Almost Gone

                                    Mircea’s fangs dug into my neck and I could feel the venom entering my body. I cried out in pain, pushing him back with all my strength. I could hear Seto’s heart race behind me. In the next second, Mircea has released me and I could see Darren before me. He had thrown the monster across the room, into the hallway.

 

“Are you,” Seto started.

 

“I’m fine. I’ll just be left with a scar,” I answered, staring straight ahead.

 

Mircea stood, seemingly unaffected.

 

“That’s the problem with feeding off of animals. They make you weaker,” he said with a dark chuckle.

 

I hissed at him.

 

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Darren mumbled low enough that Seto wouldn’t hear.

 

“What’s the point in whispering? I can hear you perfectly, “Mircea asked.

 

He ran forward and darted to the left, making an opening for himself. He was going straight for Seto. Darren leaped in the way, getting bit on his right hand as the tried to force Mircea back. Seto took a step back in fear.

 

“Don’t move,” I warned.

 

My voice was dark and Seto stared at me with shock in his eyes. He had never seen me hunt, so this was all new to him. I crouched before him before pushing off the floor, tackling Mircea to the ground and away from Darren. I sank my fangs into his shoulder and ripped off a part of his flesh. It sounded like metal scarping and the vampire beneath me screamed in pain. I heard Seto inhale sharply before Mircea kicked me off of him. I spit out the stone-like flesh in my mouth, glaring darkly at the monster before me. I stood quickly while Mircea stumbled into a standing position, his hand over the new wound.

 

“I’ll take you apart piece by piece if I have to,” I threatened.

 

Mircea started towards me, but Darren tackled him to the ground first. I glanced over at Seto and saw that his eyes were wide. There was the sound of scraping metal again, along with Mircea’s pained cried. I turned and saw Darren ripping away at the monster’s limbs.

 

“We have to burn the pieces,” I mumbled so Seto wouldn’t be able to hear me.

 

“I know,” Darren answered before tearing of another chunk of Mircea’s flesh.

 

The shrieks pierced my ears, but I didn’t care. I knew I had to get Seto and Mokuba out of the office. I heard Darren grunt as he tumbled to the side. Mircea had somehow managed to push my brother away. He now only had one arm and a few pieces missing from his shoulders.

 

“I’ll kill you,” he yelled and ran forward, pulling out a knife.

 

Seto jumped back just as Mircea swung the knife. A long gash was left in Seto’s stomach and he stumbled back. Had he been a millisecond slower, he’d be dead. I screamed as I ran forward. I ripped Mircea’s arm off from the elbow. The scent of Seto’s blood in the air was thick and it burned my throat. I ignored it, though. I was in a frenzy, ripping and tearing away at the demon who had drawn blood. After only a couple minutes, Darren pulled me away. There was no recognizable part of Mircea. All that was left were pieces of him.

 

“I’ll take care of the remains. You help Kaiba and Mokuba,” my brother said in a strained voice.

 

I nodded. Then my throat burned even more with the desire for blood. It was almost unbearable. I held my breath and ran over to Seto. The wound was bleeding too much for me to even look at it.

 

“Come on,” I ordered and helped him walk. “Mokuba, come out. Hurry!”

 

The teenage boy ran out of the place he had hidden. His heart was beating out of control.

 

“Calm down,” I said.

 

I knew I was almost out of air in my lungs. I hurried the three of us out of the office and brought them to the elevator. Once we were inside it, I felt even worse. I started trembling slightly.

 

“What’s wrong,” Mokuba asked.

 

I shook my head rigidly, my mouth drawn in a line. We stopped at the first floor and exited the elevator.

 

“Mokuba, I can’t do this. You have to bring Seto to the hospital. Don’t tell anyone about this,” I ordered.

 

Mokuba nodded and walked with Seto while I stayed behind, watching them leave. I ran up the stairs and stopped halfway up the building. I sat in the stairway and sighed, inwardly berating myself. I couldn’t even go with him to the hospital, couldn’t make sure he was alright. My throat still burned and I cursed it. An hour later, Darren found me there. He sat beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

 

“You took care of Mircea,” I asked.

 

“Yeah. He’s not going to come back. Are you okay,” Darren asked, concern in his voice.

 

“I couldn’t go with them.”

 

“It’s alright. Scarlett, you haven’t hunted in a week and a half. We’re lucky you didn’t crack when he was cut. I hunted just yesterday and I struggled. It takes a lot of willpower to do what you did.”

 

“I can’t bear to lose him. I sure as hell am not going to be the one to take him away,” I answered.

 

“Go out and hunt, Scarlett. Then, go see him,” Darren told me.

 

 

“What about the exposure?”

 

“We’ll take care of that later.”