Tabitha groaned and rubbed her stinging eyes. She cleared her throat to try and get rid of the scratchy, swollen feeling. What happened? Her mom had called and Alistair had showed up and someone–Keller?–had come up behind her and knocked her out...
Tabitha sat up, eyes widening. She lay on a lavish couch, soft pillows behind her head and an even softer blanket over her. Opposite her laying on a different couch was Jonas Carter. His black hair was a bed-headed mess and a hand slung over the side. Tabitha could hear him snoring softly from under his blanket. At least Alistair was a decent host.
She pushed her blanket aside and reached for her waist. No stakes. No nothing. She was still in her sneakers and workout clothes, her hair tied back in a ponytail. She itched for her leather jacket and her yellow boots.
On the other side of the room sat a small kitchen, a nice one but small. Sitting in a black chair in front of the small round metal table was Keller; the vampire Sebastian, had locked up in his basement. Great...
He sipped from a glass cup filled with blood and glanced up, a ghost of a smile flickering across his lips.
"I wouldn't try to escape. Alistair will be back shortly," he said in a deep, velvety voice. Tabitha scowled and got to her feet, glancing at Jonas to make sure he was still asleep. Keller was a handsome man. Probably used to be a normal handsome when he was human and now possessed the abnormal, gorgeousness of a vampire. Dark skin, brown eyes and black short cropped hair. He wore jeans and a V-neck t-shirt that exposed a few rippling chest muscles.
"What do you want with us?" she asked, stepping around Jonas's couch and toward the vampire.
He smirked and took another sip of blood, lounging in his chair as if Tabitha wasn't a danger at all. If she could get to the kitchen and grab a knife, she could do some damage. Slow and steady she crept toward the kitchen as discreetly as possible. "I don't want anything. Maybe a little revenge for killing one of my closest friends but Alistair's warned me not to touch you so I won't. Alistair on the other hand... He's convinced you'll lead Sebastian here and that boy over there," he jutted his chin out at Jonas. Tabitha paused, a hand on the counter.
His eyes followed her the whole time. "He's a Carter. His parents are the head honchos of the Moirai. Do you know what they do to vampires like us?"
Tabitha shook her head even though they both knew she did. Keller swiveled his head around, following her as he took another threatening drink. "They strap us to tables and torture us. Rip us apart organ by organ, limb by limb until all we can think about is the pain. Until they drive us insane, just to get answers and inside information. Do you think we deserve that?"
Tabitha said nothing. She paused in the kitchen by the first drawer, her fingers inching toward the brass handle. Keller chuckled and shrugged, setting his drink down. Tabitha's instincts went on edge as his brown eyes narrowed. "Maybe some of us do. But most of us don't. Would you wish that sort of torture on your beloved Sebastian?"
She shook her head, trying to play the scared hostage. She doubted he was buying it, but it did make her feel a little better.
He smirked and stood with graceful ease, like a panther. Tabitha's fingers froze, halfway to opening the first drawer. There weren't any knives in there anyway when she snuck a peak. She quickly shut it, giving Keller her undivided attention.
"No, I would think not. But just imagine the pain you would feel if you knew what they were doing to him and being unable to stop them. Did you know his sister Emmeline was caught by them and was tortured for information for... how long was it? A year I believe? They knew she was in close with Alistair and thought she would give them some leads."
Tabitha shook her head.
Keller nodded, his eyes narrowing as he flashed his fangs. "I don't even think Sebastian knows about it. Alistair was the one to save her. Being in this town, he can kill two birds with one stone. You and the cursed Moirai."
Tabitha painted a scowl on her face, masking her curiosity. "I don't see how any of this justifies kidnapping two innocent teenagers who have nothing to do with the Moirai?"
He snorted bitterly as Tabitha snuck a glance at the contents of the drawer and almost cried out in relief. Knives and lots of them.
"You are hardly innocent. That boy will inherit his parent's legacy of torture and death. And you? I watched you murder my friend in cold blood. Alistair says that you've been picking off his recruits for the last few months, years even. You've been a particularly annoying thorn in his side."
"Good," Tabitha sneered, closing her hand around the hilt of a knife.
Keller sneered right back and stalked toward her. She shut the drawer and held the knife to her back, waiting for him to get closer. "You hunters are evil, despicable beings. Playing god."
Tabitha made a face at him. "And you don't? You kill for pleasure and for necessity. We kill for survival. You are the evil ones. Monsters."
"Even your precious Sebastian? Is he a monster?" He got closer and closer. Tabitha's instincts coiled. Her muscles tensed like a cat ready to pounce.
"At least he doesn't go out of his way to hunt people down and kill them."
Keller laughed and stopped just a mere step away from her. He sat his hand on the counter to her right and Tabitha froze. "That's one twisted logic you've spun for yourself. He still drinks human blood, and he's still a vampire. You know what the worst kind of hunter is?"
Tabitha shook her head, her grip tightening on the hilt of the knife. "What?"
Keller leaned in close, his face inches from hers. His fangs gleamed and bared in front of her, his eyes turning a bright ruby red. "The kind that makes excuses for us. The kind that fall in love with us and believes that one of us is better than the other. We're all equally monsters. We've all killed and we'll all continue to kill because it's our nature. It's who we are."
Tabitha sneered. "Maybe your right. I am deluding myself but to tell the truth, it's none of your business."
And then she struck. Wicked fast she plunged the knife into his hand. He howled as blood squirted over the counter and dripped onto the floor. Without giving him a chance to recover, Tabitha pulled the knife from his hand and plunged it into his stomach, blood dripping onto the clean floor. He screamed in pain and collapsed. Tabitha held the knife with a white-knuckled grip and ran for Jonas, grabbing him. He was starting to stir.
"Jonas! Carter get up or we're dead," she shouted, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him up.
He groaned but didn't protest. Tabitha wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and wrapped another around his waist, half dragging him toward the door.
They were going to make it. Tabitha could hotwire a car–with the intention to return it of course–and get them both out of there before Alistair returned. Get them to safety. Tabitha readjusted the knife in her grasp and threw open the door... To find Alistair standing there in his impeccable suit.
His eyes widened in startled surprise and he froze, a grocery bag in his left hand. "Miss. Sterling, you woke up earlier than I thought."
His eyes fell to the knife in her hand as she froze, gripping Jonas by her side. "I hope you haven't given Keller too much trouble."
A growl came from behind them. Before Tabitha could react, Jonas was ripped from her arms and thrown back onto the couch. A hand grabbed her shoulder and whipped her around. She screamed as the knife clattered from her hand and Keller shoved her against the wall. He hissed, his fangs bared.
Tabitha hit and kicked even as his head came down, his eyes focused on her neck. He would have sucked her dry if Alistair hadn't reacted with vamp speed. One minute Keller was fixated on her neck and ready to rip into her skin, and the next he was across the room. Alistair stood in front of her, shutting the door with a snap.
"Good try. I applaud your bravery but I'm afraid you won't be escaping. Not alive or dead," he directed that last comment at Keller, glancing over his shoulder.
Tabitha followed his line of sight and found Keller getting to his feet. The angry vampire growled through clenched teeth and clutching his healing stomach.
"Don't touch her again," Alistair commanded.
Keller snarled something nasty under his breath, grabbed his drink and stalked off into another room. Alistair gracefully swooped down and grabbed the bloody knife from the floor. He didn't bother to even give Tabitha a glance as he went to the kitchen and set his grocery bag on the counter and the knife in the sink. He grabbed a wash cloth that hung by the fridge, watered it and began to mop up all the blood. Tabitha was frozen, maybe in shock or maybe in pure terror but she couldn't move. Jonas sat unmoving on the couch, his eyes wide and staring at Tabitha, his hands fisted around the blanket.
And then Alistair straightened. He rung the bloody cloth out in the sink, set it down and turned to her, resting his hands on the counter, a faint smile on his lips. "Now I believe I have some explaining to do. And so do you Miss. Sterling."
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A/N: Hi! Thanks so much for following the story of Tabitha and Sebastian! Let me know what you think so far! :)