Izzy

My heart sunk in an instant.

As soon as that dreadful word left my mouth, I recognized the boy standing in front of me to be Austin - not Liam. Never in all the years that I knew them did I ever confuse them together and a pang of guilt hit me when I saw the look of horror spread across Austin's face. The last thing I ever wanted to do was to hurt him but here I was, confusing him with his dead brother.

"Austin... I...."

I couldn't even finish my sentence. Tears slipped down my face in shame before Austin sat down on the bed and hugged me tightly. No words needed to be spoken to know he wasn't upset with me for the misconception, but it was obvious it bothered him to some extent. I only hoped he realized that a lot had to be going on for me to make a mistake as foolish as confusing him for Liam.

"Those nightmares you've been having... They're about Liam, aren't they?" he said slowly, almost hesitantly as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

I tried my hardest to keep it from him, but I didn't want to straight up lie to his face. After all, Liam wasn't just my boyfriend; he was Austin's brother. If anyone had the right to know about my nightmares, it was no doubt him.

"Yes," I said slowly, my voice cracking.

"What do you see? In your nightmares, I mean," Austin asked quickly. "Is it his death replaying, or-"

I shook my head and at that same moment, Alyssa who was also sleeping in the room mumbled in her sleep and turned over. As much as I trusted her, this wasn't something I wanted her - or anybody for that matter - to overhear.

"Let's talk somewhere else."

* * *

The rooftop turned out to be the perfect place to have this conversation and although the climb wasn't easy, it was worth it in the end. A small breeze drifted over us, not strong enough to make me shiver.

The moonlight shined down and the stars twinkled in the night. It was so mesmerizing that I nearly forgot why we were sitting there for a moment until Austin cleared his throat, cueing for me to start talking.

"Basically, in my dreams...," I started, trying to work up the nerve to say it, "Liam is there, but not there at the same time."

"Huh?" Austin asked, his brows raised in question. For once, I couldn't blame him. I hardly understood what I was saying either.

"I think it's the ghost of him... He blames me for his death saying that I could've prevented it all if I had only just listened to him..."

I felt a warm tear slip down my face and I quickly brushed it away, but not quickly enough. Austin saw my tears and hugged me tightly. I couldn't even pretend to be strong at that moment. I wasn't one to wallow in self-pity, yet I threw my arms around him and bawled my eyes out into his chest. At one point, I think I even heard him begin to cry but I said nothing knowing that it wouldn't do anything other than embarrass him.

"Iz... I hope you know that the Liam you see in your dreams isn't the real Liam - isn't our Liam. What happened isn't your fault and he would never blame you-"

"But it is my fault!" I cried, cutting off his next words. "He warned us before we even left that something bad might happen and I wrote off everything he said. If I had only just listened, then this never would've happened."

Austin remained silent for several moments, knowing what I said was true. I felt no joy in being right, though. If anything, I desperately wished that I wasn't to blame for Liam's death, but there was no way around it.

"If that's the case, then we're both at fault," he finally said after several moments of silence.

"Austin, no-"

"No, Iz, listen to me," he demanded, and I closed my mouth at once. "He warned us we both didn't listen to what he said so, therefore, it's both of our faults. But even if we did listen, the Hunters must have been planning this for weeks now. If it wasn't Liam who died, someone else may have. If it's anyone's fault, it's the Hunter's and whoever else is aiding them."

I slowly nodded. Despite knowing what he said was true, I still couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. The only way I could ever make myself feel any better over what happened to Liam was to avenge his death by stopping the Hunters. Only then would I be at peace.

"Promise me," I told Austin, sticking out my pinkie finger. "Promise me that we'll find the spy and stop the Hunters once and for all."

Austin grinned at me and linked his finger with mine. "Does it even need to be said? Of course I promise."

All was at peace for the next few moments. I was still utterly exhausted and on the verge of falling asleep on the roof. It was the most moment until, as always, all hell broke loose.

"Izzy! Austin!" screamed a voice from down below.

My eyes instantly snapped open and I looked down to see Dakota standing there looking frantic. Despite being out of breath, he was talking a mile a minute.

"I know it's late, but I need you two to come with me because something happened and it's bad and you guys need to come because he keeps asking for you-"

"Wait, wait, wait," I said quickly, cutting him off. "What happened?"

"Chris is in the infirmary."

Just the way Dakota said it was enough to make my heart skip a beat. So many horrible scenarios ran through my head between the Hunters following us back here or his father doing something rash in a fit of anger.

Dakota didn't even bother to explain what happened. As soon as Austin and I made it down from the roof, he began running back to the infirmary with Austin and I following close behind.

Those moments of running were terrifying. After everything that happened that day, the last thing I wanted was to see another person in danger, especially not the same person who saved us from the Hunters before they could kill any more of us.

By the time we reached the infirmary, my legs were ready to buckle from exhaustion and Austin didn't seem to be in any better shape, yet we found the energy to walk inside the infirmary to where Chris was being pinned to a hospital bed by Dr. Wingard and Mary.

Wait, what?

"Let me go!" Chris roared as he bucked against their hold on him. Mary and Wingard were struggling to keep him down and after just one whiff of him, it was clear just how heavily intoxicated he was.

"What happened?" Austin asked, finding the nerve to speak before I did.

Mary's head shot up and she gave us both sympathetic looks. Chris seemingly calmed down a little bit after noticing Austin and I were now present, but his anger never vanished. Seeing him in a state like that was terrifying, to say the least. I knew from the beginning he wasn't the timidest person, but what could've possibly caused him to turn into this?

"I'm sorry you have to see him like this," Mary apologized on his behalf. "I didn't want the two of you to have to witness this, but he kept asking to see you and I thought it might be the best way to calm him down."

Mary stepped away from Chris, leaving only Dr. Wingard who kept a firm grip on Chris. I shot Wingard a wary look before approaching the drunken boy who had tear stains present on his cheeks.

"Chris... Please tell me what happened," I said, keeping my voice calm in hopes that it would, in turn, prevent him from snapping again.

"It's all his fault," he sobbed, his words slurring ever so slightly. "He's the reason why Caroline was kidnapped by the vampires. He practically gave my sister away to them."

That's who this Caroline person was? His sister? I felt like I shouldn't be hearing any of this, yet I couldn't help but keep prying for more answers.

"Who's fault is it?"

At that moment, everyone, save for Wingard, leaned in towards Chris out of curiosity. It was obvious not even Mary or Dakota were aware of why Chris was so distraught and they were just as curious to know the answer, albeit it was definitely not what any of us were expecting.

"Charlie," he growled.

It was then that Chris somehow managed to drunkenly explain what his brother said to him just hours before. Only after the story was told did I fully understood why he opted to drink even if it wasn't the best possible solution to cure his problems.

Halfway through the story when it was obvious Chris' failing had ceased for the moment, Wingard rolled his eyes and walked away, giving us some privacy for the moment. But based on how loudly Chris spoke, I didn't think he was worried about privacy. He didn't seem to care who heard; he wanted everyone to hear of how horrible Charlie was and I honestly couldn't blame him.

As I looked at the others standing with me, I noticed that they all looked just as horrified as I did, yet neither Mary nor Dakota looked all that shocked. I was well aware that Charlie was the type of person to make difficult decisions for the overall well-being of the people, but never did I imagine he could ever do something as extreme as this whether it be purposely or not.

Chris began to sob again and I couldn't bear to look at him in the distraught state he was in. Despite how short of a time I've known him, it was still heartbreaking. Instead, I looked up at the others and noticed something out of the ordinary; there was one other person missing.

"Where's Drew?" I asked, not that I was complaining about his absence.

Both Mary and Dakota's bodies when rigid and they stared at each other for a good few seconds before fixing their gazes at me.

"We sent him to get, Charlie."

As if on cue, Drew ran into the infirmary and growled the second he laid eyes on Austin and I. "What are they doing here?"

"Leave it be, Drew," Mary warned, her voice sounding more menacing than I ever thought possible from her. "Chris asked for them to be here."

"Please tell me you couldn't find Charlie," Dakota said, stealing Drew's attention away from us.

Drew's look of anger immediately turned into one of curiosity, and for good reason. He wasn't around to hear Chris' story and had no idea how horrible of a deed Charlie committed.

"Yeah, I did find him. He's right-"

Charlie ran into the infirmary before Drew could finish his sentence. Even from the short time I've known him, it was obvious he wasn't one to openly show his emotions but this time was one of the few exceptions. It was clear just by looking at his face how worried he was and it only grew worse when he laid eyes on Chris lying on the hospital bed.

"Christopher...," he said hoarsely.

"Get out of here, you monster!" Chris screamed, causing the older brother to flinch back at his harsh words.

"Brother, please, you're drunk. Let me take care of you-"

"I don't want the help of the person who practically killed my sister!"

Chris tried to get out of bed again, but Mary and Dakota held him down as Wingard rushed over with a syringe in hand. None of us had time to question what was in the syringe before he injected it into Chris, causing the enraged boy to collapse motionless within a few seconds, knocking him unconscious.

"What the hell was that?" I questioned Wingard, still not too fond of him.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one. Everyone, save for Charlie, had fixed their glares of the doctor who didn't seem to care one bit.

"Oh, calm down, it's just a tranquilizer," Wingard stated with an exasperated sigh. "He was proving to be a danger not only to himself but to others as well. He'll be awake by morning."

Without waiting for any of our responses, he walked away without another word. With Chris now out of commission for the moment, Charlie stepped towards his sleeping brother thinking there was no one to stop him from staying with him.

Boy, was he wrong.

Before he could even get close to Chris, I stepped in front of him with a scowl. I didn't care how generous Charlie was for allowing the Rescuers to remain in the town nor did it matter that this was none of my business; I wasn't about to let Charlie be the first person Chris saw when he woke up. Not after how badly he hurt him.

"Izzy," he said, trying to keep his voice calm even though I could hear his annoyance slipping through. He sounded so menacing that I almost subconsciously backed away, but I forced myself to stand my ground.

Thankfully, I wasn't alone for long. Mary stepped up beside me, followed by Austin, Dakota and even Drew, to my surprise. Drew stood right at my side and although he didn't look at me, I felt none of his usual malice directed at me for once.

"I'm really sorry, Charlie," Mary apologized in her usual soft tone, yet she didn't truly seem all that sympathetic. Even she was angered by what Charlie did.

A low growl was emitted from Charlie's throat and it sent shivers down my spine. He was always so calm and refined that seeing his angered side was downright terrifying.

"I do not wish to do anything rash, but you leave me no choice if you refuse to allow me to see my brother," he warned, his voice dangerously low. "I'm his family."

"For his family, you sure as hell have a shitty way of showing love," Drew said, not afraid to challenge him.

Although I understood where he was coming from, angering Charlie any further wasn't the best way to stop him. We all loathed him for hurting and betraying Chris in such a way, but only they, as brothers, could work it out between themselves when the time was right.

"Just let him be, Charlie. Please," I begged. "He'll come to you when the time is right."

Charlie hesitated and for a brief moment, I feared that he would charge his way right through us, but he eventually nodded in agreement. Together, the five of us watched Charlie leave the infirmary and defeat. It wasn't until he was gone that we all finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't long until Drew turned to face me and I thought he suddenly remembered how much he hated me. Instead of throwing any harsh words at me, he merely gave me a once-over glance before turning on his heel and sitting beside Chris.

Perhaps he still wasn't too happy about the Rescuers and I being here but maybe, just maybe, we could be friends one day.