Jessica's Point of View

"And why not? Did you do something? Good God Tan, did you kill her? It hasn't even been twenty-four hours! Tanner let me through."

"No, it's not that I just-"

Tanner sounded upset. Ow. What was that intense pain? Oh, god, I forgot about my wrist. My eyes burst open and a scream escaped my lips. I sat up and grabbed onto my wrist. Not even seconds later the front door burst down and an unfamiliar vampire was at my side. Shit. Did I wake this guy up? Was he Tanner's friend? Is he going to hurt me? Ugh, I can't worry about any of that right now. My wrist is fucking killing me. The vampire sat next to me and looked me over with his shock-ridden dark green eyes. "I-i'm so s-sorry. D-did I wake you up, sir? I-i tried not to scream, I swear. It just hurts so much."

"Don't worry about it. Here," he bit down on his wrist and held it up to my lips, "drink." I did start to drink and took this time to look over my vampire savior. I've seen the majority of Tanner's friends but I've never met this one before. His eyes are something other than red. How is that possible? He's more built than Tanner. I bet if he flexed he would rip that shirt. Wait. Jess. What the fuck are you thinking? Come back to reality. If he's here, he's a bad guy.

"Thank you so much sir," I finished drinking and licked the remaining blood off of my lips right as Tanner sped in.

"Finn, what the actual fuck was that? You didn't have to throw me down the stairs you know." Tanner massaged the back of his head. "Jess are you alright? How's your wrist?"

Better late than never I guess Tanner. Your vampire friend is a better caregiver than you are.

"So you knew that she was like this and you did nothing?" Finnigan interjected before I could answer.

"Well I uh, I saw it when I woke up." Tanner wouldn't meet Finnigan's eyes now. Who was this vampire? I had the sudden urge to bolt out of the room. I was sitting next to a stranger, a dangerous one.

"Did you cause it?" Finnigan asked, but I'm pretty positive he already knew the answer.

Tanner didn't respond. I don't think he knew how to. Instead, he glanced over at me. "I'll grab you some clothes."

Everything had happened so fast, I forgot I was only in a bra and thong. I felt my cheeks flush and I yanked the silk around my torso. Worst. Morning. Ever.

Tanner walked over to the dresser and dug around until he found an old sweatshirt. He handed it to me along with the tattered jeans I arrived in. Oh, thanks. Your friend already saw me naked, but way to look out for 'your girl'. God, this was so embarrassing.

'"Let me talk to her alone please. I'll bring her downstairs when she's ready to go." Tanner spoke as if I wasn't in the room.

Go? Where was I going? Back to the boarding house... or worse? Was this mysterious, handsome stranger bringing me to my death? My body began to shake.

"Not until I get an answer, little brother. Did you, do it," Finnigan asked, his jaw clenched.

Woah. Hold up. Brother?! Tanner never told me he had a bother. How had we gone over five years of knowing each other and I not know?

"I don't know alright!? I drank too much last night and...and I blacked out. I woke up this morning and she was like that. I was going to give her my blood, but then you knocked on the door." Tanner paced in staccato steps at the foot of the bed. It was interesting watching him squirm for a change.

Finnigan shook his head in utter disapproval, "and you wonder why dad sent me here for her. Awful. You've got six minutes. Then I'm coming back and taking her." He stepped out the door.

As soon as Finnigan left I struggled to put my clothes on through my sobs. If he was Tanner's brother, my coffin was as good as sealed.

"What's wrong, babe?" Tanner said rubbing my back when I sat back down next to him.

"I-i messed up and now I'm going to die," I sobbed. "I know that I shouldn't have touched you when you were feeding, but I needed to stop you. You were going to drain me and you weren't going to stop. You were going kill me." But I guess he should have because I was about to go die now just by his brother's hands.

Tanner bit his lip. "So that's what happened. I went too far and when you tried to help I broke your wrist. I'm so sorry Jess. I didn't mean to." I glanced up into his eyes. He sounded sincere.

"It's okay, I deserved it. It didn't do any good, anyway. Your dad is going to kill me now."

"Huh? Oh, you mean Finn? No, my brother isn't here for that. He's taking you to Mammoth so that he can train you. My dad doesn't think Jared and I are competent enough I guess."

Chris is right. But in the middle of nowhere with a complete stranger seems just as awful as staying here does. Both situations are shitty and I didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, sir."

"You can call me Tanner when it's just us, babe. I need you to listen to me though, okay? Finn is dangerous. He is very strict and ruthless. He only ever trains humans because every time he has owned one, he's killed them. He's sick in the head. If you do the slightest thing wrong he will torture you to no end. You need to be on your best behavior. I don't want you getting hurt. Be a good girl for me. If you aren't and I find out about it, not only will Finn torture you, but when you get back I'll punish you here as well."

Well, this was a strange turn of events. Mr. Tough Guy didn't want me to get hurt. Was he for real? Or was it that he's jealous and doesn't want his brother to get to have all the fun of beating me down? It's the second one. I guarantee it.

"I will try my best." I manage a smile through my tears. Even if I did, in fact, try my best, something told me things wouldn't end well either way. It sounded like Tanner had good reasons for hiding his brother for all this time.

Tanner wrapped me in his arms and gave me a long hug. "Alright, I guess we better get going. I don't want to make Finn any angrier than he already is."