Alice's love

Chapter eleven

"Xander!" I got up. Xander was still asleep. I shook him hard.
"What? What?" He grumbled as he began to wake up.
"Something isn't right" I had an awful gut feeling that I couldn't quite understand.
"What's wrong?" This time Xander got up too and looked concerned.
"I don't know, just get dressed and let's go check on Lillian"
"Okay"

We headed towards Lilian's room except when I went to knock on the door, the door was left slightly open. Fuck. I looked at Xander and we crept slowly into the room.
"Oh god no...." The sheets hanged off the bed as if there was a sign of a struggle. We searched around the room. Nothing. Was this Sean? What would he do to her? How did he find us? I turned back around and saw a piece of paper pinned to the back of the door.
"Xander" I pointed towards the door. He yanked off the note and opened it.
"Sean has Lillian" he said.
"Agh! I'm gonna fucking rip his head off if he hurts her!!" I was boiling with rage, it was personal. It always has been.

"What else does it say?" I asked.
"He wants to meet at the cult tonight"
"Why?"
"Sean likes war" Xander said sternly.
"We need to get back. Now."

We sped through the forest but stopped a few feet away from the porch of the house to scan around the area.
"Anything?" I asked.
"No" we walked up the porch and opened the door. Everyone was in a deep discussion and by deep, I mean loud. Dedra was leaned over the kitchen table and slamming her fists. Damn, I'm in trouble.
"Nice of you join us!" She yelled.
"Dedra"
"Do you have any idea what you've done?! You've endangered a human in the middle of a war between hunters and vampires!!" I've never seen Dedra so angry.
"How do you guys know already?" Xander asked.
"Sean left a note on the porch" Fabio said. He handed Xander the note. It was a repeat of the one we found in Lilian's hotel room.
"What's the plan?" Xander asked.
"What's always been the plan" Dedra said and looked at the guards sitting in the living room. Probably the biggest vampires I've ever seen.
"We have to make Sean surrender, the council has other plans for him" Fabio said.
"You mean they want him alive??" I said, not hiding my disgust for the plan.
"Yes, he will be punished accordingly" Dedra added.
"What about Sebastian?" Xander asked.
"By the time I returned, Sebastian fled" Dedra replied.
"He's probably already human by now if it didn't kill him" I said.
"He won't surrender easily" Xander said.
"We are prepared for that" Fabio said.
"This means we'll end up fighting him" Eva said with worry lacing her voice. It meant that we could lose anyone tonight...

Xander fumbled around his room looking frantically.
"Babe what are looking for?"
"Here it is" Xander pulled down a box from his wardrobe. When he opened it, inside was an old revolver.
"What are you doing with that?" I asked nervously. I never pictured Xander of the gun type.
"It's for you, you're leaving town"
"What??! No!" How could he expect me to leave with Lillian held hostage by Sean.
"I'm gonna fight with the rest of you"
"No you are not." Xander spoke harshly.
"But..." Before I could finish my sentence Xander grabbed my arms and closed his eyes tightly like if he was in pain.
"I can't lose you..." He whispered.
"And you think I can?" I replied. As much as it would hurt Xander if I died, it would be the same for me. But I understood where his pain came from. He lost Beth from the last time he encountered Sebastian and Sean. 
"Xander, listen I can be of use, I can read their minds, I'm not weak either. I did knock you on your ass if I remember correctly" I smirked. Xander looked at me and smirked as well.
"I'll watch your back, you watch mine" I added. He took a deep breathe and relaxed a bit.
"It's almost dark out, you guys ready?" Freddie said from the hall. Xander and I nodded in unison. It was now or never.

Everyone was gathered downstairs, Dedra was speaking to the guards. They haven't spoken a word since they arrived. Fabio was standing by the fireplace and when Xander and I joined the group he walked over.
"I know that some of you are afraid and it's okay to be. We've known loss before..." He looked at Xander and everyone simply nodded in agreement.
"But we have to protect our own from those who mean them harm. And this anti- venom that they have created needs to be ended. Too many have already died" When some of the boys had gone to the house I was kept in, they found bodies of vampires in the backyard. They counted at least fifteen.
"They're here" Julian said. You could smell all the human blood. It wasn't a small group. A knock on the back door startled us.
"Are they that dumb?" Olivia said. Fabio carefully went to the door and peeked through the curtain and smiled back at us.
"Who is it?" Eva asked.
"Backup" Fabio opened the door and a large man, a little shorter than Fabio but he was buff and a little rounder around the stomach. He had a large beard and mustache. Kind of like a lumberjack. He shook Fabio's hand.
"Thank you for coming Martin" Martin? The same guy that wanted Xander's head on a plate for sleeping with his wife?
"Yes, he's a cult leader in Kansas" Dedra answered the question for me. I totally forget she can read minds too.
"Everyone this is Martin, you all know him but just not in the flesh" Fabio said.
"He's here to help" he added.
"But why would you help us?" I asked. You'd think he'd keep a grudge at Xander for what he did.
"Because if Sean and Sebastian are not punished for what they have done, then this will affect us all in the end. And one of ours was buried in his backyard for being a failed experiment...." Martin spoke softer at his last words. It must have been someone close.
"Martin" Xander took out his hand towards Martin. He looked at his hands and then questioned him but he shook his hand anyways.
"No hard feelings?" Xander winked.
"Let's just say I'll kick your ass after this is all over" Martin laughed.
"Where is the rest of your cult?" Fabio asked.
"Spread around the woods" Martin replied.
"Good thinking, they'll flank the hunters from behind" Liam said.
"Well let's get this..." Before Caleb could finish his sentence, Sean spoke.
"Come on out, Alice!!!" He yelled. Everyone's persona changed instantly like they would have laid their life out for me. Especially Xander who put an arm in front of me.
"What do I do?" I asked.
"Nothing" Xander said.
"She's going out, she has to, but we'll all be behind her" Fabio said. I could tell Xander hated the idea but agreed. I walked towards the door and opened it. The spring air flew in picking up a mix scent of pine and human blood.

Sean stood about 10 feet away from the porch with Lillian's arm in his grip. Instantly I wanted to lunge at him but he could have someone easily kill her. Sebastian stood on the left side behind Sean. He was human.

Many hunters were spread around surrounding the whole front of the house. I couldn't count them all at once.
"Well you look...dead" Sean said harshly.
"Let Lillian go, Sean. She has nothing to do with this" I said.
"Oh but she does. She knows your little secret" Fabio came out in front of me.
"What's your point of all this?" He asked.
"It's real simple really, all of you agree to turning human or I just kill you right now. Except for Xander, I've got different plans for him" Sean looked right at Xander. Xander looked like he was about to explode with anger. And he had every right to feel that way. One brother killed Beth and the other tortured me.

"Wouldn't it be simpler to just kill us?" Asked Fabio. He had a point. It would be easier to just kill us all then go through the process of being human. Even though maybe not all of us would survive.
"No. You all multiply faster than we can recruit hunters. We kill some of you and then you'll desperately go to a hospital and save dying patients. It's a grueling process" Sean replied. It seems as if he's speaking from  experience.
"Then leave us alone" I said. I darted all the eyes towards me.
"Your an abomination to mankind" Sebastian said.
"Yet it suited you well" I responded. His fists tightened into balls, I guess I found a pressure point.
"Enough chit chat. Human or die." Sean said. I looked towards Fabio and Xander. Neither of them flinching. The door opened and I turned to see Olivia walking out. She gradually made her way past Fabio and looked me dead in the eyes before taking nervous steps down the porch.
"Olivia what are you doing?" Xander grabbed her arm. She smiled and pulled her arm out of his grip. Xander was shell shocked as she made her way towards the hunters. What is she thinking?

If your reading my mind, Alice. I'm distracting the hunters from Martin and his cult coming around the house. Be ready.

No, Olivia. It's too dangerous.
"Human" Olivia spoke. Both Fabio's and Xander's jaw dropped. I couldn't tell them it was fake because their reactions made it real because it was real to them.
"Your name, my dear?" Sean extended his hand out.
"Olivia" she smiled and grabbed his hand. Sean pulled her behind him and towards the middle of the group of hunters. A perfect surprise attack.

"Any other?" Sean grinned. No respond from neither of them. The anxiety in my gut was building. I listened for footsteps and just around the corner, I heard crunching of footsteps on leaves. They were about to attack.

Then in a matter of seconds all hell broke lose between vampires and hunters.