7 Ice and then Water

Edward started to move, in an attempt to stop Jarod but he was too slow. Dianna was next to move, following Edward. They all seemed to be moving slowly to me. Nephilim didn't even bat an eye as she ignored the both of us.

I easily avoided Jarod in irritation, and moving far quicker than I thought I could used Jarod's own momentum against him.

I pushed the back of his leg, giving a low kick causing him to fall. Continuing to pressure his neck until he hit the floor. He didn't even realize that he hit the floor rather than me at first, lying there disorientated for a moment.

I felt in my zone, my training in full swing. I felt like the old me. The comfortable side I had relied on.

"You are a fool," I told him. In an icy tone, and indifferent face.

"If I hadn't done as I was ordered then I would have died. Everyone would be dead. All the vampires that were saved and relocated before them would be dead. The Nephilese would be exposed. If there was time I would have came here before."

He attempted to writhe in anger under me. Emotion was controlling him. "Don't you dare call me a fool! Everything was fine until you showed up!"

I tilted my head at these words. He couldn't be serious? Everything was fine?

"If everything was fine, then the Elders would be dead. The Nephilese wouldn't need to exist. The purpose of Nephilim's contingency plans was for a situation like this. Of course, she never expected a loss so large either."

"How do you know what she, or any of us, expected!" He yelled.

Now he attempted to reach over his back with his talon-like nails to attack me in an attempt to get up.

I readjusted to digging my knee into his lower back, and digging my thumb nails into the pressure points of his shoulder blades like acupuncture to prevent him from getting up.

No one moved or attempted to free him. They were staring at my calm demeanor. Their was shock filling the room.

I suppose it was because no one had the strength to hold him. Or that how I had managed to do it was startling to them.

"Remis, please continue with your report and ignore them," Nephilim called out.

I gazed over impassively noticing some little unimportant vampire cowering behind Tankrell. He was so small, it's no wonder I didn't see him before.

"It is very distracting," he mumbled staring at Jarod's twitching and writhing body pinned down by my much smaller frame.

Jarod's eyes glowed like eternal flames. His skin stretching out from his muscles attempting to overpower me.

His nails growing further into death like daggers, so sharp that they continued to sparkle at the tip in the lanterns fire.

"Let us go outside the cabin to speak then," she replied sighing. They walked past me and made no attempt to get too close to us.

"Because of common sense" I answered Jarod, ignoring Nephilim in turn.

"No one would stock pile a bunch of vampires that they emancipated from the Elder's in order to be caught and killed. Nephilim has been looking for a very long time of where to store them and place them into a safe haven.

"The Nephilese just began their mass migration when the Elders caught them before getting out. I had assumed that it wasn't like this before. The Nephilese must have recently got a ton of recruits in the Punishers to help with this.

"Obviously, increasing Punishers increases vampires a lot quicker. This caused a rapid growth without a plan to put them anywhere."

He growled. I knew that it was an accurate assumption. I knew he was beyond rage and telling him this would enrage him more.

But I knew my training better. Of course, not everyone had the same training as me.

"Why are you looking to make him madder," Dianna began to cry as she drew a step closer towards us.

"Because he will be an utter idiot until he gets to his breaking point. Rage is emotion. Emotion makes us stupid in times when we need to use logic," I answered. I didn't bother to turn around to explain it.

"What you think you're smarter than me?!" He yelled out trying even harder to get out.

He seemed to not care if he injured himself now in the process to get out.

I sighed , releasing one thumb from the farther shoulder and began reaching into my belt pocket by my hip.

There I drew out four very slender needles of Punisher bone. Only Punishers could see it. Still, it was almost impossible to see it. I had it for some time... but I hadn't needed to use it.

"What are you going to do?!" Edward yelled out in anger. Fear was written on his face.

This is getting out of hand.

I quickly shot one needle into Jarod's neck pressure point. This would paralyze until he calmed down, rather than just me using my thumb to restrain him.

As quickly as I shot Jarod in his neck, I threw one into Dianna's knee watching her fall down immediately, and one at Edwards's ankle mid-stride to knock him down once his foot landed.

It worked. Jarod couldn't move and the other two fell quickly before they could even cross half the room towards us.

"Now, as I am sure you three are unaware, I went through Assassination Spec Ops Training when I was a vampire."

Immediately, everyone stared at me wide-eyed holding their breaths. It was quiet enough that Nephilims conversation outside almost felt like it was occurring inside the cabin. No one dare to move.

Finally, I thought to myself.

"Jarod, stop being a meat-head and put your head on right. We have more than just the problem of them being dead. Regardless who the Elders sent, it was the Elders orders. It was them who did it. More than that, all the other Punishers are going to be found out.

"We need to plan.

"We need excuses for those of us who are staying. We also need to move the bodies before they are re-examined. We need to prevent more information about the organization being found out."

I paused for a moment for that to sink in before continuing, "You need to remember who the actual enemy is."

He stared at me his eyes dimming but anger still lingering.

"Jarod, I can keep you like that all night, or we can move on. Pick and choose." I uttered in finality.

He stared a few moments longer, and his anger was dissipating into sorrow.

Deep, deep sorrow for those who were lost. The room had the feeling of despair, and of sorrow.

I let it bounce off of me, and then began to carefully remove the needles and return them to my bag.

Nephilim came in from outside, although she doesn't look phased at all by what has happened and what would happen next.

Perhaps she was emotionally phased, but I knew that as a leader she was being very calculating, and understanding that unless we manage to develop an army that was well trained, and quickly, we wouldn't be able to survive for much longer like this.

The Elders were going to hunt them out as is.

"We have several things we need to do now. I need to break you guys up to manage clean up." She told them quietly.

Her golden eyes trailed over me. "You need to go inform the vampires that were moved last night what has happened.

"You need to move quickly because you won't have much time to go there, talk, and make it back to your apartment before sun-up," she warned.

She turned towards Tankrell. "You need to go into the city and inform the Kalithians of what has happened. More than likely over one hundred Punishers are about to go on the run.

"If we have them run and hide out with the Isians and go to some of our army camps to become trainers, then we may stand a better chance convincing the Elders that you guys are here as a spy, since the others won't be running, but this is a complete gamble." Tankrell nodded. He went to turn but I cut him off before he could leave.

"They have a Punisher guarding the hole in the wall." I told her.

Then I could see her irritation grow. She probably didn't realize how bad the situation was right now.

"You need Edward to go into the city to inform them, and navigate them out. Jarod should go in order to kill the Punisher on guard duty.

"Edward is fast enough that he can get through unnoticed, and with Jarod can kill that one Punisher. Jarod would play the role of the guard for a while, until the undercover ones escape and then slip to wherever you need him to go next. The Elders already know that some Punishers betrayed them, so leaving a pile of ashes shouldn't surprise them all too much."

She thought and nodded, shifting for those two to leave.

Without a word Jarod zoomed out. Edward hesitated at my side, patted me on the shoulder and then flew out like Jarod.

Dianna and Elizabeth were ordered to get the bodies out for now. They would be able to move the bodies a distance away quickly so that the vampires could take over during the day under the cover of the forest.

The plan was to migrate it 75km north to burn at midday. 75km north brought it far enough where the smoke won't be seen through the forest, and midday so that the light wasn't seen either.

I had no objections to that, and with that me and Tankrell, together, went to the remaining survivors to tell them of the massacre.

The air was filled with tension, anxiety, fear before I even began to speak.

I looked about the group. So much smaller than I had thought were saved. Perhaps it was because of how many I killed that it seemed so much smaller.

Perhaps it was because they were whole and calmly waiting versus carnage and pieces of bodies flying through the air, blood splattering making it appear to be much more than this small group.

I was still amazed at how much closer they were than I thought they were to the massacre site.

So many children. I had forgotten most of them were children that were safeguarded out first.

There were still some that were left behind at the massacre I remember. I don't even know how that happened, how some were left behind and adults began to be sent over here.

There was no one to take care of the children. I remembered a second later and then focused on my speech.

"I am here on a very sad occasion," I began. They probably heard the screaming and the cries, they probably already know, I began to think to myself.

"I am sorry to inform you that, the others who were to be transported have been murdered." I paused. There were several screams of pain, of sorrow with crying.

"The Elders discovered the location of them, and I along with many others, were sent to kill them all with no survivors.

"If I had tried to save them, I would have been killed and everyone that had been moved, anyone else I worked with who were able to move you out of the city, would have been killed. I made a choice so that we could continue on in order to take down the Elders.

"We have to find out who gave them the information. But they will never be forgotten. They were our neighbors, our friends, and our family. Their murders will be avenged." I told them, and bowed as if they were the Elders, for they deserve my forgiveness, my respect.

I was lower than ever before. I had killed more than saved now.

Before I noticed, most of the children had begun to run towards the massacre.

I was going to go and stop them but Tankrell's arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind me and he whispered to me, "no."

I froze. He wanted to kill me in front of them.

I said that they would be avenged, I knew the hurt they all felt. Perhaps it would rally them.

I deserved it.