Maw of the Beast

"Brendon, I feel that Tanith and I have been growing too much apart," William commented to Brendon. "I want to give her something for her upcoming birthday, but I'm not sure what. You seem to have her ear; what would you suggest?"

Brendon was surprised by the question, but tried not to let it show. "Well there's the usual things: flowers, chocolates…promises you don't intend to keep."

William laughed. "Ah Brendon, I do believe this house wouldn't be nearly the same without your offbeat humor now and again." Brendon just smiled, secretly hoping that whatever William did get Tanith wouldn't outshine the white-gold Claddagh ring with a garnet heart that he himself had gotten for her birthday.

"Wake up, Brendon."

Brendon groaned and raised his head as best he could to see William smiling at him, cruelly triumphant. "Please-" he moaned.

"Don't worry, Brendon; it's over now," William interrupted smoothly. "Tanith is on her way home now."

"No…" whispered Brendon. "Please, leave her alone."

"I am all too aware of your feelings for Tanith, Brendon, but the fact of the matter is that she is still mine," William said calmly. "I don't intend to harm her; you know that. But I have never given up anything, and I don't intend to start now. She'll come here. She'll bring Peter. And by the time they realize what's happened, they'll both be trapped." Smiling his sinister smile, William left Brendon to his sorrow.

Pete was many things, but none of these included "idiot". He knew that they were being led into a trap; all of them knew it, though they suspected this was William's "Plan B". No one had expected the outburst Tanith had displayed, not even Tanith herself. It was obvious that William had been thrown by the power she had shown, and this was an advantage. If she could control this power it would be better still, but there was no time for that. Brendon could already be dead, as William had no further use for an insubordinate subordinate. They had to move fast if they wanted to save him. Joe and Andy were a little hesitant about saving a Dandy, but Patrick pointed out that Brendon had suffered having his fangs ripped out because he loved Tanith so much. It was doubtful that he would betray them.

Pete, Tanith, and Émile went ahead to the mansion that Tanith described while Patrick, Joe, Andy, and Minuet followed in the car. They would cause a disturbance while the immortals of the group found Brendon and got him out of there. Minuet used a special power of hers called glamour to make herself look like Tanith so William, if he bothered paying attention, wouldn't know that the real Tanith was breaking Brendon free. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best they could do.

As soon as the four from the car had burst through the doors, guns blazing, Tanith led Pete and Émile to the back of the house and slid her slim body through a small window at ground level, the boys following. The stench of blood hung heavy in the air. It grew stronger still as they delved into the darkness until they could practically taste it. At that point they had come to a thick wooden door. It was locked, but Émile broke it down easily and they went inside.

"Oh my god…" Tanith croaked, her voice a bare thread of a whisper, her eyes wide in horror. Brendon hung from a great wooden X, nails through his hands and feet to hold him. He was only wearing a pair of boxers, and he shivered from cold and agony. He was drenched in his own blood, his lip was split and puffy, his left eye swollen shut, deep gashes all over his body. He had been starved, beaten, whipped, sunburned, and God knows what else. Blood flowed freely from his mouth, reminding Tanith that Brendon's fangs had been cruelly ripped out. Nausea hit her stomach like a fist.

"Benny…" she whispered hoarsely. "Benny, it's me. It's Tanith. I finally found you, and I'm going to take care of you."

Brendon raised his head slowly, opening his good eye. "I'm sorry, Tanith," he croaked, lisping a little due to his missing teeth. "I tried…"

"No, baby, it's not your fault!" Tanith insisted. "Don't be sorry; it's not your fault."

"Where's Peter?" asked Brendon weakly. "Did the Baron-"

"No, he didn't," said Pete, stepping forward. "I'm right here. We're gonna help you. All of us." Looking around, Brendon could see that Tanith's friends were gathered there. Tanith forced a weak smile.

"See? It's all OK now," she whispered. The pitiful façade fell through, though, and she said, "Why aren't you healing? What has he done to you?"

"Injected me with something," Brendon whimpered. "Tanith, it hurts…"

Tanith's hands began to shake with rage. "Get him down and take him out of here," she said in a low voice. "Billy and I need to have a little talk."

The others knew better than to protest. Tanith cast a comforting look to Brendon before leaving the dungeon to find William. In her hurry, she literally ran into a pomme de sang named Claire, who had always been jealous of Tanith and William's relationship. Claire scowled when she saw Tanith.

"Back again, are you? You think Billy's actually going to take you back?" she sneered.

"No, I think I'm going to kill him, and you if you don't get out of my way," Tanith snarled.

"You're no match for him!" laughed Claire.

"I'm more than a match for you, coffin bait!" Tanith snapped, shunting Claire aside while the girl stared at her in shock. "Coffin bait" was a term for whores who had sex with vampires. Very insulting indeed. But the stupid girl didn't matter, and Tanith forgot about her almost instantly. She was focused on one thing only: revenge.

She found William in the library (of course), sipping his damned tea. Tanith shot the cup from his hand, causing him to look up mildly.

"I wasn't finished with that," he remarked, smiling. Big mistake. Tanith tackled him, empowered by lividity and hatred, knocking over the couch he sat on. She shrieked like a Harpy, pummeling William's face before he recovered himself enough to teleport out of her grip. She jumped up, waited for him to reappear, and lunged again.

"Bastard! You evil piss-sucking reject of Hell!" she screamed, her voice of an intensity that shattered several glass and crystal objects in the room. "Where's the antidote?! Give it to me! Or I swear I'll carve that pretty face off your skull and make it into a death mask!"

William finally caught her fist and held it, the bruises on his face healing rapidly. "Tanith, I don't know what you mean," he insisted.

Tanith's eyes blazed. "WRONG ANSWER!" She grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked it towards her as hard as she could, twisting William's head around a little more than 180 degrees. William screamed in agony and anger, flailing at Tanith. As he did, a vial of reddish liquid fell out of his jacket: the antidote for the serum he had poisoned Brendon with. Kicking him as hard as she could, sending him flying across the room, Tanith snatched up the vial. She glowered at William as he righted his broken neck and glared at her, murder in his eyes. But he was surprised to see a faint sadness through the hatred in Tanith's.

"You're the Devil," she said venomously, but softly. Somehow that softness made her words cut deeper, and William wished she had shouted them instead. But she was gone in an instant, leaving him alone again.

Tanith tore through the house, shooting her magnum with her left hand and swinging her sword with her right as she raced for the main hall. Minuet was wielding a strange weapon, two sword blades, curved in opposite directions, protruding from either end of a short pole. This she spun like a dervish, whirling it almost too fast to see as she attacked, dispatching Dandies left and right. Émile had transformed into a great wolf with glorious black fur, standing on two legs. He uttered a magnificent, bone-chilling howl as he ripped into his enemies. Joe, Andy, and Patrick were going to town with their homemade net guns, Andy's rapier little more than a blur of silver in the air as he battled. Skidding to a halt at the top of the stairs, Tanith gave a shrill whistle through her fingers, signaling her friends to get out quickly. She slid down the banister, firing off her gun randomly before bolting through the door and out into the night with her friends.