《Calla》Chapter 09
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Over the next couple of days Calla managed to successfully hunt Benedict's other two newborns much to his frustration. He bunkered down in his home and refused to leave, not knowing that the Swarmers were keeping close watch in case he tried to flee.
For three days he didn't move and Calla realised that if she was going to get the kill on him in time, she had to confront him in his own home. But it was dangerous and he still had the physical edge over her, not to mention probably a few years experience.
The Swarmer guards hadn't escaped her notice and it only frustrated her more that they were keeping watch. She wouldn't be able to draw him out and drain him or else they'd know what she was doing.
She needed to keep him in his own domain and defeat him there. Calla could still detect the two newborns in the apartment block and knew they'd come to his aid, but she had a plan for that.
Tonight would be a risk and she had to take the chance or lose her kill and the whispers would not accept that. She needed to be worthy, this kill was hers and if she didn't get it then she would be shamed. She didn't know why, but the thought filled her with dread. The whispers calmed her and soothed her by speaking to her mind and preparing her.
Drain. Devour. Grow strong and become worthy. They were more quiet than they'd ever been, yet more fluent and affected her on a deeper level. In a funny way they were her only friends, she'd noted how much she had come to love solitude and just listen to the thoughts of her mind.
Something about the world was unsatisfying and unfulfilled, except when she hunted and fed. She didn't know what the problem was, but the whispers told her to grow strong. So that's what she'd do.
She silently slipped in the building, able to tell that Benedict was on the fourth level and began to creep up the stairs in full black.Her steps were so gentle even vampires couldn't hear them. She sniffed out the two newborns on the third level but she couldn't engage them yet.
She heard their growls of dissatisfaction as the stench of chemicals from her hair wafted passed them. It didn't register that she was a vampire and they could now control themselves around humans. They still craved blood but the smell began to travel upstairs and then they knew that the snack was for their Sire.
Calla smiled at how stupid typical newborns were. Any experienced vampire would know something was wrong by the lack of sound she made. She got to Benedict's door and knocked, and he knew something was wrong. Still he was very self-confident and answered the door, to be greeted by the sight of a small red haired, blue eyed woman. Calla had decided to redecorate herself but he recognised her instantly.
His eyes widened and she just gave him a silent nod and smile.
"You!" he spat furiously as he lunged forward. Calla threw out a knife from her sleeve which stopped Benedict, causing him to twist and allow it to pass him. He growled as Calla shot back and began ascending the stair way, leaping from the bars in the middle. He began chasing after her as he yelled to the two newborns.
Calla heard the three men in pursuit of her. Benedict was gaining on her but every so often she flung a knife at him, causing him to slow down. It was a game of cat and mouse and Benedict felt like he was being mocked.
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Calla kicked down the door to the top apartment and fled inside, coming to a stop outside one of the rooms. Benedict was there a few seconds after and stared her down.
"No where to run now is there? Those rooms either side of you have no windows and you can't get passed me." he said smugly before letting his expression become cold. "You killed my niece."
"Your niece?" Calla spoke as though she had no idea.
"You took away my angel, my Lisa." his teeth grit and the raw sadness that came off him could be felt by Calla.
'Why are Childe vampires such humans?' She rolled her eyes at him and this made him angrier.Hearing the newborns climbing the last couple of flights of stairs she decided to goad him, it was a big risk to take. Her back up plan involved lighting the apartment up and escaping, but she didn't want to do that yet.
"Yes I did." she said as she edged closer to the left room. "And you know what..." she opened the door and he tensed. "She was an angel, the way she begged, pleaded and prayed for me to stop. I didn't touch her with my fangs you know? I drained her slowly, before her eyes. Listening intently as her heart came to a stop." she laughed at him and each chortle sullied the memory of his niece.
Unable to contain himself he bolted forward and Calla shot in the room. The newborns came into the apartment just as he kicked the door to the room down. Before he registered it, he heard the sound of glass shattering on his chest and looked down to see blood covering his torso.
"I don't mind sharing. That's the blood of your little angel, why not have a taste?" she sneered as she pulled out another jar and threw it at him, in the door way he could move in neither direction and so shattered it with his hand.
He was completely coated in blood but he only had his eyes on the torture and kill of Calla.
"You're going to die," he hissed, "painfully, slowly. I'll make you wish for death and when I finally give it to you, you'll be able to look up at my niece in the heavens whilst you plummet into hell." He heard his newborns coming, but he was so consumed with anger that he overlooked one simple fact. They weren't in full control of themselves yet.
They tackled him down and began clawing at him to get the blood. Calla managed to worm her way passed and run out the room and Benedict let out a screech of rage that she was escaping. His newborns didn't let up though, so driven by bloodlust they ended up biting him, only to recoil in disgust. They each roared towards Benedict and wanted to break and kill him. Their instincts towards blood drove them wild and being unable to drink they turned to the next thing they knew, violence.
"Get off me!" he screamed as he smashed their heads together. "Mindless beasts, can't even handle a little blood!" With his superior strength, he dazed them and flung them off. He kicked at them and broke their ribs, leaving them whimpering on the ground. But he wasn't to stop, he lifted each up by the hair and slammed them repeatedly into the wall, making a small dent.
He broke them, snapped their bones and would have set them alight had they not been in his building. He stripped off his shirt to get rid of the distracting smell before he moved to try and track down Calla. Benedict knew this fight would end tonight, or else she would never have shown up.
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He'd been in the darkness about her recently, only knowing someone had killed the ones he had sired. Calla had taken everything from him. She drained his niece, broke his sister, and killed his followers. He even suspected she'd been the one that had gotten him under investigation by the local clans.
Running to the stairway he saw the door to the rooftop was open and he crept slowly and cautiously up the stairs. Gently opening the door and seeing nothing on the flat roof. He glanced his eyes upwards, to make sure she wasn't above him and he saw nothing.
He smelt the familiar chemical dye waft out from the stairway and instantly turned back and ran in. Benedict reached the steps when he felt something push into his back and push him forward. He tried to grab the centre railing but the force was too much and he fell down a stair level with Calla mounting him.
His eyes caught the familiar glint of metal and he managed to throw Calla off of his.She tumbled from his throw and ended up back inside the apartment with the two groaning newborns.
Benedict was instantly on his feet and giving chase, trying to catch her and she slashed at him with blades. She flipped tables and ceramics, anything to obstruct his path to her.But he was much stronger than her, and infinite vampire stamina meant he was barely stalled.
Where Calla was like a very strong human, Benedict's prowess was like an Olympian. There was a wide gulf between the pair. It wasn't insurmountable but their inhuman reflexes made each far more deadly than their homosapien counterparts.
Calla didn't tire either, managing to keep a distance through throwing objects and manoeuvring around the pillars. Her mind rapidly tried to formulate a plan, to use the terrain to her advantage, or impale him with a weapon. They were stuck at an impasse when he wouldn't move, knowing she'd escape through the stairway if she got passed him.
"Why don't you give in?" he chuckled as she threw another knife in his direction which he dodged. "You must be out of them by now? The only way you're getting out of here is when I cast your broken body to the sun."
"Heh." Calla licked her lips, he was too calm now and she needed to provoke him. "You know you're under investigation?"
"Of course. Your handy work I presumed?"
"Yes. But there's something else." she gave him a smirk he could just see to the side of the pillar.
"And what's that?" he asked.
"Well." she said as she crouched in her guard. Her hand touched the floor and she concealed a blade within the other. "You're probably wondering why I came here at all?"
"It did cross my mind, yes."
"Well, that Swarmer....Xavier was his name." she giggled a little and spoke mockingly. "He already decided your dead, but he gave me first chance at you."
If his face could go red Benedict's would have been completely crimson. Xavier, a Blood-letter, was allowing him to live so a newborn could have a chance to kill him? It would be absurd if it wasn't so insulting.
His rage overcame him and he stepped to the side before lunging at Calla. She in turn drew her blade to meet his chest but he knocked it away with his other arm. Her lower dive allowed her to get a grab of his waist and he tried to get hold of her.
She managed to scurry around his body as she drew another knife which she shot towards his heart. He caught her wrist and she was on his back clinging to him.
"What are you doing there? You're not strong enough to break my head with one arm, and if you draw another knife you'll have to let go. You can't stake me." his voice was gloating as her hand struggled to keep pushing the knife towards his heart. He slowly pushed her hand away but she sank his teeth into his neck.
He screeched in agony and began bashing the side of her head with his own but she tightened her grip. And then he made a mistake, instinctive, but still a mistake. He let go of her knife hand to try and force her mouth away from him and it allowed the stainless steel to plunge into his heart.
His struggling quickly subsided and she drained him. She was completely caught up in the moment as the whispers began to vanish and she felt the blood in her body change. Her body and soul took on a qualitative change, her teeth hardening and her muscles becoming more dense. Her eyes could pick out the dust scattered in the air.
Childe. The whispers told her before finally vanishing completely, melding into her soul.
After she was done with Benedict's body, she made swift work of the two newborns, smiling into the bite as she allowed the other to watch. Watching the terror spark in the other newborn made her giddy and she wasted no time draining him as well. She didn't get as much satisfaction from the newborns as she did before hand, probably because they were too weak to give her a good meal.
Benedict though...that was a meal she'd savour in her mind for years to come.
'He should be proud. He helped us become a Childe. A worthy stepping stone to grant us strength.' Calla thought.
The dried out bodies caught fire quickly, and as she lit them up at the hair, she flung them out an open window to burn outside the building. The Swarmers' little spies wouldn't see that she'd drained them, all they would be greeted with was ash.
'We need to hide our strength. We can't let them know we've evolved, we must act like a newborn. Bow and scrape beneath others whilst we build our strength. The man, Xavier, he is bad for us.' Calla's internal voice sounded slightly fractured. Figuring it was linked to merging with the whispers she shrugged it off, not realising that the way she had referred to herself had changed.
The night was near its end by the time her battle was done and Calla felt it best to wait the daytime out in the apartment. She planned to visit Swarmer territory the following night to make claim to the building as her residence. Calla had won against Benedict so it should be her right.
It was located in the poorer part of Sostine but she could make the building secure and fortify it for her uses.At the back of her mind she was constructing plans for a possible war with the Swarmers that may occur in the coming years.
'If nothing else we need to be rid of the red head. She's dangerous to us. But we should wait....hunting her now would be suspicious. Time has to pass before we can capture her.' Many plans and contingencies were born that day as Calla created all manner of ways to keep herself safe and destroy those who would harm her.
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siyari.
𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝗂𝖿𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗌𝗂𝗒𝖺𝗋𝗂.
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