Chapter 299: One last time
Remus clawed at Katherine’s raging figure with all of his might but clearly, to no avail.
She had the upper hand, held him down with great ease and bent over him to feed.
His haunting cries filled the halls and every room in the manor that night.
"Katherine!" Arabella screamed and ran straight down the hallway in their direction without regard to her own life.
The fact that she had less chances of fighting Katherine off than Remus were completely eclipsed.
In that moment, only one thing mattered to her; making sure the boy was safe.
"Katherine! Please, stop!"
Reaching them, her hands went around Katherine’s arms first, pulling and tugging without a lick of result.
"I beg of you to let him go!" her head went from left to right, desperately hoping for the guards to show up and help, but only the echoes of their footsteps traveled to her ears.
Since none of the clawing they did yielded a thing, another idea popped in Arabella’s mind. The same one she’d utilized moments ago.
Unsheathing the dagger one more time, its blade went right into her palm, triggering the flood of blood that came next.
The pain wasn’t mild but seeing as Katherine finally froze in her motions, it was all worth it in the end.
Very slowly, the vampiriess straightened into a standing position before gradually spinning around to face Arabella.
The young woman’s heart plummeted to her heels the second her gemstones caught sight of her friend.
The so sweet and warm Katherine was nowhere to be found. A stranger had replaced her. A monstrous stranger.
The darkened and twisted features on her demeanor were enough to shatter Arabella’s heart, but the dripping blood from her mouth and the ravenous glare she returned offered no comfort either.
"Katherine, please," she murmured, her voice breaking between syllables.
Katherine however, didn’t seem all that keen or even there at all. Her head kept on tilting from side to side as she practically studied Arabella’s figure, mainly focusing on her blood.
Despite the vampire being a lot slower than her healthy self, her hands wrapped around Arabella who became too stunned to take more steps back.
"Katherine, please! You are hurting me," she cried.
But Katherine paid her pleadings no mind and on the contrary, brought her face closer to the injured palm of the young woman.
But before her fangs managed to sink into her flesh, a third soul interfered, successfully pulling Katherine backwards even though it wasn’t a significant distance.
"Get away from her!" Remus screeched and clawed at Katherine.
"No, Remus! Don’t!"
He went straight for the eyes but was immediately blocked as while Katherine did not hold a candle to Silas in terms of strength, she could still take a young wolf boy with an unnerving amount of ease.
"Come off him! Please! He is just a child!"
No words worked on her. Not only that, but her agitation doubled, turning her fiercer and more savage than before.
The hallways were filled with growling, hissing and screaming to anyone that would hear.
And after all of the scratches and blood shed, Arabella had finally had enough.
Seeing no other alternative, she picked the dagger once more and that time around did not turn it on herself, but on Katherine.
"Katherine, please!" She begged, "Don’t make me do this!"
Remus looked like he was about to yield, unable to keep up with her ever growing strength so... When Katherine did not heed her warning, Arabella followed through with her threats.
It was with a heavy heart that Arabella plunged the dagger into Katherine’s back. Deep enough to wrench a heartbreaking shriek out of her.
Her stupefaction did not last as Katherine quickly gathered herself since Arabella pulled the dagger out of her back.
Enraged, the vampire seized her by the arms and without another warning, drove her fangs in her neck.
That seemed to calm her down. It took her to a whole new plane of existence. Katherine simmered, eyes beating with life. She fell to her knees with Arabella in her arms, warped so strongly, there was no separating them.
Some of the guards finally arrived only to find the horror show it was as little Remus cried, kicked and punched with all of his might.
Katherine did not make use of the Mirari and as such, the agony her action subjected Arabella to was immeasurable.
But even then, her vocal cords were tied, rendering her utterly mute as life exited her body with each second that passed.
Her once bright gemstones grew tainted with a dull sort of cloak that clung to every corner of her eyeballs.
The racket around her was slowly being tuned out as her brain had begun shutting down.
There was one small moment during which peace found her... For a minute, Katherine looked like her old sweet self.
For a minute, she was back to carrying the face of the friend she knew and loved.
She looked so blissful, so happy sucking on her blood that Arabella thought it was worth it.
Perhaps if she were satiated enough, Katherine wouldn’t go after anyone else once done with her.
Her eyes fluttered shut with that thought in mind as she slipped away from that realm.
Her muscles, which had contracted in response to the stinging pain the bite inflicted upon her body, finally let go and relaxed in one breath.
The guard rallied around them, but no amount of stabbing or hitting put a dent in Katherine’s happiness as she fed.
She even hummed merrily while doing it, but that joy was put to rest when a greater force yanked her back so hard before slamming her against the nearest wall.
Silas held back for a split second. Just the time to look at what she’d done to Arabella.
From then on, he saw completely red, yanking her off the wall one more time only to slam her against it as hard as he could.
Katherine’s body fell limp but that was the least of his worries...