Vampires Rule // Colby Brock

~| 51 |~

"Lydia... I really don't think that's a good idea," Eliza whispers into the silence of the coven house. We weren't silent, not when they all arrived for a meeting today, but now that I've told them what I want to do, it seems there's just silence.

"Yeah, me neither," Lilly admits.

I roll my eyes—they don't know what it's like not to understand myself, or why I'm feeling the way I do about specific parts of my life. It's like the old me—blackout period me—is still there in this version, I just have to get her out so we can combine ourselves. And the only way to do that is to go fishing for answers with a group I now know I was a part of during that time.

Yet my whole coven are against the idea.

"How am I supposed to go on like this, guys? Everything about that last... what, over ten years of my life has gone missing for me. I don't know a damn thing and it's tearing me up." I shake my head, feeling the oncoming pressure of a headache. "If there's anything to do that'll get my memories back of that time, I have to do it."

"I thought you didn't want your memories back, once upon a time?" Tyler questions, and I look at his confused face for a moment.

I shrug. "I don't know, there's just something about that clan. Knowing I used to be a part of them and that I made them promise to let me live my life... It doesn't sit right with me. I want the truth now and I'm going to get it."

"But what if you don't?" Lilly reasons. "What if you can't get your memories back, just like everyone else who's been stabbed by the dagger, and you're just wasting your time with a bunch of bloodsuckers?"

"It's not like I'm planning on living with them," I scold her back. "I just want to spend some more time with them—like training time, for example."

"You can't train with us because of the flashes," Eliza reminds me.

"So I'll wear sleeves."

Everyone seems to sigh at the same time, like I'm some stubborn bitch who needs to stop fantasising. Maybe that's exactly what I am, but I want my memories back and I have to be the one to find them, they aren't going to be handed to me or given back on their own. My responsibility, and I take responsibilities very seriously.

Finally, Eliza decides she can't tell me otherwise and Lilly agrees that training with a couple of vampires could give us the upper hand in future fights, though we're under no illusion that it won't help much at all. So Eliza goes and makes the call. One simple call that'll mean I see Colby and his clan on the regular. This is something I need if I want to figure myself out, so I'm eager for it to start.

"Tomorrow," Eliza says when she comes back into the room. She's looking at me as if I'm her only audience member. "In the evening, we're meeting on the beach."

"Is that smart to do?" Tyler questions nervously.

"Probably not," I admit, "but I don't have any other choice. If you're too scared, don't go. Simple." And I don't let any of them argue with me as I get up to walk to the front door.

**********

The last time I was at the beach, I ran into Katrina Stuart—or she found me—and thoughts of performing in front of an audience freaked me out so badly that I had a fit. But this time, I'm sitting on the sand in thick leggings, a long-sleeve shirt, gloves, and a pair of sneakers with my coven, waiting for a huge clan of vampires to show their faces.

"They said they'd be here half an hour ago," Eliza complains as she kicks sand into the air. I ignore her. I don't care if they're late, as long as they still show up.