Chapter Six:

In the morning, Monty rolled over and kissed Phoebe's cheek, waking her up, "Good morning, darling," he whispered in her ear. She smiled at him as she turned to look up at him, "Hi."

He grinned at her, kissing her lips, "How's your hand?" He glanced at it, inspecting it to see if there was any further damage.

"Just fine, I guess," she shrugged.

"Were you frightened of her?" Monty asked, thinking back to last night and how Sibella had Phoebe pinned underneath her at the sight of the cut. He shuddered at the memory, and yet he had seen the two women in that position before and it had never had been terrifying before. Monty guessed that it had been the fact that Sibella could have hurt Phoebe that made the situation horrifying and scary.

"A bit," Phoebe blushed at the memory. She had been frightened, of course, but there had also been something else. It had been weirdly… intimate. Phoebe hadn't been that close to Sibella since before she had passed and having her mere inches away from her was intoxicating. In those few moments, Phoebe had been caught off guard by the allure of Sibella's bright eyes even though her fangs were set to pierce through her skin. Phoebe had still loved her in that moment of terror.

"I'm sorry she almost hurt you," said Monty dragging Phoebe out of her thoughts. Phoebe sat up, bringing her hair over her shoulder with her other hand, "It's alright, I know she didn't mean to."

"She needs our help," said Monty as he kissed Phoebe's head. His wife nodded, "Yes. I know she does, so let's go help her."

After getting dressed and having breakfast, they set off for the library once more to collect more research. The line was long for the checkout with many young children in front of them, and Phoebe and Monty had to stand there for a while. Monty wandered off to look for some newspapers, leaving Phoebe in line by herself.

The Countess hummed to herself softly as she stood there, the weight of the books wearing on her arms.

"Researching about vampires, are you?" someone asked. Phoebe turned around and her eyes met a man with a dazzling and yet disarming smile. He was dressed in a nice black suit that complimented his dark blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He had no books in his arms, yet he was standing just to the left of the line. He leaned against the wall and gave her a smirk.

"Yes, I'm just interested in them," Phoebe replied simply. She turned back around, she was almost first in line now and her thoughts were focused on how to help Sibella. The man came closer, peering at the books in her arms.

"That's a lot of books you got there, Miss…?" he prompted her.

"Phoebe," the brunette was startled by his continuation of their banter. "Mrs. Phoebe Navarro, Countess of Highhurst," she said as she placed the books on the counter and shook his hand, "And you are?"

"Matthew," he shook her hand, "Matthew Hedley."

She smiled at him nervously as Monty came next to her, dropping off a newspaper onto the counter to add to the pile, looking at the man suspiciously.

"Hello," rushed in Matthew, shaking Monty's hand politely. Monty frowned at him and narrowed his eyes, immediately distrustful of this man.

"Monty, this is Matthew Hedley," introduced Phoebe.

"How do you do?" asked Monty cordially.

"I'm very well, thank you. I was just talking to your wife about her interest in vampires," said Matthew, pausing to look at Phoebe, "She seems rather engrossed by the subject. I'm sort of an expert on vampires myself."

"Yes, well, we should get going," Monty wanted to leave. He tugged on Phoebe's arm, "Come along, darling."

Before she was pulled away by Monty, Matthew leaned in towards her, "Vampires are my specialty, Mrs. Navarro, if you ever want to know more, feel free to call me anytime if you'd like more information," he said as he passed along his card. Phoebe took it in her grasp and held it, smiling at him appreciatively as he left. She glanced at it as Matthew walked away while Monty glowered at him from afar.

"Monty, look at this," whispered the brunette. Monty's eyes looked at it.

Matthew Hedley; Vampire Hunter/Exterminator.

Monty's blood ran cold. "We've got to warn Sibella," he said in a low voice. Phoebe nodded in agreement as they took their books back and went back to the car.

"We should go see him though… maybe he can help," she suggested as she slid the card into one of the books for safekeeping.

"I don't know… I don't trust him, I feel like he wants something from us," remarked Monty, frowning as he thought of the man they had just met.

"Oh, Monty you are so distrustful of everyone," Phoebe sighed.

"Didn't you get a weird feeling from him?" asked Monty as he started up the car.

"A little but Monty what choice do we have?"

"We can find someone else to help us," he interjected sourly.

"He may be our only help," Phoebe said with insistence. Monty sighed, "Maybe you're right."

"It's worth a shot, Monty. Don't you want to help Sibella?"

He sighed again. "Alright, let's meet with him next week…. I just hope we're doing the right thing."

"Anything is better than doing nothing," she told him as she took his hand. He nodded reluctantly, feeling apprehensive about the decision but he said nothing more about it as they walked back into the house to do more research.

That night, Sibella slipped into their bedroom, looking tired and exhausted. Her face was worn, exasperated, and her eyes were dimmed. Phoebe looked up at her when she came in, "You look hungry, those animals aren't doing enough for you, are they?" she remarked.

Sibella shook her head, sinking into a chair as she did so, resting her head on the back of it. Her hands sat in her lap, touching the ripped hem of her dress that was now tattered and dirty. Monty stood in the corner of the room until he left to go make himself and Phoebe some tea.

"I wanted to apologize," started Sibella as Monty left, "for last night. I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's alright, Sibella, I'm just fine, I promise," she gave her a sympathetic smile. She held up her hand as if to prove that it was alright, "See? All better."

"I still feel terrible," said Sibella in a mutter.

"It's okay," interrupted Phoebe warmly, "Sibella, I know you didn't mean to."

Sibella sighed angrily, "I just wish I could control myself… I just don't want to hurt anyone."

Phoebe got up off the bed and went over to her. She caressed her cheek gently, "And you haven't hurt anyone yet. You're doing wonderful." Sibella looked up, a glum expression on her face, "You think too highly of me. I could have killed you last night."

"You didn't though," said Phoebe. She then leaned in and kissed her softly. Sibella stiffened at the gesture, afraid that she would hurt her, but Phoebe wasn't afraid. After a few moments, she pulled away.

"See?" said Phoebe, "You could never hurt me." A bright smile shone on her face, and Sibella gave her a half-hearted one back.

Monty came back with the cups of tea and sat next to Sibella in another armchair. Phoebe took her tea and stood in the middle of them. "I think I've come up with an idea on how to help you," started the Countess. Sibella looked up, "Oh?"

"I was thinking about taking blood from the local hospital to help keep your urge under control," continued Phoebe. Monty nodded faintly in agreement. "I think that's a good idea."

Sibella nodded. "Okay, I guess that would be better than killing of these animals," she said softly.

Phoebe gave her a small smile, "I thought so too. I'll try and get some blood this week," she promised. Sibella nodded appreciatively, "Thank you." She paused. "I should get going, it's nearly daylight."

"We'll see you tomorrow then," said Phoebe with a small smile. Sibella smiled back, waved goodbye and left through the window. As soon as she left, Monty set down his cup of tea, "Time for bed," he said yawning.

Phoebe nodded as she finished her tea, got dressed in her nightgown, and put the books away.

"I want to go to Matthew's soon," she reminded him as she slipped under the covers next to him.

"Alright," he said reluctantly, "We'll call him tomorrow and see what we can do." Phoebe bit her lip and nodded softly.

Monty shut off his light and fell asleep while Phoebe stayed awake, staring at the window. As her eyes fluttered shut, she thought she saw a shadow flutter in and out of view but when she snapped her eyes open, she saw nothing. Her hand shook a bit, and she felt a shudder but she repressed it. Laying her head down, she drifted off into a quiet sleep, wondering how she could further help Sibella.