Chapter 25: Derek
When Ashley and I arrived at The Catacombs, it was in total chaos. I’d just walked into one of the levels that lined the circular, seemingly bottomless pit in the middle of the caves when a bottle was thrown my way. I dodged it, but failed to warn Ashley, who was right behind me. Thus, when I turned to check on her, she had blood trickling from her forehead where the bottle had hit her.
She mouthed a pouty “Ow” as she brushed off any remaining pieces of broken glass from her forehead.
Despite the newfound friendship I had with Ashley, I still couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh at her misery. “Welcome to The Catacombs, Ash.”
She rolled her eyes. “Wipe that smirk off your face, Novak.” She then bent over and picked up a shard of glass from the broken bottle and pointed it at me. “I don’t care that you’re most likely a hundred times stronger than me, I can still find a way to cut you.”
I grinned. “Scary. Let’s end this riot before some other flying object breaks your neck.” I leaned over the wooden banister that overlooked the rest of The Catacombs’ levels. I realized that I still had no idea what they were even fighting over. I looked around and caught sight of Kyle, holding a frightened Anna by the arm, practically dragging her to what I assumed was Sofia’s quarters. Ian was about a hundred meters behind them, trying to keep up with Kyle’s pace. I stared for a moment, wondering how on earth this love triangle was going to pan out.
From the corner of my eye, I could make out Gavin hitting another guy who just lunged at him. Rosa, on the other hand, daintily hit a man in the back of his neck with a glass bottle. The man was about to attack Gavin, who seemed oblivious of Rosa, and seemed intent on finding his family.
I practically jumped out of my skin when I felt a tap on my back. My immediate reflex was to grab whoever just touched me by the neck.
“Hey there…” Sam raised both hands up in the air as a sign of surrender. “Relax. It’s me.”
“What’s going on?” I demanded as I pulled my hand away from his neck. “You were supposed to quell the riot.”
He pulled Ashley into his arms before shrugging. “It’s not like we have any authority here at The Catacombs or in The Shade. These people aren’t listening to us.”
“Do you even know why they’re rioting or what they’re demanding?”
Sam was about to open his mouth to answer me, but someone screamed “Fire!” and I knew there was no time for words. Action had to be taken.
I looked toward the direction of the voice and sure enough, on the level below ours, where Gavin and Rosa were, a fire had just erupted. Gavin’s eyes grew wide with panic. “Mother!” he screamed. He frantically searched his surroundings in search for Lily and the children. That’s when he caught sight of me.
His jaw tightened as he gave me a pleading look, one that was asking me to do something. It took all the strength I had to conjure up a voice loud enough to drown out the chaos going on around me.
“ENOUGH!!!”
The word echoed throughout the entire place and an immediate hush followed as everyone tried to locate the source of the voice. I tightened my lips when all eyes turned toward me.
In as loud a voice as I could manage, I shouted out my command. “Get water and stop that fire.” I pointed toward the direction of the flames. “If you all don’t do as I say, we don’t need a culling to end all your lives. You will die of suffocation if you don’t murder yourselves first.”
Immediately, everyone’s focus shifted from their fist fights and ridiculous differences to the fire that was now threatening to kill them all. Gavin shot me a thankful look as he once again went about the task of finding his family, Rosa helping him like a wide-eyed, obedient little puppy.
“Rosa has a thing for Gavin, doesn’t she?” I asked.
Ashley and Sam chuckled.
“The only person who can’t seem to figure it out is Gavin, who is probably one of the densest people I’ve ever come across,” Ashley said.
We watched as everyone going at each other’s throats were now working hand-in-hand passing on buckets of water and sackcloth to try and save their homes. No questions asked. The fire would soon die with little or no casualties to account for.
All that was required was to get them to listen to one voice. I realized then what was the matter. The Naturals were used to being slaves. They were used to being told what to do by the vampires. Without the control of the vampires, they were left to themselves and what resulted was anarchy.
Corrine could’ve quelled this riot easily, but she never really meddled with things that she wasn’t personally invested in. The Naturals and their stupid lockout and crazy riot were things that didn’t move her personal convictions; thus, she stayed away. In her eyes, this was my problem and I needed to find a solution to it.
Truth be told, I wanted to just threaten to kill them all, but the only thing keeping my sanity in check was the thought of Sofia standing beside me. She would try to find the solution that would lead to the most lives spared. That was the kind of person Sofia Claremont was—life-giving.
I waited until the fire had been completely put out before once again speaking up, “Who is going to answer to me for this riot?! What is going on?! This is madness!”
I was met with utter silence.
“This riot and the lockout are over. If you want to discuss what you want, then there will be a meeting tomorrow at the Vale’s town square. If you don’t show up, you forfeit your right to be heard.”
“You just want us out so it would be easier to kill us all!” some anonymous voice hidden among the crowd cried out.
“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead,” I bellowed. “Besides, you’re all doing a pretty good job at killing yourselves all on your own. The day after tomorrow, I expect everyone to be back at their posts, doing their work. If you have issues with this, then take it up directly with me.”
I began to walk toward the exit of The Catacombs.
“I guess that ends that,” Sam muttered under his breath as he and Ashley followed behind me. I heaved a sigh, knowing fully how false Sam’s statement was with all the threats pouring down on The Shade at the moment.
“No, Sam. This is by no means the end of anything. This is barely the beginning.”