Reminiscence {Book Two of the Vengeance Trilogy}

Chapter Twenty Seven: Old Friends

It was strange to have my memories back, even if it felt as though I was still lost in a fog. It was like all the memories slowly came back to me one by one. Maybe that's why I could still be upset with Elliot. I once again found myself feeling as though I was at war with someone else that lived inside my head. She looked and sounded just like me, but she wasn't me. She wanted to return to the world that she knew; the world of vampires and supernatural powers that could keep her safe. I still wanted to go back to applying to jobs and university. Still, she kept me here. She refused to let me leave and go back to the life that I had started to build for myself. I was two people fighting with one another in one body.

Once I entered the kitchen, all eyes were on me like they were before. I looked around at all of the faces in the room. Bridget caught my eye as she flashed me a small smile. I tried my best to return the expression, but I could feel the muscles in my face reject the action. I looked down at the ground as I slowly walked past the pack and headed towards the door to the basement. Before I could even reach for the door handle, Emmet spoke up, sparking a flame of anger in me.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked. I took a deep inhale before turning around to face his hulking frame. He was scowling at me, as if he were angry with just walking across the kitchen. Maybe he heard what Elliot and I were talking about outside. After all, he had the perk of vampire hearing.

"I'm going to go see my friends," I stated firmly. Emmet let out a small laugh and looked around at the others, who all seemed scared shitless of speaking up against him.

"Your friends are traitors. I suggest you go back into the living room with Melanie, love," he said in a degrading tone. I felt my jaw tighten and my hands curl into fists. Although I knew that he was stronger than me and that he could kill me with ease, I still wanted to fight with him. I wanted him to stop bullying everyone here, especially Danny. The rage was building up within me.

"If it weren't for him, I would be dead," I shot back.

"We would have gotten there in time. I had a vision about what was happening. If it weren't for me, Danny and Peter would have gotten away," he argued. Before I could say anything I would regret, I turned my back on him and the rest of the group.

"It's a shame that you showed up then," I muttered as I opened the door to the basement and slipped down onto the first step, shutting and locking the door behind me. I let out a small sigh and before I could take my first step downstairs, I heard Danny and Peter's voices. I took a pause just to listen to them for a moment.

"So, where are we going after this?" Danny asked.

"Danny, please don't do this," Peter pleaded, his voice shaking a bit as if he had been crying. Danny pushed forward without hesitation.

"I already told you, no matter what call Elliot makes, I'm getting us out of here. Now, where are we going?" Peter let out a deep sigh before responding.

"I guess we could go to Spain? I could show you where I grew up."

"The sunlight might be an issue, but I'm sure we can make it work. I'll find a way."

"What about you? Where do you want to go?"

"As long as I'm with you, I'm happy." Peter let out a small chuckle.

"That's cute, now give me a place you want to go."

"Well, I've always wanted to see Amsterdam. It always looked like a cool place to me," Danny said after a long pause. Once the silence hung around in the air for a bit, I began to make my descent into the basement, my heels clicking against the old wooden steps. Danny's eyes met with mine the minute I made it down the stairs. Danny smiled at me and I returned the gesture as I tucked my hands under my arms. He was sitting on the cement floor with his head tilted back against the cinder block wall. He was holding Peter's hand through the bars of the cage that had been down here. Trying to explain why there would be a cage here, I imagined that one of the previous owners had been a hunter of some kind, but I didn't dwell on it too much. Peter was basically leaning up against the bars of the cage, the two of them sitting as close to one another as they possibly could.