98 Staying On Track

I get into the car, avoiding as much broken glass as possible. Aston plops himself in the seat next to me, looking like a cold drowned soul coming back to the living world for revenge. I try not to smile as I use my magic to help him dry.

He mutters a "Thanks" as he checks his gun and phone. I can't help but see him in a slightly different light. In his mind, he was really willing to die to protect me or at least die trying. Not many people would do that.

Unfortunately for him, I don't plan on letting him sacrifice himself for me.

Before we leave, I use my magic once again to rebuild the window. As soon as it's fixed, I look up at Vance and say, "There, you have your window. Let's go before more decide to show up." Aston gawks at the window as Vance's smile of amusement grows.

He put the car in gear and takes off saying, "You know, Witches aren't as bad as they're made out to be. It wouldn't be bad if you stuck around a little longer once you're done with your revenge." I glance back at him in the mirror as I smirk and say, "While that does sound interesting, I have a little nightmare I've grown fond of and he's waiting for me."

Vance's smile grows even more, almost as if he expected it, but he nods and says, "Nightmare? Then yes, it's best you return then. I don't want any nightmares coming here." Aston listens to the whole thing with narrowed eyes, but he doesn't ask anything.

As soon as we get closer, I say, "Look for an exit or a road that leads west. I'm guessing this house is out in the woods." Vance nods in understanding as we proceed in silence. I'm sure his Vampire vision allows him to see a lot better than Aston and I.

Sure enough, he finds it and without him, I may have missed it. It's a small dirt road but you can clearly see that it's taken care of because the road is smooth. Vance turns the lights off and slowly drives forward.

I see Aston tensing so I softly say, "He's a Vampire Aston... he can see in the dark just fine." Vance snorts but doesn't say anything as Aston turns in my direction. I can't see anything because it's so dark but knowing him, he's glaring at me.

Vance slows the car to a stop and quickly turns the engine off as he says, "Any closer and they may notice us." I nod and reach out with my magic, looking for signs of magic spells or traps but what I sense has me pausing.

Are those... shifters?

When Aston reaches for the door, I reach out and grab his arm. He freezes and turns back to me in silence. I softly whisper, "Shifters... they have shifters here." Vance practically hisses as he says, "Nasty creatures. The witches must have cut a deal with them."

I literally want to beat something until it's bloody. Why is everything so damn complicated!?

I take deep calming breaths before saying, "Well, I guess we should go in and say hi." Aston jerks back in my direction, no doubt giving me a "WTF" look but I'm grateful I can't see it. I may have just punched it clean off his face.

I open the car door and get out. Aston curses but quickly follows.

Vance chuckles as he lights another cigarette and follows us at a leisurely pace. I try my best to taper my anger, but I was failing miserably. As soon as we get close to the large house, three shifters appear before us. They either heard us or smelt us. Vance's damn cigarette doesn't help.

They growl in warning as the one in front says, "This is private property, leave." I snort and say, "Yeah, not gonna happen. Either move or die, I have no more patience." Now that we were out of the car, the moonlight provided some light making it possible to vaguely see them.

The shifter in front pauses before saying, "What the fuck is this? A Vampire with a Witch and her Guard?" I sigh in irritation as I say, "They're just parts of my harem, wanna join? I have room." As I say this, I quickly summon my magic, making a long and wickedly sharp blade.

It arches up through the air and cuts through them within the blink of an eye. They blink, standing in confusion as I say, "Ah, never mind. I don't like the way you look." Their heads fall off at different points as they all fall to the ground silently. Now I understand why Vance lit the cigarette. It covered our scents.

I look over to Aston and say, "Don't use the gun unless absolutely necessary. If you shoot it, they will hear it and run." Aston nods, looking at the three dead shifters with a conflicted look on his face.

Vance softly whistles as he says, "Remind me to never piss you off again. I like my head... both of them." I softly snort as I say, "As long as you know..." I start walking, heading straight for the house. Vance softly says, "We need to hurry. If the others don't report in or they smell the blood, we'll be caught."

I nod and keep going.

As we walk up to the front, a shifter turns and does a double-take before lifting his hand and saying, "Who the hell are you? This is private property." I flick my wrist, releasing another golden blade. It cuts straight through his throat.

As he falls to his knees with wide eyes, we silently walk past him. When I reach the door, I silently open the door and walk in. As much as I wanted to kick it in or blow the damn thing off the hinges with my magic, I didn't want to alert them, not yet.

I don't want to take a single chance of them running away. I want to get this over with as soon as possible. As soon as I walk into the living room area, Aston grabs the back of my jacket and rips me back!

A clawed hand swipes past my face, barely missing me! My back hits Aston's large chest as he lifts the gun about to shoot the shifter! I quickly reach out, grabbing his gun and freezing the shifter. I lock him in a painful state as my magic tears through his body.

His mouth is wide open in a silent scream but before I can kill him, Vance reaches out and shoves his hand straight through the shifter's chest! He rips his heart out with a dark smirk and watches the shifter fall with a sinister glint in his eyes.

He turns to us, lifting the heart up and biting into it. His eyes flash red as he drinks from the heart. Aston and I both blink in surprise as we both silently stare at him. He quickly tosses the heart to the side and says, "The blood in the heart of a shifter is delicious. Let's keep going. It sounds like the other shifters are aware something's wrong."

I try to ignore the blood around his mouth and dripping down his chin as I blink several times and nod. "Right. Well, let's go." Aston's grip on the gun tightens but he closely follows behind me like my own personal shadow. It was like I really did get my shadow back with him around.