Bad Taste (Part I) // Colby Brock

13 - Devyn

          Watching Colby snap Tara's neck was actually terrifying. Things had happened in a blur after he'd dragged Rebecca out. She kicked a hole in our wall, stomped outside promising more damage, then Colby's car alarm started going off. I sat there stunned that this girl had the balls to do that, even after she'd seen the silver pulsating in Colby's eyes. I thought for sure that she would have ran — I did — but she just stood there and threatened him. And argued with him. I could see why Tara liked her. But last night, she was Tara's undoing, because after Colby came back in, his car alarm off again, he ran straight to her, ripping her from Jake's arms, and snapped her neck. Just like that. An act of pure rage. And when Jake jumped up to attack him for it, he grabbed Jake and threw him across the room. Everything was silent for a while at that point, then Colby told Sam to get someone to fix the wall and went to his room.

Now I sat by Tara, hours later when the sun had already risen, waiting for her to wake up. Jake was with me, a random girl from the street lying on his couch to feed on. Colby was asleep — again — alone in his bedroom. For a guy who really liked us to follow his rules, he tended to never be here or never awake to enforce them. Though he made sure we knew that there were intense consequences for disobeying one of those rules. Example A being the woman lying in front of me, waiting to come back to life.

Despite the time, Jake and I weren't the only ones awake. "I can't believe it," Xepher said as she walked into the room, clutching her phone in her hand. She looked like she was about to crush it. "He is such an asshole! I mean, sure, we can blame Rebecca all we want for provoking him but he was going to snap Tara's neck no matter what. What kind of friend even is he?" She slumped onto the couch next to the sleeping girl, seemingly not caring.

"He has rules for a reason," Jake whispered. "Tara shouldn't have broken them."

Xepher scoffed. "She has a human friend who she invited over, big deal." She paused and stared at Tara now, watching the rise and fall of her chest as she took unnecessary breaths. "I think he just hates Rebecca."

Jake snorted humourlessly. "You think? She kicked his fucking car and a hole in the wall."

"I love her for that." Xepher grinned. "She's got a pair on her. You know she feels the danger about Colby, too. Did you see it yesterday? The flicker in her eyes? She felt it, she just didn't give a shit. I love her for that as well."

I frowned. "You really think she felt it?"

"Definitely! I saw her pondering it when he walked in, weighing the situation. Well, sort of. She was kind of just glaring at him to be honest... maybe she doesn't feel it. Whatever. She still stood up to him. And I now love her."

I giggled, about to say something else when Tara jumped to life. She sat upright, gasping in more air. It was like an immediate reaction when she whipped her head towards the sleeping girl on the couch. I jerked back, and Jake gave me a look. Xepher and I darted from the room downstairs, avoiding the windows in case we got drained.

"How long before she comes down?" I asked.

Xepher bit her lip. "Probably not for a while. They're gonna feed, fuck, and sleep. So we might as well go to sleep too." She nodded to the ceiling when Tara let out a grunt upstairs. Right. Of course.

I ran to Corey and I's room whilst Xepher ran to her and Griffin's room. Corey was lying on our bed with his eyes closed, his hands on opposite shoulders to make an 'x' over his chest, and completely motionless. I raised a brow at him as I darted to the side of the bed. I reached down intending on touching his arm, but then his eyes flew open and he grabbed my wrist, throwing me down next to him. I laughed, feeling him climb over me. He was so much bigger.

"How's Tara?"

"Do you have to ask?" I whispered shyly.

Tara wasn't hiding her moans now. Corey grinned.

"I'm going to have to wait til tonight to talk to her, so I thought I'd sleep in the meantime."

"Good idea. It's late."

***

Hours later, I woke to Tara's agitated voice as she hissed downstairs.

"- can't handle humans being around! If you can't sink your teeth into them, they're useless to you."

I realised she was arguing with Colby — bravely after what had happened — when he snapped back at her.

"Yes, because I'm a vampire, Tara. Just like you. And I can handle humans fine, but that doesn't mean I want them in my fucking house."

"What, is Katrina a problem for you, too?!"

"No. She's with Sam."

"And Rebecca is with me!" Tara shrieked.

I heard some sort of contact downstairs, and I couldn't just lie here and listen. I darted to the hallway, where I could see Tara and Colby in the kitchen. She had him against the wall.

"Tara. Get your hands off me or I'll knock you out for another couple of hours."

Tara didn't move, but Jake appeared and dragged her away. She struggled at first, until she exploded with her rage.

"Rebecca is my fucking friend and whether you like it or not, she's going to come here again! I don't give a shit if she kicks a hole in your windshield next time. You know she was being nice? She could have kicked your door off. She's done it before. But no, she hardly touched your precious fucking car. So get that ten-inch stick out of your ass, Colby, and accept that you're going to have to maintain a little bit of self-control."

This wasn't the Tara I knew. While Tara was very confrontational, aggressive, and strong-willed, I never knew she had it in her to explode at Colby, who, right now, looked like he wanted to murder her a million times over — which was technically something he could do. But he didn't, staring at Tara.

The deadly tone his voice took on made me shiver. "If that girl walks through that door, she will never walk back out." Then he was gone, leaving Tara slightly stunned, and me unsure of what to do. Jake glanced at me in the hallway, questioning with his eyes. I zipped to Tara's side and touched her shoulder.

"I swear, if he kills Rebecca, he's going to regret it." She looked at Jake, then me. "She's the first friend I've made in a long time and she may be a bitch, but I know there's so much more to her. I don't want him to kill her. I won't let him."

Jake was hesitant. "Then don't invite her?"

Tara had never glared at Jake so hard. "I'm inviting her." She paused. "Tonight. Give me my phone."

I got a sinking feeling in my chest.