The diner table was set and the guests, all clan members, sat around it, each having their “soup” which was really their favorite red liquid. Rayne, of course, was their servant for the evening. Afterwards, the men sat at the table discussing current affairs while the females moved over to the study to gossip. Matt sat at the head of the table deep in conversation with his guests while Rayne refreshed their glasses before returning back to the kitchen.
“Matt, where did you find such and exquisite beauty?” one of the men asked referring to Rayne.
“My friend, that is a secret I will never tell” Matt said
As the party died down Matt went to the study to join the remaining guests. Rayne was in the kitchen cleaning up hoping that what Matt told her was true and that after tonight she wouldn’t be a servant anymore.
“There you are, and how is the little slave girl this evening”
“What do you want Aubry?”
“My brother would like another glass of wine, he’s waiting in the study”
“Fine” Rayne said filling a glass for Matthew.
Aubry watched as Rayne exited the kitchen she couldn’t help but grin knowing full well what Rayne was walking into.
When Rayne reached the doorway of the study she could hear a female voice. She looked inside to see Arianna straddling Matt, her lips firmly pressed against his. Rayne almost dropped the glass, but slipped back out of the study unnoticed only to come face to face with Aubry again.
“You did that on purpose” she said with tears in her eyes.
“Of course I did dear” she said with laughter in her voice.
Rayne set the glass down on the hall table and ran out the front door of the castle into the night.
---------- Back in the study ----------
“Get off me!” Matt shouted and pushed Arianna to the floor.
“Baby, don’t tell me you don’t want me, I can see it in the way you look at me” she said
“What you see is sheer disgust, I want you to leave my house right now” he demanded.
“She isn’t going anywhere” Aubry said as she walked into the study
“Oh no, and who are you to say who I can and cant throw out of my own home?” he asked
“Calm down dear brother, you are over reacting. Here, have a glass of wine” she said handing him the glass.
Matt took the glass from Aubry and was just about to take a sip when Caleb rushed in and knocked the glass out of his hand.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Matt ask him angrily
“It’s poison” Jonah said. Jonah was the man who spoke at the diner table about Rayne.
“Aubry poisoned your wine. She was planning to kill you with Arianna’s help” Caleb told him
“I saw her put it in the glass just after Rayne ran out the door” Jonah said
“That is absurd” Aubry spoke innocently
“What do you mean Rayne ran out the front door?” Matt was confused with everyone speaking at once.
“Well, what did you expect brother after your little display of love with Arianna?” Aubry was laughing as she spoke.
“Stefan went after her,” Jonah said.
“Damn it!” Matt walked over to Aubry and slapped her hard across the face. Arianna tried to leave but Caleb grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“How dare you hit me” Arianna spat at Matt.
“It was you wasn’t it, you killed them all” He said
“Matthew you and I both know it was Rayne who did it” Aubry tried to prove her innocence.
“It wasn’t Rayne, Aubry you know damn well it wasn’t, now tell me the truth or I will kill you right here right now.”
“Fine, Arianna did it” Aubry said
“That isn’t true Aubry, you liar. I only helped you with Lindsay and your mother, I had nothing to do with Marco or your father.” Arianna shouted in her defense.
“Shut up Ari” Aubry shouted back
“No, I am not going to take the blame for all of this” Arianna tried to pull away from Caleb but he tightened his hold on her arm.
“Take them down to the cellar and put them in the room with the sunroof. Let them burn when the morning comes. I want guards on watch all night. I have to go find Rayne before Stefan does”
“We’ll come help after these two are taken care of” Jonah said
“Matthew surely you don’t mean to do this” Aubry said
“You are dead to me,” he said as he walked out of the study and out the front door.
-------- Rayne --------
Rayne ran as fast as she could, but she couldn’t find her way out of the forest. Every way she ran seemed to be a dead end with no way out. No matter which way she went she kept finding herself in the same place. The clearing.
She gave up and dropped to her knees. Frustrated she put her face in her hands and began to cry. There was no way out. She jumped up when she heard a twig snap behind her. It was just like her dream, it was really happening. She started running again and then the voice started. “You cant get away from me Rayne, you’ll never get away from me” She ran faster through the clearing, but stopped short when she saw the oak tree. All her fears came rushing back. Everything that Matt told her about her facing her fears was gone. From behind the tree stepped Stefan.
“There is nowhere to run, Rayne” Stefan said. His eyes were red and his long blond hair framed his pale white face. He smiled an evil smile baring his fangs to her.
“Come here, Rayne,” he said in a voice that no longer sounded like his own.
“No” she said and as soon as she said it he was standing in front of her.
“Get away from me” she cried
“Or what, Rayne? Are you going to cry?” he asked laughing in her face at her fear.
“Please, just let me go” she begged as he grabbed her and dragged her over to the tree.
------------- Matt -----------
Matt moved as fast as he could through the woods, knowing he had little time to get to Rayne. Caleb and Jonah were not far behind him. He tried calling out to Rayne mentally but he couldn’t get through. Something was blocking her mind.
-------- Rayne -------
Stefan shoved Rayne up against the tree with such force she nearly lost consciousness. She cried out in pain and tried to call out to Matthew but Stefan stopped her.
“Your precious Matthew is already dead and it’s all your fault” Stefan taunted her
“What have you done?” she cried
“I haven’t done anything, the wine was poisoned” he said laughing once again.
“I never gave him the wine!” she shouted
“No, but after you ran away, Aubry did. Don’t you see silly girl, the whole thing was a set up to get you out of the house. Now Aubry and I can rule together. I am going to miss tormenting you though. I confess, I did enjoy touching your body last night” he said as he moved his hand over the front of her dress touching her roughly.
“Stop it” she begged
“You don’t really want me to stop do you?” he asked taunting her. He pushed himself against her and placed his mouth roughly over hers. She tried to fight him off, but he was too strong for her so she bit his lip as hard as she could. He slapped her hard across the face making her fall to the ground.
“Get up” he demanded grabbing a handful of her hair pulling her back up to him.
He ran his tongue over his teeth as he pulled her head to the side.
“And now it is you who will meet your maker” he said
“Let her go” Matt said standing in the clearing. Caleb and Jonah stood behind him.
“Well, look who decided to join the fun. Just in time to watch me kill your little whore”
“Stefan, I am warning you, let her go” Matt warned.
“Or what?” Stefan dared.
Matthew moved with lightning speed over to where Stefan stood holding Rayne.
“Let her go” he said as his eyes flashed red. Stefan picked ran up by her neck and threw her with such a force she flew across the clearing and slammed into a tree. Caleb ran to tend to her while Matt and Jonah pounced on Stefan. Stefan tried to fight as hard as he could but the two of them were no match for him. He was dead in minutes. Finally, it was all over. Matt ran over to where Caleb was with Rayne.
“She is hurt, but she should recover” Caleb said
Matt picked her up in his arms and using his powers he was back in his room in seconds. He laid her down gently on his bed and told Caleb to bring him some cool water and a rag. When Caleb returned Matt cleaned the cut on Rayne’s head.
“Stay here with her and do not leave her until I return, if she wakes, have someone come for me”
“You got it” Caleb said
Matt went down to the cellar to the room where Aubry was being kept. He opened the door and walked inside. She stood when she saw him and waited for him to speak.
“I have decided to put you out of your misery” he said
“Oh I knew you would come to your senses and let me out of here. It was all Arianna’s idea you know. She planned the whole thing, I swear”
“Aubry, I’m not letting you go.” He said
“What do you mean?” she asked
“I’m not going to give you the pleasure of living one more second” he said and as the last word slipped out of his mouth he snapped her neck leaving her to fall to the ground. When he was done he went to the room that Arianna was in and opened the door. He walked inside and found her in tears.
“Come here, baby,” he said motioning with his finger for her to come to him
“Matt, I knew you loved me” she cried and ran into his arms.
“Love is a very strong word Ari. I was thinking more along the lines of loathe.”
“What?” she asked
“I’ve only come down here to show you the same consideration that you have shown me, which is none.” He snapped her neck just as he did to Aubry and walked back upstairs to his room.
“She’s waking up” Caleb told him
“Thank you for everything” Matt said to Caleb
“Anytime” Caleb smiled
“Why don’t you take off, I can handle it from here”
“Ok, I wont be too far if you need me and Jonah is going to crash in the guest room tonight just in case”
“Ok” Matt said as he closed the door behind Caleb.
He stood still looking at Rayne as she lie there in his bed. As her eyes fluttered open he walked over to her and sat down on the edge. She looked at him, but didn’t say anything.
“How are you feeling?” he asked
“My head hurts”
“Sleep will fix that,” he said softly.
“Sleep wont fix what I saw you doing with Arianna,” she said letting a tear fall from her eye.
“Rayne, Im sorry you had to see that, but what you didn’t see was me shove her off of me.”
“I have so many questions now?” she said
“Ask me what ever you want”
“Why is there no way out of the forest? Every way I ran I kept coming back to the same place”
“When I brought you here, I had a witch cast a spell on so that you couldn’t escape, but you would always know where you were and you would always find the tree.”
“But, I dreamt of the forest before I ever saw it”
“Yes, that was Stefan’s doing. We have the power to control dreams”
“So all of the nightmares I had were because he gave them to me?” she asked
“Yes. And the dream you had about the bed of roses was my doing.”
“All of the pink roses in the garden” she smiled.
“Yes, I knew it was your favorite place and they your favorite flower.”
“Why did you do this to me, Matthew?”
Matt knew what she was asking and took a minute to think before he answered. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
“I knew it was Aubry all along. I was there the night in the forest when Marco died. It should have been obvious to you how I got to you so fast and how I knew you were there. I needed you so I could get to her. I needed her to believe that I thought you did it so she wouldn’t run. Yes, I used you as a pawn so I could avenge my brother. I hurt you and I treated you like you were lower than dirt. I’m so very sorry. Every time you cried and told me that you didn’t do it, I wanted to hold you and tell you that I knew and that everything would be ok. I couldn’t do it; I had to keep up the charade. I’m sorry I hurt you. I did thinks to you that you didn’t deserve. I put you in danger when all I really wanted to do was protect you from all of it.”
“You chained me to a wall and had me beaten with a leather whip” she cried
“Yes, and I am sorry. I cant begin to tell you how riddled with guilt I am over that”
“And that night you grilled me about what happened in the forest when you already knew. This was a game to you.” She continued to cry
“No, it wasn’t a game. I grilled you because I had to be sure of what you saw that night and I had to be sure that you never saw me there other than when I grabbed you to take you back here. If I didn’t bring you back here, Aubry would have killed you that night”
“And what of Aubry?” she asked
“She’s dead,” he said
“I don’t know what to say now” she said as the tears fell
“Rayne, I told you after tonight the choice would be yours to stay or leave and it is. You are free to go at any time now. I do ask that you stay the night because you need the rest after what just happened. Sleep on it and you can give me your decision tomorrow evening”
“Matthew, if I leave, I don’t know where I will go. If I stay, what will I be here?”
“If you chose to leave, I will make sure you have a place to go if I have to buy you one myself. If you stay, you will have all the rights and privileges her as if this were your own home. You could come and go as you please, no questions asked.”
“What do you want me to do?” she asked
“That isn’t my decision to make. I would like for you to stay here with me. I love you Rayne”
“I’m tired”
“Sleep then, we’ll talk tomorrow evening” He kissed her head and left her alone in his room. She would lie awake for a few more hours before finally falling asleep. Tonight she would sleep a dreamless sleep.
