Penny sipped a drink, relishing the taste. It pleased her, melting on her lips. Normally at 18, she would not be able to consume alcohol, but not in the Brotherhood. She was an adult and could do whatever she wanted. She sighed and placed the drink on a nearby table. She eagerly glanced at the people dancing. She had to keep alert in case any vampires came out. After the incident with the library, Penny had to beg to get put on this team. And even then, she was just a decoy. It had been almost three months since she had burnt down the UGA library. She had been praised for her quick thinking but was still put on probation. She was, though, allowed to train in the use of the fire guns. She enjoyed shooting the gun, and the Brotherhood, especially the High Warden, was quite impressed with the accuracy of her aim.
She leaned against the walls and straightened her treacherously tight, little red dress. Her long blonde hair flowed down her back, and the excessive high heels made her legs go on for hours. A small ensemble played classical music as unsuspecting humans twirled around the floor. She felt confident.
"A vampire has entered the ballroom," Charles said; his voice echoed into her ear through her electronic earring. She raised her head to search for Charles and found him standing at the opposite end of the room; he met her gaze with his sexy eyes and nodded in the door's direction.
"Another two entered. Get ready, Penny," he said through his collar. Charles had insisted that he go on the floor with her. She wasn't sure if it was because he didn't trust her to do a good job, or if he just was concerned for her safety.
Penny had an incredible urge to grab her small wooden daggers out of the back of her dress and get rid of the vampires. Even though her aim was impeccable, she was still not allowed to carry the fire gun into combat. Too much risk of civilian casualties. Just as Penny calmed herself down, a tall man with curly mousy brown hair caught her attention. He wore the standard tux, and his hair flowed around his neck. He looked around twenty, which was only a couple years older than Penny. She would never forget his face. He had been there the night that all of her trouble had started. When the vampire turned in her direction and met her gaze, a friendly smile appeared on his face, and he raised his hand as if he were saying hello. She felt her face grow incredibly hot. Who exactly was he?
"Charles, that one there, he's the one," Penny said through her microphone. She started to tremble and braced herself against the wall.
"What?" Charles replied.
"The one with the curly hair...he's the one who shoved me in the closet...the one who was there that night!"
"What that one?" Charles said, looking over in the vampire's direction.
"Yes," Penny said. Her composure started to fall apart. She wasn't ready to face him yet.
"Oh, great," Charles said. His voice was filled with irritation. "Listen, Penny, you stay away from him! Do you hear me? Don't you go anywhere near him."
"What, but..."
"That's an order," he said curtly. He then stalked directly over to the vampire, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him down the hallway. He must have muffled his microphone because Penny couldn't hear anything that he was saying to the vampire. Penny would have thought that Charles's aggressive behavior with the vampire was strange, but she could barely remember her name at the moment.
She found a chair and sat down. Her head swam around the room. Emotions flew through her. She went from rage to hopelessness then to confusion in just a few seconds. His face brought back scenes from the last night she had spent with her family. She had tried so hard to forget them.
"Charles, I'm heading to the bathroom," she whispered into the microphone. "I need to collect myself."
"Fine," he said in a muffled reply. "Stay out of trouble."
Penny wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes and found herself in a very long dark hall, far off from the ballroom. She spotted a door labelled "Private." She blinked. Was this a vampire room? Maybe she could find some information on that vampire. Her mind was still not working fully right. She turned the doorknob and twisted it hard, but it didn't move. Sighing, she blinked again. She smashed the door with great energy, and it opened with a loud crack. She smiled. At least smashing things made her feel a little better. She looked around the area; there was a light in a corner, but the room was still mostly dark. She moved quickly to a filing cabinet filled with what would hopefully be vampire files.
Her hands searched desperately for anything with her name on it or maybe that Priscilla vampire or even something on Thomas. She grabbed a file and was about to open it when suddenly two hands wrapped through her arms from the back, keeping her from moving. She felt hot breath on her back.
"Girls like you shouldn't be alone in a place like this." The voice was happy and playful.
She breathed sharply. Thomas! His touch made her more goose pimply than Charles's ever had. She tried to banish the thought from her head, but she was just so glad that he was here, and Thomas' skin was just so smooth. Maybe he could help her with her problem, especially since Charles wasn't there to get in the way.
"Thomas," she said, then turned a little bit and caught sight, not of Thomas, but of the vampire from the ballroom. She found herself staring into breathtaking blue eyes. She struggled to get free, but it only made him tighten his hands on her arms. She thought about screaming, but she was afraid it would bring more vampires instead of help.
"Is this your office?" she said, trying to get her arms out of his clutches.
The vampire gave her a sly grin when she turned her head around.
"No," he replied; his voice sent chills down her. She wanted to grab her daggers and pierce him straight through the heart. She waited for him to sink his teeth into her neck and finish what he had started months ago.
Her mouth was dry, and her eyes widened. She couldn't let him bite her; she had to fight for her family. She had to escape. She stomped on his instep as hard as she could, making him groan. She took that as a chance and slipped away from his grasp. She sprinted for the door, but he blocked it. He was much faster than she. She ran over to the other end of the room. So much for escaping.
"You... stay away from me, or just get it over with!" she said, almost in tears. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She should have immediately lunged at the vampire.
The stranger replied with another grin. "Penny, come on, you really shouldn't be in here," he said. "Don't make me fight you."
What, he knew her name? He must have been listening in that night.
She reached into the back of her dress to pull out the small wooden daggers that she kept hidden there. She should have brought her wooden stake, but she hadn't thought it necessary before.
"Look, you," she said, "We either do this the easy way, or the hard way."
He laughed gently; the sound made her heart flutter. What was wrong with her? Now she was getting all woozy over this killer?
"What if I pick..." the vampire said and carefully walked towards her, "the hard way?"
She could hear the playfulness in his voice. He wasn't scared. Didn't he know that she was in the Brotherhood? That he shouldn't mess with her? He was being far too playful to be a normal vampire.
"You asked for it," she said, raising her daggers over her head.
The vampire simply moved closer to her. "Bring it on, then," he said with a childlike smile on his lips.
Penny moved quickly, jumping on a chair, using it as a springboard to tackle the vampire. She landed right on top of him, which seemed to surprise him. She threw him off his feet. Raising the daggers, she pushed him down onto the floor. When she was just about to aim the weapons at his heart, he caught her arms and turned her over on her back. He was on top of her, pinning her to the floor. Penny couldn't move, and every breath took extra effort. She stared up into his beautiful face and gritted her teeth.
"You really are a crazy one," he said, audibly entertained. "Boy, does Chuck know how to pick them!"
She struggled to get free, and then he turned her over so that she was facing the ground and her long blonde hair fell away from her neck. She thought was the end of her for sure. Suddenly, he let go of his grip on her. Then she heard voices echoing down the hallway. More vampires would come into the room any minute.
"Stay out of sight," he said, pointing to a couch on the near wall.
She nodded and walked over and hid behind the couch hastily. She felt like a fool right away. Did she just follow his order? He may have sounded like Thomas, but he wasn't. Then another thought entered her mind. Maybe that was Thomas. No! Maybe this was all a vampire trick? Should she trust him?
Oh, Penny, you're so dead, she thought. She bit her lip and gripped her daggers tightly. Why not just go attack him right now when his back was towards her? Even if the other vampires came in right then, she would at least have revenge for her family.
The door opened just as Penny had hidden herself behind the couch. She remained deathly still while the vampires spoke.
"What did that human want with you?" a female voice asked. "He was rather forceful."
"I don't know, something about his girlfriend," the vampire responded.
"What? Did he think that you stole his girlfriend?" another female voice said. Penny recognized this one from the massacre too.
"Shut up, Priscilla," he replied. "I took care of it, Matriarch." His voice changed tone when he spoke to the Matriarch. Penny froze. She was in the room with a vampire matriarch and two of the vampires who had killed her family.
"Fine; what happened to the door?" the Matriarch asked, pointing at the busted door frame.
"Sorry, still don't know my own strength sometimes," he said, shuffling his feet.
"Ugh, of course, only you, Clumsy Bat," Priscilla said, taunting the vampire.
"Priscilla, mind your tongue. I seem to remember you took more than a decade to get a hold of your abilities," the Matriarch said. "He's also one of the best fighters we have."
"Thank you, Matriarch."
The two females walked out the room. After the coast was clear, the vampire peeked his head over the couch.
"You okay?" he asked.
"No," Penny responded, getting to her feet rather shakily.
"Sorry," he said, holding out his hand to help her. She refused it but ended up tripping on the side of the couch and falling into his arms.
"Penny, I think you should sit down for a minute," he said as he placed her delicately on the couch.
Penny did not know what was happening. She knew for sure if the Brotherhood was to catch her sitting on a couch in the arms of her family's killer that they would for sure kick her out. And then where would she be? Back with her grandmother?
"Penny, Penny, where are you?" Charles said through her ear piece.
"She's in a back office with me," the vampire responded for her. Penny could hear an annoyed grunt on the other end.
"On my way; we've got trouble and gotta get out of here," Charles said.
One moment later Charles burst into the room. He did not look happy, but he didn't have his weapons drawn like Penny expected.
"What did I tell you?" Charles said, yelling in her direction.
Penny was about to stutter a response for why she had wandered off and gotten into trouble again, but the vampire cut her off. Apparently, the vampire thought Charles was talking to him.
"Ya know, you're not my boss...fine, I'll leave her alone and let her get eaten by vampires in the future, okay?" The vampire threw her to the ground. "Why do you always have to be such an uptight bastard?" He ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
"We need to go." Charles grabbed Penny by the arm and dragged her out of the room.
"Ow," Penny cried as his hands dug into her arm. She would have protested more, but she was really confused.