The Final Stand (Betrayal and Survival)

"This way." Sam said. "It's just at the end of this hallway."

"I'm sorry you had to come with me. It's very dangerous so I'll go by myself from here. Go with them to the tunnel now." I told him.

"No. I'm not leaving you. You'll need backup." He said. "Besides, it's not like we're complete strangers. You must not remember me, but we were classmates in high school."

"We were? I'm sorry I don't remember you."

"It's fine. Completely understandable. You were always only with your vampire friends."

Then we heard shouting from the end of the hallway. We ran to the door and opened it instantly. The Church officials were all there and were fighting. They were arguing and screaming at each other. They already heard that their plan was on the verge of failing and they were passing the blame amongst themselves.

"Now this is a spectacle." I said loudly, announcing our arrival. Everybody fell silent and stared at us. "The Church officials have not changed a bit."

"Krista?" It was my father. He looked so much older than I remember. The pressure and loneliness had added a few more wrinkles on his already wrinkled face. "Impossible."

I wanted to run to him and hug him, and tell him how much I've missed him. But I held myself back. There was a more pressing matter at hand.

"Your plan has failed. And the monsters are coming in the lab."

"What are you talking about?" An official asked. "We've built this lab like a fortress. There's no way it won't hold."

"Haven't you heard the explosion earlier? The west entrance had been blown up." Then, I looked straight into my father's eyes. "They're coming. We have to leave now."

"But, where can we go? There's no way I'm going out there with all those experiments running wild." Another official said.

"Just follow us. We can get you all out of here safely." I assured them. I ran to my father and held his hand. "I'll get you out of here alive. Just come with me. Please."

He shrugged me off. "You left after destroying what I had put so much devotion on for so many years. Now, you come back and tell me you're here to save me? We stopped being father and daughter that moment you chose your vampire friends over me." He said bitterly. "Besides, the plan hasn't failed yet. My experiments are still out there. How are you so sure it's not your side that's losing?"

Then, there was another explosion.

"There's not time to argue. We have to go." I grabbed his hand and pulled him along. He kept trying to break free. "Sam, a little help?"

"Sorry sir." He said before hitting my father in the head.

"Why did you do that?" I asked, surprised.

"There's no more time. Let's go." He carried my father on his back and we got out of the room. Some officials followed behind us, but the others had more faith in being safe in that room and locked themselves in.

"Are you sure we'll be able to get out of here?" One official asked.

I didn't answer. Even I wasn't sure anymore. Things had gotten out of control. There was no way of knowing whether the experiments had already gotten inside. With Sam leading us, we made our way through the messy hallways filled with abandoned tools and equipment and a little debris. All of a sudden, he stopped walking and everyone came to a halt.

"What is it?" I asked softly.

"What are vampires doing here?" He said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I took a peak and saw some lab staff getting killed by a group of vampires. Then, I recognized the beautiful blonde among them. It was Jeremy's sister.

"This is bad. Is there any other way out?"

"Yes." He said. "But, it's opposite the direction from the cabin."

In the end, we took the risk. We took the different route and avoided confrontation with Jeremy's sister. I could only imagine what had happened to the other officials and lab staff, everybody, who chose to stay behind. I was anxious while we made our way out of the lab. I kept hoping that the others were able to safely get to the tunnel. We reached the exit and stared at the wide lawn in front of us. It was the front entrance. Going through the lawn meant being vulnerable to attacks. We had to run fast in case we get spotted by wandering experiments.

"No. I can't do this." An official complained.

"There's no other way. If we just run straight through the front lawn and follow the road, we'd reach the main gate. A lot of Council vampires are stationed there. We'll be safe once we get to them." I told them.

"But that means there's a possibility we'll also come in contact with some experiments." Sam said. I nodded in response. "I guess there's no other choice. The vampire group massacring everyone in the lab is almost at our tail. A few experiments to fight against might be easier to deal with than those bloodthirsty vampires."

"Listen up everyone. Whatever happens, whatever you hear, either a gunshot or an explosion, anything, just ignore them and keep running. Don't look back and keep your focus ahead. Do you understand?"

There was a simultaneous "alright" as well as "we're going to die", but I ignored them. I handed them weapons from the bag Maria prepared for me.

I took a deep breath. "On the count of three." I said. "One. Two. Three!"

And we dashed through the wide front lawn. There weren't any experiments in sight, thank goodness. We ran like our lives depended on it, because it did. We followed the road and stopped a couple meters away from the gate. In front of us was a fight we dared not get ourselves into. The vampires were doing their best exterminating the experiments. From the looks of it all, we were winning. Everything was going according to plan, except for the imminent danger right behind us.

"What do we do? We can't get through that. We'd be caught in the middle and might accidentally get killed." Sam was right. It was dangerous. We couldn't retrace our steps either. The lab had fallen.

"Maybe we---"

Bang! I felt a pang of pain on the back of my right shoulder. I was hit by a bullet. I fell on my knees and immediately put pressure on the wound with my left hand. I turned around to look at who fired the shot. As expected, it was Jeremy's sister.

"No! Krista!" Sam shouted.

"To the forest. Now!"

We ran to the left, into the thick forest. "Krista!" I heard someone call my name. It sounded like Kai, but I couldn't risk glancing behind me. We ran past the trees, shrubs and ferns. I got cut by protruding branches but I didn't care. The bullet hurt and my right arm was starting to feel numb but I didn't care. She was after my father. She was keen on killing him. I couldn't let it happen.

Something or someone collided with me out of the blue. I got knocked sideways and I hit my head in a boulder. Blood trickled down my face and made me nauseous. Jeremy's sister came into view along with her group of bloodthirsty vampires. They encircled us. We were surrounded.

"You really are brave." She said. "Now hand over the church leader or I'll kill you along with all these Church officials."