"That's Jack's."
Eric was sitting at the foot of my coffin as I sat in it, strumming and tuning a guitar. "Yes, and it's horrifically out of tune." I replied. He furrowed his brows. "Jack's going to kill you if he sees you with that." Eric said worriedly, looking around. "Not if I kill him first!" I said in a sing song voice. I quit strumming and listened hard.
I stepped away from my coffin. "Come on, Steve is calling a meeting." I told Eric. He nodded, stood, and followed me as I followed the sound of Steve's voice.
"Glad you could make it." He said, eyeing me warily as Eric and I came in and leaned against the chamber's back wall, farthest from Steve. As soon as his mouth started moving, I quit listening and went back to Jack's guitar, finally getting it in tune. I started playing a song I knew very well, it was a song Darren and I dedicated to each other.
"Pretty little lady with your swollen eyes will you show them to me?" I sang quietly, my eyes closed.
"Vanessa!" I snapped back to reality and looked at Steve. "Yeah?" He slapped himself in the face. "Did you hear a single word I just said?" he asked, annoyed. "To be honest, no, no I didn't." he sighed. "Then I will repeat myself, you and Eric are to either stay by my side or Gannen's at all times. Understood?"
"Yeah yeah, I understand. What's going on anyways?" I asked. The room went quiet. I raised a brow. "I'm waiting." I said, going back to playing the guitar. Steve sighed. "Well, we are facing the Hunters tonight." He said.
The guitar string snapped and everything went silent. I kicked myself from the wall, walking out of the room. "Vanessa, get back here!" Steve yelled. I raised my hand and gave him the finger before I turned a corner and went back to the chamber where I trained Eric. I started pacing and kicked a wall, and then punched it.
"Vanessa?" a small, concerned voice called out. "Go away, Eric. I need space." I said, kicking the wall again. "Why are you so mad? You knew this was going to happen." He said. I rested my head on the wall. "It was…but I'm supposed to be changing that. This can't be happening, it…it…." I sighed. "Okay, time to go back." I muttered, too stubborn to accept fate. I came here to change it, and that intent will be achieved. So for now, I had to go back and hold my tongue, be silent and patient.
And we did. I sat through the rest of the meeting, staring off into space and reminiscing. "I have one question for you, Steve. What makes you think they'll come?" I asked. Steve laughed. "Because, we have something they want." Steve said. "And what might that be?"
"A human." Steve said, snapping his fingers. Jack and Gannen left to get the human. They brought the human back and my eyes widened, my mouth dropped.
"Debbie?" I shouted in surprise. She stared at me, scared and confused. "Do I know you?" she asked in a small voice. I shook my head slowly and walked towards her. "No…Debbie, I'm a friend of Darren's." I told her. She narrowed her eyes. "If you're a friend of Darren's, why are you here?" she asked in a low voice. "Because, I would do anything to protect him." I looked at Gannen. "I'll take care of her." He looked hesitant but finally let me have her. I pulled her to the back of the room where Eric was standing and sat her down.
"Debbie, have they hurt you?" I asked her. She bit her lip and looked at Steve fearfully. I gently pulled her face back so she was looking at me. "Debbie, did they hurt you?" I asked again. She hesitated and nodded slowly. "They drank some of my blood." She said, holding out her right arm. Her forearm was caked with dirt and dried blood, and the cut where it had come from looked like it was starting to get infected.
"Debbie, let's go get you cleaned up." I pulled her up and Eric and I took her to the sleeping chamber, where I pulled my coffin onto the floor so she could sit on it. "Eric, go fetch me a clean rag and some warm water, please. I need to clean off as much blood and dirt as I can." I told him. He nodded. "Got it, boss." And off he went.
"So, Debbie…" I started, biting my lip hesitantly.
"…Yes?"
"Have…have you seen Darren recently?" I asked in a quiet voice.
Eric returned then with what I asked and silently placed them in front of me before sitting at my side. I soaked the rag, wrung it out some, and started to gently rub the dirt and blood off Debbie's arm. The more dirt and blood that came off, the sicklier her arm looked. It was covered in purple, blue, black, and yellowy splotches; bruises that hadn't had time to heal before more were inflicted. I glared at her arm as I worked.
"Yes…I have. I suppose that's why that boy came for me." She shuddered. "He's not a boy, Debbie. He's a little younger than Darren; don't let his appearance deceive you." I said quietly. She nodded slowly. "Yes…yes, you're right. Who are you?" She asked. I smiled. "My name's Vanessa and this is my assistant, Eric." Eric smiled shyly and gave her a little wave. Debbie glared at him.
"Don't look at me like that! You're one of them!" she snapped. He blinked, somewhat stunned by her fieriness. I chuckled. "Not anymore, he's a Vampire now." I murmured. She turned her glare to me. "And you! Oh dear God, do not get me started on you!" she hissed. I stared at her, shocked.
"Me? What did I do?" I asked honestly. She glared. "Don't act like you don't know. That boy has been in love with you for over twenty years, and then you just go and leave him like that? Not only did you leave him, but you joined forces with his arch nemesis!" she said angrily. I gaped at her.
"Do you know how crushed he is? How heartbroken he is? It pains me to see him like that." She said, her voice quieter now. I bit my lip and looked down before re-soaking the rag, wringing it out, and wiping her arm once again.
"I had to do this…I don't want to be here…it's the only way I can protect him…that I can protect Larten…" I said quietly. Her arm was clean now, but her face…. I soaked the rag again and started wiping the grime off her pretty face.
"Debbie…Darren met you…what, fifteen years ago?" I asked. She nodded. "Yeah, when I was a kid. I met Evra too but…" she furrowed her brow. "I've never met you before…though he did talk about you an awful lot." I blushed. "Did he really? He talked about you a lot too…" I trailed off. She snorted. "Well of course he did, I told him so." I stopped wiping her face.
"What? Why would you do that?" I asked, genuinely confused. "Because he loved you, you were pining over that jack ass Steve and didn't even notice him." She said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. I frowned. "I did notice him…I just…I had a lot going on. I felt like I was betraying Steve and that it would've been wrong…I could already tell that Mr. Crepsley thought of him as a son and it'd be awkward…" I trailed off. "Why?" Eric and Debbie asked.
"Vanessa." I looked to the chamber entrance to find Gannen standing with a grim look on his face.
"It's time."
Wow, hoped you liked this chapter!
So…chapter 30 of The Vampire Game is next…
I feel like it's a big display or project for me, personally, of my writing skills and I think for me, it's going to make or break this fic…but that's just me and I go hard on myself when it comes to writing, especially when it comes to this story. Review please! I love to hear what you guys think (: Be honest, not brutal! ;)