Beyond The Walls (NOW ON AMAZON!!!)

Hope

Hadley backed away from the dogs pinning the three humans to the ground. She pushed Drew closer behind her and carefully moved to the left, near Brielle and the others. She tightened the grip around her axe. The dogs were waiting for something. She heard a crunch of leaves to her right, her head snapping to the sound.

"Drew, hold Brownie," Hadley said, trying to peer through the trees and their shadows. "Make sure he doesn't leave your side, okay?"

"Okay, Hadley." The little boy whispered. The attempt to keep his fear-laced voice steady was admirable, especially because he was struggling to hold Brownie back. The dog's growling had deepened and was garbled. His fangs were down, and he was itching for a fight.

A vampire slowly walked out of the thick undergrowth, clad in a fitting dark green suit with vertical, clipped black streaks, his hands deep in the pockets of a long coat that matched. He was a head taller than Hadley, lanky, with thin, curly, dishevelled hair that he ran his hand through as he flashed her a grin. Teroi said that vampires kept the body they were turned in. It made her wonder if this man had wanted to keep his wiry frame or had been forced to for his Master's pleasure.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" the vampire asked. He walked up to the dog restraining Brielle and pet its head. The vampire dog leaned into the touch.

Hadley narrowed her eyes. These dogs' crimson eyes were tinged heavily green. They weren't Venoms, but they were still vampire dogs. Still incredibly dangerous and murderous, especially as they weren't fully fed. Brownie stayed fed at all times to, Hadley presumed, keep his control. How were these other dogs so calm while at the edge of being blood starved?

"What do you want?" Hadley asked.

There was a reason she wasn't in the same position as the humans pinned to the ground.

"What I want is to know how you managed to get him to stay with you," the vampire said, pointing to a spot behind Hadley. She knew he was pointing to Brownie. The vampire's voice went higher and higher and more demanding with each statement. "And I want to know why you would let an insipid little human child control that much power. And why you would torture a vampire by keeping it from feeding on human blood!"

Hadley swished her axe in warning. "Stay away from us!"

"How ungrateful you are!" the vampire said. He pointed at the three humans. "They were stalking you! Hunting you! I turned your stalkers into the stalked. Your hunters into the hunted! I did that for you! We can rule them all with the dogs by our side. But you must let me Turn you and you must let me teach you how to treat these glorious creatures with respect. You must!"

Hadley looked down at Brielle. The woman was struggling against her dog, they all were. These dogs were much larger than most of the vampire dogs Hadley had seen before. At an order from the vampire, the dogs lowered their fangs snapping close to the human necks, forcing Brielle and the others to stop squirming. Brielle looked up at Hadley. Hadley expected to see fear in Brielle's eyes but saw something else. Brielle had a plan. Hadley gave her the smallest nod, then turned back to face the vampire.

"I'm not interested in anything you have to offer," Hadley said.

The second the words hit him, he yelled in rage. "You don't deserve that dog! You don't deserve anything! Apollo! Attack!"

The dog pinning Brielle snapped its head to its Master, who was pointing at Hadley. It then turned to Hadley and snarled. There was a second of hesitation before it pounced. That second was all Hadley needed. She threw the axe, which flew straight and true, right into the green-clad vampire's chest. The man's scream got lost in the ensuing chaos and confusion.