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THE DAMNED:

Also known as the Dark Fanged.
A mysterious race of shadow creatures that appeared right after the Fang war. They feed on magical energy and hunt Sworn. They are incredibly strong with unmatched abilities. They roam the abandoned cities and dark areas of the lost world. They come in 4 forms:
Burners, smokers, decayers, and the most dangerous... Flayers.

Archives of History

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[SILVER RAYNE WILLIAMS]

I STARED wide-eyed at the Dark Fanged, a monster of a man, with red skin, sharp fangs, volcanic eyes, and a dark shadowy presence around him like some sort of dark smoky cloud.

If anything, he looked like he had been burnt alive and reincarnated as a demon.

His left hand seemed to have been stuck in a larva pool glowing a bright red, cracks running deep like an erupting volcano forming around it.

His hair took the form of a raging wildfire, with a deep set of piercing forest green eyes, that was way too green to be considered normal. Parts of his skin were missing from his face as if it had already begun decaying.

Pushing Vella behind me protectively, we kept moving backward, my eyes stuck on the shadow-like being, unable to blink or breathe too loud.

I had studied about Damned all my life but seeing one in real life, in the middle of the school hallway, made every bit of knowledge evaporate into thin air.

This was not a theory anymore.

These things were scarier than Dad ever explained. From its select features, I knew exactly what kind of Damned it was.

A Burner.

"Vella-" I dragged slowly, keeping her behind me, my voice low and breathy, eyes still stuck on the damned-

"When I say Run...run."

"S-S-S-Sworn!" it hissed louder this time its jagged teeth warning me of my incoming doom, twisting its head to the side in uneven ticks.

My hands were shaking but I knew this was not the time to freeze and do nothing.

I had never seen a Damned physically before but my dad sure had got his description of them down to a tee minus the fact that they were horrifying to look at.

A burner was one of the most dangerous kinds of Damned, and for one to appear in the middle of the school hallway... I didn't even want to think of a reason why.

I was not going to lose my sister to anything, no matter what the hell it was.

"You. can't. have. her," I gritted back, clenching my jaw.

Its head tilted to me, and an ugly smirk rounded on its bony face.

I had seen enough old movies on the broken-down TV set Dad had brought home last month to know it was about to strike any moment, and I was not the type to take chances.

I couldn't afford to take chances.

This was a bloody Burner. It could kill a High Fang and it could certainly kill me.

My hand reached for the test tube cylinders that lined my jacket pocket taking them out. My fists clenched around them and I could feel the shake in them.

Now I was no superman or wonder woman. Just a geek who had a mad scientist for a father and somehow along the way developed the same passion and maybe that was what would save me now.

I looked at the formula in my hands. There was no telling if it would have the effect I wanted, but I had to take a chance.

When you've lived around the Fanged for as long as I have, you learn the hard way.

Fear is not an option.

"Don't do it Silver, it's not going to work!" Vella yelled, eyes wide as she looked down at my clenched fists, panic written all over her. "We got to run!"

I looked down at my little sister calmly, one of us had to be. We could not outrun a damned. Not when we were this close.

Someone had to be the distraction.

Her sad fear filled hazel eyes stared back at me, the ones I had always admired no matter what state of emotion they were showing, and of course, her long straight hair which I believed would have made her the perfect candidate to be a cheerleader or Miss popular if she tried to be a little less like me, and a little more like her mom.

I glanced over at the Fanged, then down at her panic-stricken face, offering her an encouraging smile, trying to make it seem like everything was alright.

"Run Vella," I breathed out gently, my eyes stinging but refusing to do anything more.

I bravely turned away from her, and back to the Damned that had started to move towards us.

"RUN!" I yelled louder, preparing myself for the attack as it screeched hurtling toward me at full speed.

Vella's scream filled the air my eyes slowed everything down-

I was waiting for the slam, the bash, or the crash.

I was supposed to have let go of the test tubes but I had frozen, paralyzed at the sight of the raging Damned.

It looked like a demon from hell, and I was not prepared for what I told myself I could face, but somehow, by some strange miracle, just before it could slash me down a blast broke between us and I turned around shielding my eyes, catching a glimpse of the Dammed as it went flying back through the air and slamming into a locker.

I was also blown back by the impact, landing with a hard thud in the middle of the hallway floor.

The dent the damned made in the line of lockers left the metal dripping as if the heat was too much for the poor lockers.

I gasped for air as Vella run towards me, calling my name loudly, tugging at my hand urgently.

There was an urgent ringing in my ears that blocked away anything that she was saying, only seeing her mouth move on her panicked face.

Having the air knocked out of my lungs, it took me a couple of seconds to breathe again, getting up with the help of Vella.

My eyes trailed the blurry figures of the Damned getting to its feet too,  reforming in a cloudy smoke through the shattered pieces of the ceiling bits that were falling onto our heads.

Vella tugged at my arm, her mouth moving in words I couldn't quite get.

It was then I saw a figure coming towards us through the smoke, eyes a dark black, hands controlling a large orb of glowing white light.

My eyes widened unable to believe what I was seeing.

Miss Avery. She was a witch.

My eyebrows arched at the sight, lips slightly parted as I held my sister close to me.

Witches were unheard of these days, as most were hunted by the Damned for their excess magical energy.

Rumors said they were even extinct. I would have never guessed that Miss Avery was a witch, she looked and acted so...human-

My eyes followed her form, energy growing in her hand and the Damned growled, to my horror.

He charged toward her but before she could fire, he disappeared in a shadowy black smoke, only to reappear closer to her a second later, allowing her to blast at him.

However, in the next second, the Damned had dissolved into thin air, reforming right in front of her.

His glowing red hand latched onto her neck, lifting her to his towering height slowly, whilst she struggled to breathe her white light draining into him, face contorting into more pain.

I looked at the scene horrified, knowing I had to do something.

I looked down at the test tubes in my hand then at Vella who looked back up at me, wide-eyed.

"Stay here," I ordered to her firmly, making sure she got it as she nodded.

I stood up my fists clenching, "Hey ugly!" I yelled at him.

He didn't pay attention to me, still feeding off of Miss Avery.

I glanced one more time at the glass tube in my hand before grunting, throwing it at his glowing back, and it broke into a thousand pieces.

The Damned didn't even spare a look back at the impact and for a moment, disappointment settled within me as nothing seemed to have happened until a sizzling sound was heard.

Parts of its body started sizzling like ice in a frying pan, and then it started hardening like a cooling larva.

It hissed in pain dropping Miss Avery with a grunt, its eyes flashing to me angrily, growling loudly, its fangs open and deadly before coming at me.

I tried to throw the last test tube but he dodged it with extreme ease coming at me.

In those few seconds, my heart became a slow beat within me as if waiting for our doom when suddenly it was rammed to the side, falling a good way away from us, scooting down the hallway.

Mr. Andrews, our Principal, accompanied by two other faculty members stood before me.

His fangs were drawn, his eyes a deep blood red. I held Vella closer to me as the Damned grunted and then reformed standing up.

"Laura," Mr. Andrews yelled to the female faculty member, "Check on Avery."

His eyes never left the hissing damned as he talked to the last teacher, who I recognized as our gym teacher.

"Mathew, take the left, eyes on the Burner," he grunted moving forward whilst gesturing us to move back to which Vella and I complied.

My eyes darted to and fro as both vampires charged at the Damned, who retaliated by throwing them across the room.

Reforming in a Smokey haze to hit one and then tamper with the other. The Damned moved with the shadows, growling as it slammed into Mr. Mathews, faster and stronger than anything I had ever seen, but before it could claw his heart out, Principal Andrews stabbed its back with a long metal pole with a glowing tip.

The Damned spun around with striking force, slashing his arm and leaving a deep claw mark as it hissed loudly, its body deforming, as more force was applied to the metal that was protruding from its solidified state.

Dark black icky thick blood pooled from the wound on Principal Andrews's arm, down to the smoky form that was disintegrating into thin air.

After a passing moment, there was no trace of the Damned to be seen as it finally disappeared.

With a sigh, Mr. Andrews pulled the metal rod that seemingly had also gone through the tiled floors when stabbing the Damned.

I noticed that his wound didn't heal as would a normal wound on a vampire.

Dad was right I mentally noted.

It was difficult for a Fang to heal from a Damned inflicted wound. That's why they were so dangerous.

Mr. Mathews moved towards him in quick strands.

"It got a good lick of you, Andrews," he grunted placing his hands on his waist, a worried look on his face as he studied the Principal's form.

Mr. Andrews glanced down at the deep slash on his arm, which wasn't healing as fast as any other wound had on vampiric skin, before shrugging as he stood up.

"Just a gash, it will take a while, but I'll live," he grinned looking up at him who scoffed away a chuckle shaking his head.

"A Damned in the middle of the school hall," Mr. Andrews huffed, glancing at the damage that was done to almost everything, from the melting lockers to the ripped ceiling and scorched tiled floors, " They never come in the open, unless.." he trailed off, his jaw clenching.

I pursed my lips, slowly pulling my sister along with me, having her safely tucked behind me, eyes never leaving the two of them.

"Silver?" Vella whispered lowly but she might as well have screamed it because in the next second all eyes were on us.

I pulled Vella behind me, gulping softly as my eyes met the now-cleared eyes of the group before me. One thing was clear to me-

We might have won the fight against the Damned, but we had just got thrust into a whole other one. This time, it was a battle we would be fighting for the rest of our lives.

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Word Count -2083