I judged it too quickly.

I made the wrong decision - choosing the tunnel that I had first happened upon in the witch hideout. What I presumed would have taken me close to the Central Zone had popped me out in the furthest corner within the walls of Eastern and the complete opposite direction; which means it'll take at least fifteen minutes to run the length of the zone and find out what's going on.

Eastern Zone felt almost abandoned; despite being basked in golden light, the streets were completely deserted. As I pass through the Ruby District I can't help but notice the shattered windows that have left glass shards covering the streets - each one smeared with traces of blood. That wasn't the end of the blood though; as I continued up the main road I can't help but focus on the bloody shoe prints that are embedded in the dirt and concrete that seem to run from each doorway of Ruby and through the zone.

I can't help but contemplate whose blood it is. There's no way a couple of vampires did this much damage, and definitely, no chance that this was only a couple of humans. Then it begged the question of why so many decided to hurry and leave the relative safety of Ruby's clubs; at least for a vampire, and storm into Central.

As far as I was aware, the revolution was made up of a small selection of vampires from different bloodlines - which made matters more difficult for a revolution; most bloodlines had a territorial relationship with each other - amicable in public but deadly in each other's areas. Therefore, I found it difficult to believe that anyone could be swayed to join the others just by crowd appeal.

I decided to make my way to Central via the route that passed by the main courtyard; if anyone was around to tell me what happened they'd be there, waiting for the others to return and tell them the result. What I hadn't expected was to find two figures there in a heated debate. A heated debate that I desperately wanted not to get involved in.

That was until I had trailed my eyes to the face of the young woman. The familiar figure of my student gripping tightly onto the throat of a man I barely recognised as Vok. I had stumbled upon Kara, in the middle of the courtyard, completely terrorising who I'd consider the only person brave enough to take me on, face to face in Seventeen.

I had crept closer to the pair and snuck between the trees and short wall on the outskirt of the courtyard and planned to stay hidden there, not entirely sure who'd started the fight, and whether Vok would really put Kara in danger; he fought for fun not for blood mostly, and killing someone like her wouldn't be satisfying enough in the least.

That was my first mistake; presuming that he'd antagonised her. That he was putting her in danger. When it was her growling at him. It was her baring her fangs at him like a wild animal. It was her that was closing in on him like a predator intimidating its prey.

He wasn't even defending himself, unwilling to hurt her. He still saw her as this little lamb that he couldn't bear to hurt. Even in the sparring room, he'd avoided her like the plague, both for her sake and for his own - knowing if he touched a hair on her head I would be all over him. Which had happened at least once before.

Kara had peered up at Vok, her back straight and her voice strong, the words she spat out coming out like venom, "You're either in this revolt and willing to do anything for not only our survival but for our glory, or you're with them, Vok. Which is it?"

Vok had forced out a chuckle; I had to admit I thought she was at least half-joking, so I wouldn't be surprised if he did too. His eyes had scanned the zone behind him before settling on the bloody shoe prints beneath him, "There's something wrong with you. Wrong with all of you."

She'd taken a step forward and raised a hand, and I knew what she planned to do, and from the terrorised look on Vok's face, he did too. I didn't have time for a single word to leave my mouth. I barely had time to react at all. Everything had gone still, only the quiet chuckle that came from Kara making it through to me.

She'd plunged into his chest deeply with a tight fist and stared directly into his face as his eyes went wide. His hands had gone to her wrists in an attempt to stop what she was doing, "No. Kara, no."

He'd pleaded with her with genuine fear but she had just shaken her head, pulling her hands back out from his chest in a quick motion. Her hands were completely covered in his blood, and sitting on her palm for her to examine, was the whole, complete heart. She'd completely ripped his heart from his chest like it was nothing. She hadn't even second-guessed it.

He falls to the ground, clutching at the gaping hole as she drops the heart by his knees.

This is when my legs decided they wanted to move. Not before when I could tell something like this was going to happen. Now, when the consequences of her actions were lying dead on the ground.

I cleared my throat hard, "Kara?" The words came out shaky, not as confident as I would have liked.

Kara had turned sharply, her face emitting surprise as she shrieked out my name, "Nika! How are you-"

Alive. 

She didn't finish the sentence but that's how it was going to end. I hadn't suspected her to be a part of it. But here she was, all but admitting it.

She shuffles her feet into the ground and holds up her bloody hands to me, "Nika... I know it looks bad but you have to let me explain. He was trying to-"

I raised a hand quickly, cutting her off from the deception she was about to feed me. I cast my eyes on Vok, completely lifeless and running out of time.

"What turned you into this, Kara?" I asked as calmly as I could manage, the anger building up in my throat the longer my eyes bore into his. My hand had gone up to point without thinking, "How can you possibly look at what you just did and feel justified?"

"I-" She had started to speak, but cut herself off, clearly deciding whatever she was about to say wasn't going to convince me to be on her side in this. She clears her throat and stands up straight, changing her stance as she gets comfortable again; her demeanour completely changing to this subtle confidence, "We're just going to deal with Central, Nika. The other three zones won't be hurt. We have it all figured out. We're going to correct all the mistakes people made before and build a better system for ourselves. Everything's going to be perfect. Can't you see that?"

I have to laugh, an almost condescending glee escaping my lips before I could even speak to her, "You really believe that, don't you?"

"It's the truth, Adrienne and I have it all figured out, don't you see that? We're doing good here, for all of us," She barks, completely devoid of any doubt. I lowered my head, knowing what this conversation was going to lead to. She wasn't going to let me anywhere near that man until she was put down.

And I was the only one I'd let do that. I had to release a small breath as I faced her directly, raising my fists in front of me, indicating my choice to her. She looked mildly alarmed until I decided to explain how I felt, "I made a mistake allowing you to be here. I should've said no to turning you. My instincts were right."

I can see the guilt twisted anger etched on her face as she lunges towards me quickly. I had planned on giving her a small refuge of mercy even now, I hadn't even thrown a punch yet but I could see her try to hide the quivering that was running through her limbs. While I was holding back in my punches she was putting her all into every blow. She was desperately trying to put me down now as though someone else had something worse planned and she was painfully aware of it.

I knew I would take no pleasure in taking her down. This wasn't like a usual spar; she had done something wrong and I had to fix it in little to no time, and she was leaving me no choice. Especially because she seemed to have gotten better in a very short amount of time; actually landing blows against my flesh and being very particular about the placement - striking me in just the right way to cause me actual pain.

"I'm better right?" She smirked, landing a solid kick on my groin. The smirk had vanished quickly though when I'd taken hold of her foot and pushed her away from me forcefully.

I didn't want to reply. I couldn't fight this like a spar. I couldn't fight this like it was Kara. I needed to disillusion myself and focus on how to win. The only saving grace in the fight was her lack of strength and her lack of strategy. She was making wrong movements with the rest of her body. The punches were pulling their own weight about eighty to twenty; just one wrong placement of her feet and I could end this fight.

That's what I had thought, and she didn't disappoint me. As soon as I'd thought it she'd struck me on the side of the face, but leaning out in the wrong way. She'd opened herself up to a blow, and I couldn't pass up that opportunity, striking the side of her neck with my fingers held straight and tightly together. I'd thrown all of my weight into the contact, and it had caused her to lose her balance, clutching her neck with a hand and trying to connect her other with my face. With the loss of her footing, I stepped forward quickly and pulled her head in towards me in a quick movement.

"Nika, no," She'd managed to squeak out, and even as she squirmed against the movements I found the strength to forcefully snap her neck. She stops moving immediately, losing all control of her limbs and leaving me to deal with the weight of her alone.

I gently rest her on the ground and move the hair from her eyes. I can't help but well up a little as I hold her head at my knees and try to figure out what to do with her.

I don't do that for very long though, having moved to analyse her body for damage and noticing the dried blood covering her hand and each individual finger. I stand up in a flash and collapse by Vok's side instead. She'd placed the heart right by his side, having done barely any damage to the organ itself.

I take a deep breath and pick up his heart, gently moving it back into the cavity she'd opened up and placed it back where she'd pulled it from; relying on the body itself to work out what to do with its stolen property.

I rested the hand that had managed to stay clear of blood; only spotting a few bruises from the fight, on Vok's tattooed arm. I found myself envying the colourful arrangement of flowers and snakes trailing up his arm; each one had been done in intricate detail to the point I was desperate to know which vampire had discovered such a talent. It was difficult to tattoo a vampire with the healing properties; it required skin removal, special ink and something hot. I'd had it done a few times in my lifetime and each time I had become more thankful that I'd gotten the majority of them done before I turned.

"Hey Vok," I whispered, "I need you to wake up. Like right now. I know I should've dealt with her sooner. Maybe when you brought it up a little while ago. But this isn't the way I want the story to end. Don't make her a real killer, please. Be okay. Wake up."

My pleas had become silent, my hand grasping onto his shirt to resist running from the body and to urge him to come to. It wasn't often that you could survive having your heart pulled from your chest; the window before the body regenerates is often too slim to have it repaired. The more time that passed, the less hope I had that I'd made it into that window.

I stare at the pillar of smoke that was building above the image of Central in front of me. It was a fair distance but even I could tell that some serious damage had been done to the structures; explosive devices had to have been thrown at a few of them; windows were missing and large holes had been formed.

What was really telling was the noise. I could hear the yelps and screams from here and not all of them sounded deserving. I just had to think of all the little children that toddle after their parents in the Central Zone. Sometimes you can't leave a small thing at home when you're due to meet with an official, so they end up with you, tip-toeing behind you and staring up at people with eyes of wonderment and curiosity.

Now all of those innocent souls were in danger. That single thought was enough to make me rise to my feet. Not that the decision made much difference in this situation, because as soon as my shoes had ground in the dirt to adjust my stance, a hand grasped tightly around my ankle and pulled me down forcefully.

Vok's eyes had fluttered open quickly, his other hand grasping at his chest. The man looked positively bewildered. His skin was barely flushing back some blood to his system, having previously turned a ghostly shade of white - the stage just before we can't come back at all. I'd never seen his eyes as wide as they were right now; bloodshot and furious, trying desperately to grasp the situation at hand.

I looked down at the gaping hole in his chest; blood and skin barely holding together even now. The wound to the flesh would heal eventually, quicker than the mental damage of being killed by my offspring. He'd convinced himself he was the strongest, an unstoppable force, and she'd killed that impression of himself.

I watch on as he both calms down and freaks out just moments after each other. He had physically begun to shake as the tears began to form in his eyes. I had to presume he was rethinking his position in this war, or at least the decision he'd made not to take part. It had come as a surprise to me, to see him so adamantly against creating a new revolution. Then again, maybe he was happier the way things were; Vok revelled in sparring and winning; both of which could be achieved within the bloodline, safely in the tower, without any of this needing to happen.

I hold my hand against his shoulder, trying to keep him still as he looks dead at the ground, avoiding looking me in the eyes. Either he's giving me the cold shoulder for creating the girl that has put him in this predicament, or he's ashamed I'm the one helping him out of it at all. I couldn't blame him for either of those, "Hey, you're okay."

I gently rub his shoulder whilst looking over my own, Kara's mangled head coming into view as I murmur, "I've dealt with it. There's nothing to worry about."

"Okay," He manages to croak out, his raspy voice deepening to the point it could barely be understood, but anchoring you down to force you to try. His eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated on raising his arm from the ground, unable to move his fingers. His face twisted into defeated sorrow as he realised his function hadn't come back yet, and he'd have to resign himself to lying here for a bit longer.

With such a defeated look on his face, I had to chuckle a little, "Not so undefeated now, are you?"

"Not funny. She could've killed me. I would never kill-" He begins to protest her actions but is promptly cut off by the sound of an explosion ripping through the air past the wall. Both of our heads had turned in the direction of the noise. Well, I had, Vok barely being able to move his head to his shoulder.

He slightly smiles, looking up at me, and then back towards the wall, "I think you have somewhere to be. I think there are some unfriendly faces that are expecting you. At least, that's what I've heard."

I nod and lightly tap his shoulder as I get up. I take a brief glance at Kara's unconscious, broken body. She'll be down for at least two hours with that amount of damage. That I can work with. I'd have to make it back or send someone back here. If not to make sure she recovered, to make sure she didn't try to finish the job on Vok. If anything I had to hope if she did recover before then that she'd see what she'd done and come to her senses.

I direct my attention back to Vok and point in the direction of her body, "Don't touch her. She's my responsibility. If anything happens to that girl before I get back and I find out you had something to do with it; I'll do worse than she could even try to. Understand?"

He nods slowly, "Whatever you say, man. I wouldn't plan on it."