"Where do we keep the dog, sire?" "Tie the traitor to one of the pillars. Don't forget to double the bindings; hybrids are notorious for their strength and speed. And wake the fucker up; we don't want him dying a peaceful death in his sleep, do we?" My eyes slowly fluttered open and I groaned. My gums were on fire now; it was taking everything in me to keep my fangs at bay. "Sleep well, piglet?", a voice said from behind me. Slowly, I strained my neck to check the source of the voice and I immediately regretted it. Pain laced through my side as I was probed with a molten rod.
A scream of agony escaped my lips, causing my oppressor to chuckle. What the fuck did I do to deserve this shit! My forehead hurt like hell; I felt like I had been hit with a steamroller! Glancing around, I discovered I was bound to a large pillar, facing a larger crowd. Oh great, I'm now being used as a source of entertainment. This should be how it felt when caught on a Candid Camera episode or Pranksters. My memories came flooding back like the River Sadur. Hybrid? How is that even possible? I had my doubts about being a normal vampire but being a hybrid never crossed my mind!
A rogue tear escaped my right eye and ran down my cheek freely. What did I do to deserve this punishment? From orphan ripper to hybrid traitor. I did not understand what was going on. A guard with a golden helmet walked up the stage (there was no mistake; he was a royal) and announced: "Now let us welcome the undisputed, knowledgeable,..." "Egotistical, treacherous, scheming, piece of shit. Yeah, we get it", I rudely interrupted. Chuckles and snickers started sprouting from the crowd. The royal guard looked at me like he was staring at dung on a sidewalk.
Before he could react, The 'king' rose to the stage and there was loud applause. He took a glance at me, making sure to reveal his red orbs. Was the fucker trying to intimidate me? I just lowered my head and focused on keeping my thirst. Honestly, I wasn't that scared anymore; the moment I was tied to this pillar, I was already dead. Slowly, King Faginus raised his hand, silencing the whole crowd. With a smirk plastered on his face, he took a bold step toward the crowd.
"This is what happens to people who dare cross me. Hayden Cinders is a member of the Cinder Coterie but did any of you know that he was also a spy? Y.A.N.A thought it was a good idea to play a dirty trick, eh? It is too bad one of their own is going to die today!"
Gasps of utter shock filled the crowd. This gave me a ray of hope that they didn't believe his words. Sadly, they all roared with anger in response. Bullshit. He was the king, quite alright, but that did not give him the right to throw false allegations and slander me! I was a vampire in my own right. Although I did not know my parents, Malachi could speak for me.
Couldn't he? I scanned the crowd once more while trying to block out the insults of the raging mob. My friends from high school, my ward, everyone was chanting one word: "Traitor!" I bet Felix was somewhere in the palace shouting 'traitor' too. Who was I kidding? If the King told them I was a unicorn that poops candy, they would still believe him. Here I was thinking that there was hope to gain favour. These were the sheeple; brainwashed by their treacherous leaders.
It was impossible to gain more influence on the masses than their leaders. Clenching my first with anger and determination, I quickly resolved that I would not be ridiculed further. As my gums threatened to explode, I frantically searched for possible escape routes and opportunities. Unfortunately, my eyes were met with countless guards positioned around the stage. Do they believe this jackass? I could not find any free exits. I also tried tugging on my bindings, straining them till my arms were sore. The chains rattled but didn't budge further. My head sank and I sighed in defeat.
For a vampire, I wasn't quite strong. I mean, I was strong by human standards (obviously) but I couldn't display the impossible feats that the royal guards of the coterie did daily. Lifting a couple of tons as a morning workout or casually moving at the speed of sound. I couldn't make people quiver at the sight of me or upon hearing my voice like the King. The only thing I could boast of was being quick on my feet. And that was because vampires were naturally agile creatures. I was just a regular, boring Hayden that couldn't control his thirst. Thirst. Thirst. THIRST. My eyesight was slowly gaining a red tint; I was about to be consumed by thirst.
The executor then approached me, gazing at me with his menacing, red eyes. At least I won't live to become a Ripper. He was a big, burly man who wielded a pillar-sized, battle axe. I swallowed the large lump in my throat; I may not be leaving this stage alive. All the gutsiness from before left me and my knees began to quake. This was it; I was going to be killed.
He showcased his set of brown fangs in an attempt to grin. His breath smelt like a horrible mixture of brandy and mouldy cheese. The smell made me wretch. The unkempt vampire snickered. "Any last words?", he sneered. I summoned my last piece of gutsiness, pride, and defiance and flashed him a smile. Pointing at my face, I said: "See? That's how it's done. You should take care of yourself before coming for an execution. Unless you want your victims to die of suffocation before they are beheaded. A little toothpaste and soap didn't hurt anyone." A low guttural growl rose from the executioner. "Nice words for someone about to die; didn't anyone tell you that DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES!"
He raised the axe over my head and I closed my eyes and accepted my fate. Swish! I heard the axe slice my neck. I felt my blood spray. But why am I not feeling any pain? I looked up to see a bronze sword protruding from the executor's chest. The red tint of his irises disappeared and his lifeless body dropped to the ground. In his place stood one of the last people I wanted to see: Felix.
With a powerful swing, my bindings were broken. "No time to explain, Hay. Let's get the hell out of this damn place!" I was confused beyond belief; wasn't he one of the royal guards who wanted me dead? At least you are alive. And extremely thirsty. My eyes had fully assumed their red tint. My lips hurt; my fangs mercilessly poked my lips, threatening to draw blood. I was a mess. But I was alive. At this point, that was all that mattered. I gave Felix a nod of approval immediately.
He turned to face the angry, blood-lusting crowd. "What the hell's going on? Who is that guard and why is he interrupting the execution?" The crowd was becoming agitated; they were here for blood but weren't getting it. Meanwhile, I was staring at Felix, trying to read his expression, but his jaw was clenched and his face was expressionless. What was he thinking? The sounds of metallic greaves hitting the ground were getting increasingly loud. "Uh, Felix? The guards are getting closer so if you have a plan…" "Try to keep up, Hay." Before I could make sense of what he was saying, his image blurred and Felix suddenly catapulted through the air and above the angry mob.
Asking one of the least athletic vamps to keep up with a royal guard. Was everyone high on something today? Landing as graceful as a swan, Felix took off towards the forest. I was not in shape for that kind of athleticism; the gash in my side still hurt like a bitch. I barely had enough energy to sustain a vamp-sprint so I decided to ram through the members of the crowd. Yells and hisses filled the air as I cleared my path of escape.
A sharp pain erupted in the side of my neck, causing me to hiss. It was then accompanied by the familiar, coppery scent of blood. One of them had managed to land a solid hit on me and the assault didn't end there. The mob descended on me, clawing, punching and kicking in my general direction. Fortunately, most of their attacks were thrown blindly and without caution, causing most of them to yelp as they unintentionally hit themselves. With one last shove, I was finally free from the crowd.
Clutching my wounded side, I ran after Felix with everything I had. The yells and hissings were becoming louder; they were now chasing me! My lungs burned as I struggled to keep up. Lucky for us, the execution demanded everyone be present so the guard posts littered around the area were empty. I focused on Felix's retreating figure as I ran. Panting like a dog, I urged myself on.
Damn, I couldn't do this anymore! Despite my pessimistic thoughts, I focused on the rapidly-approaching gate. We(Felix and I ) ran through the gate and into the forest without looking back. When we finally stopped, I was very exhausted. Thirst. Thirst. Drink. Feed! My gaze snapped to Felix, eyes glowing like neon signs. I can hold it; there are more important things on my plate. Plate. Plate… I shuddered when I realised what my mind was doing. I was slowly going insane. Slumping on a rock, I finally spoke: "Felix, I didn't know you became a guard." My voice was dripping with hurt and denial, laced with a bit of anger.
Friends didn't keep secrets like this from each other. "Where's my 'thank you for saving me, Felix'?", he replied. Thank you? The nerve of this fucker! I glared at him with so much intensity that he raised his hands defensively. "Easy there, bro. I became a guard a few hours ago. I was on my way to tell you the news when I heard the King's orders. I am not the enemy, Hayden." Still recovering, I heaved a great sigh. "So can you explain what is going on?", I inquired.
"Why is everyone after my head? Why is that douchebag that calls himself the king trying to kill me? Lastly, why did you attempt to impale me with your goddamn dagger!" That last part came out like a hiss, not a question.
Felix's body tensed a bit. He took two large steps back before he started speaking again."Dude, you are not going to believe what I'm about to tell you. Thanks for pointing that out but I'm not the trusting type anymore. I pried through the King's office when he was addressing the crowd. Then, I found your file. Your name is Hayden Darric, not Cinders. You are…" He paused for a second and continued: "Rather, you were from the Double-Fang Pack, destroyed when you were just a pup."
I looked at Felix like he had grown an extra eye. "Look man, you can choose not to tell me the truth. But telling me something as dumb as that? What the fuck, bro!" Felix sighed and sat down on a large rock. "Who is your father, Hayden? Or your mother. Do you know?", he asked with a straight face. Enough of this bullshit. I angrily scrambled to my feet and began walking away from my 'friend'.
Wind suddenly blew past me and Felix was standing right in front of me. "Hayden, you need to accept..." "Get the fuck out of my face, I growled." Felix took a quick step back. "This sudden anger, where do you think it is coming from?", he asked. I pointed directly at him. "You're the bastard riling me up and you dare ask such?" He shook his head. "Amongst all the creatures to ever exist, there is only one creature known to get irrationally angry: the werewolf." I suddenly stopped growling when I realised that I was growling in the first place. Clutching my hair, I shook my head. "This can't be happening."
Felix pulled out a couple of papers from his pocket and handed them to me. On the paper was a list of groups which I concluded were werewolf packs. Then I scanned the papers thoroughly, searching for the pack name Felix mentioned. Silver tooth, Hidden Claw, Allianz Pack, aha! I finally saw the name of my previous wolf pack. It was crossed out with red ink. Felix finally spoke up: "This is the King's list of packs. It was created during one of his genocidal attempts to erase werewolves from existence. Any name crossed out means that the pack has either been rendered useless or has been destroyed. Rumour has it that these packs had some sort of connection with Y.A.N.A."
I could not believe my ears. "B-But I drink blood! I have fangs just like a vampire", I stuttered. "Someone sired you and trust me, it gets worse. No hybrid of vampires and werewolves has ever existed; you're the first of your kind!" I looked at him to confirm what he just said. He nodded his head gently. "What did you just say? No, that is biologically impossible. The two essences would cancel themselves out and kill the host!" Felix just shrugged. I'm afraid I don't have all the answers. But if it were truly impossible, you wouldn't be standing here, would you?", he chuckled. Why didn't anyone discover this any sooner?
Still doubting him, I asked: "If what you found in the records is true, then why wasn't I killed sooner?" Once again, Felix shrugged. "Maybe they thought you were a spy and got sick of waiting for you to blow your cover. Or they wanted to use you to create a trap. Maybe, they even wanted to keep you for experiments." My head was spinning.
"Dude, I know it's a lot to take in but you have to believe me. Now that's aside, we have to set up camp; it's getting dark." This must be another bad, crazy dream. I pinched myself hard enough to draw blood. Yep, it's not. Felix and I walked further into the forest for a few minutes till we finally stopped at a clearing. "I'm going to gather materials for us to survive the night and scope the area", he said as he walked away. "Don't go anywhere; they might still be out searching for you and me."
He took one last glance at me and sprinted off into the thicket. I tore my eyes away from him and I looked up to the sky and discovered that night had fallen. To my dismay, the light glow of the moon was staring at me. I wanted to scream in frustration. Of course, it was a full moon. I bet I'm currently the most unlucky person in the world.