Contingency~TW/TO~ Lahey

Chapter 32: Revenge

"Allison?" I call to her, wondering if my eyes are playing tricks on me. I stare as her body jolts up and her head jerks in my direction. This can't be a trick. Her breaths are deep and heavy, causing her shoulders to move up and down quickly and the worried look she is sending me tells me she is either unaware of what is happening or is very aware.

She stares at me, her orbs holding so much emotion; fear, sadness, happiness. Her emotions are haywire with coming back and she has no idea what is to be expected throughout her transition. I have told her a couple of things about what it is like to be a vampire, but none of that information could prepare her for what is to come. Her life is about to take a drastic turn. And trying to adjust to this will either break her or make her stronger than she already is.

"Oh, thank the bloody heavens," I breath out and pull her in for a tight hug. Her body is freezing, but I make no reaction to worsening her state of mind. With her transition, I need to keep her as calm as possible. "I thought I lost you."

I pull away, taking her in. Her body is significantly less pale and her lips have gone back to their normal shade of pink. She is here. She is alive! This is real! "Why didn't you tell me?" I ask her as she fists the blue sheet closer to her chest.

Her mouth opens and closes a few times before responding, "I didn't know if I would need to. It was last minute. I just remember looking at the blood and then...drinking it."

I give her a look before turning away, "You still could have told me." I move to a large drawer, searching for Allison's packaged items that hopefully haven't been transported to the sheriff's station, yet. Allison jumps down from her table, keeping the sheet tight to her as I finally find a bag with her name on the label, "Here." The bag hits the metal table, creating an echo around us.

She gives me a tight smile, "Thanks."

I turn my back to her, giving her her privacy to change, "I thought you didn't want to be a vampire."

"I..." she trails off, thinking through her answer. She digs through her belongings, the sound of the fabric being the only sound until she continues again. "I didn't- I don't. I just, I knew this would be better than being dead. And Isaac- Oh my, God. How is he? Is he okay?"

"He is safe," I console her, my voice bouncing off the painted cement wall I still face. But my mouth twitches upward at her worry for him. "Thank you."

The sound of clothes shuffling around again fills the silence of the room, but I can't help but wonder what led her to this decision. She never wanted this, but in the end, she chose it.

"Allison, if this isn't what you wanted, are you sure you want to go through with this transformation? I don't want you to look back and regret this moment."

"Do you regret it?"

That is a loaded question with a loaded answer. I glance behind me and find her fully dressed in the clothes she had been wearing hours ago. A tear in the fabric still presents itself, showing a little skin from her abdomen. The stab wound has completely healed, only leaving the blood around the hole as proof she was ever pierced by a sword.

I cast my eyes upward, unable to look at the wound that became her fatality. I should have been there to save her from this life. "I never had a choice. My father forced it upon me and my siblings. He said he could not fathom living without another child. We were close, but the father I knew would never have put me through this," I explain distastefully. I've come to understand that losing our brother, Hendricks, is what caused his distress, but choosing this life for us? It was hard to look him in the eye when he forced that first drop of blood down my throat. And then seeing him do it to Kol... My respect for him had been demolished in that moment. He used to be so caring and open with me, but I realize that after that night, things slowly changed.