Shadow School Ch. 09

She sighed, giving up, and glared down the hallway at the door to her cell. It was handing on makeshift hinges, wide open. At least she managed to escape from that. It gave a sense of accomplishment that was pretty pointless considering the ropes keeping her from really getting out.

Her eyes landed on the second cell, the one closer to where she sat now. That door was closed too, just as poorly constructed with scrap metal. She hoped no one was inside.

Standing shakily to her feet, she crossed slowly to the cell, afraid of what she might see. There was nothing inside it other than another cot, and the door had a lock on it too, this one with pink plastic. Touching the lock, she wondered if it had a different combination.

Melanie looked from her fingers to the first "bar" of the door. It was a flat piece of metal, shiny on one end and rusted on the other.

Eyes widening, she glanced down the hallway at the door with bars over the window. It had opened just enough for something to slip through... like a sword. Or, she thought, glancing back at the other pieces attached the cross bars, a long flat piece of jagged scrap metal.

"Please don't be welded, please don't be welded," Melanie said quietly as she check how the pieces were attached. The flickering light was dim, but she could easy see screws in some of the pieces. Without a screwdriver, she would have to improvise.

Melanie knelt on the floor, carefully but quickly searching the ground for snything that could be used to move a screw. She made her way down to one door then back up the hallway to the other with no luck. She sighed as she tested the screws for stability. They were pretty tight.

The movement of her own hand made her look closer at her nails. She yelped with surprised victory and began searching for the best piece to detach.

"Thank God for Prom!" she said, glad for the first time in months that she had attended that awful event. Despite the horrible time she had and the rumors that would forever haunt her, she had gotten her nails done for the first time. Acrylic nails.

Hoping the darned things would live up to their reputation, Melanie slid her thumbnail into the end of a screw and gently but firmly twisted. After a few seconds it gave way.

Melanie laughed hysterically. This whole thing had to be a hallucination. She was using a girly ritual of fake nails to exit a hostage situation by dismantling a cell door. No normal nail could even begin to do this. She thanked God she had them trimmed down a few days ago, otherwise they might have broken under the pressure.

"Eat that, MacGyver." There was no way Richard Dean Anderson would have been able to do this.

She worked in silence -- creepy silence -- at an agonizingly slow pace until the screw was out. Standing, victorious, she started on the other. It wouldn't budge.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Melanie kicked at the metal angrily and took a breath before moving on to another possible piece. That one was welded. She actually growled.

As she looked for another piece that actually had screws in it, she heard a dull thud. Dust and sand fell from the ceiling and she scrambled back pulling her shirt of her nose. Now she had to fight asbestos too!

Afraid to open her eyes, Melanie took a few steps back to the wall and slid down the wall to sit and catch her breath from under her shirt. No way was she opening her eyes until she gave the dust a chance to settle.

As she rested, all she could hear was her own sharp breaths. Until there were other noises; muffled noises.

Willing herself to quiet, she listened as hard as she could, willing her ears to pick up whatever was going on. For a few more moments, there was nothing. In here, she thought loudly, imagining the thoughts being thrown in various directions as she repeated the thought.

At least if it were vampires they could track her thoughts and hear her. She had no idea if the people keeping her had that ability. Unless the people who attacked her were also vampires in which case she should really shut up mentally and continue to try and escape.

Like she could escape anytime soon.

Voices. She heard voices yelling somewhere outside the barred door. The sudden clarity of the voices as well as the language being something other than English, jolted Melanie into action. If they were bad guys, she was not in the best place to start negotiations.

Melanie scrambled up from where she sat and clumsily made her way back to her cell. Her legs really were giving out on her and she felt so weak she knew she had pushed herself too hard. Her adrenaline had been pumped up too many times today.

Grabbing the lock, Melanie was having a hard time putting it back in place. It took her forever to crack this thing and now she was just returning it to where it had been. Her hands shook and refused to work properly as she turned all the numbers back to zero. If she had to break out again she could, but she wasn't about to give her captors any reason to put a new lock on the door. She absolutely loathed having to lock herself back in the cell.

Melanie scrambled back just as the hallway door flew open. Afraid to move any further, she wrapped herself into a ball and waited, heart pounding for someone to arrive.

Someone did.

A gun was pointed into her cell before a person emerged, dressed in what looked like an outfit from a spy movie; all black from head to toe with various things strapped to arms, legs, and belt. Whoever it was spotted her immediately. Or Devin; Melanie couldn't tell because of the face mask. A masculine yell of "Here!" rang out from behind the mask and a flurry of movement accompanied it seconds later, including the ripping of the makeshift gate-door into a mangled pile of scrap metal.

The lock was still hanging on the door frame, along with a sliver of rusty metal twisted impossibly into a curve. Gavin stood where the door had been, his vampire eyes taking in the scene. He was in black too, which was nothing new, minus the gadgets. Melanie found herself so glad to see him she didn't care what had happened between them. He was in front if her in the next second.

"Melanie, are you alright?" he asked, tilting her chin up to check her face. She nodded. Despite a few bruises, she just felt weak and dehydrated from lack of food or water.

By the time she finished that thought, Gavin was gone.

Blinking, Melanie saw him hovering over Devin and saying her name. Of course he would go help her; he was Head of Ovidan house and Gavin had chosen her to fill his spot in the Circle of Seven. Still, Melanie couldn't help the twinge of jealousy that coursed through her, unwanted. She hated Gavin, she reminded herself. Or, well, seriously disliked. She didn't hate anyone.

"Melanie?" a voice came at her left ear.

Melanie jerked, her head whipping around to stare straight into a pair of deep brown eyes.

"William!"

Finally, relief flooded her system and let Melanie release the tension in her muscles.

William reached out slowly, as if he were afraid to touch her. His fingers brushed lightly over her chin and she leaned into his lukewarm hand, letting William's palm close over her cheek before she simply relaxed every muscle and leaned against him.

It was silly, of course, to play the damsel in distress role by practically collapsing into his arms, but Melanie really had no energy left and it was easy to just topple over from her sitting position. William didn't disappoint either; he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

From the protection of William's embrace, Melanie looked up at Gavin, who was holding a bleeding wrist to Devin's lips and urging her to drink. Melanie gasped at the sight, and buried her head in William's chest. She tried in vain to keep her disgust at the act from the vampires in the room, knowing it would be insulting, but she couldn't help it. Devin was being fed blood. Straight from a wrist.

Gross.

William said nothing, but he picked her up and turned to carry her out of the cell. Melanie peaked out once more to glimpse her surroundings and met the eyes of her Head of House.

Virginia's face looked... proud. Not the beaming kind of proud, but the relieved kind. She reached out and caressed Melanie's forehead then made eye contact with her son. Virginia squeezed William's shoulder and nodded before turning to walk passed them, her proud face changing to something more stern.

As they continued on toward the exit, Melanie turned in William's grasp in time to see Virginia step up to the glued door at the opposite end of the hall. With one sharp tug, the female vampire ripped the door, along with the frame, from the wall, leaving nothing but a gaping door-shaped hole among the cinderblocks. Staring wide-eyed, Melanie wanted to see what was on the other side, but William carried her through the barred door just as Virginia stepped through the other.

It was strange to be carried as if she were a quarter of her actual weight. William had lifted her with hardly any effort, and though it wasn't like the strength the vampires of novels and Hollywood movies, it was still a significant difference from a human William's age. Or, Melanie reminded herself, the age he looked.

Melanie felt William step over the large pipe she had seen attached to the multiple ropes that held her hostage. She looked down at it as they passed through the hallway and wondered why her captors used that method to trap her inside when it was obviously an easy obstacle for vampires to overcome.

Her thoughts were answered before they were even finished.

Popping noises sounded from farther away, as well as shouts. Was that...? Was that gunfire?

William seemed to pick up his step as they entered a corridor, his feet falling soundlessly on the concrete floor. She clung to him, scared to even breathe if he thought it worth staying silent, and she felt his grip tighten for a moment in answer.

Melanie wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulder, clinging to him tightly as he began to run. She saw nothing but the areas they left behind while in this position, and as much as she wanted to turn to see where they were going - and what they were approaching - she knew it would change the balance and grip William had on her.

The gunshots were getting loud enough that Melanie suspected they were just about to emerge onto whatever makeshift battlefield was nearby. William slowed, and suddenly stopped, gripping Melanie hard as he pivoted and sunk back into a doorway. The momentum William had built up jerked at Melanie with the split-second change of direction and she found herself a little disoriented once they came to a stop.

All the excitement was starting to become hard to hold back. Air couldn't fill Melanie's lungs fast enough and she panicked at her sudden need for oxygen. She tried breathing deep and slow but her chest began to burn, her body begging her to take big gulping breaths.

William nuzzled her neck, freezing her movement. Was he thinking of drinking her blood while all this was going on? His head jerked away and he bumped his forehead to hers, shaking his head just a fraction. Was that a no?

They waited a moment in silence and she noticed her breathing had eased out. Like she was in shock or whatever. The revelation was shortlived however because in the next moment, William growled.

Melanie stiffened and fought a new panic inside her as she tried to read whatever signs he was giving her, but being quiet was finally not the agenda. She started to do... what? Something... when she was suddenly flying backwards and being dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

Air whooshed out of Melanie's lungs and she began breathing heavily now that she could. Her lungs burned and she was so lost to her own condition that she only registered the second growl when a fight spontaneously broke out just yards from where she sat.

Unable to see anything except a dull green glow from the door they had entered, Melanie's ears tracked the impossible movements around her without any ability to understand what was going on. A fight, obviously, but nothing she had ever seen, or rather heard, before. The room would be completely silent for one second then sounds of contact between William and whatever was in the room with them would ring out before going silent again.

It was hard to follow the progress of the two combatants when it was as if a mute button was being hit every two seconds. Sound, no sound, the whole thing was unsettling until one sound was constant in her ears; her heart was racings and each beat began to pulse in her head like a drum.

Between her breathing and her heart, she was able to let the things around her blur into what it was... a situation she had no ability to avoid and thus shouldn't bother following. She gave up trying to track the sounds of the room and just let the whole ordeal play itself out.

Someone finally lost. Whoever it was slumped to the ground with a thud and she hoped it wasn't William. She really did want to get to know him better, maybe even had a bit of a crush despite his... supernatural existence. God, please don't let it be William, she prayed.

Melanie's breathing cut off when she noticed whoever had won the fight was just standing there, silent. She couldn't see anything and had no idea who was there. What if it was William who...

St. Michael, please, please, please let William be the victor, and I'll promise that I'll-

Nothing prepared her for the hand that clamped down over her mouth. She screamed into the palm as she was lifted from the ground.

"Shhh... Melanie, it's me." William breathed into her hair.

Melanie whimpered and stilled, her body collapsing back against Williams in relief. Don't you ever scare me like that again! she thought roughly at him. She was angry, but not enough to make any more noise than they already had.

Her hands had found their way to William's arms when he lowered his hand from her mouth. He was bleeding. A lot. She inhaled sharply, afraid to gasp, as her fingers slipped through the thick liquid.

Unless it was the blood of whatever he killed.

Is it?

He shook his head against her hair.

Melanie's mind raced. He should be healing, quickly. Maybe? All she had to go on was the things humans made up for entertainment. Some needed blood to heal, others just healed on their own. Without any light to see, she couldn't tell.

Do you... it took a second for her to even think the question, Will drinking from me heal you?

William's voice was quiet and tense at her ear. "No, but healing requires replenishment. If I hadn't fed before I came here I'd be in trouble, but as it is, I'll just be a little weaker."

Melanie's mind stumbled when he said "fed." Will you be able to get me out of here without... without feeding? Ugh.

William exhaled into her hair before leaning back down to speak into her ear. "Maybe."

They stood in silence together in the dark room, whatever he killed laying dead or at least knocked out nearby and bullets popping somewhere down the hall. Melanie stood there with him, as silent as he was.

Maybe isn't good enough.

She thought it as she grabbed her hair and tilted her head to the side. When nothing happened, she thought, Do it. Before I change my mind.

There was no hesitation after that. William sank his teeth into Melanie's neck at the same time his hand went back to her mouth to hide any noise she might have made. She didn't scream or yell, but she did whimper. How could she not? She had something cutting into the pulse of her throat.

The pain faded from her neck just as WIlliam took his third gulp. Her whole body quivered at the thought of what she was doing; it was simply against her nature. But she would rather be bitten than dead, so she would do what she had to do to survive. She trusted William. Sortof.

The feeling was an odd sensation; a strange pulling that made her head tingle. It took her a second to realize she was light-headed and couldn't actually feel her feet. By the time that thought went through her brain, her legs started to crumple under her. William held her up and licked at the wound, but other than that, she lost track of what was going on.

Until a bloody arm was pressed to her mouth.

Melanie gasped and spit out the thick, warm liquid that had managed to make it into her mouth, but William's hold was insistent and she was too weak to fight. Still, she didn't have to suck the stuff in.

"Drink, or you'll be a dead weight. I need to you watch my back and stand when I need both my arms."

Okay, well, if you put it that way, it made sense. Melanie blanched and tentatively licked the crescent wound with her tongue. She was so glad she couldn't see what she was doing.

After two swallows the wound had closed and clarity had returned to her mind. She opened her eyes to the darkness, a little disappointed that she still couldn't see. She figured drinking William's blood would give her some sort of enhancement, like better vision or hearing. When the dull green of the door was all she could see, she found herself a little disappointed.

William snorted into her air as if he wanted to laugh or make some comment about... well, whatever he could divulge about the benefits of drinking vampire blood. Instead, he said nothing as he scooped Melanie up into his arms.

As they barreled through the door, the bricks on the wall near the end of a hallway exploded. She ducked automatically and felt William stop and turn as debris rained down on them. He huffed and shook his head, turning to assess the damage before moving again.

Melanie kept her head on William's shoulder, looking at the empty hallway as they retreated; she guessed this was what he meant by watching his back. By the time they got to the area where the hallway ended in rubble, she felt William come to a stop. The gunshots rang out loudly and she knew they were close. When William didn't move, Melanie peaked around to see what the holdup was and gaped.

They were standing at the edge of a warzone. A huge room with broken hallways attached to the surrounding walls was filled with people going at each other in various degrees of viciousness, all fighting one another and occasionally aiming guns in random directions. It was madness.

And the only reason Melanie could see it was because part of the floor had collapsed into the basement. It wasn't the only major area of damage to the building; one whole wall had fallen in as well as most of the ceiling, which allowed Melanie to see the stars.

Tightening her hold on William, Melanie studied his face as he looked for an escape. She thought it was a good time to check out mentally and let her savior do the work. She would just be the eyes in the back of his head.

A good decision, since the moment she turned around she saw a man running toward them. She yelled at William as another blast hit somewhere nearby and he spun to dodge the man's thrusting blade.

Melanie found herself dumped on the floor again as William spun to catch the second swing. She felt so useless. All she could do was watch, just another piece of rubble in the grand scheme of whatever supernatural war was taking place. But looking at William, Melanie knew she couldn't just sit and watch him without lifting a finger to help. Looking down, Melanie grabbed a huge chunk of cinderblock, lifted it, and brought it down on the foot of William's opponent.

The guy howled in pain and took a swing at her for her trouble. He missed, thanks to William, who used the man's distraction to rip our the guy's throat. Blood sprayed and the man fell, his warm lifeblood splattering Melanie on his way down.