When Babs was dead, I let her lifeless body fall from my hands to the pavement beneath. I broke the rearview mirror off the window and brought it up to my face to check my appearance, only the reflection wasn’t mine. It was Vance’s.
I bolted straight up in bed, with my chest heaving like I had run a marathon. I was alone in the bedroom, but there was the sound of pounding on the front door.
“Vance?” I called out into the darkness, but he didn’t reply.
The incessant banging on continued.
“Portia?” I heard my dad’s voice calling out to me. “If you are in there answer the door!”
I crawled out of the bed, still feeling a little bit woozy as I made my way through the bungalow and opened it.
“What’s going on?” I spoke groggily, and my dad barged past me.
“Where is he?” He yelled as he rushed across the room toward the bedroom.
“Who?” I asked, in complete confusion.
He came back out and grabbed me by both of my arms, shaking me hard.
“Where’s Vance?”
“I … I’m not sure,” I said trying to process what he was doing. “He fed earlier and I went to sleep. He wasn’t here when I woke up. Why?”
“Because, I just found Babs … dead, Portia,” he said watching for my reaction to the news.
My heart sank to my toes. No! No! It couldn’t be real. It had just been a nightmare.
“What do you know?” my dad said, shaking me again.
“He wouldn’t hurt her,” I said, wishing I actually believed what I was saying, but I had tiny doubts.
“She’s dead, Portia, and the attack was clearly demonic,” he replied in frustration looking hard at me.
“He wouldn’t hurt her,” I repeated, the shock beginning to settle in. “I won’t believe it. He isn’t capable!” I added trying to convince myself.
“Then where is he, Portia?” he responded, gesturing to the empty house around us.
I started crying. “I woke up and he was gone.”
“This isn’t good,” Dad said and he released me, running his fingers through his hair as he began pacing the room. “First Shelly and now Babs.”
“He didn’t hurt Shelly,” I argued.
“How can you be sure? Where you able to read his thoughts?” he asked pausing to glance in my direction.
“No. He wouldn’t let me,” I replied, crestfallen.
“Well, that’s a little too coincidental for me,” he stated angrily. “Don’t you agree?”
“Yes,” I responded. “But I believe him all the same,” I added, refusing to budge on the subject.
“When will you wake up and see that things aren’t right with him, Portia?” Dad hollered at me. “Is half the coven going to need to die before you realize your husband is now a monster?”
I sobbed in earnest, sinking to my knees on the floor.
“It can’t be him!” I cried, wrapping my arms around myself. “I don’t know how to explain, but it can’t be him!”
My dad lowered down to my level, grabbing me by the arms once again, shaking me slightly.
“Well, something is hunting this coven and if it isn’t Vance who could it possibly be?” he questioned roughly.
I couldn’t think of anyone.
“I don’t know. Nothing is making any sense. Why were Grandma and Babs out alone anyway?” I asked him.
He looked at me hard.
“I didn’t give you any the details,” he said, his gaze penetrating right though me.
I winced, realizing I’d slipped up.
“What do you know?” he demanded.
I bit my lip, not wanting to say anything that would betray Vance.
“Portia! Tell me now!”
“I saw her die,” I whispered, trembling.
“How’s that possible?”
“I had a nightmare. I was watching her through my own eyes and I felt the need to feed. I intentionally stalked her like prey. I ripped open the car before I tore her neck open and started drinking her blood. Then you began pounding on the door and I woke up,” I swallowed thickly, watching for his reaction.
“This proves it’s Vance. You two share a mental link. It would be natural for you to experience something like this through his eyes,” he said, determined he was right.
“It didn’t feel like him,” I argued back.
“You’re letting your feelings get in the way of making a rational decision. Think! Did you see anything else in the vision that would lead you to the identity of the killer?” he questioned.
“No!” I lied flatly. “There was nothing else!”
“I don’t believe you,” he stated, staring into my eyes. “Come on. Don’t give me reasons to doubt you now. What did you see?”
I sat with my jaw clenched hard together, not wanting to speak the words that waited.
“Portia! I need to know! I’ve got to protect the others!” he demanded of me.
“It was Vance!” I cried out. “Are you happy now? I saw Vance’s reflection in a mirror!”
“I knew it!” he said and he abruptly released me to stand up.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” I complained. “If he knew I could see him, why would he have shown himself to me?”
“Who knows why he’s doing what he’s doing? I do know one thing though and that is you’re coming with me!” He yanked me to my feet by my elbow, ushering me toward the bedroom. “Grab some things and let’s go!”
“No!” I turned to face him. “I won’t leave him!”
“You have to! It’s not safe for you here!” He threw open the closet to grab out a few items.
“I won’t leave him!” I argued again, determined to put my foot down.
“I’m taking you with me and nothing is going to stop me!”
“I think I might have something to say about that,” Vance’s voice permeated into the room and we both turned to look at him. “Portia stays here.”
“I’m not sure what’s going on here Sean, but is there a reason you’re trying to get my wife to run away from me?” Vance said and he folded his arms over his chest.
My dad advanced threateningly toward Vance, and I placed a hand out to restrain him, not to protect Vance, but to protect him.
“You know exactly why I want her to leave!” he spat out, the venom flashing in his eyes.
Vance turned to look at me with a half shrug.
“Do you care to enlighten me? Because I honestly have no idea what he’s talking about,” he spoke rather calmly considering the circumstances.
“I’ll show you, but you’ll have to let me in mentally,” I said, watching him.
“Fine by me,” he replied after a moment and the barrier between us suddenly drop down.
I let the memories of my dream flow into his head. As soon as I was done I retreated from his mind, and opened my eyes.
Either he was becoming a very good actor, or the shock was real.
“I didn’t do this!” he said immediately, straightening up to glance between me and my dad.
“That’s bull!” Dad argued.
Vance stared at me. “Portia, I’m not responsible for this,” he stated calmly, trying to convey his message to me.
“I believe you,” I replied, and my dad threw his hands up in exasperation, clearly agitated with me.
“How can you be so blind to the truth?” He stared hard at me. “You saw him, you felt him do it!”
“Dad, I’ll do whatever possible to help you find out who Babs’s killer is, but I’ll do it from here, by Vance’s side.”
“I give up,” Dad replied dejectedly, looking at us before he strode out of the room. “Just stay away from all of us! Both of you! Do you understand me?” He turned to go out. “I don’t want either of you around anyone in the coven right now!”
The door slammed behind him and I couldn’t help myself as I burst into tears once again.
Vance gathered me to him in an instant. “I’m sorry, baby,” his voice crooned into my ear. “This is my fault. I’m screwing up everything in your life.”
“Don’t talk like that!” I replied huddling against him. “I need you to be here with me.”
He just held me while I had a good cry. When I was finished, he scooped me up and carried me back over to the bed, laying me down gently.
“Go ahead and ask me the question burning in your head,” he said, while he watched me.
“Where were you?” I asked, needing to hear it from his mouth.
“I went for a ride up the canyon on my motorcycle. I realize that isn’t much of an alibi, but I needed to clear my head and try to think things out. I seem to be able to do it best after feeding, so I took advantage of that and left. I swear to you, Portia. I did not kill Babs.” His eyes searched mine.
“Something about the vision didn’t seem right to me, though I don’t know exactly what it was,” I responded, trying to explain.
“Well, one thing’s for sure, someone is hunting this coven and they’re determined to make it appear like it’s me. We need to find out who it is before more people get hurt,” he said matter-of-factly.
“My dad won’t even let us around them. How can we possibly protect them?”
“We’ll do it whether they want it or not,” he replied simply. “I’m not going to let Sean being a jerk stop me from doing what needs to be done.”
I laughed slightly.
“Now you’re starting to sound like the “old” Vance,” I said with an appreciative glance at him.
“Well, maybe he’s not as far away as you think.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to this remark, but it didn’t matter since he chose to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, letting all of my emotions pour into him.
He pulled away from me a few minutes later, reaching up to brush his hand down my hair.
“I promise you, Portia, I’ll do everything in my power to protect your family,” he said, his eyes full of concern.
“I know,” I replied, nodding. “I really do believe you.”
“I’m glad you do. It means a lot to me.”
“You need to trust me enough to let me in on the things going on in your head though,” I said, watching him.
“That street should have to go both ways.” He lifted an eyebrow at me.
I nodded in agreement.
“On that note, there’s something I’ve wanted to talk to you about,” I said, testing out the waters.
“Okay … shoot,” he replied.
“I’ve been thinking there may be a way for you to overcome your demon attributes if you’re interested in trying,” I spoke, before biting at my lip slightly while I waited for his reaction.
He looked at me carefully for a moment as if weighing what I was asking him to do.
“Continue,” he finally said. I released a little breath I didn’t know I had been holding.
“Well, it occurred to me you’re just as much a white witch as you are a demon. What if we worked on a way to try and bring those qualities to the surface? You’d be able to have complete control over the demon attributes and rule from a place where your emotions could be more stable,” I replied, hoping he would take this line of conversation easily.
“What about the bloodlust?” he asked point blank, and I realized he wasn’t going to go easy on me.
“You’d need to overcome it somehow,” I said honestly. “As long as you give into the cravings, it will rule you.”
He sat silently, staring into my eyes, and I could see the wheels turning in his head.
“I don’t know,” he spoke after a while. “I like the blood.”
“I understand,” I replied thankful he was at least being honest with me. “That’s a natural thing for you. But if there was a way for you to rise above the need for it, things could be much better for you I think. Right now it’s like you are a drug addict. You’re dependent, and if you don’t get it you become completely irrational. Trying to overcome this would be a redemption, of sorts, for you.”
It was going to be hard to reason with him, since he was currently operating from his demon place, but I had to give him kudos for the way he seemed to be taking all of this though.
“I’ll think about it,” he finally responded.
“That’s all I’m asking you to do,” I smiled. “This won’t work unless you want to do it.”
“I do foresee one problem.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“If I agree to this, I’m going to have to be contained somehow while I go through withdrawals. There isn’t anyone strong enough to do that,” he replied and though the comment sounded boastful, I knew he wasn’t trying to be.
I pondered for a minute. This could definitely cause a problem. Even the magic of the whole coven wouldn’t be enough to hold him, so that wouldn’t help me. I would need someone as strong as Vance was and there was no one even close, except for me. This gave me an idea.
“What if you contained yourself?” I asked him.
“What? How?” he replied, looking at me like I was crazy.
“If you created your own containment system, and then I reinforced it, would that work?”
He paused to consider before he answered.
“It might. Let me think on it for a little bit.”
I nodded my head, happy the conversation had gone this well. I had expected complete resistance from him.
He leaned in to kiss me on the cheek.
“I’m sorry this has all been so hard on you. Despite everything I’m going through, I do want you to be happy,” he said as he lifted his hand to rub a thumb across my cheek.
“Well, I’m happy to be with you, in any shape or form, but I think we could maybe find a way to make life a little easier on you,” I answered him.
He smiled while he stared at me. His dimples made an appearance, and my heart did flip flops at the sight.
“You never cease to amaze me,” he said as he continued to stroke my face. “You’re going through all of this turmoil in your life and your first thoughts are whether or not I’m okay. You’re so selfless.”
“I’m being completely selfish!” I argued back with a laugh. “If you’re in a good place then I get to be even happier.”
“No,” he disagreed with me shaking his head slightly. “You’re a wonderful person.”
“Whatever,” I said, blushing at his appraisal of me.
“It’s true,” he replied. “And I love you for it.”
Sometime later, I lay awake in Vance’s arms while he slept next to me. He hadn’t bitten me this time, which surprised me. Maybe he was trying to exercise his control over things already.
I finally let my mind confront the issue I had been avoiding, and the images of Babs’s death began to wash through my memories. I saw the terror in her eyes, and it hurt to know she believed Vance was the person who had destroyed her. Silent tears ran down my face. I would miss my beloved friend.