~BOOK 3/PART TWO~ Paranormal: A Vampire's Time Is Now (Multi-Bandom FanFic)

Chapter 5

The demon paced back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back as he surveyed the people lining the sides of the streets. He glanced down at his watch. Thirty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Brendon or Rachael.

"Well, well, look what time it is," He mumbled under his breath, looking up with a smile appearing on his face, "I'm feeling a little hungry. What about you, guys?" He looked around at the vampires mixed in with the werewolves, his army of blood suckers rallying a loud cheer as the werewolves flinched at their cries for their blood.

The demon smiled widely before spinning around towards the terrified werewolves who became even more frightened when the vampire turned to face them. "Hmm...who should I pick first?" He sang as he continued his pace, walking down the line before stopping in his tracks and turning towards the werewolf in front of him. "You." The werewolf frantically shook their head no, but Patrick didn't care. "I want you." He grabbed the wolf's shirt and pulled him forward, throwing him on the ground. "And you." He rushed to another person on the other side of the street and yanked them out of line.

He did this until he had his five victims, positioned side by side in the center of the street on their knees, their hands pinioned behind their backs and gags tied around their mouths. Circling around them, he debated which of the five strangers he was going to kill first. But before he could he could even lay a finger on even one person, someone called his name. He turned his head and saw the one person he thought he'd never see again.

"Rachael, just the person I wanted to see," He purred under his breath, "Luckily you got here before we had ourselves a little snack."

A darkness clouded her eyes and embers flew off of her dress as she sped up her pace, finally reaching the vampire and grabbing him by the shirt, tugging him closer to her so close that their noses were almost touching. "I know he's still in there, Demon. And as long as he's in there, and I'm here, you're not killing anyone. Not one of them, and definitely not me."

"Oh really?" He tested.

"Really," The witch growled, staring into his eyes.

"We'll see about that."

"I'd like to see you try," She sneered.

The two of them stood there, their chests rising up and down as tension radiated off of them. The demon was finding himself frozen in place, unable to move.

"Oh, I don't need to..." He began to reply when he choked up, his throat swelling up.

The grip on the vampire's shirt tightened and the witch could feel herself tearing apart at the seams, but she was forcing herself to stay together. She had to. She needed to prove that she was able protect these people, that she wasn't just a source of evil, and that her gifts could be used for so much more.

"Don't need to what?" The witch taunted, seeing the demon's struggle and knowing she was right, "I couldn't hear you."

The demon squeezed his eyes shut and tilted his head down, feeling the vampire trying to make his comeback after having been suppressed for so long. He wasn't going to let it happen, though, not here, not now.

Just then, Brendon appeared out of thin air, fuming. "Rachael!" He yelled. She slowly glared back at him, keeping her hold on the demon. "Stop this, right now!"

"You can't tell me what to do, Brendon."

"You were right!" The wizard screamed in hopes to stop the witch from killing everyone. "Patrick's still in there!"

"No he's not," The demon pressed, playing a different game, one that ended with death. He knew from Patrick that Rachael could wipe out this entire town, so he continued to bait her. "I'm all that's left of that miserable and pathetic creature." The demon smiled, noticing black ooze falling from his nostrils and Rachael's anger rising to a new height.

Brendon, on the other hand, wasn't going to let her go. "Rachael, don't listen to this bastard. Patrick is in there," He contradicted himself from the house, starting to approach the couple. Werewolves watched in anticipation, waiting to see what was going to happen. As the wizard got closer, the same substance began to drip from his nose. "If you kill him, Patrick dies with him." His heart broke a little as those words slipped past his lips. He wished that he was enough to stop her darkness, but he wasn't, and so he dangled the darkened witch's true desire in front of her - Patrick.

Rachael fought with herself for a brief moment before releasing the vampire and stepping away from him. The black ooze ceased to drip from his nose as he fell to his knees, his body weak even though his spirit was burning strong. The same happened to the wizard, except he remained standing.

"You told me he wasn't in there," She muttered to Brendon, her eyes still black and the darkness still flowing through her body.

"I was wrong," He admitted, walking up to her and slipping his hand underneath her jawline. Her skin was hot to the touch, but he kept his hand in place. "I just didn't want to lose you again."

The witch's black eyes bore into Brendon's soul, her eyebrows furrowing together.

"Look, Rachael, I'm sorry. I just...you're so much happier when you're with me. You remind me of the old you. And when you're with him?" He pointed down to the vampire who was trying to get back to his feet, only to be pushed back down by the quick spell the wizard cast to keep him down. "It's like I don't even recognize you; I just want the old you back, the one I used to sneak around the coven with, the one I would sit on that swing with, the sweet girl I fell in love with. And the person you became after you left, isn't that person."

She stood there for a little before glancing down at the shell of a man who used to be her boyfriend. "I grew up," She simply replied, justifying her actions, "I was able to experience things that the clan couldn't offer me." Rachael's eyes returned to their natural blue. "I saw the world. I never would've done that had it not been for Patrick." Brendon felt his heart being ripped out of its resting place and thrown on the ground. Rachael grabbed the wizard's hand still positioned on her cheek and held on to it. "You have to understand that he's misunderstood, Brendon, just like you; just like all of us. And everyone made him out to be the bad guy, but he's not a bad guy. He just wants to make people happy, that's all."

The demon met her gaze, though it wasn't the demon who was looking back at her, but the Patrick.

The corner of her lip twitched upward into a smirk before she looked back up at Brendon, continuing, "You're made out to be the bad guy too, Brendon." The sorcerer heaved a sigh, in his mind Rachael was right - he was made out to be the bad guy, but the difference between Patrick and him was that he was evil.

Brendon was there to help Christine turn Rachael, he was there to help Brutus take Kenya, and above all, he was the cause of Rachael's pain and suffering. He even blamed himself for the wolf's death.

"But you're not a bad guy," She went on to say softly, her cheeks growing a deep shade of red, "If you were a bad guy, you wouldn't have cared about me for so long. You wouldn't have followed me everywhere I went just to keep my safe. You wouldn't have been my best friend for all this time." Brendon hung his head and Rachael pushed her fingers through his hair, bringing her hand to the back of his neck and shortening the distance between the two of them, looking up into his sad brown eyes. "We're all made out to be bad people, Brendon, but just because we've made some questionable decisions, doesn't mean that we're bad."

"I beg to differ," A third voice sounded, attracting everyone's attention.