Graced (13 page)

~Surrender~

Laura closed her eyes, but then forced them back open. She promised herself she would be strong enough to not give Borrak or Serkhol the satisfaction of knowing her fear. Do what they would with her body, they would not have her mind.

The irony of the whole thing was that she was a vampire, while they were just human. No matter how twisted they had become, and no matter what powers those
torrial
gave to them, they were, at their core, human men. And she was, at her core, a
Vassiz
. Humans were supposed to be her prey. She should have no problem dispatching with them, but she no longer had the powers that could free her. It was now two men against a teenage girl, and nothing more.

Serkhol came in front of her first. Slowly, he traced a finger along the curve of her neck, and then down her arm. Laura wanted to scream. But she held it al in. She kept her eyes focused squarely on the man in front of her, on the vile creature that had overpowered her so completely. Suddenly her ears picked up something outside the tent. Both men were looking greedily at her body, and smiling to each other in anticipation. Both were so preoccupied that they couldn’t possibly notice the sound.

The noise came again. It was a rustling noise, like something big and heavy moving through the woods outside. And it was getting closer.

Laura looked at Borrak, who had now taken the spot in front of her after pushing his brother away. He grabbed her hair with one hand, and twisted it until pain radiated through Laura’s entire body. He forced her head towards him, and brought his nose down to the nape of her neck to inhale deeply. Laura closed her eyes, ful y expecting the worse. But then she heard that noise again. Peeking through slit eyelids, she saw that neither of the men seemed to have noticed. She heard the noise, and knew it was from something that was now much closer.

Serkhol produced the knife he used on her clothes before, and handed it to Borrak silently. Easily, Borrak pressed it up against Laura’s neck, forcing her head back.

“You’re going to enjoy this, girl,” he said, and reached down for his belt. That’s when everything erupted in mayhem.

A great roar sounded from outside, and one side of the tent ripped open. Laura’s head whipped in that direction, and her eyes fel on the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. Gray was there, looking as fierce and ferocious as ever. And his eyes shone with a savage intensity.

Serkhol and his brother were just as shocked. They stared, frozen in surprise, at the beast now inside the tent. And the next thing Laura knew, both of them threw themselves towards the side table, where their
torrial
lay.

But Gray was faster. In one giant step, he was on the two men. With one massive paw, he threw Borrak aside. At the same time, he knocked Serkhol over, and ripped into his shoulder with his mouth. Serkhol cried out in pure agony as Gray’s teeth sunk into the flesh of his shoulder. Laura saw a flash of steel out of the corner of one eye. Her head darted towards Borrak, who had gotten up and launched himself at Gray with the knife gripped in one hand. Laura tried to cry out, to warn her bear, but the gag in her mouth prevented her from making an audible sound. Laura watched, stricken in terror, as Borrak’s blade sunk deep into the upper part of Gray’s front leg. Gray roared, and threw his shoulder wildly at Borrak. It connected, and the man went flying across the tent. Gray was on him in an instant. He roared again, and swept one clawed paw right at Borrak’s chest. Borrak screamed out in pain as Gray’s claws cut deep trenches along his flesh. But there was nothing more he could do. Another scream died in his throat as Gray’s entire weight shifted on top of him, crushing the man entirely. His limbs twitched, but Gray’s jaws were already on his throat, and the man’s life was ripped away with one savage chomp.

Gray roared again, a primal sound, a sound of pure victory. Laura looked, and saw Serkhol lying face down, completely stil , in a pool of his own blood. She could see the tracks across his back where Gray’s claws connected. Another roar came from Gray, this time with him rising up to stand on his hind legs. He looked absolutely deadly, the perfect kil ing machine. His massive shape took up the entire tent, now, and his fur was matted with human blood. Laura had never seen anything more beautiful. Gray came back down, and looked immediately at Laura. And right away, Laura saw the difference in his eyes. Whereas before they held a visceral animal intensity, they were now ful of concern, and caring. Only for her. He started to walk over, but abruptly lost a step and fel forward. Laura gasped – and choked on the taste of the cloth rag. In Gray’s moment of victory, she had forgotten al about the knife he had taken to his leg. That was the same leg that gave out, just now. Gray tried again, getting up and walking towards Laura. But he couldn’t put any weight on the leg he had been stabbed in, and ended up hobbling on three legs. As he labored over, Laura’s heart went out to him. She hoped the injury wasn’t too bad, that the blade hadn’t gone too deep. No matter what, she would nurse him back to ful health. Immediately. It was the first thing she would do after getting out of this snare. Gary was beside her. And he bowed his head towards her bound arm. His fur brushed her skin, and…

nothing happened.

He stumbled back, looking as shocked as Laura felt. But then she realized what had happened. Of course! The herbs on the rag – they were suppressing her vampire abilities. And that meant her connection to Gray would definitely be affected.

He looked at her, as if not quite sure what to do. As if he wasn’t even sure she was
herself
anymore. Laura violently shook her head from side to side, trying to knock the rag out of her mouth. But it wasn’t working. She tried speaking, but al that came out was a low, mumbled noise. Gray stil only looked at her, completely unsure of what to do.

But what could
she
do? Without the connection, she couldn’t tel him
how
to free her. And with the rag in her mouth, she didn’t know how long it would be until the effects of the herbs wore off. She thought back. If they had been administrated once to her when she was captured, and then once again a bit after she had been thrust into this tent… it meant that it could take half a day, or more, before she could final y break free. But Gray didn’t have that long. If left untreated, even in the best of situations, the wound he took could become infected. And the bacteria would spread to his blood stream, where it would overtake his entire body until he was beyond healing.
He
didn’t know that, of course, but Laura did. Which is why she was so desperate to get out immediately.

Wait a second. The pole! The one behind her, that her arms were bound to. If she could get Gray to break it down, she might be able to wiggle free, and then undo that filthy rag in her mouth. She wondered if the effects of the herbs would go away quicker if she wasn’t breathing their fumes every second breath. She looked at Gray, making deep eye contact with him. He looked back at her… and suddenly, Laura saw recognition come back. The recognition that had fled momentarily when the connection with her didn’t work.

With her head, she motioned to the pole right behind her. Gray just looked at her. She tried again, slowly bringing her eyes up above her head, towards the pole as best she could. Gray stil only looked at her. She blinked, and then banged her head a few times against it.

Gray straightened, and took a step towards her. She winced as she saw him avoid putting any weight on the bad leg. Then, very slowly, he rose up on his hind legs, and – with his good forelimb – took an easy swipe at the wooden pole above her head.

It snapped effortlessly, and Laura found herself fal ing forward. Gray roared again, quieter than before, but he sounded distressed. Then Laura felt the cloth of the ten fal upon her back. She hadn’t realized it before, but now knew that the pole holding her up had also been holding up the entire canvas. And with it gone, the tent had col apsed inward.

She rol ed over, and wiggled up to get her hands free of the wretched wooden rod. When her hands slipped over the top of the snapped piece, an overwhelming elation overtook her. She had done it! She had escaped!

Quickly, she slipped her bound hands underneath her legs to bring them to the front. And then she tore off the rag that she had in her mouth.

For the first time in what seemed like years, she took a long, clean breath. And smelt smoke.

Immediately, her senses heightened. Smoke?
The candles!
They must have lit the canopy on fire when it fel onto them. She had to get out. She heard Gray groan, and felt the canvas shift as he also tried to escape. But the cloth on her was thick, and she had no idea which way to go. It was also dark, making it nearly impossible to see anything. She wished desperately her vampire senses would return sooner rather than later.

She pushed herself up into a crouch, the canopy yielding – barely – to her movement. It felt a bit like having a heavy, thick blanket on top of you, except that you did not know which way to go to get out. Picking a direction at random, she started forward.

She used her nose to guide her. It might not have been nearly as sensitive as she was used to, but it told her that she was moving away from the smoke. And towards fresh air. Laura moved slowly, in a crouch, unable to see anything, and careful not to walk directly into the flames. She didn’t feel the heat from them yet, which meant the fire hadn’t spread very far – and for that she was thankful. At the same time, she could not see them, either – which either meant that her vision was now so bad as to not pick up on the fire, or that the flames hadn’t gotten very far. She hoped it was the latter. She took another crouching step forward, and felt a resistance in the cloth in front of her. She pushed against it, feeling the fabric tighten and stiffen at the same time. She pushed – and stumbled out in the fresh night air, landing unceremoniously on her face.

Immediately, she got to her feet and turned back to see what remained. The moon gave her just enough light to see. The fabric of the tent lay spread out on the dirt floor, and she could see shapes underneath it. One of them was unmistakably Gray. Her eyes darted to the edge where the candles had been, scared of what she might find – and sighed with relief. The smal fire that the candles started hadn’t burned very long, and although she could see some charred bits at the canopy’s edge, it was nothing that could start up again.

But Gray was stil in there, and she saw him moving around uncertainly. As it were, he seemed to be getting only
more
tangled with the tent.

“Gray!” she cal ed out, and he turned immediately towards her. “Come,” she said, and watched as he took a hesitant step towards her voice. “That’s right. Come here.” He took another step, and then another. Laura winced each time he moved, because she could clearly see the way he struggled with that stabbed leg. But soon enough, he was at the edge of the tent, and his head emerged from the under the canvas. Laura hopped over somewhat awkwardly towards Gray. Her feet and hands were stil bound. But she did not want to wait until the mixture of herbs wore off before she could final y be free of them. Gray came out completely, and his fur absolutely shone in the moonlit night.

“Thank you,” she whispered to him, leaning against him with one shoulder. She wanted to throw her arms around him, to form that connection that would let him know how much she truly appreciated the rescue. But for now, that awkward lean was al she could get.

Gray nuzzled his head against the side of her arm, and then slowly lay down on the ground beside her. While he didn’t
look
to be in any great pain, Laura knew the wound on the side of his leg was troubling him. She wanted to fix it as soon as possible.

But first, she had to get free. She looked around herself, trying to get a sense of whether there was anything she could use to assist her in that. And she felt absolutely stupid when she remembered Serkhol’s knife.

It would be on the ground somewhere under the tent canvas. She had to get to it, which meant pul ing the heavy canvas away. And she didn’t know if she were strong enough to be able to do it just yet. She looked at Gray, and wondered whether he might be able to help somehow. But then again, with the way he labored when moving, she did not want to use him unless it became absolutely necessary. Another question came up in her mind as she looked at him, though. A question she wondered about from the moment she saw him inside the ten. How was it that he had gotten here, when he was very clearly outside the barrier earlier? She has a suspicion, though. And it had to do with the two
torrial
. She had seen the way their glow had petered out after Borrak and Serkhol took them off. And, if anything she had seen in the previous month was any indication, that meant that they stopped working when they came off. Why, Laura didn’t know. But the timing of everything fit together so wel . The barrier that had trapped her before
had
to be something that required a
torrial
. And once the first of the medal ions had come off, it was likely that the entire barrier disappeared – if Gray’s arrival was any indication of that, which it clearly was. But she also wondered what
else
the two
torrial
could do. In either case, she’d find out as soon as she moved the canvas tent. Kneeling down the grab a corner with her bound hands, she pul ed back with al her might.

~Rescue~

Laura struggled through it, but eventual y , and with a great deal of sweat and effort, she had succeeded in pul ing the entire canopy off. Underneath was not a pleasant scene. The bodies of both Borrak and Serkhol lay ruined in slushy puddles of their own blood. The ground had soaked some up, but as Laura walked amongst the wreckage to get to Borrak and the knife, she felt the moist warmth at her feet. And for whatever reason it repulsed her.

Maybe it was having the vampire sense dul ed that did it. Or maybe it was the experience she had with these two men. But either way, she was reminded of the squeamishness that sometimes took hold of her when she had been only a human girl.

Amazingly, the table where the candles were lay completely undisturbed. The
torrial
were both stil right in the middle of it, and Laura’s clothes, together with Borrak’s and Serkhol’s shirts, remained underneath. Only the fal en candles gave away that the tent had col apsed.

Laura hobbled over, and picked the knife from Borrak’s hand. Using its sharp blade – stil stained with Gray’s blood – she cut through the rope that bound her feet. Next, positioning it in between her knees, she rubbed the bands binding her hands until she seared them completely. An overwhelming sense of relief gripped her. She had just completely freed herself.

A gust of wind blew across her back, and she shivered from the cold.
That
was something she had completely forgotten about. When she was a vampire, the cold and heat just did not touch her. But now, sitting in the mud almost completely unclothed, and with the herbs stil in effect, she realized she was
freezing
.

Quickly, she scrambled to her clothes. And in her haste, had forgotten completely how they had come off. She picked up her shirt first, throwing it over her head, only to have it fal to her feet. That’s when she was reminded of the slits that had been cut in it. She picked it up off the ground, and looked it over. She realized, holding it in her hand, that she could see a little bit more detail in the fabric than before. She exhaled happily. It meant that the herbs were starting to wear off.

But there was no way to mend her shirt, no way to tie it to somehow keep it on. And the same applied for her jeans, when she got to them. The only option, she realized with a growing sense of dread, was to use either Serkhol’s or Borrak’s shirts.

She shivered, and this time it was not from the cold. She didn’t want to have
anything
to do with those two men touching her. But then again, she couldn’t just continue on half-naked. So, holding her breath and grimacing, she picked up one of the shirts and threw it around her shoulders. Except that when she did so, nothing happened. She didn’t know what she expected – a shirt was just a shirt, real y – but somehow had thought that knowing who it had once belonged to would make her skin crawl. And it did, in a way, but it was more mental than physical. Quickly, she did up the buttons on the front. The shirt itself was large, and fel down past her knees. And surprising, it did not smel . Next, Laura looked at the two
torrial
. She reached out to pick them up, then pul ed her hand back. She remembered what Borrak had told her. About the elders using them to keep a tab on him and his brother. If that’s what they could be used for, Laura did not want to risk giving her location away. She did not want the elders to know
anything
about her.

But the medal ions on the table did not have that iridescent glow. In fact, as best as Laura could tel , neither were currently functioning. Or, at least, neither of them worked without being hung around somebody’s neck.

She didn’t want to take any chances, but she couldn’t just leave them here, either. Borrak had mentioned to her they were a key to their power, to their ability to trap her and the others. Were these
torrial
responsible for that black cloud that snatched up Logan, Madison, and Alexander one by one? For the same gale that had engulfed her before she woke up bound and hanging upside down?

That could very wel be the case, she decided. In fact, she could come up with no other explanation. Yet if these
torrial
only worked when they were touching somebody’s skin…

Laura picked up her tattered shirt, and, shielding her hand, reached out towards one of the medal ions. She touched the intricately worked surface with one hand – with the shirt acting as a buffer – and… nothing happened. She sighed with relief. The lines on the face of the medal ion did not begin to glow, and she felt none of the reverberance that Rafael said came when using one of the devices. Stil , she thought it better to be safe than sorry. Quickly, she wrapped up both medal ions in her shirt, tying them off in a knot and leaving the chains exposed. Then, using a smal piece of fabric from her jeans that she just cut off, she picked up both medal ions by their chains.

The next thing to do would be to find the others. She remembered how she had been carried to the tent, and knew they were not far off. With al of them free, they could rush to Portland and find Gray the care he needed.

Of course, a bear wondering through the streets of an urban city would surely cause questions, so she knew that their options were limited to finding a pharmacy, getting some type of antibiotics, and applying them to Gray’s wound. And praying that they had done it fast enough.

She glanced over at Gray, who was stil watching her from his perch on the ground. She wished desperately to form the connection with him, if only to see how much he was hurt. But she knew, based on her vision, that she was stil under the influence of the herbal mixture. Trying now would only confuse them both.

“I’l be back soon, ok?” she told him as she started off towards where the others were. “You stay here and… try not to move.” Gray only looked at her, but the way he crooked his head made Laura feel that, connection or no, he
understood
.

She walked the short distance to the area where the others were held briskly. When she saw the shapes of the wooden structures that held them form in the darkness around her, she broke out into a run. Alexander was the first she got to. Taking a quick look at him, and seeing that he had passed out again, she glanced at Madison and Logan to see if either of them were awake. Neither were. They must have been administrated a fresh serving of the herbs just before Borrak and Serkhol got to her tent. Since she was already by Alexander, she decided to start with him first. She bent down to undo the rag that had been placed in his mouth, and threw it away as if it were a live serpent. The thing was
vile
, plain and simple.

Next, she stood back up to use the knife on the top of the rope that held him. She tried to be careful, to cradle him before he fel , but he turned out to be unexpectedly
heavy
. And without her strength back yet, she fumbled him down to the ground.

Wel then. She stood up, hands on her hips. She definitely wasn’t used to feeling so weak. Exhaling loudly, she bent back down to start using the knife on the rope twisting around his body. Once Alexander was free – if stil passed out – Laura moved on to Madison, who was the next closest. This time, she took a bit more care with lowering Madison down, if only because now she was more aware of the strength she lacked. The rag came off next, and then al the ropes binding her body were sliced through.

She looked Madison over. She was out cold, as wel , but didn’t seem to be hurt in any other way. Neither did Alexander, for that matter.

It was Logan she was worried about. She remembered that horrible bruise on his face. And as soon as Madison was safely on the ground, she ran to him.

She slid onto her knees just before reaching Logan. He hung there, twisted away from her. She took him by the shoulder to turn him around, and gasped when she saw his face. From far away, which is where she had been last time she saw him, the bruise looked bad, yes, but not horrible. From up close, however, it looked absolutely
dreadful
. The entire left side of his face was puffed up almost beyond recognition, and the eye on that side was swol en shut.

“Oh, Logan,” Laura whispered, cupping his head in her hands. How could she have let this happen?

She pul ed him closer, holding him tightly for a few seconds. Then, with increased determination, she rose up quickly to cut through the rope that held him. She caught him just before he fel , and, with al the strength left in her, lowered him softly to the ground.

It was then that she saw the first flicker of his eye.

“L…Laura?” he said uncertainly.

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Oh my God, you’re awake!”

“A…wake?” He sounded drowsy. “Where… where am I?”

“You’re in the woods. We’re al in the woods. We were captured here by two
humans
serving the elders.”

“Captured?” His eye widened in surprise. “We were captured?”

“That’s right,” Laura said gently, “but Gray ended up saving me. And he took care of the two humans.”

“How could…
humans
… capture us?”

“They had
torrial
,” Laura explained. “But that’s not important now. You are. How are you feeling?”

“Me?” Logan blinked once seemingly in surprise. “I feel… different. And my head aches.” He brought a hand up to his face, and he winced as he touched the side that was swol en. “Oh yes. I think I’m starting to remember. There was a fight, and there were these two horrible creatures…”

“Human men,” Laura jumped in. “They were both just human men.”

“Real y?” Logan sounded surprised. “Are you sure we speak of the same ones? The ones I fought against were like no men I have ever seen. They were hideous, monstrous deformities. Their faces—”

“I know,” Laura interrupted, taking his hands. “I know what they looked like. But they… spoke to me. Told me things about who they were. And as hard as it is to believe, they were simply regular human men.”

“Hm. Then how…?”

“Al this?” Laura asked. Logan nodded. “They gagged you with a ragged cloth. And apparently, they had some type of mixture of herbs or something like that, which, when breathed in, completely
dulls
the vampire powers within us.”

“What?” Logan sounded shocked. He looked around, and pushed himself up in alarm. “I can’t see…”

he whispered half to himself in complete disbelief. “It’s…
dark
. And I can’t see!”

“I know,” Laura said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I know. Me neither, not as wel as before. But the effects wear off. Already, my vision’s better than when I first got free.”

“A herb that restricts the vampire within us?” Logan sounded like he was in complete disbelief. “I have never heard of such a thing, but if it’s the truth…”

“It is,” Laura nodded. “I saw one of them put the mixture on the cloth just before they stuck it into my mouth. It made me pass out, right away.”

Logan nodded. “I guess that’s why things are so hazy and difficult to remember…”

Laura smiled. “That’s right. But you’re safe now. We’re al safe now.”

“Your shirt,” Logan said suddenly. “What are you wearing?”

“Oh. This?” Laura tugged at the cloth she was wearing. “It’s one of theirs. My clothes were taken.”

“Taken? They didn’t…” he trailed off, not wil ing to say the unimaginable. Laura swal owed. “They were about to. But Gray came there just in time.”

“Thank God.” Laura squeaked as Logan threw his arms around her and squeezed her tightly. “I could never live with myself if I let anything like that happen to you,” he whispered in her ear. “Laura, I’m so sorry al of this ever happened.”

She frowned.
He
was sorry? What about the way she had let
him
be beaten? He could have been killed!
She
should be the one apologizing to him. She had been the last one captured, after al , which meant she had a chance to save them. And
he
was apologizing to
her
? The stubborn man!

“How are the others?” he asked suddenly, pul ing away.

Laura reached out to touch his face. “In better shape than you,” she said softly. She motioned towards them. Both Madison and Alexander were on the ground, and neither had moved yet.

“We need to get away from here,” Logan said. “And we need to wake Madison and Alexander.”