Chapter Ten....Scene Four, Five & Six

The first thing that Bryce felt when he woke up that morning was fear. Fear of his old man finding out what he’d done. He hadn’t been himself last night. He’d been hurt and angered by Jade’s rejection and he’d known that wasn’t the best night to shift but running always cleared his mind and so, he’d done it anyway.

Lying in his bed now, he quickly regretted that decision. With his anger clouding his better judgment, he’d killed the young couple he’d found making out in the woods. He’d just slaughtered them without a moment’s hesitation.

The police would just pronounce it as a wild animal attack and the investigation would soon blow over. But that was just the beginning for Bryce. He knew his father would know better than to take the police’s word for it and so would the vampires.

There would obviously be an inquest into this and if the vampires found out who was responsible, then all hell would break loose. The treaty between them and the werewolves centered on each species being strictly forbidden to either hunt or kill in Sereneville. Bryce had just pissed on that treaty and the vampires would not readily let that one go.

Bryce wasn’t afraid of a vampire. He was extremely strong, quick and had a knack for winning; just like his father and it was that man he was afraid of. Ulric could be a very harsh man on his day, which could probably be attributed to the fact that he was a werewolf. As the alpha male in town, he was responsible for the safety and actions of his kind. If he were ever to find out his son had been responsible for this attack, there was no telling what he might do.

Perhaps I can convince him to blame it on the vampires, Bryce thought. He never wanted them in town in the first place and would surely jump at any excuse to run them out. He decided it would be to his advantage if he spilled his guts to his mother first.

She had a solid head on her shoulders and was much more patient than her husband. She also adored her son and would definitely protect him at all costs and Bryce figured he really needed that protection now.

 

There were many things in life Ramona wasn’t remorseful for. As a vampire, she didn’t feel remorse—at least not like humans did. Vampire emotions revolved around two passions—love and hate. There were seldom any gray areas around those points.

But after last night, if you had asked her, Ramona would have admitted she did feel a little guilt at the danger she’d put Eric in. She had never meant to harm him. If everything had gone to plan, she would have just tasted him, nothing more.

Then that stupid dog had to go and ruin everything. It was lucky Raven had been with them. There was no telling what could have happened if she’d been alone with Eric.

She’d agreed to meet with Raven at The Arena to discuss impending issues. Eric had obviously seen her in vampire mode and so had his brother Tristan, never mind the giant dog snarling at them. Ramona wondered how they’d take it. Most humans she’d seen discover her true nature had gone wild, ecstatic.

The morons actually thought being a vampire was great! Sure you had immense strength, you were invincible, you could go anywhere you wanted to but to Ramona, the only thing that was “great” about being a vampire was that she was at the top of the food chain. But if she could turn back time, she definitely would.

She hadn’t chosen to become what she was. It had all been forced on her. Twenty years ago she’d been travelling with her parents and kid brother on the highway just outside Sereneville. They had been heading for a fishing trip, just a nice normal family. All that had changed when approaching a narrow bend, a car that had been trying to overtake another in the opposite direction hadn’t quite gotten back into its lane yet and in trying to avoid the inevitable crash, her father swerved sharply.

Their car skidded and lost its grip on the road, rolling over two or three times before finally settling at the side of the road upside down. The guilty bastards hadn’t even bothered to help, probably thinking the family was already dead.

Ramona had woken up after a while, feeling someone dragging her painfully outside the car. In her foggy state, she tried to see who it was and a young handsome face looked into hers. Ramona couldn’t make out what he was saying but suddenly, his handsome face changed horrifically and he bit her in the neck. She’d been too weak to cry and just lay there as he drank her blood to the point of death.

Again, he said something and Ramona thought it sounded like “…..second chance,” before he ruthlessly snapped her neck. The paramedics pronounced everyone they found on the scene dead. But later that very night, Ramona awoke in a hospital mortuary. She did not know where she was or what she was doing here. All that she knew was that she was in such excruciating pain.

Her heart was beating slowly and it felt as if her body was drying up from the inside out. Her throat was crying out for a drop of water. Someone had chosen that moment to walk into the mortuary and presented Ramona with her first vampire meal. Without understanding why she did it, Ramona attacked him, fixing her fangs nice and deep inside his neck. The rest as they say was history.

Looking at her watch, Ramona cursed silently. Where the hell was Raven?

 

Tabitha Savage nodded helplessly as her daughter mumbled for the umpteenth time that morning that the sand felt so nice and warm. The poison from the werewolf bite had rapidly advanced and she now had little, if any, time left.

Tabitha could not bear to watch her fade before her eyes. Her little baby hadn’t even begun to really “live” yet. There were so many things she still had to learn. So many places she still had to go. It was fate that had smiled upon her to have Raven in the first place but it wasn’t fate that had taken her away. It was that filthy dog! And Tabitha vowed she would not rest until her little puppies suffered the same fate as Raven. She did not care what Alistair or indeed Raven said. She had a bone to pick with Athena and not even the devil himself could stop her.

She started as the doorbell rang. Who could that be? Giving Raven a soft kiss on her forehead, she left her to her ramblings and went to answer the door. An annoyed but smiling Ramona greeted her.

“Hi Mrs. Savage. Sorry to bother you but is Raven home?”

She had no idea. “I think you better come in Ramona,” Tabitha said softly.

Immediately, Ramona’s countenance fell. “Is there something wrong Mrs. Savage? You don’t look so good.”

“Would you like a cup of tea?” Tabitha asked instead, already trying to busy herself in the kitchen.

Ramona followed her and said, “No thank you, I’m fine.” She again assessed the older woman. “But you’re definitely not.”

Tabitha sighed, her shoulders slumping. She turned around, her eyes full of tears and stammered, “Raven was—was—bit—bitten by a werewolf last night.”

“What!” Ramona was absolutely dazed. How could Raven have been bitten by a werewolf? She was the one who had been in danger of that. “How is that possible? I thought there was only one werewolf in those woods!”

Tabitha vigorously shook her head. “Athena was there too.”

“Eric’s mother?”

“She’s the one that bit Raven.”

What a fucking disaster! And it had all stemmed from her own foolish selfishness, insisting on Eric’s blood when she could have had any she wanted. Now, Raven was going to pay the ultimate price.

“May I see her?” Ramona asked.

“Sure,” Tabitha nodded and led the way upstairs to Raven’s room. On the bed where she’d left Raven, Tabitha only found an empty space, a small breeze coming in from the open window that had been closed before.