The cold ones. Part 1, In two worlds

Chapter 23 - First blood spilt.

Four days later:

“So, you think we need a grand fireplace?” Talon asked with a grin as we walked down into the main hall.

“Well, it’s a very big room. I think a fireplace would look cosy. I was just making a suggestion!” I smiled back after I had made some small comment this morning about what would look nice in the main hall.

“Should I put you on decorating committee?”

“There’s a committee? Not surprised with the size of this place!” I replied playfully as I looped my arm through his.

“Well, when I say committee, I mean whoever can be bothered to task themselves with decorating. I don’t even recall the last time it was seen to”.

“So, there’s no one person who updates it?”

“I think it’s the maids?” He said, looking thoughtfully with a chuckle. “I am glad you’ve finally agreed to join in on the dinner time meal. It would be good for you to get to know the other lodgers”.

“Lodgers? I thought they were family?”

“Well, if you take into account how long we’ve all known each other for, then yes, we are more like family! Ah and it looks as though we’re early, the food hasn’t been set out yet”.

We reached the bottom of the steps to see Lyra and Zekan already sat at the left side of the long table and Kyan on the right side next to the head of the table. Just as others were making their way down to the main hall, the doors suddenly shot open with a loud crash against the stone walls.

Everyone jumped out of their seats and me and Talon turned around to see what had crashed behind us. Two burley men and a slim woman came bounding in, looking alarmed and out of breath. One of the tall men had a body slung over his shoulder.

“Quick, we need help!” The woman called as they stormed in.

“Kiko, what happened?” Talon asked her. “Put him on the table and Zekan, get the physician!”

“We were standing guard at the watch towers!” She rushed breathlessly as she helped the men lay the body on the table. “We heard a bit of a ruckus in the distance, then birds just shot up and flew, like they were afraid of something. We went straight there and just found him wounded on the floor”.

Talon rushed over to the table to get a better look at the man, when he gasped and his face turned into one of fury. “It’s Hyvan!” He growled across the room.

“It’ll be ok father, the doc will be here, and it’ll be ok!” Kyan tried to reassure him.

“It looks as though he’s been stabbed”. Kiko told them.

“We need to cover the wound and put pressure on it!” I heard myself say out loud as I watched blood pump out of a deep red cut, staining his cream shirt and grey jacket, creating a small pool on the table. I grabbed the nearest cloth from the table and pressed it hard against the man's wound to try and slow down the bleeding.

“AHhhhhh” Hyvan groaned as he grabbed hold tightly of my wrist. His claws beginning to extend, with the tips almost piercing my skin. He took one look at me through watery, sore eyes and forced himself to retract them again. But I could see his strength was diminishing, as even his claws were not doing as he wanted them to and began to take on a life of their own, retracting and extending every second as he fought to get control of them.

“It’s ok”, I reassured him. “Don’t use up your energy, it won’t hurt me, I’ll be fine!”

He let out a long exhale but took one last chance and ripped his hand away from my wrist and directed his claws to the wooden table instead, as they dug in and scraped away the varnishing.

“What’s happened?” An older man asked as he approached the table with Zekan and Lyra.

“He’s been stabbed, do everything you can to save him!” Talon told him.

The man looked down at me. “Who are you?”

“Ellie..” I replied in a loud whisper.

“Thank you Ellie, on three, I’ll take over, ok?”

I nodded, positioning myself to move out of the way.

“1...2…3!” He said and I quickly took my hands off of Hyvan’s wounds and moved out of the way.

“I’ll patch him up here, then once he’s stable we’ll move him into a room!” the doc said as he began to seal Hyvan’s deep wound.

“Kiko, Mal, Drew, did any of you see who did this?” Kyan asked in a serious tone.

“No, when we got there, we just found Hyvan on the floor”. One of the men replied.

“I did scan the area when we got to him, Kyan, I saw nothing”. Kiko told him.

“Did you notice any scent left behind?”

“No, we’re baffled, Kyan”. The other man chimed in.

“OH please! Scent or no scent, this is obviously done by a human!” Lyra piped up with a sour look.

“You believe a human or humans could wound one of our own, get away quick enough to not be spotted, without leaving a trace or a scent?” Talon retorted angrily.

“They could be working with witches for all we know, they could have spies!” She replied, and her eyes flashed to me with her last word.

“Witches would never work with humans. Don’t be absurd!” He told her with an authoritive tone. “We still don’t know what’s going on, but one thing I do know, is we’re starting to look like a f*****g joke! We’re allowing whoever this is to think they have the upper hand!” He shouted across the room.

“Then why don’t we put my spy theory to the test? Starting with her!” She screeched as she pointed one of her long nails at me.

“What?” I replied in shock and feeling irritated by her constant badgering.

“You heard me! How do we know you’re not feeding information back to your own people!” She shouted, her claws starting to noticeably extend, in hopes of intimidating me.

“Lyra, you can’t be serious, you know why she’s here!” Zekan intervened.

“NO, I DON’T f*****g TRUST HER! SHE’S ONE OF THEM, THINGS GOT WORSE WHEN SHE CAME HERE!”

“And how am I supposed to get any information out to them?” I decided to speak up for myself against her ridiculous claims. “Am I just tying little notes onto the feet of owls or sending out paper aeroplanes and just hoping for the best?!” I retorted sarcastically.

“Who the f**k do you think you are?” She screeched again, then extending her claws further she suddenly made a move to pounce toward me, her arm raising in the air, readying her claws to swipe me.

In one quick motion, before I could fully blink, Kyan flashed over to me and pushed me behind him. Talon was suddenly in front of Lyra, his hand smashing against her chest as she flung back and skidded against the floor.

He marched over to her and grabbed her by her neck, lifting her up until her toes could barely touch the floor, and pressed her hard against the wall.

“Father, please, don’t hurt her, emotions are just running high!” Zekan tried to reason with him.

“Keep your mouth shut, Zekan!” Talon replied in a deep, cold voice.

My heart was pumping out of fear from the sudden shock of the commotion. However, the comfort of Kyan reaching his hand out behind him and resting it on my arm to calm me, made me realise just how protected I was here.

“If you ever go near her again, I will chuck you out of those doors and have you shipped somewhere else! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Talon roared at Lyra.

She quickly nodded her head as beads of sweat dripped down from her hairline. “Yes Lord Talon”.

He let out a low growl, then loosened his grip and let her finally touch the floor.

As we turned our attention back to Hyvan, who was now patched up and his wound cleaned. Talon ordered Zekan, Mal and Drew to carefully move him to a spare room, close to the doc’s suite.

I kept myself positioned behind Kyan and I didn’t move. I knew Lyra wouldn’t try and attack me again but her eyes constantly burning into me, had me wanting to hide behind my new bodyguard as I felt myself trembling at everything that had happened all in the space of a few minutes.

“Let me escort you back to my father’s suite”. Kyan whispered to me. I just nodded in agreement and stayed close to him as we walked away and made our way to the stairs.

“Thank you for standing in the way!”. I said to him once we had made our way up the steps and strolled down the long hallway.

“Lyra’s a sly one. I think she’ll find any reason to get her claws into you.”

“Yea, I can’t see me and her getting along any time soon”.

“Well, Lyra doesn’t really get along with anyone”. He grinned.

“Mmm, but I think between me and her, I’m slightly at a disadvantage!” I scoffed in amusement.

We reached the suite and Kyan opened one of the heavy doors for me. “My father is going to want to watch over Hyvan tonight and discuss what happened to him, so I’ll have Del come and guard the doors until he’s back, you know just in case Lyra gets an i***t idea again”.

“Ok, thank you”. I nodded. “Will your friend be ok?”

“I can only hope! He exhaled a long breath of anticipation. “He’s a good friend of my father’s, he’s lost enough people close to him, but our physician knows what he’s doing, so I’m sure he’ll pull through. Oh, and don’t worry, Del can be trusted, he’ll be just out here if you need anything, but other than that, try and get some sleep”. He assured me.

“Thank you. ”. I smiled warmly. My stomach jolting at this new, softer side to Kyan, the one that had plagued my mind when we first met. “Goodnight, Kyan”.

“Goodnight Ellie”. He replied as the corner of his lip tugged slightly.

As he shut the door firmly behind him, I felt safe, I trusted his word and I knew Del. I knew Kyan was right in him being trustworthy. I didn’t feel tense, or unsure for the first time without Talon being here, and to prove to myself I was starting to ease up, I drew myself a hot bubble bath to help wash away the drama of the night and the blood stained on my hands. I sunk into the hot water, knowing that apart from Lyra, there really were others that I could trust here…. Even if it did feel bizarre that it was vampires, I had put my trust in.

However, the look on Talon’s face when he saw his friend wounded did have me worried. What if Lyra’s right? As much as I don’t like her, she does have a point! As soon as she started blaming humans, a part of me wondered the same thing! And all I could think of, was the devastation it would cause on both sides. I definitely never foresaw myself actually caring about vampires, but to my surprise… I do. I also thought of my parents and the rest of the townspeople and how many lives would be lost if Lyra was right….