Keeping Human

Chapter Ten

Seth's finger was forced outstretched. His knuckles cracked. He let out a soft grunt.

"We're going to watch you sizzle and burn, blood-sucker." Ricky smiled with dirty teeth. "You're gonna tell us everything you know or you'll end up as ashes on the floor."

Seth chuffed. "I've been ready to die for eighty years. I fought for my country with the stench of death clinging into my nose. Death doesn't scare me. I am dead."

Ricky raised a brow. "Don't get so cocky. I've seen dead people like you scream the minute they touch the sunlight without their precious ring on."

"You won't hear me scream."

"I will." Ricky smiled, and grasped the ring from Seth's index finger, cracking the knuckle it sat beneath as he pulled. "Open the skylight." He said. "You can sit here till morning sunrise...at least we'll be up on time. We'll have an alarm." He winked at the vampire tied helplessly to the chair with sage infused rope.

"You and your pack of dogs are wasting your time." Seth hissed and snapped his fanged jaws at them. "You can't keep me for long - someone will come for me." He said proudly, with a glimmer of hope in his glaring red eyes.

Ricky grinned, his own four fangs peering through his pursed lips. "I hope so."

Without another word, Ricky slammed the door shut and turned several locks on the outside; a rickety sound, sort of like metal scraping, poised Seth on his guard. A whoosh of air darted past his ear, and wind began howling in all directions. The skylight was open, and it was almost morning.

∘

The rope was tied tightly around Nelly's wrists. A burning sensation rubbed beneath the length, and Nelly hissed under her breath as it pulled on her fine hairs.

"Could you untie me?" She asked, glancing up at her amber eyed captive, but was doubtful when he didn't look back.

He kept his eyes forward, grasping a hold of the rope tightly in his hand. "So you can run away, back to those blood-suckers you love so much?"

Nelly furrowed her brows. "Because it hurts."

Jared slowed to a stop with a glimmer of sympathy in his eyes. He reached over and slowly began un-bundling the rope with a loud sigh.

"Don't get any ideas." He grumbled.

Nelly forced a smile. "I won't."

Jared unravelled the rope and tied it around himself, so as not to lose it in the dense woodland.

"Better?" He asked, gently pushing her forward once more and continuing on their journey.

Nelly nodded. "Thank you." She said, rubbing the sores on her wrists.

Jared shrugged and scuffed a few brown leaves beneath his feet as the snow began to fall in dainty flakes.

"I'm..." he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry they were so rough with you. I asked them not to be." He said shamefully.

Nelly stayed silent, not sure how to respond. She felt his eyes piercing through the back of her skull.

"I don't care about me," she said with a scowl, "I only care about my family. And they hold the only family I have left." She stared up into his yellow eyes. "Why are you helping your pack?"

Jared scoffed. "I couldn't choose not to if I tried." He shrugged. "Besides, any chance I get to kill some vampires, I'll take it."

Nelly furrowed her brows. "You mean Seth? They're burning him alive, right? That's what they're doing, isn't it?"

Jared hung his head. "The dirty blood-sucker had it coming. He broke the treaty - he turned a human."

"Ophelia?" Nelly said with a broken voice.

Jared nodded. "He's a filthy, vile creature, Nelly. He's not even alive." He stared at her curved body, her warm neck, her soft hair and pretty hazel eyes. "I am."

Nelly glanced up at him. "Is this what your hatred is all about? You like me?"

Jared shrugged. "Kind of. Mostly because of the war. But also because I don't want to see somebody so pure, so tender, so good, someone so...beautiful." He breathed. He stopped in his tracks and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "...To become one of them. It would be a great crime."

Nelly gulped. "I don't see it that way. I don't want any of this. I want to stay me."

Jared's eyes lit up. "You wouldn't have to change for me, Nelly."

"For you?" She said with narrow eyes. 

He nodded. "We are supposed to be mates, Nelly. It's written."

"That's ridiculous," Nelly furrowed her brows, "I barely know you."

Jared smirked. "The moment I saw you, I felt it...I felt the warmth inside of me. The burning in my loins. The shivers down my arms and the back of my neck."

Nelly sighed. "Well, I didn't get any of that."

Jared rolled his eyes. "Your best friend died two months before I met you, of course you didn't feel anything."

"It doesn't explain it, either. Ophelia is alive, and I don't feel anything towards you." She huffed.

Jared stopped her by holding his arm out ahead of her. "Ophelia is not alive."

Nelly frowned. "She is to me. She's my best friend, I don't care what she is."

Jared scoffed. "You don't care that she's fighting with herself every day to stop from killing you? You don't care that she has to drink other people's blood to just keep moving." He laughed sarcastically.

"Yes, I don't care!" She bit back.

Jared took his hand and brushed it across her soft cheek. "Nelly, would you try for me? Maybe we can start again, away from this madness. Just you and I. You'll see who I really am."

Nelly scrunched up her face and pulled away from his touch. "I just want my family back. I want all of this to be over."

He sighed. "Look, Nelly, we're meant to be together. It's written that-"

Nelly shook her head with an angry expression. "-It's not written anywhere. You sick freak!" She spat.

All of a sudden, Jared grabbed her by her throat. His strong, warm hands clasped around her thin neck and squeezed.

"I'm the reason you're still standing here, breathing all that thick country air." He snapped. "You should at least show some me some gratefulness."

Nelly grit her teeth together and grabbed his hands, desperately trying to loosen his inhumanly strong grip.

"Fuck...you." She struggled.

Jared's eyes showed his heart, and it had been crushed into two. But she didn't care, she wasn't anybody's property. She didn't belong to anyone, and certainly not to some boy she didn't know.

He found his strength once more, and his eyes narrowed in anger. He was about to throw her to the ground, when suddenly, he himself thrown back several feet, crashing into the muddy woodland floor.

Nelly fell to the ground defeated and grabbed her sore neck, coughing and spluttering air. Her throat stung with animosity.

She glanced up, somebody walked ahead toward the wolf. A girl with pale-caramel skin and red eyes, with locks of thick, curly hair bouncing atop her head.

Thick, black veins appeared on her face and her bright, red eyes faded to black. She bared her long, thin fangs and hissed toward Jared who lay against the floor. He clutched his head and growled under his breath, his bright, amber eyes shone in the dusk light.

"Who the f**k are you?" He cursed. "Get out of here, you filthy blood-sucker. This girl is mine to protect."

"Protect?" She cackled loudly, as if he cracked a joke. "I saw you with your hands around her little neck." She stepped forward and cleared her throat. "Tell me, dog. What exactly were you protecting her from?"

Jared stumbled to his feet, panting angrily. "People like you."

The girl sarcastically wavered her bottom lip and clutched her heart dramatically. "Dear pup, you wound me."

"None of your tricks, bitch." He gestured to the edge of the woodlands, back toward the path. "I'll give you one last chance to leave with your head - you're lucky I haven't ripped it from your shoulders for just laying a finger on me."

She smirked. "Oh, I'll be keeping my head. But you won't have yours...not until my brother is returned to me, without a single scratch on his body."

Jared grinned. "So you're Valentina...oh, this should be good." He chuckled to himself. "If you're quick, you can probably make it in time to scoop his ashes off the floor!"

The girl suddenly pounced like a cat, clashing with the werewolf who had phased midair. They swung their claws at each other, biting and nipping into each other's skin, tumbling and turning against the ground.

Nelly jumped a few feet back as the wolf used his large jaws to rip Valentina from his back and throw her hard against the tree.

She jumped up so quickly it seemed as though she teleported to her feet, invisible to the naked eye. She grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it in his amber eyes. He flinched, giving her enough time to pounce again - this time, aiming for his jugular as a cat would.

Using both hands, she wrapped them around his neck, clambering onto his back to give her the leverage. And she squeezed, ripping into his skin - blood and bits of fur flayed in the moonlight.

Nelly was mortified. Her face a symbol of shock, she struggled to her feet. "Stop!" She screamed with a hoarse voice.

The vampire looked up with a deathly stare. She wasn't sure how to.

"Please! Stop it, stop f*****g killing each other!" She bawled, tears coming out of her glassing eyes. She fell to her knees, her head in her hands.

The chestnut wolf threw the vampire off and limped over to Nelly; he used his snout to push her hair sympathetically. He let out a soft whimper, begging forgiveness.

The vampire grunted. "You're not safe, Nelly. Let me kill this beast for you - for Seth and Ophelia."

Nelly looked up. "I'm not safe anywhere. Just...stop with the bloodshed, Ophelia wouldn't want this."

Valentina stormed forward, her face gradually going back to normal with every stride. Her teeth still gripped together, she said: "If you want to be taken in front of their King, so be it. But if anything happens...you're on your own. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Jared turned his head to face the vampire and snarled his teeth.

Nelly furrowed her brows. "I gotta save my family. If they know that I never made it to the King, they'll kill Madeline, they'll kill Caleb, they'll kill Seth - if they haven't already." She glanced at Valentina.

"Seth made a promise to protect you." She growled. "And I'm making sure he keeps that promise." She held her hand out. "Get off the f*****g floor."

Nelly frowned. "You can't protect me. Seth can't protect me."

Valentina looked between the two and scoffed, retracting her hand. "You would trust this dog? Nelly, he had his hands around your throat!" She glared in his direction. "More than once I'm assuming."

Nelly shook her head. "I don't trust him either. He cares more about his Alpha than the human race." She glanced at him; the wolf's eyes glared.

Jared shook his furred body and transformed before Nelly's very eyes. His tanned, naked body was toned in all the right places.

"That's...not...true." He panted, stretching his back and arms.

Valentina crossed her arms with a smirk. "Well, well. What a welcoming sight you are." She shrugged. "Shame you stink of dog."

Jared grumbled under his breath. "Nelly, I care more about you than anything in this world." He breathed, staring up into her eyes.

Nelly frowned. "But you're willing to hurt me, and hurt my family just for the recognition of your pack."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not willing. I don't have a choice."

Valentina laughed. "Bullshit. You could always just, I don't know, not try to kill her family, strangle her and drag her before the wolf King?"

"Alpha's orders get obeyed whether we want to or not." He said with a strained voice. "I can't decline, it's physically impossible."

Nelly frowned and looked down at the muddy ground. "So how did Caleb do it, then?"

Jared went silent, obviously having swallowed a canary. Her words struck a nerve. 

After a moment of silence, Valentina suddenly began sniffing at the air and went on guard. "I smell dogs, more of them." She glanced at Jared against the floor. "Your pack?"

Jared shook his head with a frown. "No, I would've heard them coming."

"Then you have uninvited company." Her red eyes gazed at Nelly. "Nelly, come with me, now!" Her hand outstretched. 

Nelly shook her head in a panic. "I can't, they'll kill you and take me!" She pleaded. "Get out of here, I don't wanna see you turn to ash."

Valentina narrowed her eyes. "Stay safe Nelly, I'm sure you'll see me again but you won't see me burn." And with her words, she shifted into the moonlight as if she were a dark shadow; quicker than a blink she vanished.

Jared stumbled to his feet and wrapped an arm around Nelly's shoulder. "Stay close, I can't hear what they're thinking."

Out of pure fear and anxiety, Nelly did as she was abode and shuffled nearer to the wolf, almost joined at the hip. "You think they're here for us?"

"I haven't a clue, Nel."

Almost as if on cue, four, five and six wolves emerged from the dense woodlands all of different colours, shapes and sizes - though it was clear who their Alpha was. A gigantic black wolf towering over the other five, his giant paws pressed into the muddy ground, leaving his mark as he moved. 

He bared his teeth and drool dripped from his snarling snout. And he edged closer.

CHAPTER TEN, END