Stefan’s Diaries: Bloodlust Chapter 18

As soon as Id taken every last ticket and original every last dollar, I slipped into the tent tin an overweight musical composition clutching a sweaty wad of Confederate n 1s in distributively fist. The air was cryptic with the stench of sweat, sawdust, and, of course, blood.People were milling almost us, paying extra bul king of beasts to gawk at the Strongman and the Tattooed Lady, every last(predicate) of whom were secluded behind thick blue curtains at various intervals along the perimeter of the tent. But the majority of the gang was clamoring around Jasper. Large wagers were being placed, with lots of shouting and helping hand signals and stacks of greasy notes being passed nates and forth. Jasper gleefully chomped on his indifferent cigar and laughed.Sailors yanked foreign bills from their billf experients. A a few(prenominal) teenagers pooled their coins. Well-dressed men in ties waved gold coins.Fight, stir, fight one red-faced man began yelling. Instantly, t he people standing by him began to tone up as well. Three well-dressed women, their hair in curls atop their heads, glanced at each other, giggled, and echoed the cheer, their alto voices contrasting with the mens baritone ones.Gallagher strode into the tent, his cane tapping a path through with(predicate) the sawdust. People gaminged and craned their necks to catch a glimpse of him in the carnival tent, he was just as much an attraction as the freaks. later on all, this was the man whod caught a vampire.Be strong, brother, I whispered under my breath, remember all the successions Damon had won fights rearwards in Mystic Falls. Damon had never provoked those actions but had al trends been a good fighter, always land a punch fast when a fight broke out. Thats why hed been so respected in the army. But now, in a battle against a setting lion, especially afterward not feeding for eld I shuddered.Brother? I whispered tentatively, at a decibel I knew whole his ears could d etect. I was hoping for some sort of reply, nonetheless though I wasnt sure whether he could permit actually heard me. If he did, he said nothing in response.And now, lets introduce our fighters Gallaghers voice broke through my reverie. Two fleshly handlers, their transfer in leather gloves and wear boots that came up then(prenominal) their knees, walked into the ring, leading a mangy mountain lion. The mountain lion had a grayish-yellowish coat and yellow teeth, and, despite its lean body, looked brutal. And hungry. As if on cue, it uttered a roar.In one end of your ring, you provoke the mountain lion. But this is no ordinary cat. This beast is the Alberta Avenger He came down from Canada to find the hunter that killed his mate. He eviscerated the hunter, his wife, and all of his children except the youngest, whose legs the lion ate in the beginning leaving the rest of him alive to tell the story. Since then, you have followed the mountain lion in the newspapers as it has f easted its way on innocents in the Union and Confederacy without prejudice. Tonight, it is here only after we captured it trying to stow away on a boat bound for the Andes Mountains in sulfur America. The mountain lion, ladies and gentlemen Gallagher yelled, his showmanship on full display.The conjure dutifully applauded enthusiastically, and some even cheered.Its opponent is a legendary vampire that has been terrifying children and their parents for centuries. Viktor the Cruel was natural in 1589 and was heir to the Hapsburg Empire until he first tasted bloodhis sistersand began a three-hundred-year feeding frenzy that has leave a trail of drained bodies around the world. At an estimated two victims per day, this brings Viktors kills to one and a half million people, more than double the size of Italy. This un kick downstairspable lust for blood continues tonight.The applause was more nervous now, but the cheers were louder.Gallagher spread his hands apart with a flourish, a nd Damon came into the ring, contact by four handlers. His hands and feet were in chains, and his face was partially hidden by a muzzle. His skin was bleeding from the vervain, his eyes were bloodshot, and the expression on his face was one Id never chattern.I could understand the hatred he mat upI was fighting every instinct I had not to kill the people safekeeping him captive. But his imprisonment had changed him. Damon had called me a cold-blooded killer. The look in Damons eyes was not one of sport, or survival. It was light bloodlust.A hush filled the tent. The mountain lion strained at his chains, but Damon simply stood in his corner of the ring, as if unaware of what the imminent future held for him.And go Gallagher yelled. Immediately, the handlers unlocked Damons chains and opened the iron verge of the mountain lions cage, then ran off the stage. The lion jumped toward Damon, making contact with his chest. Damon let out an anguished moan and fell backward. Then, jus t as quickly, he rose to his feet and roared, his face suddenly flushed, his fangs on full display. I knew this was all instinctual Damons Power rising to the surface as soon as hed felt the attack. I had learned this astir(predicate) our kind in the past few weeks Our power led us to do things before we even knew we were doing them. disdain Damons external weakness, his Power was still intact.The lion leaped again, and Damon went low, ducking under the claws and advance up at just the expert moment to dig his hands into the lions neck. But the lion tossed Damon free he turn over to a stop only when he slammed into the gate surrounding the ring.Damon let out other moan and lay on the ground. The lion began to stalk over to demand his kill.The crowd went wild, friends hitting one another in the arm and clawing at the air as though they themselves were in the fight.One of the handlers positioned along the sidelines poked at Damon, clear to get in him pathetic. Damon swung wi thout looking, knocking the man into the stands. As the handler struggled to get up, two nearby customers kicked him in the gut and then dropped him over the back railing to the dirt below, out of sight.Damon paid no heed to the fuss and moved deeper into the ring, letting the lion slowly circle him.After a long silence, Damon let out a feral growl and ran toward the lion. The lion roared in response and charged, but this time Damon stepped aside, and when the lion missed him, Damon pendant an arm up under the lions neck. With strength no one seemed to expect, Damon threw the lion onto its back. He was about to dive on top and go in for the kill when the lion kicked up and drove a claw right through Damons arm.The lion swatted its paw around, swinging Damon through the air same a fly on a fishing line. At last, the framing gave way and Damon, with a red arc of blood trailing behind him, shot up through the air, then landed with a clump even I couldnt hear over the hellish roar of the celebrating crowd.Damon struggled to his feet, holding the wounded arm in place with the other. He wasnt healing as quickly as vampires usually doI wondered if the vervain had dampened that Power.He needed blood, that much was clear. His survival instincts and the attendant adrenalin were waning. I was about to rush forward into the ring, with the stout man in front of me as an offering to my brother, when a warm hand fell on my arm.Callie.Its horrible, she said. Her knuckle duster had gone white around clumps of her dress. Her lips hung loose and trembled. I cant befool this barbarism much longer.Then tell your father to stop it, I hissed.The stomping on the wooden stands was picking up in speed and along with the racing heartbeats of the people. The splotches of blood in the sawdust werent enough to satisfy themthey needed to see a death.Now Damon was padding around the mountain lion, as the animal hunched, coiled, in the halfway of the ring, moving as little as thinkab le while following Damon with its reflective eyes. Suddenly, Damon took off, moving at a wooly-minded speed around the lion so that the animal had to rapidly turn and turn, as though chasing its own tail.A quiet came over the crowd, and only the heavy panting of Damon and the mountain lion echoed under the canvas of the tent. Damon circled his prey, moving faster than the lion could comprehend.The crowd gasped as Damon slanted toward the mountain lion, and before the beast could tell which direction he was coming from, Damon dove on the muscle behind the lions head. He bit in and held on, letting the lion kick and flip wildly.Callie clutched my arm. My eyes were riveted on the scene, and my body was primed to dominate to the cage should I need to intervene.The mountain lion was slowing. Each time it bucked, more blood appeared in the sawdust in little red rivers. Its left hind leg was looking weak now wobbling, it started to flop toward the ground. Damon unlatched his fangs and r eared back, ready to go for the vein in the cats neck.Just then, the cat flailed its back tooth and threw Damon free. As Damon tried to recover his feet, the mountain lion moved in and wrapped its jaws around his side.The crowd gasped again, then began to boo.Fight, I urged with every eccentric of my being, clenching my fists at my sides.Damon had gone limp and was being flung around like an old slipper in a dogs mouth. The lion tossed Damon to the ground, then pulled its head back and opened wide. But just as the animal dove forward, Damon rolled away. He drove his shoulder into the confused beasts side, bowling it over and exposing the oblivious white hairs on its throat.Damon tore into the vein with his fangs. The mountain lion twitched its way to stillness as a puddle of blood became large and bigger until it was a great lake of blood within the fighting ring. At its center was my brother, kneeling over a dead mountain lion.He stood and stumbled backward a step. He looked up into the crowd with a wide smile on his face, his fangs out and his whole face and front dripping with blood. The crowd cheered and booed in equal measure, and Damon just turned in a small circle, occasionally licking his lips.Gallagher clapped his fat hands together. The ones whod made money jumped and hugged one another. The ones whod lost threw hats to the ground or stared blankly ahead.I leaped forward, trying to push my way to my brother, but the handlers had already moved in, stakes and vervain-laced nets in hand. Damon was clearly drunk on such a massive feed after not eating for so long and didnt seem to notice them. forrader I could even shout a warning, the men wrapped him in nets and began dragging him out of the arena.Even at my fastest, I couldnt get past the crowd that had filled in behind them and now blocked the finished way. All of the revelers, hooting and slobbering, stood between me and the exit, and by the time I pushed and shoved my way out, the station wa ggon was careening out of the fairgrounds.A whip cracked. Hooves beat the ground. And just like that, Damon was gone.