Blanket of Fear

There were a whole hell of a lot more than six or seven guys, Zack thought to himself with a frown as they opened the door, letting their enemy in to begin the fight. Sean wouldn’t make it that easy on them; he knew what they were capable of, and he would know that seven men would hardly be a challenge to them. Even if he was toying with them, he was going to go for a big spectacle; he wanted the entire vampire world to know about this attack, Zack was sure of it. And he was hellbent on making sure that didn’t happen.

“Zack! Your gun!” Jimmy called over to him. Zack looked over just in time to see a large military grade gun being tossed in his direction. He easily grabbed it and turned the safety off, getting ready to defend himself, his friends, and Eliza.

Eliza, he thought to himself. Underneath whatever motives Sean was under the pretenses that he was using, he was sure that Eliza had something to do with why Sean was attacking them so suddenly. It was too convenient that she was now with Zack, and all of a sudden her ex-boyfriend was stepping up his game. He knew that Eliza was innocent of any wrongdoing, but he also knew that somewhere in his heart, Sean still wanted her. Even if he’d been an abusive asshole as Zack suspected, that was the only logical reason Sean could be going to these lengths.

And he would die before he let Eliza go back to Sean. He loved her, dammit, even though he’d tried to stop himself. Before Eliza, he had never let emotions or feelings for people get in the way of running Bat Country as smoothly as possible. Now, it seemed, he took those all into consideration before taking action. He pulled his head out of his thoughts and began concentrating on the task at hand, getting rid of the enemy.

The sounds of gunfire exploded through the hollow area, echoing louder than any of them had thought was possible. Zack didn’t recognize any of the men coming through the door, but it didn’t matter.

“No! Brian!” Someone yelled out. Zack fired his gun at the man who was running in his direction before turning his head just in time to see Brian falling to the ground, a blank expression in his eyes.

“Fuck.” He hissed under his breath before shooting at any enemies he saw. He was out for vengeance now; Brian had been his best friend for as long as he could remember, and he would be damned if he didn’t do something to stop him from dying.

“Hello, Zack.”

In that instant, all fire ceased, and all the yelling stopped. The only sound in the room now was Brian’s grunts of pain as he laid on the ground. Zack’s eyes flickered to the brunette man’s chest and he saw a bullet hole in his shirt, blood seeping out. Loud footsteps echoed throughout the room, and Zack looked up to see Sean Castro walking into the Complex, his long black trench coat touching the floor, a menacing look on his face.

“What do you want, Castro?” Zack spat, his green eyes darkened to an almost black color from all the rage he was feeling.

The man chuckled, though he was far from amused. Or maybe he was. Zack wasn’t sure just how psychopathic Sean was; all he knew was that he was dangerous, and was the bane of his existence. Zack realized too late that he should have killed the man when he’d had the chance several years ago. “I think you know what I’m after, Vengeance. Just give her to me, and all of this will end. You can go back to leading your pathetic country, and I’ll have what I want. We’ll both be happy.”

Zack growled in anger as he cocked his gun and pointed it at Sean’s head. “I should shoot you where you stand, traitor. You’re in no position to make demands.”

“You won’t shoot me.” Sean told him confidently. “And even if you do, it won’t kill me. You know that by now though, don’t you? Tell me, how is Leigh doing? Has she told you her secrets? Or do I need to enlighten you?”

Zack knew what Sean was talking about. Leana had told them everything she’d overheard Sean talking about. Leigh couldn’t die, and she’d had terrible experiments performed on her. She was dangerous, but Zack had decided that she wasn’t dangerous to them.

“What are you waiting for? Shoot him!” Johnny yelled at Zack, anger in his voice as he too pointed his gun at Sean. Zack understood where his friend was coming from, but he also knew that Sean was telling the truth. A bullet alone wouldn’t kill him. Most likely, it wouldn’t hardly hurt him.

“It won’t do any good.” Zack told him before turning to Sean again. “And you’re not getting Eliza. That’s not negotiable.”

“Nothing is negotiable with him!” Matt hissed angrily. “We don’t give in to threats, Castro.”

A smirk formed on Sean’s face. “You really think this is all about that slut? You’re slower than I thought you were. This isn’t about Eliza; not anymore. It’s something bigger now.”

“What do you want?” Zack repeated the question angrily.

“Michelle.” Sean said simply. “If you hand her over, this will stop…for now.”

Zack sighed, looking at Jimmy. It had been expected that Sean would want Michelle back. And if they didn’t give in to his demands, more people than necessary would die. So he and Jimmy had formed a plan, and decided not to let any of the others in on their plan.

“Jimmy, go get her.” He nodded slowly, keeping his green eyes fixed on the taller man’s crystal blue ones. He gave Zack a short nod of his head as he walked towards the Solitary room. He stepped inside, and saw Eliza, Leana, and Nicole against the furthest wall, Sparrow and Harlow behind them.

“What’s going on?” Eliza asked him, worry in her voice. “Is it over?”

“No. You need to stay in here until I come back.” He told her, pulling a large needle and a small bottle out of his back pocket. He gave Michelle a hard glare.

“What are you doing?” Leana’s question was next as she touched his shoulder lightly. He turned to look at her, a hard expression on his face. When he saw Leana’s eyes, his own softened.

“We’re giving her back to Castro. It’s the only way that he’ll leave without any more bloodshed.” Jimmy announced, though there was a smile on his face. In a lower voice, he continued.

With no other words being spoken, he crossed the short expanse of room and stood in front of Michelle. “Consider this a parting gift from Avenged Sevenfold. I personally feel that you deserve something a hell of a lot more painful than this, but since we’re on short notice here we can’t give you what you really deserve.”

“What are you—” Michelle started before Jimmy pushed the needle into the top of the small jar, extracting a large amount of the clear liquid that resided inside. He pushed the needle into her arm, injecting her with the substance. Within seconds, she was unable to speak, and could only blink.

“Goodbye, bitch. Hope you enjoy Hell, because that’s where you’re headed.” Was all Jimmy told her before he knocked her out. Leana gasped at the sight of her husband being so violent, though it didn’t scare her. She’d seen him violent before, but had expected him to be a little hesitant because of how close they had all been to Michelle.

“What’s going to happen to her?” Nicole asked. Jimmy released the limp woman from the binds that were holding her to the wall before he turned to look at them.

“The drug I injected her with is a slow-acting poison. She’ll be dead by the time they get back to wherever it is his base is located.” He explained quietly. “I knocked her out so she can’t tell him that we injected her; I’ll tell him that I did it because she wouldn’t stop kicking and trying to bite. By the time Sean figures it out, we’ll be long gone.”

“What do you—” Eliza started, before Leana cut her off quietly.

“It means we’re going to move to another location.” She told Eliza. “And we’ll probably do it soon after Sean leaves.”

Jimmy nodded, letting them know that that was exactly what was happening as he left the Solitary room with Michelle hanging limply in his arms. Eliza didn’t know what was going to happen next, but she did know that it was going to be a big change.