Morgan Rice: Betrayed

Caitlin watched her, and then she realized. That must be the tomb of her son. Caleb’s son.

In all these hundreds of years, Caitlin realized, Sera had not been able to let him go. For her, he was still alive.

After a few moments, Sera turned and walked alongside Caitlin as they ascended the steps.

As they reached the top, Sera turned down a different corridor.

“Follow me,” Sera said. “If we’re going to die, we should at least have the right weaponry.”

Caitlin and Sera flew over the west side of Manhattan, racing downtown. Getting out of the Cloisters had not been easy. Sera’s fellow coven members had wanted to detain her, but she had absolutely refused to back down. Caitlin had to hand it to her: she was strong-willed.

Sera had taken them upstairs, to the main floor of the Cloisters, and had taken Caitlin to a massive, stone fireplace with intricate carvings. She’d reached in and pulled the heavy iron choker, and had revealed a secret compartment. She’d extracted two weapons for her: a short sword, covered in ancient carvings, and a short, silver spear. Caitlin had stared in awe. They were cruel, medieval weapons of destruction, yet beautiful in their simplicity.

Sera had then brought them to another room, where she’d opened a compartment in what appeared to be a six-foot candleholder, and extracted an immense battle ax. It was also silver, and gleamed in the light. The way Sera squeezed the handle, Caitlin had the feeling that she’d used it before. Many times.

Armed with these weapons, the two of them had flown off into the night, leaping off the parapets of the Cloisters to the protests of her coven members, and heading south, speeding through the night.

They flew over 150th street, then 140th, and as they went, Caitlin looked down and remembered. Her old neighborhood. She shuddered at the thought of it. She actually flew right over her old high school, and realized that she wouldn’t mind destroying it.

Suddenly, Caitlin remembered. Jonah. She hadn’t thought of him in ages, and the idea of him sent a shock through her system. He must be down there, somewhere, she realized. As she looked down and saw the anarchy, saw the humans being overrun by waves of vampires, she knew that the humans didn’t stand a chance. She remembered that he lived right there, on 131st Street, and she suddenly felt obliged to help them. She didn’t have feelings for him anymore, but at the same time, she couldn’t live with the idea of just allowing him to get killed.

“We have to descend,” Caitlin suddenly said to Sera.

Sera looked over and stared. “Why?” she asked. “We’re not even close. We have no time for distractions.”

“An old friend,” Caitlin said. “I have to help him.”

Sera’s frown intensified. “We don’t have time. And we can’t risk a battle down here. We must stay focused.”

Caitlin knew that Sera was right. Still, she felt an obligation.

So without discussing it anymore, she took a dive, descending right for the street. She hoped that Sera would follow – she could use the backup – but if not, she would be content to be on her own, as she had always been.

Caitlin set down on 131st Street and Broadway, right in the middle of an intersection, and as she did, a car, racing in the mayhem, sped right towards her.

Caitlin turned and saw the car coming, but there just wasn’t time to react. Wide-eyed, she braced herself for what would be an awful impact.

The car began to screech on its brakes, but not nearly in time. A split second later, it smashed into Caitlin, running into her at 40 miles an hour.

Caitlin slowly opened her eyes. She still stood where she’d been, not even bruised, not even knocked over. The car, though, was stopped short where it hit her, its entire fender dented in around Caitlin.

It had not hurt her in the least – but she had destroyed the car. She was stunned, amazed, and grateful she was no longer a human.

The owner of the car jumped out, and stared at Caitlin and then at his car, wide-eyed.

“I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed, looking all around, frantic. “I didn’t see you! I swear! You seemed to just drop right out of the sky. I couldn’t stop in time! Are you OK!?”

Caitlin surveyed herself, took a few steps away from the car, and realized that she was perfectly fine. She smiled inwardly. Immortality certainly came with its benefits.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” she said.

“Wait,” he said, bewildered, still trying to figure it all out. “It’s not possible. I slammed into you, I was going so fast. How are you OK? How is my car so dented up?”

He looked back and forth between her and the car, wide-eyed.

Then he suddenly looked around, realizing how dangerous the streets were, ran back, jumped into his car, and, with the hood still smoking, took off. Luckily for him, it still ran.

Caitlin looked around, trying to get her bearings. It was mayhem down here. People were fleeing in every direction, looting stores, smashing windows; cars were piled high on the curb. Vampires chased people down every street, and other people ran from each other, infected with the plague. It looked like the apocalypse.

She spotted it. Jonah’s building. Just as she got ready to ran towards it, she heard a noise. Sera, landing beside her. Caitlin was relieved, but Sera was scowling.

“I’ve only landed because I could use you in finding Caleb. Not because I like you. And not because I care if you die,” she said.

“You said that already,” Caitlin said. “But thanks either way.”

“This better be quick,” Sera added.

The two of them sprinted towards Jonah’s building.

As Caitlin reached the front door, ajar, she saw the lock had been broken. She let herself in, and as they entered the lobby, she saw several humans on the ground, dead, a small group of vampires feeding on them.

As they entered, the vampires were alerted to their presence. They suddenly turned from their feast, claws extended, eyes red, and hissed. These were evil creatures, vampires unlike any Caitlin had ever seen. She sensed that they were of a different vampire race. She assumed that they had come to join the mayhem, had come rushing in from some covens around the city, and maybe even from other cities.

Whatever they were, they sent a shudder up her spine. She hoped that she’d never look like that.

Before they could pounce, Caitlin and Sera, both finely trained soldiers, charged at the same time. Caitlin had her sword and spear extended, and Sera had her battle ax raised high.

The group of vampires charged them. Caitlin slashed left and right with her sword, ducking, rolling, and flipping over them. She was too fast. She chopped off their limbs left and right and severed their heads, and they never stood a chance. She killed three in the blink of an eye.

Sera was just as capable. In the same amount of time, she jabbed and lunged, using her battle ax to chop one vampire clean in half. She displayed even more rage than Caitlin. Within moments, they were both splattered in blood, and the six vampires lay dead on the ground.

Caitlin walked down the hall and looked at the elevator, but knew that would be a bad idea. They would be stuck if attacked, and the electricity might also give out.

She darted for the long, wide, marble staircase, and Sera followed.

The two of them bounded up the six flights to Jonah’s in no time, and as they did, Caitlin kicked in the door, bounding into the hallway. Sera followed close.

Caitlin quickly looked both ways, braced for danger. The emergency lights in the hall flashed on off, and amidst the flashing, Caitlin could see several dead humans, sprawled on the floor. She turned to her right, following the apartment letters, and there, at the end of the hall, three vampires were clustered outside a metal apartment door, ramming it with their shoulders. It was a solid, metal door, and it was not giving. But it did start to bend, and clearly, it wouldn’t hold for long.