65: Vile

Aaron stared at Sophie and dreaded what stood at the other side of the door. The door blasted open and disintegrated into splinters. It took a moment for Aaron to settle himself down and understand what had happened. Rick glared at him with a wide sinister smirk across his face. Before Aaron could react, Rick Hudson grabbed Sophie by her wrist and dragged her out of the room.

“No!”, Aaron yelled as he ran out of the room after him. He jumped out and looked both ways in the hallway. It was no secret that Hudson was using his unearthly powers. He had taken Sophie across the hallway in a blink of an eye. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. Aaron was huffing and panting with fear. He used every bit of focus that he had on offer to look for any clues. He caught a drape coming back to its original position with gravity. It was at the far end of the hallway just before the stairs. Everything else in the hallway was dormant. He decided to follow that clue. He could hear Sophie’s screams. He ran as fast as he could and reached the stairs. Aaron didn't need to search hard for the next clue as he found a downed painting on the way downstairs and the screams were also coming from the same direction. He ran down four stairs at a time and reached the lobby after following the wreckage. He found the crowd scrambling out of the hotel in panic. He took a look at the center of all the chaos and found Rick Hudson wrestling with a large black wolf. Aaron recognized the beast in an instant. Rick was parrying each of its attacks with alarming ease. Aaron looked around and found Mike tending to his injured daughter. In a matter of minutes, the hotel was emptied. Aaron looked back at the fight and found Rick toying with Boris. The huge dark beast stood no match against the veteran vampire. The wolf repeatedly pounced at him with all its might but Rick effortlessly slapped it away from him. Rick caught Aaron in the corner of his eye and decided that the play time was over. The next attack Boris attempted was expertly countered. Rick landed a hard punch to the wolf’s gut. The beast yielded a pitiful whine as the wind was knocked out of it. Boris felt the sensation in his body fade with that blow. Rick dealt another one in its gut and effortlessly threw it dozens of meters away. The wolf flew across the lobby and smashed into a wooden wall. It bounced thrice before sliding to a stop among the broken pieces of wood. It lay completely motionless. Once Boris was out of the way, Rick walked towards Sophie. Aaron ran at him just as Rick had expected. He awaited Aaron’s assault and easily dodged it. He swung a single precise hook into Aaron’s stomach and left him quivering on the ground for breath. Rick bent down to him as Aaron was rolled into a ball struggling for his life.

“Now! Now! I want you to see what I’m gonna do to your little princess”, Rick Hudson bitterly spoke and walked past Aaron, towards Sophie. Mike heard what he said. He sprang up to his feet and pulled out his gun. If Rick was to reach Sophie, he was going to go through her father. He aimed the handgun at Hudson with a clear intention to pull the trigger. Seeing the gun pointed at his face didn't make Rick change anything. He strolled towards Sophie at the same pace. Mike decided that it was time. He squinted his eyes and braced himself for the thunderous noise that was about to fill the lobby. He was shaking when he was giving the trigger the decisive pull. Rick stared into his eyes and grinned as he neared him. The gun fired. Rick disappeared just at the last millisecond. The bullet had hit nothing but the furniture behind him. Mike stared at the spot where Rick should have been, in disbelief. Rick suddenly materialized right in front of him just a foot away. Mike tried to fire another shot but Rick slapped the gun out of his grip before he could move a muscle. Mike powerlessly looked at his gun as it bounced on the floor meters away from him. Rick grabbed him by his throat and lifted him up in the air. Mike tried to free himself and repeatedly hit him but the blows didn't even make the vampire flinch. Mike struggled for air and was blacking out. Rick flung him away and he fell in the pile of suitcases that were stashed at the corner of the lobby. Now that Mike was out of the picture, Rick had all the time in the world to tend to Sophie. Aaron was still trying to get back on his feet. Rick neared Sophie as she tried to crawl away from him. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to her feet. Aaron could see two of one at the moment. The black wolf came back but it was limping badly. It jumped towards Rick when he was not expecting it. It grabbed the vampire’s arm with its powerful jaws. Rick groaned in pain and tried to shake it off of him. Boris’s grip finally gave in but not before Rick’s arm was drenched in blood. Sophie had broken free from Rick’s hands and had run away from him. Boris didn't take more than a moment to lunge back at him after Rick had thrown him off but Rick perfectly anticipated the next attack. He gripped the wolf midair and slammed it into the ground. Boris was done for. Rick gave him two more lusty blows just to make sure. Rick was fuming with rage. He looked at where Sophie would have been and found the place deserted. He set out to look for her. Aaron staggered towards him. Rick saw him come his way and let him. Aaron grabbed his shirt and pleaded to let Sophie go. Rick was loving every second of it.

“Please! Your war is with me! Let them go! Let her go!”, Aaron barely managed to speak the words. The blow from Rick had taken a huge toll on him. “I killed Sam, not them!”, he added, trying to divert the vampire’s anger towards himself. Rick knew exactly what he was trying to do. He chuckled loudly.

“That ship has long sailed, boy. You’re gonna see your loved ones fall and only then you’ll have my permission to die”, Rick spoked with all the bitterness in his being. Aaron tightened his grip on Rick’s shirt and was gathering all his strength to swing a punch when Rick threw another blow at him. Aaron plummeted to the ground with pain. Rick was back searching for Sophie. Aaron stretched his arm towards the vampire and tried to stop him but Rick walked away from him. He was hellbent to hurt Sophie. Aaron had never felt that powerless in his entire life of refuges and safehouses.