The votes have spoken, and Ch. 19 currently stands as the weakest chapter in this entire story, with an even worse track record than the strap on chapter, which I fully expected to not do well.
As I admitted in the comments in Ch. 19, apparently, fights are a weakness of mine, and it was probably very obvious how much I am influence by shounen anime and manga.
Luckily, I don't plan on blowing up this story with fights, and it's going to be a little while before I throw another one in, by which time, hopefully, I'll get it right.
Now, about the next three chapters. One could say I kind of hyper indulged in the opportunites for sex scenes. I did this for various reasons, which will become clear in time.
Not to worry, I didn't do anything real crazy, but there is going to be lots of sex floating around for a while. So enjoy, and hopefully, when things get serious again and I do the next fight, I'll get it right.
*****
"Yes, me. Nice to see you again, Lord Hector." Lord Constantine said from behind Lord Hector, twisting the sword that currently running through Lord Hector's heart. This caused Lord Hector to cringe in pain as more blood spilled out of his mouth.
"It's most unfortunate that things had to end this way, I actually kind of liked you. You're ideals of battle really appeal to me. Unfortunately for you, the real world isn't so kind and accommodating to ideals, especially for ones such as your own, who think that dirty moves like the one I just pulled on you to be beneath you."
"C-coward..." Lord Hector managed, losing his voice and life rapidly.
"Coward? Oh, but you're wrong there. There is no cowardice in this sense, there is only victory. If self preservation by any means is a form of cowardice, then all living beings in this universe are guilty as charged, including yourself, I'm sure." Lord Constantine returned as the last bit of life faded from Lord Hector.
"Liz! Benjamin! Clean up the mess!" Lord Constantine called out, and both Liz and Benjamin emerged from the shadows to attack Lord Hector's followers, who were too stunned to see the fall of their Lord to react at first, allowing for several easy kills.
What was also unfortunate for the vampires was that their skills were a far cry from what Liz and Benjamin were capable of, and in a short time, they were all disposed of.
As soon as Katie saw Lord Hector go down, she could no longer contain herself, and ran down to where Rachel had fallen.
Benny also sighed in relief, having been the one who sent Lord Constantine the message that Lord Hector had been disarmed, who was waiting for such an advantage the entire time.
"RACHEL!" Katie screamed as soon as she neared Rachel, who was attempting to rise.
"I...I'm all right." She said weakly, then collapsed on the ground again, heaving.
"No you aren't! Just look at you!" Katie cried out, tears in her eyes.
"I-I've lived through worse..." Rachel responded.
"Shh! Just-just keep quiet. Jesus, there's so much blood!"
"It looks worse than it feels."
"That's probably true. Vampires can live through quite a bit. Give her one of the bags, Ben."
Katie raised her head to see Lord Constantine now standing there, who was accompanied by a large black man, though not quite as large as Lord Hector, along with a short but attractive woman. Alan was there as well, and Katie found that she was afraid of what she saw. The expression showed almost no life, even as Rachel writhed in pain on the ground. Unfortunately, Katie had to brush that off for the moment.
Benjamin reached into the coat he was wearing, and pulled out a blood bag, which he tossed to Katie.
Katie caught the bag, and assisted Rachel so that she could drink.
As Alan watched Rachel as she drank, many thoughts entering his mind. It pained him to see her like this, and he took the time the review some of the thoughts that he had earlier.
He wasn't sure what exactly was going on in his mind, and he felt confused. On one hand, he had blamed Rachel for being too weak. On the other, he had blamed himself for his own weakness. Just what exactly was going on? Since when did he start thinking like that?
Was he thinking like that because he was a vampire? Or was it because of his hate? He wasn't sure just what to think anymore. His entire life, almost overnight it felt like, had flipped over on it's heels. It had been very simple before Rachel. Then, Rachel showed up, and things remained somewhat simple. Then, there were on the run for their lives, and that's when things got complicated.
Katie entered the picture, Rachel revealed her darker self, Alan learned that his family and friends had been killed, and now, he just fought for his life against a Vampire Lord as his own hate began taking over.
Just how does one handle all of this? It had seemed so simple a little while ago, when he declared his desire for vengeance against Lord Caleb, but at what cost? Alan had spotted the concerned glance that Katie had given him, and it occurred to him that he should have been the first one at Rachel's side when she was struck down.
Yet, that didn't happen. Instead, he had brushed her being struck down as though it were a weakness on her part, and even after the fight, he still hadn't rushed to her.
He wanted everything to go back to the way it was, but that was impossible. They needed to be strong, strong enough to fight for their right to exist. He began appreciating on how difficult it really was to walk such a tight rope, and why people fell when traveling along a similar and harsh path.
Alan slowly moved, and knelt by Rachel's other side as she finished drinking.
"Rachel...I..."
Rachel shook her head. "We'll talk later." She responded, reading his conflicted thoughts. Both Rachel and Katie felt relief that the emotionless mask was gone, and saw that the real Alan was still within him and not completely lost.
Now that both Liz and Benjamin had the chance, they took the time to appraise the renegades, for this was the first time they had seen them in person.
Liz didn't particularly care for the human. She mostly seemed like a typical whiny teenager who had no power over anything significant. Rachel, however, had Liz's respect, for she was strong, and Liz was familiar with Rachel's history and accomplishments.
The most intriguing one, however, was the newborn. Typically, newborns didn't catch her eye or interest, and considering Lord Constantine's dealings with him, she was under the impression that he would also be insignificant. However, that turned out to be completely false.
