~BOOK 5/PART ONE~ Paranormal: Too Close To Home (Multi-Bandom FanFic)

Chapter 5 - Kenya

The car ride with Bruno was silent, which I had expected. Any topic, any subject was bound to make us explode, so we found it easier to just keep quiet. We didn't even have the radio on to fill the confined space with some kind of sound, he and I just sat in pure silence - only adulterated by the roar of the engine. 

It was sad, though. Most couples in a fight want and try to fix the problems occurring in their relationship, but I had no desire to solve our issues. With this rift between us, we could finally part ways and I could stay with Lynn. It took everything in me not to let a smile form on the edge of my face just from the sheer thought of her. She was the only thing on my mind, despite the responsibilities I had on my shoulders and the true task at hand. I couldn't help it though, that's all I've been doing the past few days - thinking and dreaming about Lynn. I can't believe I forgot her beautiful brown eyes, or her smile, or the way she held a gun.

I distractedly tapped on the steering wheel while looking around, my throat swelling up as I began to feel like I was choking on my anger and confusion.

"Where'd you even go?" Bruno dared to speak up, ruining our streak of silence.

I snapped out of the daze I was in and took a quick glance in his direction, quickly returning my attention to the road and responding, "Texas."

He raised an eyebrow. "Texas? What were you doing there?"

"I went to get the hunters. They know exactly to get rid of this demon; they're the only group of humans I kind of trust."

He scoffed and averted his gaze out of the window. "Humans are the worst. There was a reason we kept our identities a secret from them, and this is exactly it."

"Maybe we were wrong to keep them in the dark," I disagreed, "They're a part of this town; they deserve to know we exist." 

I didn't know where this new way of thinking came from. Maybe it was the fact that I was in love with a human - which could explain why I was so passionate about refuting his bullshit statement - or maybe I was just still mad at him. I had a right to be - he erased my memory. Nothing had come back except for Lynn. Why only her? God, I missed her.

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. It felt weird for me to say this, but Rachael was right about this being the time for change. This town needed a change, whether it was for the better or for the worse. In that moment, it was for the worse, but that didn't change my mind. It was time for the factions to be honest with each other. The human's weren't aware of anything, so they would most likely die first. I thought by keeping them in the dark, the non-paranormals would be better off, but I was wrong. They weren't like us. They were weaker, more apt to losing their lives, and stood no chance against us. "We could learn a lesson from them, how to be vulnerable."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," He murmured. I couldn't help but notice how this was the first time in a while that Bruno agreed with me, maybe even ever. 

I didn't feel the need to continue our awkward conversation as we turned into Harrison's glorious property. If you asked me, this man was overcompensating for his lack of power in the paranormal world. On top of that, he was greedy.

"I've never been here before," I confessed.

"Well then let's go take a tour," He retorted sarcastically, opening his car door and getting out. I followed after him and the two of us walked inside, the front door unlocked. The mansion might've looked glorious on the outside, but inside, it was a mess. Light bulbs had been shattered - the opaque pieces of glass scattered about the floors - and the remaining ones were flickering. The walls had blood smeared on them and the wooden floors had a combination of small, short and big, long scratches etched into them.

I couldn't hear anything but the wind blowing through the big and empty halls. However, I picked up on a strange scent, and I decided to find out where it was coming from. "You'd think he could afford a housekeeper," I mumbled, pushing open a cracked door and seeing all the furniture turned over, "I think we should assume that he's dead."

"I told you he left, Kenya. After the vamps broke in, he fled the scene. Rumors have been spreading, saying that he went to be with some witch, but-"

Thump... Thump...

"Shhh." The smell and the noises were growing. "Do you hear that?" Bruno closed his mouth and honed in on the sound.

Thump... Thump...

"Hold up," He muttered, leaving the room and following after the sound. I turned around and ran after him, traveling through the house with him until we came across a closed door, the thumping the loudest it had been all night. The two of us shared a quick glance before Bruno reached out and wrapped his hand around the doorknob, looking back at me before pulling the door open.

Sitting in the center of the room was Patrick and the other vampires, tied down to chairs that were scattered about the room by a black substance of some sort. The substance ringed around their wrists, ankles, and waists, as well as around their mouths so that they couldn't speak. They all had tired expressions on their faces, bags underneath their eyes and an even paler color to their skin.

"Holy shit," Bruno muttered under his breath.

I ran over to Patrick first, attempting to pull off the black substance covering his face, but it wouldn't budge. Instead, it started getting stuck to my fingers. "What the hell is this?" I removed my hand, shaking the black ooze on to the floor in a small and seemingly harmless puddle.

Bruno joined my side and looked down at the vampire, his eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Who did this to you?" He asked Patrick, knowing he couldn't answer him. He didn't expect an answer, but he received one.

"Me."