WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN

≪•◦ CHAPTER TEN | RED EYES ◦•≫

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"Hey mom, Jason is taking me to the beach to meet up with some of my friends!" Colby called out as she and Jason walked towards the front door.

"Okay, have fun, be safe!" Heather called out from her bedroom as Jason and Colby walked out the front door.

"Tell me again why you can't just drive yourself to La Plushy to be with your friends?" Jason asked as he unlocked his truck.

Colby laughed. "It's La Push, and maybe I want to spend more time with my big brother?" she tried.

Jason gave her a look, making her sigh. "Fine, you've been really upset lately about Delilah, upset and worried about the custody thing, and I wanted to take your mind off it for a little bit," Colby said sincerely.

Jason smiled at his sister as he backed out of the driveway of the Salvatore home. "That means a lot, Colbs. I see why you are Delilah's favorite aunt."

Jason and Colby laughed. "I mean, her middle name is Colby. I'd be offended if I wasn't her favorite," Colby joked. When Jason and Shelby were together, the two girls were inseparable up until the birth of Delilah Colby Thomas-Salvatore.

Jason just laughed before changing the subject. "So, Emmett Cullen, is it?"

Colby felt her face heat up instantly. "Uh, what?" she said, trying to play off her nervousness.

"Grace and you are obviously not on such great terms right now, and you of all people know how us Salvatore siblings are when it comes to fighting with each other," Jason said as he stopped at a stop light.

Colby rolled her eyes. The fight between herself and her sister was childish, and she knew that. There was just a part of her that couldn't help but be protective over Emmett and his family. "Okay, fine. Yes, I like him, a lot actually. Yes, I know he's a Cullen, and for some unknown reason, we're not—well, I'm not allowed to go near them upon our mother's instructions," Colby said with a huff, making her brother laugh."What?"

"None of us are allowed near the family because of what happened with Grandma Diane," Jason said before his eyes widened. He'd said too much, and Colby wasn't the type to let things go without getting all the details.

"What happened to our dear great-great Granny?" Colby asked, her curiosity piqued.

Jason sighed. Their mother was going to literally curse him for opening his mouth, but with Colby, there was a possibility Heather would never find out. "Our beloved great-great-grandmother Diane Roux knew Carlisle Cullen back just before or maybe after he was turned into a vampire. Do not tell Mom I'm telling you this. I wasn't even supposed to know, but I walked in on a conversation between Mom and Aunt Scarlett."

Scarlett Casanova was the siblings' aunt, daughter of Willie Casanova and great-granddaughter of Diane Roux. Colby personally favored Aunt Scarlett over her other aunts and uncles. Scarlett was her mom's twin sister, so she always babysat the siblings, especially Talia and the twins since they were the youngest.

"I won't, just keep going," Colby said sincerely. Jason nodded and continued to drive.

"Diane and Carlisle were together before he got with his current wife—"

"Esme."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, but once Carlisle was turned, he left Diane and ended up marrying and probably changing Esme. Or after he met Esme, he left Diane. From then on, all vampires were enemies to our family, as well as werewolves, but that's a different story for a different time," Jason said, not taking his eyes off the road.

"So we have to hate all vampires, including the Cullens, just because Diane got dumped? What if when Carlisle was changed or saw Esme, Diane wasn't 'the one'?" Colby suggested.

"What do you mean by 'the one'?" Jason asked, finally glancing at Colby for a second.

"Witches experience the 'other half' thing once we turn eighteen—a soulmate or something. It's like becoming a full witch, and your powers become as strong as your family's bloodline and all that fancy supernatural stuff, right?" Jason nodded, trying to figure out what Colby was getting at. "Well, what if everyone has an other half, but you don't really experience finding it until you become some kind of supernatural being? What if Diane wasn't Carlisle's other half? Maybe Diane felt nothing but lust for Carlisle and mistook it as her finding her other half. And maybe she didn't realize it until she met Carson Casanova, who was her other half. And with Carlisle, maybe once he met or saw Esme for the first time as a vampire, he experienced something like the finding that we are supposed to experience once you lock eyes with your soulmate?"

Jason thought for a moment. It made sense to the eldest Salvatore completely. "That actually makes a lot of sense," Jason finally said.

Colby somewhat smiled. "Yeah, if only Mom would listen to that. I say the name Cullen, and I swear she's thinking about throwing a hex my way," Colby said with a laugh as Jason joined in.

Colby looked out the windshield as they entered a forest-surrounded road. As Jason rounded a corner, a man stood in the middle of the street, his blonde hair pulled back and his shirt unbuttoned.

Neither Salvatore saw the man until it was almost too late. Colby glanced from the trees to the street, a gasp escaping her lips. "Jason, look out!"

Jason swerved into the other lane just as another car approached. The impact was sudden and violent, hitting Colby's side. Her head smashed against the window as the truck spun, leaving tire marks across the road.

Once the truck finally came to a halt, it was facing the direction it had been before Jason swerved. Colby groaned, her vision blurry. "Colby? Colby? Are you okay?!" Jason's voice was frantic, almost deafening. She winced at the loudness, feeling warm liquid trickling down her forehead. Bringing a shaky hand to her head, she winced at the touch. Looking down, she saw her fingers coated in blood.

"What the hell? Who was that?" Colby's voice was barely above a whisper. She glanced in the rearview mirror, spotting the blonde man lying face down on the ground. "Oh my god, I think he's dead." Ignoring the throbbing pain in her head, she unbuckled her seatbelt and stumbled out of the truck, her brother's calls echoing behind her.

As Colby reached the man, she slowed down and knelt beside him. "Sir?" she asked hesitantly, touching his shoulder. Suddenly, the man sprang up, grabbing Colby by the neck and choking her. Her eyes widened in terror as she struggled to breathe.

"Ah Sha Lana!" Jason shouted, casting a spell towards the man. The man screamed in agony, releasing Colby. She fell to the ground, gasping for air, the only thing she remembered before blacking out was the man's red eyes burning into her memory.

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"That was a hard hit to the head, Colby," Dr. Cullen said as he carefully examined the girl's cut, having cleaned it after Jason brought her unconscious body in. The people who hit them when Jason swerved had called 911.

"Her head went through the window," Jason explained, his voice tight with worry. Colby was still in shock, not having said a word since she woke up. "Explains the glass I took out of the cut," Dr. Cullen added, hoping to elicit some reaction from Colby. "Colby?" Another voice joined them. Colby knew that voice, loved that voice, but it didn't bring her out of her daze.

Jason looked over at Emmett, noticing the worry etched on his face. "Colby?" Emmett tried again, louder this time. Carlisle spared a glance at his son before looking back at the young witch in front of him. Her expression remained unchanged, her eyes distant. "She hasn't answered anyone since she woke up," Jason explained to the boy who currently held his sister's heart.

"What happened?" Emmett asked, his eyes narrowing as he noticed the hand-shaped bruises around her neck and the cut on her forehead. "Car accident," Jason replied. "Cars don't leave hand bruises," Emmett whispered, glancing at Jason. Jason sighed, looking over at Carlisle's nurse and then to Carlisle. "Jackie, can you give us a moment, please?" Carlisle asked, picking up on Jason's hint. The nurse nodded and smiled brightly before leaving Colby alone with her brother and the two vampires.

"She was attacked after the accident. Some man in a hiker-looking outfit, blonde, no shoes. Colby thought he was hurt and rushed over to him. He got up quickly without a scratch and wrapped his hands around her neck. Usually, she's the one to act fast with a spell, but she froze. Something was distracting her," Jason explained. A tear rolled down Colby's cheek as her eyes went wide.

Emmett grabbed her hand and looked at her intently. "Colby, what's wrong?" Colby finally looked at him, her voice barely a whisper. "Red..." she trailed off. The three looked at one another before turning their attention back to Colby. "What do you mean by red?" Carlisle asked, his worry deepening. Emmett moved his hands from hers to her knees, rubbing circles with his thumbs on her thighs, hoping to keep her calm.

Colby was slowly coming back to her senses, but she looked pale, as if she had seen a ghost. She was scared, terrified almost. "The man, he-he had red eyes." By this point, Colby was shaking with fear. Her free hand began to glow a light green, a sign of her magic, but Jason was quick to act, placing his hand over hers to keep her from losing control.

The only thing Colby could think of after seeing the man with red eyes was what happened in Italy. That damned place. But it wasn't the entire place she hated, it was one specific part.

She loathed Volterra, Italy. She had since her family fled after both she and Chloe were nearly killed by the red-eyed vampires that inhabited Volterra.

Colby shook at the thought of those eyes, those red eyes.