Izzie's eyes fluttered open and snapped shut again immediately as the bright light brought the pounding in her head back with a vengeance. She groaned, her hands flying to her head to try and reverse the pressure she was feeling as she pushed her head further back into the pillow.
Hold on.
Pillow?
She shot upright, tremendous mistake as the pounding became more like someone banging a gong inside her head. She forced her eyes open through the pain, though she could only manage a squint. The blurry image of a white room lined with beds came into view. She could hear the beeping and whirring of machines in the distance. At first thought, it appeared like she was in a hospital, but as her eyes began to focus she realised that she wasn't in the hospital at all.
She was in a far more familiar room.
The Guild's infirmary.
She was at the Guild's headquarters.
But how?
She tentatively reached up touching the back
Izzie just stared at it, her thumbs running across the embroidery of the crest in astonishment.Francis had handed her an Elite issue hoodie.Did that mean she was now....?Opening it up a little further she saw it.Long, shiny and devilishly sharp.The Elite blade.The dagger she had dreams about for all these years.She picked it up with shaking hands it felt heavy and deadly in her hands. The handle was engraved with the Guild Elite Crest and the blade adorned with protection runes."I thought I would personally hand you your new uniform," he smiled, seeing her reaction."You mean I'm - " she couldn't even finish the sentence. She didn't dare say the word in case it was just some horrible prank."An Elite," he finished for her with a nod, "A small show for the service you've provided for the guild.""Se-service?" she stuttered, still mesmerized by the
Cold.It was an odd sensation that he didn't often feel but right now it seemed to be penetrating through all the way to his bones.He was only aware that he was face down against a damn rough surface which he could only guess was stone. There was a damp and earthy scent that hung around giving him a good idea that he was underground somewhere. There was an intense burning in his wrists and ankles that only grew with each small movement as he slowly began to come round. He was aware of the smell of his burning flesh lingered around and there was a soft sizzling sound.He tried to open his eyes but it felt like his eyelids were made of lead.He tried to move but his whole body felt heavy and uncoordinated.What the hell happened to him?Isabelle.Where was Isabelle?He tried to think back to what had happened.Slayers...No not slayers... What had Isabelle called them?...Elites?Yes
It felt like forever before the doctor finally made his way round to her. He checked her notes, shone a light in her eyes and asked her a few questions about how she'd been feeling since she woke up. After ticking the right boxes she was discharged with the instruction to rest for the next forty-eight hours at least and some other mumbo-jumbo that she'd stopped listening to about halfway through. The nurse returned her clothes and belongings that had been brought in with her. The white gown was well and truly ruined, with large dry bloodstains splattered across it and a large tear down the side of it. Her matching white heels were also a lost cause. There wasn't much chance of them being returned now. The clutch bag was somehow intact and mostly clean, though her phone had a rather large crack down the screen but was still usable.There wasn't any option of wearing the ruined
Every part of Izzie's body locked up the moment Brad pressed his mouth onto hers. Her brain completely scrambled, the grief she felt like a lead weight on her chest.He couldn't be dead.He just couldn't be.They were Beloveds, right? Wouldn't she know if he was?Oh, who was she kidding?She was a human, she didn't have the connection to him the way that he had
Izzie ground to a halt as she turned the final corner, finally facing the heavy steel doors that lead to the underground cells. She cursed internally as she spotted two heavily armed guards at either side of the door.The door was located at the bottom of a dead-end hallway so once she started moving toward them there was no turning back. She had no other excuse for going down there so she'd have to make it count, but what could she say?Whatever it was going to be she was going to have to think of it soon as standing at the end of the corridor was starting to look equally as conspicuous as walking towards them.
Cassius was a lot worse close up and Izzie felt her heartbreaking all over again as she looked over his wounds. They had really done a number on him. He almost looked dead from how pale and still he was."Cassius," she whispered, placing her hand gently on his cheek, being careful not to press too hard on his burned skin, "Cassius, it's me."It took a second or two but his eyes fluttered open... well, one of them did at least, the other one was still pretty much swollen over."Isa-belle?" his voice cracked as he tried to speak.
Izzie dropped her head down a little more and picked up the pace, noticing Cassius doing the same in front of her. She pretended not to hear them, but then came the unmistakable sound of boots pounding against the tile floor as one of the guards came after them."Just keep moving, Cas," Izzie instructed in a whisper, knowing that no one but Cassius would be able to hear her, "Turn left at the end of the hall and keep walking until you reach a grey door on your left. It's a storage room, wait for me in there."He didn’t turn to her or even nod his head he just kept walking so she had to trust that he had heard and understood what she wanted him to do."Stop!" the guard bellowed behind her. She took a breath before turning to face him, surprised by how close he wa
There was a silence before a sting and then it was quickly followed by an ache as she felt the blood began to leave her wrist. It was nowhere near as painful as when the other vamp had attacked her, but it was still uncomfortable and unpleasant. She felt her arm begin to shake and feel numb, but Cassius other hand came up to support it and steadied her. Izzie just closed her eyes, trying to take herself off to a happy place as she had done before. It would be over soon if she could just think of something else.Failing to find a happy place she trained her mind back to the task at hand.Getting the hell out of here.She had the main route already planned out in her head, along with a couple of back-up ones but they were only shaky at best. She was banking on getting t
That's the last of it," Jake commented as she stood up holding yet another dustpan full of broken glass. He had personally tidied up most of the destruction in the living room. Cassius had helped a little where he could but had grown tired very quickly and needed to sit down. Neither male would let her or Esther help in the cleaning up, though Esther didn't seem overly concerned by that. Izzie, however, had begun to feel better and wanted to help but they insisted that she continue to rest until they were sure she was fully healed. Right now, she was snuggled up on Cassius' lap with her head leaning on his shoulder while his strong arms wrapped around her like a safety blanket. His leant his head on hers while they both watched Jake finish up the cleaning. Esther had long since disappeared into the kitchen, lord knows what she was doing but Izzie didn't care much as long as she was away from her. "Is there anything we can use to patch up that window?" Cassius asked as a shiver ran th
It was cold.Very cold.There's was nothing around but darkness.'Am I - am I dead?' Izzie thought and it seemed to echo in the vast void around her as if she had spoken aloud. She felt light as if she was made of no more than air. She was just kind of there, floating in the black.She must be dead.This was not what she expected death to be.She didn't know exactly what she had expected.Pain and suffering.
Vanessa didn't have time to react. A scream had just started to escape her lungs when the bullet hit. Given her strange angle over Izzie Jake hadn't managed to shoot anything vital, probably through fear of hitting Izzie, but it had been enough for Vanessa to fall away from Izzie.Izzie watched as Vanessa fell to the ground, holding her side as the blood began to ooze from it. Izzie saw the burn of the silver begin to smoke in her side, but if it was the same thing that had hit Cassius then she could still have a lot of life in her yet."Izzie!" Jake called, and she looked over just in time to see him kick her dagger back towards her. The blade slid elegantly across the floor, coming right for her and she instinctively put out her hand to catch it. It was almost like fate as the ha
Izzie spit out a mouthful of blood from what she hoped was Vanessa's final attack. She lay crumpled on the floor unable to move from the agony that she felt. Bones were broken and possibly a ruptured organ or two. Moving hurt, her insides hurt, her outsides hurt, hell, even breathing hurt.It appeared that vampy Barbie wasn't just a pretty face.She was an entire cold plastic bitch, through and through.Izzie had never been one to give up, but right now, death would be welcome. She forced her head up, her gaze locking on Cassius one more time as she felt Vanessa approaching behind her, getting ready to deliver the final blow.Those sad steel
Bang!The scream of agony came almost instantly as the shot was fired.
Jake was...Jake was a vampire...How?When?When she'd last seen him he'd been...She was in shock.She was unsure if this was better or worse than her zombie nightmare.Had that been a premonition?Vampires were technically be classed as walking corpses so her nightmare hadn't been far wrong, he was just a little less decomposed.Frankly, he was terrifying.Her best friend was leering over her, trying to fight his way to her throat with a crazed look in his eye as his bloodlust was taking over. New turns or fledgelings could be some of the most dangerous vampires. They hadn't learned to control their hunger yet and instinct would take over them. A fledgeling couldn't control how much they took either and almost every feed ended in death. When the blood lust took over they wouldn't even bat an eye at killing their own mother as long as they sated that hunger.There was a
Izzie's heart raced as she stared at the window. Even though she couldn't actually see out of it she just had this gut feeling that there was someone on the other side staring back. She didn't dare look away. She kept her gaze on the window as she started to back away from it, sidestepping her way towards to bedroom. She kept her eyes fixated on the dark beyond the window the entire time that she moved.Once at th
"What shall we do?" Cassius questioned from where he lay sprawled out across the couch. Izzie was sitting in the large armchair adjacent to him, curled up in her thick black blanket. She was currently in a food coma, with a belly being full to bursting. Cassius had really gone all out with her 'night-time breakfast'.She had only expected one, possibly two omelettes. Not only was there a cheesy omelette cooked to perfection, but he had also done her a side of bacon, toast and fried mushrooms. It was heavenly and she had cleaned the plate, even after her stomach had begun to protest that it was full. It had been just far too good to waste.She just shrugged in response. She was still heavily pregnant with her food baby and had just been happily enjoying his company. The thought of having
"Cas," Izzie mumbled sleepily, prodding him in the chest. He didn't even stir. She still found it so unnerving when he was asleep. The lack of breathing and heartbeat always made her fear her was dead. On the flip side though, he looked so peaceful. His dark hair was getting long and was scruffed up from a morning of fun with some strands draping down over his thick lashes. No lines furrowed his perfect face and he looked even younger when he was asleep.Not that she k