She managed to get Luther almost to his knees before she lost her footing in the puddle of her blood and they both sprawled onto the floor. Luther's head flopped to the side and his chin dropped to her shoulder. She grabbed his chin to try and wake him again but a fresh wave of agony tore through her. She looked down to find a stake protruding from her stomach. Her eyes shot back down the hall as the other man regained his feet. Thankfully, he was a crappy throw, but it was only a matter of time before one of them hit the mark.
He grabbed hold of another stake and took aim before whipping it toward them. Acting on pure survival instinct, Cassie threw her hand up. Joey's power burst free of her, it caught the stick in midair and deflected it from its target, her heart. Cassie struggled to get Luther's limp form behind her but her fingers were slippery from the blood coating them and it was difficult to grasp hold of him. A small whimper escaped her. She didn't want them to see her apprehension, didn't want them to know that they'd driven her to this level, but she couldn't hide it either.
She slipped in the trail of blood that she was leaving behind but she was able to get Luther's body firmly against the wall. The man hunting them was hesitant now of what else she could do, but the women were regaining their feet and three against a weakening one would eventually be enough to embolden them. Cassie winced and was unable to suppress a groan as she pulled the stake from her belly. It was a good thing her organs weren't necessary for her survival anymore.
She did question if she would eventually bleed out, if the cuts were more than her rapid healing ability could handle. Then she realized that it didn't matter. Her mind was growing foggier, her head was spinning, and she was fairly certain there wasn't solid ground beneath her hands and feet anymore.
That's why when the door began to open, she didn't immediately react and didn't truly believe it was happening. Even when she saw Chris's sapphire eyes she didn't try to warn him away because she was certain that she was imagining him there. She was into the hallucinogenic stage of whatever drug they had given her.
Cassie didn't hear or see the arrow from the crossbow until it whizzed past Chris, missing him by only a hair. "Holy..." the rest of his words cut off as he jumped back from the doorway.
Cassie tried to focus as she began to believe that just maybe this was real. Then Chris was back and kneeling behind the door as he reached for her. "Luther," she whispered. "Take Luther first."
Chris frowned at her, but he adjusted himself as he grasped for Luther's wedged body. Cassie managed to gather enough strength and wits about her to move away from Luther so Chris could get him free. Her stalkers were coming rapidly at her now, determined not to lose her to Chris's interference. Cassie didn't know what to do or how to hold them back anymore.
Terror pulsed through her as she drew upon the power within her. She didn't care what ability it was anymore, just as long as something came from her. It vibrated forth, but due to her growing weakness, it wasn't as strong or as forceful. Chris's hand wrapped around her arm at the same time a ball of fire burst out of her palm.
Chris cursed loudly as he recoiled, but he didn't release her as the fireball slammed into the three of them. The other woman took the brunt of the fireball as she was in front of the others. Her shirt burst into flames that rapidly escalated toward her face. She was engulfed in an inferno as shrieks resonated through the hall and pierced Cassie's eardrums. Anne managed to retreat into one of the other rooms, but the man was still trying to beat the flames licking at his legs when the woman's charred corpse fell on top of him. He started to scream as the flames still eating at her body leapt onto his.
Momentarily distracted by the demented freak show, Cassie and Chris remained immobile. Chris reacted first by tugging brusquely on her arm. "Cassie, come on!" he hissed.
She shook her head in confusion and then began to nod rapidly. "Yes, yes."
Unable to trust her legs to support her she crawled toward him. Escaping the hideous hall, Cassie leaned against the blessedly cool wall as Chris slammed the door shut. She remained sitting, thankful to be free yet unwilling to believe it was true. "Are you ok?" Chris clasped hold of her hands as he gazed fearfully at her. "Cassie!"
"Yes, yes I'm fine. Luther?"
Chris glanced back at Luther's slouched body. "I can't see much in here. We need to go. Can you walk?"
"I think so."
Chris grasped hold of her arm and helped her to her shaky legs. She staggered and fell back against the wall. Chris tried to steady her again but she shooed him away, she was determined to stand and walk on her own. It was the only way the three of them were going to get out of here.
She wrapped Luther's arm around her shoulders and tried to take some of his weight onto her. She knew she was of little help to Chris and Luther, but at least it was something. Chris shuffled down the hall, but he didn't seem to know where he was going. She'd become so accustomed to her acute night vision that she often forgot that not everyone shared in it.
"Left Chris," she whispered. "Go to the left."
He turned in response to her directions but his movements were stilted and jerky. She tried to guide him through the dark, but they repeatedly bumped and jostled against walls, and each other. She didn't know if it was from the chill of the basement or from moving again, but her head was starting to clear and she was feeling stronger as they made it to the winding steps. Perhaps her vampire body was able to clear itself much faster of the drugs than her human body had been able to.
"We should get Melissa to help," Chris said.
"No!" Cassie said harshly. "No one else should be down in this dungeon of crap; she has to stay up there, if she's even still up there."
Cassie's stomach plummeted at the idea of losing another person within this house. She had no idea what she would do if Melissa wasn't up there. She tried not to think about it, tried to hope for the best, but in this house of horrors she wasn't sure there was a best to hope for.
Chris nodded and adjusted Luther as he gestured for Cassie to go first. Cassie moved as quickly up the stairs as she could. Her shoulder ached from the arrow still embedded in it and the pull of Luther's weight. Blood still oozed from her stomach, it burned like hell, but she could already feel the muscle repairing itself. She'd always healed fast, but this was astonishing even to her.
It felt as if the world had been taken off of her shoulders as she stepped into the hallway. A fresh burst of energy and strength streamed through her, they were nearly free. She released Luther to Chris. With a sense of growing urgency descending upon her, Cassie slammed the basement door shut and threw the lock.