DUSK

nine

Clara sat in the dank cellar while Thaddeaus paced across the other side of the it.

"Please, don't do this.  Tess is a good person."

"-See, that's where you're wrong." Thaddeaus said.

"She's not a person and neither am I. We are abominations, we who feast on humans. It's what we were made for, to be demons."

"You're crazy." she said quietly.

He shook like a junkie in the low light.

His eyes were so black now, they reflected nothing. He slowly walked towards her.

"...You child, I should not have taken. I had planned to take the boy, but you tempt me too much."

~~~~

I didn't recognize it at first, that deep instinctual need. Later in the day however, with everyone weary in the kitchen trying to figure out some other course, I realized.  He wanted her like I wanted Will.

She would not survive this, even when he got Tess. They both would be lost to us and we'd still be here twiddling our fingers.

Tess had only been gone five minutes. We could track her. She was still in range.

"He's not going to let her go." I said, shaking my head and I told them what I knew. "Even if we don't follow he'll kill them both. I think we might even be able to track her without him knowing."

"How?" Sylvia asked.

"I know what it is to push the need back. It's distracting. I think we have no choice but to chance it."

Sylvia looked at me for a moment and then looked up at Holt. "No."

"NO?!" I was furious. "How can you not?"

"Because we can't take the chance that he'll kill them both, right away."

"So, what you're just going to let him take Tess???"

"-That was her decision."

"Look, If you had some kind of rivalry over Lawrence? Guess what? He's dead! And my mother's in danger."  Strange how comfortable that word had gotten, now.

"My mind is firm." she said.  "From what I know of Tess, she won't just go as a lamb to the slaughter. I think this Thad may have gotten in over his head with this kill." 

~~~~

Tess moved as quickly as she could, back to the spot where she found Lawrence. She remembered an odd smell there. Something she could not identify. She had picked up the source of it but didn't connect the dots until just now.

Once there, she found it again. A small charred dagger. Lawrence must not have had time to even draw it.

He would not have brought it unless... 

"The metal." She said, aloud.

~~~~

It took some stealth, but I managed to get Stephen's attention with my eyes and lure him into the kitchen.

It was risky, but I thought I'd chance some nonverbal communication. He was the only other one of them for which I had some measure of control doing that and he had been in my mind before, after all. I hoped we were close enough for this to work.