Children of Van Helsing

Chapter Forty-eight - Nobody Has the Right

Jessica

The silence in the car was uncomfortable, but none of us knew what to say. I was driving, Ian next to me. He had tried to keep me cheerful at first, but now he had just given up and stared out of the window bleakly. Ian silently sat in the back seat and kept typing on his little black phone. Aunt Jennifer drove the other car and brought Stephen and Nancy along with her.

The weapons were in the trunk. We were well prepared - my muscles still ached from all that training - but I knew there had to be many vampires. Too many. We were going to loose and there was nothing to be done about it. But maybe, just maybe, if we got my sister back in time, we stood a chance.

Maybe.

Sigh.

My phone rang and since the road was sort of empty this time around, I decided to ignore the law and pick up. I ignored a remark from Lauren and looked at the screen. Unknown number.

I answered.

"Hello?"

A short silence on the other side. "Jess?"

I knew that voice. Oh, did I know that voice. Soft, delicate, a bit high-pitched, but sharp as a blade if needed. The voice which could break my heart and glue it back together with just a few words.

"Lily." I said, flabbergasted.

Ian swiftly turned his head, but I avoided his eyes.

"Jess, I know I haven't called, but..."

"Why are you using this number and now your own?"

That didn't make any sense. Even if she was calling from her home, I had her parents' number as well.

She softly started to sob. "I'm underground."

"What do you mean under..."

Then it hit me and I nearly crashed the car. She was underground. In the Underground City - with the vampires.

"Who is with you?" I sharply asked.

She breathed in and out a few times and I knew she was horrified. And she had reason to, many reasons, in fact. And she had tried to hard to keep out of this mess.

"He says he's called Nicholas." She answered, her voice trembling.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" I asked. I knew I was going to cry soon - I stopped the car and got out. It was cold outside, and there still was a thin layer of snow, but I didn't care, not now. The other car stopped besides us.

"He says... Jess, please, don't go out to fight." She begged.

"Are you hurt?" I asked once more.

She sobbed desperately. "Jess, listen to me, please! You'll die if you go out there. You will never make it out alive. And I can't live with that, Jessica, please, take your family and go back home."

I sighed and rubbed my brow, sitting down on the front of my car. Another car drove my and honked, angry at me for parking my car practically in the middle of the road. I ignored it.

"Did he tell you to say that?" I asked.

Short silence. I knew he was with her - so she had to be careful with what she said. He could hurt her. He probably already had.

"It doesn't matter whether he told me or not," she said, "because it's the truth. If you and your family go there, you'll die."

"It will be worth it if we can save lives." I said automatically.