15 | Out of the Woods

Seaside, California September 5, 2012

Lillian

AFTER the ham was completely gone, Zach moved on to eating a tv dinner, there wasn't much in the fridge anyway. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he even started to eat the fridge.

We attempted to ask what the hell was going on, but Zach was consumed in eating every piece of food in sight. The only thing that made him look up was the front door opening.

A towering man walked through the door, I noticed the uncanny resemblance between the two, Zach was the spitting image of his father. Though the latter had completely gone gray.

"I believed you calmed down now I take it?" Markus asked. He didn't even seem surprised to see two random girls in his house.

"Yeah, I have. Thanks for leaving me in there all damn day," Zach spat and took a step away from the counter.

"You know why I did it, you've never had any control over when you shift," Markus sighed, his expression darkening.

I felt my hand reach up to my shoulder, my finger tracing the faint scar I knew was there underneath my jacket.

His father turned his attention to me, his eyes widening in surprise slightly, "You're Samuel's daughter, aren't you?"

"Yes," I replied. A memory flashed through my mind suddenly. It was when we had pulled up to the shed, that Markus and my father were talking. As the memory faded, everyone was staring at me.

Cel got off the stool, the soles of her shoes hitting the floor with a loud thump, these hardwood floors were old and squeaky. "I hate to sound short, but we need Scott to undo the compulsion that he did to Lily years ago. I'd thought if we came here, you could ask him to come. She is zoning out every five seconds-"

"It's making me go insane," I finished.

"Perhaps just running into my son caused your memory to trigger something," Markus explained, though he looked just as lost as we were.

"Well Lily and I have our magic, which is another story," Cel muttered. "We just need to get her memory back."

"My memories," I began, my voice shaky, "Are being triggered by similar things that I saw that night, I remembered Seana and just bits and pieces."

"Do you remember what I—" Zach stopped.

My breath caught in my throat.

"Never mind, I'll go call him," he sighed, grabbed his phone, and strode down the dark hallway.

Markus crossed his large arms across his chest, "You need to know, that night I lost my wife, Zach lost his mother. Seeing her killed caused him to shift too early and lose control."

"I know what he did to me, but I can't remember any of it clearly," I murmured, and in a way, I was glad. There was a reason my mother had my memory wiped, even if it was stupid. But what his father said next shocked me.

"And he's never forgiven himself."

I stared at his father in shock but kept silent. Cel looked at me awkwardly. It was weird when the guy you liked almost killed your best friend years ago.

All of us glanced at Zach when he strode back in, clearly now very pissed off.

"I called him like five damn times," Zach hissed.

Cel walked over towards him and gently grabbed onto one of his arms.

"Perhaps we can just try and get it done tomorrow, it's getting late. I need to get home before my father starts hunting me down," Cel chuckled nervously.

It was true, that man was way too overprotective of his daughter, and with magic tracking spells, there was nowhere she could hide from him.

A phone rang, breaking the silence. Markus reached into his pocket, his eyes widening. Answering quickly, he asked anxiously, "What is it?"

His eyes darted to Zach's. Both of them seemed to get angrier as the seconds dragged on.

"Let her come, I'll gladly rip her head off," Zach snarled.

"Zach, calm down please," Cel pleaded.

He glanced down at her, the anger dissipating instantly. "Seana is out there somewhere, Scott is trying to find her, and if he would just lead her here, we can end all of this Celesta," Zach murmured. He stopped and turned his head to his father like he was listening to what was being said. "And of course, Scott is telling us to just stay inside."

"Perhaps that is the smart thing to do, don't you think?" I clarified.

Zach's expression contorted into a scowl.

I stepped away from the kitchen, the air was becoming too tense.

I rested my hand on one of the armchairs, the fabric feeling old and worn. On the coffee table, a book that looked like it hadn't been opened in ages rested there. I walked over, it was covered in dust, why would they leave this here? Great Expectations. That was a strange book to have here unless it was his mother's. I picked it up, I already knew what was going to happen. His mother, Aria, flashed through my mind, she was reading this book the night she died.

Snapping back to the present, I dropped the book onto the table with a light thud, Markus came back into the kitchen, a hunting rifle in his hands. My eyes widened as he set it on the kitchen island. Cel looked just as confused as I was.

"Zach, stay here with them while I deal with this, if she comes to the door, open it," Markus hissed out. "Shoot the bitch."

After that he was out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

But I knew what I must do to solve my problem. I had to go out there and get my memory to trigger. What better way to do it than go to the very person who caused all of this misery in the first place?

"I know what I need to do to get my memory back," I blurted out.

What I was about to do was probably the stupidest thing in my life, but I could no longer take it, this shit needed to end. I took a step closer to the door as Cel took one closer to me.

"Lily, don't you dare go out that door," Cel warned. I glanced at Zach, my eyes pleading.

I know Cel could easily stop me.

"Zach please keep her safe here," I cried, I could see now that he wouldn't let anything ever happen to her, it's amazing how quickly you can feel that about someone, even if you met just a short time ago. Though I didn't wait for a response, I bolted at the door. Cel was already there digging her nails into my arm and dragging me backward.

"Let me go Celesta!" I shouted. Thinking fast, I turned and muttered a spell under my breath. Cel collapsed onto the ground unconscious afterward.

I'm surprised she hadn't used that spell on me herself yet.

Zach's eyes widened. "What the hell did you do to her?!"

"She's fine! I just knocked out for a bit so she won't stop me from doing what I need to do," I stated, "Are you going to try and stop me?" I asked point-blank.

He was blocking my way to the door.

Moving to the side, he sighed in defeat. "No. I know you need to do this."

"Thank you," I croaked as I sped out the door.

I needed to get that damn stake from my car. The driveway was full of puddles, I attempted to dodge them as I ran, but my shoes were soaked anyway. As I reached the car, I saw a black Camaro parked behind me.

I swung my car door open and grabbed the stake. I walked back down the driveway a bit, then turned towards the woods and walked aimlessly. Listening to the night all I heard were loud, annoying crickets.

After wandering around for several minutes, my phone started buzzing. I was surprised to see it was Zach's. Had Cel woken up already?

Accepting the call; I was met with Scott's voice instead.

"Hello? Lily?" Scott asked, his voice sounding scratchy as hell from the bad reception. "Where are you? Zach told me he just let you leave. I already gave him hell for it."

Great.

"In the woods, I have a plan that might get my memories back," I said anxiously. Realizing I had wandered just a little too far, I added, "And now I don't know exactly where I am."

"You what?!" he yelled, the scratching getting worse. "Don't do anything stupid do you hear me? Stay where you are. I'll find you."

"I know what I'm doing!" I yelled back.

I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. I heard Scott snarling at someone else on the other end, then came Cel's screeching. I hung the phone up after that. If Seana didn't kill me, Cel would before this night was over.

I closed my eyes and cleared my mind to only think of one thing, my magic humming to life inside of me.

A wind picked up around me, and blew wildly around me, my braided hair flailing everywhere. The trees around me were swaying, some branches even starting to break off and fall to the ground. The roar of the wind matched the roar of memories burning through my brain, from the moment we picked up Aria and Zach, to Scott gently murmuring all of the lies my mother wanted me to remember.

To have a normal life. And I did; for a time anyway.

Now it was time for me to wake up, and help put an end to this bullshit once and for all. After everything came rushing back, I collapsed onto my knees, that probably wasn't the best idea. I could feel my nose bleeding slightly. My mother did warn me not to use my magic to that extent. My body couldn't handle it yet.

But at least I had my memories back.

I slowly got up onto my feet and turned around only to see Seana leaning against a tree, her arms crossed. Her eyes were black with a deadly grin plastered on her face.

I jumped back in fright as she took a step towards me, "Hello Ms. Rezza, out enjoying the night air?" she asked. "Quite a show you put on there, though you don't look so good."

"I remember what you did Seana. You killed Zach's mother," I rasped.

"Ah yes, the Mirren bitch. I took great pleasure in doing so," Seana gleamed.

Something in me snapped. I was charging towards Seana, the stake held firmly in my grip before I aimed it right for her chest. She twisted my arm, sending the stake flying out of my grip.

"Foolish child," Seana spat, then grabbed me by the throat and lifted me from the ground, choking the life out of me. "You are pathetic," Seana cackled then dropped me.

I glared up at her, then swiped my hand to the side, sending her flying right into a tree, and made it to where she couldn't move. I grabbed the stake again and stalked towards her. She tried to move but I tightened my magic holding her to the tree.

"You know you aren't strong enough to hold me here," Seana spat as she thrashed around violently. I forced more of my magic to restrain her, my hand reached outwards to her. But even I could feel it slipping. I was weakened by breaking the compulsion.

"Tell me why you came back!" I hissed at her.

Seana just chuckled, "If I told you then it would ruin all the fun now wouldn't it?"

"I'm going to kill you for what you did to his mother," I spat as I tightened my grip around the stake's hilt.

"Are you a killer then Ms. Rezza?" she laughed, I paused, my magic faltering slightly. "Like me? When I killed that poor woman? Once you kill me you won't be any different. You will be a killer."

"No, she's not. But I am," I heard Scott snarl from behind me. He walked up beside me, glaring at me with anger, then snatched the stake out of my other hand. "I told you to stay inside."

I glared back at him, "I think I can handle myself."

Scott looked at me like I was a joke.

Seana giggled like a manic, "Scotty how nice of you to join us! I was just chatting with Ms. Rezza, weren't we dear?"

"I wouldn't say chatting," I retorted.

I felt my magic starting to falter.

"Your magic is slipping," she chuckled, making me falter even more. "Now can you stop talking and just kill me? Oh, wait."

Just as she said that I felt my nose start to bleed again. Scott noticed too.

"Lily go back to the damn house!" he yelled at me.

"I'm not leaving you here!" I screamed back as I gave everything I had to keep Seana in place. But then my magic just snapped off. I couldn't channel any more of it.

I wiped the blood away from my nose again with my sleeve.

Seana got off the tree cackling, "How sweet. But perhaps you should go now while I teach my wayward progeny a lesson."

Seana leaped at him in a blur, and then all I heard was snarling before they both reappeared. He had her pinned against the tree, the stake pointed at her chest.

But he just stopped.

I stood there motionlessly. Why was he hesitating?

"What's wrong Scotty? Can't kill me?" Seana goaded, "I sired you, even if you wanted to kill me you could never do it. Consider it a blessing or a curse to whoever created our kind; a safety net for sires against their stupid progeny."

"I can still do this though," he spat, shoving the stake into her gut. Her outraged screech echoed throughout the woods. I took a step back, terrified, and utterly useless at this point.

Seana ripped the stake from her abdomen in the next second, her face twisting in pain as she did so. Then she and Scott were blurs of motion again. One second they would be on the ground punching and kicking one another, the snarls coming from them were animalistic and feral.

They both reappeared not far from me, Seana had the stake in hand. Scott went to lunge at her again, but she spun around, circling him. Before Scott reacted, she shoved the stake into his chest. Seana held onto the stake and twisted it, smiling sadistically as Scott groaned in anguish.

"Stop it!" I screamed as I charged toward them. Seana snapped her attention to me and hissed. Then she picked up Scott like he weighed nothing and threw him like a ragdoll at me. My eyes widened in horror right as his body knocked into mine.

I didn't have time to react, that was how fast it happened.

We crashed into the ground, rolling a few times. I took the brunt of it. Having someone almost twice the size of you knock into you; hurt like hell. Especially when my face hit the ground. I couldn't even breathe, pain ricocheted through my torso when I tried to move. Scott was sprawled on top of me. He was breathing in deep ragged breaths, but then I felt him trying to move off me. When he did, all the weight pinning me down was gone.

"Well, that escalated," I heard him rasp. I groaned in response, though it was muffled.

I heard a painful gasp come from him, the sound of him dislodging the stake from his chest sickened me to my stomach. Then he went silent. While he could heal instantly, I could not. He gripped my arm, causing me to flinch as he rolled me onto my back.

I slowly opened my eyes to see Scott peering down at me, his face etched in pain. Why did this remind me so much of that night? Things were a lot different now though. I knew something wasn't right when he was frantically pulling me towards him. I could barely feel him as he held me.

My vision was darkening around me, the last thing I saw was his deep blue eyes turning black. Then something was forcing my mouth open, and I tasted something metallic. I flinched, my eyes opening wide. Scott had his wrist pressed forcefully against my mouth as I tried to move away, but he kept me firmly in place till he was done. I felt the blood go through my body, stitching up everything that was wrong with it. It felt foreign and strange.

"I—" I paused, wiping the excess blood away from my mouth, I sat there speechless.

"Do you understand how easily you could of just fucking died?! I told you to stay inside where it was safe!" he fumed.

I wanted to burst out crying, but all that came to my mind was, "Hey, at least I have my memories back!"

I put on a grin, trying to lighten the mood. He just gaped at me in disbelief.

"You are unbelievably reckless and stupid, you know that?" he remarked.

"What?" I gawked, pretending to be offended, "No, I think I was awesome."

Scott just shook his head, then got up off the ground with ease. He held out an arm for me to grab onto and lifted me up on my feet. I was still grinning at him like a fool.

"There is nothing awesome about getting yourself almost killed," he scoffed.

I put on a pouty face, "Well, you do have a valid point, but at the end of the day I am still awesome."

He rolled his eyes at me, then started walking back toward the house, I trailed along after him in silence. I had to walk quickly to keep up with him, he had his hands clenched into fists. I could understand why he was angry, but I did not want to just sit on the sidelines and let Seana harm innocent people.

"What the fuck were you thinking?!" I heard Cel screech as I noticed her walking very angrily toward us.

"Hey before you say anything I did get my memories back!" I exclaimed.

"Good for you!" Cel said sarcastically. "You still didn't need to knock me out."

"Guys Seana is still out there, we probably shouldn't be arguing—" Zach put in.

"Well, we wouldn't be in this situation if all three of you just stayed inside as I told you to," Scott remarked.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Cel sighed. "Can't we just, I don't know. Kill her already? Lure her out in the open and just end this bullshit."

"You don't think I've tried?" Scott remarked.

"Not hard enough apparently," Cel mumbled to herself.

"He can't kill her," I whispered, looking at Scott. "Can you? What Seana said..."

"What do you mean?" Zach asked incredulously.

Scott sighed, "I want to kill her. But I can't."

"And when did you figure this revelation out?" Cel hissed.

Scott gloated at her, was it that hard to get along with someone? We all needed to be on the same side here.

"Yeah, when did you figure this out?" Zach retorted. "Was it when you told me to let you handle it?! Yet it turns out you can't fucking do anything!"

"Guys can you just chill out?!" I yelled.

They all ignored me.

"I tried killing her eighteen years ago," Scott admitted, "But something held me back then, I didn't know until tonight the real reason. Vampires cannot kill their sires."

"That's just great," Cel chuckled darkly. "Well then, you can incapacitate her, and I will gladly finish the job."

"Sounds like a plan," Scott grinned.

The sound of an accelerating engine broke through the woods, catching our attention towards the driveway. A black SUV flew down it, my mother's.

"I'm sure my father called your parents," Zach sighed towards me.

Oh great.

MY parents were not too happy when they got the call from Markus. To say the least, my father was only a little upset. Scratch that, he was absolutely pissed.

We were standing beside the SUV. Markus, Zach, and Scott were talking on the front porch of the house.

"You know we are grounding you right?" my father fumed; his face beat red. My mother stood beside him in complete silence.

"Yes..." I muttered.

"Both of you," my father added.

Cel just smiled.

"You aren't my father," she chuckled. "He wouldn't ground me if he found out. He would kill me and bury me in the backyard."

"Which is why we won't be telling your parents," my mother cut in. "It is late, we need to go home."

"Samuel," Markus called as he walked over towards us, Scott and Zach right behind him. "It has been a while since we dealt with this mess. Hopefully, now we can end it."

"Yes, we will. I will be in touch," my father murmured. "Lillian, I trust you will come straight home, right?" he asked, looking directly at me.

"Yes Dad," I replied.

"I'll walk you to your car," Scott offered.

My father snapped his head in Scott's direction. "Like hell—"

"Samuel," my mother sighed.

"He's parked right beside me Dad," I muttered.

Scott chuckled as my father grimaced.

"I'll see you at home honey," my mother smiled, dragging my father to the SUV.

"Well, tonight was sure eventful," said Cel. "You two go on ahead, we'll catch up."

Cel eyed Zach, I was now certain the two of them were together, they had to be. What I wanted to know was, why wouldn't she just admit it? I glanced at Scott, who was looking directly at Zach with a funny expression.

"Okay..." I grinned, then started to walk down the driveway, Scott followed.

As we walked down the driveway in silence, I looked up at the sky, it was still cloudy. We made it back to the vehicles; the road was full of water puddles.

"So," I grinned, "Do you think they're dating?"

"Possibly. Zach has been very off lately," Scott chuckled, he walked towards his Camaro, then leaned against the driver's side, crossing his arms.

"I have so many questions..." I murmured. "But I got to know, how long have you had this?"

I gestured toward his car. The thing was in mint condition.

"Since '74, my father gave it to me when I turned 18," he replied as he smiled at it. "I've traveled everywhere with it."

"I would ask more, but I really want to know what happened after everything seven years ago. Why did you stay here?" I asked. "I don't mean to be rude."

"I was already living here; my mother's family is actually from Seaside. Anyway, I discovered Seana returned. She has some kind of vendetta against Zach's kind and when she killed his mother, I felt responsible. I let her get away that night because I hesitated. Now she is back causing all of this." he hissed.

"There was no way you could have prevented his mother's death," I lamented.

"I'm sorry that all of you got dragged into this hell," he said.

I crossed my arms. "It doesn't matter that I've been dragged into this, because now I'm all in. I want to help. Besides, you can't take her down without us."

"Even if she threatens you. Your family? To cross her, you are risking everything. Zach already lost a parent," he grimaced.

"I feel so sorry for him, to lose a parent, I can't imagine it," I sighed.

"I never needed to be pitied," Zach mumbled. I didn't even hear him or Cel approaching.

I turned, glancing up at Zach, "No, but you always needed forgiveness, and I forgive you, Zach. For everything, we were kids caught up in a deadly fight, you weren't in the right state of mind. I know things could've turned out a lot worse, but they didn't," I replied, giving him a sad smile, "We're both still here despite every bad thing that has happened."

Zach looked at me for a moment, his face holding so many emotions. "Yes, we are," he smiled, "And I hope soon all those bad things come to an end." Suddenly, he swept me into a bear hug, "Thank you, Lily."

"Awe, time for a group hug!" Cel exclaimed, then I felt her hug the other side of me, the life getting squeezed out of me.

"Guys, I can't breathe!" I rasped, and both of them released me.

"Well, I hate to say it, but we really need to get home. We have school. Sadly." Cel sighed.

"School..." Scott grumbled to himself.

And it hit me. Yes, we were all wrapped up in a world of magic and secrets, but at the end of the day, we were still kids just getting through high school. Just like everyone else.