WARNING : Trigger warnings for kidnapping, graphic violence, blood, mentions of domestic abuse, slight isolation, captivity and decapitation.

If you find this content disturbing or triggering, I advise skipping over this chapter reader discretion is advised

Also buckle in for a long one over 18,000 words so yeah

CORBIN’S POV

She was supposed to be dead. I had drained her myself, heard her heart stop and left her lifeless body in an alleyway. That was supposed to be that. I never spared her another thought; she became nothing more than a forgotten memory. No more special than any I have fed on before or after her. Now I see her standing there very much alive; or maybe very much undead as the human community would think of us. The girl looks different; her skin which before used to be a smooth cream color was now as white as new fallen snow, her hair; which used to fall in golden wavy locks, now died purple, but her eyes were the same electric blue and expressive and could pierce straight through to your soul. Hanging on her arm was another girl, obviously human and honestly nothing special about her, just your average teen; brown hair, hazel eyes, fair complexion, as I said nothing special, although I can smell her even though she was quite some distance away. I could still smell her and the sent was intoxicating. How young Lorelei (if that is even the name she still went by) was able to show such restraint around her I would never know. Then again, she wasn’t so young anymore, was she? No, it had been over a century since she had been changed. I took a moment to wonder which of my comrades had likely fed her their own blood. Probably Elijah the bleeding heart. He had always been like that. He was far too soft for the life of a vampire. I often regretted letting the (at the time) young vampire join my small coven, but there was more safety in numbers. My brother, Brutus and best friend, Samuel; whom I had both changed myself and my mate, Hanna. They were loyal enough and all of them strong, but against a band of hunters they would be no match. The young Elijah had no stomach for the killings. Often times begging me to spare my pray their lives, just like he did with Lorelei. I still remember the way he whined about it that night “Please Corbin, not her she’s so young, she’s innocent pick someone else. We can go to the docks there are always a few stragglers there, but leave the girl alone.”

I told Elijah that night “If you don’t have the stomach then go ahead and leave.”

He of course didn’t. The man was a sheep, and I unfortunately was his shepherd. Much kinder than most because sometimes you must kill off the weaklings to keep the flock strong. Yet I continue to care for him finding him suitable prey and making sure he is well fed. My small group strives to keep each other safe even if one is annoyingly noble and moral. I suppose it was his moral compass that drove his actions that night. I’m not sure why it bothered me so much that she was alive; ok it wasn’t so much the fact she was alive and more the reason behind it. Elijah had not asked my permission to change her. He had gone behind my back; in a way even worked against me. It brings my power and leadership into question. He must be punished and put back in his place and the best way to do that was punish his sired. How to go about punishing her was simple…harm someone she cares about. The little human she was with would be the unfortunate casualty. Yes, she would suffer and die. I decided to revile myself; no reason to lurk in the shadows. I was currently in the food court of a shopping mall of all places. I detest the modern world, but it was a good place to find young vibrant pray; teens were so easily tricked and manipulated, but now my interests were no longer occupied with the hunt at least not in the way it was before.

This was a different kind of hunt entirely.

I did a quick check to make sure I wasn’t being watched then used my increased vampire speed so that I was right behind them.

“Hello Lorelei.” I say.

DRAYA'S POV

I stiffen when I hear his voice; the voice I thought I would never hear again, but the voice I would never forget.

I put a protective arm around Sarah and pull her closer to me before turning around.

“Corbin.” I say.

There he stood tall with short ink black hair and dark brown eyes, his skin as pale as my own. He looked like he could be in his late teens; maybe early twenties and would be considered handsome even by vampire standards; if it weren’t for the fact that I knew his true nature.

“I am flattered that you remember me.”

“What are you doing here? What do you want?”

“What makes you think I want anything; well, anything from you anyway…the little snack you have with you on the other hand…”

“You will not be laying so much a finger on my consort.”

“Consort, well now, that does change things…” he says before directing his attention to Sarah “… allow me to introduce myself I am Corbin Donovan.” he said extending his hand to her, but Sarah is able to easily pickup on my body language and refuses to take his hand.

She instead opts to grab mine lacing our fingers together.

I couldn’t help but smirk “I don’t think she wants to have anything to do with you.”

“Too bad, I can be quite charming, but then you know that well don’t you Lorelei?”

“Lorelei died a long time ago. I’m not that stupid, naive, overly trusting girl anymore. I answer to the name Draya Royal now."

"Why on earth would you change it? Lorelie; meaning alluring temptress fits you, and is far more interesting, while Draya, although it means lovely it also means gift of god; how boring."

"She is not a temptress...alluring definitely but not a temptress and she is lovely; she is my angel I think that qualifies as a gift from god and she is far from boring." Sarah said.

“You have a fire in you and spirit, I admire that in a human; you’d be surprised how much of a rarity it’s become, especially in the modern world.”

“Corbin, leave.” I say.

“Why? I haven't threatened you or your human and I have been nothing but polite this entire time.”

“Firstly, Sarah is my consort, and we are partners so don’t call her my human as if I am her owner, which I am not. Secondly you are only acting polite because we are in public, and it would be very stupid to cause a scene and draw attention to ourselves. Thirdly forgive me if I don’t want to associate with my murderer.”

“It wasn’t personal; I was simply feeding. You weren’t the only one we tempted into a bar that night and you won’t be the last. After all, can you really blame me? You know how it feels when the hunger sets in; how desperate you can be for blood; given enough time of course and back then it wasn’t like we had ample opportunity.”

“You didn’t have to kill me! Killing to feed is unnecessary; you made a choice to end my life that night do you honestly expect me to forgive and forget that?” Tears of anger stung my eyes and began to cascade down my face before I could stop them.

“You’re not dead though, are you? I will admit that turning you was not part of the plan, but that’s neither here nor there the point is you did not stay dead, did you?”

“You left me for dead in an alleyway!” I had raised my voice in anger and frustration and a few people nearby stopped to stare.

“Just a squabble between two Ex's nothing to see people.” Sarah said rectifying the situation then she rounded on Corbin “You’ve caused enough trouble. Leave now.”

“My how easily provoked you are Lor- I mean Draya.” Then he turns his attention to Sarah. “Given her behavior I would be reconsidering your relationship if I were you human.”

Sarah glared at him. “The reality is, none of us are easy to be with we all suffer from something so when you meet someone who is willing to stay, committed to understanding you and actually wants to grow with you, you don’t let lame shit ruin it because real is rare.” her tone was steady and confident.

“Such faith you seem to have for her; I do hope it’s not misplaced.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You don’t live for over a century without any skeletons in the closet my dear.” he said turning and sauntering away.

SARAH'S POV

We watched Corbin leave until he was out of sight. I already hated him; mostly because he upset Draya. He actually made her cry, and I have rarely seen her cry. Even when she talks about Shaylyn she doesn’t cry; in fact, I think the last time I saw Draya crying was the one time she lost control and bit me in the tree house on my cousin's land and although she was better, she still hadn’t completely gotten over it, so it took a lot for her to cry. I turn around so that I am standing in front of her, putting my hands to her face, cupping her cheeks, wiping away her tears with my thumbs before standing up on my toes to kiss them away. "How about we go home? I think someone needs a good long cuddle session."

Draya sighs but then smiles at me and nods and we begin to make our way to the exit hand in hand.

When we got back to the house Celeste and David were having a discussion in the living room.

"What does this mean for us?" Celeste says

"Nothing, or at least nothing good, but if he is choosing to exile himself the ruling the council made is null in void and I really don't like that." David responds

It seems like Celeste is about to respond, but then she spots Draya and me. "You two are back earlier that I expected."

"Yeah, there is something I should actually tell both of you...Corbin is in town." Draya said.

"More bad news, first Kasimir leaves the coven, and now Corbin is hanging around. I don't like any of this." said David.

"David, you don't think it's a possibility that..." Celeste trailed off.

"I don't know Celeste, but it does seem like too much of a coincidence."

"What are you talking about?" I finally ask.

"Kasimir has decided to leave the coven last night, I only recently found out and now Corbin is in town; it could be a coincidence, but we can't completely disregard the possibility that Kasimir has or will soon join Corbin's coven." David said with an ominous tone.

AN OLD SHUT DOWN ABANDONED CAMPGROUND

CORBIN'S POV

As soon as I entered the old campgrounds and was far enough away from any praying eyes, I used my super speed to run to where we had parked the double decker RV that Brutus had stolen. When I entered Elijah, with his sandy brown hair and green eyes was engaged in a game of Mancala with Samuel, whose blond bangs usually hanging just above his earlobes was now hanging in his face as he leaned over the bord game his green eyes, a few shades darker than Elijah's, were focused his lips moving slightly as he silently counted.

Brutus had a shaved head and eyes so dark they were nearly black; he was sitting in the living aera next to Hanna with her blond hair tied into two French braids hanging from either side of her head and cerulean, blue eyes. They were watching some trash tv. I wase no time in grabbing Elijah by the collar of his shirt and slamming him hard against the floor. "What the Hell Corbin?" he grunted out.

"Who do you think you are feeding her your blood? Who gave you permission to sire anyone? Did you forget who the leader of this coven is? Have you forgotten your place? Seems you need reminding!" I say slamming him against the floor again.

"Corbin, take it easy you're going to break through the floor like the last one if you keep slamming him against it like that." said Samuel.

"You want to be next?" I growled at him.

He holds his hands up in surrender.

Suddenly Hanna is beside me. "Normally I would never call your actions into question my love, but I would like this residence to last us awhile and if you care to take notice, we do have a guest."

I now notice a male vampire with long dark hair and equally dark eyes sitting nearby an amused look on his face.

"I'll finish dealing with you later." I said releasing Elijah.

“I am sorry you had to see that.” I say striding towards the male vampire.

“Not at all, I like how you handle your underlings. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Kasimir.”

“Corbin. What brings you here Kasimir?”

“I was recently, permanently shunned by my coven and when I found out your coven was in the area, I decided to leave my coven as I was practically living in exile anyway and seek to join you and your coven if I may.”

“Well, that depends, what do you bring to the table?”

“Not much more than any other vampire I am afraid.”

“Well, that’s a shame because I don’t let just anyone into my coven.”

“Perhaps I could help you with something? From what I heard earlier seems there may be someone who needs to be taken care of, possibly eliminated; I could help you take care of them to prove my worth.”

“Well, the only person I plan on eliminating is a little human girl named Sarah.”

“Interesting, I have a personal problem to settle with a girl named Sarah too; could they be the same person?"

“Doubt it, Sarah is a common name for girls.”

“Perhaps you are right; the girl I am referring to is consort to one Draya Royal.”

“You don’t say. Looks like maybe we can work together after all.”

TWO DAYS LATER OUTSIDE THE HIGHSCHOOL

CORBIN'S POV

I am waiting outside the school with Elijah; watching the door that the girl had gone into not more than 30 minutes ago. We were currently out of sight; it would be annoying if one of the high school staff or faculty members were to come out and interrogate us. I could always compel them to go back inside and forget they ever saw us, but it would still be annoying. It was cold outside; at least freezing or lower, but it didn’t bother me. Brutus and I had grown up with this kind of weather and were lucky if we even got 3 months of warm weather in the summer months when we were human and so I was used to it had grown accustomed to it. Elijah on the other hand had grown up in the south on Anna Maria Island, Florida where the low rarely dipped below 60 degrees. Honestly the man was a bit spoiled by his human experiences if you asked me.

“Corbin could you please remind me why we are here?”

"To begin your punishment. You are going to do whatever it takes to earn even the most minuscule shred of trust that you can from the girl.”

“Why?”

“Because if she trusts you, she may not view you as the enemy so when the opportunity arises you will lure her away from her friends and family and especially her dear Draya and deliver her to me.”

“So, befriend her then betray her.”

It wasn't a question, but I answered nevertheless. “Basically.”

He got quite for a while before saying “I don't like this.”

“Yes, well as this is the beginning of your punishment; you’re not supposed to like it...oh and you will not come back until it is done.”

"Where do you expect me to go?"

"Thats your problem not mine."

Then the bell rang, and students began filing out of the building; then I spot her, flanked on either side by two friends.

"And that's our cue." I say moving into position to intercept the girl. All I had to do was introduce Elijah to set the plain in motion.

SARAH’S POV

"Seriously though who ever thought it was a good idea to have the swimming unit in December? I swear my hair is going to freeze and then I am going to get pneumonia and die." complained Kelsey.

"I told you to invest in a hoodie, and I did offer to share the hair dryer with you." Raquel responded.

“I am never able to get my hair dry with those things they have mounted on the wall, and they don’t work good for drying hands or hair anyway; however, I will stop by the school store and invest in a hoodie.”

“A wise investment for sure.” I said laughing but it died quickly when I see a certain vampire standing near the entrance to the main building of the school. Next to him is another male vampire I didn't recognize. He has sandy brown hair and green eyes; he was handsome of course. He was even better looking than Corbin. For a brief moment our eyes locked and there was a kind and gentle nature there; a stark contrast to Corbin's dark, cold and hard ones, but if he was with Corbin I should be weary of him.

"Hello Sarah." Corbin greeted.

"Sarah, who is that? Do you know him?" Hallie asked.

"He's and old flame of Draya's." I lied quickly. "You guys go on to class I'll get rid of him."

"Are you sure? Maybe we should tell school security?" said Tracy.

"No, I can handle this creep, you guys go on."

"You sure?" Raquel asked.

"Yeah, I got this."

"Okay if you say you got this then okay, just be careful." Hallie said.

My friends left then, and I approached Corbin and his companion. "What are you doing here Corbin?"

"Nothing nefarious I assure you; I simply wanted to introduce you to Elijah here, he is your Draya's sire after all."

"The one that left her abandoned in an alleyway?"

"Corbin put her in her alleyway." he said his voice was deep and smooth, but with a slight southern accent making him sound like an old-fashioned southern gentleman.

"You still abandoned her." I said coldly.

"I can explain everything, if you just give me a chance."

"I have to get to class." I said my tone callous.

"After school then, and I will even give a ride home after."

"Yeah, right as if I would get in a car with you and why should I even give you the time of day?"

“Please, I am just asking for chance, and I will give you cab fare to get home please."

"Fine I will meet you in front of the school, there is a metal green dench you can sit on, wait there for me. Corbin you better be gone. Now I have to get to class I might already be late." I said turing away from them and walking into the main building then taking off at a sprint down the halls making it into my classroom seconds before the bell rang.

TIME SKIP LAST CLASS PERIOPD

GROUP TEXT MESSAGING

{TRACY: I am glad you were able to get rid of creepy Ex, but do you really think sticking around after school to chat with his buddy is a good Idea?}

{SARAH: I have pepper spray and an air horn in my bag I remember everything from those self-defense classes we took two summers ago and 911 on speed dial or you know that thing where you just click the side button five times} _and I have the silver medallion I still haven't returned to you Tracy _I thought as send the text.

{RAQUEL: Well, it sounds like you got all your bases covered but it still worries me}

{HALLIE: I don't like it either}

{KELSEY: Yeah, Sare Bear this is seriously dangerous territory}

{SARAH: I can handle this you guys don’t worry it’s all under control and I’ll be careful and keep you posted on my hourly status if it makes you all feel better}

{HALLIE: I wish you would let us stay with you there is strength in numbers}

{SARAH: I am going to be fine Hallie I am staying on the school grounds and I am not going anywhere else with him and I am taking a cab home I texted my mom that I am staying after school to get caught up on some homework I need to finish from when I was sick and since I finished that a few minutes ago I don’t have to worry too much about covering up for that lie I got this guys}

{HALLIE: alright but we better not all end up on an episode of dateline or something where these texts are the last anybody ever heard from you}

{SARAH: He just wants to talk guys I don’t think he plans on murdering me}

{TRACY: Let’s just hope that you’re right}

Then the final bell rang. Tracy caught me before making her way to the student parking lot. “You know you don’t have to go meet him; this is a situation where standing him up wouldn’t be a bad decision.”

“I’m not going to stand him up, like I said I’ll be fine; you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this am I?”

“Nope.” I say popping the P.

“Fine just take care of yourself okay.”

“I will, promise.”

We hugged before parting ways, and I make my way to the front of the school.

When I get there, I can already see him sitting on the green bench right where I told him to meet me. I go over to the bench and sit next to him, but we don’t say anything waiting for the sea of highschoolers to disappear.

I was the first to speak once we were mostly alone. “So, you want to explain why you abandoned Draya all those years ago?”

“I didn’t want to abandon her, but Corbin would have been ferrous if he found out and may have killed her the instant, she revived to teach me a lesson. I couldn’t bear to see her die that way; that was why I was lacing her drinks with my blood; all the liquor was too dark for anyone to tell. It was hard enough watching Corbin drain her life from her. I just had to hope and pray she’d make it. I am glad she did, even if Corbin is livid with me.”

“Why didn’t you try to stop him? Why did you let him kill her?”

“I had tried, but Corbin is like the honey badger with a hive; stubborn and won’t give up no matter how much he gets stung; she was in his sights and that was it.”

“Did you even care what happened to her though?”

“Of course, I cared. I wished I had been braver to leave Corbin’s coven and stayed with her or at the very least gone back for her.”

“You should have been.”

“She is happy, isn’t she?”

“She is no thanks to you.”

“I never approved of Corbin luring, unsuspecting, naive, trusting, young women to their death. I always hated it; I would never feed from them, but I still played a part in their death, their blood is as much on my hands as it is Corbin’s and that’s not counting the lives I did take; men dying in medical tents in the war and old homeless beggars after that. I tried justifying it; the men in the tents were dying anyway, the old beggars live miserable lives, and I was being merciful but I am still a killer no matter what I tell myself so I can sleep at night.”

“What do you do to feed now?”

“Blood bags if I can get my hands on it.”

“And if you can’t?” I ask.

He looks down and is very quiet.

“You kill again, don’t you?”

“Not if I can help it; I was never taught to control my blood lust and the hunger, the thirst it can be unbearable at times, but I am trying to control it and I am getting better all the time. I haven’t killed in years, ok that’s not true I have killed, but only animals it only provides sustenance for a few hours depending on how much you consume but it’s long enough for me to find human pray and it keeps me sane enough that I don’t lose control while feeding and then I compel them to forget and go home to sleep.”

“That doesn’t make it okay, and it doesn’t erase what you did.”

“I know that. I can’t bring back the people I killed, and I can’t go back and change things with Draya, but ever since that night I have been trying to change so I don’t take life anymore. I can’t stop Corbin but… have you ever heard that Michael Jackson song man in the mirror well that’s what I am doing taking a look at myself and making a change it’s all I can do.”

“I think you should have listened a little closer; that song is about choosing to help others before yourself."

“In the end does it really matter if it saves a life?”

“I suppose not, but why do you stay with Corbin if you disapprove of what he does so much?”

“That’s a bit of a long story, but I could tell you if you have the time.”

“I got nothing but time.” I said even if that wasn't entirely true.

“I was a young man only in my early 20s and the year was the 1861 May 2 so the civil war was just starting. Even though I grew up in the south I fought for the union. I didn’t think that people should be allowed to enslave other human beings. They still bled if you cut them, still die if you poisoned them, and yet some were treated worse than labor animals; dogs and livestock were treated better and that simply didn’t sit right with me, but then again nether did war; I joined as a conscientious objector and a medic. I swore I would never take another life… God if only I knew then what I know now. I don’t remember exactly what happened just pain and blood and waking up with bodies all around me and the burning sensation of the thirst in the back of my throat. I could tell which of the bodies around me were still alive; I could hear the heart beats. I don’t remember how many I drained only that when I left there wasn’t a single living body left; they never would’ve made it of that I was certain. I traveled for days before I found a camp and was relieved to discover that my best friend was there, his name was John, he greeted me jovially. Later it turned out that he was my sire; he revealed what he was to me that night. I didn’t know what to think, but the way he looked at it he had saved my life and given me the gift of immortality, and he admitted he was also being a bit selfish because he was growing tired of being alone. He said he had grown rather fond of me. Things weren’t so bad for a while; with so many wounded men that were beyond help feeding was easy, if one of the injured men died in the night nobody was any the wiser and no reason to hold back. John taught me how to use my other newfound abilities and how to cope with the new weaknesses. I thought that he and I were going to have a bright future together, but only 2 years later he died, blown up from stepping on a land mine. I was completely alone; I faked my death; made it look like I got blown to bits along with John. I moved to a big city and fed from those nobody would miss and that they wouldn’t waste too much time investigating. Not long after that I met Corbin’s best friend Samuel, and we had become fast friends within a week. After that he introduced me to Corbin and they took me in and that’s how I became part of their coven; honestly Samuel is the only one I can get along with. Corbin’s brother Brutus is just as bad if not worse than Corbin himself and Corbin’s mate Hanna, she is a piece of work, but Sammy; that’s what I call him, he’s not so bad. He’s really laid back and he isn’t a bad guy just doesn’t care about the killing so much and has gotten used to Corbin’s cruel nature he’s just desensitized to it at this point. He thinks what I’m doing is cool and he thinks that if it works for me and it’s what I want to do then that’s fine as long as it’s not interfering with the rest of the coven and that’s pretty much that.”

“I’m sorry about what happened to your friend in the war.”

“It’s ok, it was a long time ago, I carry his memory with me, and I will always remember him fondly and he wouldn’t want any tears shed over him.”

“I don’t know why, but I want to trust you, but on the other hand why should I trust a word you say?”

“I honestly don’t know, I haven’t given you any reason not to, and yet I haven’t given you any reason to trust me either."

I let out a sigh "I believe you; I believe that you regret abandoning Draya, and I believe that you are trying to be a better person, hell I even believe that as a human you were good and despite what you have done, still are.”

“You trust me? He asked.

I was silent for a while did I trust him? I wasn’t sure I trusted him more than I did before that was for sure, but I probably shouldn’t trust him, and that was my answer. “I really shouldn’t trust you and I really need to get home.”

“Of course.” he said he called me an Uber and gave me $60 to pay for it and even waited with me until it got there.

When Draya climbed through my window that night and asked, 'how my day went?' I decided against telling her about my conversation with Elijah, it would only upset her so what was the point she didn’t need to know and with any luck I was probably never going to see Elijah or Corbin ever again anyway; no sense in bringing it up and starting an argument.

TIME SKIP TWO WEEKS LATER

A couple of weeks have passed and the encounters with Corbin and my conversation with Elijah were all but forgotten.

I was lying in bed with Draya floating somewhere between asleep and awake although already highly aware of my girlfriends cool naked body pressed against my own, I am fully awakened by Draya’s phone ringing I groaned. “Draya, answer your phone.”

“I’ll let it go to voicemail.”

"It will keep ringing in the meantime answer it, so it stops."

Draya chuckles and gives me a quick squeeze before turning over and answering the phone, putting it on speaker. “Hello?”

“Hello Draya, it’s Natalie, I just really needed somebody to talk to.”

“Natalie...I can talk, but I am going to have to call you back, okay?”

“Yeah okay.”

Draya hung up the phone and turned to me. “Darling, I can explain.”

“I think you better…who’s Natalie?”

“Princess, when we were broken up for those five days, I was in a dark place, and I wanted to blow off some steam and decided to go hunting. Natalie is a prostitute that I fed from that night.”

“A prostitute? We break up and you go out and hook up with some whore?”

“Don’t call her that. It was just feeding.”

“Oh, sorry I insulted your side girl.”

“Princess…”

“Don’t you call me princess or darling right now.”

Draya sighed “Sarah, it’s not like that.”

“So, what is it like?”

“It was just feeding, that was all.”

“You have blood bags for that.”

“I wanted to hunt, to feed live that night. We had just broken up the night before and…”

"Wait, hold on, we had only been broken up for a day and you just had to go and hook up with some stranger?!”

“It was just feeding; I didn’t have sex with her; we didn’t even kiss.”

“Is she prettier than me?”

“What?”

“Is she prettier? There must have been something about her that drew you to her so what was it?”

“No Sarah, she was simply the first woman to approach me that’s all.”

“Why does she have your number?”

“I gave it to her in case she needed a friend.”

“You gave it to her?”

“Yes, but for completely platonic reasons.”

“Platonic; yeah, right you don’t give one night stands your number.”

“It wasn’t a one night stand; I already told you that I didn’t have sex with her, when I took her to the motel…”

“Oh, there’s a motel now, well this just keeps getting better and better.”

“Honestly Sarah what did you expect me to do? Feed from her right out in the open? Hunters would have been on my trail before sunrise.”

“You know what…no I can’t do this right now.” I say getting out of bed and grabbing my jeans and panties from the floor and pulling them on.

“Do what precisely?”

“Talk about you and a prostitute in a motel room…God I just can’t be around you right now.” I say locating my bra and turtleneck and putting them on too.

“Where are you going?”

“For a walk.” I say heading for the door then pausing before walking out “I’ll be back before sundown.” I said closing the bedroom door behind me then heading downstairs pulling on my boots and putting my coat on before heading out the front door. Luckily Draya lived in the Arboretum and there were always plenty of hiking trials there.

I don't know how long I had waked for, and I didn't even care that the snow was so deep that I sunk in above my ankle, luckily my boots went up to mid-calf, but that didn't mean it was easy trying to trudge through it. The anger fueled adrenaline was beginning to fade albeit slowly. I decide to stop and rest; I find a log on the side of the trail to sit on; brushing as much snow off of it as I could before taking a seat. I let out a big sigh and watched as my warm breath turned into steam when it mingled with the cold air.

"Sarah?" I suddenly heard someone say from behind me.

"Elisha? What are you doing here?" I say turning to face him.

"Just taking a walk, I like places like this, good place to think, but I didn't think I would find you out here."

"I needed some air and some space." I said trying not to let the lingering anger I felt seep onto my voice, but not doing a very good job of it.

"Have I angered you somehow?"

"No, it's not you."

"Trouble in paradise?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Not really, but if It's not me there aren't many other options."

"Well as you guessed yeah, I'm not very pleased with Draya right now."

"You want to talk about it? I'm a good listener."

"Why would I talk to you about it?"

"Sometimes getting an outsiders perspective helps."

"I don't know..."

"Tell you what, how about we go someplace more comfortable? Get something to eat? If you want to tell me about it, you can if not that's fine too."

I don't know why, but I trusted Elisha even though I know I shouldn't. He was part of Corbin's coven, and I knew for damn sure I couldn't trust Corbin, Yet, do to current events I couldn't help but think of something he had said to me, _You don’t live for over a century without any skeletons in the closet my dear_ I didn't want to think about that, shouldn't be thinking about that, but I couldn't help it. Even though Natilie was a very recent "skeleton" it didn't mean there weren't other older ones that I didn’t know about that I may never know about, and I definitely didn’t want or need ghosts from the past jumping out at me. Draya now suddenly had reasons for me not to trust her. Elijah on the other hand even though we had only met one other time had never done anything that would give me reason to mistrust him. He had never been anything but honest at least as far as I know so why not? “Alright as long as I get back before sundown; that’s when I told Draya I would be back.”

“Excellent, fallow me my car is parked not far from here and we should be able to get back in plenty of time. What are you in the mood for?”

“Something made of beef a definitely not good for me...most likely greasy.”

“I know just the place. You ever been to monks?”

“Once with my friends in the dells, it was great actually.”

“Well then let’s hope this experience lives up to that one.”

We walk for a while in comfortable silence before reaching his vehicle which happened to be a 2020 land rover defender. Elijah was a gentleman and opened my door for me and even helped me with my seat belt before going around the car and getting in himself. “And we’re off.” he says as he starts the car and pulls away.

TIME SKIP AFEW HOURS LATER AT MONKS

“In all fairness you really didn’t give her much of a chance to fully explain, but from what you said firstly she wasn't being unfaithful; you were broken up or at the very least on a break; either way whatever she did with this girl sexual or not she was not cheating on you. Secondly it was just feeding and although feeding can sometimes be intimate; especially between partners that doesn’t sound like this was. Thirdly in my experiences prostitutes usually get paid for their services; now we don’t know if Draya did pay her due to the fact that you didn’t let her explain, but if she did in fact pay her then it was probably more of a business transaction than anything else.”

“But why didn’t she tell me about her when we got back together? Why did I have to find out basically by accident?”

“Ah-ha, so that’s what this is about. You aren’t mad about Draya feeding from this woman; you are upset that she didn’t tell you about it and about the way you found out about her.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I say digging my phone out of my jeans pocket to check the time; it was 3:54PM. "We should head back the sun will be setting soon and I don't want Draya to worry." I say putting my phone into my coat pocket.

"Of course, let's go."

Elijah once again opened my door and helped me with the seat belt again and on the way, he even let me pick the radio station. I was feeling a lot better, and I really needed to make up with Draya. I had reacted badly, and Elijah was right, I didn't let her explain anything, but this time I was going to listen like a rational person; this is what I was thinking about when Elijah drove right past the turn we would need to take to get back to Draya's house. "Elijah, you missed the turn." that is when the doors locked "Elijah what's going on?"

"I am so sorry." he said.

I immediately unbuckled my seat belt and manually unlocked the door, but when I pulled the handle, it wouldn't open.

"It won't work, I had the car modified and had them install child locks on the front door; only way you're getting out is if I let you out; now put your seat belt back on."

I reached into my coat pocket for my phone but it's not there.

"Looking for this?" he said holding up my phone "Swiped this when I helped you with your seat belt. You really should have been paying better attention." he said as he threw my phone into the back seat out of my reach. "And again, put your seat belt back on; I am not getting pulled over because of you."

Not wanting to anger him I did what he said _Why was I so stupid? Why did I trust him? I knew it was a bad idea and yet I did it anyway. _

"Elijah, please just let me go."

"I can't do that; I'm sorry please believe me when I say that I don't want to do this. I am so, so, sorry."

"If you don't want to do this then why are you?"

"I have no choice. Corbin doesn't like that I turned Draya without his permission, he perceives it as a threat to the control he has, and Corbin hates not being in control. He is punishing me by hurting people I care about. In two days time he is going to hurt Draya by hurting you and then destroy her by killing you in front of her and he's going to make me watch. You seem like a nice girl I'm sorry you don't deserve this."

"You don't have to listen to Corbin you know."

"Except I do; he is leader of our small coven, and you don't disobey the leader's orders unless you want to face exile, and if I am exiled, I have nowhere else to go."

"I can't talk you out of this, can I?"

"Afraid not."

"I don't want to die." I said and started to cry.

"Please don't cry."

"Well, what do you expect me to do laugh?"

"What? No. I just...I feel guilty enough already."

"Good, you should feel guilty! You are literally leading me to my death!"

"Fine; do want you want."

"Fine, I will!" I said, but I wasn't crying anymore. I was angry now and past tears. I looked out the window and I started to think about Draya. Wondering if the last conversation I had with her was going to be our last? If the last words I ever said to her would be in anger? God, I hope not I need to tell her that I wasn't angry about Natilie anymore and that I love her. I should have told her that before I left. I know that she knows that I love her, but I still should have said it.

"Am I ever going to get to see her again?"

:'Who?"

"Who do you think dumb ass? Draya of course!"

"Yes, like I said Corbin plans kill you in front of her."

"That doesn't mean I would see her necessarily; I could be blind folded or unconscious."

"No, I don't think so that's not Corban's style."

I didn't speak; I honestly didn't know what to say and I did not particularly want to discuss my impending death either. I looked out the window for the rest of the drive.

It wasn't much longer before we were entering an old, abandoned campground that I know had been shut down for years. After driving a while longer, we arrived at a campsite where a double decker RV was parked.

Elijah parked the car and shut off the ignition. "Wait here; I wouldn't advise trying to escape, you wouldn't get far anyway." he said before getting out of the car.

I unbuckled my seatbelt for comfort's sake alone; although I did out of desperation try to open the car door again to no avail.

Elijah went over to the RV and knocked on the door.

Three people stepped out of the RV, two men and a girl. One of the men had blonde hair and green eyes, the other man had his head shaved and eyes so dark they looked black. The girl was your typical blonde-haired blue-eyed girl. She came over and opened the passenger side door yanking me out by my forearm then held me tightly one hand across my shoulders the other one holding my hands behind my back. I tried struggling a little, but gave up quickly it was no use.

"Well, you are cute Draya has good taste I'll give her that. Oh, I could have all kinds of fun with you."

"No Hanna, you play to rough and always end up breaking your toys." said the one with the shaved head.

"But she's going to be here two whole days; it seems a shame to let her go to waste like that."

"I said no Hanna. Corbin wants her kept alive and you lack self-control both with playing and with feeding."

"You're no fun Brutus." Hanna said and I could literally hear the pout on her voice.

"Corbin and Kasimir went out to get Kasimir some new thralls; maybe he will let your barrow one of the thralls Hanna." said the blonde-haired male with green eyes.

"It's not the same." she whined.

"Maybe but it's better than nothing and beggars can't be choosers."

"HA! Speak for yourself Samuel."

Samuel saunters over to me and I begin trying to struggle again when I see that he had a needle and syringe in his hand. I knew in the back of my head that there was no chance that I would get away. Even if I did break free from Hanna, I wouldn't get far before one of them caught me again, but who wouldn’t still try in my situation?

“Can’t you keep her from squirming around Hanna? I don’t want to accidentally stick this in the wrong place.”

“Is that really absolutely necessary?” asked Elijah.

“Afraid so Eli it’s Corbin’s orders.” said Samuel.

“God, I am liking this less and less by the minute.”

“Oh, will you quit whining and help us already?" Samuel complained.

“You know I hate messing with people's minds, make Brutus do it.”

“Oh, come on Eli you know you’re the best at compulsion out of all of us.”

“Unless you count Hanna compelling multiple partners into her bed.” Elijah mocked and it made Samuel laugh.

“Please, as if I need compulsion for that.”

“Quit bickering you three; you are acting like children.” said Brutus.

"If Eli grows a pair, we could be done with this part already." Samuel said.

"Fine, but for the record I am not okay with this; any of it."

"Noted." said Brutus.

Elijah came over and stood in front of me taking my face in his hands forcing me to look at him; our eyes lock and I suddenly couldn't look away even if I wanted to then he spoke. "Stop struggling and hold still."

I obeyed going completely still instantly.

“There, happy?”

“Yes, it makes this whole thing a lot easier thank you.” Samuel says.

“You’re not welcome.” Elijah seethed and then moved out of Samuel’s way.

“Now you might feel a little pinch.” Samuel said as he stuck the needle in my neck and injected me with whatever was in it. Within seconds my world went dark.

ELIJAH’S POV

It didn’t take long for Sarah to go limp in Hanna’s arms.

“Well, let’s get this princess inside.” she said heaving her over her shoulder and carrying her inside the RV taking her to the room in the back and depositing her onto the king size bed. Brutus came to stand beside her, and he had a cotton clothing line rope in his hand. “Tie her hands behind her back and tie her feet too.”

“What’s the point? She’s unconscious now and it’s not like she could escape even if she wanted to." I stated.

“Oh, good grief will you quit whining Elijah.” said Hanna as she began to help Brutus tie Sarah up restraining her completely.

I sighed in frustration before making my way upstairs where my room was. The double decker RV had a total of five bedrooms; one master bedroom on the main level and four bedrooms on the second level along with an attached 3/4 bath for each room and a family room that we put a full bed with a twin trundle bed in.

I shared a room with Samuel. I flop down onto my mattress staring at the ceiling. I hear someone fallow me and sit down on Samuel’s bed across from me.

“Please don’t be too sour with me mate.”

“You’re just fallowing orders…I’m surprised you never joined up; you would have made a decent solder.”

“I’m a lover not a fighter and I’m more of a pacifist too; war wouldn’t suit me.”

“I joined as a consciences objector; you could have too.”

“Nah, I run from fights. I probably would have ended up deserting.”

“I don’t think so; I think you would have stuck around if you were with me and John.”

“Maybe, I probably would’ve been trying to convince you guys to leave with me.”

“And we would probably convince you to stay every time.”

“We would have been like the three musketeers, all for one and one for all.”

“Is that how you were with Corbin and Brutus?”

“No…we have always been friends and all, but when it came down to brass tax and if push came to shove it was every man for himself; at least it was for Corbin. I don’t think Brutus would abandon his brother. As for me, well I look out for the people I care about, but that’s my choice.”

“If Corbin died, would you stick around?”

“I don’t know. He’s the only person other than you I feel any real loyalty to.”

“What if I were the reason? Would you hate me?”

“Are you thinking of offing Corbin buddy?”

“Not exactly…I never wanted to hurt anyone…after what happened with Lorelei or Draya as she goes by now…I never liked it, but after that night I swore never again…but now with Sarah…”

“Oh, I think I see where you’re going with this…you don’t want Sarah and by extension Draya hurt. You want to stop all this, but in order to do that you would have to stop Corbin and the only way to stop Corbin is to end him.”

“Something like that.”

“I don’t support the idea of you killing Corbin; I mean he’s still my best mate, however if you did, I wouldn’t hate you, even if you really are planning on killing him.”

“No, I’m not. I was just taking stupid I guess.”

“If you did kill Corbin you would have to leave. Brutus and especially Hanna would want you dead.”

“Would you come with me?”

“All for one and one for all good buddy.”

I hear the door to the RV open and then slam shut again and I sighed. “Sammy, I think I am going to hang out up here for a bit, but I left Sarah’s cell in my car. You should probably get it…Corbin would probably want it anyway.”

“Sure thing…you going to be, okay?”

“I’ll survive…most likely.”

He turns and leaves the room. After a few minutes I hear the door open, and slam shut then I hear screaming, and Hanna is laughing.

I roll over onto my stomach and place my pillow over my head and begin loudly humming the tune to Little Brown Jug. It was an old habit from my childhood. When my mother and father would get into one of their shouting matches; which was on a nearly nightly basis; I would hide upstairs in my room pillow over my head humming that silly little tune and praying that maybe this time when I came out mom wouldn’t have another bruise, but more often than not she did. They tried to hide it; they both did, but I knew. Mom used to tell me that adults had problems that children don’t need to worry about and would then send me out to play; if it was daytime, if it was night time I would help her with dinner, if we had already eaten she would send me back to my room and tell me to finish my studies and then go to bed, but there was one thing that was always the same; I silently swore that as soon as I was big enough I was going to make sure my dad never gave my mom another bruise. At eighteen I did just that I heard the yelling and instead of hiding I ran downstairs just in time to block my father’s blow, and I told him “You ever try to hurt her again I will make sure you regret it." I don’t know if it was the tone of my voice or the look on my face or the fact that I towered a full foot over my father. but that day he walked out the front door and never came back. One year later he died of alcohol poisoning. In fact, when they found him there was still a half empty bottle clutched in his hand and many empty ones surrounding him.

Unfortunately, the old trick didn’t work like it used to, probably because of my enhanced Vampire hearing. At least it didn't last long. It wasn’t silent necessarily; I could still hear the muffled sounds of conversation. I heard the door again from Samuel coming back in then I hear Corbin’s voice calling me. I groaned in annoyance; I suppose it was too much to hope that I would be left alone. I stand up and stretch before descending the stairs; Corbin smiled when he saw me. “You’ve done well Elijah; you have proven yourself loyal to your coven and more importantly to me.”

I didn’t respond, but Corbin’s words leave a foul taste in my mouth and a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Looking around I noticed the three girls; all with long blonde hair and blue eyes and blank stares; not uncommon for newly thralled humans. By tomorrow they would be more attentive and fawning over Kasimir waiting to do whatever it took to please him. One of the thralls had a fresh bite mark; probably from Hanna if I had to guess.

I didn’t like that we now are going to have three thralled girls around; minds altered to be willing slaves. More innocent people that I couldn’t help, but forced to watch suffer, even if the thralls were unaware of it. The universe was working against me lately and seemed to love the torture it was putting me through. A song started to play; I wasn’t sure what the title was, but the voice was that of a young woman; late 20s may be early 30s by the sound of it. Samuel was still holding the phone and looked at the caller ID.

“Well, well, well, look who it is.” he said holding up the phone in Corbin’s and I’s directions so that we could see that the caller ID on the screen. It clearly said Draya’s Cell.

Corbin smiled and took the phone from Samuel answering it, putting it on speaker. “Sarah’s cell phone how may I direct your call?”

“Corbin where is Sarah? What are you doing with her phone? I swear Corbin if you have harmed her…”

“Calm yourself Draya, your precious little Sarah is unharmed.”

“I want to speak with her.”

“And naturally I would, unfortunately she isn’t in any condition to speak right now; she is quite unconscious.”

“You said she was unharmed.”

“She is unharmed; I haven’t laid so much as I finger on her however, I did order my coven members to sedate her, but she should wake in a few hours or so and may be a little groggy but otherwise no worse for wear.”

“Corbin, I swear if you hurt her, I’ll…”

“You’ll what? As long as the wellbeing of your Sarah is in my hands, I wouldn’t be making any threats and to be completely honest I don’t want to harm her... yet, anyway no, that part comes later, but get on my bad side and I could easily change my plans.”

“Corbin please, she’s done nothing to you; don’t hurt her.” Draya said pleadingly.

“I’ll be in touch sweet Draya, goodbye.” and with that he ended the call.

“Ouch, a little harsh don’t you think Cor?” Said Samuel.

“Don’t call me that; you know I hate that nickname, and Draya needs to understand who is in charge.” he said and grabbed a Polaroid camera that had been sitting on the counter.

"Where did you get that?" I asked.

"It belonged to one of the thralls; they don't mind if I use it."

He strode towards the back bedroom and began snapping pictures of Sarah. Hanna was standing right beside him. It didn't take long before the camera ran out of film. He tossed the camera on the bed and began to look through the photos with Hanna. "Which one shall I send to Draya?"

"You should definitely send this one; she looks so helpless and defenseless, absolutely vulnerable." Hanna said picking up one of the many photos.

Corbin looked at the photo as if studying it; held up the others and compared them. “You know what? I think you’re right. I knew there was as a good reason I chose you for my mate. You’re the best woman; better than I could ever ask for.” then he was kissing her, and I decided to make myself scarce. I know what their kissing always leads to, and it was going to get real gross, real fast. “I’m going out for a bite; you want to join me, Sammy?”

Samuel cast a glance in Corbin’s and Hanna’s direction. “Well, I sure as hell am not staying here.” he said once he saw what was taking place and began to make his way out the door with me, but before we made it out Corbin stopped us.

“While you’re out deliver this to Draya.” he said handing me the photo. “Just put it in her mailbox and make sure you are not seen.”

I sigh in annoyance. “Fine, whatever.” I say taking the picture from him.

TIME SKIP IN AN ALLEY SOMEWHERE DOWNTOWN

I lay the man down next to the wall and cover him with the blanket he had been huddled under when I found him. Samuel laid his friend down next to him and covered him as well. The men were asleep or unconscious but alive.

Sammy always shows restraint when he comes with me to feed because he knows how I feel about killing and he agrees that it’s not like killing them is necessary to be satisfied. He has confided in me that the only reason he does it with Corbin is because if he doesn’t finish the person off Corbin will. If the person dies either way, then what’s the point of holding back? Might as well just let go and let instinct take over and not have to think or feel for a little while, but with me it’s like he’s a different person.

“Did your guy taste like he drank half a liquor store? Because mine did, smelled like it too.”

“Yeah, but now they can sleep it off… stay here a moment I’ll be right back.”

There was a sub sandwich restaurant nearby and I ordered three, footlong subs; two of the subs were pretty basic with cold cuts, American cheese, lettuce and tomato along with a bag of potato chips and bottled water. The third is ham and Munster cheese with everything on it, a bag of garden salsa Sun Chips and two cookies, one white chocolate and macadamia nuts, and one chocolate chip and a bottle of blue Gatorade. The two basic subs, with the potato chips and water were for the two guys we left in the alley when they wake up, but the rest is for Sarah, honestly it was the least I could do for her. I actually liked her; she was easy to talk to and I enjoyed her company even though I had only talked to her all of two times. She was kind and trusted me; and I shattered that. In a couple days I was going to watch her die and Draya; the young girl I had sired in an attempt to save, I would have to see her heart broken beyond repair. I never loathed myself more. We dropped the picture off at Draya’s house as instructed before heading back to the RV.

When we got back Corbin and Hanna were a tangle of limbs and naked flesh, both asleep on one side of the bed. Sarah lies on the other side still unconscious. Honestly did they really have to do it with her still in the bed? “Okay, no, just no, this tears it. Sammy, take the food upstairs and get the air mattress out from under my bed and start blowing it up; she’s staying in there with us from now on.” I assert.

“Corbin won’t like this.” Brutus said from the dining area where he was playing a game of Risk with Kasimir.

“Then he can yell at me about it when he wakes up." that was when I noticed something. "Where are the Thralls?”

“Upstairs family room, I told them to sit on the bed and await further instructions.” Kasimir informed in a casual tone.

“Seriously you’re, what, just storing them there until you need them? They might be thralls but they are still sentient beings.”

“If it makes you feel better, I told them they had permission to sleep if they felt tired and even recommended, they should at some point; they are no good to me sleep deprived.”

“Oh, you gave them permission to sleep. How generous of you.” I said sarcasm dripping from every syllable, but apparently it was lost on Kasimir as he replied, “I thought so too.”

I shake my head in disbelief, but I don’t know what else I expected. I scoped Sarah up bridal style and headed up the stairs with her. She made a small noise and stirred a little, but did not wake; however, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be much longer before she would.

When I reached the second level, I saw the thralls on the bed; the one with the bite mark was already asleep. The other two barely acknowledged me, not that I expected them to. I make my way down the hall to the bedroom. The door to my bedroom was already open and the air mattress was already blown up and had a couple of blankets and pillows on it. I laid Sarah down in as comfortable a position as I could, pulling a lock of hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. I look over at Samuel who had an amused smirk on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just your behavior is so sweet, it is absolutely darling, really just the most delightful thing."

"You're insufferable."

“No, I’m not, and you are being the cutest thing.”

“What I am being is kind.”

“And it’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen in a long time.”

“That’s because you pal around with people like Corbin.”

“That’s a bit unfair after I paled around with you all evening.”

I shrugged my shoulders “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I just know that as long as she is with us, she’ll have more respect than downstairs with Corbin and Hanna.”

“I doubt it will mean that much to her; Corbin still plans on killing her and there isn’t anything we can do to stop it from happening. I know you want to save her Eli, but you know as well as I do that at this point it’s pretty much a lost cause.”

"I know but, if I can offer her any form of comfort no matter how small, then I will. Her last days shouldn't have to be spent in complete misery."

"I get it, kind of like how in hospitals they make terminal patients comfortable until they pass away."

"Yeah, that's the basic Idea." I said I didn't like the analogy he used, but it was as pretty much the truth, except terminal patients pass away peacefully. Sarah wouldn't be so lucky.

She stirred again and before long began to wake up.

SARAH POV

I don't open my eyes immediately, trying to assess my situation. My shoulders and arms hurt, and I try to adjust my position to find I couldn't. I tried to move my feet only to find them immobile too. I can feel a soft braided texture rope around my wrists, so I figured I was safe in assuming that I was tied up. Well, that was just fucking perfect. I open my eyes and see Elijah standing over me and I glare at him.

“Don’t look at me like that. I know I’m not exactly your favorite person right now, but I’m better company than the people downstairs.” he says lifting me into an upright sitting position and then moved behind me and began untying my hands. Another vampire, I recognized as the one named Samuel, kneels down by my feet and begins untying them as well. "Hey, I wasn't able to properly introduce myself before; I'm Samuel."

"I know, I might be human but I'm not stupid or deaf. I heard the others call you Samuel. It wasn't that hard to figure out. I also remember that you stuck a needle in my neck."

"Yeah, sorry about that; just fallowing orders doll face." he said as he finished untying my feet, pulling the rope away from them.

"Apology not accepted, and don't call me doll face."

"Don't waste your breath Sammy, it's not like we are her friends. We're her captors and it's not worth pretending differently." Elijha said as I feel the ropes binding my wrists finally release bringing me some relief from the discomfort in my arms and shoulders, I rolled my shoulders and rubbed my wrists a bit.

"Whatever...you, hungry sweetheart?" he said dropping a plastic bag in my lap.

I glare at him. "Don't call me sweetheart. If you must address me, call me Sarah, however I am hungry so thank you."

"Don't look at me, its Eli you should be thanking; it was his idea to get you food."

I look at Elijah my glare gone. “Thank you.” I said my tone genuine.

“I don't want to be your enemy.” he said.

I am about to respond when I hear angry bellowing from downstairs.

“Well shit, I was hoping he wouldn’t wake until morning. Oh well better go do some damage control.”

“Don’t let him beat you up to badly mate.”

“I'm not making any promises I can’t keep. Will you stay here to keep an eye on her?”

“Sure thing, Eli.”

I watched as Elijah left the room. Once he was gone, I began emptying the contents of the bag one item at a time. I opened the Gatorade and downed half of it when I realized how thirsty I was. I unwrap my sub and bite into it ravenously, devouring a quarter of it.

"Hey, slow down, you keep eating like that and you'll make yourself sick or choke, maybe even both."

"I really couldn't care less right now." I said opening the bag of sun chips.

"Well, I could, so could you just pace yourself at least."

"Fine, I'll slow down if you will quit bugging me."

"When was the last time you ate something?"

“Well, how long was I out for?"

“I don't know for sure; probably about 10 hours give or take.”

“So around 10 hours then.”

“Yeah, guess you would be hungry then.”

“You know, the whole kidnapping and being held against my will and the fact that your leader plans on killing me, this isn’t what I thought it was going to be like.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well first off I’m being fed, and pretty well I might add, and I’m having...well, I don’t know if you would really call this a conversation, but we are talking.”

"True."

“I don’t know, I guess I just thought it would be different."

“You know, I would have thought you would be more upset."

"Yeah, but the thing is it doesn’t feel real to me, I guess. Also, Draya would never let anybody hurt me, let alone kill me."

"I don’t know about that, because I know Corbin, and if he wants you dead your as good as dead."

Suddenly 'girls just wanna have fun' can be heard from downstairs and gets louder as it comes closer. Elijah holds my phone out to me. “Answer it.”

I barely need to glance at it before I see who’s calling on my caller ID, I practically lunged for the phone hitting the little green phone icon to answer it.

“Draya?”

“Darling, you have no idea how relieved I am to hear your voice. Are you alright? Have they hurt you?”

"I’m okay they haven’t hurt me...yet”

“Do you know where you are?”

“Not exactly...it’s an old campground or something.”

“Don’t worry I’ll find you, no matter where you are.”

“Draya, they plan on killing me in front of you in two days."

“I won’t let that happen. I will kill them before I ever let them harm you.”

“I know…I love you, Draya.”

“I love you too Sarah, but why did it sound like you were saying goodbye when you said that?”

“Que the Berry Manolo music.”

“That’s not funny Sarah, not when it’s your life we are talking about.”

“I know, I know. I just wanted to lighten the mood.”

"This isn’t a comedy show, Sarah! You’re in danger. Focus on getting out of there, not lightening the mood!"

"Getting out of here? Don't you think that if I could get out, I would have done it by now?"

“You're stronger than I could ever hope to be. Just hold on for me alright. I’m coming for you.”

"Draya, I need you to promise me something."

"Anything."

"If they succeed...find a way to remember me, even if it hurts. I want you to keep living keep fighting."

"Sarah don't talk like that. you're going to be okay. We're going to be okay."

"Draya..."

"I love you, Sarah. remember that."

"I love you too. more than you will ever know."

"Times up hun, no more sweet nothings." Samuel said taking my phone, ending the call and shutting it off.

I felt a pang of disappointment at not being able to say a proper goodbye to Draya, but there was nothing that could be done about it now.

It made me feel empty, like part of my soul was missing. I didn't feel much like eating anymore and pushed the food away from me.

"I won't tell you not to worry or that it's going to be ok because I can't guarantee that, but for now you are safe that I can promise you." Elijah said.

"That doesn't make me feel any better. This all just started to feel very real."

"Is there anything we can do?" Samuel asked.

"No, I just want to sleep and not have to think or feel for a while." I was feeling emotionally drained now, as the reality of my situation crashed over me, draining me of energy. I clung to the small glimmer of hope Draya's promise of rescue gave me like a lifeline. I just had to survive this just survive.

"Rest, I'll put your food in the fridge in case you want the rest when you wake up," said Samuel.

I crawl under the blanket and close my eyes and held myself pretending I was lying beside Draya, and she was holding me. It almost worked, but I drifted off none the less. My dreams were troubled and confusing, the only thing I could remember clearly was the most confusing thing of all. Shylyn stood in front of me; she kept repeating one word like a mantra. "Survive."

It was nearly noon when I woke up, or at least it was according to the digital clock in the room.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," said Samuel.

"Please tell me you don't consider yourself prince charming."

"No way, that guy was whipped big time."

"Are you saying that you wouldn't face down a dragon for someone you love?"

"A. dragons don't exist, B. love at first sight also doesn't exist, lust at first sight definitely, but I digress, C. I never met anybody I cared about that much, so I don't know."

"Never?"

"I don't get close to people. I tend to keep everyone at arm's length, always have even as a kid."

"That sounds lonely to me."

"It suits me, I wasn't what you called poplar growing up. Until Elijah showed up the only friend, I ever had was Corbin."

"How come?"

"I didn't really interact with anybody and anytime anyone tried I acted like I didn't know they were there. Eventually they gave up and left me alone, but Corbin either didn't notice or didn't care. He likes to hear himself talk if you haven't noticed. After a while I started talking back to him. The more time went by the more, I opened up to everybody, while still maintaining a distance."

"Even with Elijah?"

"Elijah is the exception. He has this je ne sais quoi where you just want to trust him."

"Yeah, I tend to have a trusting nature anyway and it appears my trusting nature got the better of me. It's happened before."

"Maybe it made you more susceptible, but you aren't the first person drawn in by Elijah."

"Speaking of, where is Elijah?"

"Starbucks, probably."

"Starbucks?"

"We don't have Wi-fi here."

"Are you really ok with just letting me die?"

"I'm not ok with it exactly, but I've accepted it as an inevitability."

"Accepted it?"

"Death is a part of life. I accepted that a long time ago."

"You make it sound like it doesn't matter to you at all."

"You are human, and human life is always so fleeting, every second is a second closer to death, so humans need it to mean something, want to be assured that they mattered, that you left behind something that says I was here, I existed, but when you live as long as I have you gain a bit of perspective."

"And?" I prompted.

"You might never do anything to be remembered for. I mean friends and loved ones will remember, but when they are gone it's just dust in the wind. But when it really comes down to it, you still existed. So maybe you didn't leave your mark on the world, so what? You lived, what matters are the things you witnessed and experienced they mattered and maybe they only mattered to you, but they mattered and in the end that's what's important. everything else is irrelevant."

"Never thought you would be so deep."

He shrugged and we were silent for a while. "You want the rest of your food?"

"I could eat."

Samuel retrieved my food from earlier and as I ate, I told him stories about my relationship with Draya, everything from the night we met to the fight that led to my current situation; sparring all unnecessary details of course, then Samuel did something I did not expect. He kneels down to my level and pulls me into a gentle embrace.

"Please don't do this, don't act like you care." I said holding back tears.

"It's not an act; despite everything I do care. I'm not heartless." he said.

It wasn't much longer before Elijha returned "I come bearing gifts." he said setting bag in front of me. It contained some teen girl magazines like, 16, Gilrs' Life, MUSE and Teen Voge. "Thought you might like something to pass the time."

"Thanks, I guess, but it's not like I got a whole lot of time left, and it's not like I want it to go by faster."

"What else are you going to do? Stare into space all day?" Elijah questioned.

"And so what if I do?"

"Let her be Eli, let her spend her time how she wants to while she can."

"Excuse me for trying to do something nice."

"I apricate the thought so, thank you Elijah." I say in an attempt to defuse the situation.

"You're welcome."

I reach into the bag and pull a magazine out at random; it turns out to be Girls' Life; I decided to flick through it stopping if there was anything that caught my eye, in the end, I ended up skimming trough or even reading all four magazines. When I finished it was late into the night, and I realized how tired I was. Part of me wanted to fight my drowsiness and stay awake; I can sleep when I'm dead, but my body didn't agree and eventually my eyes slipped closed, and I drifted off to dreamland.

My dream was some kind of controlled chaos. I was some kind of warrior or solder. I was wearing armor and wielding a sword fighting ferocious wolflike beasts. I decapitate one and thrust my sword into the throat of another. One grabs me from behind, but then a silver bullet is logged between its eyes, and it falls. I look to see who shot the bullet and to my surprise it's Shaylyn. "You have to survive." she says and then I sit straight up in bed breathing hard. This is just too weird; I mean one crazy dream about my girlfriend's dead hunter girlfriend was weird enough, but two? No way was that a coincidence. It carried a message, and it was simple enough to decipher; 'survive' which started to feel easier said than done, but I felt like there was more to it. Why was it Shaylyn delivering the message both times? I'm not thinking about the Hunter any more than I usually do. Could it have something to do with the fact that I might be close to death? I suppose it could but there was no guarantee I was going to die, but also no guarantee I was going to live either. It seems dream Shaylyn wants me to live. Maybe it's my subconscious keeping me from giving up and losing hope, but again why Shaylyn? The more I thought about it the more it seemed like I was coming up with more questions than answers. My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching the room. I am relieved when the door to the room opens, and it turns out the be Samuel. "Good, your awake." he said with a smile "Elijah and I are going out, and we were wondering if you would like us to bring something back for you to eat?"

"Asking what I would like for a last meal?"

"I wasn't thinking of it like that, but I guess so."

"Yeah, if you could pick up a berry stuffed French toast slam from Denny's that would be great."

"Alright, see you in an hour or so."

I sigh as he leaves the room, I look out the window for a while. I see a squirrel scamper along the snow-covered branch of a pine tree. "Hey little guy. why don't you go back to your nest where its warm?" I knew it couldn't hear me and even if it could, it wouldn't understand me, but somehow it gave me comfort. I spot a rabbit hop along in the snow; probably foraging for food leaving tracks behind the only trace of it having been there. I spot a pair of cardinals a male and female; a mating pair if I had to guess. I continued to stare out the window, but without really seeing anything and let my mind drift. This was possibly my last day on earth. I can't say that I thought this would be how I go, not that I ever really contemplated my death much before. But even if I had, killed by vampires probably wouldn't have even made the list; even after I discovered that vampires actually exist. I guess I always counted on Draya protecting me from anything that would want to harm me; in truth I was still kind of counting on Draya saving me. Suddenly Elijah entered with a Denny's carry out bag. "You were back fast." I commented.

"Corbin a Kasimir decided to come along, so I split from the group. I'll go hunting on my own later."

"Kasimir is here?"

"Yeah, he mentioned something about you when he joined. He's got tree thralls too, all young blondes."

"Well, that confirms our suspicions."

"What's his problem with you anyway?"

"He blames me for getting him shunned and getting his former thralls taken away."

"Yeah, he seems like a real prick."

"He is. How much longer do I have?"

"About 4 hours give or take."

"You don't have to let it happen."

"I do though."

"Why? Because Corbin says so?"

"He will kill me if I defy him again."

"So, you deicide do nothing and let me die Instead?"

"What do you want from me?"

"Stand up for yourself and for what you believe in. You couldn't stop Corbin killing Draya, but you could make up for that by saving me today."

"You place too much faith in me."

"Then maybe I'm an optimistic fool, but you can still make a different choice."

"You think I don't wish every day that things could be different?"

"You can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which fills up first."

"I have seen Grumpier Old Men, so I know you just quoted it."

"I don't give a shit; it's a damn good analogy; my point is quit wishing things were different and take action to make them different!"

"I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do...you should probably eat before this stuff gets cold, and you can shower if you like to, and I could wash your clothes too."

"What's the point when you're going to kill me?"

"I understand, but it's an open offer for now."

I'm Silent for a little while, "I do feel kind of gross so, if I could Shower after I eat that would be nice."

"I'll take you downstairs when your done eating. Hanna and Brutus are still here, but everyone is under strict orders not to harm you."

"That's not much of a comfort."

"I'll be right outside the door, and Sam will be back soon enough so your safe for the time being."

"Okay, I am going to trust you. I don't have much of a choice, but to trust you; with the exception of Samuel, I know I can't trust anybody else around here."

"You're not wrong...here." he said handing me the Dennys bag.

I carefully remove the Styrofoam box before turning the bag upside down sending condiment packets, napkins and the plastic eating utensils raining down into my lap. Retrieving the plastic wrapped eating utensils, ripping the wrapper off before opening the Styrofoam box and digging into my meal, eating as slowly as I can, trying to delay the inevitable as much as I could, but the food was not infinite and eventually I finished the meal, and as promised Elijah led me downstairs to the bathroom so I could shower. I was glad that Corbin and Kasimir were gone for the time being, but Brutus and Hanna were still present. There were also three Human girls in the living aera; I could tell by their behavior that they were thralls. I felt bad for them since I know how cruelly Kasimir treats his thralls, but I also knew there was nothing I could do for them. Hanna and Brutus seem to currently be engaged in a game of chess, and it looked as if Hanna might be winning.

Elisha ushers me into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. The bathroom was your standard 3\4 bath. I turn on the water for the shower, not bothering to wait for it to warm up before getting in; I shiver slightly at first but quickly adjust to the temperature. I am glad to see an assortment of shower gels, shampoos and conditioners and the water gradually warms up as I thoroughly clean myself. To my Suprise I was feeling better; both physically and emotionally; not by much, but still considerably better, despite my current circumstances. When I finished and stepped out of the shower, I discovered that my clothes were gone, but there were two clean fresh towels laid out and a big tarry cloth robe. I wrapped my hair up in one of the towels and used the other one to quickly dry off before slipping on the soft terry cloth robe. It was long, falling all the way to my ankles. I tie it shut before poking my head out of the bathroom to see Hanna standing with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall with a smile that would have been pretty had it not been for the glint of cruel malice in her eyes. “Hey Cutie, I’ve missed seeing you since the Boy Scouts have been keeping you in their room.” I could only assume that the “Boy Scouts” she was referring to were Elijah and Samuel.

"Leave her be Hanna." Elijah warned.

"What? I was only talking to her I wasn't going to hurt her...yet."

"You were going to try to get in her head and mess with her."

"So, what if I was? Can't I have any fun with her?"

"No, you can't Hanna."

"You're such a buzz kill Elijah."

"You'll get over it." he said, coming over and guiding me into the living aera; sitting me down on the couch and covering me in a Snuggie. "It will take another 30 minutes before your clothes will be done, so in the meantime sit tight." he said turning on the tv and flicking through the channels until he settled on one that was playing Mudder She Wrote.

"You like this show?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It's okay, the characters are interesting and well developed. I don't think the Idea of a murder mystery author solving actual crimes is realistic, but is still makes for an entraining show, and the I like that they were able to make a good female main character without making her annoying."

"I know I find Jessica Flecher a cool character; in fact, if she actually existed, I would probably really enjoy her books."

"You like murder mystery?"

"No, I like dark fantasy, but I am open to trying new genres." _At least I did. Is it bad that I am starting to think of myself in the past tense? robably. _ Then the memory of dream Shaylin surfaced and her message. _"Survive" I will not give up hope, this I vow. _ A few minutes later I hear voices outside and soon after Samuel, Corbin, and Kasimir enter. Samuel makes a bee like for the couch and sits next the me offering a smile; it was a small simple gesture and brought little comfort.

"So, you decided to finally join the party, Princess." Corbin said.

"You don't get to call me that!" I snapped at him. I found that I wasn't afraid of him. The man who was going to kill me stood before me and yet I felt no fear. I don't know why; maybe it was because he was going to kill me so really what more could he do?

He glared at me, but then threw his head back and laughed. "You have spirt, I'll give you that, honestly it's a shame that it probably won't last very long once I start cutting into you."

I suddenly felt like my blood had turned to ice, but I tried not the let it show on my face. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that he scared me.

Kasimir’s thralls were already all over him ready to serve and eager to please. I glared at him.

“Don’t give me that look these girls volunteered, although I wasn’t completely honest about what it was, they were volunteering for.” Kasimir said.

“What did you tell them?” I asked.

“That if they drank a newly developed ‘secret formula’ they would look young and beautiful for decades.”

“You are scum.”

“Honestly, I have been called worse, and by my own sire no less.”

“Are they as evil as you are?”

“She was not, in fact she didn’t know what I was like. I was her thrall for decades before she changed me.”

“What happened to her?”

“Hunters; it was her or me, so I left her for dead.”

“Like I said you are scum.”

“I really couldn’t care less about what you think of me.”

I looked away from him honestly, I don’t know why I even wasted my breath.

Hanna was leaning against the wall filing her nails absent mindedly, she looked bored and detached somehow. I had the feeling that if provoked, Hanna was the most dangerous of them all.

Eventually I hear a buzzing noise as the dryer timer was going off. Elijah gets my clothes out for me. I go into the back bedroom to change. I get dressed as slowly as possible trying to buy myself as much time as I can. I am just finishing pulling on my turtleneck when Hanna strides into the room. “Haven’t you ever heard of knocking? What if I haven’t finished dressing yet?”

“Oh, please you don’t have anything I haven’t already seen.” she said in a bratty tone as she pulled out one of the under the bed storage drawers, reveling an assortment of restrains. I had a feeling that Hanna was the kind of person who accepted nothing less than the best, so the cuffs and chains were probably quality. After rummaging around in the drawer, she finally selected a pair or black leather cuffs, the silver chain only about an inch long. "Now are you going to be a good girl and hold still so I can put these on, or am I going to have to call one of the boys in here to restrain you?"

I knew that resentence was futile, so I reluctantly held out my wrists and wished my hands weren't shaking so much. "What is the point of theses? We both know I can't escape, and fighting would be useless."

"It's for the aesthetic effect, and it makes thing more dramatic."

"This is a game for you, isn't it?"

"No, but it doesn't mean I don't find this fun." she said as she tightened and buckled the leather cuffs onto my wrists, the leather already biting into my skin painfully. She leads me back into the main aera to see Corbin trying to figure out the six digit code before it locked him out. "It's 446633." I said seeing no point in hiding it from him.

"Thank you for the assistance, Sweetheart." he said as he typed in the passcode.

"Get bent!" I spat out at him before Hanna placed her hand firmly over my mouth.

He ignored me as he scrolled through my contacts before seemingly finding the one he is looking for, calling it and putting it on speaker. It only rang once before Draya answered. “Sarah?”

“Afraid not, but don’t worry you will see her soon. I am going to send you some directions to a specific location meet us there.”

“Alone?”

“That’s up to you; I personally don’t mind having an audience.”

“I’m going to make you pay Corbin.”

“See you soon.” he said ending the call.

Hanna took her hand away from my mouth. "Did you seriously have to slobber all over my hand?"

"I wouldn't have if you didn't cover my mouth, and you're a bitch; you had it coming."

Hanna looked like she was about ready to slap me, but for some reason was restraining herself. "You're a brat."

"And proud of it." I say.

"You won't be that cocky for long."

“Leave her alone Hanna.” Elijah said.

“Oh, so it’s noble Elijah to the rescue? Mind your own business.”

“I am making it my business and I said leave her alone.”

“Whatever, it’s not like I want to babysit her until we have to leave anyway.” she says walking away from me, towards the front the RV.

“Ignore Hanna she’s…” Elijah trails off seemingly trying to find the right word.

“A real bitch.” I supply.

“I was going to say skank, but bitch works.” he said nodding in agreement.

I smile at him; despite everything he's grown on me.

At the dining table Corbin is looking at an assortment of knives; some were clearly meant for decorative purposes, but could still do some serious damage, others were obviously functional, probably for hunting or fishing, there were also a few survival knives. Some had straight blades and yet some were curved like the talion of a Velociraptor, and some were serrated designed for sawing. Some of the blades are as big and long as a manchette while others were as small and short as a paring knife.

Finally, after much deliberation he decided on a hunting Kinfe that was about 13'' long; 3'' long handle and 10'' long blade; the meatal gleaming in the light. I could tell just by looking at it that it was sharp. I swear I felt the blood drain from my face. After selecting the knife, he also fastened a belt around his waist with a sword in its sheath attached. "Brutis you are in charge of keeping watch over this place while I'm gone. Kasimir, you have your hands full with your thralls, so you too are staying here. Sam, you want to come along?"

"Do I want to go watch a teenaged girl be tortured and murdered? Yeah, I'm going to pass."

"You have been spending too much time with Elijah." Hanna said.

"Just because your sadistic doesn't mean we all are Hanna." he said matter-of-factly.

"Whatever." she said.

Sam walked over and hugged me. "Goodbye, Sarah. Just so you know, you mattered."

For some reason his words did make me feel a little better. "Thanks Sammy."

"Alright, let's get going, can't be late for our little rendezvous." Corbin said.

Elijha put a hand on my shoulder and guided me out of the RV, and into the back of a black SUV. We begin to drive towards the entrance of the campground; Elijah held my hand for the entire drive trying to offer me what little comfort he could. At one point he laced his fingers through mine, and I couldn’t help but notice how our hands didn’t fit together the way Draya's and mine did. His hand was a lot bigger than mine. Draya's fingers were long and slender perfect for sketching, and her skin was soft. Elijha had large palms; however, his fingers were long and nimble, his skin smooth. The only thing that was the same was the cold temperature of their skin.

It wasn’t long before the vehicle came to a stop, and we parked just outside the entrance of the campground. It wasn’t more than five minutes before two other cars were pulling up; one was a silver Subaru outback, the other a red convertible. I recognized both vehicles; the convertible was Ruby’s the Subaru belongs to Celeste.

Corbin and Hanna get out first, before opening the back door and roughly pulling me out. People start getting out of the other vehicles; Ruby, followed by Tessa get out of the convertible, while David, Celeste, and my Draya get out of the Subaru.

"Let her go Corbin." Draya growled threateningly.

“You really aren’t in any position to be making demands; not so long as we have your Princess.” he said gesturing to me.

Hanna was holding me in place; one arm curled around my neck, the other holding me around my waist and rendering me mostly immobile.

It looked as if Draya was about ready to tackle Corbin. “I wouldn’t come any closer if I were you; because if you take even another step, Hanna here will snap her neck.” he warned.

“What do you want?” Draya yelled

“That’s a need-to-know basis and you don’t need to know, but I will say this; if I were you, I would say your goodbyes now.”

Normally, Draya was good at not showing fear, but right now it was clear in her eyes; losing me would shatter her. I was able to see Elijah and he already had unshed tears in his eyes

“Draya, I love you, now and forever.”

“I love you too Sarah, until the end of time and even after that, I love you.”

“I think it’s time we begin.” Corbin said taking out his knife.

I close my eyes and brace myself for what is to come.

Corbin drew the long blade along my collar bone, tracing it. I clench my eyes shut; I bit my lip and inside of my check to keep myself from screaming. I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction, but it didn't stop my tears from the pain that was now burning above my chest. I can hear Corbin inhale, "My god that scent; honestly how do you resist? It is taking every ounce of self-control and restraint I have not to drain her." he said loudly.

His words made my stomach twinge in an uncomfortable way. I hear a sob and open my eyes to look up; then I see my Draya, she was crying and had her arms wrapped around herself like she was trying to hold herself together. It was heart breaking to see her like that. Celeste stood next to her, her hands on her forearms in a comforting manner, but her gaze was on Corban. Her usually kind eyes filled with distain and hatred. Not far away was David, his face contorted with anger, his body tense ready for a fight. Then there was Ruby, standing in front of Tessa, who was openly weeping her hands covering her mouth. Ruby’s body was trembling with barley contained rage, her green eyes like emerald fire. I felt momentarily touched; Ruby and I weren't exactly close; the fact that this was evoking this kind of emotion from her showed that she clearly cares about me more than she led on. I didn't have long to think about this as Corbin was now dragging the blade down the length of my left arm, from my bicep to my wrist. Easily slicing through the fabric of my turtleneck as well as my flesh. This time I couldn't hold back my cry of pain. Corbin laughed softly before repeating the action on my right arm. I scream. I can feel my warm blood running down my arms soaking through the torn sleeves of my turtleneck and dripping on to the white snow staining it red; the cold wind making them sting worse. I try to choke back a sob.

“Stop this please, if you’re doing this to hurt me then mission accomplished, but please stop! Don’t keep hurting her, I will do anything please!” Draya begged, and I hated seeing her beg Corbin for anything even mercy for me.

“Oh, still so naïve… the thing is I don’t just want to hurt you, oh no, I want to destroy you.”

He uses the blade to cut through the seams of my jeans before he begins carving into my legs as well. First my left, then my right. He makes cuts on my torso, across my ribs, even a little heart shaped cut in the middle of my chest; slightly to the left, directly over where my actual heart would be. When the cuts would clot and stop bleeding; he would run the blade across them again causing them to seep more warm crimson liquid. God, I wanted to pass out to escape this torment.

“Just kill me already.” I said, I didn’t necessarily want to die, but it seemed like the inevitable outcome. I no longer had any hope of rescue; even though Draya was right there in front of me, only about a yard or two away, but she wouldn’t be able to get to me before Hanna ended me. Everything hurt and not just the cuts. I had the worst headache imaginable, and I ache all over. I am panting like I just ran a marathon, and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath, my heart was racing, and my chest hurt. I wanted it over. Then several things happened very fast. Elijah suddenly launched a surprise attack on Corbin; first landing a punch to the face, then kicked him in the stomach, so hard it had him staggering back a couple feet and dropping the knife. I am being wrenched from Hanna’s grasp and am literally thrown in Draya’s general direction. She catches me.

Corbin suddenly bellows with rage and tries to come at me and Draya, but David, Celeste and Ruby, all rushed him and engaged in a muntrie battle. Draya hands me off to Tessa, who quickly began unbuckling the cuffs on my hands before Draya joins the battle herself.

Once Draya had joined the battle, Ruby went to help Elijah fight Hanna.

Corbin was forced to rely on hand-to-hand combat skills since he dropped his knife; at one point he draws the sword he had sheathed at his side and tried to throw it at Draya, like a javelin, but she easily dodged it.

The silver sword skittered across the ground, coming to rest at my feet. _That’s a hunter’s sword. _ As the thought entered my mind, I knew it to be true; though how I knew it was a mystery as I had never seen a hunter sword before and doubted, I would know one by sight. Yet I did. Suddenly I was able to move on my own again, I picked up the sword and for some reason it felt familiar in my hand; I knew exactly how to grip it, how to handle it with perfect precision. I looked in the direction of Corbin; too preoccupied by trying to fight off three Vampires on his own. I moved toward the fray unafraid; I move into range with ease. “Draya, everyone, move!” I yell in a voice that didn’t sound like my own. David Celeste and Draya all moved out of the way; without hesitation I bring the sword in front of me across my body and begin to swing it at Corbin aiming for the spot right between his vertebra severing his head cleanly from his body. It thudded to the frozen ground before it along with the rest of him became a pile of ash.

Seeing this Hanna hesitates for only a moment before running for it. Everyone decided against trying to pursue her.

I drop the sword and back away a few steps; my hands which had been so steady before were now shaking. I fall to my knees my body weak again, the pain that had momentarily vanished was now back with a vengeance, and my vision was beginning to blur and grow dim around the edges.

DRAYA'S POV

I was at Sarah's side in an instant catching her before she completely collapsed and falls into unconsciousness. Elijha kneels beside me, "She'll be ok her injuries aren't like threatening and the blood loss wasn't enough to kill her she's probably just exhausted more than anything" he explained.

I glare at him. "What are you even still doing here?"

"I'm not going back. I hated Corbin and what he did, I was just too much of a cowered to leave and I had been alone for such a long time...I guess I just didn't want to be alone for the rest of my existence."

"If you promise to change, and fallow my laws, you are welcome to join my coven." David offered.

"I would like that, thank you."

"I will start making arrangements for the initiation ceremony."

"We should get Sarah someplace safe so we can take care of her wounds." Elijha said.

"No... you think." I said voice dripping with sarcasm as I scooped Sarah up and carried her to the Subaru and got it the back seat, Elijah climbed in behind me.

Time no longer held any meaning at the moment, every second felt like a minute and minutes felt like hours. At some point I think Sarah regained consciousness. because she would let out little moans or whimpers every time the car hit a speed bump. I held her closer to me. I could think of only one way to ease her pain and heal her, starting with the little heart shaped cut, I place a gentle kiss and then run my tongue over it a couple of times and do the same with all the other cuts. The skin begins healing immediately, stitching it’s self back together, leaving thin pink lines behind, but those will be gone by this time tomorrow. Sarah fell back into unconscious before I even finished.

SARAH’S POV

When I come to I am barely conscious in the back seat of the Subaru. I'm only vaguely aware of what’s taking place around me. The most vivid moments right now are whenever the car hits a bump in the road as it sends a new jolt of pain through my body. I clench my eyes shut and try to block out the pain, but then I feel a new pleasant sensation. I open my eyes and look to see that Draya is running her lips and tongue along each and every cut in sight. _Vampire saliva does have some healing properties _ I hear Draya’s voice in my head, remembering the words from back when she had first bitten me. The bite marks had indeed faded and disappeared. I didn’t even have any scars from the incident, and I never do, any marks I received from Draya biting and feeding from me always fade away and disappear leaving no trace behind. I suspect the same thing will be said for the cuts that aren’t hurting as badly as they were before. I let my eyes slip closed, I am exhausted, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too, and I let myself slip back into the black darkness letting it envelope me like a welcoming embrace, and the sweet release of unconsciousness takes me.

When I wake up again, I am in Draya’s bed. The cuts are mostly healed. but I suspect that by tomorrow they will be completely gone, but I am mostly guessing; I’ll ask Draya to confirm it for me later. Speaking of Draya, said girl was currently sitting beside the bed, her cold hand clasped around my warm one. I give it a squeeze as a silent way of telling her that I was okay; she squeezed back. “How are you feeling my darling princess?”

“Like I have been tortured and nearly killed by vampires.” I replied.

“Don’t be a smart ass.” she scolded but was smiling.

I smiled back. “I’m feeling better than I expected; mostly just a little sore and tired.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. you've been through quite the ordeal.”

“Draya I’m sorry, this was all my fault, I was being irrational and unreasonable, and I acted like a petulant child, I should’ve just listened to you, and I promise to do better in the future.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I understand you were upset, and you weren’t thinking clearly, but I do wish you had let me explain everything to you.”

“And I should have, if I had just listened, none of this would have happened, if I had been more patient and understanding…I wasn’t being a very good girlfriend.”

“Sarah, listen to me you are the most amazing woman in my entire universe and I couldn’t ask for a better person to be my girlfriend, just promise me one thing.”

“Anything.”

“From now on we’ll try to communicate with each other better. You know that whole, taking a deep breath and counting to five to calm down before an eruption happens. No more of this running off business, alright?”

I nod. “Yes, I promise I will try not to lose my temper and run off anymore.”

“That’s all I ask; I love you, Sarah.”

“I love you too Draya.”

We embrace each other, then my eyes widen because standing behind Draya, is someone who it was impossible for them to be there, but they were, clear as day. Standing behind Draya, dressed in what I somehow knew was hunters' armor, was a girl with brown hair and eyes… Shaylyn, she is smiling at me then I blink, and she is gone, and I wonder if she was ever actually there or if it was only my mind playing tricks on me. A hallucination brought on by exhaustion. Honestly, I was too drained of energy to think about or dwell on it for too long, so at least for now I’m not going to think about it, and I instead close my eyes and melt into Draya’s embrace.

MEANWHILE AT THE ABANDONED CAMPGROUND

HANNA’S POV

“That fucking little bitch! How dare she slay my mate, she will not get away with this!” I stormed through the RV going into the bed room; the bed is littered with the polaroids Corbin had taken of the girl. I picked one up; it shows the girl lying unconscious on the bed, hands and feet bound together. Honestly she looks so pathetic. I spat at the picture. “You’ll get what you deserve; I’ll make sure of it.”

The end…will continue in revenge part 2

I know this took me a long time, but life keeps getting in the way; my mom was sick and in and out of the hospital for a while; she’s all good now though. my boyfriends heath isn’t great do to his diabetes and we had a bit of a lovers quell, so took a break, but are all good now, then I was suffering from major creative block, plus holidays are like majority hectic for me, and to top it all off my computer needed to be repaired, so I had to write a bunch of this on my iPhone and I wanted to wait until I got it back to edit this because trying to edit this on my iPhone actually sucks, so yeah, but I got it done finally! Hopefully y’all stayed loyal and will read this and leave me some lovely feedback. Sorry for and spelling, grammar or punctuation mistakes.

until next time💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤