| |
I was awoken suddenly. It was dark in the room. Bluish light from the moon filtered in from outside of the boarded-up window. I looked beside me, where Laney lay, her face lit by the moonlight. The sheet only covered her stomach. Her pale skin and rosy breasts were bare. I couldn’t believe that someone so perfect wanted anything to do with me. My heart swelled as I looked at her. Her breathing was soft and deep. This was the first time that she had really slept since I’d known her. She shivered in the cold. I pulled the blanket up and over her.
She mumbled something in her sleep, frowning a little. I slipped out of bed, moving slowly so as not to waken her. I walked to the window, peering through the boards. I gasped. All around the house, there was a line of people. From their shapes, I recognized them. Slowly, one-by-one, they began to half-shift. Since the sacrifice had not been completed, they would not be able to fully shift. The Order had found us. There was a crash as they broke into the house.
Laney shot up in bed. Her eyes were wide, wild. I raced over to her. I would protect her. She grabbed at my arm desperately. I stood in between her and the door. I heard footsteps walking through the old farmhouse. A dark figure filled the doorway. He was half-shifted. His head was that of a dragon—reptilian, his eyes, bright crimson, and his skin was covered in scales. He opened his mouth, smoke trailing.
I half-shifted, trying to pull off a full shift, but finding myself blocked. It seemed that I, too, would not be able to shift until the sacrifice happened. The other, his name was Rakharo, launched himself at me.
I punched him in the chest. He growled, grabbing me by the throat with a clawed hand. As my airway was constricted, I tried to fight him off. To my horror, others entered. Laney screamed. My heart sank. She was naked and unarmed. There was nothing that I could do. I struggled harder, clawing at Rakharo. His grip on my throat tightened. The world around me began to flicker, going static like the screen of a television. I struggled harder, trying to punch him, scratch him, but it was like I was moving under water.
The others shoved past us. I tried to go after them, but Rakharo pushed me backward, up against the wall. He was too strong—he had been feeding off the blood of sacrifices for years, strengthening himself, while I had only partaken in one blood ritual, and it hadn’t been to increase my strength—only to join myself with the Order. In comparison, I was weak, a child. This couldn’t be how it ended, I thought to myself. I was supposed to be with Laney, right?
As Laney screamed while they pulled her from the room, everything went dark as I passed out. The last thing I remembered was my body falling to the floor, as nerveless as a rag doll.