Talia Moore

Talia took a deep breath. She had never been good at dating. She had never been good at making up either. She just hoped that Theo would like the attempt. She had tried her very best at least.

She had placed a red white picnic blanket on the floor. She had filled a basket with cake and wine. She knew that actually she should have baked the cake herself. She just didn’t understand why she would do so if literally everyone could bake better cake than she could.

“Well, well, doesn’t this look cozy?” William had his arms crossed over his chest. He leaned against the tree. A smirk was playing around his lips. “Aren’t you afraid of those dark woods?” He straightened his back. With steady steps he walked towards Talia. Without asking anything he sat  down on the blanket.

“No, I’m not.” Talia raised her eyebrows. “I already told you that the woods should be afraid of me.” She licked her lips.

Theo would be here in fifteen minutes. Most of the time he was earlier.

“Yes, you’ve told me that, but so far you haven’t exactly proven me, did you?” William opened the basket. He grabbed one of the cakes to stuff it in his mouth. “I’m sorry, I assume you prepared this whole thing for someone else, but you have to understand that I couldn’t resist knowing that there was cake there and not trying it.”

“What are you doing here?” Talia’s glance hardened.

“I had actually hoped that Rose would ask me the same thing and then I would have said that it was for me to know and for you to guess.” He smirked once more. He had strawberry cream around his mouth. Either he didn’t notice. Or he didn’t care. “The thing is that even though I have been in town for quite some time now, she has been busier with caring about you than with worrying about me.” He pushed himself up again. “What makes you so important to her, Talia Moore?”

“I don’t know.” Talia raised her eyebrows. She didn’t step back, didn’t move. “Why don’t you just ask her?” She cocked her head.

William slowly walked towards her. He stood still right in front of her.

She could almost smell the whipped cream.

“Of course, I could simply ask her that question, but what would be the fun in that?” William shook his head. His hand grabbed Talia’s arm. “All I need to know is that you are important to her, that important that she does everything she can to not lose you.” His softened his voice.

“I don’t have time for this.” Talia straightened her back. “I have a date.” She lifted her chin. She felt a shiver rolling down her spine.

“And who is the lucky person to have a date with Talia Moore and even more important: What does poor Rose think of that other person being more important than her?” William tightened his grip and pulled Talia a little closer towards him. “All Rose has been trying is becoming the most important person in your life again and here you are, preparing a picnic for some boring, normal, human boy.”

Talia held her breath. “What do you want from me?” She narrowed her eyes. She had not liked William when she had met him in the bathroom. She didn’t like him any better right now. She had ten more minutes before Theo would appear. She wouldn’t let William ruin her date.

“I want to tell you a story, Talia Moore, most important person in Rose’s life.” William didn’t give her chance to say something. “Once upon a time there was a magical wonderboy and his love for the most beautiful, most intelligent and bravest girl he had ever met.”

Talia rolled her eyes. She could easily free herself from his embrace if she wanted. She just didn’t want Theo to find a bleeding corpse next to his lunch. “Can you give me a short summary? I have ten more minutes.”

“Did you really think I was going to give you the long and detailed version of this story?”

All of a sudden it was as if Talia couldn’t breath anymore. She realized that he had meant magical, literally.

“Truth is that I had found the perfect fate for Rose and because of some wicked game of fate she has managed to escape that fate and it had almost gotten me killed.” William’s nose was now almost touching hers. He still had an invisible hand around her throat though. “Don’t you think Rose should pay for that? Don’t you think she deserves to be punished for that?”

“What has that to do with me?” Talia had her fingers curled up. As soon as William would weaken, she would fight back.

“Everything, Talia Moore.” William freed her. He laughed out loud when she tried to grab her weapons. “Were you looking for these?” He held up her guns and her crossbow. “You didn’t think I had come here unprepared, did you?” He grinned and he threw her weapons on the ground. “You see, Talia. I think that this Rose not caring about me because she’s constantly caring about you has to change and I know that as long as you are in town that won’t change, just like I know you can’t leave this place because I and my coven put a barrier spell around it.

“You…” Talia stiffened and she grabbed the one weapon William had not found. She held up her small knife in front of her. She had been trained to fight werewolves. She had been trained to find vampires. She had always felt powerless against warlocks. Especially against ones who had not told her that they were warlocks.

“O please, Talia! You didn’t think that you could defend yourself with a knife like that?” With one smooth movement of his wrist William broke Tali’s wrist, forcing her to drop the knife. “I’m afraid this is what happens when you stop training for a while, Talia.” William moved his wrist again. This time he broke Talia’s ankle.

She screamed. She screamed while she fell on her knees. She screamed again when he broke her other wrist. She screamed even louder when he broke her other ankle.

“Come on! Is still all you’ve got? I had really thought that you would be a far bigger challenge and that you and I could have a lot more fun that we’re having right now.” William moved closer. “Actually you are boring me already and that must be a record!” He laughed while he moved his wrist again.

Talia’s spine broke like it was nothing but a simple twig. She rolled to her side until she was flat on her back. She had to admit that the side effect was nice. She didn’t feel the pain in her wrists anymore. Just like she didn’t feel the pain in her ankles anymore. “Are you going to kill me?”

“O, at least your brain is still functioning, although you might have discovered this a little late, if you ask me.” William stared at his watch. “When will your boyfriend be here?”

“What do you care?” Talia hissed between her teeth. She bit her lip until it started bleeding.

“Maybe he’s right in time to say goodbye.” William smirked while he leaned over her. “It was nice to get to know you, Talia Moore, even though you were quite a disappointment today. I will tell Rose that you did not even attempt to fight back if you greet the part of me that has died when you arrive in hell.” Once more he moved his hand. Then he turned around to walk away.

Talia felt like something was breaking inside of her. Her stomach started to hurt. Her chest started to hurt. With every heartbeat she felt herself slipping away more. She had to hold on. She had to wait until Theo was here. She had to make sure he could get her help. She could however barely keep her eyes open. She could barely breath. She already couldn’t move anymore.

“Well…you keep focusing on the border. If the whole town is looking for them, whoever put the border up can’t keep hiding forever. I’ll talk to Erik.” Now what he was going to say to the vampire was a whole other question. Was there any way to get through to him when Zach had tried and failed with his own brother?

"No!" Talia shook her head. "You're not going anywhere near Erik!" She raised her voice. "Erik is dangerous. Not Zach-dangerous. Really dangerous. He could kill you just for fun." She licked her lips. "We focus on the border." She straightened her back. "We find out who made the border. We convince them to let us through. They can put the border back up after that."

Tristan chuckled slightly at her words, “ Something like that.” he said to her, amused, “ Doesn’t seem like you’re all that worried about that either.” he said, he knew not many people could come into these woods at this time of night unless they were a monster, knew how to look after themselves or were just plain stupid, and to him, she didn’t seem to fit into the last option. “ Yeah, honestly, I’m starting to figure that out for myself, but having a bit of peace for a while is worth coming out here.” he said to her, “ It’s nice to meet you Talia.” he said to her, “ Are you from around here?” he asked.

Talia took a deep breath. She never left the house unarmed. She had two guns strapped around her upper leg. One with silver bullets. One with wooden. "I have learned how to defend myself." She wasn't sure what the guy knew. She liked to believe he knew more. Maybe he even knew everything. It wasn't worth the risk. She couldn't compel his memories away if she was wrong. "Every bit of peace helps." Talia curled her lips up into a slight smile. She needed peace. She needed time to think. Her life was a huge chaos. She had no idea how to get out of it. "I moved here a couple of years ago." Was it really already years? She had never been in one place this long. "I didn't plan on staying. I stayed anyway."

That guilt tugged a little harder when Talia shrugged and said that no one had the answer. It was too easy to believe that; but already her mind traveled to Zachary, to Rose, to whatever other influences Talia had in her life. Didn’t they have answers? Didn’t they have  b e t t e r  answers than her?… “I’m surprised Rose is giving you a say in any of this.” She blurted out, and then winced because she hadn’t intended to speak the private thought aloud.

“No… They’re not your fault.” Tatiana continued, austerity piercing into her tone as she leveled her gaze back onto Talia. “You don’t control Zach - he’s the only one to blame for his victims and him alone!” If there was one thing she believed wholly, unshakably, it was that. It showed in her voice. “Zachary isn’t a child, Talia, you aren’t his mother. You don’t get to adopt responsibility for his actions because he turns off his humanity or because he loses control. He knows better. If he kills, that’s on him.” There was a bitterness there; a remnant of her own fractured trust and relationship with the man she’d considered a friend for so long now. “You made a promise to yourself, sure. But you weren’t  r e a l i s t i c .” The witch continued, admonishing her slightly. “You’re not naive, Talia, you’re not young enough - blind enough to truly believe you can save everyone. That the fate of the world lies in your hands. You don’t have that power. No one does.” If her words were harsh, it was borne of her need to shake the young huntress back to reality, to remove any idealism that would get her killed - or plunge her to the depths of guilt and despair. ‘Balance’ was not a word in Talia’s vocabulary. Balance wasn’t a word in her own vocabulary either.

Talia grinned. Her lips formed a straight line. She had not heard the sound of her own mocking laughter for a long time. There was nothing to laugh about. There was still nothing to laugh about. "She doesn't." Talia licked her lips. "I'm a traitor. I'm stupid. I will be getting her in trouble." Talia swallowed and she paused for a moment to stare at the doctor. "Maybe she's right. I started hunting to make the world a better place." She took a deep breath. "Maybe I should just start again."

Talia took a deep breath. No matter how often people repeated that Zach's kills weren't on her, Rose's words echoed through her mind. She was the one who kept him alive. She was the one who let him go. She had both Erik and Zach chained up. She could have killed them. She should have killed them. Instead they were still walking around. "I'm the one who allowed him to live." Talia eventually said. It was her fault that he could keep on making victims. No matter how often she heard that Zach was the one doing it, she was the one allowing him to do it. If she had killed him, he wouldn't have been able to kill others. She pressed her hands to her temples. She got a headache. Because of all the thinking, because of the guilt. Because she started to believe more and more that maybe Rose was right. "I know I can't save the entire world. I know I can't save everyone." She swallowed. "I could have saved those Zach killed. They would have still been alive if I had done what I had promised to do." Talia took a deep breath. The air went through her nose. "I didn't die. I didn't die because others helped me. It was my turn to help others. I failed them. They're dead because I didn't do anything about it."

“I can see it’s complicated…” Theo sighed, intertwining his fingers with the brunette in front of him. His dark eyes flickered back and forth between hers. “I’m sorry too, but it is what it is. I can leave behind bittersweet memories for better ones with you. Any luck on the border enchantment?”

Talia still didn't know if she deserved him. She had picked Rose over him. She had picked herself over him. Here he was, intertwining his fingers, telling her that he is ready to leave with her. "No, I don't even know who created it." She took a deep breath. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't know how long Rose and I can keep Erik from killing us."

Eriks hand was suddenly around Talias throat the moment she uttered those words and he squeezed with rage in his eyes for a couple of minutes before deciding that she wasn’t worth and tossed her like a rag doll. “No, death is too good of a option for you. I like the idea of you being paranoid that I will come after you again.” He scoffed, then he was gone in a flash. 

A well known shiver rolled down her spine. It was still there. Her hatred for vampires. Her fear of the monsters they were. Her urge to kill them. It was all still there. Her hands were itching. He thought she was paranoid. Maybe she was. But she also knew how to kill him. If he told her to be prepared at all time, she would. Without Zach, Erik would have been dead already. She would have been the one to kill him.

“We don’t let a dog live that killed a child.”

Tatiana grimaced, searching Talia’s troubled gaze for a couple of moments longer before dragging her eyes away. She couldn’t deny that point, and in the greater scheme of things - it seemed  u n f a i r . If dogs were supposedly man’s best friends, but were met with a decisive and fatal punishment if they turned on their human counterparts, then why should vampires be allowed to roam free?.. Without justice, without even so much as a slap on the wrist? 

“I’m sorry… I don’t have these answers for you, Talia… I wish I did - maybe I’m supposed to.” She muttered under her breath; that old, child-like feeling of inadequacy peeking out from the corners of her mind again - condemning her for not having these answers, for not even having so much as a concrete position on such supernatural ethics. Wasn’t that the minimum a supernatural leader was supposed to know? For certain; beyond the shadow of a doubt? 

The feeling always came in Arianne’s voice.

“I might not know what vampires deserve, what punishment is fitting or fair for the crimes they commit… But what I do know - what I think I know is that your decision to step away from being a hunter doesn’t make you a monster, Talia. It doesn’t make you guilty.” The witch offered tentatively, although it was clear from the firmness of her words that she believed what she was saying. “Because… By that logic, isn’t every human being guilty unless they kill all the bad people they meet? Where does that leave us?.. If we managed to kill every single one of the bad guys… Wouldn’t that leave us as the killers; as the bad ones who are just as worthy of death as those they killed?…” She asked, finally looking up to meet the girl’s eyes.

"No one has the answer." Talia shrugged her shoulders. Rose had an answer. Zach had another answer. Theo had another answer. Not one answer worked for her. Not one answer let her combine her friendship with Zach with her friendship with Rose. She couldn't be both. She couldn't care about a vampire while siding with a huntress. She couldn't care about a huntress while siding with a vampire. She couldn't be with a human while knowing her world would kill him. There was no right answer. There were only wrong answers. There were only wronger answer. There were only wrongst answers. 

"If only there was an answer." She took a deep breath. That stupid border had to disappear. Rose and she would leave. Maybe Theo would come too. He would make a good hunter. She felt a shiver rolling down his spine at the thought. She didn't want him to be a hunter. If she could, she would have made him forget all this. She would have made him forget about vampires. She would have made him forget about werewolves. She would turn him back into the innocent boy he once was. She would get him out of this mess.

"It doesn't?" Talia raised her eyebrows. "The people that have been killed because I didn't do anything even though I knew they were in danger are not my fault?" She took a deep breath. "If Zach loses control again his victims won't be on me?" Talia licked her lips. "I know what he is. I let him go. I know what he can do. How can you say that I'm not guilty?" She shook her head. "How can you say that me doing nothing when I'm one of the few who can makes me innocent?" She threw her head in her neck. "I swore to protect people like me. I swore to make sure that what happened to me wouldn't happen to anyone else." Talia swallowed. "I failed. People were killed because I refused to do something."

Erik then made a ‘Wrong answer’ buzzer sound from the corner of his mouth. “The witches in this town hate me, so yes, it is hard.”

"What a surprise." Talia cocked her head. "Everyone in this town hates you." She raised her eyebrows. "How long would you survive without your brother holding your hand?"

“She’s already asking you to leave town with her, why is that not enough?” His frustration seeped out and he had to take a breath to reign it back in. They didn’t need another fight. “Fine. But if you’re hunting again, then I’m coming with you. Make sure you’re safe.”

"You don't understand." Talia shook her head. She didn't know if she still understood it herself. "It's complicated, okay?" She took a deep breath. Her eyes met Theo's for a short moment. "I don't want to go anywhere with you." She licked her lips. "I'm sorry for the mess you're in now."