"No! No! No!" I shrieked, looking down at the swell of my stomach. "How can this have happened!" I ran my hands over the bulge sticking out from between my hips. "I'm too young to be pregnant!" I wailed. Trixie stood at the foot of my bed, watching with a hopeless expression, "Jethro will be home soon." She assured me, moving quickly to my side and patting my shoulder, " I can't help you, I'm sorry." She hugged me. It didn't comfort me in the slightest. I needed Jethro. As soon as he was here and I was in his arms all my worries would go away. "he'll only be about another hour."
Another hour! I started crying. I needed him now.
Trixie started panicking, I was crying uncontrollably by this point. Not even I could stop myself. "Connor!" Trixie called, distressed. He was at the door in just a few short seconds. The last person I wanted to see right now.
"What wrong? Why is she crying?" he asked, moving swiftly to my side and leaning over trying to see my face; which I hid behind my hair. Might as well get it over with now, I thought, it'll be easier if he finds out now. I sat back, exposing my stomach to him. I watched how his eyes widened in horror as he took in what he saw.
"Your pregnant!" he exploded. "Your pregnant with a little demon child!" I was shocked. He'd just called my child a demon.
"What do you mean demon child!" I shrieked at him. He seemed stunned at me response but quickly recovered.
"Yes demon child! Another little bloodsucker! A little murderer!"
"Don't call him that!"
Connor stopped and just stood staring at me, "Did you just defend it?"
I was just as stunned as he was, I had defended my baby – if it was a baby at all. "Yes – yes I did."
Without another word Connor swept me off the bed and carried me out the door and down the stairs to Tabitha's room.
"Hey, let go of me!" I protested. He set me gently on the black leather couch in the corner of Tabitha's room. The room was filled with equipment, medical and scientific. The walls were filled with band posters. Tabitha sat in front of a desk in the far corner, typing something into her computer.
Connor darted over, whispered something I couldn't quite catch even with my new hearing and left the room. Slowly Tabitha got up and turned around to face me. I looked at her blank expression, puzzled as to what was wrong. I looked at her eyes; they'd gone pure white. The pupil and iris were missing. I took a breath in to ask what was wrong but felt myself go limp and I passed out.
"Don't start with me mongrel!"
"She's too young to be pregnant, no matter what you say!"
"She isn't yours anymore! Stop trying to control everything!"
"I'm just looking out for her!"
"So am I!"
"I'm doing a damn better job than you are! Now move!"
I heard a hiss and a sudden growling.
"Don't start with me parasite!"
"You touch her…"
"And you'll what! Hiss at me again?" Sarcasm was strong in his voice. There was a loud thud and a few milliseconds later, the sound of smashing glass.
"What the hell you do that for?"
"Don't touch Ella, Connor. I'm warning you."
I slowly opened my eyes, realising these voices weren't just in my head. This was real. Connor and Jethro were fighting. I sat up, swung my legs around and lowered myself off the table.
There was a louder bang this time.
"Boys stop it!" I heard Trixie shout.
"I won't let her be harmed by this little monster!" I heard Connor shout, obviously ignoring Trixie.
"It isn't a monster and it isn't your choice whether she keeps the baby or not. It's hers!"
I walked to the door and peered down the hallway. There was a slamming sound and a snarling sound that echoed down the hallway.
"I'd rather she lived. Rather than let your demon kid kill her! Didn't it occur to you that she'd get pregnant, or were you too caught up in your own selfish needs!" Connor was really angry now.
"Connor please stop!" I distressed Emily shouted.
"The child is not a demon!"
I entered the living and was shocked at what was actually happening. I glass fruit bowl had fallen to the floor and smashed. There were big indentations in the walls in three different parts of the room and the coffee table was totally destroyed. Trixie and Emily stood on the stairs watching the action with horrified expressions; Tabitha sat alone in her corner listening to her music. Last of all I noticed Connor and Jethro. Jethro was up against the wall, his feet not even touching the floor, Connor had him pinned up by the throat both of them snarling, growling and glaring at each other.
"You're going to wake Ella up!" Trixie watched the boys, but they didn't even seem to notice her presence. I realised that no one had noticed I'd entered.
"Why did you even have to do it!" Connor continued, "You haven't even known her that long!"
"I've known her long enough," Jethro managed choked out.
"Stop before you wake Ella!" Emily attempted to bring peace to the argument. I stared at Jethro. He was in pain. Connor was hurting him. I wanted to go over and help him but I couldn't gather enough strength to move my legs.
"Too late." Trixie said, flitting over to me and hugging me. "Oh Ella, are you ok?"
"I'm fine." I turned away from Trixie to focus on the boys who were still fighting. "Why are you fighting?" I asked angrily. They ignored me.
"You've caused nothing but trouble for Ella!" Connor continued. Pain flickered strongly in Jethro's eyes but was quickly gone and replaced by the calm, emotionless mask.
"She's been kidnapped twice, she's a vampire, she's pregnant with a vicious little vampire baby; hell, she's even tried to commit suicide because of you!"
Jethro winced at the memory.
"Ella is fine. The baby is not vicious and I am quite happy to be a father." Jethro said coolly. I smiled, Jethro was happy to be a father. A little baby Jethro, how beautiful the child would be.
"Well she obviously isn't happy to be a mother! That baby will kill her! That's what vampires do; they drain the life of those around them!" Connor shouted right in Jethro's face.
"Enough." The voice was quiet and beautiful but spoke with authority. Everything went silent. Tabitha stood up in the corner; it was her who had spoke. She walked forward to Jethro and Connor and gently pushed them apart.
"Enough of this nonsense I can't hear my music." She said, her face remaining expressionless, "The results show that the child is a werewolf, not a vampire. The DNA results haven't come up yet though. But the child cannot be Jethro's if it is of the lycan species, now enough fighting." And without another word she left the room. Connor and Jethro stared at each other for a long moment. Emily was staring at Connor with a look of anguish on her face. Trixie was gob-smacked, her gaze darted between Connor and me. Jethro's calm mask had disintegrated, white rage flashed in Jethro's eyes for a split second as Connor started to smirk. The effect sending Connor stumbling backwards out of the way just as Jethro launched himself at him.
"Jethro!" I practically screamed, darting forward. Jethro had knocked Connor to the floor and was punching at his face. Without thinking I grabbed Jethro and yanked him off of Connor with all my might. I did it, my new vampire strength was coming in handy. I knelt down beside Connor and checked to see if Jethro had done any fatal damage. There were bruises already developing but nothing too serious. Connor just stared at my stomach the whole time. I didn't see how this could have happened, Connor and me hadn't been intimate since before I moved to Crystal Springs, it couldn't possibly be his child. I would figure this one out later, right now I had to check Connor and Jethro were ok. After deciding Connor would be fine, I turned around to find Jethro getting to his feet and brushing himself off. Then his gaze met mine with a look that knotted my stomach so tight I could have hurled. He shook his head and walked away. Oh dear, I thought, Jethro! Jethro! I shouted into his mind, but no response came back. Jethro! I tried again following him into the dark hallway. I couldn't see him anymore but I could still feel his presence. I wandered through the hallway, following his scent. Oh Jethro, please forgive me, I love you, I pleaded, I don't know how this happened but – his reply cut me off mid thought. I do, it was simply just the two words. It confused me greatly. What do you mean, you do? I waited in the middle of the hallway, I could see perfectly well in the dark but I could no longer see Jethro. Then suddenly something threw me back against the wall, but it didn't hurt. I was pinned there, Jethro was in front of me, face to face now.
"You lied to me, Ella." He said. I watched him closely. His eyes were welling up in tears.
"Lied to you about what?"
"About him!" he roared, "You told me you had no feelings for him. You told me it was over between you two! This must have only happened recently, Ella. Don't take me for a fool!"
I shook my head dismay, "No – Jethro – You don't understand! It isn't like that!" I could feel the burn of tears in my eyes now.
"Then how did this happen!" He gestured to my pregnant stomach.
"I – I don't know."
He shook his head.
"Jethro, please you've got to believe me!"
"I thought you loved me, Ella. I really thought you did." A tear fell from his eye.
"I do love you! Please you have to believe me!" I sobbed, tears flowing freely. "Look into my memories! I promise you I don't know how this happened!"
I felt his presence in my mind, but it disappeared quickly and he turned his head away, another tear rolled down his cheek. I lifted my hand to wipe it away. I didn't want him to cry. He caught my hand before it reached his face. He looked back at me with anguished eyes, only to close his eyes and turn away from me again.
"After all this time, Ella." He looked back at me, tears streaking his cheeks. My own eyes going blurry with tears. He didn't believe me! How could he not believe me! I let out a few sobs I couldn't hold back any longer. "After all this time. I thought you were the one." He let go of my hand and gave it a look as if it were diseased. Then his eyes met mine, they were as black as night, the beautiful aquamarine gone as if swallowed up by the night. "But I was wrong." Then he was gone, too quickly for even my new vision to follow.
"Jethro!" I wailed, sinking to the floor. I didn't want to stop crying. He'd left me. Then had to be a nightmare. I had to wake up. "Jethro!" I was in agony, my heart felt as if it had been ripped in two. I heard Trixie and the others come in. They started fussing over me. But to me they weren't really there. Nothing was, only the pain. I loved him so much. Why didn't he believe me? He was gone. He wasn't coming back, not now, not ever. I cried until my eyes were burning and my throat was sore. I was carried to bed and sat withal night. I didn't care who was watching, I didn't care about anything.
"Quickly get up!" I was hurried out of bed. The world was spinning around me. I hadn't slept, because vampires couldn't. But I was quite happy in my daydreams where Jethro was with me. My stomach had grown a considerable amount during the night. It only took me two seconds of being out of bed and out of my daydreams to realise Jethro wasn't there. To remember the night before. To think about him, what he'd said. How it had pierced my heart like a thousand daggers. I held back the tears as we descended the stairs.
Everyone was talking worriedly to each other. From the conversations I could hear I managed to make out that Francis was planning an attack to come and kill me. Let him, I thought, sitting down onto the couch.
Sebastian explained what Trixie had seen. Apparently, Francis had all he needed and all that was left was to dispose of me.
"Let him," I said aloud, not caring about the reactions I got. I waited until Sebastian had calmed everyone down before I continued. "Well he wants me, so might as well give him what he wants rather than you all getting injured sticking up for me."
"I'm sorry but we cannot allow you to do that." Sebastian replied.
"Why not?"
"Because you are family now."
"But Jethro – "
"Jethro left for his own reasons. No matter what you are our family now and we must look out for one another. So I'm sorry Helena but I just cannot allow you to sacrifice yourself."
"Yeah, we'll fight with ya." Stefan put in, giving me a reassuring smile and nod. "We ain't scared of no big slobbering mongrels."
Connor cleared his throat loudly. It was only then I noticed Emily and Connor – the usually inseparable pair – were stood away from each other, very far away from each other. Emily kept looking at me, with something like envy or maybe even anger echoing deep in her gaze.
"No offence to you of course, Connor" Stefan smirked. Connor glanced at me, then to my stomach then looked away.
"We're with you 'til the end." Ivy agreed, laying a gentle kiss on Stefan's forehead to which he replied by nuzzling her neck. I frowned. This isn't right, I thought. There's no point defending someone who doesn't want to live anymore. Just then I felt a little kick. I rubbed my stomach gently. This was it, my last reason for living. My baby, the only person I had left to love. I would protect him no matter what; and the only way to make sure he'd be safe would be to destroy Francis. I looked up from my stomach, realising the whole room was silent and everyone was looking at me with worried expression.
"Ok." I sighed. Sebastian smiled. Everyone cheered. A very unexpected reaction.
"Yes finally, we can get rid of this dog once and for all! Dibs on the leader!" Stefan cheered.
Connor joined me at my side and took my hand. His hand was so warm against mine now. "I'm with you no matter what." He whispered. Then he gently placed his hand on my stomach. I smiled up at him. At least I wasn't alone. At least I still had my friends and new family. And it was finally time to get rid of Francis once and for all…