Darkness Comes This Way Part 3

"Get ready for the fight of our lives, little sister."

Hisses and snarls grew louder as the Rogues were approaching them. Thomas began to fire his guns. As he did, Zarah aimed and shot hers off also. The rabids were coming at them full-force. Some of the Guardians' bullets. .h.i.tting a few in the head held them back. But there were still so many...and it didn't take long before they were both out of ammunition, left to fight by hand the best that they could. The bullets had taken out barely half of the crowd.

"Get out of here! Now!" Thomas screamed at her as most of the Rogues were trying to overpower him. He was the strongest between him and her. Instinctively, the species went after the strongest for recruitment providing they didn't kill him. Zarah let out a shout of protest, shaking her head, before continuing her fight with the three that were focused on her. She had a small silver dagger in her hand, and was using it well to defend herself against the Rogues. Silver was deadly to a vampire if struck through the head or through the heart. It was a slow, poisonous death.

She could hear Thomas' struggles against the number of beings that he was fighting against, and could tell he was beginning to lose energy. Zarah fought harder, slashing the dagger at the Rogues, striking one through the heart. The other two, momentarily shocked, stopped fighting and looked down at the fallen vampire, allowing her just enough time to strike out at them without hesitation.

When she heard her brother's shout of pain, the blood in her veins turned to ice. Slowly turning back to the scene, her eyes widened in horror. Thomas had managed to take all but one Rogue out during his fight. But the one remaining found the advantage quickly of her brother's tired body, and bit him. Thomas lay crumpled on the pavement, the crimson liquid flowing from his neck. Fury overtook her and she charged at the Rogue that stood above her brother with a cry of outrage. The monster wasn't phased. He reached out swiftly, hitting her with a force that sent her flying across the lot. When she recovered from the blow, she sat up and hissed, trying to get up again.

"Don't bother. He'll find you, I'm sure," the Rogue said, causing Zarah to stop and stare in shock. She had never seen one speak until then. Before she could move, the creature had her brother and disappeared somewhere within the shadows. She started shouting for her brother, punching a nearby brick wall until her fists bled. Tears fell when she realized she was going to be alone-her brother had been all the family she'd had. According to Guardian rules, he was dead once he was bitten.

She searched until the morning sun began to rise, burning her skin, before going to a Hider's community home. Ashamed and sorrowed, she refused to go back to the Compound at that time. She stayed with the Hiders for several days before returning, before going to Nathanial and relating the event.

That fight would be the last time she saw her brother, until six months later when she went Rogue herself.

The memories faded as Zarah awoke, the rag on her face no longer cold and the thirst eating at her insides.

Five.

As soon as Zarah dressed, she heard a light knock on her door.

Opening it, she faced Draven. He stood there, the artificial blue-glow of the lights illuminating his features, making his pale skin stand out in contrast against his s.h.a.ggy dark hair and his eyes gleam. Unlike the few other women that resided in the Compound, however, she did not 'swoon' over his appearances, no matter how handsome he actually was to her.

"Come in." Her voice remained flat as she shifted to the side and allowed him room to step inside. He nodded and took a few steps in the doorway as she closed the door behind him.

"I'm not ready yet, so you can just wait," she explained, heading toward her small kitchen and grabbing a drink. She raised a bottle toward him, offering him a drink, but he shook his head.

"No thanks, I already had mine. Enjoy."

She nodded and began drinking while he took a seat at one of the bar stools near the counter. His smirk turned up a small corner of his mouth, lighting up his eyes with it. Zarah couldn't help but notice that if he smiled, it would probably be disastrous for any woman.

"How are your eyes?" he asked after a long silence. He was playing with one of her latest crafts on the counter: a crocheted pair of fingerless black gloves.

"Still a little sore, but better." She paused from her drink to answer him.

"You know...I didn't get much sleep because of what happened. I think I need more of an explanation. How did Thomas go Rogue? How did you go Rogue? Maybe if I understood a bit more, I could help better." He stared at her through his narrowed blue eyes. The teasing smirk was gone. His glare made her shiver.

Zarah eyed Draven warily. All of this time he made fun of her because she was once Rogue, and now suddenly he wanted to know how she had become Rogue. Why should she even tell him? Who's to say that he wouldn't turn on her during this mission in the end and kill her anyway? She was already embarra.s.sed enough that he had been there to witness the reunion with her brother, that he now knew Thomas was very much alive still-despite that he was Rogue, he was the very thing they hunted nightly.

"Thomas and I were ambushed by Rogues one night when we were out hunting." Her answer was cautious and tense. She still didn't want to tell him everything. It was a matter of trust between them.

"You were both turned Rogue at the same time then?"

Zarah shook her head.

"No. Only Thomas. I fought, but in the end, I wasn't strong enough to keep that one last Rogue off of him. Next thing I knew, they disappeared, and I was abandoned in the back of a parking lot beat to h.e.l.l. I went to a Hider's Den for three days before returning to the Compound...without my brother."

"And you? How did you go Rogue eventually?" Draven leaned forward onto the counter, his voice carrying a slight rough edge. He pushed the hand-made gloves to the side carelessly and focused on her. She could tell the subject was becoming difficult for both of them, and despite that it seemed he was trying to be civil, she knew that he likely didn't feel entirely confident of her 'cure'. His clenched fists sitting on the counter in front of her spoke volumes without words that he was barely keeping his emotions under control.

Zarah looked up at the wall clock to see that it was past the usual time for them to be getting out for their rounds. To add, she really did want to try to meet up with Thomas again to find out more details of what was going on.

"That, Draven, is for another conversation. It's time for us to go." She was thankful to end the awkward conversation.

As they headed to his car in the parking garage, he looked down at Zarah to see a distant far-away look in her eyes, and wondered what she was thinking. He refused to invade her thoughts though, and instead remained quiet. He hadn't bothered to press her for an answer or explanation to his question, figuring that if she ever felt comfortable enough to tell him how she was turned Rogue, she would tell him.

"Where to first?" he asked as he started up the engine and put it in reverse.

"How about we try and find Thomas to get some more answers?"

When he looked back over at her to agree, something caught in his throat. He didn't know what had suddenly changed...maybe it was the light of the full moon along with the blue lights of the dash glowing...but he was finding her even more beautiful than he'd ever found her before. He'd never found her anything less than intimidating and beautiful, but it could never happen with her.

He quickly shook the thoughts forming in his mind, screaming the word, 'Tainted!' to himself as he turned back away to face the road, noting that he was spending too much time around her and nodded. Thoughts of another matter, something that would surely infuriate her if she found out, crossed his mind. The time spent around her was affecting him, making it an underlying issue. It was something that had occurred when she had first arrived back to the Compound after curing her Rogue mind. Something extremely critical.

Perhaps he would tell her someday when he felt the time was appropriate, whether it made her angry or not, she had a right to know.

"Yeah, talking to Thomas sounds like a good idea," he grumbled sarcastically at last. His semi-good mood was gone.

As Draven began to pa.s.s the city park, Zarah caught sight of unusual shadows, and immediately her senses perked. The movements were jerked and too-fast to be anything human, but she was definitely seeing a cl.u.s.ter of shapes and picking up scents through her open window.

"Stop!" she shouted, sending him to a screeching halt as he swerved the car over to the side of the road, while another car almost hit him and blared its horn in protest. She quickly slapped her head in annoyance and cursed under her breath.

"That's sneaky," she muttered in annoyance.

"Well, h.e.l.l, Zarah, what do you expect when you're screaming for me to stop the car?" Draven turned and yelled. She wasn't looking at him anymore though, and silently stared out the window with a frown. Her body had become tense.

"What is it?"

She pointed quietly in the direction of the park.

"There's something going on over there. I think we should go check it out."

Draven looked in the same direction and saw what she was talking about. Sure enough, she was right to be suspicious. It seemed there was something weird going on. The clouds opened again for the moonbeams to fall through, casting a soft blue glow and more light for them to see. Gathered in a small group, openly, were a number of Rogues...and they all seemed to be talking amongst themselves as if they were having some sort of meeting.

"Okay, let's go. Keep very quiet and try to keep our distance without being noticed. Hopefully we can still hear something." Draven opened the car door and climbed out. Zarah quickly followed behind him.

"Then we'll attack and kill them, right?" Zarah whispered as they crossed the street and crouched behind some bushes. Draven was already loading the clips for his guns when he looked down at her with a wide smile. His fangs flashed in excitement. Her breath caught, surprised at the reaction of her body from his simple expression. She'd been right earlier with her thoughts on how dangerous that smile could be.

"Then we attack and kill." He lead her gently by her elbow closer to the cl.u.s.ter of Rogues, where they hid behind more bushes and began listening to the conversation.

"The Commander says the woman is a walking elixir to a complete cure. Even though we are intelligent and controlled now because of his previous invention, he now claims that he can actually cure us of the rabid poison if we'd rather that," one Rogue was saying to the others.

Zarah counted at least six of them present. The one speaking seemed to be the leader of the pack.

"But of course, it's going to be for a price. We have to wait and see if we are worthy. Only the Commander will determine that. And he has instructed that whoever finds this girl and brings her to him, untouched, without a bite...will be one of the ones to get this reward," he continued.

Draven and Zarah glanced at each other. They knew who they were talking about. The Rogues were discussing Zarah, and there she was, right under their noses.

"But, why is the Commander worried about the cure? I thought he wanted us all to remain as we are so that we keep our army together?" another spoke up with hesitation.

"He's just offering the choice. If you choose the cure, you're still to remain loyal with the army. The Commander chose us for a reason to begin with. Then the ones that we've turned, we have chosen for our own reasons. We are a family. We are to stay together," the leader answered with a growl.

"He has his own secrets he is keeping from me as well. I don't know the entirety of his plans yet. I can tell you this, it will be worth sticking around."

When Zarah heard the word 'family', she thought of Thomas, her only brother, the only family she had left. Or had had left. Whatever.

Until he was stolen from her by a Rogue. And the Rogue mindset ruined it all for her.

The fury rose within her as she turned the safety off of her gun and nodded to Draven.

"I'm done listening to this; I say that we jump in now before they leave," she whispered to him.

He looked over at her to see the rage flashing in her eyes, a smirk playing on his own lips as he pulled his own from his holster and nodded. The silver of the guns flashed in the moonlight.

"Alright, Zarah, let's go kick some a.s.s."

Six.

Before they could take a single step from their hidden spot, a hand landed hard on Zarah's shoulder, causing her to turn and hiss in defense at the dark form behind her. Draven had both of his guns aimed and ready to shoot, spinning sharply around to face whoever had crept upon them.

"Take it easy there, it's just me," the familiar gruff of Thomas' voice came out in a whisper.

Zarah took a deep breath and stared at her Rogue brother with narrowed eyes while Draven lowered his weapons.

"What are you doing here, Thomas? Are you with this group?" She looked back over to the gathered Rogues. They were still there, talking amongst themselves, unaware of the Guardians' presence. A few more had arrived since their own arrival and it seemed they were still waiting for more.

"No, but I know the leader of that pack. Actually, I've been looking for you, my dear sister. Glad I found you, too, because just when I get here, it looked like you Guardians were about to go in and commit suicide by fighting the army by yourselves," Thomas replied with a smirk.

"I thought we learned our lesson with fighting packs when you're outnumbered a long time ago."

Zarah's jaw dropped as the anger boiled over. She couldn't believe her brother would blatantly bring that up or treat her that way in front of someone else. So what if it was just Draven. It embarra.s.sed her. It p.i.s.sed her off. More importantly, the remark stung.

"We can handle ourselves just fine." Her composure snapped. Her voice came out choked, full of doubt and worry. She was a tough fighter, but maybe he was right. Even with Draven there, they were outnumbered considerably. Going in blindly would have been outrageous. She'd been doing a lot of crazy stunts since her return though.

The wind began to pick up, and they all ducked further down toward the ground quickly so that it wouldn't carry their scents over to the group. Leaves rustled nearby, causing them to jump. When a cat hopped out beside her and sauntered down the street to the next place it could dig for trash, she nearly laughed away her nerves. She loved cats even though they weren't particularly fond of her. It was a part of the whole vampire thing.

"You didn't even hear me approach because you weren't on alert, Zarah. I could have snapped your neck," Thomas hissed out beside her.

"It looks like you've got a bit sloppy and need to be back in basic training again with a maneuver like that."

d.a.m.n, it didn't matter that he was Rogue. He still sounded the same as he did when he was Guardian-as bossy and smart-mouthed as ever. Her teeth began to grind.

"Hey, Guardian, you been working with her in the gym? I think she's slacking." He started directing his annoying commentary to Draven with mocking laughter.

She turned back to Thomas with a growl, her turquoise-amethyst eyes glowing wildly in the dark, preparing to lunge until Draven gripped her arm and pulled her back.

"That's enough," Draven ordered sternly. "Get done with the d.a.m.n sibling rivalry and let's get back to the task at hand here to figure out what we're going to do."

Zarah looked over at Draven with a frown and glanced down at where his hand held her arm. When he saw her eyes flash back up to his face, he released his grip and turned his attention back to the Rogues. More seemed to have gathered around the pack since Zarah and Thomas had been sitting there bickering. They were surely outnumbered then, and she was growing more frustrated with each pa.s.sing second as she remained crouched behind the large shrubbery between her Rogue brother, which was an odd case in itself, and Draven, a Guardian that she a.s.sumed only to be sticking around just because it was his job.

"The Commander will meet with us soon. We are also waiting on some others to arrive," they heard the nearby Rogue leader tell the followers.

"We should leave before they figure out we're here. Especially you, Zarah," Thomas said finally in a whisper after a long silence pa.s.sed between them.

"I want to see who this 'Commander' is at least first," Zarah said through clenched teeth, gripping the b.u.t.t of her gun so tightly that her knuckles turned even whiter.

"Zarah," Draven started to protest, trying to take her elbow to lead her away. He was agreeing with Thomas on the situation, realizing in that moment it was beginning to look dangerous for them both as the group of Rogues were growing larger, and they didn't have the backup to help them if a fight ensued.

"I said no. I'm staying to see who this Commander is," she turned and hissed furiously at him, causing him to drop his hand immediately.

"Fine. Just a look, and then we leave." His eyes were dark, blending against the surrounding night. There was a brief silver spark in the depths of his irises...an emotion she couldn't pick up through the rolling tide of anger. She met them with hers and hesitated briefly, staring at him as he clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides, before turning back to the scene without a response.

Voices carried roughly through the wind around them as they fell silent again. Bugs buzzed loudly in their ears and the air grew colder as the minutes pa.s.sed on. They stared ahead at the group, waiting and unblinking. Finally, after several long minutes, the Rogues stopped their conversation as a cloaked figure stepped from the shadows of the trees at the far end of the park. Zarah strained her neck to get a glimpse of the being's face, but couldn't see through the heavy black hood.

"Commander, we are all here," the leader said to the robed figure. The creature in the black-hooded cloak nodded once and continued walking through the crowd of the unusual rabids toward the front where the main speaker from earlier was standing. When the robes pa.s.sed the bushes of where the trio sat hiding, the being paused briefly, and slightly turned his head before continuing forward. Zarah realized she'd been holding her breath when a rush of air was released after he'd pa.s.sed. Draven and Thomas looked over at her with quiet, questioning frowns. She shrugged.

When the Commander made it toward the front, he leaned forward and whispered something to the leader. The Rogue's eyes widened and intensified with fury before turning to shout out to the crowd what the Commander had just said.

"Seems we have some spies among us!" he yelled with a crazy laugh and pointed toward the direction of where they were.

"s.h.i.t." Draven growled as Zarah inhaled sharply and readied her weapons to prepare for a possible battle. If they couldn't get away, they were going to be fighting for their lives in this one...

Insane laughter picked up through the wind as the Rogues began to head their way. Zarah could see some of them licking their lips as they crunched their feet over dead leaves. They snapped their teeth and clicked their nails together in intimidation, and others giggled maniacally in antic.i.p.ation at the idea of discovering and devouring their eavesdroppers.

"Get out of here. I'll distract them." Thomas shoved Zarah and Draven. She turned to him in shock, unable to find words and began to stutter. He continued pushing her away, ignoring her protests.

"Just keep low to the ground and out of sight until you get to your car. Now go!"

"What about you?" Zarah asked in a rush, surprised at the worry found in her voice.

"I'll be fine, Zarah. You're forgetting, I'm one of them." He rolled his eyes.

"Get out of here. I'll find you again another night."

She didn't argue when Draven pulled her by her arm and began to lead her in a rush back to the car. They ran with an increased speed, bent low at their waists to keep from being seen, and didn't look back at the park until they were back inside the vehicle, speeding toward the Compound.

Zarah stared out of the pa.s.senger side window. The night was barely half gone and still early. But the time wasn't really what had been on her mind. It was Thomas. She actually found herself worrying about him, hoping that he was okay at the park after he had volunteered to stay behind with that pack of Rogues. After a few minutes, she shook the thoughts and a.s.sumed that he would be fine. Just as he said, he was one of them...and he knew that pack leader. Why should she care anyway?