Penny's Choice

by Annette Archer

  “Tear off my clothes!” Penny ordered Thomas.

  “What?” he replied not understanding her plan, even though he was pretty much doing that a minute ago.

  But Charli got the idea and tore Penny's clothes off in half a second. Penny followed with a bloodcurdling scream.

  “No, you monster, no,” Penny said as she threw herself under Thomas, who had suddenly gotten the picture. Thomas aggressively threw himself into the scene and just as Charles and his captors rounded the corner, Thomas bit into her neck again.

  Penny screamed again as the delight of Thomas's bite sent shivers down her spine. She wanted to grab onto him and bite him back, but then she remembered that they had a crowd they were pretending for. She looked up to see if her bliss had blown their cover. The vampires seemed rather turned on by the scene and Charles's face was beyond bewildered.

  “What the hell?” Charles yelled. “Thom...” Charli smacked Charles in the face to keep him from blowing the cover. Charles must have gotten his twins message because he strained against the guards and railed profanities at everyone and no one in particular. “You freak of nature, get off my girlfriend!”

  The guards struggled to get Charles through the dining area into the cell. He kicked, punched, and protested every inch of the way. Thomas eagerly continued his part of the charade and threw Penny on the table.

  Penny laid back and enjoyed as Thomas kissed down her body and tore off her bra with barely a finger. His hands inched down her body, his kisses trailing not far behind.

  “You'll watch her enjoy him,” one of the guards quipped as he slammed the bars in Charles's face. They turned to watch as Thomas's hands found Penny's underwear. Despite the crowd watching, she wished he would just tear them off like he did her bra.

  “Hey you perverts,” Charli said, stepping between the gawkers and the lovers. “We need to interrogate him. So if you will leave me to my duties...”

  “Right, Ms. Charlotte, sorry.” The two vampires sulked out of the room. While the duo was making their way out, Thomas’s lips were getting too close to Penny's breasts for Charles's comfort.

  “Okay, Thomas, that's enough!” Charles yelled when Thomas didn't get off Penny fast enough. Thomas pulled his lips off of her body. “Did you really have to go that far?”

  “Blood drinking is the only way to make it believable,” Thomas replied with his hands still around Penny's naked waist.

  “I wasn't talking about that...But the whole...She's half naked and you were...kissing her,” Charles said, his brows creasing. “I didn't even think you knew how to kiss a girl!”

  “Oh, he knows how to kiss a girl, well, at least that girl,” Charli said, suppressing her laughter.

  “Shut up Charlotte,” Thomas said and threw a pen from the table at her. “Are you going to get her some clothes or something?” Thomas unbuttoned what was left still buttoned on his short and handed it to Penny. “Until she finds you something more substantial to wear.”

  “You are in so much trouble,” Charli shook her head full of curls the same shade as Charles.

  “Sorry, Charles,” Thomas said. “I didn't mean to get that carried away.” Thomas strode over to the cell and unlocked the door.

  “You should be apologizing to Penny, not me!” Charles said as he pushed his big brother back.

  Penny buttoned up Thomas's shirt. It hung half way down her thighs. As she got up from her perch on top of the table, her legs buckled underneath and she slumped to the ground. Thomas rushed over to her, gingerly picked her up and held her in his arms.

  “I'm sorry, I think I drank too much blood,” he said, wiping a few matted hairs off her face.

  “No, no, you just make me a little weak in the knees,” she said and clung to arms. “It was a little intense...from the beginning.” She rested her head on his chest as her consciousness spun around the room.

  “No, I think you're a little dizzy,” Thomas replied. He sat her down on the chair. “You need to eat and drink something.”

  “I'll be okay,” Penny said before she bit into a piece of bread. “We'll just have to be more...less eager next time.”

  “Next time? There will be no next time,” Charles said. He flinched as he punched Thomas hardened arm. “What have you been doing to her?”

  “Nothing,” Penny said reaching for Charles arm. “Leave your brother alone. It was me. I started it.”

  “Started what?”

  “Penny attacked me,” Thomas sighed.

  “Well, I figured she would,” Charles said. He crossed his arms around his waist and huffed. “You were involved with her family's demise! But that doesn't mean you can treat my girlfriend like a buffet table.”

  “No, Charles, I attacked him,” Penny said quietly.

  “What do you mean, attacked?” Charles's eyes narrowed.

  “Like tore his clothes off and bit him first,” Charli said as she walked back in with some fresh clothes for Penny. “Sorry, Chuck, but for the first time in your life Thomas is stealing your girlfriend.”

  Charles started laughing and plopped down on the chair next to Penny. Penny wondered what Charles thought. Their relationship was never very serious. In fact, she knew more about Charles after five minutes with Thomas than she did with four months with Charles. Sometimes he treated much more like a little sister than a girlfriend.

  “Wonders never cease, I suppose,” Charles said. He looked sideways at Penny. “Although, I don't think anyone could steal Penny. She just prefers you over me.”

  “I'm just not into pulling information out of mysterious men,” Penny said. “So, you're okay with this?” She couldn't believe that Charles seemed okay with this new development so quickly.

  “So you're okay with it,” Thomas said. He stood next to his brother.

  Charles punched him in the face. Penny was sure that Thomas saw the punch coming, but was just letting his brother get it out of his system.

  “Not really,” Charles responded. He shook his hand out. Punching a vampire was not the easiest on your hands. “I think it bothers me because I just lost a girl to...you!”

  “Hello, girl right here,” Penny said as she kicked Charles in the shins.

  “Whatever, Penny, you know what I mean, no one has ever broken up with me...period. Not only am I getting dumped, but I am getting dumped by my nerdy big brother! I'll get over it...whatever just don't do it again, okay Thomas?”

  “I promise. Penny is the only girl that I ever want to kiss ever again,” Thomas said, “so that won't be that hard.”

  “What a sap,” Charli said, giggling in the background.

  “At least someone knows how I feel,” Charles said as he pretended to gag.

  Penny on the other hand thought that it was the most wonderful thing she could ever hear. She suddenly regained all of her energy and jumped into Thomas's arms. She pulled his lips down to hers and gave him a kiss that turned Charles green with envy. Charles kicked her in the butt.

  “Hey, how come I never got kissed like that?” Charles asked, curling his lips into an unhappy snarl.

  “Cause you never said things like that,” Penny said as she kicked him back. “Come on Chuck, you were always more of a big brother to me than a boyfriend. Admit it. I was just something fun to pass the time.”

  “You were more than just something to pass the time,” Charles said. He rolled his eyes and drummed his fingers on the table. “Thomas had me watching out for you from the beginning.”

  “So, you knew that he had a thing for me? And you still went for me?” Penny remembered how her sister always did that to her. She wondered if it was some sort of sibling compulsion.

  “That's what Charles always does,” Charli said, egging on the argument.

  “Okay, okay, let's not get in an argument here, kids,” The boys' father stepped into the room. Other than his height and light eyes, he didn't look like his children at all. He had straight reddish hair and a face full of freckles. Penny thought that perhaps they took after th
eir mother.

  “Dad,” Charles jumped up out of his chair almost as fast as a vampire. He flung himself into his father's arms and gave him a big squeeze. Penny smiled. It was really the first time she had seen him get all emotional. “Dad, I missed you so much. I missed you all. I really did. Being able to see you guys all the time will be wonderful!”

  “What are you talking about we saw Thomas all the time,” Penny laughed, thinking about the times Thomas came to 'visit' them.

  Charles shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair. He grunted. “Yeah, I kinda have an overprotective big brother,” he said, wrinkling his nose.

  Penny laughed. She had a hard time thinking of Thomas as the older one because he had such a childlike excitement about him. And Thomas hadn't physically aged at all so he looked a couple years younger than Charles. But, he was right; Thomas was a really good overprotective big brother.

  “So what's the plan?” asked Mr. Wolf. He still had his arm around his son.

  “Dad, I've gone over the plan a 100 times with you,” Thomas said.

  “Yes, I know, but we've never gone over altogether, plus we have an extra human that was not accounted for in the original,” Mr. Wolf said.

  “Oh, yeah, Penny,” Thomas said as he sat on the table. He looked over at Penny and smiled. “I've got it all figured out. Just give Penny a fire gun and she can burn the whole place down!”

  “Not funny Thomas!” Penny tried to tackle Thomas, but he just held her and the move just ended up looking more like an aggressive hug.

  “Can you be serious for a minute?” Charles said with an unhappy look on his face.

  “Yea, can you not be?” Thomas asked. He sat Penny on his lap, ignoring his brother and continuing on with his plan. “Most of the plan revolves around the chaos that will ensue from the Brotherhood attacking. So, Charles?”

  “Right, I was sent in to cause some initial chaos...” Charles said, pausing briefly to rub his hands together in glee, “before the Brotherhood mounts its assault at 5:04 pm tomorrow. So we have about 13 hours to get ourselves ready.”

  “Great! Charli, your main job is to provide false information to the Matriarch that you tortured out of Chuck,” Thomas said. “The twins will provide most of the chaos. Charles, I've given Charlotte a list of prime chaos targets around the stronghold.” He produced two lists from his pants pocket and handed one to Charles and the other to Charli. “Dad, your job is to distract the Matriarch and be our eyes and ears.” Thomas pulled out some ear pieces from underneath the table. “I've been collecting things for a while now,” he said smiling, “You'd be surprised where you can hide things.” He passed them around the room. “I was even prepared for Penny!”

  “You've been anticipating me helping for a while,” Penny said, taking her listening devices.

  “Yep, since you were able to kill a werewolf captain with one shot,” Thomas said, then smacked Charles on the back. “Ole Chuck, here, couldn't even hit him after three shots!”

  “Well at least I didn't burn down a library,” Charles replied, trying to save his masculinity. He placed the ear buds in and stepped back into the cell. “Can I have a backup key?”

  “On top of the light fixture,” Thomas said pointing at single light bulb with a pan like covering suspended from the middle of the cell. “I have some help from the outside. A clan of shape shifters, as well as one djinn, has agreed to help wipe out this coven. Penny and I are going to get word to them about the timing.”

  “You got a djinn to help us?” Charli said looking rather worried. “Are you sure? They can be a little...unreliable.”

  “It's okay, he's Marid,” Thomas replied. Penny had no idea what any of them were talking about in regard to djinn. She had only found out the previous day that they even existed. Why were djinn unreliable and what was a Marid? She was about to ask, but Charles cut her off before she could speak.

  “Wow, you must be more persuasive than I thought,” Charles said from his cell. He looked visibly impressed.

  “Djinn like senses of humor,” Thomas said, turning his back on his brother. “Pull a few practical jokes to get their attention and make them laugh their way through negotiations and you have yourself a new ally. Plus, the Matriarch hasn't exactly had good relations with any of the races.”

  “Truer words have never been spoken,” Mr. Wolf said. Penny thought he looked much happier now with all of his family together again. But she knew that he would always have a hole in his heart from the death of his wife.

  “And neither has the High Warden,” Charles said. He was sprawled out on Penny's bed like he was on vacation.

  “When the time comes, Penny and I will lead the offensive,” Thomas said, “but until then we're going to get some revenge and kill Priscilla.” He handed Penny a set of beautifully carved wooden daggers that he pulled out from behind a stone in the wall.

  “Uh, won't that cause problems,” Penny asked. It didn't seem like a good idea to her to be killing vampires before the fight started. It would give away their plans.

  “No,” Charli responded. Her long curly hair waived every time she moved her head. She was just as beautiful as her brothers, if not even more. Penny was a little envious of Charli's curvy body. Penny's body was still slightly boyish. “Priscilla has made too many mistakes lately, especially when she tried to usurp the Matriarch! Killing her would be seen as a strategic move by the coven. Removing the weak link.”

  “I'm already the Matriarch's favorite,” Thomas said. “If I remove Priscilla from the picture, I will take her place as Second, which means that I will be leading the attack against the Brotherhood.”

  “And that would mean that you would be the Patriarch too...since your male,” Charli said. She smirked when she spoke and gave Thomas a big hug. “Have fun with that one, big bro.”

  “Yeah, that's not gonna happen. I prefer women under 100...” Thomas shuddered.

  “Wait a sec. what?” Penny asked. And then she realized what they were talking about. If Thomas killed Priscilla, he would take her place as vice president, so to speak, of the vampires. And since he was male, the Matriarch could choose to mate with him. “Ew, yuck, never mind.”

  “So what's the plan for the actual 'battle'?” Charles asked.

  “First, we’re going to cause as much chaos in the stronghold as possible, which will show me as a traitor, but allow us to get away. But they will be hot on our backs,” Thomas replied. “This will ensure that both groups will meet outside on a field, where they can just attack each other and the werewolves will have the upper hand. There is a clearing about a 10 minute vampire run from here. Those are the coordinates that Chuck gave to the Brotherhood as the vampire stronghold. When everyone gets there, I have a special surprise for them!” Thomas handed Charles a denominator. The two smiled broadly at each other.

  Penny thought that Thomas earned his reputation as a genius. He had thought of everything and had been hoarding supplies for months, maybe even years! They would need all of his genius that they could get over the next day.

  (CHAPTER 9) The Day of Reckoning

  The plan seemed to be going without a hitch. Charli and Charles had set numerous traps and started spreading misinformation. Penny was finally able to take revenge for her family. Priscilla was not surprised that Thomas turned against her, but she was not expecting a human hiding in the dark to stab in the heart with a wooden stake. With Thomas by her side and Priscilla dead, Penny felt a sense of peace she had not known in over a year.

  “Everybody ready?” Thomas said into his microphone. It was 4:30 and he and Penny were just inside the main door to the sanctuary. A chorus of yeses resounded through his ear piece. “Good, cause as soon as the traps start to spring we need to get out of here.”

  The other three waited in a side passage that came out closer to the field, but Thomas wanted to sabotage the front door and a vampire was needed for that.

  “Fine,” Charlotte said. “Let's just get this over with and get out of he
re.”

  “Okay, let's get the show on the road,” Thomas said to the group. At Thomas's word, Charles set in motion a series of traps around the sanctuary. Thomas and Penny strolled up to the guards at the front gate.

  “Hi guys,” Thomas said, keeping a conversational tone. “I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor?” Thomas leaned against the wall.

  “Yes sir,” a guard said. They were on full alert and prepared to any order from their commander.

  “Good. I've been told that there are two Brotherhood scouts that are just by the gates. Do you think that you could step out for just a minute and take care of it?” At that moment there was an explosion in the center of the Sanctuary. The first of the Twins mischief had begun.

  “What was that?” One of the guards asked.

  “The Brotherhood must be causing problems already,” Thomas said in an excited tone. “Take out those scouts. My thrall and I will watch here.” Penny didn't exactly like being called a thrall, but it was fun to see Thomas expertly manipulate the vampires.

  When the guards were outside, Thomas permanently disabled the gate and its associated charms. Anyone would be able to enter now, so even the vampires that didn't pursue the family would be left vulnerable to attack.

  Thomas grasped Penny securely in his arms and ran with every ounce of his vampire energy. Even though Penny knew the danger of the moment, she still relished being buried in Thomas's Chest. They fled the sanctuary knowing that a horde a vampires would only minutes behind them. Hopefully they would have enough always, luck, and talent to be able to take out both sides: the Brotherhood and the Wolf family's coven.

  Crouching down at the edge of the clearing, Penny kept her back tight against Thomas. She kept her weapon ready in her sweaty hands, waiting.