"I still hate you for not letting me come," Andrea said, giving me a tight hug.
"It's for your own good," I muttered.
"Cut the crap and get out; otherwise, I will make you stay, and I will go," she said, pulling away from the hug.
"You all kids be safe, okay," everyone said to Mrs. Lopez.
"Yes, I want each and every one of you back here in one piece. Understood?" Dad said, even though there was a crack in his voice.
"Dad, it's not our first time hunting vampires," I said, but I heard some throats clearing, making me turn to the right side. Right, the FBI's.
"Oh, I am sorry, but don't worry. Everything will go according to plan. We go in, find the girls; the FBI will rescue them, go out, and the rest of us kill the rogues."
"Don't forget to burn their bodies too," Mr. Lopez said.
"Yes, Dad," Sira replied.
"I guess it's time," Theo said, standing up.
"Wait, where is Chloe?" I questioned, not finding her anywhere.
"Oh, she doesn't want to come. It will make her relapse her memories of the time she was here, and right now, she is visiting her parents. I mean just looking at them from afar, she was missing them," I nodded my head at Ava's response.
"Let's not waste time and leave now," Liam said, and walked out the door followed by Theo too.
Ava looked at me, her eyes clearly found mine, giving me a sense of calmness.
"Let's go," she said, looking at me, taking a hold of my hand in hers. I nodded my head.
I looked ahead to look at the others, their partners having tears in their eyes. I can't even imagine their pain. The room was filled with muttering, "Take care of yourself, be safe," and hugs with goodbyes.
"Stay safe," Sira whispered, kissing Lydia's forehead. Lydia nodded, pulling Sira in a tight hug, tears brimming her eyes, walking out the door hand in hand with others behind us.
I still couldn't feel and believe that this is it. The moment. All of us met Theo and Liam outside and started our way to the waterfall. But we were stopped by Andrea screaming at us to wait and ran towards Theo and giving him tight hug with a kiss on his lips.
They pulled back Theo still in his daze and shocked with the kiss.
"Be safe" Andrea mutterd to him and said her byes to us and walked in the house.
"You better tell me details tommorow morning." I screamed at her.
"Fuck you" she screamed back and we all laughed at that.
"If you are out of your dreamy daze, can we go" Sira said smirking at Liam. He stuttered by nodded his head.
"Well that was something" Sira said.
...............
"Okay guys, from what I know, there is only one entry to the cave straight through the waterfall, which is this way."
"Everyone, keep your flashlights on, guns ready," Theo questioned, stopping in tracks. There it was, their hideout behind the waterfall.
"FBI, all of you people stay behind Ava and Liv."
"Guys, please be careful, and let's go in," Liam said, walking side by side with the edge of the lake on, so we can get to the waterfall, walking behind Ava with her holding my wrist.
It was slippery walking here. I had to walk carefully; otherwise, you would straight up end up in the pond.
Finally reaching the waterfall, we stopped and made sure our weapons were ready as they are. With one final nod, we walked in the waterfall.
AVA POV
As we stepped into the dark cavern beyond the waterfall, I felt a shiver run down my spine despite the warmth of my companions beside me. The sound of rushing water faded into a distant murmur as the darkness enveloped us, broken only by the beams of our flashlights cutting through the shadows.
"Keep close, everyone," I called out, my voice echoing off the damp walls. "And keep your eyes open. We never know what might jump in front of us, it's a cave after all."
Sira, always one to lighten the mood even in the direst of situations, chimed in with a nervous chuckle. "Well, if anything jumps out at us, I'll just dazzle them with my stunning wit!"
Jack, added with a grin, "Yeah, because nothing scares off vampires like a good pun."
Despite the tension in the air, their banter brought a brief moment of levity to our tense situation. But as we ventured deeper into the cave, the air grew heavy with the scent of damp earth and something metallic. Underlying it all was the unmistakable scent of blood.
"I smell blood," I murmured, my senses on high alert. "We need to be cautious."
Olivia, always the voice of reason, placed a hand on my shoulder. "Ava, be careful. We don't know how many are there."
With a nod, I forged ahead, my flashlight cutting through the darkness like a beacon. The cave seemed to stretch on endlessly, its walls closing in around us as we delved deeper into its depths. Every step felt like a journey into the unknown, the weight of our mission pressing down on us like a heavy cloak.
And as we ventured further into the depths of the cave, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread wash over me. The view in front of us was terrifying. All the girls who were missing were there on the beds, attached to drip machines, with three guys roaming around the beds. It seemed like they were either extracting blood into blood bags for them to feed on.
"What in the world is happening here?" Aiden said whispered. I sharply turned behind me to shush all of them; one mistake and things wouldn't go according to our plan. Hiding behind one of the big rocks, I needed to plan something for those rogues to go somewhere else. I looked behind me at everyone waiting for me to say something.
"There are three vampires inside. We need to do something to distract them so that we have time for all of you to take those five girls out of here." I said thinking for a plan.
"And how are we going to do that?" Jack questioned.
"You can just use your vampire power and snap all their necks easily," Sira said, smiling brightly as if she had just proposed an award-winning plan.
"She can if she doesn't want to get killed," Liam said.
"Yes, she doesn't. Ava, you are not going in there alone." Liv said with authority in her voice.
"Then how are we supposed to distract them?" Diana questioned.
"Maybe you can go out there and lure them with your good looks, Diana." Sira commented
"Shut up, Sira." Diana fireback.
"Both of you, shut up. Even in life-threatening situations, you guys just find a way to do your bickering," Noah said a bit loudly, which unfortunately caught not only ours but also the vampires' attention.
"Who is there?" we heard.