Earlier, when John left the cave, Elena had called out for him to stay. Her voice was weak with fear. She was terrified that John would either make a naive mistake and attract unwanted attention, or that he would be found and killed by the ruthless werewolf. But her body, drained by the fight and ravaged by the venom, betrayed her. She drank the blood that was in the water bottle and after about an two hours of silent worry, she fell into a heavy, deep sleep.
She awoke later, not to the sound of John's return, but to a searing, internal alarm. The pain in her shoulder had begun to increase exponentially. It was no longer a dull ache; it was a white-hot agony that seemed to be eating its way toward her heart. To distract herself from the excruciating sensation, Elena drifted into a daydream. It was a hauntingly peaceful memory of her past life from when she was still a human being.
She saw herself as a young girl, growing up on a simple farm. She was only twelve, and her world was still full of uncomplicated happiness. She could almost smell the scent of dry hay and the damp earth of the fields. In this memory, the weight of being a servant and a vampire had not yet settled on her shoulders. She was just a child, unaware of the darkness that waited in her future.
"Elena! Where are you, lunch is ready!" a middle-aged woman named Eve, Elena's mother, called out from the farmhouse.
"Coming, Mama!"
Elena arrived at the wooden table. Her mother had just placed a platter of fresh baked chicken down. "What were you doing, Elena?" Eve asked, smiling warmly.
"I was playing with my dolls, Mama."
"Did you finish your homework, Elena?" Eve asked as she sat down.
"Yes, Mama, and I also got an A in my math test, Mama!"
Eve's face lit up with pride. She reached out and called Elena's name in a gentle, almost reverent tone. "Elena?"
"Yes, Mama?"
"You know you are Mama's sunshine, right?"
Elena giggled wholeheartedly, a sound of perfect joy. "I know, Mama, and Mama is also my sunshine."
Eve gave her daughter a gentle smile. "Now eat your food before it gets cold."
The image of that gentle smile vanished instantly. Elena snapped out of her daydream when she heard a sound. It was a heavy and dragging scrape from the cave entrance. Something is getting closer, she thought. Her senses, despite the venom, screamed a warning. She hoped against hope it was John, but the sound was too immense and too ponderous.
What entered the cave was something much bigger and infinitely scarier. A fully grown Grizzly Bear stepped into the gloom. It was a massive wall of fur and muscle. The heavy breathing of the beast echoed off the stone walls. The scent of wet fur and wild aggression filled the small space. It replaced the fading memory of her mother's kitchen with the stench of a predator.
The beast walked on four massive, padded paws. Its movements conveyed immense and brute power. On John's home planet, this animal was considered one of the most formidable mammals. Its paws were equipped with claws about four inches long, capable of ripping a person's head from their body with a single and brutal swipe.
In this world of Paruga, there were many strange and otherworldly creatures, but there were also animals that originated from Earth. However, the animals here were much stronger and more resilient than their Earthly counterparts. This grizzly was a prime example of such a beast, evolved for a more dangerous environment.
Elena's face was a mask of shock and despair. She was badly wounded and crippled by the werewolf venom. Now, this primal force had lumbered into her sanctuary. She thought that this day, the day of her likely death, could not possibly get any worse, but the grizzly had just entered the picture. If I were at my peak condition, this bear would be a fleeting nuisance, she thought. To a vampire of her caliber, it would be a mere obstacle. But at this moment, she was powerless and defenseless.
The grizzly bear moved deep into the cave, its dark eyes vacant and focused only on instinct. It did not notice Elena sitting motionless against the back wall at first. It proceeded to sniff around, its large snout twitching as it looked for anything that might pique its interest. It was searching for a den, a scent, or a morsel.
Elena was trapped in a state of sheer panic. The pain from the festering bite chose that terrible moment to flare up again with agonizing intensity. She could not suppress a small, soft whimper. She instantly clamped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late.
The small noise was enough. The grizzly bear turned its massive head and spotted Elena sitting there on the cold ground. It stared at her with hollow, predatory eyes. Its attention was caught by the metallic scent of fresh, flowing blood leaking from her torn shoulder. The bear began to walk in her direction. With every heavy and deliberate step, Elena could see her own death approaching.
Elena did not want to die yet. The cold certainty of the venom was one thing, but to be mauled by a feral beast felt like a final and cruel joke. She knew her end was near, but she desperately wanted to see John one last time before she passed.
"Stay away!" Elena commanded. Her voice was thin and lacked its usual authority. The immense bear paid no attention to the fading sound of her voice.
As the grizzly reached her, its massive head blotted out the faint light of the cave. Elena did the only thing she could. She held out her hand in a final, useless, and instinctive gesture of defense. Is this really how it ends? she thought as the shadow of the beast fell over her.
The bear responded immediately. It began to roar with a deep and territorial sound that made the air in the cave vibrate. It slashed at the hand she held out. Its four inch claws pierced her flesh and tore away strips of skin and muscle. Blood, thick and dark with venom, spurted from her hand. Elena could not help but let out a piercing scream. The sound immediately irritated the apex predator.
The grizzly did not hesitate. It lunged at the defenseless Elena and bit down hard on her shoulder. It struck directly where the festering bite was located.
Elena was screaming at the top of her lungs, a sound of pure agony that filled every corner of the cave. She could do nothing as the grizzly bear began to bite and chew on her flesh and bone. It crunched through her tissues, breaking and consuming part of her collarbone. After tearing a chunk of flesh away, the bear violently threw Elena to the side. Her frail body tossed against the cold cave wall.
Elena's screams reached the highest pitch. It was a sound born of immense and unimaginable pain. If she were a normal human being, the trauma alone would have killed her instantly. But her core vampire strength and her fierce will to live kept her clinging to the edge of consciousness. She mustered the little strength she had left and began to crawl away from the beast.
The grizzly did not chase her immediately. It was still preoccupied as it savagely chewed on the chunk of flesh it had torn from her shoulder. Pools of dark blood began to form on the ground, spreading and leaking everywhere.
Elena's frantic and desperate crawl was futile. The bear swallowed the mouthful and its attention returned to the source of the feast. It dashed forward as a blur of fur and muscle. It bit and slashed at her back. Elena screamed again. The sound was now choked and desperate. Her efforts to escape were useless.
Time began to slow down as the pain became an overwhelming and all consuming pressure. In that stretched moment, her final conscious thought was of the boy she swore to protect. I am sorry, Young Master, she thought. Afterward, the pain finally became too intense. She passed out and her ravaged body went limp on the cave floor.
====
John burst into the cave with Elena's scream still echoing in his ears. Just before he crossed the threshold, he pulled a fixed blade knife from his storage ring. He held the weapon tight, ready to face whatever unexpected enemy had invaded their sanctuary.
The cold metal felt solid in his hand as he rounded the corner. The sight that assaulted him was a nightmare of blood and torn flesh. The massive grizzly bear had its jaws clamped onto her defenseless body and was tearing at her.
When he saw what was happening, everything went black for a split second. A deep and overwhelming surge of power erupted from within him. It was a mix of terror, rage, and a need to protect her.
John's left pupil changed crimson red while the white of his eye slowly turned pitch black. Unlike normal vampires, there were no dark or sickly veins spreading beneath this eye.
However, his rage at seeing Elena mutilated unlocked something deeper and completely chaotic. The white of his right eye also turned black, but the pupil began to flicker wildly. It finally settled on a brilliant, startling blue that looked like a glowing crystal.
His power and bloodlust exploded into a volatile aura that immediately began to fill the entire cave. This massive and sudden surge of energy caught the grizzly bear's attention. It pulled the beast away from its feast.
Fangs slowly extended from John's mouth. They were longer and sharper than any he had manifested before. He unleashed a deep and throaty growl that met the bear's roar. John gripped the fixed blade knife tightly in his right hand and let the useless primitive shovel drop from his left.
The grizzly bear instantly sensed the danger emanating from the small figure. It let out a defiant roar and charged at full speed. It was intent on eliminating the threat standing before its food.
As the bear came running, John threw the knife with astonishing precision. The blade flew true and buried itself deep into the bear's eye. The hilt stuck out from the socket.
Yet, strangely, the massive beast did not respond to the knife in its eye. It did not slow down, flinch, or roar in pain. It continued its charge unimpeded as its powerful instinct overrode the injury.
John did not move an inch. As the bear closed the distance, he held out his left forearm and allowed the predator to bite down with crushing force.
The attack should have severed his arm, but John did not react to the massive pain. His bone structure held, though the bear's jaws did manage to make a small fracture. John gave a grim and manic grinning display of fangs. Then, with his uninjured right hand, he calmly removed the knife from the bear's eye socket.
The bear did not let go of John's arm. Instead, it bit down even harder as it was driven into a frenzy. Blood from both John and the bear's eye wound mixed and leaked onto the cave floor.
John then took the fixed blade knife and buried it deep into the bear's skull with one swift and overwhelming motion. The knife sliced through the bear's tough flesh and hit bone. The force behind the blow was so immense that it went through the skull bone just as easily as it entered the flesh. It punched deep until the tip reached the brain.
The grizzly bear instantly went still. Its massive body slumped and then fell to the ground with a heavy thud close to John's feet.
John looked down at the dead body of the bear. He went down on one knee with his face twisted in a silent snarl and removed the knife from the bear's skull.
What followed was a moment of uncontrolled and residual rage. He began to stab the dead bear repeatedly and viciously. He did this until several large and gushing holes could be seen spurting blood from the dead animal's head.
After a minute of this frenzy, the dual transformation abruptly faded. The red and blue lights vanished. The black color in his eyes receded and the power dissolved. John let go of the knife that was in his hand and he went unconscious and collapsed. It was many minutes before his eyes finally fluttered open.
He looked at the scene. The bloody bear lay at his feet and carnage was everywhere. He stared with wide, confused eyes.
"Jesus Christ, what happened here," he muttered. His mind was a complete blank regarding the fight. "What the fuck!"
The overwhelming surge of power was gone, leaving him feeling hollow and drained. He looked down and saw that the fabric of his cream hoodie was torn to shreds around his left arm. He wondered for a moment what could have happened to his arm to ruin the sleeve like that, but the limb felt mostly fine, as if it had already healed. He quickly set those thoughts aside.
His world had narrowed to one person.
Where is Elena? he thought frantically. He looked around the carnage-strewn cave and saw her. Elena lay there motionlessly. Her body was horribly ravaged and limp against the wall.
"Noooooo!"
He scrambled across the bloody floor to her side. His mind was screaming in panic. He carefully gathered her broken body into his arms. Tears streamed down his face as he rocked her gently.
"No, Elena, wake up… wake up, Elena!"
He immediately placed his fingers over her mouth and nose. To his immense relief, he found she was still breathing. It was shallow, but she was still holding on. She was alive.
His next thought was the one thing that could stabilize her now: blood. But he needed his knife.
Where is the knife?
John searched the floor frantically. His eyes landed on the grizzly bear's massive, lifeless head. He saw the hilt of his fixed blade knife lying nearby. It was coated with gore and blood. John snatched up the knife and hurried back to Elena's side.
Without a second thought, driven purely by desperation, John cut open his own wrist with the blade. He held his bleeding wrist over Elena's mouth. He dripped his blood onto her lips, forcing the life-giving fluid past them.
John had to repeatedly cut open his wrist in the same spot. His own vampire healing factor tried to seal the wound every time. It was becoming tedious and agonizing, but he had no choice.
John's face became bleak. He was pale and damp with sweat from losing too much blood, but he did not care about the physical cost. He only stopped giving Elena his blood when he saw a faint return of color to her cheeks. He knew that her own body, now fortified by his unique supply, might be able to stabilize.
But what truly shocked John was the sight of the werewolf wound. The bite on her shoulder had stubbornly refused to heal. It had been darkening her veins, but now, at a very slow pace, it was beginning to close.
John's blood seemed to be countering the core problem. It provided the spark of life that normal vampire blood could not. Yet, he was not sure if the venom was still actively poisoning her, or if his blood could truly replace the powerful antidote at the castle.
He knew with absolute certainty: he needed to get his friend back to the Crimson Castle as fast as possible.