And Then There Was Seven …
The rain was easing, the steady pitter-patter being the only sound now, although a tree rustled, and a figure dropped to the ground.
Giddy did a quick scan, witches and vampires staring at her, not her vampires, enemy vampires. More than two dozen facing her, two dozen against one, so fleeing, attempting to flee made sense, so just run, run for your life.
Giddy twirled her machete and hissed. She never ran, never had, and she wasn’t about to start now. She looked at the startled faces staring at her, and she ran it through her mind. She needed a plan, and one came to her; Take out the bigger male vampires first, then slice up the rest of the males, then start chopping up the females, and then finish by tearing all the witches to pieces. She ran at Richard and Alan, the men surprised by the speed of the advance, and Elizabeth, on the enemy vampire’s blind side, leapt at her and brought her down.
Giddy heaved and tossed her off, then tried to get to her feet, but Alan and Richard came quickly and held her down. “Come on you fuckers, fight!” Giddy screamed.
Apollonia unclipped the handcuffs from her belt and tossed them to Livinia, and Livinia strode over and ordered, “Turn her over.”
Richard and Alan tried to roll her over, although she was thrashing around frantically, her jaws snapping at them. Alan rocked back to evade the creatures desperate lunge at him, and he cried out, “Shit!” Piper, and then Isabelle squatted down and grabbed an arm each, trying to subdue the creature, and Sophia raced in and bent the girl’s right leg, then hooked her arms under the knee and secured it a solid leg-lock. Giddy screamed and cursed, thrashing and bucking wildly, and Richard called out, “Lift and then dump the bitch on her stomach!” They relaxed for a moment, catching their breath, then Richard said, “One, two, three … now!” The five lifted then rolled her, the crazed creature still kicking and snarling, and Piper let go of her arm and jumped on her back, slamming the girl into the ground face first.
The five backed away to allow Livinia room to snap the handcuffs on, although after the cuffs had secured her wrists behind her back, Giddy squirmed away from them, and then using her elbows to push her up, she scrambled to her feet. With her shoulders hunched and her fangs bared, she hissed at them, and then surprisingly, she charged at Livinia.
Momentarily stunned, Piper regathered, leapt at her and tackled her to the ground. Glaring at her, Piper yelled, “Settle down ya fucking idiot!”
“Let me up!” Giddy screamed. “Gunna fucking choppa all yo fuckers up!”
Vicky tied her ankles, and Giddy kicked and wriggled as she hissed at her, “Let me up! Come on fight, I fight youse all!” Enraged and hostile, Giddy lifted her head, and she saw her, the skank staring at her. Snarling, she roared, “Blond Skank, pruddy blond skank, get here and fight me! I gunna choppa the fuck outta yo!”
“Piper, gag her and then you and Vicky take her to the basement and chain her up.” Livinia ordered.
Piper twirled a piece of material into a tight gag, although securing the gag was proving difficult as the hostile vampire thrashed around, her jaws snapping as she spat and hissed at her. “Turn her over guys.” Piper urged.
Four of them rushed in to help, and after a rocking, wriggling wrestle, they managed to flip her onto her stomach. Giddy screamed, “Give me the pruddy blond skank, shim belong to yo!” She sucked in desperate breaths, then yelled, “Me’s gunna choppa the fuck outta that blond skank!”
Piper dropped her knee into the middle of the vampires back, and as the creature screamed, she slipped the gag into her mouth and then pulled back hard and tied it tight. Piper stood quickly, grabbed her ankles, then began dragging her towards the basement. Vicky fell into stride, and as Piper dragged the crazed creature past Aleisha, Vicky saw the creature staring at Aleisha, her eyes ablaze with hatred and hostility. Apollonia saw the intensity in the vampire’s eyes, and she muttered to Aleisha, “I don’t think she likes you.”
Aleisha watched as the thrashing creature was dragged past her, and she said wryly, “Just quietly, I don’t like her either.”
Livinia faced the group and said, “Richard, Taylee, Scarlett, Alan, look after ours, and everybody else, we’ll take the bodies of our enemies into the cool room.”
Still coming down, still dazed and confused, Isabelle mumbled, “How come?”
Livinia drew in a stabilising breath, then said, “Vampire blood is valuable Isabelle, so we will drain our enemies then reap the rewards.”
Squatting again, emotional, grasped by so many flickering emotions, Elizabeth gazed around as figures began to move, the movements slow and unhurried, such a contrasting sight from the frenzied activity of only minutes before. She saw Richard and Taylee carry a body towards the dormitory, and she knew it was Sebastian. He who was so fearless and reckless, although she also knew, that he was no more. She saw Scarlett and Alan carry another body towards the dormitory, and she knew who that was as well … her Master. He who had given her this great gift, yet he whom she had openly despised, but He whom she now respected deeply, and as well … grieved for. She saw Piper, Vicky, Ruby, Isabelle and Sophia carting lifeless bodies towards the cool room; bodies belonging to their enemies. She saw figures in red, witches, slowly moving towards their leader, and Elizabeth gazed behind her and she saw Apollonia skimming the hair away from Aleisha’s face. Everybody accounted for, so Elizabeth stood, flicked open the side-straps of the armour, heaved the heavy vest over her head, and then dropped it to the ground. Bodies everywhere, so she would assist with carting the fallen enemies into the cool room, although first …
Piper and Vicky were trotting back out from the basement, and Elizabeth said, “I’m so glad you guys are alright.”
“Hey BB, love looking at your face right now,” Piper smiled, “Give us a hand will ya, shit-loads of carcases to drag in.”
“Yes, I will, but guys …”
“What?”
“Have you seen Mel?”
“Ummm, did I see her?” Piper wondered, “Arhhh, I’m not sure; Vick?”
“Ummm, ummm, I saw Soph, Rube, Isabelle, but no, I don’t think I saw Mel.”
Sophia and Isabelle trotted out of the cool room, and with a growing uneasiness, Elizabeth muttered, “Isa-Isabelle … is Mel down there?”
“NF, arrhhh, no, I didn’t see her.”
Piper saw Elizabeth’s hand fly to her mouth, and even though she was suddenly fretting, Piper said, “Hey, hey, she’s probably just slacking off somewhere, so let’s go and find her.”
They dispersed quickly, all of them suddenly anxious, and they all skipped around, looking at the lifeless bodies, and Vicky began trembling, because she suddenly realised what she was doing … looking at lifeless bodies.
All of them panicking now, turning bodies over, pulling helmets off, and Piper blubbered, “Mel, Melanie, where the fuck are you?” although she froze when she saw Sophia drop to her knees. From a hundred yards away, Vicky saw Sophia on her knees, Isabelle standing beside her, and alarmingly, Isabelle buried her face in her hands. Vicky snapped her gaze towards Elizabeth, and she saw Elizabeth hesitantly turning to look at the distraught figures.
“Piper, go, go and see what’s happening.” Vicky urged, then she hurried over and stood by Elizabeth’s side.
It could be nothing else, Vicky knew that, because both Isabelle and Sophia were crying, but she wished, hoped, prayed that it was something else, although the wish was extinguished in a single, despairing moment, as she heard Piper’s anguished moan, “Fuck, no …”
Elizabeth began walking rigidly, and Vicky grabbed her hand and muttered, “Beth, wait …”
Elizabeth stopped, drew in a breath, then she shook her hand free, and staring straight ahead, almost as if she were in a trance, she resumed walking.
Vicky, already emotionally crumbling because of the anticipated sight, skipped up next to her and fell into stride.
They stopped.
Face down, Melanie Coates lay, her left knee slightly bent, her right arm splayed out as if reaching for something, her left hand wedged underneath her, and the sword in her back told the story. Sniffling, Elizabeth glanced at Piper. Still shaking, Piper searched Elizabeth’s eyes, although in an instance, she understood the unspoken request.
Piper knelt by the body and tried to pull the sword up, although it was so deeply imbedded, that she had to brace herself for another try. With a grunt, she pulled, and the sword sluiced out with a liquid slush. Trembling, Piper and Isabelle gently rolled the body over, then with tears streaming down her cheeks, Piper looked up helplessly at Elizabeth.
Drawing in the deepest of breathes, Elizabeth gazed at Piper, then slowly she lowered her gaze as her hands joined together under her chin. Again, Piper understood the unspoken message, because Elizabeth’s wish was in her tear-filled eyes. Piper stood awkwardly and embraced Elizabeth, and then moved away. One by one, all the Pistols embraced her, then as a group, they moved away, leaving their sister to grieve in peace.
Elizabeth stared at her, knowing that her partner was no longer a part of this realm. She was so mortified, she didn’t know what to do, although strangely, her partner’s final words circled in her mind. Clumisly, Elizabeth knelt down beside her fallen sister, and with her hands shaking, she unclipped her necklace. She took a moment to gaze to the Heavens, then she gently slid the chain of the necklace under her partners neck, pulled the chain through, and then clipped it. Pulling the necklace tight, she centred the Saint Perpetua pendant on Melanie’s sternum, then she leant forward and kissed Melanie’s cheeks. Gazing at her, Elizabeth saw that her left eye had been cocked half-open, and blood was drying on the left side of her mouth and also across her chin. Delicately, Elizabeth coaxed the left eyelid down, then she ripped off a part of her own t-shirt, dabbed it under her own eyes to moisten the material, then as she began wiping the blood away, she sang for her, sang for the lover who could no longer hear her. She wanted to sing the song as it was meant to be sung, with a bright and optimistic voice, wanted to present the song as an ode of hope, she wanted her rendition to celebrate the glorious emotions that can fill ones heart, yet battle as she did, Elizabeth sang hoarsely and emotionally, but still, she knew that she’d get through the whole song before she collapsed completely, because her wife, her partner, her lover and soul-mate deserved nothing less …
You fill up my senses like a night in a forest,
Like the mountains in springtime,
Like a walk in the rain …
From a hundred yards away, the Pistols stood together as a group, and with heads bowed, they listened, and it was hard, difficult, because the fractured and tormented voice struggled with every line, every word seeming like a new battle, sniffling stutters and sobbing gasps punctuating the performance, and Elizabeth paused frequently to blubber out heart-breaking cries of anguish … but she kept going, kept singing, occasionally an entire sentence breaking through without a gut-wrenching interruption, and the Pistols, crying silently, willed her to get through. With their eyes closed and faces still bowed, the girls formed a circle, and they reached out for each other, holding hands, clasping tightly, seeking comfort from one another, and they were all relieved as Elizabeth hushed out the final line of the song, although the relief was short-lived, for only a few seconds flittered by before she started coughing, then blubbering, and then obviously inconsolable, Elizabeth broke down completely.
Piper raised her face and opened her eyes as she looked at the others sheepishly, although as a grim thought skipped through her mind, she let her head hang again; And then there were seven …
After the battlefield was cleared, Livinia waited for her clan to gather around her, and eventually everybody except Elizabeth stood before her. Livinia looked at them, saw their attentive gazes, all of them caked in mud and soaked in blood, although the great joy was that she was able to view their attentive gazes; then she looked at the bodies near her.
Cordeir lay on the ground, bound and gagged, while the witches had chained Troggo to a tree.
Two prisoners, two matters to be dealt with before this battle was officially over.
Taylee and Alan knelt by Cordier, and Taylee pushed down on Cordeir’s right shoulder, while Alan held down his left shoulder. Livinia glared at him as she stood over him.
Understanding revenge, fully aware of impending retribution, although Apollonia’s mind was travelling in the same direction, so she attracted Livinia’s gaze and said respectfully, “I know you busting to fuck him up, but he killed one of ours, so he belongs to me.”
Livinia stared at her, then slowly she swung her gaze back to the body on the ground, and she said coldly, “Sure, after I’ve finished with him, he’s all yours.”
Apollonia didn’t particularly like the sound of that, although sometimes one needed to take a cautious step backwards. A scuffle over ownership of the despicable creature could become unpleasant quickly, and Apollonia noted that there were more vampires gathering around than witches, and importantly, she had seen the blazing hatred in Livinia’s eyes. Apollonia frowned as she thought, Step back, accept what is left …
Livinia knelt over him, her knees locking in his trembling arms, and she said, “Richard, steady his head.”
Richard knelt behind his head, and with both hands on Cordeir’s forehead, he pushed down hard.
Emotionally hostile yet visibly calm, Livinia punched him hard on the right side of his face, just under his cheekbone by the side of his nose, and she kept punching, three, four blows, before she felt the bones fracturing. She steadied and then pounded the left side of his face in the same spot, savage, repetitive blows, until she felt the bones yielding. Livinia knelt over him and scissored a sharp fingernail under the right side of his nose, and quickly, blood oozed out and spread in a ragged pattern. Cordeir shrieked out a muffled cry of pain, and Livinia kept scissoring, opening a deep cut above his gums, then she did the same on his left side, and blood streamed into the cotton gag in his mouth. Thrashing around, Cordeir tried to howl, but he began spluttering in desperation as Livinia dug her fingers into the deep cuts and began pulling, yanking and jiggling. In so much pain now, the pain torturous and relentless, his whole body rigid as he felt everyone of her savage actions.
“Hold him steady.” Livinia said grittily, and then conscious of his protruding fangs, she wrapped all fingers of both hands over his exposed gums, then gripped her thumbs under his left and right side molars, and pulled again, hard, pulling towards her, each yank breaking and shattering bone fragments and severing more tissue, and with her biceps in taut aggression, she yanked for the final time.
Flitting in and out of consciousness, the last thing Cordeir saw before he blacked out, was Livinia holding his bloodied and fragmented top jawbone high above her head, like a trophy.
Panting with a wild array of emotions, Livinia pushed to her feet, and with the dripping jaw clasped in her right hand, she nodded to Apollonia.
“Girls, chain him and put him in the truck.” Apollonia said calmly, and quickly, three figures in red hustled over and bound the unconscious Cordeir in chains, while Apollonia turned and walked over to Troggo. Tall enough to look him straight in the eye, Apollonia snorted quietly, “You evil fucking monster, you ain’t going in the truck.”
The attentive witches understood the threat, and soon four bikes rolled forward. Jenna grabbed Troggo’s right wrist, then snapped a chain around it, and Troggo snarled, “Hey little witch fucker, get ya red jumpsuit off, and I’ll turn your body red with your blood!” Jenna ignored him as another three witches sprung into action, one chaining his left wrist, the other two chaining his ankles. “Yeah, little witch fuckers, I’ll be remembering all of you,” Troggo sneered, “Gunna hurt you fuckers so bad!”
The four witches strode to their bikes, and they snapped the other end of the chain to the steering column, then mounted the bikes. All bikes started with a roar, Jenna giving her bike stationery full throttle, the bike vibrating like a hostile beast, and Jenna, right at that moment, was a hostile Beast as she thought wryly, Hurt us? Don’t think so asshole, because you’re just about to be drawn and quartered by the PRW …
Vicky could sense what was going to happen, and she understood that this was vengeance at its deepest and darkest, although she simply couldn’t watch; two bikes on his right revving in an anxious strain, two bikes on his left, all tyres digging deep and spraying chunks of the manicured lawns behind them, and surprisingly, all riders sat calmly, staring straight ahead, both legs braced on the ground.
Apollonia glared at him as she said, “We never forgot about you and that other creep, and we been looking for you for eight years, because if any fucker kills a Pearl River Witch, the rest of the coven is never gunna stop until we have our revenge.”
Troggo smirked maliciously and spat out, “Yeah, I remember that little bitch; man, did we have fun with her!”
“Hmmm,” Apollonia grimaced in disgust, then said, “Just an observation here Fuckhead, your fun days are over.”
“Maybe not,” he replied quickly, “Let me go, because I could have some wicked fun with a black whore like you!”
Apollonia sneered at him, “Normally we take the blood, but you ain’t worth drinking, fucker.”
“Yeah, look at me bitch! You see me trembling, you see me shaking, huh?” Troggo yelled.
Apollonia huffed, then snapped back, “You too fucking stupid to be scared, mother-fucker!” Ablaze with disgust for the specimen before her, yet darkly aroused by his impending demise, she turned to the riders and said boldly, “Get the beasts revving Babies, cause this is blood and guts retribution for our fallen sister!” She swung around and glared at Troggo, then said through gritted teeth, “This fuckers gunna learn what happens when you mess with the Pearl River Witches!”
The bikes screamed and whined as the witches slowly began releasing the brakes, Troggo’s arms being pulled out to maximum span, his legs slipping apart as his ankles began spreading in opposite directions.
“I can tell ya ain’t scared fucker, but I’m predicting that you is just about to fall apart … literally.” Apollonia growled, then she paced away backwards, glaring at him, and after stopping, she looked at each rider, and then nodded.
The bikes screamed and roared, tyres spinning furiously on the grass until traction gripped, and the battle between man and machine, mechanical propulsion fighting against ligaments and bones, flared for the briefest of moments.
“I’m not scared of death, because I am Death!” Troggo screamed, and as the chains snapped erect and all the bikes shot forward, Troggo became a member of Death’s family.
When the limbs were torn out of their sockets, all the bikes hurtled forward, like shots from a gun, but the riders braked quickly, then slowed to a stop, and the bloodied and torn remains of Troggo slumped forward on the tree.
Apollonia looked around. The bikes were already idling back towards her and dragging the bleeding limbs, and to her left, the other witches standing obediently and waiting for instructions, while to her right, the vampires huddled together in silence. Apollonia took a moment to gaze towards the Heavens, and she muttered, “Sweet Nelly, I know it don’t bring ya back, but this was for you Baby.” Apollonia bowed her face, trying to understand or decipher the rage of emotions that swept through her; Killed the ass-hole? … tick! … Revenge for our coven? … tick! … Feeling good? … arhhh, dunno, not sure … although she realised that something significant had happened. When Jenna had raced back and told her that it seemed like another vampire clan had surrounded the Mephistopheles Clan, Apollonia’s first though had been, Jeez, that sucks, because I wanted to see Pretty Pretty again … although when Jenna added, And Mistress, one vampire was wearing goggles! Apollonia’s dismay had turned to anticipation; Goggles? … Troggo? … Cordeir and Troggo? Revenge, avenging one of the PRW’s fallen sisters had been the motivation for entering this fray, although effectively, her coven had saved the Mephistopheles Clan from being wiped out. Apollonia looked over at Livinia, then she walked towards her and said, “Request, if I may.”
“Tell me.” Livinia replied.
“This was your battle, and these are your grounds, so the spoils of the battle belong to you, although my girls worked hard, and as a reward, I request some blood.”
“And so it shall be.” Livinia replied. “My clan survived because of your intervention, so I will deliver half of the blood to you with pleasure, and also as a measure of our enduring gratitude.”
Vampires were the PRW’s greatest enemies, although on this night, the PRW had assisted a vampire clan in wiping out another vampire clan, and that meant that her new blond-haired vampire friend was still alive. Uncomfortable, but still ebullient as adrenalin bubbled through her, Apollonia asked shyly, “So what happens now, we hug?”
“I would be honoured.” Livinia replied.
And for the first time ever a Witch Queen and a Vampire Leader embraced.
And both of them knew that the embrace meant one thing; an unbreakable barrier had been broken.
*
Diary of Victoria Anne Stratton, 31 August 2018
I record this entry simply because I am able to, and I also record the entry to honour those who fell. If future ring-wearers ever see get to see this diary, they will know that the Sisters and Brothers of this clan fought with courage and honour to ensure the survival of the clan. And some of them fell.
The Pearl River Witches, one of our greatest enemies are responsible for the clan’s survival, and although it has not yet been written into our manifest, it is generally understood by the remaining members of the Mephistopheles Clan, that the Witches are enemies no more.
I gazed out my window this night, aware that summer has disappeared, yet I understood instinctively, that my innocence also disappeared with the fleeing season.
The violence and brutality that creatures can inflict on one another is in my mind and in my senses, for I have been a part of this, I have been a part of the chaos and mind-numbing destruction that war brings. Some fight for honour, and some fight for less than noble reasons, but all fight for survival. Most of us, our clan, did survive, although heroes of ours fell.
The Hammers lost two, two of courage and honour, fearless yet reckless in their actions, and Sebastian and Seamus were afforded a burial reserved for true heroes, and they were laid to rest in our cemetery.
The Pistols lost a Sister, one of us, although in our hearts and minds, Melanie Frances Coates will live on forever. One can die on one’s knees, or one can die in glory, and Melanie was of the latter, for her courage and loyalty will never be forgotten. Only one Pistol has achieved the lofty status of LEGEND, and it is she, the one who is no longer with us.
Tomorrow night, as a mark of respect, her Sister’s will stay by her grave from dusk until dawn, and we hope our presence will help guide her to her new home in the Kingdom of Mephistopheles.
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