41 | A Downward Spiral

California April 1, 2013

Seana

I wasn't sure how much time has passed since I'd been thrown into this room to rot. It was windowless. My uncle had taken my daylight ring from me and deprived me of blood. He would just give me enough to where I wouldn't start to desiccate.

Every object in this tasteless room was bolted to the floor. There was no way to end this misery, the only thing I had to myself were my thoughts. How horrible they have become the last few months or however long I had been here.

A hundred years could've gone by, it wouldn't have made a difference.

I laid on the bed, the white walls around me felt like they extended forever to the ceiling.

That night I took Isabel back to the house was when everything went to hell. I did everything I thought was right. I tried to keep Isabel in line, but it was to no avail.

My uncle had come later that night with that Kaiser boy. And right in front of Isabel; he killed him in the most gruesome way.

I saw the life drain from his eyes and felt that pang of emotion. That spark that had been growing for so long came rushing to the surface. Only because I had felt guilt for ruining his life.

That was my humanity trigger.

But I didn't witness what happened after that, my uncle had snapped my neck, and the next thing I knew I was in this room. I didn't know what became of Isabel and Maggie.

The moment I woke up he was in there, telling me this was for my own good to be locked away until he decided what to do with me. And after asking repeatedly about the fate of my progeny, he would never answer me.

I knew the Hathaway coven wanted me dead, I didn't see why my uncle insisted on keeping me alive. I would gladly let them end this miserable existence of mine.

It felt strange to have feelings again, but all I felt was despair and loneliness. Memories of what I have done over the years accompanied me in my sleep. Especially the images of two frightened children as I killed Aria Mirren with my bare hands.

Just as I killed her father in front of her as a child.

While I was awake I would hallucinate, so the memories never ended. It would get worse as I was closer to desiccation. If this was my punishment for all of the things I have done; mental torment, then I suppose that was kinder than physical torture.

The only peace I felt was when I would see my parents. They had adopted me as an infant, my birth parents had died in a carriage accident when I was only months old. My uncle took me under his care for a short while. Apparently, Aunt Claire had been besotted with me, never having had a child of her own.

But for reasons I never knew, my uncle put me in the care of a vampire he had sired, Riley Kane. The most wonderful father any little girl could have. He and his wife raised me to be kind and nurturing to others. How disappointed they would be if they saw me now.

I always knew they were vampires, but it was their wish I would remain human. On a visit to my uncle when I just hardly became an adult, I asked him to turn me.

He was hesitant at first, my parents had already refused me. I was the last of the Petrescu line, any descendants of my uncle would have come from me.

But Aunt Claire convinced him otherwise. And here I am, 108 years later.

Thinking back, after seeing my parents slaughtered for no reason, I didn't see any other outcome that could've occurred. Getting vengeance on the Mirren pack was the only thing I could have done.

They were killed for being vampires. The wolves never even took a second to realize they had murdered two of the most innocent beings in this horrible world. In their long lives, my parents never took a life.

The only reason I was not slaughtered alongside them was that I was away, caring for the sick at the local hospital. Doing what they taught me.

Look where that got us.

Now I have become a cold-blooded murderer.

The sound of the creaking door snapped me out of my reverie. I sat up, my body weak.

My uncle strode in; a blood bag in his grip.

"Drink up," he ordered and flung it at me.

I caught it and downed it within seconds, confusion building in me as he watched me intently.

Once I was finished, I threw it onto the bed beside me and slowly stood up though I felt my legs shake because of how weak I was still.

"What do you want?" I snapped. "You usually only give me a fraction of what was in that bag; then you leave."

"I have come to ask for your help," my uncle put forth.

"I have nothing to do with you," I spat, tears forming in my eyes. "Either get the hell out or kill me, I don't care which."

"I will never kill you, Seana," my uncle sighed. "I wish things were different, but a time has come for us to act."

"Us? There is no us," I retorted. "Whatever plan you are concocting, I will have no part."

"Seana," my uncle stressed, this time getting impatient. "I have done everything I thought I could to help you after Riley and Emilia died, when will you just let the past go?"

"I have let it go, I already killed everyone responsible for their deaths," I murmured.

"Then why do you continue to be difficult?" he inquired.

"Because," I began, "I know you want me to help protect the Hathaway coven as you have for centuries. Did you forget they want me dead?"

"No I have not forgotten, and that is not what I was going to ask of you," my uncle remarked. "I believe you want to go after the killers of your progeny do you not?"

I felt my face contort into a snarl. "You bastard!" I screamed and went to strike him but he sped away and grabbed me, then pinned me against the wall.

"I did not kill them," my uncle whispered, "Isabel was out of control, so she was put down by the coven, Maggie, however..." he trailed off.

I stopped thrashing around, and seeing that I stopped resisting; he released me.

"Who killed her? Tell me!" I cried.

"One of your own," he drawled. "And I need you to kill him for me."

"You want me to kill Scott?" I asked, exasperated.

"Yes, not only did he kill your innocent progeny, he is also stopping a witch from doing what she should be doing," my uncle added.

"Why would he kill Maggie?" I muttered in disbelief to myself, ignoring my uncle.

"What does it matter?" my uncle questioned.

"He wouldn't kill her for no reason!" I shouted. "There are things you aren't telling me uncle, and I am tired of your riddles and half-truths."

"I am frustrated at the coven Seana, alright?" my uncle admitted. "Things were put in place by your aunt Claire years ago, and Scott is the cause of it not going to plan. If I kill him myself then I will incur the wrath of those I do not want to."

"So you want me to do your dirty work for you?" I laughed in disbelief. "So when I kill him, they can dispose of me so you don't have to kill me yourself."

"They will not touch you Seana!" my uncle thundered. "Once you get rid of him I will help you get away from here, and hopefully you can learn to live in civilized society again."

I glared at him, so much hatred and disgust radiating through me that I couldn't think straight.

"Fine," I spat. "I have been wanting to kill him anyway for years."

My uncle seemed pleased with my response. So much so that he got up and opened the door to my prison, and motioned me to follow him.

I cautiously walked out, my eyes never leaving his.

"You should kill that werewolf boy as well, his whole line should've ended years ago," my uncle chuckled.

"They evaded me," I frowned. "But why kill him? I already killed those that were responsible, uncle."

What he said next changed everything.

"I will be honest with you from now on Seana," my uncle sighed. "Your aunt saw a vision of those wolves interfering with her plans to protect the coven, and she entrusted me with keeping things as they should go."

"Did she see them murdering my family?" I snapped. "You told me her visions are concrete, yet it seems they are not."

A sickening truth was unveiling itself, and I needed to be out of his grasp to do what I needed.

Why would werewolves murder my parents if they had never done anything? It seems my uncle wanted me to go after them and wipe out their entire line so he didn't need to soil his hands.

And he gave me the perfect reason to.

"Do what I ask Seana, or I will not protect you from the Hathaways again," my uncle warned, finally showing his true colors.

"Believe me, I know exactly what to do," I murmured. "I will avenge my progeny, and be a Petrescu once more."

I will be like him. I will spill lies and say things I must. Then betray him as he did my family a hundred years ago.

He appeared to believe me, which was just enough as he set me free.

I had not seen the sun in months. It was a welcome sight, I had become quite familiar with the four white walls around me. It felt nice to be liberated.

The first thing I did was go to Isabel's home, but all that was left standing was a burnt pile of rubble. I could still smell the traces of gasoline, a human wouldn't be able to detect it. A faint white line had been burnt around the house as well. It was a certain salt that would deactivate a witch's magic.

I had procured some years ago, wherever I lived I would place it. I would never be taken surprised by a witch again. Isabel must have taken some of it then.

I knew she wanted to kill Lillian. She apparently attempted to do so.

I sighed and left the house behind me. I did not have time to mourn for the deaths of my progeny. I could feel my sanity wanting to slip again, but I reigned it in.

I was going to put an end to my uncle once and for all.

If I survived my idiotic plan, perhaps I would go to Zachary Pierce and let him have vengeance for his mother.

I didn't even think before I sped off. Where I was going where I was now was suicide.

I needed werewolf venom.

Upon going to my house, I noticed it had been left untouched. Hopefully, my uncle didn't destroy all of the things I kept over the years. I just needed some silver. Luckily I had stockpiled it over the years. I inserted some into a syringe and mixed it with a sedative.

I just hope it was strong enough to keep an alpha down long enough for me to get what I needed.

The next step was getting Markus alone. I circled the property, keeping a distance so he wouldn't detect my scent. Picking up on noises around the house, I noticed he was alone of all things.

How perfect for me.

He was in the large shed, moving things around. I just had seconds to do this, before he had time to react. I sped in, and just as he turned I pounced on him, sending both of us crashing to the ground. I jabbed the needle into his arm, just as he gripped my wrist and broke it.

A scream escaped me, just as I saw two bright blue orbs narrow at me. He threw me off of him, sending me flying across the room. He yanked the needle out from his arm, looking at it with disgust.

"You think you can just take me down with this?" he scoffed and discarded it.

Just as I felt my bones fusing back together, I started to feel for the other syringe I had.

"I'm surprised you just showed up here alone," Markus mused, his fingernails sharpening into claws. "A grave mistake on your part."

I said nothing. I focused solely on where I would stick him next. I sped forward, right where he expected me to go, but in that next second, I changed positions and came up behind him.

Before he could turn and puncture me with his claws, I jammed the second needle into his neck; right in his carotid.

I took the needle out and flung it away, just to pull out the empty one I had for the venom. The second batch worked more quickly; his claws became fingernails and his eyes lost their glow.

I pried his mouth open and pushed the needle into his gums, his canines had yet to recede. He started to struggle against my death grip but he was weakening as each second went by. The venom slowly came out, but even just a drop was all I needed.

I yanked it out and put the needle into my pocket. Just as I let Markus drop to the ground, with his last ounce of strength he aimed his teeth right for my arm. His teeth slit right into my flesh, causing me to drop to the ground with him.

I grabbed him by his hair and pulled him off of me, then shoved him away from me. Blood dripped down my arm, as my eyes widened to what was going to happen now.

"Fuck!" I hissed, the wound wasn't healing. And it wouldn't for some time.

This was going to put a dampen on my plans.

"You b—" Markus tried to say but he blacked out.

I eyed him with uncertainty. I had just a bit before I would become completely blood-crazed. I had been bitten by werewolves before, and for the next few weeks after that was followed by an uncontrollable urge to drink blood.

Though the bite wasn't as bad as the others. Maybe the symptoms of the venom wouldn't be as severe or long. I stood up, my legs shaky.

That venom was going through me quickly. Maybe the bite was worse than it appeared.

I stumbled out of the shed, and took off, running as fast as I could through the woods, each moment going by the weaker I felt. I was still weakened from barely feeding for the last five months.

Luck must have been on my side today as I reached my destination.

I stood in front of Scott's house, listening to everything going on within. He was alone, I could hear the television on in the living room. I also could hear him talking now, he was on the phone with someone.

Here goes nothing.

I sped toward the door and stopped. I just knocked three times.

Scott stopped talking, probably realizing it was me at the door.

"Hey something came up, I'll have to call you back," Scott muttered and ended the call.

The front door flew open, and Scott stood there, his eyes black.

"What are you doing here?" Scott snarled.

I looked down at my arm as did Scott. He glanced at me, his eyes widening.

"I got myself into a bind, as you can see," I murmured.

"I can see that," Scott piped in. "You need to leave, now."

He started to close the door, but I shot my hand out. "Wait, please," I cried.

I actually felt tears come to my eyes. Oh, how I have not missed having emotions.

"Seana, what the hell happened to you?" Scott asked.

"My infernal uncle locked me up," I chuckled as I wiped the annoying tears away. "Having my thoughts as my only company drove me insane apparently, and now I have emotions. Isn't that wonderful?"

"You have your humanity?" Scott questioned. "That is kind of hard to believe."

"I know right?" I grinned. "But can I come in? I can smell blood in the fridge—"

"Seana, you really need to leave," Scott said again, but I put my hand on the door to stop him from closing it.

"I need your help," I cried, almost begging.

Scott stared at me long and hard for several seconds, contemplating. I knew what he would do though. He didn't have a bad bone in his body. He would do anything for anyone. Even those who didn't deserve it.

That was his only downfall. His own kindness.

"Fine," he relented and let me come in.

I stepped in and was immediately taken aback by just how homey this place felt. It was a drastic change from what it was in the 70s.

Scott opened up a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out an entire kit. I slowly made my way over there, confused about where he was going. I realized he was pulling out gauze and cleaning supplies.

He glanced up at me and noticed me staring at him perplexed.

"Why do you have all that?" I inquired.

"Because my girlfriend is very accident-prone," Scott muttered and put the kit away.

I just laughed to myself. I realized he and Lily finally did get together. It was only a matter of time. I took a seat on one of the kitchen stools and held my arm out. The bite was looking worse now.

"You going to tell me how you got bit by a werewolf?" Scott asked as he started wiping the dried blood from my arm and started cleaning out the wound.

"It is none of your concern," I sighed. "I just needed something to help us against my uncle."

Scott eyed me with suspicion and let my arm go. He opened the fridge and pulled out a blood bag and threw it on the counter in front of me.

"Take it and go, I can't do anything else for you," Scott remarked.

"Trust me," I murmured and open the blood bag. "You'll want to help me after I tell you all about what my uncle has planned for us all."

"I already know he wants to kill me, Seana," Scott piped in just as I finished downing the bag. "Is that why you are here? To tell me that?"

I dropped it on the counter. "No, I came here to get help killing the bastard. He is the reason behind everything we have all suffered."

"Oh so he is the reason why you killed Zach's mother, my grandfather, was responsible for Isabel who by the way almost killed Lily," Scott hissed. "And God knows how many lives and families you ruined over the years."

"The only reason I ever did any of those things was because my uncle destroyed my family!" I shouted. "He wanted me to turn my humanity off and kill off the Mirren pack! He has wanted me to do everything I've done to everyone!"

"You know how fucking crazy you sound right now Seana?" Scott spat. "You did all of those things on your own volition. Do I blame you for the shit I've done when we were together? I don't. I did everything because I was a monster. I've owned up to it. It's about time you do the same."

"Was a monster?" I scoffed. "I think killing Maggie makes you one still, you self-righteous bastard!"

"She asked me to end the misery that you caused," Scott retorted.

"You could have helped her! Why didn't you help her?!" I started crying hysterically now, my vision was blurry now as tears poured down my cheeks.

Why did he just kill her? It made no sense. I knew she was timid and uneasy about the life I thrust her into. Looking back I regretted what I had done to her. I knew it was my fault for everything. I just couldn't accept the reality of it.

And I wouldn't.

Just for a split second, I thought Scott would help me kill my uncle and end all of this suffering. That me going to get the venom to use against my uncle was for something. Now it had all been futile.

Now, I was going to make Scott pay for killing Maggie. By having him do the unthinkable I was going to have him go insane and accidentally kill Lillian now.

I glared into Scott's hateful blue eyes, all thoughts of reason leaving my mind.

"Pretty soon, you will feel everything I feel right now," I breathed. "The regret, the pain, and most of all hunger you've never felt before."

My throat felt bone dry, so much so it was taking my last shred of control to just rip the fridge door off and drink everything. I could even sense his neighbors in their homes, pretty soon now I wouldn't be able to stop myself from attacking anything.

I pulled out the syringe full of Markus's venom out.

"What the hell is that?" Scott questioned.

"Werewolf venom," I mumbled softly.

Then I pounced at Scott, sending us both flying into a scuffle on the floor. Scott threw me off of him, and in the next second, he had his hand wrapped around my wrist and yanked the syringe from me.

"Seana," Scott snarled through his teeth. "You think causing more pain will lessen yours? It will only get worse."

He tossed the syringe away from us, the glass shattering into thousands of pieces across the hardwood floor.

I just stared at the shattered glass. "You're right, it only does get worse."

The blood flowing through my veins right now was poisoned. He thought destroying that vial was the end of it. I didn't need it now anyway.

I launched myself blindly forward, catching Scott off guard. I slammed him down on the floor and bit into my wrist, ripping it open as much as I could, and forced it against his mouth. But all my strength was gone. He gripped my arm and snapped it backward and threw me against a wall across the room. Whatever was on it shattered around me as I fell.

He took one of the stools and broke off a leg. He stalked toward me, his black eyes narrowed. I used the wall to help me to my feet, but he sped at me and pinned me against the wall, his hand latching tightly around my throat.

"Even with humanity you are still just as psychotic as you were back then," Scott snarled and shoved the stake right into my abdomen. He released my throat and let me fall into a heap on the floor.

I started coughing up blood and spat it out beside me. I pulled the broken leg out of my gut and threw it to the side.

"I suppose I am," I coughed out. "You can torture me all day, you still won't be able to kill me."

"I know, I'm going to give someone a call so they can come to kill you themselves," Scott chuckled darkly. "They will make you wish you were dead."

"Let me think, Markus?" I guessed. "He is a little incapacitated right now."

I used the last bit of my strength to grab the makeshift stake Scott made and stabbed him with it, right where he stabbed me.

He grunted, his eyes reverting back to blue, and fell to his knees. I only was able to get a small amount down his throat, but it would be enough.

I didn't think he had any idea what was going to happen to him now.

Taking the opportunity while he was down, I grabbed his neck and snapped it. I stumbled away from him, holding the gaping wound in my stomach. All I could think now was emptying that fridge out.

I glanced at Scott one last time, just as the last shred of humanity flickered away.

I just grinned sadistically. I had nothing to lose now.