Turned By Him

Eliza was awestruck. There was a primal yell from behind Randal and in an instant Tom was beside Eliza. He spun on his heels and stood between her and Randal. It seemed so strange to Eliza. She was as accustomed to seeing him naked, not seeing him in his priest’s collar. She had never associated violence, fighting or chivalry with Tom. Yet he stood as her only defender now, even as his family was in the midst of a mortal combat. “She is new,” Tom said boldly. “No crime we have or have not committed should be her responsibility.” Eliza could feel Tom’s thoughts trying to calm her. His gentle touch in her mind was familiar and comforting. Eliza, feeling more composed, prepared herself. If it should be her lot, she resolved, Eliza would fight for her life.

“Ah, could it be,” Randal said in with an air of jest. “Has the holy man forsaken his vows?” Randal chuckled at his own joke. He was clearly intimidated by Tom. “The irony of a Bathurst and a priest wouldn’t be lost on your father.” Eliza hated the idea that Randal could know something about her father that she didn’t. She did not indulge the vampires goading however, and stood tall behind Tom ready to attack. Just then, Mirana let out a horrible scream which cut through Eliza like a sharp wind. Something awful had happened. With Randal between Eliza and the rest of the coven however, she wasn’t sure what that awful thing was. As Randal took another slow step forward, he had a look of satisfaction on his face. Tom prepared himself for a fight.

The old vampire seemed as though he would only take another slow step forward. Before his foot hit the ground however, he disappeared. “He can become invisible,” Tom said with a dark grimace. “We have to get out of-…“ Before Tom could finish his sentence the ancient vampire reappeared between him and Eliza. Randal reached out and grabbed Eliza. He pulled her in close. Randal stared deeply into Eliza’s eyes. His yellow iris’s seemed gold as they caught the moonlight which the snow reflected. Eliza felt herself quickly become hypnotized by the stare. Eliza could feel the presence of Randal routing through her memories. He witnessed all of the events which had caused her trauma. It felt almost as if she followed Randal on his exploration through her mind. In an instant, Eliza relived all of her horrible memories, all of George’s memories. Her knees went weak as images of Heather and George and her father flashed in her mind.

Tom’s hand crashed over Randal’s face with a loud thud. Despite the incredible force, Randal was only moved, he didn’t seem injured. He cast them both glares of frustration. “I might spare you Bathurst, if you join me now.” The offer seemed forced and severe.

Eliza responded with a firm, “No chance.” Though she immediately regretted saying so. She was still afraid. Her mind felt scattered and strained as a result of having so recently fed and had Randal diving through her psyche. In truth, she knew little of the rules which Randal had first referred. She felt innocent, perhaps, because she was ignorant. Randal seemed to know this in his own jaded and malicious way. In an impossibly fast and fluid motion, Randal swatted Tom and sent him flying twenty feet into the stone wall of a mausoleum. Eliza stood alone against Randal.

Eliza was sure to keep from meeting Randal’s gaze as he approached. Randal was clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “It would make Damien so mad if I killed you,” he said with a villainous grin. “And that’s more than enough reason to do away with the likes of you.” From behind her, Eliza felt a powerful gust of wind and Randal was sent flying backwards. Harper and Mirana had made their way up the side of the hill to help Eliza and Tom.

Mirana wasted no time on words. Her relentless attacks went hailing down upon Randal’s head. Each of her powerful blows knocked him more off balance until he had been sent to the floor. Tom had gotten up and rejoined the fight in time to fend off another vampire who had come to aid his master. Tom and Harper grabbed one arm each of the vampire and did what they could to wrestle the vampire in black to the ground. Eliza’s fear broke, if there was a time to be helpful it was now. She leapt forward, her long strides carrying her farther than she expected. She was upon Tom and Harper in a second. Launching her feet forward, Eliza crashed into the vampire knocking him free of Harper and Tom’s grasp but to the ground none the less. She let her hands crash down on the vampires face as she tried to use her preternatural strength to crush his scull in. The vampire’s hands reached for her neck but Tom sent a heavy foot fall onto the vampire’s face which separated his head from his spine. In an instant, Eliza’s mouth flooded with the powerful taste of iron and blood. The warm elixir washed down her throat and quickly satisfied a frustration within her; flashes of memories that were not her own twisted through her consciousness.

Eliza panted heavily as she tried to catch her breath. The excitement kept her veins coursing with the fresh blood she had just drunk. It felt different somehow. She felt more confident. Still, for all her physical capability, Eliza is was not so accustomed to death that partaking in this killing was emotionless. A psychic fatigue befell her as she staggered to her feet. Tom helped stabilize her but Harper had already made her way toward Mirana. Eliza’s head was spinning. She could hear the loud crashes of people being thrown into stone and the loud moans of agony between them.

Tom helped his undead family fight the intruders. He dashed in to help subdue Randal. As he tried however, another vampire of the Rothschild coven landed between Tom and Mirana. The guard was tall and had a black crescent tattoo around his left eye. The man leaned forward and slashed a long sword at Tom. Tom was barely able to avoid the sharp edge. Eliza saw Tom reach his hand out as if to catch and invisible fist. The vampire wielding the sword staggered backward.