Hollow (part 3): Heart of War

A few days have passed since Wolfe and Estella have arrived at Jamestown. The disappearances have stopped, though that may be mainly due to the fact that there are no more children to change. The searches for both the renegades and their leader have turned up fruitless for the Hunters, but neither Hunters nor Coven vampires have given up trying to find the rebellious beings. Townspeople have started to act hostile toward the Hunters. No more messages have arrived from Headquarters. They find themselves isolated among enemies…

*          *          *          *          *          *

It was very early in the morning, the sun had yet to break past the horizon and Estella was still back in the inn sleeping. Where was Wolfe? Out about a quarter of a mile from Jamestown, scouting the south side of town. He’d been all around the perimeter searching, but now—finally—he had found what he was looking for. Laying among the littered leaves was the decaying body of a falcon. The ring was missing. ‘So they know.’ He placed his hand in his pocket, and as he turned back around a dagger rested in his hand. “Leave, please.”

“I can’t do that. Please, just hear me out,” Camille reached for his hand. He moved away. “I need to talk to you.”

“Leave or my hand will be forced.” She could see that he was shaking visibly, but still she dared to take a step toward him. “Stop…”

“Just listen to me! I know things have been happening.”

“I’ll bet. Your boyfriend tell you that when you’re lying in bed at night?” Wolfe didn’t move before or after he saw he hand coming at his face. Wow, that hurt. ‘Vampire strength, gotta hate it.’

That was probably not the best way to handle things. But it did feel good. “You’re my best friend Wolfe, and you always will be. Even if you don’t think of me that way,” she sighed and crossed her arms for fear that his hard-headedness might give her another reason to project her anger onto him. “I’m not even supposed to be seeing you right now—“

“Then go.”

“—But I have people I want to protect: my best friend and my family. They are my family now Wolfe. We don’t know much, but here,” she held out a rolled piece of paper.

Could he in all good consciousness accept this from her? And what would this mean for them? ‘We don’t have any leads…’ “You know that I—“

“You never saw me.” It hurt to say it, but she needed him to take this information. It would help him, and if she had to pretend like they were strangers, then so be it. Wolfe nodded, taking the paper into his hands. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the words never came. She watched as he started the walk back, pausing only when she called his name. “Be careful…”

“… I will.”

*          *          *          *          *          *

Estella was already up and ready by the time he came back. He found her sitting on their bed polishing her dagger—well one of them anyways—which she continued to do even as she looked over her shoulder at him. “Early bird.”

Unfortunately. Wolfe knew she was curious as to where he’d gone, but they both knew that if he hadn’t told her by now, it wasn’t going to happen. In his eyes was a deeply troubled look that she hadn’t seen since they first met. Something had to have happened to bring that storm cloud back again. “Did you pack a dress?”

… ‘What?’ “I think this is hardly the time for dancing, don’t you agree?”

“Actually, I think it’s the perfect time,” he tossed the parchment toward her. Meanwhile he dug through his pack to find his gold pouch and extracted a few coins. “It seems there’s a very exclusive party taking place in the town hall tonight.”

“Well that sounds like fun,” she smirked, “Do we have invites?”

He chuckled, a mischievous grin on his face. “Where’s the fun in that?”

*          *          *          *          *          *

After a little shopping they were well put together. He’d helped Estella into her dress though—Father Isaac forgive him—he’d much rather have helped her out of it. “You look great,” it took all his willpower not to say something else. Again, he looked at her and wondered where she was keeping all those weapons.

The dark red color of the fabric was the perfect complement to her hair and eyes. It was a strapless dress that was tight near the top, but it fell into beautiful vertical waves at mid-thigh, which was also where the slit in it began. It was positioned in the front, which would’ve seemed a bit exposing, but on her it showed just enough. Behind her, the fabric trailed just slightly.

“Thanks,” she smiled, happy to see that he couldn’t take his eyes off her, even if that went against the rational side of her that tried to remind her that they were just partners on a mission. “You don’t look too bad yourself,” her violet eyes watched him with a playful glint while she fixed the collar of his shirt. Wolfe hadn’t seemed like the type to dress up, but she had to admit he looked handsome in that white dress shirt and black vest. “There,” she handed him his black jacket and finished putting in her earrings. “So how are we getting in?”

“I was thinking the front door.”

“Hmm, I was thinking the back window.”

“You know, I think I’ll go with back window.” They shared a smile, Estella at his arm as they finally left the room.

It was a short walk to the place, and breaking in wasn’t difficult. Once they were inside they wandered into the ballroom, scanning the crowd. Everything was… normal. “This isn’t the party.” The scent in here was purely human. No, there had to be something more. “C’mon,” he whispered, plastering a casual smile as they walked back out. Circling the hallways he found a place where the distinct smell of vampires definitely overpowered all else.

Estella knew they were in the wrong place the first time, but they were definitely heading in the right direction now. The question that she wanted answered, however was: ‘How does he know where to go?’ She peered around the corner to check for any vampires that might be standing guard. There were none. “Little empty, don’t you think?” Estella took the lead now, until the hallway turned and then came to an abrupt end.

“What…” he frowned, looking at the wall. “No, there has to be more. Check the walls,” he started putting his fist to the wall and knocking around to gauge if there might be some secret entrance. There had to be.

Crouching down, she noted the amount of dirt that was tracked in, but when she looked closely she could see a slight break in the gathering of dirt. And the rug looked like it’d been moved. “Wolfe.” He moved aside so she was able to pull the rug away. “Trap door.” She started the descent down the ladder, into the darkness. She really hoped that by the end of the night her dress would still be in a returnable condition.

He positioned the rug in a way that it would fall back into place when he closed the door back up again. The climb down was short, and after a few feet he could see the glow of a torch down below. Estella was already waiting for him. Her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting rather quickly, as did his. “Looks like they really didn’t want anyone interrupting,” he whispered, afraid that if he talked too loudly their voices might carry down. “Wait,” he caught her arm and then pulled the masks out from his inside jacket pocket. Hers was a coal black and his a moonlight white. “There.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, fixing it securely in place with the ribbon. Lucky for them the invitation had said it was a masquerade ball, otherwise they’d have been in some trouble. When they entered the room from where the music resonated from Estella almost cursed. It reeked of vampires. They were really in the heart of trouble tonight. Still, no one seemed to notice that they weren’t supposed to be there. Part of her wondered if it had anything to do with the weird drink Wolfe had insisted she drink earlier.

Together they made their way toward the circle of dancers, Wolfe taking the lead and Estella falling into place. There was something almost intoxicating about the music that echoed around them, and she felt as if she were in some dream. “Try not to focus on the words,” he whispered into her ear after pulling her in close. Their bodies were so close. “It’s some sort of magick,” he pulled away a little to give her a spin, then pulled her back.

It was so hard not to listen. The music was so loud, and the melody was so beautiful. Still, she fought it. But just how long would she be able to keep this up? ‘As long as I can. I’m not failing this mission.’ And she wasn’t going to let her partner down either. Just when it seemed that it would never end she turned her head up at the creaking of the doors. In walked a woman with long raven hair, her beautiful pale face was partially hidden beneath a sparkling sapphire mask with—what she strongly believed to be—small glittering diamonds at the corners.

There was no doubt in her mind that this woman was the leader. Everyone grew silent at her presence and parted to let her through. Estella caught a better glimpse at her face as the Vampiress passed by. She had cold, emotionless eyes that were a (color here) so dark as to almost be black. “Welcome, my Children,” the gentle voice came to them.

All around them vampiress, female and male alike, made a fist with their right hand, placing it over their heart as they bowed. Heads still down, they answered, “Our Queen.”

Mimicking the gesture, Estella and Wolfe looked to one another, the question clearly marked on their faces: ‘Queen?’

“We gather here tonight to celebrate our success,” someone handed her a silver goblet, which she held by her side as she spoke. “Tonight we hold another key. Soon we will have all of them, and the warriors of light will fall!” They cheered, raised their fists in support. “And to thank our most merciful Goddess, Lilith, I give the blood offering tonight,” she reached back to grab her hair while a man, Lyrae, undid her dress. It pooled at her feet, leaving her small form exposed for all to see. There were small spider webs of scars on her body, though they were almost translucent so as to blend in with the light color of her skin.

The crowd looked on, never breaking their gaze. Not even the hunters. She cut her forearms and thighs ceremoniously before laying on the stone alter in the back of the room. Lyrae took her hand, leading her there. He had blonde hair the color of sunlight, and his eyes were a striking violet-green. The blood flowed into the ridges cut into the stone, following the intricate pattern. When she stood back up to face them her cuts were healed, but she could see the new little web-like scars already in place. Vampires weren’t supposed to have scars like that, so it had to be because of the magicks involved.

Wolfe watched, though he tried not to look at anything but her face. For some reason it just felt wrong to look anywhere but there. He continued to listen, but there was not much else said, except for the fact that tomorrow night would be the “Scarlet Night of Jamestown”. He was pretty sure that didn’t mean anything good.

The doors opened again, young fledglings piling in wearing servants’ clothing and holding platters with wine glasses. Estella knew better than to expect the glasses to actually have wine. “I think we should go.”

“Nothing like a mission that goes perfectly,” Estella whispered, taking Wolfe’s hand as he helped her up. She wasn’t at all surprised when he joked about how boring it was when there wasn’t any danger. “You just like trouble,” she took his arm again with a pleasant smile.

“No, I just like adventure. There’s clearly a difference.”

“Oh, of course. One leads to death, the other one may lead to death.”

“Which one is which again?” They shared a smile, and were heading back toward their exit window when he felt that rush feeling that someone was going to make some trouble. When he focused on it he heard people talking about the broken lock on the window. And the knocked out guards. Wolfe peered around the corner to see one of them was actually up already. And he was pretty sure the guard had gotten a good look at him earlier. “Adventure starts now.”

“Have a plan?”

“I was thinking the front doo—“

“Hmm I think we agreed that was a bad idea.” Estella hurried down the hall until Wolfe abruptly pulled her into what looked like an empty office. “What’re we doing?”

His sandy blonde hair turned messier as he scrambled to take his jacket and vest off. Estella raised a brow, not entirely sure where she was going with that. Wolfe pulled the tie at the back of her dress undone and lifted her up onto the desk. As his lips pressed against hers she found it much easier to figure out his plan. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he stepped between them. Her fingers ran through his hair, feeling the soft texture of it while losing herself in the taste of his lips.

It wasn’t hard to act surprised when one of the men walked in, apparently looking for the “intruders”. He looked so embarrassed, his cheeks flushed with a deep red.

“I—I am so sorry Miss. Uh, Sir,” he exited quickly.

Wolfe pulled back from the kiss once he was sure the man was long gone. “I think we’re good,” he said with a grin. He felt that adrenaline rush, and that satisfying feeling that came from successfully tricking the enemy. All the while Estella couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss.

“That was some great acting,” he smiled devilishly.

Something inside her was screaming at her to just come out with it already. It had felt so right being in his arms in that moment. She’d enjoyed it more than anything. And whenever she was with him… it really felt like she could be herself. Did he feel the same way?

‘I’ll never know unless I come out with it.’ Estella nodded, but pushed past the butterflies in her stomach and looked at him. He was getting changed for the night. ‘No, focus.’ “Was it all just acting for you?”

For once he felt completely unsure as to what to say. So he went with the standard male answer: “What?”

It was now or never. “Wolfe… I wasn’t just acting back there. I like you. I really do and—“

“Estella, I can’t do this.” There he was again, pushing her away. Well not this time. They were standing toe to toe now, her eyes staring into his. “I can’t.”

“I know that you’re hurting. I know that. You’re in love with someone else, but you also told me that she was gone,” her hand slipped into his. “All I’m asking is for you to give me a chance.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head, then went on to cut him off. “Tell me you don’t feel anything for me, that the kiss meant nothing to you, and I’ll stop.”

A war was breaking out inside his already broken heart. Estella was everything a man could want. Everything he could want… “I can’t tell you that,” he whispered, the words making her heart skip a beat, “Estella… I don’t want to hurt you. People I love… they always get hurt.”

“Stop,” she placed her arms around his neck and played with his hair again, her eyes looking up at him with a smoky look. “I never said it would be easy, I know that. And I’m willing to fight for you Wolfe.” He watched the hint of the smile she gave him with a curious look. “I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.” Here she was, taking a chance on love. She knew it was a dangerous game to play, that it wouldn’t come without a few scrapes and bruises, but she felt that Wolfe was worth it.

She looked over her shoulder at the bed, then back at Wolfe. It wouldn’t be weird for them to share a bed, right? As if reading her mind, he gave her a playful smile. “We should… break the bed in properly, don’t you think?” Hands on her waist, lips trailing kisses on her neck, Wolfe started to lead her back towards the bed.

*          *          *          *          *          *

Cameron sat on the old stone wall outside the castle. It had once been part of a whole part to protect the castle, but it had fallen down little by little over the years. Besides, he felt that vampires could protect their home well enough. He waited there in the darkness until she walked up, seemingly distracted. She nearly jumped when she saw him.

“Oh, Cam,” she laughed. “You scared me.” She pushed back a few strands of hair and looked back at him, kissing him gently, but his lips didn’t return the gesture. Camille pulled back. “Cam?”

“You went to see him this morning.” It wasn’t a question.

She sighed. “I just wanted to warn him about everything. Nothing happened, so it’s fine. Okay?”

“No, it’s not okay! What if he hurt you? How am I supposed to protect you when I’m not around!”

“I don’t need to be protected,” she shouted back. “You need to stop worrying about me so much. Everyone sees me as your equal now. Everyone but you. Don’t you trust me at all?” When he didn’t answer right away she sighed irritably and walked away from him again.

He didn’t follow.

“Fine! But don’t ask me to save you when wolf-boy’s turned you into his chew toy!” Cameron took one of the stones, throwing it so hard toward the castle that the stone broke into pieces. What had happened to everything he’d been rehearsing in his mind for the past two hours? He growled and headed after her, catching her wrist. “No, look. I didn’t mean that. I just… I love you and I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you…”

“And I feel the same way about you, but you have to stop treating me like I’m still a weak human. We’re a team. We’re mates.  I’m not supposed to be beneath you.”

“Well…” he smirked.

Camille smacked his arm, fighting a smile. “I’m being serious!”

“So am I,” he picked her up in his arms, taking her upstairs. Their laughter echoed in the hall, then faded behind the closed bedroom door. This was the way things were supposed to be. He was willing to give up everything for her, but he forgot that she already had. Camille should be his reason for fighting, not the cause of it.

*          *          *          *          *          *

“We strike at sunset,” the man pounded his fist on the table, his booming voice carrying to the multitude of scarlet red eyes that surrounded him. “I think it’s time we teach that bitch her place.” He laughed, leaning forward to throw fist up in the air, the crowd mimicking the gesture while cheering. Stepping out into the moonlight, all the blues in his hair stood out: electric, indigo, ice, and pale.

A blonde approached him, smiling. “Good, I’m tired of playing the faithful servant.”

“Just one more day,” he focused his emerald green eyes on the blonde. “Rest up, we have a big day tomorrow.”