Whatever It Takes {Two | Alaric Saltzman}

You and I Are a Lot Alike, You Know

A woman yielding a bloody knife, the knife that must have been used to slice open Seline's throat, was standing in Lizzie and Josie's room. The only sound came from the closet where the twins were giggling, playing a game that was entirely their own. She was going after them, that much was clear, so Abigail, and Abigail alone, went after her.

She slammed the butt of her gun into the attacker's head before pushing her against the wall, right into a framed painting of a castle. The glass broke upon impact, shattering as it met the floor with her body. She'd seen that person that day, watched them on a screen for hours, and there she was right in front of her. Virginia St. John.

She tucked her gun away, using one of her shaking hands to throw open the closet door and the other to part the hanging clothes. There, side-by-side on the floor, sat Josie and Lizzie. They looked up at her with smiles, washing away everything bad she felt if only for a moment.

"Hi, Mommy!"

She smiled back at them. "Hi, babies."

After Abigail put the girls in their car seats, Caroline compelled Seline to take them out for dinner and ice cream, and they drove away, she turned to the vampire on the front porch. "Make sure no one else tries to break in. I'll let you know if I need your help."

Two trails of blood led to the kitchen. She followed them, unable to tell them apart until one merged with a large puddle next to a set of clothes and another led to a person bound to a chair. She stared at her, heart pounding in her chest so hard that she could feel it throughout her body.

She slapped Virginia across the face. "Wake up!"

Virginia opened her eyes.

"You have thirty seconds to explain why you came after my kids. And then thirty more seconds to answer my questions about the vault." She picked up the knife she had used on Seline. "Go."

Virginia's head rolled backwards. "I told you and your friends not to open the vault."

"I'm not feeling so nice anymore." She moved to stand behind her, grabbing her hair roughly to create an opening for the knife to be pressed against her throat. "Fifteen seconds."

"It has come..." A sharp gasp turned into a dry heave. "For them..."

"No, no, we are not playing this game." She cut just slightly into her skin. "What is it?! What does it want with my children?!"

There weren't words coming from Virginia, only a retching sound.

Abigail dragged the blade within a milliliter of her carotid artery. "What?"

Again, no words. No sounds, even. Just blood. It all dripped to and from her neck, staining Abigail's hands red, as she coughed up something that flew across the room.

"Oh, my God. That's your tongue." Kneeling at her side, she shouted, "Caroline!"

Alaric made it home in time to help Abigail put Lizzie and Josie to bed. She'd washed the blood from her hands, changed her clothes, and cleaned the space between the foyer and their room, but the kitchen was still in exactly the same state it had been in save Virginia's body. That was where they stood now, wearing yellow natural rubber gloves and surrounded by cleaning products that were anything but what she used in Dallas.

"Caroline tried to heal her, but she just kept bleeding until she was dead. I couldn't get any information out of her." She looked around the now clean room. "There was so much blood..."

"One tunnel. I decide to stay down one simple tunnel, and instead of being available for our kids who are under attack, I'm out of range." His voice was as steely as his expression, but when he looked at her it softened. "I mean, are we doing this all wrong? Should we just never leave their sides for the rest of their lives?"