Maeve was just as alarmed as the vampires were. She felt their unease in how Tony's death grip slackened around her neck, but unfortunately, this did little to make her feel relieved.
The darkness wasn't Maeve's ally either. Where she had been guessing the appearances of her enemies, now she couldn't even see their outlines. Her questions about who had just turned off the lights would find little answer in the black as well. Still, Maeve sucked in a deep breath. That much she had been afforded. She had escaped certain death for now.
"Who's there?" Jake hissed at the darkness.
"Oh shit!" Luke cried. There was fear in his voice. "It's them!"
A part of Maeve felt savage glee at that fact, but it was quickly drowned in anxiety.
'What is it now?' Maeve thought. She wished she could see in the dark. Who was 'them'?
"Ah, well, well, well," Tony said in a playful tone. He released his grip on Maeve. "Looks like you guys were right."
"Of course we were, asshole!" Jake was livid for some reason.
Maeve tensed while regulating her breathing. She searched the darkness and for a moment, she thought she saw a streak of gold.
There was a sudden bang and she felt a chair fly past her, missing her shoulder by a few inches. It crashed into the wall behind her, and then something else flew after it, something larger. The thing grunted in pain on impact, but then it was gone. It had rushed past Maeve at extreme speed, heading towards whatever had flung it in the first place.
Sounds of bodies knocking against each other blared. Chairs flew, as did grunts, curses and bodies. Maeve heard the wall to her right shatter when something smashed into it. Something else then followed – moving fast – and afterwards, Maeve was certain she heard the sound of bones breaking.
"LUKE!" Maeve heard Jake cry aloud. She panicked.
'Is Luke…?' she didn't dare finish the thought. Sweat drizzled down her body.
Suddenly, a whipping breeze blasted against her. Two figures were rushing about, stirring the air. One of them was tripped or tackled by something – Maeve couldn't tell. There was a wail and a call for mercy, but then a sickening crunch echoed through the room and then a blunt bang. It sounded like a punch – a very heavy one.
Almost at the same time, the door was blasted apart. The sound of its shattering into a thousand fragments was akin to thunder; Maeve had nearly screamed when she heard.
She was almost embarrassed to be so afraid.
What in the world was going on?
No more of the crazy noises came after that. Maeve could only hear the sound of heavy breathing. And then…
"Get her."
She froze.
For the umpteenth time, Maeve attempted to free herself from the unnaturally tough ropes, but it was no use. She heard someone lift themselves up to the platform and walk towards her.
"Who are you?" she asked in a trembling voice, disgusted that it was hers. There was no answer. As the individual approached, Maeve discovered that they didn't have the vampiric scent. They smelled… normal. Sort of. If only that could have calmed her down.
The individual reached behind Maeve and a moment later, the tough ropes that were binding her hands fell away.
"It's alright. You're safe now."
Maeve gasped.
She recognised that voice.
Right then, the lights were switched on. They first went to the deep purple neon and then to the standard white lighting that permitted everything to be discernible by the eye.
The first thing Maeve saw was a tall man with a swollen physique. He was taller than her, his face long and gaunt with sharp brown eyes. His long dark brown hair was a mess, and sweat stitched it together.
Ryan lifted a brow at the odd look Maeve gave him.
"I'm supposing you've forgotten my name already," he said.
Maeve didn't speak. She was stumped. She spotted the rips and blood on his long-sleeved, black shirt and she could only believe that what she'd been hearing just now…
"The lighting in these places always vexes me," said another man standing beside where the door should have been. He tickled the light switch on the wall before turning to the platform where Ryan and Maeve were. "Sorry we were late."
Aaron's light ash blonde hair was just as mussed up as Ryan's. His square-shaped face was surprisingly reassuring to see for Maeve, as were his striking, satin grey eyes. His green flannel shirt also spotted bloodstains and scratches.
Aaron walked towards the platform.
Maeve plopped to the floor and began caressing her neck where her skin had turned red and raw; parts of it had torn. Ryan attempted to reach down and carry her up, but Aaron shook his head and signalled against it.
"Yeah… you were late," Maeve said in a spiritless voice.
She subconsciously scoured the room and found, amid a mound of crushed, bend and broken chairs, a body. It was Jake. A part of his shoulder had been torn off and his face was heavily bruised and beginning to swell up.
Aaron gave the vampire a glance.
"He's alive. Just knocked out. We killed one but the other escaped. He was pretty quick. By the time I dived for him he had already smashed through the door," he said with distaste.
Maeve's gazed lingered on Jake. Reality was taking its sweet time fully hitting her. She looked to her right where the wall had been borne through. A foot could be seen peeking into this room from the next. Maeve needed no one to tell her that that was Luke; he was the one who had been killed.
She turned from the corpse. For some reason, her eyes now refused to look Aaron or Ryan.
"Why did you… Why did you leave one of them alive?" she asked.
Aaron scratched his chin.
"We have a few questions to ask him," he replied succinctly.
There was a pause. Strangely, it wasn't at all awkward. In fact, it helped Maeve's spiralling mind settle.
After almost a full minute, Aaron broke the silence.
"I'm sorry, Maeve," he said solemnly. Maeve mustered the courage to look into his mysterious grey eyes. "We had hoped to ease you into this whole ordeal, giving you some space and all, but that's backfired on us. We have no choice. Time is running out. We can't afford to take this slow anymore. You need to know everything so you can make a choice – though I'm afraid there really isn't an alternative for any of us."
Maeve could hardly go berserk and tell Aaron and Ryan to leave like before. This time, she did indeed want to understand the whole truth about what was going on in Glendale.