“Mmm, that tasted like heaven.” Donovan pressed his face into the back of Katrina’s neck and let out a sigh of ecstasy. “Was it good f
or you?”

With every touch, he sent shivers
of rage pulsating through her.

“I wonder what the rest of you tastes like?” he seductively teased. Katrina felt a lump build in her throat, as she felt him entertain the thought. She could imagine the ready look on his face and it made her dizzy with angst. She was nothing more than a prize he had won.

As the rain fell onto her skin, Katrina’s heart quickly sank into despair. She wasn’t ready for the inevitable. Even if she managed to make a sound, her cries for help would fall on deaf ears. The only thing this crowd wanted was to see her human life ended.

Angry, Katrina couldn’t believe this was the end. Her heart told her there had to be more to her life than this. Why would she be reborn so many times, only for it to end like this?

Suddenly, she felt herself spun around out of her fog and back into reality. Once again she was face to face with the person she hated most. Katrina didn’t want to look Donovan in the eye, but had no choice. His yellow eyes blazed with a savage thirst against the darkened sky. Watching the tiny droplets of rain bounce off his unscathed face, Katrina began to loose her sanity. Seeing his eyes burning into her with intrigue, she knew the horror coming next.

“Let’s find out, shall we,” Donovan snickered.

“NOOO!” Katrina screamed in horror, as she watched Donovan’s sharp K-9’s pry their way free. These weren’t like any she had seen before. They were much more sinister than Cole or Andrew’s. Donovan’s teeth were more like massive blocks of ivory ready to devour her whole.

“Don’t worry. This won’t hurt a bit.” He wickedly smiled, revealing his massive K-9’s o
nce more. “No, wait. I lied.”

Overcome with panic, Katrina went into shock. Clenching her eyes shut, she hoped Donovan would make it quick. Nausea began to build in her throat, as images of his bloodthirsty face polluted her vision. Not wanting his monstrous face to be the last thing her human eyes would ever see, she coerced her thoughts elsewhere, somewhere where she would be ha
ppiest.

Images of Cole flooded her frantic mind. Every intimate moment the two had shared from their brief time together replayed itself in her head. Those bittersweet memories were the happiest moments of her all too short-lived life. From the very first time she had met him at the ball to their reconciliation in the cemetery, it all came crashing down on her like an iron fist.

Feeling the sharpness of Donovan’s incisors pressing their spiky tips onto her neck, Katrina gasped in her last breath of air. There was only one thing left to do. She prepared bravely for her untimely demise.

The pain came, but not from where Katrina had been expecting. Something hard and cold slammed against her body. Katrina had the wind knocked out of her as she fell. Landing in the mud, her hand was forced open and the amulet fell off into the dark.

Her hand went right to her neck and she was instantly relieved. She shook some of the mud off of her and tried to look around, but her tired eyes couldn’t make out anything. Blackness filled the air. Deep snarls were the only thing she heard, as they echoed through the mountainous field.

Wasting little time, she took what little strength she had left and pulled herself together. She bent her arms and used her bound hands to prop herself up. Having one arm in a cast and the other still reeling in pain from Donovan’s dagger made it all the more challenging. It took her a few tries, but she was finally able to help herself up.

Disoriented, Katrina began to try and look around. All she wanted was a safe place to hide, but it wasn’t easy. She couldn’t see much of anything from where she was. Rain was streaming down like a river. The only light coming through was remnants from the occasional flashes of lightning. Dark shadows moving not too far from whe
re she stood was all she found.

She slowly edged forward, away from the scuffle behind her and stopped. At that same instant the rain suddenly stopped and one last crash of lightning hit. The clouds slowly dissipated and the moon lit up the night. It gave way to a ledge a few feet in front of her. Her heart pounded. A couple more steps and she
would have fallen to her death.

Her panic was interrupted by snarls. They were starting to sound much more violent and loud. She had never heard anything like it. The noise made her legs quiver uncontrollably with fear. She wanted to run awa
y, but there was nowhere to go.

Standing in dismay, she was startled by a pair of icy hands. As they grabbed her, Katrina did her best to fight back, but they weren’t releasing her. Fright consumed her and Katrina let out a fierce holler that she w
as sure the heavens could hear.

“Let go of me!” Katrina screamed, as she turned to face the stranger.

“Easy Kat. It’s me,” laughed a familiar deep voice.

Tears streamed
down Katrina’s cheeks. “Jake!”

“Ye
ah, it’s me,” he reassured her.

Katrina couldn’t bring herself to move. She could already tell he was different. Jake’s once warm hands were gone and replaced by frozen limbs. He was also much stronger than he had ever been before. The part that bothered her most was that he wouldn’t look directly at her. And it made her wonder if the rest of h
er brother had changed as well.

“I want to see your face.”

“Now? Kat, we don’t have a lot of time. I need to get you out of here,” he reminded her.

“Jake, I’m not going anywhere until I see your face. I deserve at least that.”

“Fine.” Jake reluctantly moved into the moonlight. “Happy?”

“Oh, my God,” Katrina blurted out
before she could think.

Jake’s baby blue eyes gleamed at her with delight. His iridescently pale skin was smooth and flawless. He was no longer her lanky frail brother, he was more, much more
. To her, he resembled a Roman god, finally come home at last.

“Not too shabby, huh?” his now whimsical voice laughed, as he spun around flaunting his new body.

Curious, Katrina wanted to reach out and touch her brother, but stopped herself. Instead, she stood back in awe. It took a few moments for her to wrap her head around the new and improved image of Jake. She was dumbfounded at the spectacle of his ghostly pale perfection. Her eyes couldn’t believe that this was the same clumsy brother she had grown up with.

“Wow,” was all her stunned voice could manage to utter.

“Oh, here let me help you with that.” In an effortless motion he ripped the rope away from her bound hands.

“Thanks.” Katrina rubbed her wrist. She couldn’t describe the freedom that rushed through her at that moment.

Still staring at Jake, Katrina was at a loss for words. She couldn’t believe this gorgeous creature staring at back at her was her brother. Her eyes roamed over every inch of him. It was strange to see parts of Jake still coming through blended with the same features as Cole or Andrew.

Leftover droplets of rain glistened flawlessly off every part of his translucent flesh. His skin was better than perfection. The longer she stared the more intrigued she became. Katrina was so consumed by her own curiosity that she didn’t have time to realize what had happened. All she saw was Jake suddenly
lunged forward towards her.

“Watch out, Kat!” Jake warned, as his icy hands shoved her out of the way. Looking back Katrina could see
a dark figure smirking at her.

“Not today, dog,” Jake taunted.

Still stunned by the sight of her new brother, Katrina couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Watching him transform from the pale figure into a wild hunter only fueled her fascination. Jake’s sky blue eyes darkened and burned like a brilliant blue fire, as he stared down his enemy.

“Well, well. Elias, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

“Principal Weber. I should’ve known you’re one of them.”

“Play nice, Elias. All we want is her. You can leave and go about your business elsewhere, boy.”

“Not going to happen, mongrel.”

“Suit yourself, blood
sucker.”

Katrina watched in horror, as Jake lunged towards the Principal ready for the kill. The two became locked in a demonic dance, snarling and snapping like wild animals. Jake heaved the principal about like he weighed nothing. Then she could see the true sign he had changed. Fangs replaced his human teeth, as they attempted to rip the flesh off Principal Weber’s neck.

Jake waited for an opportunity and took it. He kicked the principal in the chest, sending him flying back. He turned around and ran over to Katrina. Without a word, he picked her up and held her against him.

“What are you doing?” she demanded to know.

“Getting you out of here.” Jake pressed her against his chest and jumped off the ledge. Butterflies swirled inside Katrina’s stomach as soon as they went airborne. She closed her eyes and prepared for a harsh impact, but it never came.

“You can open your eyes,” Jake teased,
as he lowered her to her feet.

Katrina slowly pried them open and was relieved to be away from danger. Looking off in the distance, she couldn’t find anything familiar about her surroundings and there was a bitter chill in the air. The mountains went on forever in every direction.

Jake nodded with her thoughts. “They took you so far in, we weren’t sure we’d get to you in time.”

“How long have I been gone?”

“A little over a week.”

Katrina shivered at the thought. Her days and nights had blended together. She couldn’t believe she had been alone with Donovan and his monsters for that long. Then her mind wondered something else. “Who’s we?”

“All of us.”

“Cole’s here!” Excitement burst through her at the thought.

“Don’t even think about it. We need to get you out of here and where it’s safe.”

“But
Jake!”

Jake went to answer her, when he was suddenly knocke
d to the ground.

“Jake!” Katrina screamed. Hearing a growl behind her, Katrina slowly turned around. Principal Weber was standing there wi
th a menacing grin on his face.

“All we wanted was her and you couldn’t even share! Now I’m going to have to teach you a lesson!” Principal Weber’s eyes began to morph into those yellow embers Katrina had dreamed of so many nights. He let out a loud scream, as his body began to shift. Katrina cringed, as she heard the bones in his body break and readjust themselves. Every facial feature she had recognized was disappearing, making room for a protruding snout. His clothes were ripped to the ground, while his muscles began to swell. His snarls grew louder and deeper with each addition until finally coffee-colored fur eventual
ly covered his entire body.

The beast took a couple steps towards her and Katrina stood frozen in fear. She couldn’t bring herself to move. Her heart was pulsating in her throat
and her body began to tremble.

“Run, Kat. Get out of here!” Jake snapped her back to reality, knocking the beast onto
the ground next to him.

“Jake!” Katrina screamed.

Before she realized what happened, Jake flipped back onto his feet and shot her a devilish wink. She gasped in shock, as Jake’s graceful body leapt head first towards the yellow-eyed creature. At that moment she was hit with a sudden realization. Jake was no longer her weak and defenseless brother. His body was different. It had become a powerful force to be reckoned with, made to withstand anything thrown his way.

“GO!” Jake shouted.

Katrina was taken aback by his demanding tone, but wasted no more time arguing. She turned and searched for an escape. It was then that she caught a glimpse of all the chaos surrounding her. Somewhere between Donovan attempting to make her a snack and the brief reunion with Jake, all hell had broken loose.

A sea of bodies had become intermingled into a mountain of chaos. Flailing each other about in the now crimson-stained field, Katrina was shocked. She had never seen anything like it. There were shreds of flesh being thrown around and agonizing howls of pain ricocheting off the distant hills. Hollow clanking sounds ravaged through the air, as the two different creatures tried to snip at each other. She was too afraid to
get a good look at any of them.

At the moment, it was the least of her worries. Instead, she wasted no time finding her route of escape. Straight down the center of the field there was a small opening. Katrina’s frantic heart let out a scream of relief at the joyous sight. It was almost as if the path had been made just for her.

She took in a deep breath and steadied herself before making the frightening journey. Grabbing at the bottom of her dress and lifting it just enough to keep it from getting in the way, she bolted for her finish line of freedom. The hill wasn’t very far, but it was enough of a distance that her fatigued and shaky legs started to buckle under the pressure. To make matters worse, all the rain had turned her dress into a water soaked anchor, pulling her down whenever she tried to get up.

Amongst all of the chaos before, Katrina hadn’t even noticed she wasn’t wearing any shoes until it was too late. Slivers of sticks and rocks began to slice through her exposed feet, as she struggled to make it to the top of the hill. Her frail body had almost made it, when a sharp throbbing sensation trembled from her foot to the top of her leg.

She dropped to the ground in agony. Katrina let out muffled whimpers of anguish, as she searched for the problem. Sticking out of the bottom of her foot was a green broken shard of glass. The pain it brought was excruciating. It felt like it had embedded itself deep inside her skin. Even the slightest movement caused her stomach to wriggle in pain. Katrina was frantic and quickly searched for a dull edge to grasp onto. Disappointment soon took over. The only piece she could find that was large enough to hold onto had sharp ridges all around it.

There wasn't much time to be picky. She needed to hurry. Holding her breath, she yanked as hard as she could. As the razor-sharp edges pressed ferociously into her fingers, Katrina let out a loud whimper in anguish. Each motion was countered by tiny cuts penetrating deeper into her delicate skin. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins so hard her body became numb. She began to block out anymore unwanted pain. The only thing she was aware of was her inner voice. It was screaming at her not to give up. Katrina took a moment and then forced herself to keep going.

Finally, she gave the shard one last heavy pull and it came right out. Not wasting any time, she quickly tossed it aside in the field. Her hands were bleeding, but she didn’t care at the moment. She hopped to her feet, wiped her hands on her skirt, and continued towards the top of the hill.

Climbing to the top, she had another problem. As the blood began to surface, her injured foot began to burn in protest. She tried to work through it, but couldn’t. It was cut too deep. She couldn’t put any pressure on it and screamed in frus
tration.

She only had a few feet more to go. Sucking up her last ounce of strength, she hobbled on. With every step, she was careful to make sure no added weight made it onto her injured foot.

Katrina neared the top and her legs began to shake. They were becoming heavy anchors weighing her down. The soil beneath her hadn’t made it any easier. The soft mud was making her feet sink. As the ground also started to slope, she had to pull her body uphill. Burying her hands deep inside the earth, she clawed her way to the top.

Both her bleeding hand and sliced foot were throbbing with every step she took. Tiny granules of sand nestled inside, inflicting more pain with the slightest movement. The torment made her wince. Katrina took a deep breath and forced herself to suppress it. She was almost there, she could feel it, and there was no way she was going to stop. Not to mention if she did she’d fall.