“Bring me her.” Was what Gemini requested, like a queen. Bella wondered what it would be like, if she ignored Gemini’s request and ran away. Would she be able to be safe? Save the ones she loved from Gemini’s grasp? No, probably not. It was impossible. It was something she couldn’t even think about.
Snow dusted the empty warehouse ground. The wind howled against the broken windows and opened ceiling. Bella shifted on her feet, avoiding the gaze of Victorique. It was impossible to even begin explaining what was going to happen. She didn’t know. Bella simply told her that it was a demon problem in the area. Vampires as well, it seemed like a good enough cover story. She just kept reminding herself; I’m doing this for the ones I love, I’m doing this for the ones I love. That made it okay, right?
“So where are these demons?” Victorique asked slowly, her hand reaching for her dagger at her waist, eyes searching around the area. Once more, Bella looked around, avoiding the gaze of her friend. Her shoulders rose and fell without a sound.
“Around here, I think,” Bella mumbled in reply, giving a small smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll find them.”
~*~
“Bravo, my sister.” Gemini appeared from the shadows, smiling. Smiling that wicked smile she always wore. Two demons crowded over her, smirks on their pale faces. How Gemini managed to create her own demons that looked human baffled Bella greatly. Bella heard slight movement behind her and she turned to look over her shoulder to stare at her friend.
“I’m sorry, Vic.” Bella spoke lowly, biting her lower lip as she fought tears that stung the back of her eyes. “I had to. Sav… Chris… I can’t let them die by her hands.” There was no forgiveness in Victorique’s eyes. A look of betrayal and hurt was sent in Bella’s direction. Thud of steps crowded around them as demons found themselves into the warehouse.
Clicking her tongue, Gemini tilted her head to one side and snapped her fingers. “Bring Victorique to me.” Her voice was chilled, her eyes glaring hard in Victorique’s direction. This woman was the one who killed her father, her brothers. The ones she adored and perhaps even loved at some point. And now… now was the time for revenge.
Victorique was brought to Gemini, kneeling before the demon child. Cold fingers brushed against her chin as Gemini dug her nails into the young woman’s skin. “You’re much stronger than my sister Bella… Prideful, brave… You think you’re one amazing hunter, don’t you my dear?” She cackled and shoved her away, the balls of her feet bouncing against the cold floor.
“Burn her, cut her. Let’s see how she likes it. Someone hold Bella, I’m not done with her yet.”
Ice cold fingers pierced Bella’s skin, a familiar scent drifted across her nose. Her body froze in place as she took in a shaky breath. “Andrew?” Bella managed to squeak out lowly, tears filling her eyes. She felt the rumble of a chuckle against her back as she was pulled close in an iron grip that kept her in place.
“Hello sweetheart, did you miss me?”
~*~
The screams ran over the walls and bounced back to shake Bella’s eardrums. Blood was splattered the floors the scene was horrid. The demon woman lingered over Victorique, her black hair making a curtain blocking Bella’s view on the scene. Tears were free falling down Bella’s face as she tried to look away.
“Now, now, Bella,” a voice purred in her ear. “Keep watching or I might have to do something to this pretty neck of yours.” Bella snorted in anger and flipped her head back to lean against his shoulder so she could look at him directly.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” she muttered at him before focusing forward. “You did it once; nothing will stop you from doing it again.”
Victorique moved her face against the cold floor; her body burned and ached from the pain she was getting. There was a cackle above her, the female demon excited about digging into her skin.
“Where’s your hero, wench?” she cackled as she brought down the dagger to her skin. Her eyes wild and excited, the excited bounced around her. “Where is he? WHERE?” Victorique let out a scream before she brought her face forward.
“I rather die than give him up!” The demon cackled and leaned forward to whisper against her ear.
“I can make that happen.”
There was a loud slam and a tap as Gemini came forward. “Enough!” She shouted and shoved the demon away and pressed her own dagger against Victorique’s throat. “I’ll let you live. But barely… Someone hold her up. She has a show to watch! Andrew!” Her voice cooed at the last word.
“Of course, my dear, as you wish.”
Andrew’s hand waved through Bella’s long blond hair as he cupped her throat against his lips. “I’m sorry,” he murmured for only Bella could hear before he dug his fangs deeply into her neck. She let out a scream as she tried to fight from his grasp. He clung to her as he drank her blood. Bella screamed and shouted for help, her willpower left her. Her body growing weaker as she fell silent and slumped against Andrew’s body, a warmness coating her skin at the haze running in her bloodstream.
“Enough. You’ll kill her, darling.” There was a hissing noise against her throat has fangs slipped away and a tongue ran over the spots to stop the bleeding.
“Can I keep her?” Was his only reply, his hands clinging to Bella to dear life. Perhaps Gemini had calculated wrong. The idiot boy still cared and loved her.
“No.” Gemini said, turning on her heel. “We’re leaving. Let them die.”
Andrew nodded, and took a step away from Bella. His hands gently laid her down on the floor, his lips wore a sad smile. “I’m sorry.” He whispered once more before vanishing into the night with the others. Bella could feel her alertness leaving her by the second. With as much willpower as she could, she crawled over to Victorique’s form.
“I’m sorry,” she cried, tears running down her face. “Vic, I am so sorry, I didn’t want you to get this hurt I wanted to protect you but I couldn’t!” She moved her hands to rub at her cheeks as she tried to hide the tears. Arms went around her protectively as she cried.
“I’m okay, Bell. We’re okay. It’s going to be okay.”
And for once in her life, Bella believed it.
“Bring me the Wizard.” Had been Gemini’s orders. Bring the Wizard into the empty lot of Gemini’s new home – an abandoned apartment complex that was rumored to be knocked down soon. Getting the Wizard to come along to the area had been easy. A call for help from a Hunter to a Wizard was like a moth to a flame of light. They lived to help. But the Wizard Gemini wanted was no stranger to Bella, in fact, she knew the Wizard quite well. He had been a friend once, and then at some point a baby sitter when Savannah ordered Bella to stay home.
The cold air and snow fell and hit Bella with a gentle force as she shifted on her feet. Her eyes looking over to the apartment complex before looking around for the Wizard. His name had been Charles, a simple name for a Wizard. It always amazed her that he had such a simple name compared to the others she had met before. And compared to other Wizards, Charles was quite normal. The only thing that made him different from humans was the fact that his eyes would change to colors that no other human could have. Purple, gold, sometimes even a bright indigo color – that one was Bella’s favorite.
It seemed like forever before Bella spotted Charles walking into the empty car lot. A hop to his step as if he was excited to meet up with her. She felt a tinge of guilt, a voice in her head told her to scream for him to run away – that it was a trap. One that he was willingly walking into. She shivered and covered her ears once to block out the voices that roared into her mind before it fell silent. She was breathing heavily. She had no doubt that it was the cause of one of Gemini’s demons. Jess was his name, she believed. He liked to mess with her thoughts, jumbling them up to make no sense and then adding voices that didn’t need to be there. Glaring over her shoulder at the complex, she focused her gaze on Charles who came into full view.
“Bella!” His accent was almost thick, showing he was far from New York. According to what he had told Bella once, his family came from France. His father was a brave Wizard who kept terms on the Wizards in France and the close European countries. When Charles turned eighteen, he left for America where he met Savannah. Any time he spoke of her sister, she knew he had something for Savannah. Something that wasn’t returned, but he didn’t seem to mind. Isabella gave a weak smile as she focused on his arms around her small frame and hugged him fiercely. She breathed in deeply, taking in his pine needle scent. Would this be the last time she spoke to him?
“Why on Earth did you drag me out here, hm?” He rested his hands on her shoulders, she prayed that he didn’t feel her shaking underneath her thick coat, and if he did, would just mistake it from the cold weather. She forced herself to look up at him, giving yet another smile as she took his face into her memory. The crook of his nose that leaned forward, the long scar that shifted on his cheek. Savannah said the scar made him look like he lost a fight with a bear, Isabella believed it made him even more amazing. Her eyes looked over his eyes, feeling her breath catch in her throat. His eyes were her favorite – the bright indigo color. That was it.
She gripped onto his shirt tightly, her eyes wide with fear and weakness. “Char, you have to get out of here, its a trap. They used me to get you to come here —” She gave out a loud squeak as something nasty hit her square in the back. She slumped against him before being ripped away from him. “No!” She cried out, trying to reach for his shirt – something to grip on and keep him close to her. Another Wizard silenced her and gripped her hair back, telling her the things he would do to her since she disobeyed Gemini’s rules. Charles looked at her once, she pleaded with him with her eyes. I’ll be fine, her eyes shined, just go! He nodded, he would alert Savannah and the others, yes, that was what he would do!
As he turned around, his eyes locked with red ones. In an instant, Bella knew all was lost. She turned her head away to avoid the scene that was about to unfold. A cold hand took her chin firmly and made her watch. The horrible Wizard made her watch Gemini ask Charles questions about the other demons and Wizards. Anytime he denied to answer there was a yell and tears were spilled from Bella. The questioning seemed to last forever before he took one last glance at Bella. “Let her go.” He said weakly, a drop of blood was sliding down his face from the wound on his head. His eyes were unfocused for a moment before he locked eyes with Bella. “Let her go and I’ll answer whatever you want.” He finished, looking over at Gemini who was laughing.
“I’m afraid, dear Wizard, I simply cannot do that. You see,” She bended over him and held her hand against his warm cheek. “I need her to finish a job for me. Anything she disobeys to, someone gets hurt… or dies.” She cooed, smiling evilly at him. “And seeing how she disobeyed…” She flashed out a sword from her waist belt and smirked, a glint of fury on her face as anger twisted her features. “You will die in front of her.”
“NO!” Bella broke the spell and cried out as the sword went into Charles body. She screamed as she felt the pain through her own body. Her mind felt like it was on fire and she twisted in the dark Wizard’s grasp. “Mark my words, big sis.” Bella looked at her once to listen closely. “I will kill again. Do not disobey me.” With a nod of her head she ordered everyone to follow her and left Bella alone in the dark and lonely lot with a dead body on her hands.
There was an eerie feeling to her skin that she could feel crawling up her spine. It had been like this for the last twelve hours, she forgot to grab the pills that were suppose to help with the feeling – the pain. Shallow breaths came from her chest, her lips were chapped and cracked A dribble of dry blood was hard and darken against her pale chin. She huddled her knees closer to her chest, a whimper cry coming from her as she wrapped her arms tightly around her knees to bring them closer to her. The cold poked toward her bare skin, causing a shiver to go through her.
Suddenly, there was a note of footsteps, Bella froze as she listened. They were heavy steps, ones that would maybe belong to an older man. Christopher? She idly thought as she tugged her knees closer to her chest. No, that was impossible. He didn’t know where in the hell she was. She had left no note or message stating where she was running off to. In fact, no one knew where Isabella Cooper was. And that pleased her. It meant she couldn’t hurt anyone she held dear. Isabella sucked in a deep breath as the steps came closer and slowed to a stop in front of her.
“Hey,” A husky voice spoke, kindness sweeping in. “Are you okay? Do you need help?” He bent down and leaned over her. Isabella sniffed and scowled. An enchanter. He seemed kind enough, and he wasn’t using his own powers against her. Maybe he wasn’t that bad. Swearing underneath her breath she shook her head once and pain ruffled through her body like a dagger slicing the prey. She could feel the pain tingling at her finger tips, crying to be let out. Isabella felt the taste of iron at the back of her throat as she removed her hands from around her knees.
“I’m sorry.” She spoke finally, looking up at the man. Her usual gaze of green was a pale color, clouding her vision. She could hear a faint chuckle in the distance as she felt her mind pulling her to safety and away from harm.
“What for? You haven’t done nothing wrong—” He was cut off when Bella grasped his arm tightly, her expression blank and empty. Her iron gripped tightly on his arm as she tugged at the skin. Her body was shaking with fear and hunger. Hunger for the pain and terror.
“This,” She breathed in and pounced. Fingers clawing at the his face and arms. For a moment the man screamed and tried to run away. The attempt failed as she clung to him and ripped his neck back. Hot blood splattered against her mouth and face as she fell back onto the ground, shaking.
Another person had died at her hands.