Legacy: Lovers Lane

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Seven: Captured . . . Again

Susan grunted as she and Ethan hit the ground, narrowly avoiding the energy ball that was shot towards them. Ethan gripped her tightly, his lips close to her ear, and whispered, "Don't move. It's Cassandra."

Her heart skipped a beat as the man she truly loved kissed her cheek and slowly got to his feet, looking towards their attacker. From where she lay, Susan could see a few other pairs of legs as well. Bobby was standing closest to them, in a fighting stance. Brandon was also nearby, calm and poised, but the intense worry pouring off him in waves.

Why was it, she thought in exasperation and annoyance, that she could always sense Brandon? His emotions, his whereabouts—except when he cut her off—she could always pinpoint exactly. It frustrated her to no end and drove her crazy half the time, but oddly enough, it gave her some condolence, some comfort. She couldn't explain it.

Turning her attention to the other pairs of legs, Susan recognised Cassandra's—who else would wear those designer shoes? The demon that she had met during her captivity two years ago had been a fashion freak and always had the best of everything, demanded it, something that she had thrown at Susan multiple times. Those shoes had to cost two hundred dollars a shoe, if she had even paid for them, which Susan highly doubted.

The high heeled shoes doubtlessly belonged to Brooke, who was standing next to a pair of hospital shoes. Wyatt, no doubt, probably just having gotten off of a shift at the clinic. Which meant that the pair of sneakers next to him was Chris. Susan inwardly groaned; she really didn't want to have this conversation right now. They had bigger things to deal with.

"Cassandra," Ethan spoke, his voice flat and even as he stood up, looking at his half-sister. Susan's blood chilled as the blonde demon replied in the same tone that he had used, but hers adapted it into a mocking voice.

"Hello, little brother."

"We've been expecting you," Ethan said smoothly, his hand at his side flicked and an energy ball appeared in his hand, gathering energy as he held it. Susan reached out, tugging on his pant's leg inconspicuously.

"Don't hit the others," she whispered, in such a soft tone that none of the others caught it.

"I won't," he breathed back, just as quietly. Susan stayed on her stomach as Cassandra's designer shoes stepped closer. "I think that's close enough, Cassie. You shouldn't have come here. That was your first big mistake and believe me, it's the last that you'll ever make."

"Resorting to threats now?" Cassandra replied slyly. "I would think that you'd want to keep your precious little witch as safe as you possibly could. I mean, that is the reason why you left her in the first place."

"I left so you and Dad wouldn't come after her," Ethan snarled. Susan closed her eyes, fighting the tears that were threatening to come pouring down. "And I warned Dad what would happen if any of you came after Susan ever again. This time, you're going to pay with your life."

Cassandra let out a low chuckle. "You seem to be forgetting, dear brother, that our family is invincible. I don't know what your witch was brewing there, but no matter. Enough of this nonsense. Just come with me back home and we can forget that this nonsense ever happened." Ethan released a short, disbelieving laugh.

"You really expect me to—"

"And your little witch is off-limits from now on," Cassandra added, ignoring her brother's protest. Susan's blood went cold and she seethed at this new turn of events. Despite how much he hated being evil and part-demon, if he thought for one minute that he could keep her safe by going back, then he would do it.

"No, Ethan," she whispered, fear striking her voice. He couldn't do this to her, not now.

"Shh, sweetheart," he whispered to her. Susan stared up at him, blue eyes meeting brown, before his gaze returned to his sister again, straightening as the energy ball that remained in his hand was up to an extremely high level.

"My mother was human, Cassandra," he said flatly. "And the humanity is a big part of who I am. Her compassion was what drove her to our father and that same compassion she passed on to me drove me to Susan. If you think for one minute that I am ever going to stop protecting the Innocent, you're wrong."

"You have no idea what you've started," Cassandra hissed. "The girl's going to die, little brother. One day she'll die and then you'll still be here, nursing a broken heart from that weak human side of yours. Because she weakened you, made you less of what you are."

"I'm never going back. If you came back here to convince me to go back, then you're wasting your time. You're never going to persuade me."

Susan held her breath as a small chuckle escaped from the demon. "I didn't think that I would," she replied smoothly. "But I am a bit smarter than you give me credit for, Ethan." She smiled. "You don't think that I came here alone, did you? Horace! Jason! Marcus!" she shouted, her voice echoing slightly in the small room, making it seem bigger than it really was.

The second that the demonic assassins shimmered into the room, Ethan launched the energy ball at his sister, shouting at the others, "Get out of the way!"

He took a dive under the counter, pulling Susan to him as Bobby and Brandon launched themselves next to them in safety. "Get her out of here!" he snapped at Brandon, shoving Susan towards the Whitelighter.

"Ethan!" Susan shouted at her ex, struggling to break free of the hold that her Whitelighter had on her. "Stop! Let go of me, Brandon!" she snapped, slamming her foot down on his. Brandon released a sharp howl of pain as she pushed him off of her and moved towards the battle that was happening, ignoring her boyfriend, Whitelighter, and brother as they yelled after her.

Conjuring the lightning as it sparked from her hands, Susan hurled it towards the demon called Marcus, turning him into flames as he was vanquished as Ethan vanquished one of the other two.

"One on two?" she said, smiling pleasantly at the sole assassin. He scowled at her, looking between the two former lovers. "I'm liking these odds."

"Witch," he hissed at her and Ethan moved protectively in front of her, his gaze on the assassin. "You think you've won." He let out a soft chuckle. "Believe me when I say, this battle is far from over." A smirk played across his face, causing chills to go up her spine. "It hasn't even begun."

Before Susan could even consider what those words meant, she felt rather than heard someone shimmer behind her and without warning, someone's arm wrapped around her neck and she felt the cool blade of a knife at the base of her neck.

Ethan snapped the moment that he saw whoever had her, about to move towards her when the knife lifted enough to show him the deadly weapon. "I can kill her in half the time it takes you to even think about it," Cassandra said smoothly. Susan grunted as the arm tightened around her windpipe and she struggled for air. "Relax, Dawson. I'm not going to kill you. Yet," she added with a hint of malice.

"What are you doing?" Chris demanded, moving forward. "You said we help you, you'd leave her alone!"

"Well . . ." Cassandra gave a small, sinister chuckle as she looked at him carelessly. "You should listen better to your big brother. Working with demons . . . always a bad idea." She replaced the knife against Susan's throat and backed her away.

"Cassandra, if you harm one hair on her . . ." Ethan growled, but she laughed excitedly.

"You're going to do what, exactly, little brother? There's only one way that your precious witch is going to survive and that's if you come back to this family. Of course, not even that's going to save you from our father. Nothing will. The moment that you crossed over, you signed your own death warrant, Ethan. The girl? She's just a nuisance that we need to get rid of." She smirked as she narrowed her eyes at the half-demon. "And I am going to be there to watch the two of you die."

Susan gasped at the feeling of involuntarily shimmering as the hotel room disappeared from sight, replaced by a familiar setting. She stumbled as Cassandra threw her onto the cave ground and she scrambled to her feet, looking around at the place that had been the setting of her captivity the last time that she had last met Tristan Hale.

Her heart was racing rapidly as she looked around at Cassandra, her blue eyes wide and fearful, but determined. "Why are you doing this?" she demanded. "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"Now, now, Miss Dawson, no need to throw a tantrum," a silky, familiar voice said from behind her. Susan's blood went cold and she slowly turned to face the one man that she had prayed never to see again. Tristan Hale smirked as he stepped into the room. "I would hate for there to be any un-pleasantries amongst us." He reached for her and traced one hand down her face and neck, resting above her chest. Susan had to fight to keep herself from flinching back; she was not sixteen years old anymore. She was not the same girl that he had held captive last time.

"After all," Tristan said smoothly, "you're going to be here for quite some time, my dear. A very long time."

To be continued . . .

--Fade to Black--

End Credits

Guest starring:

Robert Pattinson as Ethan Hale

Kiera Knightly as Cassandra Hale

Jack Devonport as Peter Connelly

Eric Bana as Tristan Hale