The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 104

CAULDER

The car ride back home was long and boring, but I didn't mind it too much. I was drained after the little trip to the past, so the rest was a nice break. Plus, Harper was by my side the entire time, and it gave me time to think. Cain didn't have an answer about how his younger self acknowledged our presence, and shortly after that, it was time to go. We didn't have enough time to figure it out, but I hadn't stopped thinking about it.

We were able to interact with our environment, so it made sense that we would be able to interact with Cain. I was just unsure if our presence could actually affect the past, or if it was just a recreation of the past. I knew we would be able to discuss what we saw more once we were back home, and Remy and I always had the option to try to see visions of the past again to try to find out more, now that we knew how to do it. Home...

I was excited to sleep in my old bed again and see all of the familiar faces of our pack. It felt like it had been a lifetime since I was home, and that made the anticipation even better. It would be comfortable and familiar, and it would help me feel like my old self again. And Harper would be by my side.

I looked over at her, and her head was resting against my shoulder. Her breathing was soft, and her heart was calm. Her fingers were intertwined with mine, and I lifted them up to kiss her hand, careful not to wake her.

When I first saw her again, her pain was nearly suffocating her, but now she seemed relaxed, like the pain had disappeared. I never wanted to put her through that kind of pain again, but the impending battle with the vampires made me nervous. Anything could happen in a battle like that, and as much as I wanted to be by her side, I had no way of guaranteeing that.

"We're almost back home," my dad announced. He had done the entire drive, which was impressive. There hadn't been much talking, at least not out loud. I was sure there was some private linking going on, since Harper and I had been doing that on and off. I was just ready to get out of the car and stretch my legs. I looked outside of the window, and the feeling of home washed over me. I recognized the trees around us, and everything felt familiar again. We were almost home. "Mark! Watch out!" my mother screamed.

I looked forward, and there was a man standing in front of the car, grinning at us with a satisfaction I couldn't understand. His eyes were bright red, and he knew exactly what he was doing. We were about to hit him, but my father swerved out of the way, jolting Harper awake. A loud crunch came from the car, and then suddenly the car was spinning in the air.

Everything suddenly slowed down again, and this time I understood that it was my magic slowing time down. There was panic on everyone's faces as they were jolted around in the car. We were going to crash into the ground in seconds, and I knew everyone could be seriously injured, but I didn't have the time I needed to save everyone, even with time being slowed down.

I made eye contact with Remy, and she seemed to be aware of the slowed time.

"Save Harper," Remy ordered.

This snapped me into action. I wrapped my arms around Harper and shifted out of the car. The moment I was out of the car, time started moving at full speed again. The car crashed into the ground, and the sound of glass shattering rang through the air. "Remy!" Harper screamed as the car continued to bounce and roll on the ground.

I wrapped my arm around Harper's waist, holding her back from running forward. It was still too dangerous to approach the car.

"She's fine," I quickly said. I didn't know this for sure, but Remy seemed to be aware of what was happening, so surely she was able to shift her and Blade out of the car before it crashed. I had to believe she was fine.

I stared at the hunk of metal, trying to see if everyone had made it out in time. My mother could have shifted my father out of the car. I just hoped her reflexes were fast enough to do it before the car crashed. I held my breath as I waited for a sign that everyone was okay. It felt like things had slowed down again, but this time it wasn't in a helpful way. The anticipation of knowing if my family was okay, made my heart beat my chest so hard that it physically hurt.

"Caulder!" Remy screamed. I couldn't see her still, but I knew she was near the car.

I didn't think and just moved. I bolted over to the car that had finally stopped moving. The windows were cracked and shattered, but I couldn't see into the car because it was too crunched. "Caulder!" Remy screamed again. Her voice cracked, and I knew something was wrong.

I looked up and saw Remy standing by herself, surrounded by three vampires. My father was holding my mother in his arms, and there was blood dripping down her face. Her eyes were closed, and she didn't seem to be conscious. I looked around, but I didn't see Blade anywhere. Was he still in the car?

Harper grabbed my arm as she saw the scene in front of me. "Help Remy. I'll check on your parents."

I nodded and sprang into action. I shifted so I was standing by Remy's side. "Don't try anything, or I will kill every last one of you," I said, deepening my voice.

"Don't be foolish. We only want the girl. There's no need to get yourself killed in the process," a vampire with pale blond hair said. He took a step towards Remy, and a snarl erupted from my lips.

"I would say the same to you, but I'll happily kill you," I growled.

"I don't know where Blade is," Remy said. She was panicking, and she wasn't thinking straight, but I needed her to focus.

"We'll find him, but we need to take care of these sniveling vampires first," I said. "Focus. You can do this."

Remy stood up straight, and my words seemed to encourage her. "Okay."

I ignited my hands with magic, ready to burn these vampires for attacking my family like this. I had no interest in giving them the slightest chance. I was done with giving people the benefit of the doubt, especially when they clearly demonstrated that they weren't on the right side.

The blond vampire moved quickly, but I was prepared for him. His speed was no matter to me, because my eyes were able to slow down his movement in my head. I quickly dodged the attack and slammed the vampire in the back, sending him flying. Remy shifted into her werewolf form, and she leaped into the air, attacking the vampire that was closest to her. The other vampire went after her as well, and it was clear she was their target. They wanted her, and I wasn't sure if they were trying to kidnap her or kill her. Either way, I knew I had to protect her. I turned my attention to help her, but before I could get close enough to her, sharp claws dug into my arm, pulling me backwards.

I skidded back onto the ground and saw several more vampires around me. This was definitely an ambush. They had been waiting for us to return, but I didn't know how they knew when to expect us, unless they had been waiting here for my family to return. That didn't matter now though. I had to fight now, and if anyone was left alive, we could ask questions later.

Two vampires rushed towards me at the same time. I shifted away, making sure I was in a standing position, and then I quickly sent magic attacks flying towards the vampires. I hit one easily, but the other one quickly dodged. I shifted closer to the vampire and sent another attack his way. This time the attack hit, and the vampire crashed to the ground.

I glanced at Remy, and she was surrounded by three vampires. She was standing her ground in her werewolf form, but I couldn't help but worry about her. She needed help, but I was overwhelmed by the vampires attacking me. We needed more fighters on our side. I wasn't sure if Remy and I could handle this number of vampires by ourselves.

I continued fighting off the vampires targeting me. They were easy to fight off and avoid their attacks, but they kept coming back. It was like my attacks were barely affecting them.

Then suddenly I remembered what Blade had told us. It was like a game of rock, paper, scissors when it came to vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers. Werewolves were stronger against vampires, vampires were stronger than sorcerers, and sorcerers were best against werewolves.

Vampires had magic resistance, so of course my attacks weren't doing much to actually harm the vampires. After the next round of attacks, I sent the vampires flying and quickly changed into my werewolf form. Before the vampire could get up, I leaped forward, trying to land on his body. He rolled out of the way just in time to avoid me.

The vampire tried to swipe his claws at me, but I caught his arm in my mouth with ease. I flicked my head to the side and ripped the arm off. The vampire screamed in pain, and it gave me just enough time to lunge at his throat and finish him off. I looked for the other vampire who had been going for me, but I didn't see him right away, since he had turned his attention to Remy.

After I shifted into my werewolf form, the vampire realized they were going to lose if they didn't do something soon. Remy was fighting with all of her might, but there were now five vampires around her, swarming her. She was quickly overwhelmed.

I dashed forward, landing on one of the vampires around her, but the others were jumping on top of Remy, and she didn't seem to have the strength to throw them off.

"Dad!" I screamed through our link. We needed his help. We needed Blade's help, too, but I still hadn't seen him since the attack. I fought like hell to get to Remy, but there were suddenly two vampires on me, and I was struggling to get to her. I had lost count of how many vampires were here, but they were overwhelming us.

I saw flashes of the vampires trying to bind Remy while I was trying to fight off the vampires around me. We were losing this fight, and if something didn't change, the vampires would get Remy. I couldn't let that happen. I had just reunited with her, and I couldn't let vampires tear us away from each other so soon, but I didn't know what to do. There were too many of them.