High Noon - Casey Bond Page 0,6
a void of time and space? A hollow place filled to the brim with anger and disgust, desperation and fear? Or am I the one who feels this way?
Is the darkness me?
My suit isn’t bright white, it’s as dark as the substance surrounding me; the circuits shimmer slickly like the rainbow mirrored on top of an oil puddle. A rainbow of pink and orange that fades into gold, eventually melting into blue and green. A noxious melding of every color pooling into a sea of vibrant black.
Yet, I’m darker and deadlier than anything else.
Rage pools in my belly.
Rage, as hot and thick as blood itself.
Barely restrained within me.
It slithers over my skin and burrows deep, begging me to unleash it.
As I emerge from the void, I stand in the middle of a stadium as a frenzied crowd chants my name. An oval of Plexiglass encircles me.
I’m in the arena.
The tang of blood is heavy in the air.
The entire Compound is here. Victor sits in his chair, overlooking the floor like a king, with Kael at his side. In front of me, to my left lay a pair of bodies. I recognize Terah’s golden brown hair first. It spills over the ground, but doesn’t soak in. Not like her blood. A stake protrudes from her chest. Deliciously executed.
Her body obscures the one beneath it. I step closer until I make out who it is. Titus. Titus is dead... A cold vibration resonates through me at the thought.
There are bodies to my right as well. Abram’s neck is bent at an odd angle. The tip of a stake sticks out of his back. Asa is beside him, his dark eyes fixed sightlessly on the sky.
An animal-like keening echoes through the air. Immediately, I recognize the voice making it. Enoch.
He is on the opposite side of the arena. His hair is wet, his upper body slick with sweat. He wears a glowing, white suit, like the fallen around me.
I reach for him, only to find I’m holding a stake. My hand is slippery with blood, but when I squeeze the weapon, my grip is strong. Gone is the engraving Maru carved for me, replaced with crudely scratched letters that spell the word ‘Kangi.’ Crow. Somehow, I know that I made every scrape, every scratched letter of the carving.
Kangi. The sole survivors of the flood that was meant to wipe evil from the earth, but failed in its execution. Somehow, a sliver of it escaped, hidden within three siblings whose existence would prove more destructive than an apocalyptic flood.
I bare my teeth. The rage boiling beneath my skin writhes to be set loose. I can’t fight it for long. Panting, a sheen of sweat coats my skin. Maru is behind me, also clad in white. His hands are extended like he’s afraid, like I’m a feral animal that he’s trying to coax into calming down. He backs slowly away.
It isn’t him I want to hurt. I want Enoch to hurt. I want him to feel the same pain I feel. To hurt as much as I do, or worse.
He looks at his brother, then at his sister, both dead by my hand. I see the moment he decides to attack, and I’m ready. He runs at me, but I don’t run to meet him. Strands of saliva form webs in the corners of his mouth as he screams a battle cry. I take one step toward him, my stake already in motion.
I scream as it connects and sinks into his chest. He stops. His eyes go wide. He coughs and blood bubbles from his mouth.
“Eve,” he blubbers, falling to his knees.
They said he was unable to be killed. Too fast. Too strong. Too brutal. But he’s pathetic.
I turn and leave him to die alone.
Maru relaxes as I toss my blood-soaked stake to the ground. My legs thrum with energy. I soak up the cheers from the crowd of humans I’ve liberated. A thrill slithers up my spine as I turn to see Victor and Kael applaud. Everyone throws their hands in the air. They stomp, shout, and whistle their praise.
I am their champion. The vampires – all of them – are finally dead.
I killed them by killing the Nephilim who sired their bloodlines.
Maru leads me to my room and waits as the security panel scans my palm. “Get cleaned up. Victor expects you to dine with him and Kael tonight.”
“But I did it. I’m finished,” I argue as I step through the door. It