Be Careful What You Wish For

Chapter 48

Before Cecilia could move towards Anja, Tobias stopped her in her tracks.

"You can't do that. You hear what she said. She will torture you." Tobias said.

"I can't just let my family die. You know better than anyone that I have to do this. I can't have their deaths on my conscious. Tobias, there is nothing you can say or do that will stop me, you know that." Cecilia responded.

Seeing the determination in her eyes and realizing that he would have done the same thing, Tobias was sure that she was right, there were no words that would stop her. There was nothing in the world that could stop her from sacrificing herself for her family.

Determined as he was to save her, he thought that maybe the solution would be to reason with Anja. Surely there was something she desired more than bloodshed, and he thought that if he could figure out what it was, it would solve all of their problems.

"What exactly did she do to you? There must be another way to solve the conflict." Tobias said.

He was so consumed in avoiding Cecilia's suffering that the truth never even occurred to him. Both Helen and Cecilia realized from what Anja had said that one of the vampires Cecilia had murdered in that warehouse was someone very close to Anja's heart.

"WHAT DID SHE DO TO ME? HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE? THERE IS ONLY REVENGE! IT'S ALL I HAVE LEFT! She murdered my partner, the only person who ever understood me and accepted me just the way I was. We were two halves of a whole, meant to be."

"Sure, he did have a few flings here and there, but he always came back to me. And now he can't come back to me because your pet there, killed him! She murdered him in cold blood and for what? For being who he is? For staying true to his nature?" Anja asked.

"Nothing will bring him back, but I am sure that if he were here he would enjoy me torturing her. I will do to her all the vicious and vile things he would have done if he were still alive. He will live through me and for a moment we will be reunited in the beautiful art of torture." Anja said.

Small pieces of the puzzle started coming together in Helen's head, of everything she had learned, of everything she had seen and heard. A thought crossed her mind, and she hoped with all her heart that she was wrong because if she wasn't, they were in even bigger trouble than she thought.

"Is your gallant partner, who cheated on you with other women and enjoyed romantic tortures, by any chance Stanton?" Helen asked.

Upon hearing that name, both Cecilia and Tobias were frozen in spot. It was news to Tobias, but Cecilia froze because she knew that was the moment. The moment she would find out if what occurred to her the second she saw Anja's rage could be a reality.

"Yes, he was. And all of you conspired to murder him for nothing, for murdering a nobody. However, generous as I am, I will only take and torture Cecilia. Isn't that nice of me?" Anja asked.

It broke Tobias' unbeating heart to hear that since he knew far too well that the need for revenge after losing one's loved one was unbearable. He never revenged his wife's death because he knew that she would have never forgiven him for being the same monster as the people who made him kill her.

However, it was clear from what Anja had said that Stanton and she, shared a sick enjoyment of pain and torture. That made it clear that she would do what she thought Stanton would want her to do, torture and kill Cecilia. And the worst thing about it was that Tobias knew there was nothing he could do to stop her.

If he tried to save Cecilia it would mean the death of her family, and she would never forgive him if that were to happen. Even though it pained him to think about it, he still knew what he had to do.

He had to let her go. That was what she wanted. He had to honor her wish. He couldn't break her heart by watching her family being slaughtered.

Instead, he would break his own heart and let the woman he loved be taken away, to be tortured and possibly brutally murdered. However, if that was the sacrifice she was willing to take who was he to stop her?

He thought about fighting when he thought Anja was the only vampire there, but it became obvious during her small speech that other vampires were hiding in the forest, eager for a fight, for fresh human blood that would be the first to fall. She wasn't crazy enough to come by herself.

He had to let Cecilia go and show how much he cared about her by making sure that her family was okay. Still, in his mind, he made a silent promise that he would find her and set her free as soon as he could.

Instead of saying anything to her, with his back turned to Anja, he looked at Cecilia with all the emotions he could muster, making all the possible promises and woes with his eyes only. He knew that if they spoke, if they said goodbye the way he wanted to, the way he needed to, Anja might use those words, those emotions to torture Cecilia even more.

He stared into Cecilia's eyes until he made sure she understood he was doing it for her. Also, he wanted to engrave into her very mind that he would move heaven and earth to find her.

Then, he moved aside to let her pass. At the same moment, as she started slowly going towards Anja, her family was ushered towards Helen and Tobias.

Once the exchange was over, Anja and Cecilia disappeared like they were never there. In the second it took Tobias and Helen to check up on Cecilia's family, the vampires that were hiding nearby came out and carried Cecilia away.

"We have to go after them," Tobias said moving in the direction he thought they went.

"No, not now. You know as well as I do, that there is nothing we can do right now. The direct attack won't work. I counted at least ten of them sneaking towards us while we spoke to Anja. Also, they are very fast. Old vampires, I assume, because I couldn't feel their scent when I ran towards you in the forest. One moment they weren't there, and then they were. We have to think this through." Helen said as she grabbed his arm.

She held on tightly until she could see some reason returning to him, as he understood that any immediate attack could lead to Cecilia's premature death. Instead, he focused on taking care of her family who seemed to be in so much shock that they just did what they were told, no questions asked.

After some time, they were hunkered down in a cleaner part of the house dozing off to sleep having not slept for who knew how long under Anja's care or lack thereof.

"Helen what are we going to do? Please tell me that you have some ideas." Tobias said.

His voice was desperate as he paced up and down in front of the house. Every move he made was jittery and on edge, nothing like one would expect of a vampire.

"First you need to calm down," Helen said.

"Calm down! They could be anywhere by now! They will torture her Helen! They have probably already started!" He yelled.

"Listen to me, boy! You will not fall apart! Not now when Cecilia needs you! Do you hear me!" Helen yelled.

Her sharp tone snapped him out of his misery. His pacing stopped. Finally, his hands stopped shaking and, on the outside, he was back to his old self although his insides were burning with acidic anger.

He nodded his head in confirmation.

"They are not going anywhere for the time being. There is a storm coming and even vampires don't like to be on the open sea during a storm. That will give me time to check up on a few things. I might have exactly what we need, but it might take me some time to put everything together." Helen said.

"I will prepare everything. All I need from you is to do what I tell you when I tell you if you want all of us to come out of this alive. Okay?" she asked.

"Okay," Tobias answered with no hesitation.