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Darkness Times

Chapter 11: Mystery of You

Jorge Puckett

Jorge stared at the cup in his hand with a blank expression on his face.

He still hadn't been able to fully process what he had found out barely a few minutes ago. Up until that moment, he had still doubted what Tyler had told him about Ryan, but seeing his son with his own eyes made it impossible for him to deny the truth behind Tyler's words.

Ryan had indeed turned six years ago, and he had been living in secret, away from his family and friends, ever since.

It was extremely odd to see Ryan still looking exactly the way he did back in 2007. Of course, Jorge was aware of the fact that if he was really a vampire, he wasn't aging anymore, but it was still quite weird to know that he was 22 years old when he looked like he couldn't be older than 18. The same applied to Sam and Melanie, but not with so much intensity, since they had only been vampires for a year.

"By the look on you face, I'm guessing you've already seen Ryan," a mocking voice suddenly broke Jorge out of his thoughts, and he looked up abruptly, only to find Tyler taking a seat right next to him at the bar. Melanie, Ryan and Katelyn had left the place several minutes ago, and since Jorge felt like he could really use a drink, he had decided to take their place. He just hoped that they wouldn't go back while he was still there, since he didn't feel ready to talk to them so soon, especially not to Ryan.

"Go away, Tyler," Jorge said angrily, his voice low as he looked away from the green-eyed vampire. "I'm seriously not in the mood."

Much to Jorge's annoyance, though, Tyler ignored him. "Isn't it funny how ironic this whole thing is? I mean, you being a vampire hunter and your three children being vampires," Tyler said, the volume of his voice dropping in an effort to make his words go unheard by anyone else but Jorge.

"Go to hell," Jorge said through his gritted teeth, practically slamming his empty glass on the counter right in front of him. Anger boiled up inside of him, but he knew that he couldn't try anything against Tyler in the middle of such a big crowd, so before he did anything stupid that he would most likely regret later, he began to walk away from the bar without a single glance behind.

"Aw, don't be like that," Tyler said in the same mocking tone from before, but Jorge ignored him. "You don't even know the whole story yet."

That made Jorge pause, even though he wasn't sure if he really wanted to hear what Tyler was about to tell him. Even if what Tyler had told him earlier had proven itself to be true just a few minutes ago, the vampire still couldn't entirely be trusted. But that thought wasn't enough to suppress Jorge's curiosity. He still wanted to know as much as possible about what had happened to his son six years ago, and since he couldn't ask Ryan himself about it – at least not yet, anyway – he ended up having to find other ways to figure out the truth.

"What else is there for me to know?" Jorge asked, his tone hard. Even though he was extremely curious, he didn't want to let it show, since he didn't want Tyler to think that Jorge actually trusted him, because honestly, he didn't.

Tyler didn't instantly respond. He walked toward Jorge slowly, and when he spoke again, he was standing right in front of the vampire hunter. The tone of his voice was so low that there was no way anyone around them would have been able to hear the words he said. At least no one human, anyway. "Ryan wanted to become a vampire."

Jorge was frozen, suddenly losing his ability to speak for a moment. It took him a few seconds, but he finally managed to form a coherent sentence after a while. "Why are you telling me this?" Jorge asked, eyeing Tyler with a look of pure disbelief on his face.

"Because I don't want you going after my sister because you think it was all her fault. I was the one who killed Ryan. His having Katelyn's blood in his system was just something I didn't foresee. But if I hadn't killed him, he would probably have turned later on anyway," Tyler told Jorge in a low tone, and there was an emotion in his eyes that Jorge couldn't entirely define.

And without any kind of warning, Tyler suddenly walked past Jorge and vanished as he entered the crowd of people, instantly getting out of sight.

Jorge could do nothing but stand there for several minutes, his mind racing as he tried to process what he had just heard.

Could Tyler really be telling him the truth?

It seemed impossible for Jorge that someone might actually want to become a vampire, but after everything he had found out that night, he guessed he shouldn't judge anything as impossible anymore.

But what he couldn't quite understand was why Tyler had even told him that in the first place. What would he get with that? It sure didn't make Jorge's hatred for the vampire disminish even one tiny bit, so what was the point of all that?

A curious thought crossed his mind, and he couldn't help but frown at it. Could Tyler be trying to protect his sister? The thought sounded so foreign that Jorge almost instantly pushed it away, but he had to admit that there was no other explanation for it.

Jorge had indeed suddenly grown a strong feeling of dislike toward Katelyn as soon as he found out that she had been the one responsible for Ryan turning into a vampire, even though Tyler had been the one that had actually killed him, but he hadn't considered staking her. He had watched her, Melanie and Ryan for a while, and he had come to the decision that no matter how much anger he felt toward Tyler's sister, he wouldn't kill her for Ryan.

But Tyler didn't know that, and maybe he was worried about his sister's safety.

But was that even possible? Jorge would have never guessed that Tyler was even capable of caring for anyone else but his own self, so it was no surprise that Tyler's apparent attempt to protect Katelyn had come out as a shock to him.

Maybe there was some humanity left in Tyler after all.

Freddie Benson

Freddie felt extremely frustrated.

When he'd first gotten on a plane to Jacksonville, he had believed that this trip would make everything clear to him; that he'd finally be able to understand why Sam and Melanie had faked their own deaths and lived in secret on the other side of the country for a whole year, not even caring about all the suffering everyone they had left behind went through.

But now he could see how wrong he had been.

Sam didn't seem willing at all to explain things to him, even though that was the least she could do. Didn't she think that he deserved to know the truth? And if she did, what was making her so hesitant about opening up to him?

Maybe she's afraid of telling me the truth, Freddie thought, thinking back at what Sam had told him about him hating her if she told him the truth.

But what could be so bad that would make him hate her? He had absolutely no idea, but he could tell that whatever she was hiding, it was something big. It surely couldn't be something big enough to make him hate her, though. Of course, he might be extremely angry at her, but he could never actually hate her.

Freddie walked through the crowd of people in the main hall of the mansion not really knowing where he was going. He wasn't headed to any particular place; he just wanted to get away from Sam for a while in a failing effort to try to calm himself down. He was even considering leaving the party without Maggie, who would for sure not want to go home this early. He just felt so angered that he didn't even feel like being in the same place as Sam at the moment.

But just as he started to make his way to the main entrance of the mansion, his eyes caught sight of a familiar figure walking through the crowd right ahead. It was the same guy who had apparently come out of nowhere when he was talking to Sam out in the back garden and who also seemed to know a lot more than Freddie about what was going on.

Freddie followed the figure whose name still remained unknown to him with his eyes, until he suddenly made a decision.

If Sam wasn't going to tell him the truth, then maybe he'd be able to get some answers out of that guy, whoever he was.

Keeping that thought in mind, he began making his way up to where the mysterious guy had been barely two seconds ago. But when he got there, he saw no sign of the guy anywhere. He looked around confusedly, wondering how someone could simply vanish in the thin air like that, when he suddenly spotted the guy on the other side of the hall, near the huge staircase that led to the second floor of the mansion.

For a brief moment, he wondered how the guy had gotten there so fast, but he soon pushed those thoughts aside and resumed trying to walk up to the dark haired man.

Freddie could have sworn that for a second, the guy looked in his direction, but it happened so fast that he might have simply imagined it.

The guy suddenly started to ascend the stairs in a calm pace, soon vanishing from sight as he made his way up to the second floor.

When Freddie got to the bottom of the staircase, he hesitated for a moment, staring up at the white marble steps right before his eyes. He wondered where the guy was going, and if he should really follow him. He had no idea who the guy was, so was it a really good idea for Freddie to follow him to some unknown and distant part of such a huge mansion like that one?

Every single part of him was telling him not to go; to just turn around and leave that mansion, but his mind didn't seem to agree with that idea. He wanted more than anything to know what Sam refused to tell him, so he ended up going against his instincts to leave the party and started to climb up the staircase.

When he got to the second floor, he found himself standing in a wide hallway with dozens of doors on each side and dark red walls. The carpet was also red, and there were paintings with light colors spread all over the walls.

The hallway seemed to be endless in both directions, but differently from what Freddie had been expecting, there were several people there. The majority of them were couples making out, and in the few seconds Freddie stood there, he witnessed two couples going inside what he guessed were two empty rooms, which had their doors unlocked for some reason.

Freddie started to feel uncomfortable at the sight, but the feeling vanished as soon as his eyes caught sight of a familiar man walking down the hallway on his left, and even though Freddie could see nothing apart from the man's back, he instantly knew who it was.

Freddie turned left and started walking down the hallway as well, following the mysterious guy as he made his way past several couples. The fact that the hallway was actually packed with people made him feel slightly more confident about what he was doing, but there was still a voice in the back of his head desperately telling him to get the hell out of that place, which he ignored.

The man suddenly turned right on a corner, and Freddie sped up his pace a little bit in order to not let the man get out of sight. When he rounded the corner as well, he noticed that the hallway he now found himself standing in was exactly like the other one, so he made a mental note to himself to memorize where he was going, since he didn't want to get lost in the maze of identical hallways inside the mansion.

There were less people in that hallway than there had been in the previous one, and that pattern repeated itself when Freddie rounded two other corners.

As Freddie walked, he kept wondering where the guy might be going, and the only explanation he found was that he was probably going to meet someone somewhere deep into the mansion, where he could have some privacy.

But no matter how fast Freddie walked, he didn't seem to be making any progress in catching up with the guy. Even if in a second he was barely a few steps away from the man, when he rounded a corner, the distance between them seemed to be five times as big as it had been just two seconds ago. But that didn't convince Freddie to give up, even if he was practically running now.

Left, right, right, left, left… Left, right, right, left, left… Freddie repeated the pattern in his mind, trying to prevent himself from forgetting the way back to the staircase that led to the first floor. Left, right, right, left, left, right- He stopped abruptly when he rounded a corner and found himself standing in a deserted hallway, the mysterious guy nowhere in sight.

Freddie frowned as he scanned his surroundings, not understanding how he could have lost the guy like that.

Where the hell is he? Freddie wondered briefly, when a suddenly cold breeze sent a chill down his spine and he shivered involuntarily. That normally wouldn't have made Freddie feel as nervous as it did, if it wasn't for the fact that there weren't any windows in the hallway, or at least not anywhere in sight.

Freddie's heart suddenly started racing inside his chest. It was like he knew that something bad was about to happen. The silence in the hallway was so intense it made Freddie grow even more nervous and he somehow knew that he was being watched. Every single cell of his body was telling him to run away from that hallway, and this time, he actually listened to them.

But he didn't have the chance to.

When he spun around, he was shocked to see that the mysterious man was standing right behind him, blocking his way. The man had an amused look in his eyes and a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"Well, well," the man began, eyeing Freddie with great curiosity. "You're a curious little human, aren't you?"

Freddie frowned at the way he said the word 'human', since he sounded as if he didn't consider himself to be human. "Who the hell are you?" Freddie managed to ask, not tearing his eyes away from the man for even a second.

The man chuckled lightly. "I'm pretty sure you've already heard about me," he said, his features earning a somewhat serious expression. "My name is Tyler, if that rings a bell."

Freddie's eyes widened as realization suddenly dawned upon him. He remembered hearing Jorge mentioning Tyler's name when he overheard Jorge and Pam's conversation. He had thought that Tyler was the psycopath who had killed Sam and Melanie, but that had been before he overheard Jorge's conversation on the phone and found Sam's letter the night he broke into the officer's house. But even though he now knew that Tyler couldn't have killed the two, since he had seen that both twins were still alive with his own eyes, he somehow knew that Tyler was involved in the reason why the two faked their own deaths.

And he could somehow tell that Tyler was a dangerous guy, which meant that he needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" Tyler asked, smirking once again. He seemed to find their current situation completely amusing. "You know, I honestly don't get how you could be stupid enough to follow me here. Do you have a death wish or something?"

Freddie hesitated for a moment before responding. "I just want to know what the hell is going on," he finally said.

Tyler raised an eyebrow at him. "You seriously know nothing about it?" he asked, sounding slightly surprised.

Freddie simply shook his head in response.

Tyler laughed lightly for a moment, as if his night had just gotten whole a lot better after hearing that. "Well, let's just say that your little friend is not who you think she is," Tyler said, his smirk widening even more. "The girl you knew one year ago is dead, and I'm the one who killed her."

Freddie shook his head, doubting every single word that left Tyler's mouth. "You're insane," he said.

"Am I?" Tyler questioned, seeming to be even more amused than before.

"If you really killed her, then how come she's still alive?" Freddie asked.

Tyler chuckled once again. "And who told you that she's still alive?"

Freddie didn't respond; he simply frowned at Tyler. Now he completely regretted following Tyler into those hallways, considering that he seemed to be a complete nutcase.

"Now, I think that's enough talking, don't you agree? This is getting boring pretty fast," Tyler said suddenly as an emotion Freddie couldn't entirely define crossed his eyes.

Freddie simply stared at Tyler for a second, not sure what he should do or say, or even if he should do anything at all.

And that was when it all happened.

Tyler's eyes suddenly changed - the white part of them earned a red color, while black veins suddenly appeared on the skin under his eyes, as if they wanted to tear his skin apart from the inside. Tyler parted his lips slightly, which allowed Freddie to see the sharp, pointy fangs that had suddenly appeared where Tyler's canine teeth should be as a low snarl escaped his lips.

Freddie's breath got caught in his throat at the sight, his eyes widening in both shock and fear. He had never seen anything like that in his life, nor had he been prepared to see. He was so shocked that he was frozen for a moment, his brain ceasing to function for a few seconds, until he finally regained control over his own body and made his legs move.

He took off running in the opposite direction he had come from, going even deeper into the mansion hallways. He didn't even bother to try to memorize where he was going; the only important thing in his mind at the moment was getting away from Tyler as soon as possible.

He ran for so long that he soon grew too tired to continue, and there was nothing else he could do apart from coming to a stop. He bent over, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to steady his heavy breathing.

There was no sign of Tyler anywhere, and for a brief moment, Freddie felt relieved, believing that he had somehow gotten away from him.

But the relief didn't last longer than a few seconds.

Freddie suddenly felt that same cold breeze against his skin from earlier, and when he spun around in surprise, he was able to make out the sight of someone rounding him so fast that the person was barely a blur, before suddenly vanishing from the hallway.

And that was when Freddie realized that he hadn't gotten away from Tyler. Tyler had made him believe that there was a chance he would be able to escape, just so he would go even deeper into the mansion and even farther away from everyone, tiring himself greatly in the process.

Several excruciating seconds went by, during which nothing happened. The fact that Tyler was simply playing with him didn't go unnoticed by Freddie, and it made him feel even more helpless and vulnerable. This guy wasn't human - that much was obvious - and in that moment, Freddie somehow knew that he was about to die.

Freddie was suddenly able to make out a blurry figure coming in his direction, but everything happened so fast that he had absolutely no time to react, or even to process what was going on for that matter.

In a moment, Freddie was standing in the middle of the hallway, and in the other, Tyler had grabbed him by his throat and pinned him against the wall with only one hand.

Tyler's hold on Freddie's throat was so strong that he was sure it would kill him in no time at all, and no matter how much strength Freddie put into trying to break free from Tyler's grasp, he just couldn't make himself do it. Tyler was so much stronger than him that it was almost unbelievable, and he didn't even seem to be making any effort at all to hold Freddie still.

"Such an ingenuous little human," Tyler began, smirking. "Did you really think you'd be able to get away from me that easily?" His face had gone back to normal now, but the image of his face turning into the one of a monster seemed to have been craved on the inside of Freddie's eyelids, since every time he blinked, he found himself staring at the face of a killer.

Freddie had no idea how he'd get out of that one, and honestly, he was pretty sure he wouldn't. This guy wasn't simply a lunatic; he was also a murderer, a monster, and there was no way Freddie would be able to get away from him alive.

What the hell did I get myself into?

Sam Puckett

Sam sighed in defeat as she started making her way up to where Melanie, Ryan, Katelyn and Kyle were.

She had been looking for Freddie for a while now, but there was just absolutely no sign of him anywhere. She was even beginning to think that he had left the party.

She deeply hoped that he hadn't left, since that would only make things even more difficult than they already were. Of course, it wasn't like it would be impossible for her to find him and talk to him again if he had left, but the sooner she found him, the better. She couldn't even imagine how angry he was feeling at the moment, and she wanted to clear things up to him, even if she feared that by explaining everything to him she would probably end up losing him forever.

"Did you find him?" Melanie asked her as soon as Sam reached the other four vampires.

Sam shook her head in response. "There's no sign of him anywhere," she replied, not bothering to hide the frustration in her voice. "I think he might have left."

"Who?" Ryan asked, watching the twins curiously.

Sam hesitated for a moment, before finally answering. "You remember Freddie, right? From Seattle?"

"Isn't he the one you gave the vervain bracelet to last year?" Ryan asked, and Sam nodded in response.

"Wait, are we talking about Maggie's cousin here?" Kyle asked, joining in on the conversation.

"The one and only," Melanie replied.

"Is it bad that I'm completely lost here?" Katelyn asked, clearly annoyed to be the only one who had absolutely no idea what they were all talking about.

"He's a friend of mine from Seattle. We had a fight in the back garden a few minutes ago and now I can't find him anywhere," Sam explained quickly, letting her eyes scan the crowd that surrounded them all for what she guessed was the hundredth in the past twenty minutes.

She was honestly about to give up on trying to find Freddie, when something suddenly caught her eye.

She caught sight of a familiar figure climbing up the staircase that led to the second floor of the mansion, and she instantly felt anger boiling up inside of her.

Tyler.

She couldn't help but think that if Tyler hadn't shown up while she was talking to Freddie, things wouldn't have gone as bad as they had. Of course, she'd probably still have refused to tell Freddie the truth, but maybe he wouldn't have left the party just to get away from her.

Tyler vanished from sight as he climbed up the stairs, and Sam was about to move her gaze away to scan the rest of the room when someone else caught her attention. Another familiar figure was ascending the staircase, apparently following Tyler, and when she realized who the familiar figure was, her heart nearly skipped a beat.

Freddie.

For a moment, her brain refused to process what was obviously going on right in front of her eyes, but she soon let the truth sink in, and when it did, a chill went down her spine.

Freddie probably thought that he'd be able to get some kind of information about her out of Tyler, but he had no idea what he was getting himself into.

There were only two ways this could go on, and neither one of those seemed good in any possible way.

The first one would be Tyler deciding to actually tell Freddie the truth, since he knew very well just how hard that would make things for Sam, and he also knew that would piss Sam off greatly. Sam being the one to tell Freddie the truth would for sure create some issues between them, but things would be a whole lot worse if Freddie learned the truth from someone that wasn't her.

She didn't think that would be the way things would most likely go, though, and that thought made her grow more panicked than she had ever been in her entire life.

She knew very well just what cold, heartless murderers vampires could be, and considering that the vampire in question was Tyler, she was suddenly sure that he'd kill Freddie the first chance he got. The fact that Tyler had decided to go to the second floor of the mansion, where not many people would go, was somewhat solid proof of that. There would be neither witnesses nor someone to stop him, and by the time anyone found out about it, he'd have already gone back to the party, or even left the mansion, and no one would probably have him as a suspect.

That was, if anyone would even find out about it.

Those two lines of thought crossed Sam's mind so quickly that it didn't take longer than two seconds for her feet to start moving. She heard her companions calling out after her, asking her where she was going, but she didn't even bother to look back or respond. Every single moment she lost was precious, since Freddie could die in just a matter of seconds, and he wouldn't even know what had hit him.

And in no time at all, Sam found herself standing in the hallway on the second floor connected the staircase that led to the floor below, trying to decide in which direction she should go.

She had never been a very good tracker, but the seriousness of the situation must have triggered something inside of her, since she suddenly knew that she should go left.

So left she went.

As Sam made her way through several identical looking hallways, she couldn't help but blame herself for what was happening, since she knew that if Tyler actually killed Freddie, it would be no one else's fault but hers. If she hadn't hesitated so much; if she had just told Freddie the truth when she had the chance to, none of this would be happening right now. Freddie wouldn't have felt the need to follow a complete stranger into a place he could easily get lost into and risk his own life in the process without even knowing about it.

Her heart was racing as she made her way past several couples who were just too lost in lip-locking to pay any attention to her, and she couldn't help but wonder if she was even going in the right direction. Even though her instincts were telling her to go that way, she couldn't be a hundred percent sure that way was really the right one.

She tried to avoid those thoughts as she continued walking, refusing to even consider the possibility that she might actually lose Freddie. The single thought of it was just too painful for her to even contemplate it for longer than a second.

But after a few excruciating seconds, Sam finally realized that she was in fact going in the right direction

"If you really killed her, then how come she's still alive?" Sam heard Freddie's voice coming from far away into the hallways, and she instantly paused, closing her eyes in an effort to hear better and try to figure out what direction exactly his voice was coming from. It was a relief to hear his voice; to know that he was still alive and that she could still save him, but she knew that she still needed to hurry up and get to Freddie before Tyler had the chance to do anything.

"And who told you that she's still alive?" Tyler's voice sent a chill down Sam's spine, and she immediately took off in a blur in the direction the sound of his voice had come from.

She paused when she reached an intersection, unsure of which hallway was the right one. She closed her eyes once again, concentrating even harder than before. She couldn't fail, not with something like this.

"Now, I think that's enough talking, don't you agree? This is getting boring pretty fast." Sam's eyes instantly shot open at those words, her heart suddenly racing, since she was pretty sure she knew what Tyler meant by that.

She took off once again, and this time, she was sure that she had finally found them.

She rounded the corner she had believed to be the only thing keeping her away from Freddie and Tyler, but when she got to the next hallway, she found herself standing in the center of a deserted hallway. She eyed her surroundings confusedly, wondering how her instincts could have fooled her like that.

And that was when she heard the sound of someone running.

Even though the floor of the hallways was covered in red, fluffy carpet, she was still able to make out the sound of someone dashing frantically through the corridors, as if running to save their own life. She could hear the person's rapid heartbeat not so far away from where she was, and she suddenly understood what was going on.

Her instincts hadn't fooled her. Tyler and Freddie had indeed been where she was right now, but Tyler had started to hunt Freddie down through the hallways, which wasn't surprising at all. Vampires enjoyed the hunt; simply killing their victims just wasn't thrilling enough.

It took her less than two seconds to actually process that, and in the next moment, she found herself following Freddie's desperate steps, taking off in a blur once again.

And in just a matter of seconds, relief washed over her when she rounded a corner and Freddie and Tyler came into view, but the relief vanished instantly when she realized what Tyler was about to do.

Tyler had Freddie pinned against a wall, holding him by his throat. His veins and fangs were out, which was a clear sign that he was about to kill Freddie without a single thought.

In one second, Sam was standing several feet away from the two, and in the other, she had already grabbed Tyler by his shoulders before he had even had the chance to realize her presence and had pushed him with as much strength as she could gather, which sent him flying across the hallway, before hitting a wall and falling onto the carpet with a low thud.

Sam kneeled down next to Freddie, who had collapsed onto the floor as soon as Tyler had let go of him, his back resting on the wall right behind him for support. Tyler hadn't gotten to the point of biting Freddie, but he had still managed to practically strangle him, which had been enough to make Freddie lose his balance for a moment.

"You okay?" Sam whispered, and Freddie quickly looked up at her, relief clear on his features as soon as his eyes found hers.

Unable to find his voice, Freddie simply nodded in response, before abruptly looking to his side. Sam followed his panicked gaze, only to see that Tyler was already back to his feet and was walking toward the two with a look of pure anger on his face.

Sam was instantly back to her feet as well, her eyes not leaving Tyler for a single second as she glared at him, allowing him to see all the hatred she felt for him in her eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tyler questioned, pausing and crossing his arms over his chest as he returned her glaring.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sam replied, rolling her eyes at him.

Tyler seemed slightly amused by that. "Let me remind you that I'm thirty years older than you, and that I could easily take you down," Tyler said, but Sam didn't even flinch or stop her glaring.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you," Sam replied, not sounding afraid of him at all. She didn't care that he was older than her; all she knew was that she was so pissed off at him right now that she didn't think their age really mattered at the moment.

"Well, let's see about that, then," Tyler said, before springing forward in a blur.

Tyler might have been counting on his strength, but he didn't consider the fact that Sam was fast. Just as about he was about to grab her by her shoulders and pin her against the wall, she jumped out of the way and grabbed him by his shoulders, throwing him against another wall, but this time, he hit one of the small side tables that were spread through the hallways, breaking it down to pieces around him.

He got to his feet in a second and attacked her once again, but this time, he managed to grab her shoulders and pushed her against the wall, holding her by the throat just like he had done earlier with Freddie.

Sam tried to break free from Tyler's grasp, but he was stronger than her. She might be a lot faster than him, but maybe she wasn't strong enough to beat him in a fight. At least not on her own, anyway.

"Get away from her!" Freddie exclaimed as he hit Tyler in the head with one of the bigger pieces of wood that had once been part of the small table, but that were now scattered around the carpet, breaking it into several smaller pieces.

That obviously wasn't enough to hurt Tyler, but it did manage to distract him for enough time for Sam to make a move.

Sam grabbed Tyler's wrist, the same one connected to the hand that had been holding onto her throat, and managed to twist Tyler's arm behind his back, which made Tyler scream in pain. Sam then pushed him with as much strength as she could gather and hit him against the wall, making a big hole on it.

Tyler fell onto the floor, groaning in pain.

Sam looked up at Freddie and saw him staring at her with wide eyes, shock clear on his features. Well, it seemed like she wouldn't be able to hide the truth from him even if she wanted to now.

But right now, she had something more important to worry about - getting Freddie out of there.

In a blur, she was standing right in front of Freddie. He didn't even have time to process what was going on before Sam held him by his shoulders and took off in a blur, taking him with her.

And in just a matter of seconds, they found themselves standing in another hallway, far away from the one where Tyler was.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked Freddie as soon as she stopped running, but Freddie didn't respond at first. He blinked several times as he looked around, as if trying to understand how they had gotten where they were now.

He somehow made himself nod in response after a moment, but his eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he eyed a spot right behind Sam.

Sam quickly spun around, just in time for her to see Tyler coming in her direction in a blur, but she had not time to react. The next thing she knew was that she felt as if her abdomen had been torn apart, and when she looked down, she saw that Tyler had thrust a remaining piece of wood from the broken table right through her stomach.

Sam felt to her knees with a low groan, her hands holding tightly onto the piece of wood as she felt her blood slipping through her fingers and falling onto the carpet.

"I told you I could take you down," Tyler began, glaring at her. "I'll let you live this time, but don't forget that I've already killed you once, and I could easily do it again."

And with that, he was gone.

"Sam." Sam suddenly heard Freddie's voice coming from behind her, his tone urgent. He was suddenly kneeling right next to her, and she could clearly see the panic on his face as he eyed her apparently lethal wound. "You're gonna be okay. I'm gonna…" Freddie was clearly about to stand up, probably to go call for help, but Sam quickly stopped him.

"Freddie, don't," she said through her gritted teeth. The pain made it hard for her to speak.

"What? Sam, you need-" Freddie was about to argue, but Sam stopped him once again.

"Freddie," she managed to say. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not! Sam, there's a huge-"

"Freddie," Sam repeated, this time looking up at him so she could meet his panicked gaze. "Trust me, please," she pleaded, even though his trust was probably the last thing the should ask him for right now.

Freddie hesitated for a moment, clearly not sure what he should do. One part of him was telling him to go look for help, desperate that he might lose Sam again, and this time, it would be real. But there was another part of him that wanted to believe her, and that also knew that whatever was going on wasn't something that followed any of the rules he was used to.

He sighed in defeat, deciding to do what Sam asked.

Realizing that Freddie didn't intend to go anywhere anymore, Sam focused her attention back on the piece of wood. She held it with both her hands, preparing herself to pull it out of her flesh, when Freddie suddenly held her arm.

"What are you doing?" Freddie asked, his eyes wide with shock.

"I need to pull it out," she said, the pain she was feeling clear in her voice.

"Are you serious?" Freddie asked in disbelief, and Sam simply nodded in response.

Freddie hesitated for a moment, but, much to Sam's surprise, he soon laid his hands over hers, a clear sign that he was willing to help her with it.

"On three," Sam said, before sucking in a deep breath, preparing herself for the pain that was about to come. When Freddie nodded lightly in response, she began the countdown. "One," she whispered. "Two." She felt Freddie tensing up next to her in expectation, and she closed her eyes. "Three."

They both pulled at the same time, and Sam groaned because of the pain, but the piece of wood soon fell onto the carpet, completely covered in Sam's blood.

Sam didn't move for a long moment, trying to calm down her breathing. Freddie didn't say anything; he simply remained by her side, waiting patiently for... Well, whatever he was supposed to wait for.

It took a few seconds, but soon enough, Sam felt the wound beginning to heal. She looked down at it, and so did Freddie. Even though the wound was covered in blood, it wasn't hard to see Sam's skin closing.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Sam made herself look up at Freddie, finally meeting his confused gaze. And that was when he finally voiced the thoughts that had been running through his head since the moment he had first laid his eyes upon her that night.

"What the hell is going on?"

Author's Note: Yep, I just love cliffhangers XD

I wonder how Sam and Freddie's conversation will go... Just fine? Terribly? With an unexpected twist at the end? Who knows? Could things possibly get any messier? And who won't live to see another day? ;)

Review! Pretty please? :)

xxiCarlyFanxx