He quickly arrived at the stables and burst open the doors. "Jocelyn?!" he called while searching frantically for her. "Joce-"
"Gaspard!" She cried as they both collided in open arms for each other. "Everyone is looking for you!" she exclaimed fearfully, causing her voice to shake.
"Damn!" The pest got faster to Victor than he thought. "I am so sorry Jocelyn-"
"What is going on, Gaspard?" she asked frantically, on the verge of tears.
She didn't know already? "What… what do you mean?"
"Why does my father want to see you?" Her words were running together, she was trying to spit them out fast.
Noticing this, he knew that Victor's men were on their way. He heard voices and people rushing around nearby. But Jocelyn didn't know what he really was, and nor that Olivier had seen them kiss. "Olivier saw us together. I suppose he told Victor and now they want to bring me in-"
"Oh my God, this is all my fault," Jocelyn interrupted. She looked away from Gaspard and shook her head back and forth.
"No! Do not blame this on yourself. I am the one who should have known better. But, Jocelyn, I need to know the truth. Are you really engaged to be married to Olivier?" He tried to ask her as calm as possible but the last word came out with strong hatred.
The tears started to escape her eyes now. "Yes," she choked out. "But not only engaged, my father betrothed me to him! Gaspard," she cried, "I do not want to marry him! I tried to tell you, but I just couldn't."
Gaspard closed his eyes in relief as she said she didn't want to marry Olivier. "If you don't want to marry him, than you shouldn't have to! I won't allow them to force you against your will. You should be free to make your own decision."
"You can't, Gaspard. It’s not that simple. I couldn't defy my father. And because of my foolishness you are going to lose your job!" "I could care less about my damn job. The only reason I was ever still working here after Elijh disappeared was because of you!"
"Oh, Gaspard." She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. They held each other tight, not ever wanting to let go. "I am so afraid for you. I knew I shouldn't have..."
"Jocelyn, listen to me!" He moved her away from him so he was now looking at her in the face. "It is not your fault. It isn't the only reason they are after me. I need to tell you something I should have told you a long time ago." He sighed deeply, trying to ready himself for whatever reaction would come out of Jocelyn after this. "I am-"
"Get away from her!" Olivier shouted.
Gaspard and Jocelyn turned their heads swiftly and saw Olivier standing in the doorway with four other men behind him. Gaspard scolded himself for not paying attention before that they would arrive faster than he thought possible.
"Seize him!" Olivier commanded. The four men started towards Gaspard warily.
"Olivier! Leave Gaspard alone. He didn't do anything wrong!" At that said, one of the men grabbed Jocelyn and pulled her away as the others forced Gaspard to remove his grip on Jocelyn's arms.
"Silence, Jocelyn!" he exclaimed angrily. "Don't you think you've done enough?"
"Don't speak to her like that! Or I swear I'll-" but he cut himself off as he remembered Jocelyn was still near.
Olivier stepped closer and put his face in Gaspard's, trying to intimidate him, but staying far enough away not wanting to be burned again. "Or you will do what?" He smirked as he noticed the dramatic change of Gaspard's eye color.
Gaspard glanced at Jocelyn and saw her worried expression. Olivier was trying to make him say it so Jocelyn would hear and be afraid of him. Gaspard knew he'd have to give in to Olivier's little game for her sake. He lowered his gaze; hiding his eyes. "Nothing," he spat.
"Thought so," he chuckled and turned to face the men he brought with him. "We're taking him to Victor. I'll lead the way and whatever you morons do- don't let him out of your grips."
The two men who were holding Gaspard nodded. "Release me. I'll follow," he said in defeat.
Olivier knew he wouldn't reveal himself in front of Jocelyn by escaping. "Alright then," he said with the same evil smirk. He had Gaspard right where he wanted him- forcing him to hide who he really was and to seem weak in Jocelyn's eyes. He grabbed Jocelyn by the wrist and yanked her towards him, making Gaspard growl furiously under his breath. Olivier motioned to the others for two to follow behind and two in front while he lead the way back to the mansion with Jocelyn at his side.
Gaspard could sense the fear given off by the guards behind and ahead of him. But he kept his eyes on Jocelyn every step of the way to the mansion.
Jocelyn constantly glanced back at Gaspard as she was dragged by Olivier. When they reached the hall before Victor's office, Olivier got annoyed by it and yanked her hard, causing Jocelyn to stumble forward. Gaspard had almost lost his control over himself when Olivier did this, but knew he couldn't do anything about it in front of the others without risking the chance of hurting Jocelyn himself.
"Will you ever learn to knock before you barge in?" Victor demanded after Olivier had burst open the doors that opened to his office.
"My apologies, sir. But we have brought the traitor as you wished," he sneered and then motioned for the two holding Gaspard to bring him forward.
"I see." He stood from his chair, which was only ever on the most important matters. He glared at Gaspard with disgust and then looked angrily at his daughter. "Go to your room, Jocelyn."
Jocelyn didn't drop her head, like she thought she would, and kept his gaze. "No, Father. This is nonsense. Make them release Gaspard!"
"Jocelyn, I have had enough of your foolishness. You are almost a woman! It is time you stopped acting like a child and commit to your responsibilities."
Her anger was welling up inside her. She wanted to do nothing more than spit on her responsibilities that her father spoke of. "Then if it is my foolishness this is all over, why must you bring Gaspard into this?"
"Because it is the boy's fault! Now leave us. I will not tell you again!"
Jocelyn gave Gaspard a heart broken look, not wanting to leave in case something happened to him. But he reassured her by nodding that everything would be okay. She hated her father now more than ever- even more than the time she found out he was marrying her off to Olivier. But at that thought, she came to the decision that this was all Olivier's fault to begin with. Now she hated Olivier more than anyone for what he had caused. Not only would she lose the chance of ever being with Gaspard again, but losing his friendship all together.
She turned to leave. She wanted to march out with whatever dignity she had left, but instead her emotions got the best of her and she walked out slowly as tears streamed down from her eyes. Theo closed the doors behind her as she exited her father’s den.
Gaspard felt a strange emptiness as he watched her leave. He felt alone even though the others were still in the room with him. It seemed as if everything he once knew had turned gray and hollow. The reassurance he gave her he knew was false, but he didn't want her in the same room in case things became deadly. Her safety was all he wanted, from both the wrath of her father and himself if he lost control.
Antoine and Marco tightened their grip on Gaspard after Jocelyn had left, bracing themselves as Olivier struck him in the face on one side and then repeated on the other. Gaspard took the hits, and didn't try to fight back. There was no use. He didn’t want this so called life to begin with, and if they somehow knew how to end it, he would be almost grateful. He no longer cared what happened to himself if he couldn't have Jocelyn. Even though he knew all along they could never be together. The hope he once had had been senseless.
Olivier punched him hard in the stomach. It pained Gaspard, but nothing like a blow from Lucas would have caused. But still, it had made his eyes spark back to dark and he opened his mouth slightly, gasping at the impact, revealing his deadly fangs.
"Olivier," Victor called irritably, "That's enough." "Why? He deserves it and much more at that," Olivier spat, still looking at Gaspard.
Olivier growled and leaned up to Gaspard's ear to say venomously, "You have no idea how good that felt," Gaspard glared down at him trying to stifle a growl himself as Olivier continued, "Expect much worse if I ever get my..." he chuckled, "fists on you again." He stepped away, folding his arms.
Victor cleared his throat and glowered at the young vampire in front of him. "We know who you are. Don't think you could have fooled us for long." He looked down in disgust at his bare chest as he saw the half moon and half sun necklace around his neck. Hatred filled his eyes to the fullest. "I should have you killed."
Gaspard glanced at Olivier and saw he was smirking.
"You no longer work here, and nor will you ever step foot on my property again. Is that clear?" Victor continued angrily.
Gaspard could see that Victor was on the verge of bursting. His veins in his temples were nearly protruding out of his head. They pulsed wildly. Gaspard scolded himself for noticing this. "Yes."
"And if I ever hear of you within a mile of my daughter I will kill you myself. Do you understand me?"
Gaspard titled his head down and closed his eyes. He choked out a "Yes, sir," that was barely audible.
"Good." He sighed, trying to allow his anger to subside. "Now, get him out of my sight," he flicked his hand towards the door. "See to it that he leaves."
Antoine and Marco nodded and lead Gaspard out the door with Olivier and Theo following behind them.
"Olivier. You stay. I need to have a word with of you," Victor said seriously. He slipped quietly back into the room to listen to Victor's urgent request to call a meeting.
Jocelyn gasped when she heard footsteps approach the door. She had been eavesdropping on her father's conversation with Gaspard. She'd be damned if she went to her room as her father had ordered. He thinks of me as a child, she thought angrily, well I am a woman! And I will make my own decisions.
She had pressed her ear against the crack in the door while she crouched down, careful not to let her shadow be seen from the other side underneath the door. She couldn't make out everything her father and Olivier had said inside the room, but the tone they used was nowhere near kind. The blows Gaspard took from Olivier she could hear, and even though she couldn't see it happen, she could picture them and each strike made her heart sink deeper. It was as if the strikes were upon herself and not Gaspard. How could Olivier be so cruel, even if he was in her father's command? The boy she used to know not long ago was completely lost. His arrogance and jealousy had taken control over him. She knew now more than ever that she couldn't possibly marry Olivier, no matter what her father said. She'd kill herself long before she would ever be forced to make love to him.
The repeated hits that Olivier inflicted had finally ceased. She was over-whelmed with relief when her father had called him to a stop. But it didn't change her hatred for him to allow Olivier to beat Gaspard in the first place. Though, he was only struck three times, they each seemed to last hours, with the final blow making her whole body numb with heartache and frustration. She wanted nothing more than to burst in there and try to put a stop to it all. But what could she do? Everything she had tried to do already had just made things even worse.
When she heard her father say that he should have Gaspard killed, she stopped breathing. How could he be this severe over her and Gaspard's love for one another? This was ridiculous! What if her father was seriously going to have him murdered? She couldn't allow this! She attempted moving but it felt as if her feet were stuck to the ground and her ear nailed to the door. She finally had a small sense of alleviation when her father continued with the threat to never return to the mansion. When Gaspard agreed to this her heart crashed to the floor. The very thought of never being able to see him again hurt more than anything. But she hoped he was only accepting her father's conditions to please him. She knew that that had to be it.
Jocelyn only resumed breathing again when Gaspard was finally taken to the door. Thankfully, a small pause before they opened it gave her enough time to slip down the hall into another room just before Antoine and Marco emerged with Gaspard and led him down the hallway and down the stairs.
They protruded with Gaspard out the double doors of the mansion and descended down the large stairs outside to the walkway. They dragged him forcefully, though it wasn't needed because he wasn't putting up a fight. He was well aware of the consequences of his actions and what he was. And considering he was actually being let go, he was getting off lightly. But it still didn't stop Antoine and Marco from their aggression towards him.
Gaspard's thoughts were empty and were only filled with guilt and grief. He never wanted to be a vampire, but that didn't matter. He was forced into his fate with no say of his own life. Victor and everyone at the mansion would not understand, nor would they care. Being a blood-thirsty leech was all they saw when they looked at him.
As they were leading him to the outside of the woods, something caught Gaspard's attention. The balcony to Jocelyn's room. Only a few days before, he had climbed up there and left a gift for the only person who had ever cared for him and could see past what he was. When she looked into his eyes, she had seen the real Gaspard and not the cold-blooded killer that the others could only see. Why was he giving into their hatred for him? Was he going to let Jocelyn escape from his life forever more just like that?
No.
He was broken inside, but he wouldn't be alone anymore if he could help it. The touch of Jocelyn made him feel whole once again, and he would allow no one to take that feeling away from him. Nothing would stand in his way, even if it did mean finally telling Jocelyn the truth. He had to tell her. Now. But how would he escape from the guard of these two over-grown hooligans?
They suddenly came to a stop at the edge of the forest. "Now run along mutant," the taller one said as they threw him forward.
"Go back to your death-dealing coven. We better not see your face around here again, or we'll make sure you'll never be able to even gum blood again," Marco chuckled and crossed his arms.
Gaspard took a few steps into the woods with his back to them before his eyes sparked to dark with an idea. "Do you think you'll remember to do that next time?" he smirked devilishly.
They both stopped their chuckles hesitantly and glanced at each other.
Before either one of them could make another move, Gaspard turned around and swiftly took their heads in each of his hands and rammed them together with enough force to cause unconsciousness without killing them. Then he ducked down and knocked them both off their feet with one quick swing of his leg. They came crashing down to the ground in the same second. Gaspard returned to his standing position and made a mental note to thank Gabriel and his training sessions for those moves later.
He leapt over Antoine and Marco and ran back to the mansion. When he arrived just under the balcony to Jocelyn's room, he jumped half way and then climbed up the wall and over the short fence. He knocked several times but there was no answer. He put his ear to the door and sensed no one was in there. He took a quick look behind him, to make sure no one had seen him, before he pushed the door slightly with his shoulder and broke the lock of the door. He opened it slowly and entered- careful to not make a sound. Jocelyn was not there which made him worry. She was sent to her room by her father not long ago. But Gaspard knew that she would probably not obey her father's command anyway. But then, where was she?
He paced the room for a few moments, but Jocelyn didn't show. He could hear growing commotion downstairs and cursed silently to himself. They must have realized that the other two weren't back inside yet. He glanced around the room and found sheets of paper and a quill with a bottle of ink next to it on a desk. He took a sheet of the paper and dipped the quill into the black ink and began to write:
Jocelyn, I need to speak with you. Meet me in the forest near the stream as soon as you can get away. I'll be waiting- I will wait forever if I hav
e to.
Gaspard
He left the note on the end of her bed and exited the room back through the balcony doors. Though he broke the lock, the doors still shut. The sun was just beginning to set as he looked out from the balcony before he hurdled the fence and landed on the ground flawlessly. He waited until he was secluded in the trees before he glanced back at the mansion he was never to return to.
Chapter 20 Impertinent
Alderic Stared down from the balcony as he entered the
werewolf meeting room. His eyes caught sight of Olivier and Cecile. And, although he couldn’t see him yet, Alderic could smell Theo coming as well. Why are those three here? And where is everyone else? He wondered to himself as he spotted Victor waiting rather impatiently at the head of the room. Alderic gripped the balcony's railing tightly, his hands going pale in the firm grasp; the cracking of wood sounded beneath his clenched hands. He let out a small, shuddering sigh as he released the railing from his deathly grip and brushed the wood chips off his palms as headed down the small stairway to join them- Theo entering the room directly after him.
"Good, everyone's finally here!" Victor stood up, a slight groan emitted from the chair he was once sitting in as if it were glad to be free.
"Everyone? What is going on, Victor?" Alderic asked as calmly as his suspicions would allow him, "I thought you had called a meeting."
"Indeed, Alderic, I have called a meeting. A meeting the merely requires the ones you see standing here now. I thought it to be a waste of time, and patience, to invite the entire pack for something that only requires my right hand man and three others."
"You act as if you’re planning a great feet. What is it you require, Victor?"
"Strong, young, willing werewolves do to a very important mission I have in mind. Now, if you please, I'd like to get this started and set in to motion as soon as possible."
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