Heartlines ▹ Elena Gilbert [1]

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
FIRST KILL

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

     Rowan woke to the sound of two men in a heated argument. The words were muffled, like her head was underwater, and it took her a moment to clear her head. Her memories were quickly coming back to her. She was at the Gilbert summer cabin with Elena. They were alone, and they had kissed, and then Rowan had fled in a panic. Someone had snuck up on her as she had been trying to calm herself down, and now she was at their mercy. She had been in a similar predicament before, when Mason Lockwood had told Liz Forbes that she was a vampire, only now her wrists were tied with what she guessed were vervain-soaked ropes, and her neck ached from being snapped. She made sure to keep her eyes closed and her body relaxed. The longer they thought she was still unconscious, the more she would be able to hear.

"Are you insane?" It was physically impossible for Rowan to keep herself from going stiff when her mind cleared and she recognized the voice. She would be able to pick Tyler Lockwood's voice anywhere, especially when he was angry or panicking. He sounded like he was both now. "I can't do this. I can't hurt her, she's my friend—" A new voice cut him off. It sounded vaguely familiar to Rowan, but she didn't want to risk opening her eyes and taking a peek. She was just starting to relax her muscles again. She was lucky they were too busy arguing with each other to pay any attention to her.

"Your friend is dead, Tyler," the man snapped. "That thing isn't human. It's a monster, a bloodsucker." Rowan had to restrain herself from clenching her jaw. She focused most of her attention on keeping her breathing slow and even. "It may look like your friend and act like your friend, but it's not your friend. You have to separate the two, otherwise you won't be able to do this."

"That's such bullshit," Tyler snapped, just like Rowan knew he would. He didn't like being told what to do by anyone, and he certainly didn't like being talked down to like he was stupid. All three of them knew that what the man was saying wasn't true.

"Is it?" the man challenged. "Has she been acting different to you?"

"Well, yeah," Tyler admitted, "but why wouldn't she? Her entire world has been flipped upside down, just like mine. I'm acting different too, but you don't see anyone saying that I don't have a soul." A harsh, impatient sigh left the nameless man.

"Tyler, man, listen to me," he said. "Vampires can't be trusted. The sooner you learn that, the better."

"I don't want any part of this stupid vampire-werewolf feud."

"You're a wolf. You're part of it whether you like it or not." There was a shuffle, then footsteps. "Keep her here. If she wakes up and starts trouble, you know what to do." The man left then, and after he was gone, Tyler tossed something across the room. It sounded like wood, so she could only assume it had been a wooden stake. She blinked her eyes open and sat up as best as she could with her hands tied behind her back. They were in the garage. Rowan idly noted that she wouldn't have to get wood for a fire after all; there were stacks upon stacks of chopped wood already in the garage. Shaking her head in an attempt to focus, she flicked her gaze over to Tyler, who was turned away from her, head bowed. A smile pulled at her lips despite the situation.