Chapter 9
Hey guys! Hope you like a little drama...
As soon as Fiona returned to the cave, she shut herself in her headquarters and hasn't left since. The other vampires were concerned but assumed she was just having one of her days, which they knew they should just stay away from her when that happens.
Jefferson talks to Phillip and Aurora, "I hope this mood doesn't last long. We have our hunt tomorrow and if we don't end up going, I'm going to be pissed."
Aurora nods, "Me too, I'm starting to get thirsty."
Regina just now walks in, and the three of them look towards her. "Look who it is, the one who has the simple job of going under cover while the rest of us have to endure Fiona's hell training."
Regina scoffs at Jefferson, "Sorry you're jealous, but it's not like I chose this. And I have to train too, just not everyday."
Phillip asks, "Are you even getting information?"
Regina nods, "Yes, it's a slow process but I've gotten some."
Aurora grabs Phillip's arm, "Come on babe, let's sleep, the hunt will come faster that way." The two head to their beds.
Regina didn't want to hear any more of Jefferson's voice tonight, "You better sleep too, that wound isn't going to heal itself." She looks at the gash on his neck.
Jefferson rolls his eyes, "I know how this works. And uh, just to let you know, Fiona's in a mood. Been in her headquarters all day. Hope it wasn't something you did." He walks out to his bed.
Jefferson didn't have a clue about what he was talking about, he just wanted to say something to Regina that would either upset her or piss her off.
Regina knew this, but still had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Damn you, Jefferson. She decides to sleep too, so that her mind can escape her complicated reality.
XXX
Regina wakes up, automatically fixing her hair as she usually does. Since a hunt is today, she walks outside of the cave and around the back to where they usually discuss things. Fiona will tell them who gets to go today. They only need two good-sized humans to feed their group, so everyone going isn't necessary.
Fiona always goes, but usually doesn't kill unless one happens to get away. But that rarely ever happens.
When she sees Regina walk in, she suddenly gets angry. She still couldn't believe that Regina would actually be with one of those hunters. How could she so easily betray me after all I've done for her?
She thought what she sensed in Regina was strength and wisdom, someone that would be by her side. But she was wrong, Regina was weak.
Fiona didn't want to give it away that she knew about Regina's new...interest because she had a plan brewing in her mind. A really good plan. Sure she could just kill them both and be done with it but no, what fun would that be? She wants Regina to suffer first. And she thinks she knows exactly how she can make that happen.
For now, she just had to act as if she didn't know.
"Alright, now that you're all finally here, I'm going to choose two people today for the hunt. I scouted the woods last night and there's a group of four camping out near the lake. We only need two, preferably the men since they're bigger."
Regina felt a bit of relief knowing Emma wasn't out there camping. Her friends probably weren't either if their schedules are anything like Emma's. But she also didn't want to get chosen. She didn't know...it's just ever since Emma, it felt wrong. These are people, innocent people being killed by monsters.
That's what I am, a monster. Regina frowns slightly, sure nothing ever compared to that rich taste but it's not like its the only thing that keeps vampires going. They have another option but never seem to use it.
"Today I want Milah. And for the other...ahh Grace. How would you like to have your first human kill? Well any kill for that matter." Fiona smiles at the young girl. Who has been that young for almost three years now.
Grace's eyes light up. "Really?" Regina couldn't believe this. This little girl is this excited to murder someone? Regina couldn't really blame her, this is what the group is all about. She was this way just a few weeks ago.
Well not exactly this way. She hated the attention and being involved. She just wanted to drink the blood and keep to herself, nothing more. She didn't mind killing humans, and sometimes it was even fun, but now she knows she wouldn't be able to bring herself to do it.
How could she have lost herself in just six and a half months? How was she able to except this way of life like it was nothing? After the accident, and after she was saved, she was just so angry with life and couldn't understand why that happened to her.
It changed her, she became so careless and just went with the flow, even if that meant doing awful things to people who probably didn't deserve it.
"Mhmm. You've been training well, I think you're ready."
Jefferson looks worried, "Hang on, if she's going, I want to be there to keep her safe. And to witness this of course." Jefferson and Grace were the only vamps in the group that were actually related.
Fiona scoffs, "She may be a child but she doesn't need protection. Not from mere mortals. And as for you wanting to see it...fine. Come and watch but don't kill because obviously you could miss it then."
Jefferson smiles, "Now we're talking."
Everyone else is dismissed, their anticipation for their meal growing and growing.
XXX
Marco brings his walkie-talkie up to his mouth, "You guys good?" He is patrolling the west side of the woods.
August, who is patrolling the front of the woods, rolls his eyes, "What do you think?" He knew it would be another day of nothing, just as it has everyday since Gold announced the arrival of the Shadow Bloods.
Archie who is on the east side of the woods says, "All good here." He tosses his escape button back and forth in his hands.
Since Augusts' group does not have magic, Gold created these buttons that could fit in their pockets. When it's pressed, and it could only be pressed by the owner, it transports them back to FH.
This is just in case vampires target them.
XXX
Fiona, Milah, Grace, and Jefferson stop a good distance from the camp. "Damn it." Fiona sees that even more people joined, like six more people. This was too much so right now, they wait. Most of the time this works because there's often a time when a group of campers will split up for a bit.
Twenty minutes passes by and Fiona grows inpatient, all they've done is sat around their stupid fire. "Okay, this is ridiculous."
"Going for a different group today then?" Milah asks.
"Actually that won't be necessary. Jefferson, try getting those guys over here."
Jefferson frowns, "And how am I supposed to do that?"
Fiona sighs, "Must I think of everything for you fools? Hang on, I'll think of something." Fiona thinks for a few minutes and then snaps her fingers, "I got it!"
She informs them of the plan and heads back out of sight with Grace and Milah. They wouldn't be seen but Jefferson would still be able to hear them so he would know where to go.
Jefferson takes Fiona's sunglasses, dreading it since they were made for women. He puts mud on his clothes, too.
As Jefferson nears the campsite, a few of the campers look towards him, "Uh hello, sorry to bother you. I was just four-wheeling out on the path but it got stuck. I was wondering if a couple of you could help me out?"
One guy nods his head, "Yeah sure, I don't see why not. How bad is it?"
"Oh not too bad, one or two of you will do. It's a bit of a walk from here though."
The guy that spoke grabbed one of his buddies and walked with Jefferson. He didn't even feel bad when one of the girls kissed one goodbye. All he cared about was his thirst being quenched.
An hour and a half passed and some of the campers began growing concerned, "They've been gone for a while now. I have a bad feeling."
A black-haired girl scrunches her face, "Yeah that dude seemed a little weird. But he also didn't compare to Jim's size so I figured if something did happen, Jim would take him right out."
Some of them laugh, and a guy with tons of freckles speaks up, "No I agree with Sarah, I feel like something might have happened guys. We should go try to find them, they walked that way." He points his finger.
"I'm going with you, Ryan. You coming Jess?" Sarah says to the black-haired girl.
"I guess so, but I'm not worried." The three of them walk towards the way Jefferson took his victims.
They walk for what seems like forever, their nerves growing by the minute.
XXX
Archie walks around, whistling a tune when suddenly her hears a loud scream come from a woman. He runs and runs towards the sound and finds a girl on the ground breathing uncontrollably.
"Hey calm down, is everything alright?" He says with concern as he tries to comfort the frightened girl. She looks as if she's seen a ghost.
By this point, Sarah and Ryan join them, "What happened, what's wrong?"
Jess starts crying and reaches out a shaky hand with some kind of material balled up into it, she releases it and a bloody, ripped up shirt falls to the ground. Archie's face grows white.
Ryan's eyes widen and he slowly drops to the ground on his knees, "This...this is Bobby's shirt."
Sarah breaks into sobs, "I knew, s-something was wrong! No, I can't-can't deal w-with this!"
Archie tries to find his voice, "Guys, I'll call the police and if anyone else is with you, get them out of these woods." The three don't move, Archie understands why but this could be extremely dangerous for them, "Now!" He shouts. They come back to life and run back to their campsite to warn everyone else.
Archie grabs his walkie-talkie, "Guys, emergency, I repeat, emergency. Search the woods! I'm going back to FH to tell Gold." He presses his button before his team can respond.
He tells Gold everything and Gold tells the team. Gold also calls the chief policeman, who is part of FH and knows their true ways. Since this is definitely a vampire attack, the regular police force can't go out there. It's too dangerous. So Gold's people will handle the "search" and the "case".
Graham looks confused, "Why would they leave just a shirt but no bodies?"
Gold is livid, "To prove a point. They can go out there, and make it as if nothing ever happened. But no, they wanted us to know it was them. Those bastards!" He slams his fist on the podium.
He continues, "We will put out missing flyers since that's what the police would do, and we will block off the woods for the time being. But I don't think we can sit around and wait much longer, we have to take action and go to them. Because clearly, they are staying put for a while." Gold sneers.
Shit. Emma thinks to herself. These guys are strong and mysterious. Usually after an attack, the vampires will stick around to fight the hunters, this time though they didn't. This is not good, what are they even planning? She didn't want to find out, she just wanted them gone.
XXX
Fiona returns to the cave with her container of blood. She splits it all up evenly, although giving herself a little extra drop since she can, and distributes it out among the group.
Jefferson goes on and on to Aurora and Phillip about how amazing Grace did.
Regina stares down at the blood in her hands. It smells so delicious, the temptation was eating at her. But she felt like if she drank it, she was being the thing that Emma wouldn't want her to be, she knew she'd feel guilty.
Fiona notices her hesitation, "I bet you can't wait for that since you missed out on our last human hunt." She tries to keep herself composed.
Regina laughs nervously, "Ha, yeah you're right." She knew that if she didn't drink it, it would look weird to Fiona. I'm sorry, Emma. She tips it back and gulps it down like a huge shot. She felt her energy refueling. And the taste was amazing, oh how she missed that taste! Fiona looks satisfied and leaves her be.
Regina is wanting this to be the last time she enjoys it though because hopefully she would know what to do about Fiona before the next hunt.
Maybe she should start by...telling Emma the truth. She wanted to wait until Fiona was dealt with before telling Emma. So then at least the blonde would believe her.
But maybe the only way of dealing with Fiona is by getting help from Emma. Oh god, she was so scared, she doesn't want Emma to hate her.
She knew this would take a lot of thought and decides to take the whole day tomorrow to plan on how to tell Emma everything, she needed it to be perfect.
Everyone decides to chill inside the rest of the night since they had such a filling feast. When things seem to settle down, Fiona makes her way outside, and out of ear's reach with a glass sphere in her hand.
She smirks and looks at the stream of red color throughout it before slamming and breaking it to the ground. Red smoke swirls into the air and standing in front of her is a dear friend, The Dragon. She met him in New York when she saved Regina.
"Ahh finally needing me to fulfill my end of the bargain? This must be for something important since you've made me wait quite some time." He says.
Fiona nods, "It's very important."
"What is it that you need?" His voice is gentle.
"I need something to prevent one from using magic or other special abilities."
He raises an eyebrow, "Not going to use it on me are you?"
Fiona laughs, "Of course not, you, my friend, are one of the most loyal people I know. I could never do such a thing to you. Now please, if you could do this for me. I don't want to be away for much longer."
"Certainly." He closes his hands in the way one would when holding a bug and making sure it doesn't escape. He eyes close as well as he mumbles something that Fiona can't understand.
He stops and opens his eyes, placing the object in Fiona's hands. "Goodbye for now Fiona. Always a pleasure." He fades into nothing and returns to his apartment in New York.
Fiona couldn't wipe the wicked smile off her face, she finally looks down into her hands to see what he gave her. What she sees is a simple, black cuff.
