Blanket of Fear

“I don’t like it,” Matt growled angrily, shaking his head. “That’s not fair, Zack. I know you don’t trust him, but fuck…that’s throwing him to the wolves. This isn’t right. The man’s fucking hurting! He needs help, not this.”

“This is the best thing we can do for him now,” Zack retorted, looking at the hazel-eyed vampire with a sad look of his own. He didn’t like this any more than Matt did, but on a primal level, he could understand where his friend’s head was at right now. Though Zack had never lost someone like what Michelle had meant to Brian, he could only imagine how he would feel if Eliza turned her back on them and betrayed them. He didn’t want to know how low he would sink, and he knew that Brian was feeling exactly that. It wasn’t fair to do this, but it was what needed to be done.

“There’s got to be something else,” Jimmy said slowly. “I don’t want him to have to get hurt just because you can’t expand your thoughts past Eliza, Zack. I know she’s important to you, but this isn’t just about her anymore. This is about something much bigger. You’ve got to look at the bigger picture.”

“I am,” Zacky snapped, narrowing his eyes at his friend. “You think I’m the one putting emotions in front of what needs to be done? Is that what you’re getting at?”

“That’s not what he’s saying, Zack. He’s saying that we should sit down and think about this a little more before we decide what Brian’s fate is going to be. This isn’t something that’s going to be easy to do either way. We owe this to him to at least try to think of a more positive solution.”

The room was silent for several minutes while all six of them tried to calm down a little bit. All of them were thinking different things about what to do about Brian. Some were thinking that it would be best just to put him out of his misery and kill him now. Others were thinking that he was trustworthy, and that he should be included in this process of fighting and planning. And yet still others were confused as to what they should do.

“What about a human psych facility?” Jacoby spoke, looking up after several minutes. “We’ve got people on the inside at a couple of them in Los Angeles. We could have Brian admitted and he wouldn’t be at risk for getting out. He may be a vampire, but with the right drugs, he’d be rendered just as easily contained as the humans. He’d be safe, out of the way, and most importantly, he’d be alive.”

“He won’t go for that,” Zack sighed. “And we owe it to him to at least tell him what’s coming before we throw him into a situation.”

“So tell him his options flat out,” Benji said. “Tell him that he either accepts this and goes along with it until Castro is dead, or that his other option is death. There’s no way around this, Vengeance. I know he’s your friend—he’s ours too. But Jimmy is right. We have to think about what’s best for everyone here. Including Brian. Sure, he’s not going to like this, but he’ll be getting help. They’ll get him the mental help he needs, and he’ll be safe from harm’s way.”

“I agree with them,” Matt muttered under his breath, although his tone insinuated that he was far from pleased with this turn of events. He didn’t want to see his friend end up in a psych ward. Hell, he didn’t even like just talking about it as a possibility. But when push came to shove, he had to look at the larger picture. It might not be the best possible way to deal with Brian’s recent descent into depression, but it was the most effective at accomplishing what they needed to have happen.

The room was silent again and Zacky thought carefully over what all of his friends were telling him. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Brian combusted, and if he was given a chance to let that happen, there would be no talk at all of saving him. They were all prepared to protect those they loved, even at the highest cost. If it came down to Brian or Eliza, he knew that in a heartbeat, he’d choose the latter. He knew it was the same for Matt with Val, and for Jimmy with Leana and the others with their girls. This was indeed the safest option for everyone.

“Alright,” he groaned, pushing his hand back through his hair yet again. “I really don’t like this, but…I can see how it’s the best option. Whenever we decide to start moving the girls, we’ve got to break it to him. And we’ll have to make sure the girls and kids aren’t around, because he’s going to be anything but cooperative.”

“Alright,” Matt nodded before looking at his watch. “Everyone is going to start getting suspicious if we keep holding this meeting for any longer. We’ve got to end this for now,” he spoke. The six of them started walking out of the room, and once Zacky walked out into the living room, he smiled when he saw Eliza sitting on the couch, once again holding Harlow.

It broke his heart in a way when he looked at the way his girlfriend was connecting with the kids. He knew that, though Eliza was young, she was ready for a family with him. He knew that she’d give up everything to have a child with him, and it hurt knowing that he couldn’t give that to her right now. He himself had wanted to start a family for a long time, and now that he had Eliza, he wanted that more than anything. But another pregnancy was the last thing any of them needed right now, and he had to think of what was best for everyone, not just what he and Eliza wanted as a couple. There would be time enough to start a family after Castro was gone and the dust had settled.

“She just crawled up on my lap and fell asleep,” Eliza said softly, frowning when she saw Zacky studying the two of them. He just chuckled and nodded before walking over, sitting next to her on the sofa and not bothering to move Harlow off of Eliza’s lap.

“It’s okay,” he murmured before pressing his lips against the side of her face as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder to pull her into him. He knew that in a few weeks’, perhaps even days’, time, he was going to miss this with her. When Eliza went to Canada, she would be going without him. He wouldn’t be joining her, and he knew that there was a chance that he’d never see her again after she left.

The stakes were higher now than they ever had been before, he knew. Once this plan was put into action, the six that were left behind would be the only people standing between Castro and Bat Country. It would be up to the six of them to keep the territory safe as well as keep their loved ones out of harm’s way. It would be a hard thing to accomplish, but they were all up for the challenge.

“You’ve got that look on your face, baby,” she told him, reaching up to push some hair out of his eyes before she smiled softly at him. “That look that tells me you’re thinking too hard about something. You’re looking pale, too.”

He chuckled at Eliza’s worries and shook his head before he grabbed her hand in his. In a little while, she’d have much more to worry about than just how pale he was and what was on his mind. But he couldn’t tell her that now. He just wanted her to relax, and hopefully for her to be able to pretend that everything was normal for at least a few days.

“I’m just thinking about how much I want to show you I love you,” he murmured into her ear, a smirk on his face when he heard her heart beat race faster, her blood pumping through her veins much more loudly than before. “But you’re holding Harlow…I guess it’ll have to wait until later on, right?”

He knew it was dirty, using sex to distract the two of them from what was going on, but he didn’t blame himself. It was the only way he could show her how much he loved her right now, and it was the only way he could keep her mind off of things. She always lost her mind when they were together, and right now, that was exactly what he wanted for the two of them.

“I’m sure she won’t mind sleeping on the sofa by herself for awhile,” Eliza quickly replied, looking up at Zacky with a smirk. “The cushions are much less bony than my knees.”

He chuckled softly before helping her to stand up, carefully moving the toddler so that she was lying on the sofa where Eliza and he had previously been sleeping. He didn’t say a word as he started leading them towards their bedroom upstairs. He knew that she was well aware that he was purposely distracting her, but he didn’t care about that. All he wanted now was to lose himself in her body.