Saints Of Satan Chapter Eight

Before long we had reached the borders of the northern region, the tell tale signs in the wilderness confirming that we were nearing our destination.
As we made our way across the land the grass accumulated frost, the trees grew less and less dense, their once majestic branches now torn bare of leaves. The temperature began to drop rapidly with each passing day, only our tough exteriors and warm blood keeping us going. As another week passed by we found ourselves amidst snow strewn ground, the odd storm bringing about a fresh blanket of pure white flakes, smothering the land and covering us from head to toe. Any mortal would not have survived the journey without sufficient equipment.
Our conversations began to shorten, the cold seeping into our bones making it essential to conserve energy and heat. We had fed at the last possible moment before the journey into the harsh wilderness of the northern region, bleeding dry a couple amidst the last settlement before the mountains. If we could not find the northern clan within a few weeks, we would not make the journey back.
No one knew exactly where the northern clan lay, only that it was amidst the mountains under the cover of snow.
My mind began to turn to how I would actually convince the clan to help. At the time I had began the journey out of sheer hope and desperation, but now I began to wonder if it would all be in vain.
Even if we found the clan, who would be to say they listen to our plea and not just kill us on the spot. They were known for their neutral state in the affairs of the clans, which was the main reason I had chosen them above all else. However, the fact they cared not what happened in the other regions would prove difficult for me to convince them to assist us on re-taking the clan.
I would have to hope they would put aside their morals and help us, especially with the coming prophecy.

♦

Midnight. The freezing temperatures had stripped us bare of energy and disrupted our plans to travel by night. Ice cold winds ravaged us as we battled across the endless sea of white abyss. By night the temperatures hit below minus thirty, and before long we were ground to a halt, the climate overcoming our will and forcing us to seek shelter.
An out cropping boulder provided us with shelter from the harsh wind, but the struggle against the cold had to be overcome with body warmth.
I drew close to Marias shivering form, her skin cold to touch but gratefully comforting. As we held each other close beneath the damp boulder, I couldn’t help but listen to her every breath, and feel the beat of her heart against my chest.
Before long exhaustion overcame us, and we were asleep without even realising it, our body warmth keeping us from freezing as we slept through the rest of the night.
Come morning I awoke to find Maria still asleep, her arms drawn tight around me, her sub conscious mind seeking warmth. The temperature had risen, but not by much, the fresh snow signalling it was still below freezing.
I blinked, flakes of frost cracking under my brows and floating down to the ground, forming a small pile atop the hard ground.
Looking outside, I could almost imagine the sun’s rays rebounding off of the now almost metre deep snow covering, the thought of venturing from beneath the boulders protection absurd.
With that, I rested my head against Maria’s, breathing her scent as I allowed sleep to overcome me once more.

♦

I was a spirit, a spectator of the world before me. No fear bedevilled me, only an oddly calm sense of peace. My eyes wandered over the scene below, as I watched Maria striding through the stone corridors of the clans realm. Beside her were Jeremiah and Jonathon, each of the trio baring weapons and determined looks upon their faces.
I winced, as a brief memory of the underground ordeal flashed through my mind, but in an instant it was gone again. As they turned a corner I felt myself slowly trail behind, not walking but simply gliding through the air.
After a few moments I realised I actually had no form, but for some reason this did not bother me in my surreal state.
The enormous doors to the great hall loomed before us, and as the trio looked to each other I felt panic began to build within me, fear for the lives of my friends pushing aside the calm and overpowering it with thought of death and sorrow.
I attempted to call out, warn them what lay on the other side, that they would as surely die as I would grieve for their loss. My attempts were to no avail, and I watched as the door flung open and brilliant light shone on the other side, enveloping the trio in a blinding instant and racing for me.
I was flung backwards by some unknown force, the light gaining on me with extraordinary speed. There was a brief pause as I reached the wall, then the light soared into me, radiating power as it engulfed me whole.
A single word rang out amidst the raging inferno the light had brought upon me, ‘Maria’.

My eyes snapped open. Light bore down upon my pupils and for a moment I was split between reality and the dream world. A moment passed as my brain clicked into an awake state, and I became aware of beady droplets of sweat running from my forehead. As I took in my surroundings and my eyes adjusted to the blinding light reflected form the snows surface, my heart skipped a beat. Maria’s form was no longer beside me.
I desperately looked about the hollow beneath the boulder, searching for her, fear for her well being and the grievance if she was harmed overcoming me as I did a three sixty to no avail.
“John?” relief flooded through me, and looked to my right, Maria stood there holding a pile of moss strewn branches. With a smile I stood and embraced her, she was taken aback, but held me too, soothing me as she realised the state I was in.
The logs tumbled to the floor, and I smiled as I held her close. I closed my eyes, and found that this small motion would prove to be the worst mistake of my life.
Maria’s form suddenly stiffened, and I frowned, a sharp prick in her chest drawing my own blood. I held her by her shoulders and pushed away slightly, frowning as I looked at the vampiress I loved.
Shock enveloped me, and I felt as though my heart had stopped altogether. Maria’s face was contorted with shock, and would stay that way forever.
A single bolt protruded from her chest, its tip wet with my blood and her own. She let out a slight breath, her last, and slumped against me, her eyes unseeing as they bore into my chest.
Backing into the hollow, I found myself in utter disbelief, shock completely enveloping me as I looked down at Maria’s still form.
A second passed, lasting an eternity, where all my fond memories of Maria were swept away by fates cruel hand. With this, the shock too was thrown aside, and an inferno of rage stronger than any I had ever before felt overcame me. Shaking with pure fury, I laid Maria to one side and stalked purposefully out of the hollow.
Four men confronted me, vampire hunters, presumably having tracked us from the village seeking revenge for the couple we had bled. They bore various arms, but Maria’s killer now aimed his crossbow at my own chest, his face contorted with fear as I stared him down with dreaded determination.
He squeezed the trigger, and I flicked my hand up, catching the bolt an inch before my heart and crushing it to splinters with my bare hand. One of the men looked to his comrades with sheer terror, throwing aside his shotgun and fleeing through the snow.
Ignoring him, I advanced on the three men left, one holding a large hunting knife, the other a small fire arm. The one with the gun shot at me but I had already pounced, my eyes set dead Maria’s murderer. In a flurry of fists I pounded his stomach until blood cascaded over his lips, my onslaught having punctured his intestines and breaking most of his ribcage.
I left him to bleed out as I turned to the other two, letting out an unearthly roar as they in turn began to flee in separate directions.
In a haze of sheer fury and bloodshed, I brutally ended each of the men’s lives, collapsing as the last one fell and allowing myself to be overcome with sorrow. The pain that the hunters had caused me was indescribable, no amount of tears of bloodshed could heal the blow they had delivered me.
After I while, I found myself stumbling back to the hollow, where I gently took Maria’s form, tears pouring from my eyes, and held her close, savouring her smell, the feeling of her body against mine for one last time.
My howls of grief seemed to echo throughout the mountainous region, and I lost all care for the world outside the hollow and Maria’s side.