Soul Keepers (Editing) #Wattys2020

13|

Millie, woke alone, to her ultimate disappointment, but she was still wrapped in his scent; the pillow next to hers holding the indentation of where he lay his head. Her fingers traced the spot a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips. She didn't want the attatchment she had formed to Theo to develop further, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. She was rapidly growing accustomed to his presence in her life, and that was dangerous.

She dragged her body out of be, stretching away her sleepiness her body a lot more relaxed than if had been in the recent days. She would have to revisit the possibility of Theo staying with her again, if only because he helped her sleep--or so she would let herself believe for now.

"Hi!" chirped Kit as she skipped into the kitchen where Millie was perched at the counter with food. "What's up?"

Millie studied her as she took out a blood bag and stuck a straw in it. Her eyes were bright when she smiled and each one she gave seemed genuine and happy.

She was like a ray of sunshine on a dreary day. She had a light within her that shone every time she smiled and radiated in her eyes. Her good mood seemed almost infectious that Millie found that it was hard to be in a bad mood around the younger girl.

Kit's smile brightened, she knew that Millie didn't smile often and it made her feel good inside that she had managed to draw one from her.

Millie didn't notice that she'd crumbled the roll instead of eating it, but Kit did. Millie's eyes held sadness, a sadness that Kit knew all to well. Her face was drowning in a quiet kind of sorrow that she had seen reflected back at her each time she had looked into a mirror for years. She had been alive a lot longer than Kit had of course, but she just wanted to wipe that look form the older girl's face, if for nothing else than that they were friends.

"Want to come with me to find a dress?" Kit announced suddenly.

Millie looked up surprise widening her violet eyes "What?"

"Well," started Kit, leaning her forearms on the counter, her tone indicating that there was going to be an explanation "There's this dance thing at school, kinda lame and I really wasn't going to go. I mean who wants to stand around in a gymnasium and listen to bad music and watch people sway. But there's this guy his name is Alan, he's really cute and he asked me to go. At first I really wasn't into it but the I thought that I hadn't really done things like that, like ever so I said why not. So do you want come and help me find a dress?"

A soft chuckle escaped from Millie the sound surprising to her. She she wondered when was the last time she did that or something as simple as going shopping. She didn't remember or maybe she never had. Most of her life was spent on the run, hiding, the simple pleasures of life had eluded her. Millie nodded accepting the invitation; she was going to experience it, even if it was just this once.

"Sure," she nodded "I'd love to."

Kit smiled wildly clapping her hands together.

They had scoured through the stores

Her senses flared out, searching for any signs of danger as she had been doing while she and Kit went about their day. It was an involuntary action now but so far she sensed nothing.

She sensed them moments before the bell on the door jangled and five of them filed in, filling the space around the front door. Millie stiffened. Slowly she craned her head around. They were large, wide in the shoulders and tall, each resembling the other, with inky black hair and frightfully pale skin. They were all dressed in leathers like they belonged to some biker gang.

Everyone in the diner took notice of them, many shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Her fingers dropped to her thighs and she felt the hardness of the throwing daggers there. Hastily she tore away the skirt to reach at the weapons. Stealthy she unsheathed a dagger and threw it with practiced accuracy at one of the five catching him in his eye.

A guttural moan tore form him, just as the others hissed at her, fangs elongating and panic erupted all around them like a bell had one off.

"Kit get out of here!" she shouted, over the roaring in her ears, pushing away from the table, the stench of Vampire all around her.

"No!" the younger girl shook her head "I'm not leaving you alone."

Millie slanted a look at Kit, her face was set in grim lines of determination. She was scared but her courage overrode her fear, and Millie felt a swell of pride for her. "Okay, well we need to get all these people out of here."

Kit nodded, clenching her fingers into fists to stop them from shaking. Every instinct inside of her was screaming at her to turn and run but she just couldn't leave Millie alone. There were four of them and as she studied the dark hair and pasty skin, she thought that something about them felt off.

"I'm not Theo, but I can still do this."

She turned and cleared her mind. She didn't have the Telepathic ability that Theo had, but she had just enough to make sure that the humans in here would go.

Millie kept her eyes glued to the four men that entered, trusting that Kit could get everyone out. The patrons calmed and almost robotically and began walking, to where she assumed that they would go out to the back.

Millie took off in a run, her feet touching the surface of a table before she launched herself in the air, slamming her knees into one of the vampire's faces. She twisted in mid-air landing behind the four of them. Extracting a dagger that was strapped to her calf she charged again, swiping at their backs earning cries of pain. Two swiped blindly, but Millie jumped back from their reach.

She crouched low, her eyes tracking their every movement. They all came at her.

She rose up off the ground throwing the dagger. It caught one in the shoulder and he howled but didnt

Kit watched Millie in complete awe. The way she moved was graceful, it was like a dance, a beautifully choreographed piece. Her face was composed and there was confidence and competence in the way that she moved.

He took her easily and threw her. Millie crashed into a wall and unto a table shards of broken dishes digging into her skin. She stood ignoring the pain and charged at them again.

She was tired and the place was a mess but she had killed them. A part of her would always feel sorry for killing them, but a part of her couldn't . There was too much darkness in them to consider sparing them.

"What the fuck!"

Millie turned tot he sound to face a very angry Ancient glowering at her. He studied the space then crossed the room towards her.

Theo swept her up in his arms, his eyes studying her darkly. His gaze swing to Kit and she shrank back nervously twisting her fingers.

"We'll talk about this later," he growled.

She nodded.