Chapter Eight:

Monty embraced Sibella tightly in his arms as soon as she came in through the window. "Oh, Sibella, my darling," he murmured in her ear as he held her close, "Someone terrible is after you."

Sibella pulled back, and arched an eyebrow. "Who?"

"This man we met, Matthew Hedley. He's a vampire hunter, and he believes that you are a vampire and he wants to kill you," said Monty, "but we won't let him do that."

Sibella frowned, "How do you know he's after me?"

"He took us to your crypt today, and he's been following you, and he showed us your fangs," said Monty.

Sibella frowned deeply. "Monty! How could you? Why did you let him do that?" she asked him harshly.

"We met him at the library the other day and we thought he would help us, but it turns out he's suspicious of you and wants to plunge a stake into your heart and kill you in order to become some sort of martyr," said Phoebe as she played with her braid, speaking for the first time since Sibella came.

Sibella said nothing as she walked to a chair and sat down calmly.

"Would that be such a bad thing?" she asked after a few moments of silence, glancing up at both of them.

Phoebe and Monty exchanged confused looks. Monty went to her side, and held her hand, "Of course it would be. It would be awful, we just got you back my love, we don't want to lose you again."

Sibella shook her head, "It would be better if someone just killed me so at least I could be at peace."

"But darling, you just came back to us," Monty murmured, holding her hand tightly.

"But maybe this Matthew person is right, maybe I am dangerous."

"No, you're not," said Phoebe gently. "We're going to work this out and you're going to be able to control yourself."

"Please don't listen to Matthew. You're not dangerous," Monty begged her, And now that Lionel's gone, we can all be together. No one is standing in our way now," he said softly.

Phoebe nodded in agreement, "He's right, Sibella. We can work around this." She then knelt down on the other side of Sibella and took her other hand.

"I'm not so sure. How do you plan to stop Matthew from coming after me?"

They both were quiet.

"We could keep you here," said Phoebe slowly, "in the guest bedroom."

Sibella looked at her, "You're joking." Her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest.

"No."

"That's utterly ridiculous, Phoebe!" she scolded.

"If you stayed here, then you would be safe," remarked Monty quietly.

Sibella looked between the two of them and sighed heavily.

"What about the servants?"

"We'll have them stay away from the room, and ask them to leave early at night," said Phoebe.

"This is madness," she stood up, and walked away from the two of them. "Utterly ridiculous. I won't let you do this."

"Sibella please," Phoebe begged, "We just want to protect you," she came towards her and took her hand, but Sibella wrenched it away. Phoebe's hand stung by the sharp movement of Sibella moving her hand out of her grasp.

"Darling…" she said quietly, "Please listen to us, let us help."

"It's not worth it, I'm not worth it," Sibella argued bitterly.

"Yes you are," said Phoebe softly, "Please don't say that."

Sibella's features turned harsh, "Why shouldn't I? I'm a monster, I drink blood, Phoebe. I'm supposed to be dead but I'm not!"

"Sibella, we love you," said Monty, looking at her, "We don't think you're a monster."

Her features softened a bit.

"Can we at least try it?" begged Phoebe.

Sibella sighed, feeling powerless, "Alright," she nodded.

Phoebe smiled happily and kissed her lips softly, "It'll all work out, I promise."

Sibella looked at her with unsure eyes. "If you say so…"

"Trust me," said Phoebe with a grin.

Sibella smiled at the brunette's bright face.

"I have to go back…"

"We'll see you tomorrow then," said Monty.

Sibella nodded before she left through the window.

The next night fell sooner than anyone had anticipated it to, and soon Phoebe and Monty found themselves in the graveyard near Sibella's crypt. The blonde emerged from the stone structure, her pale skin shining in the moonlight.

"I'm going to go eat, I'll meet you at the house?"

Monty and Phoebe nodded, watching her as she disappeared. After making sure no one was following them, they put the coffin into their carriage and quickly sped off back to Highhurst.

The castle was empty when they returned for they had given the servants the rest of the night off. Phoebe and Monty waited for Sibella to show up. When she finally arrived, they let her in.

"We've got everything all set up," said Phoebe as she led her to the guest bedroom to show her. Phoebe opened the door and let Sibella enter the room. The coffin was in the middle of the room, at the end of the bed, looking odd amongst the rest of the bedroom furniture. The room was dark, the curtain all drawn, shades closed and the lights off.

"What do you think?" Monty asked Sibella as both he and Phoebe stayed in the doorway of the room.

"This is fine," said Sibella.

"We got you a new dress, one of Phoebe's old nightgowns, if you wanted to change out of your old one," said Monty, gesturing to her torn up gown.

"Thank you, that's very kind," she said softly.

"Now you're safe," declared Monty quietly looking at her.

Sibella rolled her eyes, and sighed, "I guess."

"Sibella-"

"Don't!" she cried, "What's done is done. Just leave me be."

"We'll see you tomorrow night," said Phoebe softly, sensing the tension. She tugged on Monty's arm for him to leave too.

Monty attempted to kiss Sibella's cheek but she shrugged him off. Monty then reluctantly left with Phoebe.

The door to the guest bedroom was shut by Sibella as they left.

Monty glanced at Phoebe as they walked back to their bedroom, "She hates me."

"She's upset. We put ourselves in danger for her and you know she doesn't like that. She's just angry at everything right now, darling, let her be angry."

"Doesn't she see that this is the best thing for her?" Monty argued as they entered their room.

Phoebe crossed to her side of the bed, "She thinks that she'd be better off dead, my love. We're not going to convince her of anything else."

Monty sighed as he climbed into bed. "I thought she'd be happy with us…. I thought she loved us."

Phoebe resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his neediness. "Darling, she does love us. She's upset. Now get some sleep, you're acting childish and tired."

Monty sighed, "I'm sorry." He kissed her lips. "Get some sleep too," he urged her.

They both fell asleep, even though it was daytime, comforted by the fact that they knew Sibella was just in the other room, safe and sound.