My plan was a fairly simple if not completely impulsive idea. I had it plotted out in my mind in steps, in which each step up to a certain point had an out in case I wasn’t to succeed. My first step was to simply get Clio Lenne out of her chains.

I stormed into the bar, making my way to the vampire hunter who was contained nearby a group of McElroy vampires. When I approached her, the vampires shifted dangerously, preparing for me to no doubt try to massacre them all with my special vampire hunting skills. Instead, I halted and pointed at Clio.

“That bitch attacked me. I demand a fair fight,” I snapped, channeling my inner Corentine in order to deliver a vicious glare in her direction. Her startled look told me my expression was at least partially believable.

There was an uncertain shift around the vampires until one started laughing. “You want to what, now?” I immediately shifted my glare to him, trying to muster up unreal hatred before stomping a couple more steps in his direction. His stance became defensive quickly, preparing for me to attack.

“I said,” I seethed dangerously, “I want a fair fight. With. Her.” Again, I pointed at Clio and focused my entire attention on her.

“But aren’t you two both hunters?” A second vampire, younger and more confused, decided to voice as though the idea of two hunters fighting was absurd.

“She obviously thinks she’s better,” I growled darkly, now calming down to channel my inner Jacobi. “You may have cut me last time, Lenne. But this time, I’ll rip your disgusting heart from your chest.” The threats tasted foreign on my tongue. I’d never wished ill will on a person before now, regardless if it was fake will or not. Clio narrowed her eyes in response.

“Try it, vampire lover,” She snapped, spitting at the floor between us.

“We’ve got ourselves a fight,” One of the vampires hollered almost gleefully, “Let them at each other!” Though there were only about five vampires in the room, they all gathered and began to agree to this future fight with enthusiasm. I was honestly surprised at how easy it was to complete step one as they removed the chains on Clio’s wrists and neck.

Clio raised to her feet lithely, her grace impressive despite her previous beatings and bloodletting. She moved slowly towards me, bouncing on her feet with an athletic ease, and lifted her hands up into fists just under her chin before tightening her form in preparation. I hesitated for a moment, recognizing the intimidating fighting stance, but not sure I could replicate it myself.

I lifted my hands into fist, mimicking her own stance and began to shift when she did. Step two: stall the fight. I would have decided to fight for a while, but I obviously didn’t know exactly how to fight. Instead, I began to shift oddly, jerking parts of my limbs as though I had a twitch. Clio hesitated, frowning as my fighting stance moved more into awkward dance moves.

“Are you two going to fight or what?” A vampire called out, obviously bored by our hesitation. It was then that the smell I was waiting for reached us. A lazy trickle of smoke made its way around us, making everyone pause and look in the direction it was coming from. I, of course, already knew what it was.

Step three: set the bar on fire.

Flames abruptly exploded around the main bar, where I had tilted a candle from one of the tables nearby some obviously flammable liquids and had been waiting for it to catch fire. The vampires watching us suddenly dissipated in panic, advancing towards the fire in an attempt to put it out as fast as they could. I, on the other hand, reached out and grabbed Clio.

Step four: run.

“Time to go,” I called out to Clio before bolting towards the exit. Clio didn’t wait to see what I was talking about. She instantly followed me and then as we passed the busy vampires, she began to run ahead of me. I struggled, but pushed myself to run faster to keep up with her. We weren’t in the headquarters long. Clio found the exit relatively quickly, no doubt having memorized every inch of the headquarters in preparation for her escape for a while now. Then we were both out of the door faster than I could think.

I lost my heels somewhere between the bar and the exit. My feet hit the ground outside, sending sharp but subtle pain through my flesh when I stepped down on the edges of rocks and sticks. Clio ran ahead of me, barefooted as well, but not slowing down. If anything, she sped up. I focused on her, pushing myself to run faster and faster. I couldn’t lose her. I had to make sure she got away. I kept pushing until finally, I broke an invisible barrier that was holding me back.

Suddenly, I was flying through the trees once again. Clio seemed to notice and let herself run faster as well, having obviously been trying not to leave me behind in the first place. I laughed abruptly as I swerved through the woods in freedom. The darkness was thick around us, but it was as if I knew where every stone, bush, and tree stood in the woods. Clio glanced behind us as we ran, not as gleeful as I apparently was, keeping up with me just the same.

We didn’t get far before I sensed them coming from behind us. I wasn’t sure how I knew they were coming, but it was as though their presence sent vibrations through the ground and greeted me as clearly as it would have been if they yelled for us. It was then that I remembered I was claimed.

I halted abruptly, looking back towards where I knew the vampires we had left behind were coming. Clio had bolted past me, not expecting me to stop so suddenly, but promptly came to stand beside me defensively. I knew she was preparing to fight these vampires, but I didn’t want her to risk her chance of escape.

“Leave,” I ordered her sharply, “I’m claimed. There’s no hope for me.”

“They’ll kill you for helping me,” Clio declared, not making a move to obey my order. “I won’t leave you alone. We’ll kill as many of them as we can and if we die, so be it. We’ll die together.” I was momentarily stunned by her words. This woman didn’t even know me, but she was willing to lose her life to help me. I was equally stunned when I realized I had done the same thing for her. Was it because I felt instinctively inclined to protect my own?

“Go, Clio,” I begged, grasping her wrists almost desperately. “Their laws won’t let them kill me because I’m claimed. You don’t have to worry about me. It’s you who I’m worried about. Please, go!” She watched me intensely, obviously torn about what she should do.

“I know your father, Elysia,” She told me suddenly, a determination building within her. “Survive this, sister. I will tell your family where you are. We will come back for you and they will pay for ever daring to touch us.” With building rage flooding her feature, she threw down her wrists from my grip and ran away. I watched her disappear with supernatural speed, feeling an odd sense rising inside my chest. I couldn’t quite identify it until I realized what it was; hope. She was going to tell my father I had been captured. Then I felt anxiety. Would he even try to rescue me? Would he think it was worth it?

My thoughts were interrupted as I felt the vampires approaching quickly. I parted my feet, bending slightly at the hips and raising my hands at my sides defensively. I wasn’t sure what it was I planned to do, but my mind had gone blank. I fell away from my own consciousness, allowing another part of me to take control. That part of me could feel each vampire’s intentions, feel their excitement as they realized I wasn’t running away, and know their plans to tear me apart regardless of any law.

I took a slow, deep breath, looking up at the roof the trees. For a moment, I could hear my mother humming in a distant memory, soothing and safe. And then the vampires were there. In a single breath, the first one lunged for me, overly excited to kill his first Monet.

I swiftly dodged to the left, reaching out at the same time to grab one of his extended arms. I viciously swung him around, tossing him with unnatural strength into the air and causing him to crash into a distant tree. The next vampire attacked, perhaps to help his fellow coterie member or perhaps to take my death for his own pleasure. I slid to the ground, too fast to see, and kicked his feet from under him. He promptly landed on his face, but before he could recover I was pinning my knee into his back. I snatched his arm, pulling it back so quick that a loud snap echoed through the trees. The vampire screamed in agony and a sick sense of satisfaction vibrated through me.

Before I could finish this one off, another was lunging at my back. I leapt sharply onto my feet, bending my knees, and launched myself blindly into the air. The vampire stumbled where I had previously been, but I wasn’t gone for long. I landed on his shoulders, twisting my body as I fell so that he fell with me roughly. As we hit the ground, he reached up to remove me from his form, but I viciously gripped his head in my hands and twisted with a loud growl bubbling from my throat. The crack that followed left him silent and lifeless.

It was then that I realized what I was doing. I shoved myself from the unmoving vampire, pushing myself up to my feet in a slight panic. I had expected to surrender to the vampires, to allow them to rough me up a bit and take me back to my companions for punishment. I hadn’t expected to actually fight back. I definitely hadn’t expected to successfully fight back.

There were more vampires than before now. They all hovered around me, not close enough to attack without me being able to dodge it, but not far enough for me to get away. Even as I stood there, I could sense more were coming. In low numbers, the vampires hesitated, having just watched me tackle down three of their men with too much ease. But as their numbers increased, they began to feel braver. I, on the other hand, felt that calm adrenaline leaving my limbs, leaving me to suffer the consequences of what the animalistic side of me had done.

I tried not to show my fear, knowing it would incite their eventual attacks. But I felt the fearful trembles begin to creep their way in, betraying me as always.

“Take me to Master Jacobi,” I demanded, my voice trembling. The vampires began to shift then, sneers and laughter pushing through the small crowd. They knew then I was afraid of them and it gave them the strength to no longer fear me as much. “I’m claimed by his Kindred. It’s against the law to harm me.” I decided trying to reason with them could possibly save me.

The vampire closest to me lifted their hand up carefully, as if testing the temperature of the air. I felt a taste of mild power reach out to me and I wanted to recoil from it immediately. It brushed over that unseen part of me, causing an unpleasant wave of nausea to rush over me. “I don’t feel a claim,” they stated smugly after a moment, pulling their spirit away from me. I hesitated, reaching up to my shoulder as though the bites themselves would be proof enough.

“I was claimed…” Were they lying?

“You’re free meat now, hunter.” They attacked. I dodged the first few, running away from them in fear for my life. But I was quickly caught and tackled to the ground solidly. Before I could try to get away, a fist slammed into the side of my head, stunning me. Blows came then in quick succession, slamming into my legs, back, stomach, chest, arms, and even my head. The pain that came with them was shocking, taking away my breath. I gasped, wanting to scream, but each blow to my stomach and to my head left me both senseless and breathless.

I tried to curl up into a ball on the ground, raising my arms to protect my head. The blows became rougher, until I heard before I felt the snap of my bones. I screamed then, the pain too much to bear. I prayed for a miracle. I prayed the vampires had lied about my vanished claim and that Aveline and Xander were coming for their human in danger. I prayed the vampires would stop and bring me to their headquarters, where at least I could try to talk myself out of trouble. I prayed for anyone to help me. Wyatt. Corentine, though I highly doubted it.

I wished for Jacobi to save me. The thought alone sent a shuttering wave of electricity throughout me. I wanted Jacobi. I needed him. The electricity amplified as another bone cracked under the blows. My limbs were becoming weak. Blood was leaking from opened cuts and through the corner of my mouth and nose. I thought of Jacobi’s spirit, the way it called to me so thickly with power. I searched for it, reaching with invisible fingers over the wooded area all the way to the headquarters. When I felt that hum of his power settled in the distance, I screamed again.

There was a moment of pure pain, the blows having become one enormous pulse of agony throughout my beaten body. And then suddenly there were no further blows. Screams echoed through the trees and they weren’t my own. Loud thuds and shuddering clashes were surrounding me. I kept still, my eyes planted closed in sharp pain. My breaths were too short, each one feeling like daggers in my sides, and caused me to wince. I could taste blood in my mouth, but I couldn’t muster the need to cough for fear of the agony that would follow.

After a moment, all the noises around me were silent. I wanted to look to see what miracle had saved me, if only temporary, but I felt like I was in my own type of limbo. I felt rough hands touch me carefully, but I whimpered at the sharp pain that shot through me. My entire body felt broken. My skin was on fire, painful to the touch.

I cried out when those hands reached under me, lifting me from the ground abruptly. The agony burned through me so that my mind reeled senselessly for a moment, leaving me breathless. I couldn’t move parts of my body that I tried to move. My legs and left arm weren’t responsive, but thankfully my right arm reached up when I wanted it to in order to grasp at my savior’s shirt. I opened my eyes painfully, blinking up at the form carrying me.

Jacobi didn’t look at me as he carried me through the trees slowly, trying not to hurt me further. Blood smeared across his clothes and flesh, though I wasn’t sure if it was his or the vampires he had saved me from. I tried to say something to him, but my voice had left me. I instead tightened my grasp on his shirt, leaning my head back uselessly and closed my eyes.

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Music: For those of you who've never heard of him until the last update, Gregorio Allegri's Miserere. :P The first ever illegally downloaded song, thanks to Mozart!