Seaside, California October 15, 2012
Lillian
THE house was oddly quiet when I got home. My parents had decided to go out of town for a date night, so they wouldn't be back till late.
Despite school ending early I still had a pile of homework to do. Mr. Mendoza loved giving us assignments. As I sat there in my room writing away on the handouts, I heard the doorbell ring downstairs.
That was odd, who the hell would be coming here? Cel and Zach were on their date in town, so it wouldn't be them.
She also sent me some very nice text messages earlier that day. That if anyone interrupted their date she would murder us all.
I love my cousin.
I got up from my desk and ran down the stairs, tension rising in me as I went to the front door.
It rang again. Well, whoever it was seemed a little impatient! I peeked through the window, seeing it was no one other than Scott.
Great.
I flung the door open, just as Scott was edging toward the doorbell again.
"I was coming you know," I chuckled.
"Sorry, I'm just in a rush," Scott began and asked, "Are your parents home?"
Odd question. "No, they aren't. Why? Is something wrong?"
"I need your help, and I don't think they would want you to but I am out of options. I need some help with getting Maggie away from Seana," he admitted.
"What happened today Scott?" I questioned, Elle's explanation didn't tell the whole story.
"Seana turned Maggie, when she had Isabel push her down those stairs it broke her fucking neck. I followed Francis and Orion, they handed her over to Seana, saying she was her responsibility. That can only mean one thing Lily," Scott remarked.
"Oh my God," I breathed, taking a step back. I leaned my back against the wall. "What can we do? And don't we need to get Isabel away from Seana too?"
"I don't think Isabel can be saved, you've seen how she is now. She has no humanity. Maggie is all new at this, if I can show her the right ways to do things, she may have a chance," he replied.
"So you're saying Isabel is a lost cause?" I gawked, "Scott, I don't know much about your history but didn't you not have your humanity when you were with Seana? You came back, why can't she?"
Scott glanced at me, his blue eyes piercing, "Mine was forced back, but Isabel was different even before she became a vampire. I've seen it as I kept tabs on her and Seana. She didn't need to turn her humanity off when she turned, she just never had any. It is a horrible thing to say, but sometimes that's how some people are."
I sighed. "Alright, so what do you need me to do?"
"I need you to help me incapacitate Isabel and Seana, I don't know their exact location, but I'm sure Seana will take Maggie into town and have her complete the transition. I saw them heading that way before I came here," Scott explained.
An idea went through my mind, though I don't think my father would appreciate it. I smiled and stepped back into the house. I waved for Scott to follow me inside.
"Well, magic is useful for many things, but I don't think we should go unarmed," I muttered as I closed the door.
"What do you have in mind?" he chuckled as he followed me up the stairs.
I went straight to my parent's bedroom, my father had a safe full of weapons that he hadn't touched in a very long time. Ever since that night seven years ago, my parents haven't been enforcers of their coven. My father gave me the combination for the safe, only to ever be opened if it was necessary.
Tonight was one of those times.
The safe was at the back of their walk-in closet, my mother's side was completely color-coded. My father's side was always a nightmare. I sunk to my knees to where the lock was and began opening it.
Scott stood behind me, though at an awkward distance like he didn't want to get too close to me. After I spun the dial, the safe opened to reveal rows of guns, stakes, and my father's beloved katana.
If anything happened to it I think the man would cry. It was given to him by his grandfather. Then Scott decided to get on the floor beside me, his eyes staring at the sword.
"Do you think we should use it?" I asked as he kept eyeing it, his whole face erupted into a grin.
"Yes, they are good for beheading," he said as he pulled it out of the safe.
I just gawked at him as he unsheathed it halfway.
"What?!" I shouted.
"I'm joking, it's a thing your father said that I never forgot," Scott chuckled in response.
"When the hell did he say that?" I gawked.
"When I first met the man," Scott murmured and sheathed the sword.
I pulled out some stakes and put them into a belt that would hold them. I always wondered why my father kept all of this shit, but I guess you never know when you'd need it.
After we assembled the weapons and went back downstairs, I couldn't stop thinking how stupid we looked. I with a belt full of stakes attached to it, and Scott holding my father's katana.
We went out the door, and as I was locking it Scott kept eyeing me with a funny look.
"What is it?" he asked, grinning.
I let out a huff of frustration, "We look like Van Helsing rejects. Don't you think?"
Scott peered down at himself and then to me, "Yes, I believe we do."
This night was going to be a fucking disaster.
WHEN I said it would be a disaster, it was a total disaster.
As he was speeding over the bridge toward town, I started to think about how we were even going to locate Seana and Isabel. Then again I didn't even bother asking him, I just jumped in his car.
And then I asked him.
"Zach can sniff her out, trust me once he gets a scent nearby, we should all be able to find her and get Maggie away," Scott explained and shifted the Camaro up a gear.
"But their date!" I protested.
Scott glanced over at me, his expression serious. "I'm sure Celesta will understand, she is all for killing Seana at any possible chance."
"Well if that is the case why didn't you just get her to go instead of me?!" I exclaimed. "Besides the point, she told me she would kill anyone who interrupted their date tonight!"
However, the way Scott was driving we might actually crash. He could walk away unharmed and I'd be dead.
Despite his crazy driving, I knew he wouldn't wreck us. I already screamed at him earlier to slow down. He did though, slightly.
"Well, all we can do is ask them," Scott muttered as he pulled into the Panda Express.
How the hell did he know where they were? Zach must've told him where he was taking Cel out, though this place was far from fancy. Or romantic for that matter.
They were a weird ass couple.
He parked the Camaro beside an old Chevy truck, it looked familiar.
"Scott, we are not interrupting their date dammit!" I shouted.
Scott's eyes widened at me, surprised at my raised voice. "Lily, I can try and run all over town and find them, by then it will be morning. Or I can have Zach just catch her scent. It will take literal seconds!"
"I can probably just do a tracking spell," I suggested
I opened his passenger compartment. He had an old map in there, how convenient! As I was opening it up, Scott looked glumly at me.
"Lily—"
"What?" I snapped, unfolding the map even more. Jesus this thing was huge and old.
"You can't do location spells on vampires," he muttered. He almost looked apologetic.
"So you say! Have you ever tried it?" I chuckled. I had the map all open now.
"No because I'm not a witch," he replied sarcastically. "And we are dead, so there is nothing to track."
I turned to him, "Please tell me you are joking! Why the fuck did you even bring me here then?!"
"I just wanted you here! You did say you were all in with helping to stop the psychotic bitch—"
My eyes nearly boggled out of my sockets, what the hell was going on with him? He said earlier he didn't like me that way, but here he was giving me mixed signals. I need to stop overanalyzing everything in my life.
"Are you even listening to what I'm saying" Scott snapped.
Wow, I need to stop zoning out. I couldn't even think of a response, I just threw that oversized map at him.
He just gaped at me in disbelief and threw the map in the backseat.
Having no idea what he said after that, I just pointed my finger at the restaurant angrily.
"We are not ruining their date!" I shouted again.
Scott just set his head against the steering wheel and groaned. Then he just turned the key and started the engine up.
He turned to me, his gaze incredulous. "Hard way it is then!"
Before I could even reply he shifted into reverse and backed out quickly. Just as I felt like I was going to get flung forward he pressed hard on the brake. He peered down at my seat.
"What the hell?!" I exclaimed.
"Just checking to make sure you're buckled in," Scott replied, though I saw a hint of a smirk on his face.
He was insane.
Scott continued to back out like a maniac, his eyes locked on his rear-view mirror. Once we were out in the street, he just floored it. Going from 0 to 60 in seconds, I was just gawking at his driving. Scott was always so concerned about everyone's fucking safety but here he was driving like an idiot!
I am surprised I don't have whiplash. Crossing my arms, I narrowed my eyes at him as he focused on going around slow-driving people.
"Don't worry, you are completely safe," Scott murmured, his eyes still on the road.
I'm sure I was, but I am more concerned about the people around us or even getting pulled over for speeding well over the limit. We were at the edge of downtown within moments.
Scott pulled over near a public parking area and cut the engine.
"Okay, so what is your grand plan?" Scott asked. I couldn't tell when he was being sarcastic or serious.
"Well, we can hop from the roofs until we find them!" I put forth. "Or I can uh, attempt that spell. But on Maggie, maybe if she hasn't transitioned yet it might work?"
"Lily, I already told you it won't work," Scott reiterated.
I still was going to try. I pulled out the map again and then swung the passenger door open. It was still daylight enough to see the roads on the map, Seaside and some of its major roads were visible. I walked around to the back of the Camaro and spread the map across the trunk.
Now I just needed to remember how to do a location spell. Scott stood beside me, holding my father's katana.
He had an odd obsession with that thing.
I kept staring at the map awkwardly, I could feel Scott staring at me. I closed my eyes and focused on an image of Maggie. I started muttering the spell quietly.
I opened my eyes and glanced at the map, right where Seaside was. Then the map combusted into flames. I jumped back as the map kept burning rapidly, Scott ripped it off the Camaro and began stomping on it with his boots.
"Well, I think that went well!" I deadpanned and groaned in defeat afterward.
Scott looked up from the burnt map to me. "Normally nothing happens, but I guess fire also means the same thing."
"I'm sorry," I mumbled.
"Don't be, we will just hop around town and look for them," Scott replied.
I smiled. "I wasn't being serious, how the hell are we going to hop around town?" I questioned.
I was met with laughter.
"Well, you can hop on my back, and then I can jump over the rooftops in our attempt to locate Seana," Scott explained humorously.
I shook my head.
"Hold this," Scott instructed and handed me the katana. As I grasped it he continued, "You'll be on my back, though I hope you don't get motion sickness, then we might have a problem."
The prospect of flying through the air always terrified me, but I still wasn't sure how I felt about this. But I did trust Scott to keep me safe, so it couldn't be so bad right?
Right?
"I will be fine," I asserted, though my body might not agree later. Or during.
I strapped the katana over my back, the sheath had a strap with it. Thank God. If this thing got lost I would never hear the end of it.
Scott bent down so I could jump on his back and once he hoisted me up, I could feel my heart start to beat rapidly.
"You might want to close your eyes," he advised and tightened his hold on my legs so I wouldn't fall. I felt his body tense for just a second before he launched us upward.
I couldn't hold in the loud squeal of fright as we were somewhere up in the air. When he landed on top of a random building, my stomach jolted.
"Oh my God!" I shrilled, burying my face into his shoulder. His chest rumbled as he laughed.
"You good?" Scott asked.
Popping my head back up I muttered, "Yes, just do your thing."
God, why did I agree to this?!
I'm sure he was grinning before he launched us forward again.
DARKNESS blanketed Seaside as we searched for any traces of Seana, or even of other vampires. But we were met with disappointment. I finally agreed that we needed help. I felt like we wasted time in doing what I thought was the best plan.
But Scott didn't blame me, but I could tell he was slightly angry. At himself.
That didn't make sense, after all this was my grand plan.
Scott sent a text message to Zach, asking him if he could help us for a second. And just for a second, I didn't want Cel to know what was going on.
The girl needed to have at least one normal night.
They were at this ice cream shop called Coldstone. Cel dragged us there every week so she could get her damn ice cream.
So very discreetly, we had Zach come outside to meet us in the back of the building. Cel would just think he went to the bathroom.
"Guys, this is like really ridiculous you know that?" Zach grumbled.
"It is all part of the grand plan," Scott chuckled.
Was he going to let that rest already?
"Whatever, do you have something of hers? I mean the only bloodsucker I smell is you so I'm going to have to go with you to find the others," Zach muttered to Scott.
"No! You cannot let Cel know what is up okay? You two need to have a nice normal date!" I exclaimed.
Scott pulled something from his pocket. "I have this hair tie of hers."
"Where and how did you get that?" I gawked. Did he go into her bedroom or something?!
I mean that wasn't any of my business but I mean you know—
"I broke into her locker at school," Scott replied.
Thank God.
Zach reached his hand out for it. He sniffed it a few times and started walking out towards the road. Scott and I followed him.
"Well, the good news is they've been through here," Zach began and turned back to face us. "But that scent is about an hour or so old."
"That's just fucking great," Scott hissed.
"But," Zach added, "There are other scents. I just don't know who's. Anyway, you guys have fun with your goose chase, I'm going to get back in before Cel finds out about your grand plan."
"Well, thanks for helping," Scott addressed. "It's at least something."
"Anytime," Zach chuckled. Before he left, he peered at me in awe. "Also, is that a katana? Nice!"
I just grinned at him as he waved at us and went back into the ice cream shop.
Scott sighed and started to pace around. I gazed at him glumly. I should've just stayed out of this. My plan blew up in my face. Literally.
Scott grabbed me by the hand and started leading us back to the car that was a few blocks away.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help," I muttered, guilt wallowing within me.
Scott stopped us dead in our tracks.
"Don't think for a second that this is your fault," Scott lamented. "The moment Seana had Maggie in her grasp it was too late for her."
"Are you sure it is too late?" I questioned. "You got free from her."
Scott just smiled sadly at me. "It took more than you can imagine getting away from Seana, but you are right. Maybe it is not too late for her."
"See? That's the spirit!" I cheered, trying to lighten this depressing ass night.
I had forgotten Scott still had his hand around mine. He followed my gaze and without another word he released it.
"Uh—" I paused, trying to say something to ease the awkwardness building around us.
But that ended the moment a piercing shriek cut through the night, causing Scott to pull me toward him.
Scott glanced at me, I didn't need him to say anything to know what would happen next. If anyone saw us standing there, the next time they blinked we were already gone.