Fangs

*Ten

Chapter Ten - Compulsion

Caleb's POV

"What is it?" I asked Georgia.

She glanced behind me and smiled. "There you are." She said.

I turned around and saw Maggie walk up to us. I turned back around to face Georgia.

"What do you want, Georgia?" I asked.

"It's complicated, but I need you to do me a favour..." She began. "You see, a human saw us turn and we sort of, maybe locked them in the basement."

"Us?" I repeated. "Do they know?" I referred to her children.

She hesitated. "My mother and I. They don't know - please don't tell them."

"You locked a human in a basement...?" I stated, trying to make sense of the situation. She wouldn't do that, would she?

"Yes! And I need you to compel her to forget everything."

"I can't." I replied.

"You can't, or you don't want to?" She responded.

"Is this why you've been looking for me?" I asked.

"No. It happened the other day - I wanted to make sure you were alright. That's why we looked for you."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I don't want to compel someone, Georgia. Like I told Markus, I wasn't brought up to cheat my way out of problems."

"But you'll be cheating my way out of problems."

"What else do you want? Why bother looking for me for so long if the only reason happened the other day?" I demanded.

Maggie coughed and I turned my attention to her. "I wanted her to find you."

"Why?"

"To make sure you were alright." Georgia answered.

"And so that you could help me." Maggie added.

I raised an eyebrow at her, silently telling her to carry on.

"I need you to compel me." She said.

I shook my head. "No."

"Just listen to her." Georgia stated.

I sighed.

"Ever since you left, I couldn't stop thinking about my past." She began. "I wanted to marry this vampire I'd known for a long time. We had gone out for a while and I thought it was right. He told me that his parents didn't want him marrying a human, he didn't know what I was. I told him, and he freaked out...He left me, and I had to marry someone my parents forced me to marry. I hadn't encountered another vampire until you arrived. It brought back so many memories I'd wanted to forget. Please, compel me to forget my past, Caleb."

I stayed silent, running over what she had said.

"We were looking for you for well over forty five years, Caleb. We began looking a day after you left. We only included Markus fifty five years into our search, when things were going badly." Georgia stated. "Please help us."

"How could you be so certain I'd agree?" I asked.

"Because you're good. You didn't want to hurt anyone, and you tried your hardest to fix the problem. You stayed away from us and your family just so you didn't hurt us. Don't tell me you just did that for yourself."

"You're right." I sighed. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Thank you so much!" They stated together.

Georgia began walking away, then stopped. "Are there any special rules we don't know about?"

"Rules?" I repeated.

"Yeah - can you only compel someone once a day or does it have a limit?"

I shook my head. "There aren't any limits, and I can compel someone - anyone - as many times as I like." I explained.

She nodded. "We don't want them coming in half way through - we'll go into the basement."

I nodded and followed them down the stairs. Seeing the basement reminded me of the days I spent locked up in there, recovering from the change.

I heard sobbing coming from the other side of the door.

I walked towards it and glanced behind me to see Georgia and Maggie staring at me, gesturing for me to carry on.

I closed my eyes, turned back to face the door and opened my eyes again. When I unlocked the door, the sobbing stopped.

"H-hello?" A girl's voice stuttered. She sounded terrified.

I opened the door and tilted my head to the side when I saw her.

She had dark brown hair, mascara running down her face from tears, which still flowed freely from her green eyes.

She let out a sob when she saw me and ran towards me, throwing her arms around me.

I hesitated. "Uh..."

"Thank you for saving me. I s-saw something i-in the forest and they took m-me." She stated frantically. She paused and pulled away from me. "Are you helping them, or me?"

"Both." I replied softly.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and I focused on her eyes. Soon enough, her expression became blank and she stared back at me, her once bright green eyes dull.

"What did you see in the forest?" I asked her.

"Two women turn into wolves." She replied immediately, unfazed.

"How long ago?"

"Two days ago."

"You're not going to remember going into the forest, seeing the wolves, being taken or this conversation. You passed out in the forest, and you'll wake up and go home with no memory of the previous three days." I told her. "Now, what did you see in the forest?"

"Nothing. I didn't see anything in the forest." She answered.

"Stop crying, and pass out." I ordered quietly.

She did as I asked, closing her eyes and beginning to fall. I caught her and turned around to face Georgia and Maggie.

"I'll be back in about ten minutes." I stated, walking past them and up the stairs.

I made it out the house and began to run.

I had reached the edge of the forest in a minute or two, and I carefully put the girl on the ground.

She stirred and I stepped backwards, turned around and ran back towards Georgia's home.

"Where were you?" Markus asked as I closed the door.

"Out." I replied, glancing at Chloe, who was stood behind him.

"We need to get back soon. What did Georgia want you to do?"

"We can go soon, I just need to tell Georgia something." I replied, walking past them.

"Ready?" Georgia asked Maggie once I'd returned to the basement.

She nodded and glanced at me.

"What do you want to forget?" I asked her.

"Just him. Nothing else." She replied.

I nodded. "Let's get this over with..."