Chapter 34 - Astrid

We step onto the cobbled road, the snow melting in some patches over the strong sunlight from up above. The road leads straight to the town square where I remember the lone clock tower when we first arrived in this country, and all the hustle and bustle of the street vendors and the youths. But as we walk through the town, I get an unshakable feeling that something's not right.

"What time is it?" I ask Rio.

"Almost noon," he replies with a scowl on his face reflecting the same worry that's hitting the pit of my stomach.

"Blood," Rio utters, sniffing the air.

Those of us who heard Rio utter the word try to sniff it out for ourselves. My nose leads me to somewhere at the back of the line. I look back to see a young man whose arm got ripped off by a swarm of vampires and smell the blood and medicine under his amputated dressing.

"And vampires," Alex observes, emitting a low growl at the back of his throat.

A wandering breeze hits my face and I wince at the sudden stench of death all around me that seems to have come from nowhere. The group begins to murmur uneasily now that the wind is passing all the way down. My ears twitch to the subtle creek of a wooden floorboard and the scutter of footsteps in the buildings nearby. I look up and catch sight of a figure swiftly moving out of view in the shadows.

"Stay in the sun," I advise the rest of the large group, gazing up at the clear sky, thankful for the Sun Goddess's blessing of the day.

A chain of whispers goes around warning of the vampires hidden in the shadow of the buildings nearby proceeding all the way down the line. To this, the vampires in the buildings start to talk among themselves.

"They're hungry," Ganzorig remarks. "Newborns."

Suddenly, a crazed looking vampire steps out from a front door, lunging at us. As soon as he steps out into the sun, his skin instantly sizzles and burns. He drops to the floor, too agonized to crawls back to the shade, and dies in a matter of seconds, his body turning into a lump of ash as a gust blows his remains away.

We hear the chime of the clocktower striking 12 pm in the town square up ahead. And I shudder at its echoes.

"Do you think Valentina's here?" Bianca asks over the chiming, agitated by the growing noise and the hisses from the buildings in the shadows.

Wherever the vampiress may be, I get the feeling that the decrepit soul that's possessed her body has something to do with all of these newborns. History is shaping up to repeat itself, as the First Son raises a new army of vampires.

When the chiming of the clocktower stops, the hisses and the noises from the buildings stop, too. And there in the middle of the town square, basking under the light of the sun, is Valentina shrouded in a cloud of black.

Her face is serene and her eyes are closed in contentment as she sits by the steps of the clocktower. Her black-and-white hair blows freely in the wind as does the billowing smoke from the black cloud encompassing her body.

The three of us approach cautiously—Rio, Bianca and myself—ready at any moment's notice to defend ourselves against whatever ploy The First Son may be playing at. Meanwhile, Alex and Ganzorig circle the outer rims of the town square ready to capture Valentina's body.

I scan the other buildings that are now in view, especially those to my right that come in the way of sunlight. A small head pokes through a window, curious at the scene below. Almost instantly, a hand shoves the head back, reprimanding in whispers. I wonder how long these survivors have hidden and how many more there might be.

"Come to ruin my day?" Valentina says, the many voices behind her chilling to my ears.

"Yes," Rio grunts in response.

"That's too bad," they speak, looking behind us at the group of tigers. "I was going to head back later tonight to feed my children but it appears somehow you lot have broken through their stubbornness."

Valentina's eyes are fully black and darker than the night sky itself. The sickly grey smile that grows on her face makes me shudder, but equally rouses anger and disgust within me. As much as I wish to lunge forward at the thing, I remind myself that Valentina is still somewhere in there.

"Was it you, tigress?" the voices hiss as she markedly looks at my right eye. "I should have known the Sun Goddess would be scheming against me. Perhaps I'll pay her a visit."

She holds a hand out and sighs, admiring the daylight ring upon her porcelain skin. Well, it was porcelain before, but appears to have taken on a shade of purplish grey.

"Ah, woe is me," say the voices. "All this power, all this speed, all this thirst, only to be beaten by the sun. It's all quite unfair, really. Sometimes I wished I was more like Luc, the pompous younger brother he was. With his dark curly locks, tanned skin and, most of all, the love and attention he was ungratefully given."

"Stop your lamenting," Rio shouts. "And give us Valentina back."

The black smoke shifts and shakes as a bellowing laughter emerges from Valentina's pale lips.

"You remind me of Luc, boy. It sickens me."

She gets up from the steps of the clocktower and floats away swiftly and soundlessly.

Alex and Ganzorig, both shifted into their beast forms, chase after the dark cloud. Alex's brindle-coated wolf lunges forward, snapping his jaws at the dark cloud but gripping nothing. She chuckles menacingly, mocking the two of them as she leads them on an aimless chase.

The three of us spring forward into action, with Bianca's white wolf running a good stretch ahead of us. In a short moment, she surpasses Alex. Her size appears somewhere between Alex and Ganzorig, but the delicate balance of her body as her legs push to keep her momentum rock solid propels her even further. Suddenly, she bursts forth and somehow manages to tackle the unsuspecting black cloud to the ground.

Valentina gasps as she tumbles and gets pinned under Bianca, ferociously snapping at her.

"Bianca, please," I hear her plead, without the eerie voices of the First Son, "It's me."

The white wolf shakes her head and huffs, distressed by the voice.

"Please, Bianca," Valentina continues. "Help me."

As Rio and I approach in the distance, Alex and Ganzorig reach there first. Alex slows down a few paces, but Ganzorig, fuelled by a rage spurred on from last night's attack, roars and goes straight for the fallen vampiress's neck. With his body, he shoves Bianca aside, but in doing so, makes himself vulnerable.

Valentina screams. At first, it is only her voice, but soon the other voices follow. Two grey hands appear from the smoke on either side of Ganzorig, decrepit and grey, unlike Valentina's at all, with black claws elongating. She plunges them into his ribs and we hear the crunch of the bones caving in. He lets go and roars deafeningly in pain.

The black shroud that is Valentina's body, engulfs the grey hands and head as they sink into the dark mass. The smoke then expands around Ganzorig's fallen body, moving away, further and further out into the distance, too far and too quick to follow.

Alex instantly shifts back and kneels by Ganzorig's side as Rio and I approach. Bianca stands by, watching the black cloud disappear, whining at the missed opportunity.

"You're okay, buddy," Alex comforts the panting Ganzorig, growling in warning as Alex moves to touch his wounds. "We need to reset your bones before you shift back." He turns back to Rio, who is now also in human form. "Hold his head so he doesn't bite me."

I watch as Rio wraps his arms around Ganzorig's head, his hold laxed for now, but muscles tensed up to keep his jaws shut.

"Astrid, I could use your help holding his legs," Alex calls.

I hesitate to shift back, but only for a moment, as I swallow my insecurities and resolve to help my fellow fallen tiger.

"One, two..." and on three, Alex snaps back four ribs back into place one after the other.

At my end, the thrashing is a little hard to hold down, but Rio holds his end well, appearing calm and collected, holding Ganzorig's head with total control as the tiger whines and breathes raggedly. We flip him over to the other side, but this time, Alex goes on two, taking advantage of the surprise.

On the last snap of the rib, the tiger goes limp. I gasp, looking at Rio hoping he hasn't died.

"He's going to be fine," he reassures me.

Ganzorig moves slightly under my grip and I reflexively hold down, but realize he's shifting back in his unconscious state. In a moment, there lying before us is a deeply bruised man with scars up and down his body. The only scar we saw on him was the big one across his face. I ponder how each scar was made and how he'll have a few more now.

"Let's get him out of the cold," Alex suggests. "We need a bedsheet or something to cocoon and carry him. He's quite fragile right now."

I follow Rio into the nearest building as he breaks down the door in one swift kick. Without hesitation, Rio heads towards the stairs. I look around to find a couple of coats hanging by the front door we've just smashed in to cover my naked body with. Then suddenly, I hear a woman screaming upstairs and a man shouting as Rio opens a door. After a short scramble, he emerges with a bedsheet.

"There's a family hiding up there," he says. "Stay here and keep an eye. Alex and I will bring Ganzorig in."

Rio unexpectedly steals a kiss from me then goes on his way.

I hesitate to go upstairs myself. What would I say and would they even understand that we mean no harm? Instead, I decide to plug in the electric heater that is neatly stacked against the wall and point it towards the sofa.

Within seconds, Rio and Alex manage to haul Ganzorig in, slinging him in between the bedsheet. Bianca doesn't follow.

A pang of worry hits my chest as I rush out to check but find nobody following nor standing in the spot stained by Ganzorig's blood. My eyes follow the trail of pawprints in the shallow, melting snow to where they disappear in the distance. I quicken my steps back to Rio and tell him what's happened.

"We have to follow her," I plead, the adrenaline of the chase spurring me on.

I won't let Bianca slip away from me again. Not when we've got a clear idea of where she's headed.

Rio agrees but orders Alex to stay behind and take care of the tigers, hoping we catch up to Bianca in time.

I hesitantly take off the heavy coat I found in this house and return it, feeling a little more confident in baring my body even in front of Alex. Rio gazes at me tenderly and smiles, then places a soft kiss on my lips.

"Embrace who you are," he whispers. "Because who you are is beautiful."

As much as I'd love to steal a few more seconds, time is of the essence to catch up to Bianca. Her Sigma instincts may be driving her forward—who knows, they may have been from the very moment she left Silver Bow—but she doesn't have to be alone in spite of it. She's got me and she's got Rio, and together, we are a powerful trinity to be reckoned with.