Blood dripped down Stephen's face as he looked up to one of the Black Pentagram members with a pair of blazing hands. His face tattered with open wounds and purple bruises from brawling with Bruce. He looked to him with a very displeasing look and he lunged him again in a flash. Grabbed the back of his head and gave him a obliterating gut smack.
He threw up a few pints of blood at the force of his punch. But giving up is a fantasy away. So he grabbed Bruce by his shirt and gave him a head butt. Sending him falling backwards a few steps.
"You're not so stubborn, are you", Bruce sighed at his face and wore another furious face as he dashed forward in a flash and showered Stephen with a dance of life ending attacks. So strong that it almost pulverised his bones at the moment.
"Hah, not so much", Stephen gave him a teasing smile and he grabbed him by his neck and crashed him down to him back. He pulled his wings and rolled him over and threw him forward before dashing like lighting and gave him a godly nudge.
Bruce winced at the impact of his crash but being a tough that he is, he just pulled himself off and dusted his coat like nothing really happened.
Hubert, a few meters away from them set a few feet from the ground with his golden eyes illuminating in the dark. His hands spread wide as purple coloured vines wiggled up from the ground and harassing Justin and Jessica.
The twin launched at him in a combo, Justin low key releasing an invisible shield as Jessica flashed forward in a form of a demon. Her eyes glowing red in the midst of crawling fog with her horn pulling back her white wavy hair. Her claws, so shard like razors dipped in blood stains. And her movement and physical attacks keep on rising every minute.
"What a vile type of gift", Hubert gave him a disgusted look as he threw his arms forward and tunnel of flames rose up like an erupting volcano. His death preying didn't work like it should be since his enemies are not supernatural creatures. His eyes widened at the sight of the demon that is Jessica flickered in front of him and gave him a sharp scratch. He fell down hard as he covered his face in pain. He's a caster so he's not used to fighting physically. He looked up to her a few meters from. Then suddenly a pair of hands grabbed his arms from his back.
"Gotcha", Justine whispered with a sinister look on his face. He pulled Hubert up and kicked him hard sending him forward to Jessica. She grabbed him by his neck with her hand so big that it could crash him at any moment.
"Wrong move", Hubert gritted his teeth and casted a spell that instantly blocked their air passages making them struggle to breathe.
Jessica returned to her normal form at the loss of oxygen on her reach. She threw her hands to Justine who's also coughing hard in breathlessness.
Hubert flipped back and tapped the ground. An earthquake shook the ground as shards of spikes sprouted like steam of sharp razor blades slashing and piercing through the twins. Bruce saw the situation and flickered at the back of him and knocked him crashing down to the ground with a backhand strike. Hubert threw up blood at the might of his impact—his air-cancelling spell worn out and the twins launched at him in a synchronous combo hit.
"Hubert!", Stephen screamed as purple and red orbs hovered above Hubert and crashed him down once again. His screams filled the air and reached Darwin's ears.
Darwin looked at him from the opposite direction as he dealt with Erickson and Kristina singlehandedly. A great amount of fury drowned him at the sight of his mate under attack by a twin disaster.
"Letting your guard open?", Kristina appeared on his back and grabbed him by neck and slammed him backwards.
Erickson moved his hand as the ground opened and swallowed Darwin down. But he's not something they could easily take down.
"Any last words?", A strong beat dropped the time to a temporary halt. With their movements in slow motion leaving only Darwin on his normal pace. His shadowy figure rose up with a malevolent expression and showered them both with a fatal blow that no one could ever catch up.
Time went back to normal and the only thing can be heard is the whining scream of Erickson from the big scratches and open wounds and Kristina's whimper from her decapitated legs. Darwin looked down back at them with a dangerous look and gave another eerie sensation.
"So, who shall have the first bite?", His voice almost infused in the flowing air as he whispered.
Hubert screamed again at the claws of Jessica digging on his back with Justine giving him lighting strength smack and kick.
Stephen and Bruce on the other side of the field, exchanging attacks with only Bruce taking the upper hand by the lack of Stephen's weapons.
"Surrender to the light officer Stern", Bruce gritted his teeth as he blocked Stephen's attack with his arm.
"Not until you beg for your life", Stephen gave him a strong uppercut sending him flying upwards then he flickered on top of him and rolled over lancing a sharp back kick on his guts. His impact shook the ground.
Jessica and Justine looked at them. They exchanged look before pulling Hubert up from the ground and moved forward towards Bruce in a flash. He grabbed Hubert by his shirt while he fell down on his knees covered in harsh bruises and open wounds.
"I can easily rip his life out the hell of him", Bruce lift his hand and a golden sword appeared. Justine and Jessica looked at Stephen with an intimidating and threatening look.
"Leave him. Leave him alone", Stephen swallowed the lump on his throat trying to console Bruce not to hurt him.
"Surrender. Surrender the Blood Winter and take him to the institute", Bruce pulled back his arms and held Hubert by his neck.
"No! Do not let him get big brother!", Hubert pleaded Stephen under his breath. Blood started dripping from his eyes. His caster vessels were blocked by Bruce's gift so he can't cast a spell anymore.
"What a brave soul", Justine let out a chuckle and stabbed an invisible dagger on his heart.
"How does it feel chasing your breath?", He added with a taunting smile.
Hubert shut his eyes in pain as Justine rolled the knife inside his heart. His screams roared like a thunder. Darwin looked at them in absolute anger.
Erickson and Kristina suddenly fell down into a magic circle and dropped beside Bruce and Jessica. Now they stand across Stephen and Darwin with Hubert as their hostage.
"It's easy. You both surrender and he lives", Bruce gave them a teasing look. His arms extended and circle of golden swords appeared above Hubert.
A great silence suddenly passed them at a moment with Darwin across the field and behind Stephen, smiling like a devil. His smile became snicker and snicker became chuckle and then into a full laughter. A sinister laugh that sent shivers to Stephen's spine.
Stephen looked back at him with a shocked face. Darwin laughing with his eyes in gleaming crimson in the dark, he held Hubert with his left hand and a heart with his right hand.
He turned to look at the Black Pentagram. Their eyes full in shock looking at Darwin, then they turned to their side in unison to see a big whole in Jessica's chest. Anger and fury flowed like lightning into Bruce's nerves at the sight of his squad just got killed.
"Imbicile!!!", Bruce screamed as he dashed forward meeting Darwin in the middle as he launched forward in his ultra speed.
The ground vibrated at the their clash. Brawling so fast that their eyes cannot keep up with their movements. Stephen ran and grabbed Hubert with his arms while the other members of the Black Pentagram surrounded Jessica. Justine weeped in pain at the death of his twin sister. They looked at Stephen with an angry look.
"Hey,hey wake up. You gotta be ok", Stephen whispered as he brushed Huberts hair and carried him to the side. He looked up to see Darwin and Bruce exchanged attacks.
The battle just stopped in a heart beat. Everyone looked up to the two clashing spirits floating a few meters away from the ground. Bruce gripping Darwin through his neck and crashed them together down the ground, so hard that the land cracked with the impact. Dust and fog covered them while in the middle. To everyone's shock, they wind washed off the vague and blurry battlefield to reveal Darwin on his knees, digging his nails hard on Bruce's arms as he covered his eyes with both of his hands. Bruce's eyes turned blood red and he chanted something in an unknown language. He let go of his palm on Darwin's eyes and flickered back to the rest of the Black Pentagram.
"If we can't kill him through his physical body. Then we kill him through his mind", Bruce turned to his mates with an eyebrow raised then looked back to Stephen and Darwin.
Darwin went to his knees then on his fours. Tears falling down from his eyes as familiar images and scenes flashed his minds in a storm. His voice shakily cracking up in pain as he looked at the ground. Suffering the pain caused by an old scar opened.
"Taste the pain of humanity", Bruce's eyes turned gold as magic circles appeared on top of them and disappeared. Leaving Stephen, Hubert and Darwin in the battlefield.
"No! Mama! No! No! Papa!!!!!! Dahlia!", Darwin's voice cracked at his own shaking and in pain. He let out a loud scream of agony, pain, suffering and betrayal. His tears flowing out like rivers of regrets and disappointment as he looked at his palms.
"Stooooooop! Pleasee stooooop!", He screamed once again as images of his family's slaughter and his demise keep flashing endlessly in his mind. The biggest and the worst turning point of his life that he tried to bury now haunts him like a lion feasting on a rat.
Stephen put Hubert down on the ground and ran towards Darwin. He grabbed Darwin's face to face him and was surprised to see that his usual grey eyes turned hazel in color. Absolute pain and agony mark his innocent eyes as tears keep falling down his cheeks.
"Hey vampire! What happened?", Stephen asked but Darwin just shook his head and didn't answer him. He looked down still crying and sobbing about something that truly hurts him to the core.
"It was him, that guy. He must have awaken his humanity that he already killed a few centuries ago", Hubert sat beside them. He managed to heal himself after Bruce abandoned the place. His caster vessels were back to normal. He looked down at Darwin and gave him a tight hug.
"Brother, hey listen. The past is in the ash, remember? The pain shall never last", Hubert caressed his back with his hand.
"It happened so fast, I mean they are both so fast that both my mind and my eyes cannot keep up", Stephen gently tapped Darwin's shoulder.
"It was his humanity. The point in his life where pain is truly excruciating and agonizing that it kills him every time he wake up in the morning. Watching your family getting slaughtered in front of your eyes and watching your self getting abused and killed by some people when the only thing that you did was to run and save your life. Humanity is his worst weakness and now his nightmares are awakened, and these are the feelings that he had when he's still human. Something that he buried hundreds of years ago. It feels like fighting something you cannot touch. The worst man in the world suffered the worst pain. Yet no one dared to understand him", Hubert replied with a concerned look.
Stephen looked at him then to Darwin. He saw how pain consumed him at the moment and at the same time, the first time he saw a side of a story that no one ever told. The story of an innocent young man.