How Do I Love Thee?

Vengence

Ian and I jumped to our feet, but neither of us could move. "Ian..." He nodded and we took off towards the field. When we reached it everyone was human again and huddled at the back of the field. I looked through the crowd for Carolina and she wasn't there. My heart began to race.

I looked toward the other end of the field. There stood five men, vampires I assumed. But that wasn't what made tears flow. Laying on the ground at their feet was Carolina. She was covered in blood. Before I knew it I was running towards them.

I felt arms wrap around me and I fought against them. "Alex! Stop!" It was Ian. I relaxed a little but still fought against him. "Your not going to do us any good if you try to fight them." I fell to my knees and continued to cry as he held me.

I heard one of them start to speak. "Ian Hollingsworth. What a pleasure it is to see you again. We're not here to hurt her... Yet. But you see. If you don't hand her over to Him, we'll start killing all of your little friends one by one until you have no choice." He nudged Carolina with his foot and I nearly jumped up and ripped his throat out - I probably would have if it weren't for Ian holding me. He laughed as him and the others turned and walked away.

"Ian let go me go!" He did and I ran straight to Carolina. She was breathing but she was out cold. Her face was bruised and swollen along with her arms, abdomen, and legs. I cradled her head in my hands. I whispered. "Carolina? Carolina please wake up." Keith was beside me and said he needed to get her to the doctor I let her go and let him take her.

I sat on the ground staring at my hands covered in her blood. "Oh god..." Ian wrapped his arms around me and held me. "Ian what am I going to do? Is Carolina going to be okay? Oh god what if she isn't?"

Ian smoothed my hair back. "Shhh it's going to be okay. Carolina will be fine. We'll figure this out." He held me until I sobered up enough to stand. He held my face between his hands and stared into my eyes. "What you need to do is go home and get some rest. Your useless to us if your tired-"

"Ian wait. What are we going to do? Those guys... They said they were going to kill them if he, whoever that is, doesn't get me. I can't let them hurt anyone else." I felt tears pool in my eyes again.

"We will figure it out later. Go sleep. I'll go check on Carolina and then come over. Aaron can come stay with you until then if you want." I shook my head. I had to be alone. "Okay, go on."

I turned and walked back to the house. When I got there I couldn't take my clothes off fast enough and get in the shower. The water burned my skin, but I just wanted to get the blood off. No matter how much I scrubbed I felt like it was still there. I sat down, hugging my knees, and let the water hit my head. After what seemed like hours before I finally stood and got out of the shower. I wrapped myself in a towel and laid on my bed. I stared at the wall. What am I supposed to do? Even as I asked myself that over and over, I knew exactly what I had to do.

I got up and slid on a pair of shorts and a black tank top and grabbed my hiking boots, a gift from Carolina. I grabbed a back pack and stuffed some more clothes, blankets, food, water, and etc items in it. I sighed. Even if I had to hike through the Estonian wilderness for days, I was going to find this man and end this. I wasn't going to let stupid, innocent people who thought they were protecting me get hurt. I grabbed the bag and slid out the back. I couldn't let Ian know what I was doing, he would definitely stop me. I stopped on the porch. Ian... I ran back inside and grabbed a paper and pen and wrote him a note.

Ian, I'm really sorry I'm leaving like this. But these people can't get hurt because of me. You can't get hurt. Please, just stay here. Keep them safe.

Love, Alex.

I left the note on the coffee table and left. I ran to the woods, praying to God that no one would see me. When I was far enough from all the houses I slowed to a stop and tried to catch my breath. I didn't know exactly where I was headed, but if I was going to get there I had to do it on foot.

I dropped the bag on the ground and pulled out a bottle of water. I took a quick swig before replacing in the bag. I sat there for a minute. I had never had a sense of direction and here I was in the woods alone looking for a place I didn't even know what it looked like when the sun was setting. The only thing I could think of to do was keep moving.

I heard a noise from behind me at the same time I turned to see Ian. He hadn't seen me so I hid behind a tree.

"Alex?" He yelled for me. I didn't answer. "Alex I know your out here." He kept yelling, getting closer. "We both know damn well that I'll keep looking until I find you. So just come out."

"Just like he will?" I came out from behind the tree. He was right, he would find me. "Why did you come after me?"

He stormed toward me. "What the hell do you think your doing?" He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me, but I stood my ground. When he turned to face me he was furious. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Cause if so I'd like to know so I can go tell Carolina that protecting you was a waste! That almost dying for you was pointless!"

I pulled my arm free. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt!" Now I was yelling too. "This is about me, that's all he wants. I don't see why anyone else should get hurt because of me!"

"What do you think he's going to do? He's not going to just kill you. He has hunted you for years. He will torture you until you are begging him to kill you." Ian must have seen the fear that I felt because, he relaxed a little and came closer. I hadn't thought about what he would do to me after he got me. "This isn't just about you, Alex. If your dead, he'll kill us all. You have to stay alive and we have to fight back." He placed his hands on either side of my face. "I'm trying to protect you for their sake. Your their only hope." He kissed me softly. "I won't let him hurt you."

I stared at his eyes for a minute. If I stayed people were going to get hurt, but if I left people were going to get killed. Now that I stopped to think about it, I didn't really have a choice but to stay and help fight. It was the only thing that would save innocent people from dying. I took hold of his hand and started walking back.