Hide and Sneak

Brianna did not wait for the guards to catch her up, she had her mind set on trying to find Arabella and Cassia knowing that they would have gotten as far away from the fight as they could. Letting her feet carry her as fast as they could, she just wanted to get back to Quinn's home to make sure that he was alright. As trees brushed past her as she dodged the large overhanging branches that scraped against her skin as she swerved in between the branches of the trees. 

Using her instincts like Arabella had taught her as she let her full speed guide her, following her nose as she stopped just outside the Parish church, standing still as a statue as she listened to everything around her.

"Arabella?.....Cassia?" she whispered praying that Arabella would hopefully hear her.

Arabella heard her name called, listening for a moment before speaking.

"Jonathan always liked to be prepared. Now I understand why. Step around the corner, but watch your step, things are a little messy."



She watched as Brianna walked around into view, keeping her weapons at ready.

"He set this church up as a safe house after I first arrived, knowing my love for the rituals. I'm just glad I got here in time to be ready when they attacked. This was in the pocket of one of them."

She holstered one of her guns, handing Brianna a photo of Brianna and Quinn talking.

Brianna instantly heard Arabella call to her and warned her to watch her step as it was messy. As she stepped into sight she was greeted by pools of blood every where.

"That man always has a way of preparing for everything doesn't he" she commented.

Accepting what Arabella had in her hand as she glanced at the photo; an image of her and Quinn talking only a few days ago.

"How did they know? Who were they? Why would they attack me?" she asked confused.

"The stamp on the picture says Texas on it. Isn't that where your Maker went? Maybe someone wants him distracted. All I know is we need to disappear until Jonathan says it is safe. I know just the place."

She knocked on a cabinet and it opened slowly, revealing a very frightened Cassia, tears streaking her makeup. She took Arabella's hand and nodded, stepping from the cabinet. she leaned down and took a small handgun off the floor, wiping the blood from the grip with the edge of her skirt. Her face set with resolve, she nodded to Brianna and tried to smile. She leaned up, pressing a quick kiss on Arabella's cheek and whispered that she was ready.

"But why would they want to hurt Bill? He hasn't done anything?" she asked again.

Hearing that they needed to disappear until it was safe, she didn't want to. Quinn was hurt and he needed someone to help in case some tried to attack him. 

"But Quinn is hurt Arabella....He needs us there. I don't want to leave him alone" she pleaded with him.

Arabella stepped forward and slapped Brianna across the face hard enough to leave a sting in her hand. She gripped Brianna's chin and looked her in the eyes.

"Think, Brianna. What is more helpful? Standing there doing nothing at his side or being somewhere safe so he does not have to worry? I don't know how he will spin this but we need to give him room to play it out. We can contact him discreetly once we are protected."

Brianna felt the sting across her face as both of her hands cradled her face as she was forced to meet the eyes of Arabella as she listened to what she had to say.

"Fine...Whatever you say" she snapped at her.

Brianna had never seen this side of Arabella, she was always so nice to her. She didn't want to leave Quinn all by himself, but she didn't want to anger Arabella either. It was not like she had much of a choice.

"Where do we go?" she asked.

"The last place they will ever look for us."

She pulled out her phone and pulled up the King's number, keying it to text him
~Wolves at the door. Ghosting for a while. We are safe. Clues point to TX~

Putting her phone away, she led them to the church garage and a small sedan that was parked there. She reached under the front tire and pulled out a set of keys. She opened the door and popped the trunk.

"Brianna, collect whatever suits you from the trunk and get inside."


She closed the car, locking it again and walked over, unlocking the access door to the church. She shouldered the heavy oak door open, and keyed in a code on the security pad behind it. As the metal door slid aside, she glanced back at Brianna. She hit a few more keys on the pad and was answered with a sequence of beeps.

"Sorry to be so rough with you but we are on a time table. Quinn will know where we are now. Get what you need and get inside."

She led Cassia through the door and waited for Brianna, her eyes scanning the outside through the garage door.

Brianna watched in amazement as the trunk to the sedan opened as was met with endless guns and was even more shocked when Arabella told her to collect whatever suited her. Remembering from watching several movies she picked out three guns, two of which looked like the ones that Angelina Jolie used in Lara Croft. Following Arabella and Cassia as she apologized for being so rough with her. 

Not saying anything as she quickly got inside carrying her guns as she followed Cassia as the metal doors slammed closed behind her as Brianna turned to Arabella.

"Forget about it. I wasn't thinking. I just hate leaving Quinn alone, I want to protect him like he did me" she whispered, knowing that she could never protect him. Like he said her skills were not up to scratch.

Arabella smiled at her concern.

"You really do care, don't you. Don't worry about Jonathan. By now there is an army around him ripping apart the estate to make sure there is nobody else."

She looks around, making sure the chapel is empty before walking up to the podium. She pulled the candles off the stand behind the podium and hit a switch on the podium. She watched as a section opened, with a screen lifting from a recessed area. As it locked in place, the split screen came to life, showing multiple areas around the building, as well as inside. She hit a few symbols on the screen and the screen changed colors to a green tint. She looked over the images and nodded.

"Everything looks clear. We can relax a little bit. It you need some, there will be blood in the cooler down the hall to the right. This building is light tight. They stained glass windows are actually screens that match the outside."

"I do care, he is my friend and I care for him a lot" she told Arabella.

Brianna watched in awe at all of the gadgets and devices coming to life, it was like she had walked into a whole new realm filled with flashing lights and an endless amount of room. Hearing Arabella say that they could relax as things looked clear as she let out a breath that she did not know that she had been holding.

Sitting herself down on the first edge that she could find as she placed her guns next to her and turned to Arabella.

"He saved me....He got hurt because of me. I was stupid enough to think I could fight him, and I lost. Now Quinn got hurt because of me acting like I could be the big brave vampire. When I am scared, I don't think I have ever been this scared in my life" she admitted.

She walked over to Brianna, smiling.

"Brianna, I know Jonathan like no other. He was proud of you, he always is. You are a young vampire, and he knows that. Even knowing that, you put yourself at risk to help us. I know he appreciates it and now he can focus on whatever it is he needs to do because thanks to you, we are all safe."

She watched as Cassia walked down the hall disappearing into the kitchen, then turned back to Brianna.

"He needed you safe as well, and now you are. Thanks to you, we are all safe now. Without the distraction you provided, we could not have escaped. I owe you a lot for that. For myself and for Cassia."

As they spoke, Cassia walked back in pushing a small cart. There was a warmer on it with two bottles of blood sitting in it as well as a jog of iced tea. She took a glass of the tea and smiled, sitting off to the side as they talked.

"It's the least that I could have done. You are his family and I know that is important to him. Besides he is letting me stay at his home and not pay anything. He is doing it because of my Maker, he asked you to help me. I like staying there with you all, I don't feel trapped any more" she commented.

True she did not mind staying at Bill's place but staying with Quinn she had a lot more freedom than she had before and she was among friends. Thanking Cassia for the blood as she took a large mouthful and welcomed the relief that it brought her.

"So what do we do now?" she asked curiously.

"Now we wait. When the door shut, the whole property went into lock down. Everything is reinforced and everything is light tight. We have all we might need, and most of what we could want. The priest is on vacation so we do not have to worry about people coming to mass."

She walked over to one of the benches, leaning in the corner of it. She smiled as Cassia walked over, curling into her lap, laying her head on Arabella's shoulder. She handed Arabella the bottle from the warmer and snuggled in. Arabella smiled at her, then looked back at Brianna.

"The best thing we can do right now is nothing. I know it will be hard, but since we do not know the whole game, doing anything else could affect the outcome in a way we do not want."

Nodding to Arabella's words as she watched Cassia begin to rest against Arabella as she turned away to give them some privacy as she took a few more mouthfuls of her blood. Relaxing into her seat as she closed her eyes. Soon the sun would come up, but all her mind could think about was why? Why did those people attack her? And why did Bill have something to do with it and Texas? 

But all her mind could really think about was Quinn and if he was alright. She just hoped that she didn't have to spend too much time here. She wanted to be back at home with Quinn.