Darkness Fades (Darkness Falls Series, Book 3) (6 page)

Maci starts to shake with nerves and leans
in close to me. “Kayla, I’m scared.”

I pat her head. “Everything will be okay. I
promise.”

Nichelle twists one of the coils of her hair
with her fingers as she deliberates then her eyes light. “I think I
may know of a place. If we hurry, we can make it before it gets
completely dark.”

I nod and then we take off in a line down a
small trail that weaves down into the basin, Nichelle taking the
front and me taking the back. The trail is narrow and drops off
sharply on one side towards jagged rocks and cliffs. I try to keep
an eye on everyone as we hike down towards the bottom, having to
catch Maci more than a few times.

It’s getting darker, the sky a deep grey,
making it difficult for them to see. The trail begins to slope
further towards the ground and Maci has to brace into the rocky
wall beside us to keep her balance.

“Be careful,” Nichelle whispers from up
ahead, motioning us to keep going. “We’re are almost there.
Everyone keep moving.”

I see the edge of the ledge where Nichelle
seems to be heading and relief washes over me because everyone is
making me nervous. It’s too stressful traveling with the group and
I wish I were alone.

Suddenly, Maci stumbles, and when I reach
out to grab her, she slips from my grasp, tumbling over the edge of
the cliff. She shouts my name as she falls, and I cry back at her.
My eyes widen as I rush to the edge and look down.

“Maci!” I shout towards the bottom, lying
flat on my stomach as I peer down over the edge. I spot her a ways
down, lying at the bottom on the rocks. She’s not moving. I feel a
flicker of panic, one I’m not used to as the others rush over to
the side of me. It hurts, knowing she’s down there, helpless and in
pain.

I need to get to her. Now.

“What happened?” Nichelle asks, rushing up
to me.

“Maci slipped and fell over the edge.” I
look down at the ground below, panicking more than I ever have
before. What if she’s not okay? What if she’s gone? “I’m going to
climb down.” I push up and swing my legs around to climb down to
the rocks below.

Greyson grabs my arm, stopping me. He’s
afraid. Scared of what may happen if we don’t find somewhere to
hide from the vampires soon. “Kayla, that was a long fall—” A
vampire lets out a cry and he jumps, more afraid as he glances
around with worry. “We need to get to a safe place, quick.”

I shrug his hand off and lower my feet over
the edge. “Then go. I can get Maci by myself.”

Aiden steps up in front of me when I’m
halfway over the side. “Wait.”

“Why?” Dirt and rocks scratch at my palms,
but I barely feel it.

“I’m going with you,” he says, crouching
down in front of me. “You might need some help.”

“I need you to go with Nichelle and
Greyson,” I say, pushing my way back up over the ledge, holding my
weight on my arms, my feet hanging below me. He starts to argue,
but I cut him off. “First of all, I’m the only one in this group
that is immune from the vampires. It makes no sense for the rest of
you to risk yourselves.” I lower my voice. “And I need you to help
watch the others in case the vampires try to attack them.”

He shakes his head, annoyed. Cries echo
around us, multiplying as more and more vampires wake up.

“I’ll hurry and get Maci then meet up with
you guys.” I look over at Nichelle. “Can you tell me where the
hiding spot is?”

She squats down in front me. “Just stay on
the trail and when you get to the bottom there’s a large rock to
the right. There’s a trail hidden behind it that leads to the side
of a hill that has several caves in it. I think one of them may be
large enough for all of us to climb in until morning.” She stands
back up and dusts the dirt off her hands.

“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I
tell her, unsure how true that really is, especially because I’ll
be bringing Maci back with me.

She starts to walk away, but stops and
reaches into the leather pouch, pulling out a knife. “You may need
this.” She hands it to me.

I balance my weight on one arm and take it
from her, slipping it into my back pocket; ready to go, ready to
get to Maci. Help her. She needs my help.

Aiden moves closer to me, still seeming
pissed. “I don’t like leaving you alone.”

He’s getting on my nerves and slowing me
down from getting to Maci. “I’ll be fine, now go.”

He reluctantly stands up as the rest of them
head off down the trail in a line. I lower my feet, pressing my
boots to the side of the hill, then dig my fingers into it and
rapidly scale down the side like a lizard.

When I finally plant my feet on the bottom,
I rush over to Maci’s side and kneel down, feeling sick to my
stomach at the sight. She’s lying face down in the dirt; her arm is
kinked at a weird angle, a bone protruding through the skin. Blood
drips down her arm, forming a small pool of blood around her and
the rocks below her.

I lean down and listen to see if she’s
breathing. I hear her take a breath, but it’s small and weak.
Still, I let out a sigh, relief swelling within me because at least
she’s still breathing; she’s alive.

“Maci, can you hear me?”

She lets out a groan, her eyes opening up.
“Kayla?”

“It’s going to be okay.” It feels like I’m
lying to myself, though.

She tries to push herself up, but gasps from
the pain and drops back down to the ground, her face twisted in
pain

“Kayla, is that you?” Her voice is quiet and
shaky, her hair is covered in dirt and fragments of rocks and her
shirt’s stained with blood.

I need to help her. Somehow. Get her out of
here and heal her.

As I’m figuring out what to do, I hear what
sounds like approaching footsteps coming from behind me. I whirl
around and scan the black land and rocks behind me, but I don’t see
anything. Still, I’m running out of time. Vampires will be here
soon, especially when they catch the scent of blood.

“Maci, can you move at all?” I ask, gently
trying to help her turn over.

“I think so, but I need some help. It
hurts.” She’s on the verge of tears.

“Hold on, okay… I’m going to roll you over,
but you need to try and be quiet. Don’t scream.” She nods and then
I place my hands under her arms and vigilantly roll her to the
side.

She bites down on her lip and winces,
stopping herself from crying out as the pain gets to her. I can
smell the blood and it worries me, especially because she has more
wounds than I thought. There’s a large gash across her forehead
that looks fairly deep, blood is streaming down her cheek. I rip a
piece of fabric from the bottom of my shirt and tie it around her
head to try and slow the bleeding down. Then I unwrap my jacket
from around my waist and gently wrap her broken arm with it. I take
the sleeves of the jacket and loop them around her neck then tie
them in the back, securing her arm against her chest.

Her eyes start to drift shut. That worries
me as well.

“Maci, you need to keep your eyes open,” I
say. She blinks at me. “We need to find a way to get you out of
here…” I look for the best way out. Vampires have emerged and are
crossing the land. Everywhere. There’s only one option and that’s
up. Dammit. “Maci, you’re going to have to climb onto my back and
hold onto me with one arm, so we can get out of here. We’re going
to have to hurry, okay?” I’m not even sure she can do it, but I
have to try.

She nods and I turn around, putting my back
towards her. She reaches around my neck with her good arm and
grasps onto me, her grip weak.

“Now make sure you hold on tight, okay?” I
sense how scared she is and how much pain she’s in. I can also feel
her starting to fade. I put my hands behind my back so I can hold
onto her legs then freeze when I see movement in front of us.

A group of vampires, salivating from the
mouth and bleeding from the eyes, creep out of the shadows of the
rocks around us. Their flesh is peeling, their eyes hungry as they
snap their teeth, surrounding us. I need to get out of here.
Now.

“Hold on tightly,” I tell Maci and then,
with one swift spring on my toes, I launch myself onto the rock,
only letting her go at the last second.

She grips onto me, but I can feel her grip
loosening as her arm begins to slide from around my neck. I dig one
set of my fingers deep into the rock, feeling it scrape at my
flesh, but I don't feel pain since I quickly heal. Then I push my
boots against the surface, baring my weight on them, before I move
my other arm around my back to hold onto her legs tightly. The
vampires shriek, overlapping the sounds of thudding as they ram
their bodies against the cliff side. One of their teeth grazes my
boots and I lose my balance. We start to slip back down the hill,
however I plunge my fingers and toes deeper into the rock and
manage to get us to a stop just before we reach the vampires. I
begin to scale up again when one of their rotten hands wraps around
my ankle. I slam my boot into its face, but it continues to keep
hold of me, dragging me downward, sniffing the air with the scent
of Maci’s blood. It won’t let go.

I search frantically for an escape; some way
out of this where they won’t devour Maci. There’s a lip on the rock
nearby and I start to claw sideways towards it, while the vampire
works to pull me down, using my body like a tug-o-war rope, but I
get my top half over there.

“Maci, climb on it,” I shout.

She shakes her head, holding onto me
tighter. “No, I’m too scared.”

The vampire jerks on my leg again, but I
keep ahold of the rock. “Maci, please. I know your brave and I need
you to do this for me, otherwise this is going to end badly.”

She pauses then I feel her hold loosen. She
shifts and begins rolling onto the lip. I hear her groan, but I
don’t have time to see if she’s okay. It’s time to kill, so I let
go.

Falling into the midst of the howls and
decaying flesh, I land gracefully on my feet, and with one swift
movement, I retrieve Nichelle’s knife that she’s given me. I waste
no time, slicing the face of the first one I come across. It howls
out into the night and then the rest of them start to hover away,
my scent frightening them as they deliberate whether to flee or
feed. They inhale the air, blood dripping from their wounds. Their
backs are hunched over and one of them dares to take a nip at me. I
realize the scent of Maci’s blood is overriding their fear, and
without much more hesitation, they charge.

Their eyes bleed as they snap their jaws at
me. A rounded, tall one with bulging eyes dives at me with its
teeth out. I drop kick it in the face effortlessly and slam it into
the ground, quickly sticking my knife into its body. It explodes
into dust. The other ones are hesitant again as they watch. I bare
my fangs, snapping my teeth at them. They pace around me as I spin
in a circle with the knife out in front of me. Then they start to
cower back towards the sand stretching across the land which is
blanketed with darkness.

I start to relax when Maci’s scream pierces
the night. I quickly spin around and look up. Two vampires are mere
inches away from her, crawling up the side, heading towards the lip
in the cliff. I sprint over to the cliff and, with a spring, lunge
upward, crashing into one of them. Holding onto their back, I reach
around as it bites at me and plunge the knife into its chest. It
bursts into dust and I quickly reach out to grab hold of the
cliff’s side as the other one continues to scale up towards Maci. I
grab hold of its foot and jerk on its leg, forcing it downward.
Then I let go and watch it fall and splatter against the rocks
below.

I begin to breathe freely again when I
notice shadows below me. At least a dozen vampires have returned.
Blood rivers from their eyes and bits and pieces of flesh hang
loosely off their bodies. They start to climb up the rock, filled
with excitement as they stare at Maci. Drops of blood drip down
from their mouths, dribbling from their chins as they focus solely
on feeding. I use myself as a barricade in front of Maci as they
swiftly reach us and then slash one by one with the knife, cutting
flesh, nicking bone, spilling blood.

I try to protect her, but slowly, I begin to
become overrun by them. They’re everywhere. It seems as if there is
no end to them. I continue to hold my knife, though, stabbing each
of them in their hearts, spreading dust everywhere, refusing to go
down without a fight. Their teeth nip toward my body, trying to rip
into my flesh, but they always pull away at the last second when
they get a whiff of my scent. I throw my leg out and push them
back, watching them stumble over each other as they fall to the
ground, yet more keep coming up; climbing and climbing, hungry,
seeking blood.

They start to cover my bottom half, coating
my legs with bites. I’ve always had confidence in my fighting
ability, but I fear this may be the end. Poor Maci, she’ll die with
me.

As darkness and bites cover over me, I hear
rocks tumbling down the hill from above. I try to flip around,
ready to stab the predator, however my hand stops in mid-air when I
see the figure of someone I know.

Aiden.

He pauses on the cliff just above us and
grabs onto my wrist. “Relax, it’s just me.” He holds onto my hand
as he looks at the piles of vampires below me, hanging onto me,
covering the rocks around us and the land. “What do you think? Can
we take them all?” he tries to joke

I shake my head as my body is jerked down. I
turn around to see a nasty vampire, scaling up my body towards my
face. It’s missing half of its face and its eyes are full of
hunger. Aiden retrieves his knife, ready to slash it when suddenly
the vampire takes a whiff of the air. It freezes, looking straight
at Aiden, and then it throws its head back and cries out.