109: United

A heavy sense of morbid silence fell over the dome the moment my father’s body left the glass enclosure. It was sad and solemn and even the heartless nobles felt it as they hung their heads low. The winner? I was no winner. There were no winners in games like these. Instead, I was a loser. I’d lost so much all for so little. A crown on the head, something as insignificant and yet paramount to an entire society of pale, fanged creatures.
I expected my name to be announced. I expected to be crowned the winner, but not a sound was heard from Meera. Instead, she stared at me in pure abhorrence. I’d foiled her evil plan. She’d lost too.
Unfortunately, Meera was less than graceful in her defeat. Instead, she was one of the sorest losers I’d ever seen.
“Meera, you need to announce that Phoenix is the winner,” one of the council members said as they pointed to the projection of me on the dome, portraying me as the winner to all of those gathered on the stone bleachers, watching. But as he held the microphone out to Meera, she hissed before snatching it from his grasp and lodging it into his eyeball. He yelled out in agony and the rest of the nobles gazed at the sight before them in absolute horror.
“This was fucking not supposed to happen!” As she said this, she made her way from the benches, through the fencing and then trudged toward me as furious as the flames in hell. The cameras projecting the activity in the dome now focussed on her and the sounds of the confused yells of the spectators above filled the air.
As soon as Meera was outside of the glass wall, she pounded her fists on it, sending the glass shattering and leaving its shards scattered in a large square shape on the sand.
She lifted her blood-stained hands to her face and then laughed as they started to heal.
“You know the whole reason I decided to create these games was to fucking kill you so I wouldn’t have to risk my life. But you just don’t want to fucking die, do you? You just keep on saving yourself!”
She then raised her index finger and thumb in the air before squeezing them together.
“I was so fucking close to having everything you stole from me! I even had to resort to finding another witch who could perform a resurrection spell all in an effort to bring your father back to life. Do you know how fucking difficult that was, how fucking difficult all of this was? I have lived for centuries waiting for the day that I could watch you die, and yet you refuse to let me be rewarded for all my years of planning and hard work. Instead, all you do is weasel your way through things!”
Then, she took a step closer. A frighteningly maniacal look decorated her face and she let out another spine-chilling laugh.
“So now I’m going to kill you. I’m going to watch you suffer the way you’ve made me suffer. I’m going to taste the delicious taste of your fear on the tip of my tongue as I rip your heart out.”
It was funny how she thought that I was the problem when she had murdered me in my past life, constructed a deadly game in which most of the people I cared for died and also resurrected my father just for me to end up killing him again.
“You are delusional, Katherine,” I said.
She snickered and said, “It’s been a while since someone’s called me that. I must say, it still has a nice ring to it. Now, time for you to kiss the crown goodbye.”
Sebastian had told me not to kill Katherine and to play by her rules. But now, she was breaking them which meant that I could break them as well. The entire day I’d been forced to kill people I didn’t want to, people who didn’t deserve to die. However, now I was being challenged by someone I desperately wanted dead, someone who’d caused nothing but misery, not only for me, but the people around her. Although I was weak mentally, emotionally and even physically, I could feel the adrenaline pulsing through my veins. Even my body wanted to fight her.
She was fast, much faster than I anticipated, and as her foot came flying through the air, I hardly had the chance to dodge it and so she landed a good kick into my side. I sucked at my teeth and then clutched at my side as I tried to run backward to create some distance between the both of us. But the more I tried to create distance, the more she closed it. She came towards me, clawing and biting relentlessly. Only my arms stood between her and my face as I braced myself for her attacks. I wanted her to tire herself out, that way I’d have a better advantage, but she showed no sign of getting tired. Perhaps she was extremely well-rested after having everyone else do her dirty work for her. She was always one to delegate, always one to instruct.
She tried to strike at my shin, but I jumped up and then landed on my hands before lowering myself into a forward roll and then getting back onto my feet. And as she tried to attack me, everyone just stared, shocked, nervous, afraid. This was who she was, rabid, power-hungry and greedy. This was who they let be in charge. And as the council gazed out at the mistake they’d made, the mistake that was trying to kill me, regret filled them. I suppose that by then they were too afraid to stop her, too afraid to undo the mess they’d caused because then they’d have to admit to their wrongs. Instead, I was left to clean up the mess that had been centuries in the making.
“You keep on trying to dodge me. What, are you afraid of fighting?” She panted out heavily. She was finally tiring herself out and I was finally recovered enough to begin attacking her, sucking up all of the injuries I’d sustained from my previous fight and the attacks earlier on in this one.
“No, I’m just enjoying watching you chase me around like you’ve done all these centuries. It’s so sad. I’m always just out of reach.” I said, ducking as she stuck a hand out towards me. She snarled and attempted to grab at my shirt, but I hit her hands away and then executed a perfectly precise kick into the side of her jaw before slamming my fist into her chest. It sent her to the ground. She grunted and wiped at her bloody mouth before propping herself onto her hands. But I wasn’t done with her. Instead, I crouched down, grabbed at the collar of her shirt and then started punching my fist into the side of her face again and again. Blood splattered everywhere and she attempted to claw at my fingers. But my grip was as deadly as the rage that now filled me. There was nothing as dangerous as an angered hybrid, and now that I had recovered some of my strength back, it was blinding and all-consuming. I knew as I held Meera within my grasp, that she wouldn’t make it through this alive. She hadn’t lost as much as I had, she hadn’t shed as many tears as I’d shed, she hadn’t said goodbye as many times as I did. Instead, all the reasons she had for killing me were petty and insignificant. I had people to fight for and although revenge was never the answer, Meera could not continue to roam the earth, tormenting it. We deserved better.
When I let her go, her face was bloody, and she was too weak to do anything except fall onto her back and listen as I spoke.
“You’ve only ever brought pain to me both in this life and my other one. Can’t you see all of the lives you’ve destroyed, all of the destruction you’ve caused? Even your son is disinterested in your return. All you’ve ever wanted was power, and all for what?”
“Oh, spare me your speech and just kill me!” She wheezed out annoyed. I shook my head.
“No. Not until I’ve said what I needed to. I wish things had turned out differently between the both of us. I wish that back then you would have accepted me and loved me. Instead, all you’ve ever done is hate me. And now, you’ll die with all of your hatred. I can’t say I forgive you for everything you’ve done. The hurt’s still fresh. But for my own sake, I hope one day I will…”
And as I said this, I grabbed at her head before bashing the back of it into the ground. Immediately, her body fell limp and her head fell to the side as she lay there lifeless.
I collapsed to the ground beside her, exhausted, and stared at her lifeless body. It was finished. I had won, finally.
And almost to emphasise this, one of the council members finally spoke, taking Meera’s place.
“Vampires of Tenebris, our winner, Phoenix Ackerman!” As this was being announced, the sand shifted again, this time rising. The dome slowly fell away, and I could see the light of the world above being cast down on me. Eventually, the dome transformed back into the glass memorial plates and the giant raven took its place behind me. The council members crowded around me, the other citizens of Tenebris did too. Shouts of joy and cheers sounded, overwhelming my senses. Then, Sebastian, Demetri, Alice and Aaliyah emerged from the crowd with a rather familiar figure following after them. I gasped as my eyes landed on Phoenix’s father… my father. In his hands, he held a crown, it was the one which had previously belonged to Athena.
“… I knew you could do it, Diana.” He said as tears brimmed his eyes. His voice was shaky, as though he’d burst into tears at any moment.
“Oh dad, I’m so happy that you’re here!” I said as I wrapped my arms around him. Nothing had changed for me, despite everything that had happened since I had last seen him. To me, he was still my father.
He stiffened at first, and then wrapped his arms around me. “And it’s Phoenix, dad.”
He chuckled before finally bursting into tears himself and placing the crown delicately on top of my head. And as we stood there together, the tears started falling down my face too as I began to mourn all of the losses I’d taken. Slowly, Demetri, Alice and Aaliyah wrapped their arms around me as well and Sebastian reluctantly joined in. Then, the strangest thing happened. All of the vampires surrounding us slowly began to wrap their arms around us all. Thousands upon thousands of vampires all stood in a large group-embrace. It was tight, suffocating but comforting and invigorating. It was one of the purest moments in vampire history and one which would be remembered for centuries to come- the day we were all finally united.
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This is the second last chapter!!!
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!