Seaside, California April 1, 2013
Celesta
AFTER visiting Redmond college this past weekend, I still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Graphic designing or computer crap interested me the most. Zach and I were always playing video games whenever we could at his house.
We were on our way back to Seaside now, I was sitting in the middle row of Laura's SUV, even with the seat all the way back and Cynthia almost pushed up into the dashboard my legs were still cramped as hell.
Poor Zach, he looked so squished.
We left bright and early, thanks to Elle's obsession of getting home before noon. That, and Laura and Cynthia had a client coming in this afternoon. We were about an hour out still, we had loaded up on snacks and drinks before we left Lavender Coast.
I was stuffing Cheetos into my mouth when Zach's phone started to blow up with text messages. He opened his phone, his eyes scanning through them quickly. He shot me a quick glance, his eyes filled with panic.
Before I could ask him what was wrong, he punched a button and held the phone to his ear.
"Zach...?" I trailed off setting the Cheetos to the side.
He took the phone from his ear. Now frustrated, he mashed the button again.
Whoever he was trying to call wasn't answering. Zach started texting back to whoever it was furiously now.
"Lily, can you try and get a hold of Scott?" Zach asked quickly and resumed texting.
"Okay?" Lily gawked and pulled out her cell phone. "Why?"
"Children?" Laura murmured, she was glancing in her rearview window at all of us. "Is something going on we should know about?"
"William just texted me and said he found my father unconscious in the shed, and I tried calling Scott to head over there since we are still an hour out," Zach shot out quickly.
"Is your dad alright?" I pressed.
"William said he is just passed out," Zach muttered. "And that there was blood on the ground, but it's not his."
What the hell happened when we were gone?
"He won't answer me either," I heard Lily cry. "We need to get back!"
Zach turned to Lily and quickly grabbed her hand, squeezing it with reassurance. "Everything is going to be fine, alright?"
Lily just nodded, her eyes reddening now from crying. He let her hand go and went back to texting on the phone.
Elle scooted closer to Lily and pulled her into a side hug.
I could hear the engine accelerating now, just as Laura's grip on the steering wheel tightened.
"What's our first course of action, oh high elder?" Cynthia asked Laura, giving her a grin.
"Well we are going to Zachary's first obviously," Laura remarked. "And don't call me that."
"Well you are," Cynthia rebuffed. "And you should probably do under 100, we don't need a ticket or all of us to die in a fiery crash on the way there."
Despite the severity of the situation, a few chuckles went around the car.
Laura did slow down, to about 95.
We made it back 15 minutes faster than predicted by Elle. Laura nearly swerved sideways into Zach's gravel driveway, rocks went flying as she gunned it down the long drive. All of us had our fingers death-gripped to our seats or the handles on the ceiling.
Zach jumped out before Laura even came to a complete stop and sprinted toward the shed. We all got out and followed him in a hurry. Laura and Cynthia went over to where two men were standing. When we all entered the shed I noticed William was kneeling on the ground with Markus who was propped up against the wall, holding his head.
"He is coming around son, just give him a minute," William said to Zach who was standing over them, his face etched in pain.
I walked up to him and touched his shoulder. He flinched, causing me to let it go.
"Zach?" I questioned.
"Sorry, I'm just antsy," he muttered and gave me a quick smile. "I need to figure out who did this before I lose it."
"Where is the rest of the pack?" Laura inquired.
"Out searching the property, we are trying to get a scent on who did this," William sighed. "So far we have had no luck. We found Markus like this right before we texted Zach."
"Do you think it was Seana?" I suggested everyone's eyes snapped to me.
"I thought she was locked up by Orion, was she not?" Cynthia piped in. "Unless the asshole released her."
"I'm going to give Francis a call," Laura mumbled. "Cyn can you take the girls to the house? I'm going to stay here and figure out what to do."
"What? I'm not leaving!" I protested.
"Yeah Mom, we can help," Lily added.
"Honey, if this is Seana's doing I want the three of you safe at the house, I don't want you in harm's way!" Laura exclaimed.
"I'm literally training to be an enforcer, this is stuff I do," I rebuked.
"Yes, an enforcer in training. The best place for you is at the house, not here dealing with a psychopathic killer," Laura reiterated.
"We have dealt with her before you know," I put in.
"And if it wasn't for others we would have been killed," Zach remarked. "I'm going out to join them, I'll call you if we find anything."
The last part was directed at William and Laura.
He turned on his heel and headed out the door. I just shook my head and ran after him. I nearly had to sprint to catch up to him. He was headed right for the woods.
"Wait!" I shouted, he stopped and turned to me, his brown eyes unreadable.
"Cel I have to go, if this was Seana—" he stopped as he looked down at the ground, his eyes turning glassy.
"Let me go with you," I insisted.
"No, I actually want you guys to go check on Scott, him not answering isn't like him," Zach pressed.
I just started nodding.
"I will. And then we will all be back to find Seana," I replied and pulled him into a hug, and held on tight. "I just want you to know I am here for you."
"Thanks," Zach murmured and pulled away from the hug. "When I find that bitch I'm going to rip her damn head off."
I just gave him a grin.
Zach pulled me close again and gave me a quick kiss before vanishing from sight. I glanced where he ran off, just to see a glimpse of a black wolf disappearing into the trees. I stared ahead until I heard footsteps approaching me, it was Cynthia, Elle, and Lily.
"You all ready?" Cynthia asked.
"Yup," I muttered.
Once we got back to the house, no one could stop me from sneaking away. I'm sure Lily was going to do the same. She wouldn't let anyone stop her from going to Scott.
We all piled up into the SUV, I rightfully claimed shotgun. I was not riding in the back cramped anymore.
As we started driving, I could feel Lily literally vibrating the entire car, if that was even possible.
"So where are headed?" Cynthia asked, stunning all of us.
"What?" I gawked.
Cynthia turned to me, that same glint she always gets in them. "I said, where are we headed, enforcer?"
"Go to Scott's, please!" Lily begged.
"Why are you helping us?" I asked.
"Because, while I love my cousin, she can have her moments of going overboard," Cynthia mused. "You are all adults and can handle yourselves. Now where does he live?"
"He lives in that beige subdivision down the road from us, you can't miss his house, its the only one that isn't ugly!" Lily said quickly.
"Oh God, that place?" Cynthia choked back in horror. "We had some clients in there. No amount of decorating will make those houses look decent. Is it that wooden house?"
"Yes!" Lily shrilled.
Scott's Camaro was in the driveway, so either he stepped out or he was dead. I wasn't telling Lily that though. If Seana had done something to him, I didn't want Lily going inside and seeing that.
And just as I thought that a searing pain shot through my head, making the world around me morph into another setting. All four of us were in Scott's house, and he was very much alive.
But he had turned into the very thing he hated.
A monster.
Cynthia was trying to fight him off. I was in the corner, my head at a revolting angle. Then him draining Elle and Lily dry outside.
What the hell was that?!
"What the hell is what?!" a voice cried.
I blinked. I was back in the car but we were pulling into the driveway now. Did I scream that out loud?
"Celesta! Answer me!" Lily snapped.
I glanced over at Cynthia as she cut the engine.
"What did you just see?" Cynthia asked, concerned.
I could feel my forehead sweating; it wasn't even hot outside.
"I just had a vision of Scott killing all of us," I breathed.
"The fuck?" Elle gasped.
"Bullshit!" Lily fumed and opened her car door. "You know your visions aren't reliable!"
True, but she wasn't going in that house. I just mumbled a spell under my breath and Lily's face planted right out the door onto the pavement.
Oops.
"Seriously?" Elle hissed and started to attempt to lift Lily up on her own.
I got out and went around to their side and helped her lift Lily's body into the furthest backseat.
"Just trust me okay? I want you to stay in here with her while we go inside," I ordered.
I didn't need Lily interfering with whatever it was I had to do. If Scott had really gone off the rails then I would have no choice but to put him down. It was what I was being trained to uphold.
The safety of others. Even if I had to fight a friend.
Cynthia went around to the back of the SUV and popped it open and started to open some compartments in the back, how she got through all of that luggage amazed me.
She came back with a stake and a handgun; she handed them to me without a word.
"Uh—"
"This used to be Samuel's SUV, so you know he would have something in it," Cynthia grinned. "But let's hope things aren't as bad as they seem."
"R-Right," I stammered.
"After you," she entreated.
I just nodded and cocked the gun.
We started up the walkway to the porch, the door was hanging ajar. I took a deep breath and slowly opened the door, it creaked loudly.
So much for the element of surprise. Not like it mattered, he could hear shit up to a mile away.
"Scott?" I shouted, stepping into the house. I held the gun up, my finger lingering in the safety.
It was a Goddamn mess. There was a huge crater in the wall, where someone had thrown a person at. I guess he and Seana got into it. The fridge's door was torn off, and blood bags littered the kitchen.
They were all torn open and empty.
And there Scott was, on the ground with a jagged-looking piece of wood in him. It looked like it was a leg off one of the stools. One was destroyed.
I just set the gun down on the counter.
My vision of him murdering us didn't seem like it was reliable at this point.
Hopefully.
I ran over to him and yanked the leg out, he didn't move. I glanced over at him, his neck looked like it had been snapped. And not just a normal break, I think Seana broke his entire spine. His wound wasn't healing either. It just bled slowly, the blood dark.
Why wasn't he healing?
"I don't understand," I muttered and looked around the destroyed kitchen.
Cynthia further inspected his wound, her eyes squinting. "Something looks wrong with his blood, do you see that strange tint to it?"
It looked dark as hell to me. I scooted closer and saw what she was talking about. It was easy to miss. Within the dark was just a hint of something clear.
And then Scott sat up fast, causing Cynthia and me to jump back with fright. He twisted his neck, the sound of his entire spine straightening wanted to make me puke.
"Jesus Christ," Scott choked out, then spit something out of his mouth onto the floor. It was a glob of blood.
I felt my stomach turn.
Scott looked down at his abdomen, his face etched in pain.
"So, you gonna tell us what happened?" I was able to finally speak.
Scott's eyes darted at us like he didn't even realize we had been sitting there gawking at him.
"Seana happened," he spat. He looked around the room, taking in the destruction. "What time is it?"
"It's almost one in the afternoon," Cynthia replied.
"I was out for an hour?" he said in disbelief. He looked down at his wound again, it wasn't bleeding as profusely now. "Something isn't right."
"No shit Sherlock," I remarked and stood up to go find a rag or something for the hole in his gut.
I was rummaging through the drawers in the kitchen and found a first aid kit. I'm sure this was for my cousin. She literally trips over thin air and injures herself.
Cynthia was trying to help Scott stand now, he was wobbly as hell.
"Why aren't you healing?" I asked as I spilled the kit out all over the counter.
Scott hobbled over and held onto the counter and started grabbing wipes and gauze from my pile.
"I don't know," he muttered and lifted his shirt to reveal a horrifying mess of blood and protruding guts.
"Excuse me for a second," I mumbled under my breath and darted toward the bathroom.
After I got done hurling up my breakfast and Cheetos, I came back to see a very pissed off Lily tapping her heel and arms crossed, glaring at me.
Elle just smiled at me sheepishly.
"You didn't think that maybe I would want to help my boyfriend?" Lily hissed. "But no, just knock Lily out so she won't cause a scene."
"You are causing a scene now," I remarked.
"Shut up," she snapped.
"Well you would have freaked out if you saw Scott like he was just a few minutes ago," I insisted.
"Whatever," she muttered.
She knew I was right.
"Not to be rude," Elle put forth and gave Scott a concerned look. "You look like you are about to kill over. I think you need blood?"
"I know," Scott sighed. "As you can see Seana helped herself to my stash."
There were like twenty empty blood bags on the floor.
"Here," Lily insisted and held out her wrist.
Scott just stared at her incredulously.
"Are you insane?!" I yelled.
Lily glanced at me, her eyes hurt. "I just want to help—"
"Lillian," Scott pressed and grabbed her hands into his. "You know why it's a bad idea."
"I just want you to get better," she sighed but relented.
"Why was Seana even here?" I asked, we needed to get to the bottom of this.
"She showed up on my doorstep begging for help," Scott murmured. "And like the idiot I am I invited her in and tried to help her."
"You invited her in?!" Lily shrieked and backed up away from him.
She just walked away, holding the sides of her head as she tried to mentally process everything.
Scott looked at her with guilt. In what world did he think he should help Seana?
"Why the fuck did you invite her in?!" I fumed.
"She had her humanity for one," Scott retorted. "That thought in itself is unbelievable. Then she told me she got bit by a werewolf and then tried to inject me with shit after I told her to get the hell out. She blames her uncle for everything she has done."
I just scoffed. "Even with humanity, she is still a crazy bitch."
"Those were my exact words," Scott grinned.
Lily came back over, her expression calm. "So what do we do now?"
"We need to go back to Zach's, I doubt they will find Seana," I sighed. "She probably booked it out of town."
"Is Markus alright?" Scott questioned. "Before Seana and I tried murdering each other she told me she did something to him."
"She banged him up pretty bad, but nothing he won't heal from," Cynthia told Scott. "It almost looks like she sedated him with something."
"She was getting venom from him," Scott revealed. "To use against Orion."
"What would that do to him?" I asked, puzzled.
"Werewolf venom turns vampires rabid," Scott informed. "Seana got bit, so you can see what it's done to her. She went through twenty bags of blood. That is enough to last me months."
I felt a lump form in my throat. "So she is out killing people then?"
"Probably," Scott replied and winced, clutching the bandaged wound.
"We need to go get you blood from somewhere," Lily cried then went over to the destroyed fridge.
She started rummaging through the disaster, trying to find any remnants of blood. I knew for a fact there was none in here.
Cynthia kept eyeing Scott, her eyes narrowing as she kept scrutinizing him.
"Did Seana do something to you?" Cynthia inquired. "You aren't healing, and that is a dead giveaway that she did inject you with the venom."
"No," Scott replied, his expression growing concerned. "I ripped it from her and broke it before she was able to."
"What was that blood you spat out earlier?" she further questioned and walked up closer to him.
Scott looked over to where the blood was, it was almost dried now. His blue eyes were widening with horror now.
Oh, God.
"What in the devil happened here?" a voice echoed throughout the house.
Francis was standing in the doorway, his mouth agape.
"She force-fed me her blood," Scott breathed. He looked like he was in total denial.
I was just confused as hell.
"Girls I think you should all go outside," Cynthia instructed. "It's good to see you here Francis, I knew Laura would send you."
"I think all of you should leave," Scott suggested.
"I think we should just take you to Zach's and lock you up," I countered.
"That is a brilliant idea! let's just keep him in a cage while we are at it!" Lily spat. "We are not locking you up, Scott! You aren't trying to kill us all!"
"Yet," Cynthia put in and grimaced.
I could feel a strange feeling in my head again, similar to what Lily did that one time. But it wasn't her, she wasn't touching me.
"You had a vision of him killing you all?!" Francis thundered.
My widening eyes locked with his glowing ones. "Maybe."
Scott held his head in his hands and leaned against the counter. Lily tried comforting him but he wasn't responding to her. I couldn't imagine what was going on in his mind.
"Yet you came in here anyway knowing that he would kill you?" Francis hissed. "The first thing you should've done was call me."
"Yes, well you are here now," I remarked, wanting to change the subject. "Now can we get him to Zach's before he does kill us all?"
Lily released Scott and stood before him, her darkening expression daring us to go near him.
"Lillian," Francis warned.
"If any of you touch him I will make you regret it," she threatened.
Scott raised his head up and stood up, keeping a hand on the counter so he wouldn't fall down. "Lily I might be fine right this minute but I know what's going to happen, and I need to be bled out and locked up till the venom is out of my system."
Lily just started shaking her head. "No."
Scott pulled her into a hug, crushing her to him as she started to cry. Francis kept his eyes locked on them, his whole body tight with tension.
Did he expect Scott to lose control?
Lily wouldn't let him go, she just clung to him as he tried calming her down. He was whispering things into her ear. She just kept shaking her head.
Scott glanced at us, his eyes pleading. He didn't have the nerve to leave Lily like that. So we intervened.
I came up behind Lily and muttered that spell I did earlier but this time she would be out for much longer. She went slack in his arms, his own blue eyes now with tears in them.He let Francis take her from him.
"If you put her in the car I'll take her home," Cynthia murmured. "Elle and I will stay with her while you all head back to Zach's."
Once Elle and Cynthia were loaded up in the SUV with Lily, I called Zach and told him everything that happened. He was already getting their basement ready for Scott.
Francis also suggested putting up a barrier spell around it and taking his daylight ring.
I felt like Lily should have been here with us, but I knew her well enough she would complicate everything. Scott let us take his Camaro over to Zach's, I had the pleasure of driving it while Francis sat in the small backseat, watching Scott's every move.
Apparently, Francis didn't know how to drive a stick shift. You'd think after 500 years on this earth he would've learned how.
I was beginning to think we were all paranoid over nothing, but right before we got to Zach's, Scott was fine one minute then the next second his eyes went black. Before he even moved toward me Francis broke his neck.
That about made me drive us off the road.
And now I was standing here with Zach as we watched Scott.
Another hour went by. He still hadn't woken up yet.
"Our venom can wreak havoc on vampires, I'm surprised our bite isn't fatal to them," Zach went on. He was explaining to me what to expect for the next several weeks.
Scott wasn't going to be himself. No rationality. No thought.
Just wanting to drain everything dry that was near him.
Laura was about to leave and go back home, she was making sure Markus was alright. Seana apparently injected him with a bunch of silver and a strong sedative.
She got a phone call from her daughter, she was refusing to see anyone and had herself magically locked in her room. She also told her to tell me to never speak to her again.
That punched me in the gut.
She would get over it. Eventually.
Both of the covens were having a joint meeting soon on what to do about Seana, she had to be found since they expected a mass killing spree to ensue. My father was still under counseling, so he wouldn't be leading this mess.
In fact, my mother was taking the reigns. She had finally joined back as an enforcer since she was the future leader one day.
While they went on that goose chase, I would be staying here at Zach's.
And do everything I can to help Scott get better. And hopefully, make my cousin hate me just a little less.