“Stop it…” She mumbled out two soft words, her voice lower than a mouse’s squeak. Even if Maxim heard it, he didn’t make it obvious since his ear had yet to even twitch in recognition.
“Stop it!” Her voice went up an octave, resounding through the whole crooked building.
With an annoyed hiss, Maxim finally ceased his attacks whilst Jason himself leapt open a bloodied eye. He wanted to help, he definitely did, but he needed at least a few minutes of undisturbed healing before he would be able to stand once again. And judging by how humongous and angry Maxim’s every step was, he knew that in just seconds, she would undoubtedly meet her doom. His wolf; Mattias, curled up in silent defeat, ashamed eyes watching as his helpless Luna succumbed to her death. They could do nothing in the position they were currently in… not for Sarah nor Damon. And that much alone terrorized them both.
“Since you’re so desperate to die…” Maxim growled, his teeth bared and his claws elongating. “… I’ll deal with you first!”
Clutching the wooden arrow behind her, Sarah stood as still as a stone even when threatening steps were taken towards her. She felt sweat accumulate upon her forehead and she could feel her shaking legs begging to run as far away as possible, but she tried her best not to lose her overflowing courage.
Maxim didn’t think much about her challenging stance, neither her glaring eyes. He only cackled at her rather pathetic courageous display.
“You’re pathetic.” He remarked, his lips turning up as he stopped in front of her and gripped her narrow chin.
“This time, you die!” And with that, the fingers that were on her chin relocated to her neck, tightening around the soft skin.
The second his strong grip met her neck, Sarah’s vision instantly blurred and her limbs slowly started to become lax while she fought for air.
Before she could be knocked out cold, Sarah brought her fingers up and latched onto his wrist, trying her best to remove the hand that was clogging her windpipe. Whilst doing so, she tightened her other hand around the arrow then drew it up swiftly and plunged the arrow into his chest as hard and as deep as she could.
Maxim paused, both from surprise and pain. The arrow inside his chest hadn’t touched his heart, but it was pretty damn close to it. And what’s worse, the wolvesbane lacing it’s narrow edge, was already draining his energy. As such, even though he didn’t want to release his grip on Sarah’s neck, the weakness of his limbs forced his hand back to his side despite his efforts. But Maxim didn’t let things go off so easily… before his fingers left her neck, he made sure to sink his claws into her skin, drawing four open wounds across.
Sarah gasped for air and her whole body panicked when she felt liquid painting her neck and pain suddenly erupting.
Her vision spun and without warning, her body staggered a few feet back on its own and then, slid down the cold wall behind her, meanwhile simultaneously, Maxim dropped to his knees.
Endless gushes of blood coupled with unbearable pain both in and out…. This was the end for her, she could tell. But she didn’t feel all that bad. Maxim obviously wasn’t in the best shape to kill anyone else and hopefully if someone came in soon enough then Damon and Jason would also be saved. It was a good outcome, only it was sad that she wouldn’t get a chance to see this whole thing end once and for all…. to see Damon recover… to see Jason make his stupid jokes again and to experience what motherhood felt like…
That’s when it hit her… HER CHILD! What would happen to it if she died?!
Tears welled up in her eyes once again and she wrapped her frail arms around her stomach.
In the end, she couldn’t even save everyone… uselessness was truly a disease.
“You… bitch!” Maxim suddenly fumed through clenched teeth as one streak of crimson red liquid painted the side of his lips. He hadn’t expected that move… not one bit. And now, he was weakening by the second. The audacity of this lowly woman! How dare she bring him to his knees!? How dare she even touch him?!
It was at that pride-crushing point that Maxim finally felt the need to pull out the gun that he had stuffed in the waist of his pants.
The wolvesbane was spreading rapidly and soon enough, he’d lose almost all his strength.
But he didn’t care for such a thing at that moment. If he was to die, then he wouldn’t die such a disgraceful death…. he’d kill that woman, even if it was the last thing he did!
Baring his bloodied teeth, Maxim forced himself up and slowly, he walked forward on swaying feet meanwhile aiming the loaded gun towards his sole target… Sarah.
Sarah’s eyes widened when she finally noticed that he wielded a gun, but all she could do was slide further up the wall with one hand on her stomach while the other was pressed against her neck.
With her unable to move on her own and Maxim thirsty for blood, she didn’t need a genius to tell her what would happen next. Her fate was sealed… no… their fate.
Her body was weaker than ever, even if she were to move, she wouldn’t get very far. So she hoped… hoped and prayed to God that death would be painless… not for her, but for her unborn child who didn’t even deserve to be apart of this.
If only things had turned out differently. If only…
Tear after tear slipped over her already damped cheeks while she slowly allowed her eyelids to fall over her blurry vision voluntarily.
Then she waited… waited for what she knew would be coming to her.
But instead of the sound of a gunshot surging through the air, she heard a loud thud as something smacked against the floor.
Her eyes snapped open to see that Maxim had fallen to the floor face down and the gun which had threatened to end her life not long ago had fallen out of his grasp and landed at an arm’s length away from her.
But the odd turn of events wasn’t what surprised her… it was the fingers that were situated around Maxim’s ankle.
Sarah’s breath got caught in her throat. She forced her eyelids open wider and trailed her gaze up Damon’s arm to meet his golden orbs.
Her eyes brightened with a tinge of relief but the fact that Damon wasn’t in control was still a cause for worry. It simply meant that Damon was in no shape to keep himself conscious.
“L-Li…. L–Liam?” She managed to mutter, flinching when Maxim tried nonstop to fend him off him by sending hard powerful kicks his way.
Her heart clenched.
Liam… Liam was trying to protect her. And in the process, he was making it harder for both him and Damon to survive this.
If she didn’t do something now, with just a few more hits…. he’d be out…. this time for good.
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Sarah glided her eyes to the side and locked in on the gun near her.
Maxim’s face visibly paled when Sarah’s eyes zoomed in on it. In an instant desperation kicked in and his attacks on Damon’s skull got harder, faster… in an attempt to get ahold of the gun before she did.
Reaching for the weapon, Sarah drew in a deep breath and willed courage to consume her just like before. But she only ended up contorting her face into a painful, agonized expression and filling her cheeks with a river of tears as blood continued to flow through her open wounds.
While her vision got blurrier and blurrier by the second, she wrapped her fingers around the gun and hoisted it in the air so it was aimed directly at Maxim’s head.
Maxim stiffened in Damon’s unbreakable hold and reality finally dawned on him… he was about to die, not by the hands of a werewolf or a hunter… but by the hands of a human!
This couldn’t happen, he wouldn’t let it happen.
Without a second thought, he tilted his head over his shoulder and reached an hand behind him, readying himself to dislodge one of his legs from his own body.
But before he could, the sound of gunshot filled the air and everything around him became absolute darkness.
This… was his end.
As soon as Maxim stilled on the floor, Liam released his foot and instantly gave in to the darkness that had been constantly scratching at his consciousness. He kept himself conscious for so long, and now that he was sure Sarah was out of danger, he was finally ready to willingly give in.
Similarly, Sarah was also at her limit. The gun fell from her loose grasp and clanked when it collided with the floor. And seconds later, her eyelids finally covered her teary eyes, pulling her into a never-ending pit of darkness.
Her eyes couldn’t see anything at all. But thankfully, a few terrorizing seconds passed and she heard panicked voices fill the room whilst feet rushed towards them. Hands then pulled her up and settled her unto something that felt much like a wolf’s back. And then beside her, another body was later settled…. one that most definitely belonged to Damon judging by the tingles that began to spread over her skin.
However, to her dismay, those said tingles didn’t last very long. It took seconds before they dissolved along with the feeling of comfort that they bestowed. And as clueless as she always was, she could easily guess exactly what that meant…
…It was either she was very close to slipping out of the realm of the living or Damon had already stepped one foot in the grave….