The Beautiful Monster

The shaggy-haired man started choking. He struggled through the sensation, which was completely fake and a mind trick. With an angered growl, he grabbed Melina's throat, tightening his grip on her until it nearly felt crushing.

Now, Melina couldn't breathe. She gasped for air, hearing Tyler's shout from the floor as the blonde man pinned him down. It had to be the end for both of them.

They fought as hard as they could, but they could only do so much against three vampires. Black dots started to fill her vision. She prepared to slip into darkness, but she heard an unfamiliar voice from the doorway of the motel room.

"Alright, that's enough."

Suddenly, the shaggy-haired man was thrown off her.

Melina reached up to place her hand on her throat, sucking air back into her lungs with a pained grimace. She snapped back to reality and looked over at Tyler, preparing to jump up and help him.

However, he was on the floor recovering as well. She looked forward to see the bodies of the other vampires at the feet of a man that she had never seen before.

Tyler forced himself to his feet, wavering slightly as he fought to keep his balance. He placed his hand on Melina's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, checking on her first before dealing with stranger who saved their lives.

Melina nodded with wide eyes. She couldn't believe how close they had been to dying. She knew that they would be close one day. They had already been close a few times, but she didn't expect that to happen tonight.

She had no idea that they had been betrayed. She looked over at the man, who was trying to wipe the blood off his hands.

The man's hair was dark brown and split into a side part. He wore a white button down and dark slacks, looking professional for a man who just killed two vampires with ease. He had to be a vampire himself. He had the strength of one.

"Who are you?" Melina managed to say, her throat aching from the effort. She was lucky that her neck hadn't been crushed.

The man looked between the two as he rested his hands on his hips.

"I'm Scott, your cousin," he introduced himself with a bold grin.

Melina's eyes widened in shock. She hadn't heard of a Scott in the family before, but she was sure that she had a lot of family history to catch up on. She wondered how he even found her.

Scott took a step closer to her.

"We need to talk."

*******

Just in case more of Alaric's followers were sent to the motel room, Scott, Melina, and Tyler left the motel, opting to go to a late night diner to hide out and talk.

Melina was devastated at the fact that Alaric was obviously still around and up to no good. She really thought that she could finally start a family with Tyler. Now, she just felt stupid for thinking that.

Alaric was a powerful, manipulative being. Of course, he wouldn't just give up. He disappeared for a strategic reason, and she felt like she poked the bear.

She couldn't fight off the fear that she felt now. Things were turning dark again, and no amount of light could fight off its descent.

"How did you find us?" Tyler asked as he and Melina sat across from Scott.

Scott swirled a spoon around in his coffee, looking as casual as could be.

"I have my connections. I've actually had my eye on you for a minute now, Melina. You're all over the place," he commented, keeping his eyes on his spoon.

"I was told to keep moving until I felt safe enough to stop," Melina replied. It looked like that plan went out the window the second they started poking around where they weren't supposed to. It crushed her that things were dangerous for them again. She had been enjoying the peace.

"Well, don't stop now," Scott scoffed as he shook his head. "Alaric is about to make some big moves. He's already found out about your brother."

Melina's eyes widened with shock as dread loomed over her like a dark cloud. She had hoped that Elias would be able to live his life without ever having to worry about Alaric. She supposed that had been wistful thinking. If Alaric managed to find her, she should've known that he would be able to find her brother.

"So, you know about us and what would happen if we were together?" Melina asked Scott. According to her parents, only they and Benjamin knew about Melina and Elias' joined power. They never mentioned a cousin knowing anything.

"Well, I wasn't supposed to find out. I overheard a conversation and did some digging. Now, I know everything," Scott said with a coy smile.

"Does Elias know about me? About anything?" Melina asked.

Scott shook his head.

"Not yet. I expect that'll be a big shock to him as it was to you," he chuckled before sipping on his coffee.

Melina couldn't believe that Elias still didn't know about her. He had a lot of family lies and drama to catch up on. Apparently, she still hadn't learned everything that there was to know, but Scott seemed to be a spout of constant information.

"Why are you here?" Tyler asked, getting down to business. He placed his hand on Melina's knee in a protective manner.

Scott looked over at Melina.

"I came here to bring you to your brother," he responded.

Melina blinked her eyes a few times, not able to speak at first as she tried to process his words. She thought that she would never see her brother. Now, Scott wanted to bring her to him.

"Aren't we not supposed to do that? Alaric will sense our power and come after us," she asked. She didn't want to fan the flames when things were already terrible.