0198

Thomas kneeled down next to Elizabeth and put his hand
on her. She recoiled from his touch, causing him to
smile.

"I'll see you again soon, my dear Elizabeth," he said
loud enough for everyone to hear. "Perhaps I'll bring
more friends next time. Maybe they would like to
enjoy you, too."

Sabastian's eyes went wide, as anger flashed across
his face. It was as if a final straw had been broken.
He walked slowly but deliberately across the room.
Night moved to stop him, but Mary restrained her,
eventually moving between the head of the Enforcers
and the others.

Thomas remained on one knee, watching as Sabastian
walked toward him. He watched as Sabastian swooped
down and grabbed his neck with one hand, lifting him
up to eye level. Thomas smirked, as Sabastian carried
him across the room and toward the cinder block wall
of the basement.

A cringe of pain briefly flashed across his face, as
his body crushed into the wall. Although he wasn't
moving quickly, the strength behind Sabastian caused
the walls to crack and crumble, as he pushed Thomas
against it.

Thomas regained his composure, smiled, and said, "Only
the greatest of actors could have done that. You are
a true..." He stopped talking as Sabastian tightened
his grip, effectively cutting off the air flow to his
voice box.

"Sabastian," Elizabeth said weakly, sitting up in a
puddle of her own blood, "don't." Her eyes were
pained and her face was covered with the marks of her
bloody tears.

Sabastian turned to look at Elizabeth. She looked at
his face, but it was as if she were looking at someone
she didn't know. She had seen Sabastian angry before,
but there was more behind this face. It just wasn't
her Sabastian.

His eyes were wild, almost glowing. His jaw was
clenched so tightly Elizabeth could see the muscles of
his face pulsating. His normally pale complexion was
crimson red.

As he looked at her, the hand holding Thomas' neck
began to tremble. He turned back to Thomas, but was
looking at his hand, not the vampire crushed against
the wall.

"Kill him!" Mary yelled.

Sabastian began to raise his free arm. As it rose, he
made a fist.

Everyone anticipated what was coming, and, in an
attempt to save her sire, Night pushed past Mary to
stop Sabastian.

Sabastian looked at her out of the corner of his eye,
never moving his head. He waved his free arm across
the room and yelled in a deep guttural tone, "No!"

As his arm passed through the air, everything was
forcibly thrown across the room, including Night, who
literally flew off her feet, Mary and Elizabeth.

Sabastian's eyes returned to Thomas, who was now
looking at his captor with fear. Thomas looked from
eye to eye, but saw nothing. It was as if Sabastian
were gone and all that remained was hate.

Sabastian again raised his free arm, slowly and
deliberately, clenching his hand into a fist as it
reached shoulder height.

Night, Mary, and Elizabeth were regaining themselves
after being thrown across the room. They were
confused, but realized that whatever force threw them
came from Sabastian.

[Copyright Reuben Gregg Brewer, 2005, 2006. All rights
reserved.]