Changes (IN EDITING)

Chapter 8

We all stood around the kitchen in silence, shaken.
"So now what?" Rose asked quietly.
I shrugged. "We're not safe here anymore."
"That's obvious." She muttered, tapping her foot against the tile.
Mayday was laying on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Nobody quite knew what to think. Everything had purely been precautionary up until this point. We had never expected him to hit us at home.
"Should we leave?" Lyric said hesitantly.
"And do what? Keep running and hiding?" I said. "He knows where we are, probably has people watching now. I say we take the deal."
As the words left my mouth everybody's jaws dropped. Within seconds the room was filled with protests.
"Calm down and listen to me for a minute!" I yelled. "He wants me, and now he wants Lyric. So I say we give him what he wants and let us do the rest."
More protests were voiced and I shook my head. "It's the only way. You guys have done enough, now it's time for me to finish what he started."
Mayday's head peeked out from behind the couch, her eyes glowing. "There is something we can do."
"How do you figure?"
She pulled herself up onto the back of the couch, sitting on her haunches like a cat. "That's the easy part. You take out the King and Queen, we take out the soldiers."
I glanced at everyone and they seemed to agree. Amanda grinned widely. "Oh yeah, baby. I'm down!"
Rose laughed quietly. "I suppose that could work. Although we should probably call in a few favors."
"From who?"
She winked at me and stretched. "You let me worry about that. You just have to look pretty then stake that black heart of his."
"That is the overall goal here." I turned to Lyric. "Are you okay with taking on Helena?"
He nodded and shrugged. "She's no different than any other vampire. She's just a bit more skilled than most. I'm sure I can handle her."
Everyone started making preparations and I excused myself, slipping out the front door.
I took a minute to think back over everything that had happened, memories of the past stinging in my head. I had wanted to make this plan seem like it would be simple, a quick 'kill the baddies and get the fuck out'. Fear thrummed through my veins and I was forced to acknowledge that this plan terrified me to the bone. I hadn't wanted anybody involved, didn't even want to bring Lyric along. I wasn't allowed to make the rules anymore, Drake had made that clear with his attack tonight.
Soft footsteps crunched on the leaves behind me and I turned, nodding to Rose. We walked towards the woods and sat underneath an old oak tree. She didn't say anything, didn't have to. We both knew this was as good as a suicide mission.
"I don't want them to be there." I whispered.
Rose sighed. "They're not going to take no for an answer."
"Yeah, I know." I said bitterly.
Rose grabbed my hand and gave it a light squeeze. "They can do this."
I gave her a withered look. "He hasn't had control all these years because nobody challenged him. He's had it because he kills anyone who does."
"Somebody has challenged him. Did a damn good job, I might add. She's sitting right here."
I grit my teeth, staring at the dirt beneath my feet. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
"Do you remember when you showed up on my doorstep that night?"
I said nothing and she continued. "You were covered in blood. His blood. I swore to you we would get revenge one day. You can say that after all this time it doesn't bother you but I know that's a lie. We all do. We will back you to the gates of Hell, you just have to show us the way."
I watched as rain started to fall through the trees and sighed standing up. "Good, because that's probably where we're going to end up."