Tyler Lockwood pulled off the old clothes he had worn during the Founders Day parade. It was a welcome relief to feel the itchy material leave his body in one swift motion. He had been looking forward to putting his own shirt and jacket on for hours and let out a satisfied sigh.
He pushed his cell phone and wallet into the pockets of his jeans, heading out his front door quickly before his mother could catch him and ask to help her out with the rest of the evening's events. It wasn't long before he was playing pool as if it were any other night and not one among the constant succession of traditional bullshit his family put on.
The sight of his father walking towards him was startling to say the least. He had rarely seen him so alarmed and as they exchanged words his confusion grew. He searched his father's face for anger but immediately realized it was much more than that. The tight grip on his arm was meant to convey seriousness and concern, not another assertion of power. He saw Matt and Caroline follow him and his father out the door. They were obviously concerned that it was another violent episode his father tended to have when Tyler wouldn't do as he was told.
As they stepped out the back door his father pushed him against the wall, desperation in his eyes.
"Please son, go home now. Lock the doors and you cannot leave again tonight." He practically begged.
"Dad, I've never seen you like this. What's happening?" Tyler said while his best friend interrupted the conversation. Matt's protectiveness was a wonderful respite to the cold shoulder he had been getting from him for weeks. Caroline also did her part to defuse the tension.
It was unnecessary as Tyler was already convinced that he should listen to his father.
"You really think we'd let him get away?" A deep voice said from the other side of the parking lot.
"Shit." Mayor Lockwood muttered as he placed a hand on the side of his son's neck and looked down to gain his composure.
The three teens had no idea what was unfolding but were now sure it was bad.
"The Mayors son comes very close to the top of the list…for obvious reasons." A dark haired vampire taunted. Four others joined him as he approached the Mayor, who now turned and stood protectively in front of his son.
"What is this?" Matt blurted out as his fear grew. The approaching man glanced at the blonde teen and ignored him.
"Stay the fuck away from my son." The Mayor said, seething with anger. "I swear to God I will watch you all burn if you so much as touch him, understand?" He continued to threaten.
The vampire almost laughed. "You say that with so much conviction yet stand here unarmed." He was suddenly only a few feet from them and Caroline gasped and grabbed onto her boyfriend.
"I'm willing to make a deal. Any deal." Tyler's father shot back. He also reached back to get a firm grip on Tyler's arm, becoming more and more terrified knowing he wouldn't be able to stop them from taking his only child from him.
"We can worry about deals once you get this extermination plan stopped." The vampire explained, getting inches from the Mayor's face.
"Don't take him." Was all Tyler's father could manage to say. All three teens came to the shocking realization that Tyler was being kidnapped. They were more than horrified knowing that a man as powerful as the Mayor was submitting and not throwing punches. The intensity and stealth they witnessed in the next few seconds confirmed their suspicions that the approaching man was something supernatural. Before anyone knew it Tyler had been pulled from behind his father and the man was holding him with a knife to his throat a few feet away. Tyler was panicking as he tried to wrap his head around the situation. "Dad." Was all he got out as he made eye contact with his father and saw he was near tears. Caroline was sobbing and Matt held her while looking back and forth between the Mayor and his friends captor, wondering what, if anything, he could do to help. Tyler struggled to get away from the knife but was being easily overpowered.
"I'll get it stopped." Mayor Lockwood said after getting composed.
The vampire smiled, running the blade lightly up Tylers throat, forcing his head back. "That's what we are counting on, Mayor." The vampire revealed.
A second later Tyler and the vampire were gone.
"Fuck!" the Mayor screamed. "Get to your houses kids, you need to be somewhere safe in case this gets worse, I can't explain and don't tell anyone." He said without looking at them before rushing inside.
Tyler seemed to be fighting against a brick wall by the way he was being manhandled into some dark SUV. He was using all of his strength but getting nowhere. It crossed his mind that his adrenaline should be helping aid his attempts to get free but he literally couldn't move. Fear was taking over as he could not catch his breath and still needed to fight. He didn't want to be taken anywhere by these men and was struggling to hold onto the hope he could get away. Once he was seated in the vehicle his hands were held together behind him and quickly bound, and he was gagged as well. The muffled sounds made him aware he had been screaming at the men but otherwise that he was fully to a point of being scared out of his mind.
The vampire who had been his abductor sat next to Tyler in the backseat eyeing him with a strange smirk that wouldn't go away. After a few long seconds he spoke to the teen, in an eerily flat tone. "So daddy's the Mayor. Must be fun." He said too casually, looking probingly at Tyler who made no attempt to respond. "Well I had fun tonight." He continued. "Watching the all-powerful Mayor beg for his son. It was quite pathetic the way he would have given me anything in the world to keep you. That protective little ramble just demonstrated what we already knew. You are his weakness." The vampire revealed the knife and ran it up Tyler's side and up to his neck. "Daddy hates vampires but not nearly as much as he loves his baby boy." The vampire laughed at his own tirade.
It angered Tyler to know he was being used against his father like this but that thought was quickly overpowered by the entire vampires being real part of his predicament.
The look in the vampire's eyes made Tyler's stomach turn. It was an obvious enjoyment at the idea of tormenting the Lockwood family. The teen could not understand how his father had made enemies with a bunch of vampires. He stared at the knife now running along his chest wondering what would be done to him. The vampire shifted over gracefully and was now uncomfortably close to Tyler. "There is just something about you that makes me curious." He said more to himself than the teen, seemingly making a decision. Tyler's jacket was swiftly pushed off his shoulders and the vampire slowly slid the knife into the sleeve of the younger male's shirt. Tyler squirmed and attempted to pull away but was already up against the inside of the car door. The vampire made intense eye contact as he began to cut the shirt. Muffled protests could be heard through Tyler's gag and the vampire openly enjoyed the torment he was inflicting. After the agonizingly slow cut was made and revealed Tyler's chest the vampire then pressed the knife to skin and proceeded to just as slowly slice it open. Tyler screamed through the gag, struggling even harder to pull his hands free to protect himself. He then witnessed the vampire inspecting his blood and even smelling it. "I wonder if it's safe." The vampire said to the two other vampires in the front seat.
"I wouldn't risk it. For plenty of reasons." One responded to him.
"Yeah." The vampire holding the bloody knife agreed before turning back to Tyler.
"So that didn't really answer any of my questions." He said in the same teasing voice. "But was it good for you?" he said before laughing to himself and moving away from the teen.
