Chapter 27

-Crow's POV-

Behind us stood Bertrand, the last person I wanted to see. He had two other men behind him, along with a woman I didn't recognise. But Noah clearly did judging by his shoulders tensing up. Noah's reaction worried me immensely, because in Rosaline's grip was Haven. Haven looked mortified. She seemed ready to pass out with her shaking form and pale face.

"Let her go," I demanded immediately. "She doesn't need to be involved with any of this." I had tried so hard the past year or so to ensure that Haven didn't know about vampires, and all of that was ruined now.

"I know," Bertrand responded with a wicked smile. The fact that he was acting so trivial made my blood boil. "But it makes it so much more fun for me." An amused fire lit in his eyes, which only emphasised his insane tone of voice. "Besides, you can't keep poor, trustworthy Haven in the dark for this long now, can you? Don't you think she deserves to know her best friend's darkest secret?"

I resisted the urge to snarl at him, remaining as calm as I possibly could in a situation where my best friend is being held captive by a vampire. "Yes, over a nice cup of tea once school's over. I don't think she wants to learn my secret in the middle of a graveyard and being held against her will." I hated to admit that I was also using Bertrand's tone against him, a devious kind of kindness and formality which could only mean trouble.

Noah moved closer to me, holding my hand tighter. It was almost too tight for a human to handle without some broken bones. I couldn't imagine what he was thinking; what horrendous images were swirling through his head.

"What adorable little things you are," Bertrand said, as though he was talking to animals at a petting zoo. He gestured Rosaline forward, taking Haven into his own hands. "You think that if you ignore all of this, pretending to live your mundane human lives, that all your worries would just poof away." He gave a condescending laugh. "You'll forget that you're both ruthless human killers. You go out and kill people, just like what happened to Noah here." He then raised his free hand up to Haven's face. "Just like what will happen to poor, pathetic Haven."

"You're one to talk," Noah sneered. He stepped forward, surprising me and a few of the vampires on Bertrand's side. "You've killed thousands as well. The only difference between you and Crow is that Crow cares about the fact he's hurt people. He's sympathetic, and he only does it out of need. You didn't need to hurt me, you didn't need to kill hundreds of innocent people, but you did."

Bertrand gasped dramatically. "I care about every single person who I kill, thank you very much." He looked offended, but in an over-dramatized sort of way. "It either means my experiments didn't work, or I was out of food. Both situations are incredibly terrible." His voice was dark and deep. "I told you not to move," he growled lowly in Haven's ear, who had begun to struggle.

We were outnumbered, there was no chance of me getting Haven out of Bertrand's grip, and there wasn't anything which I could use to help me. All I could focus on was the fact that Bertrand was threatening Haven, and what he could've potentially done to her whilst she was within his grasp. I had to stall this, surely Aldrich was watching us. He said that he would be, but I also didn't want to rely on him.

"I'll tell you one more time," I spoke slowly. I allowed my fangs to grow and veins to glow. Haven already knew I was a murderer; I wasn't losing anything by doing this. "Let her go."

My anger only worsened as the crowd began to laugh at me.

"You?" Rosaline spat out. She put her hands on her hips and placed a confident grin on her face. "Who are you to demand anything of us? You're pathetic and defenceless nobodies." She laughed louder, her laugh only fading when noise began to come from the bushes along the wall of the graveyard. "Who's there?" She narrowed her eyes, accusingly staring at us.

The noise got louder and louder, until all the shadows began to shift. How hadn't I noticed that there were so many people here? I looked around a few moments ago, and it seemed vacant. I suppose that's the issue when it comes to facing vampires who were older, they had more abilities which I could only dream about. I could've also just been very distracted too, that was a possibility. Noah squeezed my hand and stepped even closer to me. I didn't recognise many of the people who were suddenly appearing, which terrified me.

"Still so very noisy," a rather large man with dark hair complained. He was wearing a suit, which looked like it suited our surroundings. "What do you think you're doing?" He directed the question towards Bertrand.

Bertrand looked towards the floor and shook his head, acting as though he was a child who had just gotten caught sneaking out in the middle of the night. "I'm simply claiming what is mine." He turned his head in Haven's direction. "Using any means necessary, because it's rightfully mine."

"He's a person," a woman in burgundy called from one of the two exits. "He belongs to nobody." Her gaze was stern and determined. She had her arms crossed and didn't look at all impressed by wearing heels in wet mud. "Do you even know who this is?"

"Should I?" Bertrand asked in a bored tone. His lack of interest and emotion seemed to agitate even the people on his own side. It was a large contrast from his confident and charming facade. "All I know is that he's alive. He's one of my experiments and is alive. That makes him mine." He was almost shouting.

I let go of Noah's hand and wrapped my arm around him. I didn't know if that would be an issue for us if it ever came to a fight. But I would rather kill then for Noah to be anyone's but mine. Unless we broke up on mutual terms, that is.

"His name is Noah Trison." Aldrich nearly made me jump as he appeared behind us. He put a hand on each of our shoulders. I tried not to think about how he felt like a looming father figure who was introducing us to a business partner for the first time. "His parents are Spencer and Naomi Trison. Of course, I'm not sure if you would know her by that name. Her maiden name was Naomi Scarson." He paused dramatically before saying her name, as though this was some sort of television drama. "I know, all the son's is strange."

Bertrand's eyes widened and he stepped forward, bringing Haven along with him. He got too close for my comfort, but Aldrich's hand squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. "I don't care much for blood types." Bertrand hummed and frowned. "As a child of two vampires, I believe it's utter madness to think that it'd have any importance. Your mother means nothing to me." There was a collective gasp.

"That makes so much sense," the woman in burgundy muttered with a shake of her head. Vampires weren't meant to have children, because that just led to loads of issues with DNA and powers which the vampire government couldn't keep up with. It wasn't illegal, but it was highly taboo.

"Mister Bertrand Varlett," the man who spoke up first said after a moment of stunned silence. "You're being arrested for illegal experimentation, murder, lack of discretion, and well, I'm sure there are more."

The next few moments went by in something which I could only describe as a vampiric rush. Haven was thrown to the side, her glasses fell off, and blood began to leak from her head.

I was distracted, as Bertrand immediately made a grab for me after he had thrown Haven down. I had slightly expected it, given the fact I had disrupted his plans the first time. I tried to sidestep and push Bertrand away, which I really should've done to Noah. Fortunately, Bertrand was much weaker than me. He wasn't as quick or as strong as regular vampires, one of the reasons why vampires don't procreate. They still had a thirst for blood and immortality, but they didn't have any of the other advantages used when hunting.

More and more vampires turned up, both from our side and from Bertrand's. I wanted to scream at them to get Noah out of here, but I couldn't. It was difficult with my focus on making sure that my head remained on my shoulders. Rosaline had gone straight for the woman in burgundy, and Bertrand's main slaves fought extremely well. Maybe he chose quality over quantity.

Noah's back met mine three minutes into fighting. His movements were harsh and inexperienced, which is probably what my own actions looked like. I didn't know who the good guys were and who were the bad guys, other than what they were wearing. I was pretty sure some of the good guys even came for us at some point, but we just fought the best we could.

I had taken self-defence classes when I was younger, and I was using all of my muscle memory. If anyone tried to hurt either of us, they were the bad guys. I tried to keep an eye on where Bertrand was, but I struggled immensely. People were rushing and pushing and pulling limbs off others. It worried me, as I definitely wasn't at all old enough to have built up enough strength to fight vampires.

The scent of blood reached my nose, and seemingly everyone else's too, as the fight began to slow down. The blood smelled sickly sweet, and there was a lot of it. It wasn't like Haven's blood, which was slightly bitter and had dried by now. What was even more worrying was the fact that it was coming from just outside of the graveyard.

I shoved the enemy I was fighting away from me and grabbed Noah's wrist, moving towards Aldrich. I felt like that would be a smart decision, given the fact that he had done so much to help us so far. Haven was still unconscious by Noah's parent's grave, people had avoided her throughout the fight, probably because there was no use for her as a bargaining chip anymore.

Aldrich looked at us for a moment before marching towards the exit to the graveyard. Bertrand stood with his back to us, a large piece of wood sticking through his chest. I knew that meant the end of Bertrand, but I couldn't see who had done it, as they were hidden by Bertrand.

Bertrand's hand moved like a snake striking at their target's neck. A flash of metal met my eyes, and more blood dampened the air. An excruciatingly loud bang echoed. Bertrand stumbled backwards, revealing the person who managed to do what we couldn't.

Sawyer stood in front of us with blood seeping through his clothes. It was as though he had gone into shock, before an expression of agony covered his face and he let out a pained scream. He crumbled to the floor, just as Bertrand's body disintegrated.

Aldrich pushed past us as vampires began to fight again, but there were more fleeing than there were earlier. Bertrand's side had given up, most of them anyway. There were a few who stayed to fight those who they had personal grudges against, or I assumed that anyway. Rosaline was soon killed by the lady in burgundy. The only proof of that was her screech of anguish as she also faded to dust.

"Sawyer, what goes on in that mind of yours boy?" Aldrich asked in a very panicked tone. It was a mix between a scolding and a plea for help. He held his screaming son in his arms, who tried to wriggle into a more comfortable position, but only caused more noises of pain.

Noah and I glanced at each other before stepping forward and kneeling down in front of them. I wanted to be there for Sawyer, despite not knowing any way I could possibly help him. Well, I knew one way, but so did Aldrich.

"I'm sorry," was all Sawyer seemed to be able to say. And he repeated those two words over and over again, drinking the tears which streamed down his face. I wouldn't have believed that this was the human who had destroyed one of the oldest vampires in the country right now. He looked so weak and fragile in his father's arms.

Aldrich shushed Sawyer and placed a trembling hand on his cheek, wiping away the tears. "No, no. Please don't say that," Aldrich begged. I felt like I was intruding just by being within five feet. Aldrich choked on his sobs, making me realise that I also had tears leaking from my eyes. "What do you want me to do?" He was broken, lost, and desperate. I was certain if anyone came from behind him, he wouldn't notice.

"Dad," Sawyer said, voice breaking. He coughed a few times, blood leaking from his mouth. "I don't want to die."

Hello lovelies!

I hope that you're all doing well :D
The question of the chapter is -what book makes you cry?

For me, I would say Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse- the beginning of when things become far too real for the group of demigods.