Lust of Blood

Chapter 6-Reunion in Ruins

The door shook violently at 2 a.m.

Elena was already standing in the hallway, dagger in hand, Klaus clutched tightly to her chest.

The voice said, "It's me." Rough. Known.

Damon.

She opened the door slowly, just enough to meet his eyes. And there they were, golden and stormy, locked onto her son as if the piece of his soul that had been missing had been put back together.

Klaus looked over her shoulder.

Damon took a step back, shaken. “He looks just like you.”

"You ought to go."

They are pursuing him. You are aware of that.

"I'm capable of handling it."

Damon gave a headshake. "Not that." Not what's on the horizon.

A crash sounded downstairs. Glass. Screaming.

Elena didn’t have time to argue. She shoved Klaus into Damon’s arms.

“Get him out of here. Go!”

Damon hesitated. “Elena—”

“I said GO!”

With Klaus nestled beneath his arm like a priceless possession, he turned and vanished into the stairwell.

Elena looked toward the door. A shadow, shrouded in darkness, entered through the broken threshold.

The surrounding air was distorted by its presence. As though reality itself flinched from the intruder, the walls appeared to bend inward. Elena backed up slowly, her breath sharp and shallow in her throat, her dagger raised.

The creature moved fully into the hallway, it's shape-shifting from a human to a stretched silhouette with red-shimmering eyes and clawed hands under a hood of shadow.

With a voice like wind through bones, it hissed, "Elena." "You did a good job hiding the boy."

She remained silent. No inquiries, no entreaties. Her eyes were only steel.

I laughed. "You think I'll be stopped by your little tricks?" The wards are damaged. Your supporters are dispersed. And we are called by the bloodline. To him.

She made a lunge. Quick, well-practiced. Her dagger slashed across its chest, but the wound hissed black smoke rather than blood. It smiled wider, too many teeth shining in the low light, and hardly flinched.

"Elena," it repeated, "why not?" Let us have him. Be careful.

She didn't respond. She took off running.

She ran for the second staircase, swerving down the hall past framed pictures that clattered on their hooks. Behind her, there was another crash, glass crunching, wood splintering. It moved quickly.

She was desperate, though.

She slammed her palm onto the rune as she struck the emergency sigil panel set into the floor beneath the stairs. Across the hallway entrance, a barrier of blue light surged upward. With its form rippling like oil thrown on fire, the shadowed creature let out a howl.

It would be short-lived.

Lifting the trapdoor with trembling hands, Elena scurried into the old pantry where she had concealed the secondary escape tunnel. Crawling in, she closed it above her.

The tunnel was small, wet, and only illuminated by her desperate will. She heard the cries of annoyance resonating above her as she dragged herself through the earthen passageway, her muscles burning.

"Damon," she muttered to herself. "Get him out." Protect him.

Klaus gripped one arm tightly as Damon ran outside like he hadn't in years. The kid didn't cry. He just gazed into the night with wide eyes.

Too quiet, the streets were deserted. Damon's instincts, however, cried out. Every shadow and every corner could be a trap.

He pounded on the rusted door three times as he arrived at the back alley of a boarded-up mechanics' shop. A slot became available. A set of eyes peered in.

He yelled, "Open it!"

The door opened. He was ushered in by a tall, slender man dressed in worn leather and priest's robes.

"Klaus," the man uttered. "Is he safe?"

Damon handed the boy over and replied, "For now." "Where is the safehouse located?"

"Underground. Protected."

Damon gave a nod. "Remain there." Please don't open that door again unless Elena or I are there.

Already aware that he needed to go back, he turned back to the entrance.

The sigil burned out back at the house.

The creature entered, laughing as it proceeded further into Elena's sanctuary's ruins. Predator-sharp, it sniffed the air and followed the lingering scent to the kitchen and then to the floorboard where the trapdoor was concealed.

However, the tunnel was long deserted.

And yet it grinned.

"Little wolf, run." Run for as long as you can. The prophecy always comes full circle.

With her lungs burning, Elena came out of the tunnel and onto a path through the woods behind the city. Her side hurt. Her hands were raw, and her clothes were ripped. She only knew that the stars had changed above her when she surfaced, but she had no idea how long she had crawled.

She blinked at the clearing in the forest as she staggered to her.