Joseph’s POVAnother trail had gone cold.These new vampires were getting trickier to catch. My abilities allow me to find them once they are first awoken, but if they escape from the school, or travel far from their awakening spot, the only thing I have to go on is scent and clues that are left behind.I’ve been searching the perimeter for a little over 12 hours. I’ve been catching his scent periodically, but the trail keeps going cold.We’ve been weaving in the nearby human city, but his scent doesn’t even come close to that area.“Could he possibly be hiding under the ground?” One of the school guards had asked.“It’s possible,” I said in return. “But finding the entrance might be hard if we aren’t looking in the right spots.”“Then we will start our search for hidden passageways,” he said, looking at the others who had gathered around to help in our search.“Search the caves as well. They could have hidden passageways there,” I announced to others.They all nodded in agreement and
Tessa’s POVWhen I came through, my entire body ached as if it had just been put through hell and back. My eyelids were heavy, but I managed to open them. My surroundings were dark and smelled musky. It was incredibly hard to breathe.My only thought was, “I wish Joseph was here to help me.”But I knew hope was lost.I dug my nails into the dirt ground, attempting to lift myself and see the rest of my surroundings, but my body felt weak, and my face fell back into the dirt. I cried out in pain, trying to muffle my screams as the ache intensified.My neck, where he had cut, and then bitten me, was throbbing. I wanted to reach up to touch the spot that hurt, but I found it even more difficult to move my arms.He must have given me something to keep me from moving.I was feeling so tired. I just wanted to sleep. But I kept myself awake. I wasn’t going to fall back to sleep. Not now. Not while I was in his possession.Ryan.Wherever I was, I knew he was around here somewhere.“Looks like
Tessa’s POVThe dark…I liked the dark. Nothing happened when I was left in the dark. It was peaceful and I felt no pain. I felt as if I was serene. It was comfortable and I was left alone most of the time. Time didn’t exist to me in the dark.It was only me and my thoughts that kept me company.But as always, the dark didn’t last long.I was soon woken but the sharp sensation of this new vampire’s fangs as he once again drank from me. I was dizzy and I wondered how much more blood I had left in me for him. I knew soon I would probably end up dying. Ryan would be angry with him for drinking every ounce of blood from my body.I was surprised that Ryan hadn’t bothered to visit me since I was here. I wondered if he went back to the village and pretended as if everything was okay. I wondered if he was helping them in their search for me like a good little villager.I wondered if there was a search for me.There was no use in struggling against this new vampire; if I did, he would beat me.
Tessa’s POVI was woken once again by the sharp pain of the new vampire’s fangs against the back of my neck. it was feeding time, and I was the only thing on his menu.I wondered how long I had been here. Hours? Days? Weeks?Was I missing school right now? Was Ruby worried about me?I was fading in and out of consciousness without the use of his drugs now. Darkness was becoming my home. After a while, the pain was no longer an issue for me. My body had gone numb. It almost felt like I was floating into oblivion.He was still speaking words to me as he drank from me, but I couldn’t hear him. His words were muffled and irrelevant.There was still no sign of Ryan though. I remember this new vampire saying something about Ryan fetching a moonstone pendant because he needs it to turn me into a blood slave without the help of the elders.The destination of this pendant must have been far away because he still hasn’t returned. But I knew he’d be back before the full moon.If this new vampire
Joseph’s POV“Oh, my goddess!” Anna cried as we ran through the doors of the infirmary. “Is she—”“No!” I barked at her as I placed Tessa’s body on the bed. “She’s not dead.”Dr. Cornelia ran toward the bed with his equipment. Tessa remained unmoving; she was barely breathing. She stopped breathing when we were in the hideout, but she started to breathe lightly again once we returned to the village. I could still hear her heartbeat faintly, so she was alive.“I’m going to need time to work on her. I need everyone to get out,” Dr. Cornelia ordered us.“I’m not going anywhere,” I hissed.“I need to focus on saving her life and I can’t do that when you are here, Elder,” he said, glaring at me.When I refused to move, I felt Anna’s hand on my arm.“Joseph—”When I ripped my arm away from her touch, her words fell short.“Eldest!” Dr. Cornelia shouted, looking at Bernard who was already on his way to me.I knew there was no use fighting Bernard. He grabbed my arm and held me in his grasp;
Joseph’s POVTessa was cleaned by the time I returned to her room. I just got off the phone with Connor and he was on his way back with Ruby.Dr. Cornelia had finished washing the blood off Tessa’s body and bandaging her wounds. She was stable with many tubes attached to her frail body. She looked so peaceful like she was just sleeping.It’s been a few hours since Connor had left and now, I sat here waiting for the moment he returned so her life could be saved.The heart monitor began to beep like crazy; I jumped to my feet in alarm.Dr. Cornelia ran toward us with a panicked look on his face.“She’s crashing!” He told one of the nurses.I stumbled backward as they worked on her. They ordered me to leave the room, but I could hardly hear them. My main focus was on Tessa and how well she was.“Let’s go,” I heard the soft tone of Bernard as he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the doorway.I wanted to stay with her and help; I wanted to be with her. But I knew I wouldn’t do any good.
Joseph’s POVI lay awake on the couch of Bernard’s house, staring up at the ceiling. It’s been a couple of hours since Bernard and Anna went to bed, and they allowed me to crash on the couch for the day. Once the sun started to go down, I went right back to the infirmary so I could be by Tessa’s side. I hated that I couldn’t be with her when she needed me the most.I thought about her days in that hideout, being tortured and fed by that slimy vampire. She must have been so scared; she probably thought she was going to die.I knew the only person I could truly blame for this was himself.Was she ever going to forgive me for this?I jumped when my phone started to ring beside me. When I looked at the caller ID I sat up quickly.It was Connor.“Connor,” I greeted, trying to keep my voice stable. “Did you get her?”“Yeah, I got her,” Connor said, but he sounded a little annoyed as he spoke. “She’s pretty but loud.”“What??” I heard Ruby’s voice in the background. “Did you just call me lou
Tessa’s POVI was becoming aware of the darkness surrounding me. I wasn’t afraid of it; my body welcomed it with open arms. That is if I could feel my arms. I couldn’t really feel or see my body; it was like I was bodiless.I floated in this darkness; I was completely weightless. I felt no pain; only warmth and what seemed like love.Surrounding me was a warm blanket of love and it made my heartbeat quicken.I wasn’t sure how long I had been like this; I wasn’t sure if I was still in that underground tunnel, or if I was somewhere different. My memory was a bit foggy, but I remembered how much pain I had once felt. I was dizzy from that vampire drinking my blood and he had beaten me to a point where I couldn’t move my body.He had pumped me with so many drugs, that I lost the concept of day and night. But my heart continued to beat rapidly in my chest and at that moment, I knew I wasn’t dead.Then, I started to hear the murmurs that surrounded me. They sounded so distant that I had to
Tessa’s POV10 years later!“You got called here too?” Ruby asked as I walked up the steps of the middle school. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders.“Are you really surprised?” I asked her, rolling my eyes.She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and held me close to her.“Just take a deep breath. Maybe it’s not too bad this time,” she said, trying to appear soothing.I gave her a pointed look.“Please, when is it ever not that bad?”“Well, they aren’t vampires yet. So, it could be worse,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and chuckling.“I can only imagine the trouble they will get into once they are vampires,” I muttered.Ruby only laughed harder as we walked into the school. We went down the hallway and towards the principal's office, but a familiar voi
Tessa’s POV“Breathe, Tessa. Just breathe!” Ruby said as she held onto my hand tightly.I’m glad she’s a vampire and strong because if she was a typical human, I would have broken her hand by now. Pain shot through my lower abdomen and into my spine, crippling me in agony. I screamed out in pain, my entire body quivering.“You are doing great,” the doctor said, looking at my vitals. “That was a big contraction. It won’t be much longer until it’s time for you to push.”“Where the hell is Joseph?” I asked through my teeth.I knew he was working when I went into labor but that was several hours ago. I thought he would be here by now.“He texted Carter a bit ago and said he was almost here,” Ruby assured me. She placed a cool cloth on my forehead, and I sighed in relief. The pain in my body started to simmer down for a moment, but I knew th
Tessa’s POVA month after the big battle 4 years ago, Amelia called me and told me that they had taken Ruby to the most elite healers in California where Amelia is originally from. Carter hadn’t left her side since they took her there. They were able to get her heart beating once again, but she remained in critical condition for a little over a year.Nobody, including me, was allowed to see her. The only ones allowed near her were Carter, her true love, and Amelia, her mother. However, Amelia tried to keep me updated as frequently as possible but for a long while, it didn’t seem like Ruby would ever wake up.But 18 months later, she finally woke. It was a long road to recovery though. Even though she was healing and awake, both Carter and Amelia thought it would be best if she remained in California and stayed isolated until she was 100 percent ready to return. Apparently, she suffered some serious PTSD, along with minor memory
Tessa’s POV4 years later. “This had got to be the longest engagement in the history of engagements,” Hannah said as she continued to fuss over my hair for the last several hours. “I’m so happy it’s finally coming to an end.”I smiled at her through the vanity mirror, feeling a lightness in my chest that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Not since my daughter, Amaya, was born.“I know,” I told her honestly, biting my lower lip, making Amy huff with dismay as she grabbed more lipstick to fix my makeup that I unknowingly ruined. “With everything that went down 4 years ago, marrying Joseph just didn’t seem right. I really wanted to get my life back in order. I wanted to succeed in my career, Joseph needed to adjust to his new role as Overseer, and plus, I didn’t want to get married pregnant.”This made both girls pause what they were doing and lo
Tessa’s POVMost of the coven stayed with me in my father’s home. Esme went out to help the police look for Penny.There was no way I was going to leave my father alone if Penny was still out there and planning on killing him. My father and I talked a lot about everything that had happened, and he apologized countless times even though I told him it wasn’t necessary.None of this was his fault and I hated that he was blaming himself.He set up sleeping bags, and air mattresses and pulled out the couch for everyone to sleep on. He has one guest bedroom that Laura and Austin occupied. Joseph and I were going to sleep in my childhood room, but I really didn’t want to leave my father and plus, I had missed him throughout these years.Even though he was in my life these past few years, with Penny around, we didn’t really have a great relationship. Now I understood why; because Penny had her claws dug deep i
Tessa’s POVThe Moon Goddess had completely taken over my body and spoke to everyone through me. She warned them what would happen if anything were to happen to me or my baby. Now it was up to them to decide if they wanted to continue hunting me to gain the powers of the Heavenly Heart, or if they were going to trust the Moon Goddess with her decision.Seeing the horror on everybody’s faces, I knew the choice they would make. It was the obvious choice; I had seen what they had seen, and they would be stupid to chance it. Their lives and the state of this earth were in their hands.Silence consumed us as everyone processed what they had just seen. Only the yelling of Carter brought me back to the present moment. I turned to look at him and I could see the straight-up horror on his face as he screamed for Ruby.I turned to see Ruby lying on the ground, her body completely still and it was clear she wasn’t breathing. But mo
Tessa’s POVEsme, Patty, Cole, Claira, and Bennet worked on putting a shield around the circle while the rest of us gathered around while Ruby stood in the center. Everybody looked equally nervous except Ruby who looked confident.I could hear the battle ongoing around us and my heart was breaking for the lives that have been lost. I glanced at my father’s house, hoping and praying that he was still inside and that he was safe.I glanced over my shoulder and through the fighting I saw Joseph kneeling on the ground beside Benard who had blood pouring out of his neck. My heart shattered in an instant. My entire concentration and faith had been broken as I felt sick from the sight before me.Bernard… no… He couldn’t be… My thoughts went back to Anna’s vision a while back about Bernard dying during a battle.Was this the battle he was meant to die in?
Tessa’s POV“We’ve enchanted the house!” Esme said as she rushed towards me. “Nobody besides your blood can get in. Including any of us.”“What about Joseph?” I asked, shouting through the chaos. “We weren’t able to exclude him either,” Esme told me. She grabbed onto my arms and gave them a gentle squeeze. “You need to go inside and protect yourself. They are here because they want your heart.”I looked around at the ongoing fight. My stomach twisted. People were dying and I couldn’t help but feel responsible. I needed to fix this, not hide like a coward.“We need to find Ruby,” I told her firmly.“We are on the lookout for her, but so far we haven’t been able to see her or Eevee,” Esme said, looking around with a frown on her face.“Have you checked everywhere?”“We c
Third Person POV (Ruby)At some point, Ruby had fallen asleep. Though, she knew right away that it wasn’t a normal sleep. It was a vision.This one felt a different thought. She was surrounded by my dark smoke, though it didn’t feel like smoke, it only looked like it. She couldn’t exactly see what was happening, but she could hear the sounds of death and destruction around her. Innocent people screaming and crying for mercy. The sounds of supernatural’s fighting and killing one another.There was so much darkness and despair, that Ruby felt a sense of dread weighing on her chest. Her breathing hitched when some of the smoke cleared, and she saw blood soaking the grass around her feet. Puddles of blood were everywhere. The sky was hazy and unrecognizable.Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at all the bodies that occupied the earth. This was too much for her to handle; why did she have to be cursed with seeing