Lily

by T M Linville

  Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stumbled into the living room. She stood beside Lily for a moment before dropping to her knees and sobbing.

  Meanwhile, at the Crown Building, Alexa was arguing with Vincent, again.

  “Vincent, you have to let us change LaShay. You know damn well that Lily will leave us permanently for her,” Alexa said for the fourth time that day. The 100th time that week. Lily had been staying out a lot more and Alexa and Erica were getting increasingly worried. It wasn’t like Lily not to bring her love interests home. She knew that this was the safest place for both of them.

  “She’s only here long enough to feed and change clothes, Vince. She doesn’t even call. We love LaShay and she knows that, so why is Lily avoiding the coven? Something’s wrong and you know it as well as I do,” she added.

  “Would you feel better if I went to check on her?” Vincent asked Alexa.

  “No, I know she’s alright, I want to know why she’s not coming home, Vince!” Alexa nearly yelled. “Onyx would’ve come to us if anything had happened.”

  She was right and had every right to be worried, but Vince wasn’t aware at the time what was going on in his own coven. He knew that Eric and Lily were always fighting and always at each other’s throat, but he didn’t know that Eric had finally gone off the deep end.

  “Lex, she’ll bring Shay home when she wants to, but I am not changing her,” he said firmly.

  But he still wanted to go and check on Lily and Shay. He thought there was no need to rush anything. Lily could take care of herself and he knew that. She had been perfectly capable of caring for herself since the moment she was born.

  If he had known what was really going on, someone would’ve already been dead, and it wasn’t Lily. He didn’t find out until it was almost too late that Eric had threatened to kill Shay if Lily ever brought Shay to the coven, to Lily’s own home.

  Turning LaShay Black was just out of the question, though. He knew she could easily die if he tried.

  He had been completely against turning her and not even Alexa could convince him to change his mind. Lily was just too prone to changing hers. It was her human half that he blamed for her indecisiveness. Vampires fall in love with one person and only one person. And that one person is who they love forever. The only way to stop loving them is death, either yours or theirs. Love wasn’t something that they could turn on and off but Lily could and he had seen her do it too many times.

  He liked LaShay and she did truly love Lily, but Lily had fallen "in love" with three others, two vampires and one human, before she fell in love with LaShay. Luckily the human she had fallen for before was able to change. Vincent had changed him, thinking that Lily had finally found her one true love. He wasn't about to chance putting anyone else through the agonizing process of changing for the sake of Lily. If LaShay even survived, Lily would simply change her mind and LaShay would be left still in love for an eternity with someone that had moved on to someone else. That would be a miserable existence, and he wouldn't do that to anyone, again.

  He thought that Shay was just another crush that Lily had mistaken for love. It wasn't until Onyx came to get McGoo late that afternoon that convinced him otherwise.

  Vincent was walking through the coven sub-basement when Onyx came barreling down the hallway on his way to get McGoo. Vince was just leaving the lab and was about to walk into the hallway just as Onyx was rounding the corner. Onyx plowed into him and nearly knocked him on his ass. When Vince regained his footing, Onyx tried to push past but Vince stopped him. Then Onyx did something no wolf had ever done, he snarled at Vincent. His head dropped and his pearly white teeth nearly glowed. Vince was in a mind to backhand him down the hallway, but when another deep, rumbling growl came from Onyx’s throat and he bared his full canines, Vincent knew something was definitely wrong. Onyx pawed the floor and then quickly changed

  The only thing he said was, “Its Lily.”

  Onyx grabbed McGoo by his shirt sleeve and nearly drug him down the hallway toward the exit. Vincent followed him and McGoo to LaShay's apartment.

  When they arrived at the apartment, Shay was on her knees and half draped across Lily’s torso. She was crying uncontrollably and mumbling.

  “Why, Lily? You knew better”.

  She didn't even look up when Vince touched her shoulder.

  "Please tell me that you can help her," she sobbed, still not looking up.

  He bent down and picked Shay up from the floor and off of Lily. McGoo and Vince stood and stared at what was supposed to be Lily. She lay on the couch barely breathing and so badly burned she wasn’t even recognizable. It looked as though Lily had literally been covered in petrol, lit on fire and left to burn. Her hair was a large, black matted clump and what was left of her face was like a scene from a horror movie. Lily lay bloody and charred so badly that part of her lower jaw bone and teeth were clearly visible. The skin above her left eye had been torn away. Her eyelids were nearly gone and her retinas and pupils had already begun to cloud. Her face, arms, legs and torso were covered in deep gouges from Eric’s claws. Pieces of the pants she had been wearing did little to cover what little skin was left. Her shirt was the same, but the blood that soaked the once white sweatshirt, was much more noticeable than on the light jeans.

  “Onyx!” Vince yelled. “What were…”

  Shay interrupted, “He did, Vincent!” she yelled. “He did everything he could to fight them off and get her out of the sun. She was protecting me, Vincent! She’s gonna die because of me!”

  “Fight who off? Who did this?” He asked, trying to keep calm. “Who were they, Onyx?”

  Onyx only dropped his head and shook it slowly. He would know any vampire’s scent that he had ever encountered but yet he didn’t recognize any of them except Eric.

  Jack was on the phone to Alexa and giving her a list of what he needed for her to bring. Vince could hear the panic in her voice when Jack told her to bring feeders. Alexa knew that meant that Lily wasn’t able to feed herself. He looked at Lily then back to Shay. He had to tell her that the odds didn’t look good for Lily’s survival. He had never seen anyone burned so badly and still breathing. Lily had less than a ten percent chance of surviving this. She was just too badly burned. In addition to the catastrophic burns, she had deep gashes across her chest and stomach that had drained her tissues of life sustaining blood. If they didn’t get a substantial amount of blood into her very quickly, she wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Just as Erica walked through the door from the bedroom, Eric appeared on the fire escape. Onyx was on his feet before Eric had taken two steps into the living room. Vince saw the look on Shay’s face as she quickly turned toward the kitchen and left the living room.

  “Onyx! Don’t!” Vince yelled before he reached Eric.

  Onyx stopped in his tracks but he didn’t turn away.

  Eric entered the room and as soon as he saw Lily on the couch, his demeanor changed.

  “She’s alive?” Eric asked.

  “Barely!” Erica answered.

  “Damn, she stinks!” Eric huffed.

  “Why are you here?” Vince asked Eric.

  “I was headed home when I saw you running toward Shay’s building.”

  “Figured something was up,” Eric said.

  “Did you have anything to do with this?”

  “Would I be here if I had something to do with this?” he said smugly.

  Vince grabbed Erica by her shoulder before she was able to get to Eric. If he had known it was Eric, he would’ve let her go. But he never thought that Eric would take the rivalry this far.

  Eric smirked and went the same way out of the living room that Shay had gone.

  Vincent heard Eric speaking softly then he began to whisper. A low rumble reverberated through Onyx’s throat. His ears perked up and rotated to focus on the sounds from the kitchen.

  “You’re lucky she got here?” Eric said to Shay.

  “Fuck you!” Shay spat.

&nbs
p; “Next time I’ll just kill you myself!” Eric whispered into Shay’s ear.

  Shay reached behind her and grabbed a knife from the drawer as Eric walked away. In a split second Eric had turned toward Shay, with his teeth bared, but Onyx was already airborne. He leaped through the door, knocking Eric into the refrigerator and leaving a clear path for Shay to get out of the kitchen. Onyx stood in front of Eric with his head hung low, his ears flat against his head and a snarl just below the surface. White canines and pink gums waited for Eric to make the slightest move.

  When Eric tried to run after Shay again, Onyx went into full predator mode. It was Eric’s fault that Lily was going to die and Onyx was bound and determined that Shay would not be next. He knew he could be put down for attacking any member of the coven but for him to attack a high member of the coven? Obviously Onyx knew something that Vince didn’t. When Eric came for Shay a second time, he may as well have been coming after Lily. If Lily was no longer alive, the only thing Onyx knew to do was guarantee that LaShay was always safe, for Lily’s sake. Onyx attacked Eric with the fury of a guardian wolf protecting his master. Before Eric even knew what had happened, he was pinned to the floor by a trembling 300 pound wolf. Onyx had both paws on Eric’s chest and his nose was inches from Eric’s. Two inch fangs and pink gums gleamed from beneath quivering, black lips.

  “Onyx!” Vince called out.

  But he only growled and snarled louder as the saliva from his mouth began to drip from his canines and onto Eric’s face. Vince hadn’t seen Onyx so fiercely protective since Lily’s first day at the coven and he had never seen him attack anyone. Onyx had heard something that he hadn’t and it was obviously something he felt was worth dying for if he was attacking Eric right in front of Vince.

  “Did he do it?” Vince asked Shay, now wrapped around Lily as McGoo worked.

  Shay nodded reluctantly.

  Onyx lifted a paw long enough to grab Eric’s shirt, and a little shoulder in his teeth, and ripped half of the shirt off. He then lifted the other paw and ripped off the other half.

  That’s when Vince finally put the pieces together.

  “He threatened to hurt you, didn’t he?” Vince asked LaShay.

  “He said that he’d kill me and make Lily watch if Lily and I ever went back to the coven,” Shay finally confessed.

  Alexa walked into the apartment with the supplies and feeders Jack had requested. She let out an audible gasp when she saw Lily.

  Onyx looked at Vince and the sounds that came from his throat were a combination of whines, pleas and rage.

  “Not in here, Onyx,” he said and before Eric even realized that the order had been given, Onyx had picked him up by the neck and shoulder and was dragging him toward the front door.

  Eric struggled against Onyx’s powerful jaws to no avail. Onyx had a vise-like grasp on Eric. He could even feel the enamel of Onyx’s teeth grinding against his collar bone. Eric clawed at Onyx repeatedly and blood dripped from Onyx’s coat, but he wasn’t letting go.

  “What?” Eric mumbled, turning over the situation in his head. “Wait! No! You can’t do this, Dad! Mom won’t allow it.” He struggled harder against Onyx. “Mom will stop you! Mom!”

  “Not this time, son,” Alexa told him as Onyx dragged him through the doorway.

  “Where are you… No! Dad! You can’t do this!” Eric’s muffled pleas continued all the way down the hall and into the stairwell to the roof. “You can’t, Dad, it’s against the Elder’s Code?”

  “And so is taking the life of one of a member of the coven,” Vincent said loudly.

  “Dad! What are you doing?” Eric’s fading voice called from the stairs.

  “What I should’ve done decades ago,” Vince said under his breath.

  His pleas grew softer then silenced when the roof door closed.

  McGoo was busy trying to save Lily and was completely oblivious to what had just happened. It wasn’t until Eric’s screams from the roof above rang through the apartment that McGoo took his attention from Lily for a split second.

  Vince walked out onto the balcony to listen. Onyx should have bitten clean through Eric’s neck. It would serve him right but Vince saw Eric leap from the roof to the nursing home and heard Onyx bark and growl as he chased after Eric.

  Ever since he had tried to kill Lily the first night she was brought to the coven in Nashville, he knew Eric and Lily would never get along, but threatening her love, and apparently her one true love, was inexcusable. Now Lily lay lifeless in the arms of the woman she risked everything to protect.

  “The feeders just aren’t cutting it.”

  Vince heard Jack mumble under his breath.

  “Not enough umph to do any good,” McGoo continued.

  “Erica?” Jack said.

  Erica sniffed, “Yeah?”

  “Would you let me try something?” he asked.

  “Anything,” Erica answered.

  “She’s lost way too much blood and feeding isn’t going to restore it fast enough to keep her alive for very much longer I’m afraid,” Jack began. “I was thin…”

  “Just fucking do it!” Erica yelled. “Whatever it is, just do it!”

  “You have the closest blood to hers,” Jack said as he lifted Erica’s arm and with a scalpel, cut Erica’s forearm nearly from elbow to wrist.

  Erica cringed from the pain but remained silent as Jack placed her arm over the tear in Lily’s abdomen. Jack placed his hand over Erica’s arm and pulled the skin together on the back, opening the incision further and keeping it from healing as quickly.

  “Lily,” Shay whispered. “Baby, hang in there, ok.”

  Lily’s eyes rolled toward Shay and she gave a tiny nod. Shay kissed Lily’s forehead then took Lily’s hand. No one spoke.

  Everyone in the apartment would all agree that Eric had indeed set Lily on fire and left her to die. That is basically what he did. He knew that Lily would fight to protect Shay to the death.

  A knock came from the door. Vincent looked out over the balcony at the street and saw that the police had shown up.

  “Metro,” Vince whispered.

  “Shit!”

  Erica let herself be nearly drained of blood before she lifted her arm away from Lily. The tissues around where Erica’s arm had been had begun to show faint signs of healing.

  Alexa walked to the door. Jack placed a wet towel over Lily’s face.

  “Who is it?” Alexa called.

  Onyx barked.

  “Metro Police, do you own a black canine?” the officer called back.

  “Yes, sir,” Alexa said as she opened the door.

  The officer walked in and his nose wrinkled from the smell that permeated the apartment.

  “An eye witness claims that this animal is responsible for attacking a man on the roof,” the officer began. “I am…”

  Before the officer went any further, LaShay lifted the towel from Lily’s face.

  “The man did this and the animal was protecting her. The man got away but if he shows up at any medical facilities with dog bites, would someone please be sure to arrest him,” Shay said to the officer knowing that would never happen, but making it sound convincing.

  Shay was crying by the time she finished speaking to the officer.

  “Oh my!” the officer responded. “Is she alive?”

  “No,” Jack said.

  LaShay placed the towel back over Lily’s face and draped herself over Lily’s torso. The officer walked over and was going to pick up Lily’s wrist to check for a pulse but after seeing it, thought better of it.

  “Can you show me where the attack occurred?” the officer asked.

  “I can,” Vince said.

  He led the officer to the roof and let him look around to his content. He knew he wasn’t going to find anything more than a few charred pieces clothing. He may even think that was where Lily had been burned. Luckily, the rooftop was considered a private residence and was not part of the extranet recordings. But it did have its own
security surveillance. After he was sure that no one was on the roof, they walked back to the apartment.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, ma’am,” the officer said to LaShay then he looked around to everyone else, “I’m sorry for your loss, I truly am and I wish the canine had been able to save her.”

  The officer bowed his head and walked out the front door. Onyx walked over to LaShay and nudged her side. She scratched him behind the ears and then wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Alexa motioned toward two feeders, Sam and Darrel, then pointed to Lily and Erica. Sam quickly made himself available to Erica and Darrel, without even the slightest prompting, cut his own wrist before laying it across Lily’s mouth.

  Shay looked up at Darrel and gave a weak smile.

  Darrel stroked her hair gently and said, “She’s going to be fine. She’s just too damn stubborn to die, she loves you too much.” Darrel smiled.

  “Thank you,” Shay said softly.

  McGoo stood up from sitting on the coffee table to look at Lily’s face and eyes. He took a deep breath and shook his head slowly. Then he looked over to Vincent.

  “Vincent,” he said reluctantly. “She needs vampire blood. Stronger vampire blood. Your blood”

  “What are the risks?” Vince asked.

  No vampire had ever been given the blood of an elder, and no one knew exactly what it would do. Would it kill Lily or heal her. Or heal her just long enough to kill her. Lily had never had vampire blood again after the night she drank from Erica.

  “Maybe Lily’s blood is the same as the elders. Maybe that’s why she’s still alive,” McGoo rambled. “She does have spikes and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a vampire quite as crispy as our girl here. It could be what’s kept her alive this long. And maybe she is just too in love and stubborn, but even the most bull headed vampire would’ve succumbed to burns so bad that there is no longer a term for it. I’d say deep tissue burns, but some of the burns go all the way to bone. I’ve never seen anything still breathe after their skin and muscle have been barbequed fallin’-off-the-bone well done. She does…”