Blood was everywhere as a loud roar of a jungle cat was answered by what seemed like countless of others.
"Vampyres!" shouted a voice from behind Levi. It was clearly not one of his own men as at least 50 men, all dressed in black, rushed forward carrying both guns and swords in their hands.
The newcomers managed to push back the vampires enough to give the humans a chance to run, but it was a short bit of relief.
Soon, more vampires poured out of the huts, once again overwhelming the human team and those sent to help them.
"How the fuck is there so many of them?" grunted Sasha as he slashed off the head of one vampire who had Levi pinned against the trunk of a tree. "There shouldn't be enough food around here to support a House of this size."
"I never thought I would say this, but I really wish the myths were true. Life would be much easier if the sun could just finish them all off," snapped Levi, unloading a whole clip of bullets into three vampires, only to have them keep moving forward.
Sasha rolled his eyes but paused for a second. "There is no way that they should be able to do that," he grunted, pointing to the vampire that had half of his head blown off, still stumbling forward. "That's not possible," he repeated, taking out his phone.
"Boss. We have a problem. I am going to need everyone here, and I needed it yesterday," yelled Sasha into his phone before a vampire speared him from behind, sending the phone flying out of his hand.
Another vampire stepped on it as Sasha rolled over to fight the vampire on top of him. The… thing… kept lunging at his neck, trying to rip the whole thing out.
Pulling out a Van Helsing blade from his belt, Sasha started stabbing the creature wherever he could reach. Two stabs to the temple, countless to the neck… both monsters were covered in blood…
And still, the vampire fought.
"Ah…. So the Knights have found us…" smirked the vampire who had crushed Sasha's phone beneath his heel. "Pity… for you."
The creature looked down at where Sasha was lying on the ground, bleeding out from where his neck was ripped, the smirk on his lips never fading in the slightest. He inspected his pitch-black fingernails, flicking a piece of dirt out from beneath them as Sasha continued to fight… never stopping for a second.
"You have no idea what you have done," grunted Sasha as he grabbed the creature's head in his hand and pulled back. Once its teeth were no longer buried in his neck, he slit his throat, continuing to hack away until the body fell sideways, the head still in Sasha's hand.
"Oh, but I know exactly what I have done. I have created the perfect species. Neither human nor monster, but something far greater than the two. You see… an angel whispered to me a way to give vampires demon blood. Humans make us strong… demons make us invincible."
"What?" whispered Sasha, too shocked to even move.
Taking the opportunity. The Head vampire reached forward and picked up Sasha off of the ground and held him out in front of him. "The Houses have their own Covenant… but there are so many more monsters out there than just us…"
The hybrid smiled, flashing his teeth as he ripped Sasha's head entirely from his body before tossing the two pieces in either direction.
"Now, who's next?"
Levi looked up at the tree canopy as a swarm of vampires descended on him, ripping him apart. "I am almost insulted that you aren't drinking from me," he murmured, looking between the monsters killing him to a single line of light streaming down from the sky onto him. "It was an honor to be one of your men…"
The squelching sound as his head was ripped off of his torso was the last thing he heard before there was blessed silence.
"Levi!!!!" screamed Dom as he watched his best friend and brother being torn apart by the monsters they had been sent to kill.
He lost the jaguar form and turned to a shape much more basic. He grew taller, his bone shifting until he was part man, part beast. His stomach collapsed in on itself as his backbone protruded even more. His ribs were visible, the muscles of his body disappearing until he looked like nothing more than a skeleton covered in skin.
His mouth and nose elongated until they transformed into a muzzle, with massive teeth splitting the skin of his lips. Blood dripped down from them, but he simply licked it up, a smirk on his face.
Shaking his head, he took in a deep breath as gigantic antlers sprung from his temples, their length easily twice the size of his current width.
This was how he was born. This was his first form… neither man nor beast, but a mixture of both… and neither.
"Levi!" he roared, sprinting toward the abominations that had taken him away. His skeletal hang reached forward and easily encompassed the head of the closest vampire, tearing it away from its neck.
He repeated this over and over again until the vampires turned on him like a nest of ants descended on their prey.
Dom pulled a vampire that was trying to climb up his back off over his head and sent it flying in the other direction, but it still wasn't enough. More and more took its place until one vampire bit down on his knee, sending him crashing to the ground.
Letting out a bellow of his own… both a warning and a promise… he fought to the bitter end… not once stopping until there was nothing else.
-----
I was cuddled in Nicholas' lap, watching some show or other on TV, when the first bit of pain hit me.
I arched my back up as what felt like hundreds of claws ripped through my body, tearing me apart again and again….
Frantic, not really caring about the fact that Nicholas was screaming at me, I plunged deep into myself and into the threads that I knew were there.
I reached for Levi's thread, only to have the bright pink string completely fall apart at my gentle touch.
"Levi!" I screamed, not at all aware that I was screaming in the real world, too. Now, more frantic than ever, I reached for Sasha's thread… only to have the same thing happen to him.
My head and my hand snapped around, finding Dom's thread with my eyes closed, only to see the black string disappear without a trace…
Greyson's thread was still there… faint… but there.
Three of my men were dead…
And that wasn't acceptable.
"Take me to them," I commanded Nicholas, coming out from the webs and holding out my hand to the demon in front of me. "Take me to them now."