“I still don’t understand why they didn’t. They were stronger than the others.”
“They couldn’t defeat us.”
“No, but still...” Stefan’s voice trailed off as he nudged one of the dead ones over. “Where did you run into these guys?”
“Portland.”
“Well, that was quick,” Iansaidawe evident in his voice as they all approached.
“Of course it was,” Brian said.
Stefan turned toward them, wiping the blood from his mouth and hands as they stopped a few feet away. “Where did the other two go?” David asked.
“Ran for the hills like the cowards they were,” Brian replied.
Stefan was amazed at the amusement that crossed all of their faces, even Ethan’s. “Well, guess we know not to piss you off,” Jack said.
“Hey!” Ian cried, moving forward. “That’s one of the guys from the club!” He pointedtoward the brunette that Stefan had dispatched of first.
Stefan turned back around, his frown deepening as he stared down at the unseeing man. He felt a moment of triumph as he realized that he had taken care of one of Isabelle’s attackers, something he had wantedto do since that night. “So is that one,” Jack said, pointing to the last man, another brunette.
Stefan turned slowly, a growing feeling of unease settling into his stomach. He kicked the other men over, but none of them had lightblondor bright red hair. “Way to go!” Ian cried, slapping him on the back.
“Was there a redhead and a blond with these men?” he asked Brian.
Brian frowned thoughtfully and nodded. “Yeah,come to think of it,there was. The one I killed had brown hair though.”
Stefan turned, his eyes narrowing as he searched the night for a hint of their presence. “The blond is the one that bit Isabelle,” Jack said.
The bottom ofStefan’sstomach plummeted as he suddenly realized why they had left. They may have come here with every intention of killing Brian, but once here, they had scented something else, somethingeven betterthat had been denied to them. “Brian lets go!” he hissed.
“What?” he asked in surprise.
“Now!”
Stefan’s panic was growing by the second. They had a headstart, a fairly good head start. He turned, racing across the field, and blurring into the night. “I hate it when he does that,” Jack mumbled. “We’re going to have to put a bell on him.”
“Where the hell is he going?” Mike demanded.
Brian stood silently for a moment more. “They attacked this girl Isabelle?” he askedsoftly.
“Yeah,” David replied.
Brian’s eyes narrowed. “That’s where they’re going.”
“What!?” they all yelled.
Brian didn’t wait to answer them, he took off, following Stefan’s scent as he blurred into the night.
“Let’s go!”Liamhissed. “Now!”
***
Isabelle rolled over and punched her pillow again. It didn’t matter what she did, she was never going to get comfortable, never going to go to sleep without Stefan beside her. She contemplated going over to the next room to see her mom, she was certain that she wasn’t asleep either, but she knew that if she woke up Willow, and Cassidy, she would never hear the end of it. She sighed as she flipped onto her back to stare at the ceiling. It didn’t help that Vicky was snoring softly, and Abby had just finished mumbling something about cookies.
She tried to reach out for Stefan again, but he was still shut out from her. She rolled back over, curling into a ball as she tried not to think about what that meant. He hated her now, she was sure of it. She didn’t know why he hadn’t told her of his past, why he had deliberately lied to her, but she was now certain that there was a good reason. Her mother wouldn’t trust him if there wasn’t, the others wouldn’t trust him either. Ethan had told him to leave, not the others. They didn’t hate him.She was certain that Ethan didn’t either, but he had donethe same thing that she wouldhaveif their roles had been reversed. Theyweretoo much alike,arrogant, judgmental, and quick to anger. Also highly protective of eachother. She didn’t blame Ethan, and she was certain that once she got everything straightened out, Ethan would come around.
She just had to get everything straightened out first, and she truly hoped that Stefan would give her a chance. That he would be able to forgive her, and that he hadn’t believed her when she had said that she hated him. She wished that she could take those words back, but she couldn’t, and he wouldn’t let her into his mind to tell him that she loved him, that she had liedwhen she said she hated him. If something happened to him, she would never forgive herself. She wasn’t even sure that she could forgive herself now. She had been so cruel to him, so hurtful.
