-Julie-
I bit my lip as we all sat at the small, cramped kitchen table. Grandmother was doing a spell to see their exact locations. Viktor was closer, but William had disappeared from the radar, apparently. Vincent was really on edge. He couldn't even sit still, and eventually he just started pacing.
"How close is he? I can't deal with this. I don't want to relocate."
I shook my head. "We won't move again. We are staying right here. Viktor won't take this away from us." I stood and tried to talk him down, but he only shook his head, continuing his pacing.
Grandmother suddenly slammed her hands down. "He''s outside."
We all froze and there was a knock at the door. Each of us looked at one another, wondering who would open the door. Once another knock sounded, more demanding this time, Vincent took a deep breath and opened the front door.
Viktor stood there, in his classic jacket and old jeans. There was something different about him though. He had rough scarring around his ears and down his neck. It disturbed me, but I had no time to contemplate why he would even have scars like that. He yanked Vincent out of the house by his collar, throwing him into the yard. Grandmother and I ran outside after the twins.
Before Viktor could lay another hand on Vincent, he flipped out of the blow and Grandmother retaliated with a swift kick to Viktor's chest. Viktor recovered just as swiftly and was going to claw at Grandmother's face, but I pushed her out of the way. I would be protected by the Eyes.
I wasn't disappointed. As soon as Viktor's nails dug into my skin, a green light exploded from my eyes and shoved Viktor down off the porch. He slid a few feet back before being able to stand. He did exactly what I expected him to do, which was jump right back up and go for another attack on me. But instead of him reaching his hands to destroy or hurt me, he threw them around me in an almost loving embrace.
"Oh, Julie, my sweet, sweet Julie," he murmured into my ear.
Before I could react to anything that happened in that moment, I felt him being ripped off of me. Vincent started yelling "Do not touch her!"
Viktor pushed me behind him protectively and snarled. "She isn't yours. I found her first."
Vincent was set back a moment by his statement. I was just as shocked as he was. He hated humans, why the sudden change in attitude? "What?" I said in my confused haze.
Viktor turned around and gently grabbed my upper arms. "Oh, Julie, worry no more, I will take care of you."
I shrugged his hands off of my arms and stepped back. "What are you talking about? You ripped out my eye, you psychopath!"
He gave a large smile. "That's in the past!"
Vincent pulled Viktor away from me and threw him by his arm. Grandmother caught him and promptly bound him with a simple spell I had learned a while ago. Viktor could only move his head. Sadly enough, he wouldn't stop yelling. Vincent picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder. Walking inside, he roughly threw Viktor on the living room floor. I followed Vincent into the house with Grandmother.
"What do we do?" I looked at Grandmother.
She looked at Viktor on the floor, yelling and screaming about how he will murder Vincent again and again. Vincent kicked his gut, making him shut up for now. Grandmother looked back up at me and cleared her throat. "Well, he has a strange fancy for you now. Maybe we could keep him here. I know a few spells that would make him harmless, but their cost will be great."
"What do you mean great?" Vincent asked immediately."And why does he have to stay with us?"
"It will cost life blood." She said it after a long pause, like it physically hurt her. "And he is your brother."
"What are you going to do to me?" Viktor coughed.
I ignored him and looked at her in worry.
"You'll have to kill someone? Like a human?"
"Grandmother, your oath. I'll kill someone," Vincent chimed in.
Grandmother shook her head. "No, it has to be someone who can cast the spell. You aren't powerful enough. I will make an exception this once. And it doesn't have to be a human. I will take care of this."
And with that, Grandmother was gone.
Viktor started laughing softly on the floor. "I will stay with Julie now."
I looked down and our eyes locked. He was mesmerized by the green irises once again. I closed my eyes and said, "Why do you suddenly love me?"
I could hear the smile in his voice. I could feel Vincent's reaction to his words as well. Anger rolled off of him in waves. "I want to be your lover."
