GrimWire

Chapter 11

Lucas walked swiftly down the corridor. He'd told both women that they were splitting up. L'liya had agreed and went down one hallway while Nameia had given him a look. He pushed it aside though and finally the demi-God had agreed too. The vampire was finally alone, left to his own thoughts. It was kind of nice in a way, but he also knew that it was probably a suicide trip on his part.

Losing Ahndrai was enough. Dragging anyone else into this mess was just stupid on his part. L'liya was a different matter, though, as she was a vampire and every bit a part of the war as he was. Nameia, she'd been a last resort and he'd been seriously hesitant on that. However, he'd needed her because of her ability to know who was a Stalker and who wasn't just by looking at them.

Something to do with her being the spawn of a God. It gave her what most considered 'the sight'. A very practical ability in his opinion; especially since no one ever really knew when they came across a Stalker. Even so, Lucas frowned and pulled his lip into his mouth to nibble on it. He really hadn't wanted her to get involved and it was a last minute decision to split up in the catacombs.

It probably wasn't one of his smarter ideas, but he'd gotten guilty right before setting off on the mission. He couldn't help it. Lucas didn't want any more deaths on his part. The vampire was lost in his thoughts again. He rounded a corner and caught sight of black clothing swishing around another corner. He stopped in mid stride, unsure if he'd seen anything at all.

Lucas' jaw tightened and he started towards the hallway where he could have sworn he'd seen someone just go down. As he made the turn, the same flash of black clothing went down yet another hall. Narrowing his eyes, he started after them quickly, running down the hall to catch up. His heart hammered in his chest as he chased after the person.

Once again he turned down the same hall, or what he'd thought to be a hall. The moment he stepped into the room his body was taken hold of by some powerful force and flung across the room. Air gasped into his lungs as he was taken off guard and smashed face first into a stone pillar on the other side of the room. Lucas crumpled to the floor in a heap.

A loud sound from the other side of the room told him that the door he'd passed through was now closed. Blood was flowing from his nose down into his mouth and he coughed, sputtering to get the metallic taste from his lips. Lucas rolled over slowly to his stomach and pushed himself up. His head swam a bit from the attack and having been smashed into the pillar. At first his vision was blurry and all he could make out was a cloaked figure approaching him.

The vampire clambered to his feet, his vision slowly clearing. The youth before him grinned as he pushed back the cowl of his cloak. A sharp gasp came from Lucas and he stumbled away, bumping into the stone pillar behind him. The boy's smile grew and he laughed at Lucas' reaction.

"Nice to see you too."

"Vahn..."

"In the flesh. How have you been? Dear... Lucas?" Vahn's dark blue eyes narrowed as his head titled forward and his black hair dropped forward to create an eerie shadow across the front of his face.

Lucas felt the wave of power right before it struck him. He was pressed against the pillar tightly. Every part of his frame was unable to move and it was hard to breathe almost as if something very heavy were sitting on his chest. The vampire groaned, struggling to free himself. The ring around his finger burned and he concentrated on breaking through the magic that held him down as Vahn turned around slowly.

The sound of steel pulling from a sheath alerted Lucas and he fought harder. He wasn't about to let Vahn carve him up while he was unable to fight back. Closing his eyes, Lucas concentrated only on getting free, pressing his own power via the grimoire into Vahn's. It seemed like forever, but the concentration paid off.

His eyes snapped open just as he broke free. The vampire had made it just in time too for Vahn had whipped around and was coming at him with the blade he'd unsheathed.

Lucas dropped down low and threw himself to the side. Steel crashed into stone. Turning to face the other boy, Lucas lifted his hand and invoked his grimoire again. His magic curled around Vahn's frame and threw him across the room.

He became nothing but a tumbling black mess as he rolled across the floor, coming to a stop only when he hit a pillar on the opposite side. Lucas stood, his heart racing as he lifted a hand and wiped away the blood that slowly continued to trail from his nose. The vampire narrowed his eyes as laughter issued from the other side of the room, coming from Vahn.

"That's always been a problem of yours, Lucas," Vahn said as he got to his feet, "Your grimoire only grants you a few things. The only one you mastered was the ability to throw people around. Affective against most, but not me."

As Vahn growled the last part, Lucas was assaulted by his power. The only warning he had was the dirt and dust along the floor blasting towards him. Other than that, he saw nothing come his way until it was too late. Cut after cut shot through his school uniform, drawing splashes of blood all across him. The initial shock of the attack kept him from crying out in pain. However, soon after the attack commenced he was down on his knees, gasping from the burning cuts that ripped him apart.

The moment it stopped, Lucas toppled to the side. His body sprawled out across the floor, dazed and shuddering from the multiple lacerations. Breathing hurt immensely, and each breath was shaking. He peeled his eyes opened just enough to see Vahn's frame accompanied by his footsteps lean over his prone body.

"I'm going to enjoy this," he said as he dropped down over Lucas. One hand gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled him upwards. The vampires frame arched as he went, too weak to even hold himself up. The other hand took hold of a handful of his hair and lifted his head upwards to look at Vahn. One eye squeezed shut at the pressure of his hair being pulled upwards.

"Just think, Lucas. You'll soon get to see your beloved Ahndrai, well... maybe not soon enough," the boy chuckled softly to himself. His hand that gripped Lucas' uniform sparked, blue-ish white cracks of light arched between each finger. The crackling light grew brighter and finally arched all along Lucas' body. The vampire vaguely wondered if his screaming would alert the other two. The thought didn't last long as he was soon prisoner to pure agony; hell in the form of the boy intent on torturing him to death.