Bitten Wings 24

Alright, yeah, I've taken a while posting. Yes, I've been busy, and my emotional life isn't all that great either. April 5th was a friend's anniversary of death from cancer, so that wasn't all that pleasant....but oh well....and yeah...sorry for confusion of thinking that was the end of the book...I'm shooting for at least 100 pages...not there yet! ;) anyways, enjoy please!!
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I groaned in response, holding my rib as I moved slowly to my seat. Addere positioned himself not far from me, at the head of the table. I avoided his gaze, looking down at my feet under the table. Chloe leaned close to me, "Angel...you're bleeding...and your ribs...are they-"
"Broken.." I said barely a whisper. Chloe's eyes widened, sitting up straighter.
"Angel-"
"I'll be fine..." I turned to look at Addere as he stood up, all conversations dying quickly. "As you have seen, our Queen is joining us tonight for our feast. This will be the most blood she would've seen and been around."
Some vampires grinned wickedly, exchanging glances, then grinning at me. I looked down again. Addere grinned wickedly, "As accustomed, the King will go first. Whichever kill I choose I will go after. Those who can not catch their food will go hungry today."
There were groans from the crowd, tired looks exchanged.
"Is it not accustomed?"
Vampires sighed, nodding in unison. My brow furrowed, "Addere..what are you-"
"King." he hissed, glaring me down. I growled back, "King, what are you talking about?"
He smiled, "Who says the Queen goes first?"
Shouts rose up, sick laughter reaching my ears. My face grew horrified, what the hell were they making me do!?

Addere walked to my side, taking my by the arm. I stood up slowly, wincing instinctively, then finding my rib was healed. I blinked, that was fast. Addere grinned, "I will choose for you, since it is your first time, dear."
I growled, silently cursing him to hell. He lead me through the packed crowd, to the opposite side of the room I had come in. There, a window looked out into a small garden. Or, more like, a mini forest. He pointed to the right of a large oak, animals chained to posts, growling, snapping, kicking. Bears were tied to the back stone wall, roaring viciously, swatting the air with their claws. Stags were on the right side of the wall, followed by wolves, and finally, coyotes, rather skinny, to be specific. He smiled at me, turning me to the crowd, "The female bear!" he cried out. I looked at him, "What!?"
He slipped his arm from mine, smiling down at me, "Fight to live, fight to eat. Fight so that you may not become weak."
The crowd gripped my arms, chanting the words he had spoke, pulling me into their suffocating hold. I screamed, "I have to fight that!?"
The crowd laughed collectively, one vampire whispering, "She hasn't eaten in little under a week."
My face fell, flicking open my wings, pushing them off. "I won't fight that!"
"Scared, Angel?" Addere walked through the crowd, looking at me tauntingly.
I shook my head, "No, it's not fair to kill that creature after starving it."
"You'll put it out of it's misery."
"What!? You put her in her misery! I'm not doing-" I staggered to the right. What just hit me!? I thought angrily, whipping around to look at the crowd. They all carried perplexed faces. Addere's brow was furrowed. I pushed away from the wall that I had used to support me. I swallowed, "That was weird..." My heart kicked up suddenly, almost sending me into shock. I gripped a hand that was reaching to pull me back into the crowd, a loud snap echoing through the halls. I let go, backing up. The man crumpled in pain, doubled over. "That hurt!" he screamed, shaking.

"It should hurt," I growled, "that was the entire point. Now, I'm not doing this." I turned to look at Addere, who advanced towards me. I found myself backing up, slipping into the crowd. Addere laughed, "Afraid, Angel?"
I shook my head, "No-" my breath caught in my throat, his hand around my throat, lifting my feet off the ground. My eyes widened as his fangs dug deep into my upper arm, my knee hitting him hard in the ribs. He didn't pull away. Instinct forced my response, snapping my own fangs against his neck. He pulled away suddenly, dropping me to the ground. His skin tore against the pressure of my fangs dragging out of his neck. He growled, "Get up! Go eat, to survive, Winged." He turned away from me, nodding to a man in the crowd. I was practically shaking as the hands forced me to my feet, pulling me along, taking me down halls, and tripping me with their rushed movements on the stairs. When we reached the tall, wooden, double doors that lead to the unforgiving world outside, the blood on my fangs had nearly drove me into insanity. My breath was short. My eyes were clenched closed, my heart beating violently against my chest.
"D-don't make me.." I murmured to the blackness of my eyes. Chuckles reached my ears, as I heard the loud thunk of the doors close behind me. My eyes shot open, turning around quickly. I ran at the door, hitting it with all the force in my body. I collapsed against it, "Not a good idea," I said hoarsely to myself. I looked around, vampires sitting on the roof of the castle, sitting on the stone walls around the small wood, watching from windows. A shiver went up and down my spine, looking at their sneers, their cold eyes. Then I heard something in the brush around me, sending my heart into overdrive once more. My wings snapped open from their own will, sending me tumbling up into the night air, the female bear tackling the ground I was on seconds before, violently destroying the air. Vampires yelled at me, screaming that wasn't fair. I looked at them, pushing myself towards a pine, the bear letting an earth shaking roar rip from her throat. My arms latched around the top of the tree, the bears starting up it. I growled, "Damn it...GO AWAY!"
The bear seemed to grin through the branches clouding her face, sweeping at me, cutting my leg open. My eyes widened, then clenched close, crying out in pain, pushing away from the tree. Vampires laughed, some screaming, "You should've hit her first! That's what you get!"

I landed on my right leg, my left crumpling under the pressure. "Damn...vampires.." I growled, standing up, the wound already starting to knit together. The bear slipped from the tree, hunching her shoulders, standing across from me. I grinned, "Bring it." She roared, charging at me. I jumped over her, my hand pressed against the center of her spine, the bear pushed to the ground. She got up quickly, standing on her hind legs, swatting at my face. I slipped to the right, then the left, her claws breezing past me. I laughed, gripping her claw, my foot hitting her dead center in her ribs. She fell back, letting a cry of pain escape her jaws. She kicked her legs up as I stepped closer, hitting me, the force making me stumble. I sighed, "Not nice."
She growled, pushing herself slowly up. Jumping on her back, I dug my fangs into her neck. She stood up on her back legs, howling in pain, swatting the air, jamming me between her and the wall behind me. My arms tightened around her neck, and slowly, she began to lose breath. She fell hard on her side hard, my arms gripping her neck so tight, I was worried it would cut off circulation. The scary thing was, I couldn't stop. I craved it, not to mention I was starving. My arms shook, my back arched, my eyes closing as I tried to pull away. Pull away, Angel, pull away! My mind screamed at me, raging the thoughts through my body. Apparently, however, it never got to my arms, never got to my jaw. A hand touched the center of my back gently, the words smooth, "My Queen, the rest of us would like to eat. Take her, and leave." I recognized the voice from the man who I met in the hall. I swallowed, sitting up. I looked up at him, my vision fuzzy. I wiped the blood of my lips, causing him to flinch. My brow furrowed, but I said nothing. I gripped the bear's left paw, dragging her towards the wooden doors. The man quickened his pace to keep up with me, "My Queen...you're losing yourself."

I looked at him, "Hmm?" I was distracted with the thought of the bear's blood.
He glanced around, then looked at me hard, "You must leave if you want to have any hope to save yourself. And your sister."
I smiled, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Ple-"
"Question, will their be enough food for everyone?"
"Yes, there's more...but, My-"
"That is all," I said coolly as I entered the castle once more, resting my blood stained prey on the ground, "leave me."
He pleaded with me one last time, "My Queen, you becoming one of-"
"You?" I nodded slowly, crouching over the bear's neck. "But I can't stop myself..." my sentence hug in the air as I dug my fangs into her neck one last time. Losing myself to them.