Loving the leech (Guardians of Red Moon city #4)
15. It begins

Kaylin’s POV

“I can’t do this” is the only thing flowing inside my head. Salazar sits next to me in the black BMW and scrolls on his phone, completely unaware of my inner strife. However, it may be that he’s aware but chooses to ignore it. After all, he has repeatedly stressed that there’s no reason to worry. I’m afraid, but at the same time determined. I will cope with this; I have to.

“We’re here, sir,” the chauffeur says, and Salazar looks up.

His gaze rests on me and carefully studies me as if I’m hiding something I should mention. Apparently, he finds what he’s looking for, considering that he sighs and rolls his eyes.

“Stop stressing yourself out. You have to maintain your focus if you’re going to get through this,” Salazar says, stepping out of the car when the driver opens the door.

I climb out after him and look at the arena with big eyes. It resembles the Colosseum in Rome, but more significant. Salazar walks with long steps towards a digitized iron door. He scans his eyes in a laser lock, and the door opens immediately; I follow him inside. We walk through a long metallic corridor, and I can’t hear any sounds beyond our footsteps. Are we the only ones here?

“It’s soundproof,” Salazar says as if he can read minds.

I nod and don’t dare to make a sound; the whole situation is stressing at such a level that I can’t even explain how I feel. My mentor leads me to another door, and before we move inside, he stops to look at me.

“You’re going to be okay, Kaylin,” he says, looking into my eyes. “I won’t lie to you and say that it’ll be easy because it certainly won’t be. During your training, we’ve evaluated you, and you’ll be called up one by one with your points. The score goes from one that is lowest to ten, that’s the highest on a danger scale.”

It sounds just like the beginning of The Hunger Games movies, you know, a day before they’re going into their arena, it’s told on the TV how dangerous the participants are considered to be. Could it be that the vampires are fans of “The hunger games”?

“What position do I have?” I ask curiously and wonder when they evaluated me since I never saw anyone.

“You’ll find out when they let you in. The others in the council want to make it as dramatic as possible,” Salazar says, rolling his eyes. “Go in here; they’ll help you with makeup, hair, and to get dressed.”

He opens the door, pushes me in, and closes the door again. There are three older women in the room waiting for me with big smiles on their lips.

“Kaylin, right?” One of the ladies asks, and I nod gently. “My name is Margret; these are my friends, Esther and Elisabeth. We’ll help you look as beautiful as possible!”

“Why do I need to be beautified?” I ask, confused; I don’t understand the meaning of making me beautiful when I’m still getting beaten and bloody in there.

“Nonsense, of course, you have to look like the warrior princess you are!” Esther exclaims cheerfully.

“Salazar has told us so much about you, and you’re stunningly beautiful,” Elisabeth says with the same enthusiasm as Esther.

“It’s tradition, Kaylin,” Margret gently explains. “I understand that you’re afraid and that you must perceive the whole situation as insane. But believe me when I say that you couldn’t have had a better mentor than Salazar. He’s good, my son-in-law.”

“Son-in-law?” I ask and wonder how old this woman really is.

“Yes, but enough of the small talk! We need to get started if we’re going to get you done in time,” she says, and the three ladies get started.

I’m not allowed to see myself in the mirror, and I’m not a patient person; this is hell for me! All these makeup brushes tickle me in different places in my face, and I’m not allowed to scratch. Apparently, if I do, I’ll ruin my makeup. But on the other hand, I don’t really care. I still risk dying, so what the hell is the point? After several hours of fixing, the women are satisfied with the results, and I can finally look in the mirror. I gasp when I see myself. Black-glittery eyeshadow adorns my eyes, long-thick eyelashes, highlighter, and they’ve put my hair is in a high ponytail with curly tops.

“Put on your bodysuit; it’s not perfected until you do!” Esther says, excited.

I walk into the bathroom, take off my clothes, and put on the suit. When I get out again, the women stop talking, their glances glide over me, and Margret has tears falling over her cheeks. She walks up to me and pulls up the zipper all the way.

“You truly are a sight, dear Kaylin,” she says, smiling through her tears.

I get a group hug from them, who gets interrupted when a knock comes from the door. Salazar enters the room but stops abruptly when he sees me. His mouth shapes an ‘O’, and it looks like he doesn’t know what to say or do. In the end, he walks up to me with a big smile on his lips, hugging me hard.

“This is what I’ve been talking about. Now others will also see what a warrior you are!” he exclaims proudly.

I hug him back and smile to myself while my nerves play with my psyche. The lady who called him her son-in-law earlier hugs him, and he kisses her cheek softly. I turn to them and smile sadly when a tear falls from my eye.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done,” I say, and my eyesight gets lumpy as more tears fill my eyes.

“We believe in you, Kaylin,” Margret says, hugging me the same way she embraced her son-in-law as if we were family. “I know who you are, and I know you’re going to make it.”

She whispers the last part, and I look at her with big eyes; she can’t know who my mother is!? Does everybody know? I don’t even know for myself whether it’s true or not; how can they know? However, Margret doesn’t seem uncomfortable or suspicious at all; instead, she smiles big. Salazar leads me out the door, and we walk side by side to an elevator. I stare anxiously at the display, indicating which floor we’re on.

“You’ll be introduced one by one and shown to all who are present. It’ll feel overwhelming at first since there are thousands of vampires out there. The Everton clan will be opposite you, and you can’t show any feelings whatsoever. Everyone except the ladies and me you met before think your humanity is completely off. It must continue to seem so; otherwise, the truth will come out before it’s time for it, and the whole experience inside the arena will be bloodier than it already will be at present. The majority of newborn vampires are insecure, but there are always some evil ones who would love to kill the vampire princess, aka you. Stick to the plan, save on the energy and survive the three days you’ll be in there; the fight after that will be harder. I’ll do everything I can to keep your secret, and my contact has given her blessing; it’s protected.”

I listen to his words and shudder at all the information. How am I supposed to appear that I don’t care when my loved ones are here? We stop on the thirtieth floor and get out of the elevator. I look around and realize that we’re in some kind of bubble—about twenty other vampires in similar bubbles around the entire arena. I look astoundingly at Salazar.

“It’s magic,” he replies. “We use magic to make the arena bigger than it is, and everything you’ll experience inside belongs to that category. Your opponents can see you just like you can see them, but no one else can see you from the outside as long as you’re in here.”

I sit down in one of the sofas and gaze out over the arena that looks miles long and at least as wide. Above the stadium, a similar TV they use at a baseball stadium hovers, with screens on all sides, even more magic, I guess. Salazar sits down next to me, and we begin watching the participants listed one by one. The first is a young man who looks to be my age, he doesn’t want to be here, and it’s undeniable. He’s introduced and gets a two on the danger scale; in other words, he isn’t a threat at all. The announcer introduces more vampires, and most of them are between six to eight on the danger scale.

I count to twenty vampires so far; how many are there left? Salazar pulls me to a platform, puts two sharp axes in my hands, and smiles big at me. Glass walls come down to surround me, and then slowly, I lift upwards. I understand what’s going on, it’s my turn, and I turn on my bored facial expression.

“And now! The last and also the leading predator I’ve ever seen, our very own “I don’t care”-princess, Kaylin Clarkson!” the announcer exclaims, and “Hide and seek” by Lizz Robinett begins playing.

I look around at the arena, and my eyes immediately meet my clan, who’s opposite me. Even though I want to smile at them, I continue to look evil and bored. Oliver exclaims my name happily and bounces up and down.

“Kaylin represents not only the Everton clan but also our council King, Salazar Duran today, with her rank...”

Everyone is holding their breath, waiting to hear my place, curious about what my little body can accomplish.

“Our princess is in place one at the most dangerous, with a score of ten points!” the announcer exclaims again, and the Everton clan looks at me with big eyes.

The camera lands on me, and I grin maliciously to sell my role as much as I can.

“She’s amazing, isn’t she!?” the announcer continues laughingly before turning to me. “Do you have anything you want to tell your opponents?”

A microphone pops up in front of me, and I react quickly with the snarkiest and most dangerous thing I can think of.

“I hope you’re good at hiding because I love to seek,” I say in a voice that doesn’t feel like my own and spins my axes around menacingly and professionally.

The Everton family looks at me with surprise and fear; William seems destroyed. Oh, my love, I’ll return to you, don’t believe in my acting, please. I’m lowered down and end up in a forest glade where there is no one else. “The purge” by Demetrius X begins playing in the middle of the song, and I guess instead of explaining the rules, they use the same rules as in that movie, with the difference that we’ll be in here for three days. I listen closely to the words.

“This is not a test

This is your Emergency Broadcast System

Announcing the commencement of the Annual Purge

Sanctioned by the U.S. Government

Weapons of Class Four and lower have been authorized

For use during the Purge

All other weapons are restricted

Government officials of ranking ten

Have been granted immunity from the Purge and shall not be harmed

Commencing at the siren

Any and all crime, including murder

Will be legal for twelve continuous hours

Police, fire, and emergency medical services will be unavailable until tomorrow morning at 7 AM with the purge concludes

Bless be our new founding fathers and America

A nation reborn

May God be with you all.”

The signal echo and I run through the woods until I come across a girl baring her fangs at me; I’m behind her in a second and snap her neck blankly. It hurts my heart to have to injure and, in this case, even kill another creature; it’s not me. But I’m also well aware that there are hidden magic cameras everywhere that monitor every step I take so that all viewers present can see what we’re doing. In here, it’s kill or be killed, and no matter what I think about it, I have to play my part. I keep running around the arena and don’t bump into anyone else.

Salazar and I have gone through all sorts of different scenarios here. There’s only one of those that I dread; if they all operate against me. I’m strong, and I know what I can do, but I can’t kill nineteen vampires alone. The bushes behind me rustle. I stop to monitor what it is, I know there’s an ambush when fast footsteps come from behind me, and I drive my hand through a man’s chest. He falls on the ground while his heart stays in my hand, still beating. Two young girls stand in front of me, older than me, and display their fangs. I stand ready and study them carefully as they begin to circulate me from each side.

The rules inside my head dance; let your opponent strike the first blow to determine their strength. Now it’s two against one, which puts me in more danger than usual. It seems that the announcer and the others begin to take an interest in our fight when the music again changes to “Save me” by Skillet. One of the girls attacks me, and we land on the ground; I feel the pain before seeing it. I scream and launch her off my body. A stake sits firmly in my stomach, and I groan at the pain but don’t give up. With the axes secured in my hands, I stand ready, use my enhanced speed to stand behind them, and chop off their heads.

Their blood splashes over my face, and I look into the camera with a deadly look before sitting down gently on the ground to try to pull the stake out of my body.

William’s POV

Kaylin is good; I have to give her that. She’s quick to look up her first victim; the girl immediately dies when Kaylin’s hands snap off her neck. For a moment, I think I see remorse in Kaylin’s eyes, but I shake off that thought quickly. Her humanity is off, and she’s now a monster like everyone else. All the clans here have their tv in front of them where we can set which participant we want to watch. The big one hovering in the middle is to show the extra dramatic or violent fights just in case someone specifically views one particular participant all the time.

I, my family, and the rest of the clan look at our representative with pride. Kaylin isn’t the weak girl I always thought she was; this is a warrior. We see her run into the woods and start fighting with a man whom she also tears the heart out of. Her movements are precise and well thought out; I’m in awe. Two participants show up and circulate her; one of them attacks my beloved, and I growl when I see Kaylin throwing away the young woman. My clan gasps when they see a pole rammed into their Nyx’s stomach. Gratefully, she doesn’t stay down on the ground for long but is suddenly behind them and cuts the head off them both.

Her bright blue eyes stare back into the camera with a promise of vengeance against all those who forced her in here. Is it me she thinks about? I keep staring at my beloved, who sits down against a tree with a steady grip on the stake. She pulls it slowly, and I see the pain over her facial expression.

“Not slowly, Kaylin,” Elijah whispers even though she can’t hear him. “Remember what I taught you.”

As if she heard what he said, she again puts a firm grip around the stake and pulls it out quickly with a roar that makes my heart beat painfully. She puts pressure on the wound and breathes heavily. Don’t die now, Kaylin! I watch her wipe the blood off and stand up like she never got hurt.

“How can she heal so fast!?” one of our clan members exclaims.

My family and I look at each other knowingly; because she’s royal and born as a half-vampire. Frankly, she shouldn’t be in there at all, given that she’s royally born, but it doesn’t matter at present. It was too late already when we found out, given that the council had already decided before that. I feel that they decided already when Joseph bit her and thus transformed her into a vampire.

“Because we have a strong warrior Nyx,” Vivienne responds with pride.

Kaylin holds her stomach; even though the wound has healed physically, it sure hurts slightly. She looks around and studies the surroundings carefully but doesn’t seem to find what she’s looking for, whatever it is. My gaze moves up to the big tv when an unfathomable scream echoes in the arena, and a guy cuts off a girl’s body parts; he oozes with evil.

“Let’s find that cunt,” he says to his weapon brothers, who helped him capture and kill the woman.

I can do nothing but growl at his words; it’s self-evident that it’s Kaylin they’re looking for. It isn’t until the evening that they advertise how many there are left, but I know from experience that it’s always the first day that the most fall in the war going on in there. Gratefully, Kaylin is a strategist and logical thinking; she can make herself invisible if she wants. It seems like she has the same thought like me, considering she jumps up a tree shortly after that. Kaylin climbs higher and higher up until she’s up among the petals.

The most significant camera hovers two feet above her, and she does what we all want to do in that position; she shows her middle finger, mimes a “fuck you,” and glare. The rest of the spectators cheer by her gesture and realize that she’s addressing it to those who put her there; the council. The next thing that occurs happens so fast that I barely have time to see it. She breaks off a branch, jumps down from the dangerously high tree, and spears a man walking past under it. Blood gurgles out of his mouth, and instead of smirking at him, she smiles softly but masks it quickly and pulls out the branch before slamming it down his forehead.

What did he tell her? Did I imagine that she smiled and is gone completely, or have my beloved secrets I fail to understand?

A/N:

Hey, everybody! The battle has begun, and Kaylin has so far killed four vampires. How many will she have to kill before her nightmare is over?

❀ How many do you think she’ll kill?

✿ Do you think she’ll survive?

❀ Will she remain unharmed throughout the fight?`

✿ How do you think she’ll handle being outside the arena when it’s finished if she survives?

Please let me know your thoughts since they help me develop in my creative process! Thank you for reading. Lots of love.<3

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