Colby Brock
No matter how hard I fight against the spell that's been put on me, I can't move. I can't stop what's happening right in front of my eyes. Without any of us realising, Annalise—the vampire who's causing a lot of issues right now for the entire vampire community—has recruited the help of a witch. I saw the guy just before he cast the spell and now none of us can move a muscle.
"You don't have a boyfriend called Colby. You've never heard of the Trap House in your life." Annalise says to Lydia. She's ripped the necklace from her, which means that her compulsion will work and Lydia will forget all about us. That makes my dead heart die all over again. I feel so angry and so much longing to rip Annalise's throat out.
Lydia, who's been staring straight into the eyes of Annalise this entire time, frowns. I hear her heart beat increase then her scent strengthen as she suddenly gets angry. "Listen, I don't know who you are but you better give me my necklace back. And get the hell out of this bar before I have you kicked out." Everyone, including Annalise, is completely dumbstruck. How did the compulsion not work? Was she not actually compelling Lydia? Without vervaine, it's impossible for humans to be immune to compulsion.
"How..."
"I mean it. Necklace, now." Lydia snaps angrily. Annalise, in complete shock, drops the necklace and glares at us. Then just like that, she's gone and so is the witch. All of us are freed from our spell at the same time as the singer behind the mic ends her long-ass talk.
I move instantly from the group to the side of the stage where Annalise once was. Lydia drops down just beside me and grabs her necklace looking furious. "Lydia." I say.
"Did you see that woman who talked to me? I want to beat her ass right now." She replies angrily with gritted teeth as she glares at the door of the bar. I watch as she turns the necklace over in her hand, looking for damage. Luckily there isn't any so she clips it around her neck. "Sorry, I'm just a little pissed."
"Its . . . fine. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" She frowns at me. It's infuriating that she doesn't know the magnitude of what just happened and that she won't for a while now probably. She needs to know sooner rather than later if Annalise has a witch to help her now.
Witches are rare creatures and when you find one, you better be a suck up otherwise you'll get crushed easily. They have the ability to inflict pain on a vampire's brain specifically that would kill a human if done to them.
"It doesn't matter." I reply quickly. Lydia's still a little confused but she lets it drop as she turns away from me to put her guitar into her case. I look at the necklace around her neck curiously. I like seeing her wearing something that I've given her but if it's useless anyway and bringing pain to me then maybe she could take it off sometime soon.
"Lydia!" A voice calls excitedly. I turn in time for Reggie to throw an arm around my neck and hang off of me as he tries to get my girlfriend's attention. I knock his arm from me, which makes him drop to the floor for a second. Lydia laughs at him and doesn't even help him up. "You're supposed to be nice, Lydia." He complains.
"You touched him without permission. Not my problem." She replies with a smile still on her face. I love that smile. I mean . . . uh. No, I don't love that smile, I just like it. I really like it. If that was the last thing I saw before I died, I'd be happy.
"Well, I was going to say that I think you're very talented but I won't now." Reggie pretends to be salty, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I would have said thank you but I won't." Lydia mimics his pose and tilts her head to the side. Reggie playfully rolls his eyes before he walks off back to the table everyone's huddled around. "I've never seen Reggie like that. He's usually too busy eating Cassie's face." Lydia jokes.
"Yeah. They're like that." I have to fight back a laugh. My mind is still going through possibilities of how the hell Lydia resisted compulsion as a human but another side is just longing to be normal with her.
"I don't have to see it that often, so it doesn't matter to me." She shrugs and looks at me for a second before pulling her guitar case up and grabbing my hand. "Are we going to the house?"
"Yeah, if you want to." She nods so we walk back towards the table. The girls give her their congratulations and praises and hugs while I just watch the happiness on Lydia's face. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. If she's happy, there's a part of me that never ever wants that to change.
**********
Once Lydia was asleep on the beanbag next to me and Tara was up sleeping in Jake's room, it was time to talk about what the hell happened. Lydia had resisted compulsion earlier tonight, which should be impossible for a human to do, and we have to figure out why.
"What are you thinking?" Sam asks everyone curiously as he looks around the group. No one says a thing because no one knows.
"Is she... is she definitely a human?" Elton questions slowly as he looks at her. I frown at him like he's mad and he rolls his eyes. "Annalise, remember? She said she'd find out what she is. What, not who."
"What could she possibly be?" Devyn asks quietly, her voice small and fragile. I glance at her then at Lydia. She seems completely human but there's only one other supernatural creature other than a vampire and they can resist compulsion.
"What if she's a witch?" Sam reads my thoughts.
"They're too rare." Kevin shakes his head but frowns slightly. That seems to be the only explanation for the compulsion thing but witches first start using their powers at the age of ten. Lydia would know by now if she was a witch.
"Annalise had one." Jake points out. "And powerful enough to hold back even Colby." I glance at the necklace around Lydia's neck. It shines slightly under the light in the garage and the vervaine coating it blinds me a little.
"Should she not know by now?" Corey questions. "Don't witches know that they're witches by the time they're ten? She'd know about herself and she'd sure as hell know about vampires, which she clearly doesn't."
"Yeah, she looked hella disturbed when she saw Annalise's eyes." Mike agrees.
"It doesn't make any sense." Aryia mumbles. I have nothing to say because I'm just as clueless as they are. The best I could offer is 'I'm not sure'. Something tells me that wouldn't be very helpful to the discussion.
All of a sudden, the lights flicker. Everyone looks around at them as it gets worse until they cut out. The second they turn back on, Lydia is sitting up next to me. Everyone jumps out of their skin but she doesn't move. Her eyes have a glazed look to them as she just stares down at the ground in front of her. I want to reach out to see if she's okay but I know it's a stupid idea, especially when the vervaine of her necklace blinds me. Every vampire in the room turns their heads away flinching while I fight through the pain.
"Lydia." I say sternly, hoping to get some reaction but she doesn't move a muscle. It doesn't even sound like her heart is beating, which scares me to death. I reach out to pull the necklace from her neck but it doesn't move. It's almost like it's bound to her as she looks at me, fear hidden behind that far away look. And then she's out. Her eyes close, the vervaine stops, and she drops backwards. I catch her in time to gently lay her down.
"What the hell just happened?" Sam says through deep breaths. The vervaine isn't so bad for me because I'm so much stronger but I feel more drawn to Lydia all of a sudden. I don't understand it but I want to protect her more than ever. If I thought it was overwhelming before, then I've got another thing coming this time.
"I don't fucking know." Reggie, one of the weaker vampires in the group, growls. His eyes have turned black and so have Cassie's as they stare at Lydia. They look pissed and like they're gonna pounce, which puts me on edge.
"That hurt." Cassie growls too. I'm seconds away from vamping out if they keep this up. They do what I say. And attacking the girl I love is not something I'm going to tolerate.
As if they read the expression on my face, they both fight the urge and slowly lean back into the couch while still scowling. Sam gives me a look that reads 'you better get her out of here' and I nod in response. Waking her up isn't an option here since what happened before when she was sort of awake and I only know one way of transporting a sleeping girl.
In vampire speed, I pick Lydia up and run from the room. Normally, I would go to my room but that's too close to Reggie and Cassie and I can't trust them enough to stay away. So I run to Lydia's apartment instead. She's so knocked out that she doesn't wake up the entire time and I'm even placing her gently down on her bed before she stirs.
Now that she appears to be back to normal, I carefully remove the vervaine necklace from her neck. It comes off without argument so I put it in a drawer then lie down with her. I don't exactly get into bed, just lie over the covers with one hand behind my head as I listen to her breathing. She's still completely out.
Whatever she is, she's certainly not human. Her actions are consistent with a witch even if she herself isn't. I just hope that she won't leave me. I don't know if I could live without her anymore. She makes me feel alive and nothing's done that for me even before all of this happened. No one's made me feel the way she does.
I love Lydia. And I need her.