Out of The Woods (COMPLETED)

Chapter 16

I was white as a sheet, my face ashen in shock as his words hit me like a brick. His wandering eyes seemed to look everywhere but ours and I knew why, Andrea had not come back. She was still in the square, one of the people given a death warrant in the next twenty minutes if we didn't go.

"If they don't come in the next twenty minutes I'll go."

His head snapped up, his ears red. It wasn't ever something anyone wanted to do, to condemn someone to death. But there was no way I'd let innocent people die for my sake, I couldn't speak for Lily and Miriam but I wouldn't wait like a sitting duck as they slaughtered innocent people. I sighed deeply, feeling anger bubble up in my soul and I wanted to release it.

I didn't understand how they could act as they were, stripped of all morality and humanity. To come into a town and threaten to slaughter half the population, to run rampant and create an atmosphere of fear and terror. They knew exactly what they were doing and how to do it, and that caused more anger to bubble up in me. I was surprised, as I didn't consider myself an angry person and I had experienced more anger and frustration in the past week than I had all my life in the city or Arden.

I couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing.

Had I just lived a fantasy my entire life? And now I had come into the harsh realities of life, to see the evil that lived in this world, and here I was, something that I promised myself I wouldn't be, in any way.

A bird locked in a cage.

But this time, it wasn't the elders who held the key to freedom, it was the vampires. I remembered Darcy's cold eyes as he grinned at the bruised imprints he left on Lily's skin. I remembered Cavin's eyes lit up in pure madness as he yelled and struggled against Darcy's grip like a wild animal. I remember the words thrown at us, like knives, cutting us down more than we already were. I was sick of feeling helpless and I was bitter at being treated as less.

I stood up suddenly, my chair scraping the ground.

"I'm going."

Maybe it was a suicide mission. Scratch that, it was definitely a suicide mission. But at that point in time, I was too blinded by my rage and need to do something that I pushed back the practical side of my mind that was screaming in my head as I marched outside the front door, right towards the square.

"Luna, what are you doing, come back inside. You can't do this." She cried but I kept walking.

"It'll be okay." I knew it wouldn't but something in my soul told me to keep walking, as of some unknown entity had taken over my body and was controlling my actions.

Lily stumbled back, nodding meekly as I turned again and continued towards the square. There I saw a sight that confirmed that I had made the right choice. I saw Darcy with his hands wrapped around the neck of a young child who was crying in fear. I saw young tears fall down her face and her eyes filled to the brim with terror. He made a motion to snap her neck.

"Darcy," I yapped and his eyes turned to me, cold and unmerciful. But I already knew that I wasn't powerless anymore. Everything felt fuzzy, like a dream. But the only thing that felt real, that I could easily distinguish as being real, was the rage building up in my body.

Darcy was in front of me in seconds and he flung me threw the air and my back landed against the wall painfully. I felt my shoulder crack and hissed in pain. But I stood to my feet, willing one foot to step in front of the other.

"How could you," I wheezed through the pain, "be such an asshole."

His eyes lit up in amusement at my words but that only inspired more anger in me. "Does it make you feel better? To terrify people? Does it make you feel more powerful? To terrorize those who can't fight back?"

He sneered, his eyes dark and unforgiving as he advanced on me. "I think you're confused between love and fear Darcy. If you're so deprived of love, instilling fear into those around you is not the answer. They don't look up to you or value your power, it's fear."

His fist made contact with my stomach and I stumbled back before his first caught my mouth, repeatedly. But there I was, spluttering up blood as the force of his hit ran through my body  painfully and grinning widely. His eyes widened at the look in my eyes as I grinned through the blood pooling in my mouth.

"It's not them who's afraid. It's you. Afraid of never being loved, of being alone forever. Of being left behind and forgotten."

Something triggered in his eyes as he narrowed them and kneeled down to my stance, his eyes hard. But I didn't detect a single trace of anger.

"You're right Aurora. I'm terrified of being unloved. But it's kind of a paradoxical situation because my soul is too tainted in darkness for anyone to love."

I cocked a half grin. "I can't argue with that."

He chuckled, grabbing me by the collar and pulling my face Towards his.

"So where does that leave me Aurora?"

I shrugged. "Ever tried therapy?"

He bashed my body against the ground for good measure and I cried out as pain ran through my body. Again once and then twice. I could feel one of my ribs break under the pressure. I'm sure I looked like a mess as I coughed up blood. It began to seep into my hair and I watched the golden locks turn red. His eyes found mine as he grinned deeply.

"Game over Aurora." Then he sank his teeth into my neck.

I could feel it slowly, then all at once. The pain sank in first, like a wave of ice cold water washing over me. But I didn't scream, or thrash out. I didn't even move. I felt my body go slack and my bones refused to move, refused to cooperate. Funnily enough, I found my mind agreeing with them. Everything was just so heavy and it was so much easier to allow myself to drift off into the abyss of blackness. The darkness held only peace. No pain or guilt, no fear or anger. Peace.

I realized in my final moments that I was dying and I felt a slight panic for a moment as I remembered the faces that meant the world to me. I wanted to laugh as the last image flashed through my mind, it was a memory, an older one. I had turned nine and decided I would make pancakes for myself before my father woke.

It started out innocently, as I climbed the cupboard to grab eggs and flour. I had put everything on the table and grabbed the only mixing bowl we owned, a rather large one carved from wood. I gently laid it on the fraying wood and dumped equal measures of everything in before mixing it with a spoon. I completely forgot to add oil to the pan, didn't bother letting it heat enough or let the mixture settle. I plopped half the mixture down on the pan and grimaced at the small bits floating on the top of the mixture. But I remained optimistic as I ran to the fridge and grabbed a handful of blueberries to add to the liquid before it cooked. I threw in the blueberries and waited for the mixture to cook, watching the edges turn brown and wondering what I did next.

Then I remembered that he would flip them so I turned to the little drawer to search for something to flip the pancake and didn't notice the smoke start to fill our small kitchen. I turned, to meet a room full of smoke and panic overtook my small body.

"Aurora, what on earth are you doing?" My father asked as he Came into the kitchen and whisked away the pan and the remnants of the burnt pancakes. He turned his head, chuckling lightly. He opened the windows to release the smoke as rinsed out the pan before his kind eyes landed on me.

"How about I teach you how to cook pancakes so you don't burn down the house?"

I remembered my young smile, full of innocence and joy at the simple prospect of making pancakes with my father. I remembered the kindness behind his eyes, the tenderness behind his smile, even after loosing his wife, he dedicated his life to his only child.

I started to move against Darcy's grip, but it was too late and I faded into subconscious.

-/-
Oooh noooooo! *sighs dramatically*

If you guys liked this chapter don't forget to vote! Also Merry (late) Christmas and a happy new year to you all! How was your christmas ?