The River 1.6
updated: 12/16/08 @ 4 pm
==
My body stiffened as my muscles seized at the implication. Disentangling myself from Liam, I placed my body between him and Gabriella. I threw her the package, which she caught without looking. Peeling back the wrapping, she removed a cracked leather-bound volume. Gently brushing back the cover with the tips of gloved fingers, her widening smile revealed slightly pronounced canines. Her attention absorbed by the object of her victory, I pressed my advantage while I could. The night around me faded and everything blazed bright as high noon on a cloudless day as my eyes glowed golden covering even my pupils.
In the time that it took a drop of water that fell from the cover of the streetlamp to reach the puddle beneath it, I stood behind Gabriella, one hand tightened on her throat, the other wrenching the machete from her grasp. Extending from beneath the thin sheath that covered my fingertips, my claws dug into the soft flesh of her neck. Gabriella’s body remained motionless as a statute beneath my grip; I could taste her anxiety radiating from her perfect stillness. My lips twisted into the hint of a smile, as I said, “It's very dangerous to allow yourself to have a blind spot to someone like me.”
“Let me make myself perfectly clear,” I spoke conversationally, though my voice thrummed in my ears. “You have killed a human within my territory and by your own laws, Liam became mine when I destroyed his mistress. You dare to threaten what is mine in my own home, Gabriella? By rights, I should only leave pieces of you big enough to serve as a warning, for these insults.”
My lips close to her ears, I dropped my voice. “It may have been over a hundred years, but I still remember what it feels like to hunt a vampire,” I grazed her shoulder with the flat of the machete’s blade, “to kill a vampire.”
“Well, good evening, Olivia,” Gabriella said almost pleased though her intonation sounded forced. “I was curious how much more I would need to push before your true self came to play.”
I walled away all feelings of doubt, self-loathing, guilt. I was a hunter again. “You will leave this territory, Gabriella,” I continued as if she had never spoken, my tone level, my knuckles flexing, increasing the pressure. “You will never even think about Western Pennsylvania again, because the day that you do, you’ll be seeing me.” With each word, the machete crept closer to joining my other hand under her chin.
“She really does have your flair for the dramatic, Gabby,” Cerise observed, her voice breaking through my focus. My eyes glanced at Cerise who stood with her Lupara sawed-off double-barreled shotgun resting lazily upside down on her shoulder shaking her head at my intensity. “I know how much you hate ruining a new dress,” she continued a cheerful smile on her face as she lifted the Lupara. “So why don’t you take the book, get back on your boat, and sail on down the river.” Cerise punctuated her statement as her eyes flared, brilliant gold encompassing every corner in its light.
“Your move,” I breathed, releasing my hold and leapt back several yards, landing soundlessly on the balls of my feet.
The Codex hugged to her chest, Gabriella lifted her chin, and strode past Liam and Cerise. “We’ll be watching, my Alúene,” she said without turning, then disappeared into fog rolling off the river.
© 2008 Elizabeth Mock
==
My body stiffened as my muscles seized at the implication. Disentangling myself from Liam, I placed my body between him and Gabriella. I threw her the package, which she caught without looking. Peeling back the wrapping, she removed a cracked leather-bound volume. Gently brushing back the cover with the tips of gloved fingers, her widening smile revealed slightly pronounced canines. Her attention absorbed by the object of her victory, I pressed my advantage while I could. The night around me faded and everything blazed bright as high noon on a cloudless day as my eyes glowed golden covering even my pupils.
In the time that it took a drop of water that fell from the cover of the streetlamp to reach the puddle beneath it, I stood behind Gabriella, one hand tightened on her throat, the other wrenching the machete from her grasp. Extending from beneath the thin sheath that covered my fingertips, my claws dug into the soft flesh of her neck. Gabriella’s body remained motionless as a statute beneath my grip; I could taste her anxiety radiating from her perfect stillness. My lips twisted into the hint of a smile, as I said, “It's very dangerous to allow yourself to have a blind spot to someone like me.”
“Let me make myself perfectly clear,” I spoke conversationally, though my voice thrummed in my ears. “You have killed a human within my territory and by your own laws, Liam became mine when I destroyed his mistress. You dare to threaten what is mine in my own home, Gabriella? By rights, I should only leave pieces of you big enough to serve as a warning, for these insults.”
My lips close to her ears, I dropped my voice. “It may have been over a hundred years, but I still remember what it feels like to hunt a vampire,” I grazed her shoulder with the flat of the machete’s blade, “to kill a vampire.”
“Well, good evening, Olivia,” Gabriella said almost pleased though her intonation sounded forced. “I was curious how much more I would need to push before your true self came to play.”
I walled away all feelings of doubt, self-loathing, guilt. I was a hunter again. “You will leave this territory, Gabriella,” I continued as if she had never spoken, my tone level, my knuckles flexing, increasing the pressure. “You will never even think about Western Pennsylvania again, because the day that you do, you’ll be seeing me.” With each word, the machete crept closer to joining my other hand under her chin.
“She really does have your flair for the dramatic, Gabby,” Cerise observed, her voice breaking through my focus. My eyes glanced at Cerise who stood with her Lupara sawed-off double-barreled shotgun resting lazily upside down on her shoulder shaking her head at my intensity. “I know how much you hate ruining a new dress,” she continued a cheerful smile on her face as she lifted the Lupara. “So why don’t you take the book, get back on your boat, and sail on down the river.” Cerise punctuated her statement as her eyes flared, brilliant gold encompassing every corner in its light.
“Your move,” I breathed, releasing my hold and leapt back several yards, landing soundlessly on the balls of my feet.
The Codex hugged to her chest, Gabriella lifted her chin, and strode past Liam and Cerise. “We’ll be watching, my Alúene,” she said without turning, then disappeared into fog rolling off the river.
© 2008 Elizabeth Mock
Comments
Post a Comment