A/N:
Date 4-25-17

Hey everyone! I love the Teen Wolf gif above. Anyone remember this? XD

Also, I just wanted to inform you about something before you read this chapter.

I did make up the city of Cain, but I did not make up the town Roxana in Illinois.

Roxana is a real place and I've been there. But I did make up the dance club that's in Alton, Illinois, in this chapter. I don't remember exactly, but that's probably not there in real life Alton XD

Okay, here's the chapter! Enjoy

Word Count: 3229

-----------------------------------------------

Chapter 9: The Darker Side

Adrian's eyes snap open without warning, glowing an angry red to allow some light in the dark confinement he's seemingly stuck in.

Adrian wonders if he's in a coffin six feet under. It's happened before.

Adrian remembers exactly what happened before he awoke. Adrian shoved Paige out of the way, he was hit by a speeding car, then he died for the millionth time. Not too uncommon for Adrian. At least it wasn't before he moved to the city of Cain.

Adrian doesn't regret his decision to save Paige. He just hopes it wasn't in vain. If Matt had been watching, he probably killed her after Adrian "died" in the car wreck.

Uncertainties are such a hardship.

Adrian slides over a few inches in place, his arms stuck at his side. Adrian turns his head slightly to look around, but everything remains black with a faint red hue, due to his glowing eyes.

It's a body bag. Adrian's finally figured it out.

He's in a body bag in a moving vehicle. That's why Adrian is sliding.

Adrian listens closely for heartbeats near him. There are two hearts beating a few feet away from him.

Adrian prays that they don't notice the body bag unzipping. Whoever closed the bag didn't zip it up completely, so Adrian is able to open the bag from the inside to extract himself.

Adrian does so slowly, keeping watch with his eyes and ears to see if the people in the vehicle notice. They don't. At least not until Adrian creates a ruckus.

Adrian sits up and sees what looks like the inside of the ambulance. Adrian is in the closed off part, so he's fortunately separated from the two heartbeats.

Adrian shoves open the doors of the back of the ambulance and jumps out, rolling on the gravel road. At least it's not concrete again.

But Adrian isn't so sure that the road being gravel is a blessing when it digs into his skin, leaving little rock imprints.

When Adrian finally stops, he finds out that he hasn't healed from the wreck yet. Adrian's neck has healed, which is why he's conscious and escaping, but there are open wounds that now have pebbles embedded in them.

Adrian lets out a low groan as he hears a car coming. Adrian shoves off of the ground with one hand and some difficulty. Adrian's left arm is broken so he can only use his right arm.

Before Adrian tries standing, he knows he has to set his arm to its correct position. This is gonna hurt. Adrian shoves his bone back into place, setting it so that it'll heal correctly now.

Adrian stumbles upright and off the lonely road. There aren't any buildings that Adrian can see. The ambulance must've been headed for a hospital in a different town with a morgue.

To Adrian's disappointment, the car coming just happens to be the ambulance coming back for its shipment.

Adrian may be dead, but he doesn't belong in a morgue!

So even though Adrian is in pain and struggling to heal all the way, he runs from the ambulance as fast as he can. Adrian has no clue where he's going, but his red eyes are bright enough to light the way so he doesn't fall on his unsteady feet.

Adrian knows that he needs blood to heal because he lost so much in the car wreck. But Adrian doesn't have any blood with him, so he'll have to wait.

Adrian successfully loses the ambulance, but Adrian is now lost himself. Adrian does the only thing he can think of doing.

Even though it's dangerous in Adrian's condition, Adrian follows the faint heartbeat he's hearing.

As Adrian gets closer the heartbeat sounds stronger. Adrian feels he's almost there when he sees a sign through his heightened sight. It reads: "Now entering Roxana, Illinois."

A house pops up in Adrian's quickly blurring vision. Shoot. Adrian won't be able to hold it together much longer.

Adrian makes it to the front door where he faintly realizes that there are actually three heartbeats inside the house. Adrian's senses are acting up.

Adrian knocks on the door, not caring what time it is or if the people inside are asleep. Adrian is so out of it that he forgot to check how fast their hearts are beating. If a heart is beating slow and steady, it means they're sleeping.

An older woman opens the door, looking to be about 40 years old. It doesn't matter to Adrian.

"Oh my! Are you alright?" The older woman asks Adrian.

Adrian coughs just then as he tries to reply. Although not intentional, this works in Adrian's favor.

"Come in, dear! What happened?" She gets an odd expression on her face that Adrian doesn't care to decipher as she ushers him inside.

"You know what, never mind that for now. I'll get you settled in so you can rest for a moment."

Adrian couldn't say a word if he tried. Adrian can feel his lungs collapsing in on themselves. There's got to be internal bleeding from the crash along with crushed lungs.

Adrian grabs his broken arm, which is set correctly but not healed, and shuffles inside without a word. This is one of those times that looking like a messed up teenager helps Adrian's case.

There's a man sitting on the couch when Adrian enters the living room. He looks up from a newspaper and lets out a gasp at the sight of Adrian.

"He's hurt. There's been an accident." The woman tells him. They look to be the same age, and the man seems to trust the woman because he doesn't argue with her on why there's a bloody stranger in their house.

Adrian feels a painful flash of regret as he realizes they're a nice married couple, based on the rings on their left hands, that are being friendly to him, a stranger. Not many people would do that.

But Adrian has to get better and sleeping it off won't work. Adrian needs human blood or he'll have to lie in pain for weeks until he heals. Adrian can't wait weeks.

Adrian also can't possibly make it to his hotel room. He can barely move as spikes of pain shoot through his body. There have to be a few broken ribs stabbing into Adrian's organs. And it hurts a lot.

The woman hurries into the kitchen, presumably to get first aid supplies to help Adrian.

As soon as she's out of sight, Adrian turns to the man. Adrian clears his throat so he can speak, feeling parched.

The man looks straight at him, narrowing his eyes in suspicion because Adrian is staring at him strangely. Like he's a meal.

"Go back to reading your newspaper. Ignore everything besides reading until I tell you otherwise. Everything is fine." Adrian compels the man, watching his eyes go out of focus for a moment before he turns to the newspaper in his lap.

Adrian feels he's about to pass out, but he has to make sure it worked. Adrian is feeling particularly weak so he's not sure if compulsion will work correctly.

Adrian snaps to get the man's attention, but he doesn't even glance Adrian's way.

The woman comes into the room then, just in time. Adrian stumbles back towards her. She grabs Adrian's arm to steady him. "Are you okay?" She exclaims in alarm. "Let's sit you down."

Adrian responds by spinning the woman around and burying his fangs in her neck, completely giving into his urges for her blood. Adrian holds onto her tightly, knowing he should let go but not knowing how.

Warm blood flows through Adrian's veins, instantly working to heal him from the inside out. It's the best feeling in the world. Way better than cold blood.

Every nerve in Adrian's body dances as he drinks away the woman's life.

That's what snaps Adrian out of it, the thought of taking an innocent person's life. Adrian jerks away from the woman, who is in a daze and staring at Adrian with wide eyes.

She opens her mouth to most likely scream, but Adrian stops her by quickly biting into his wrist and forcefully feeding her a few drops of his blood, which heals the bite mark on her neck.

Adrian compels her and her husband to forget he was ever there and to go back to what they were doing before he got there.

The soft padding of feet against hardwood floor brings Adrian to his senses. The third heartbeat he heard. Adrian had forgotten about that.

It's a small girl around 10 years old with dark brown hair like the woman and bright blue eyes like the man. This must be their child.

Adrian's heart clenches at the fact that he was a second away from killing this girl's parents.

"Who are you?" The girl asks in a small but bold voice, tilting her head curiously at Adrian. Both of her hands are gripping a pink teddy bear to her chest.

"I'm no one. No one visited tonight." Adrian compels the little girl from across the room, not wanting to get any closer in case he loses control.

Adrian mostly healed, but the blood made him crave it. It was warm and flavorful, unlike the distasteful cold blood Adrian has to drink to keep himself in check.

The girl turns around and goes back to wherever she had come from.

Adrian rushes out of the house, stretching his once broken arm to work out the kinks.

Adrian fumes at the fact that he won't be able to go after Matt until he fully heals. Like humans when they're sick, Adrian will need to get a good night's sleep before he feels better.

So Adrian will still go with his plan to go to the party that Matt mentioned. Adrian will go in for the kill, getting revenge and his payment all in one blow. Because after all, killing Matt is supposed to be Adrian's job.

/////////////////

The next night, Adrian is more than ready to go after Matt. Adrian's running on high alert, not allowing himself even a moment of ease.

Adrian paces in his small hotel bedroom impatiently, waiting for the sun to set for the chance to go out on the prowl. There will be a hunt tonight, and Matt won't be making it out.

Adrian sleeps for awhile because technically, Adrian didn't sleep earlier. Being dead is not the same as sleeping, so Adrian still has to sleep.

When Adrian gets up a few hours later he sits in the armchair he was in while digging through his mind. Grabbing the remote to turn on the TV, the first thing to pop up is the news.

Adrian is about to switch the channel, he's not much of a news watching guy, when the headline catches his eye.

"Hit and Run Victim Gone Missing"

Adrian recognizes the term "hit and run" as the way people of this generation describe a car running over someone then driving off, cruelly leaving their victim for dead.

This isn't the first time Adrian has been hit by a car, but it is the first time he died from it. Other times there would be broken bones and some bruises, but this time was meant for the kill. Adrian could tell.

Adrian focuses on the TV, turning up the volume to make sure he hears it, even though that's not really necessary.

"An unidentified male was hit by a speeding car on this very road late last night." The newswoman says, motioning behind her to the road.

"A bystander caught this video on his cell phone." The woman continues on seriously.

Adrian wonders why cell phones with cameras had to be invented. Stupid technology catching things it shouldn't.

The video plays, and although the video is blurry and somewhat out of focus, Adrian is able to see himself flying through the air. The video didn't catch the moment when Adrian gets hit because the person filming hadn't seen it coming.

But what crazy person would film someone being hit by a car instead of getting help? Maybe they knew what was going to happen. But wouldn't they have started the video before the car hit if they knew?

Adrian can't believe he's watching himself getting killed. But from this perspective, Adrian can see that he was flung farther than a human would've because his body is stronger than average and he weighs a little less than most humans.

Adrian doubts anyone could ID him from the video since he spins through the air, but anyone who knew Adrian would know it was him. Fortunately, this news probably won't make it back to Cain. Back to Ivie, who might be worried. Even though she's acting indifferent at the moment.

Adrian doesn't believe, and really hopes, that Ivie and her friends don't keep up with Illinois news. She'd likely get mad at Adrian for that too.

Adrian suddenly realizes that he used to do things like this all the time. All of Adrian's hunting jobs have been dangerous, so why is he worrying now? Adrian wonders if moving to Cain and caring for Ivie has softened him. Is this going to turn into Adrian having to choose between the darker side of himself and the lighter side?

Adrian no longer throws himself headfirst into bad situations as much as he used to. He finds himself cautioning and reasoning more as well. The "before Cain Adrian" would've killed Matt by now.

And that thought makes Adrian furious beyond words. That means that all of this could've been avoided.

////////////////

As the sun agonizingly slowly finishes its descent, Adrian exits his hotel room.

When Adrian leaves the hotel he figures out what Matt meant earlier when he said Adrian will know where the party is.

Adrian's sensitive hearing picks up the sound of music coming from a building not too far down the street. The town isn't that big.

Adrian wishes he could turn off his heightened hearing to lessen the noise, but Adrian's tried before and he hasn't been able to completely turn his senses to human standards.

When Adrian arrives, the building is jam packed with people. Walking through the front door, Adrian is overwhelmed by how extremely loud the music is to him.

Wincing, Adrian forces his hands to stay balled up at his sides instead of covering his ears like he so desperately wants to. Find Matt.

Adrian reminds himself that's why he's here. Being a little uncomfortable and feeling like your ears are about to bleed is a small price to pay for getting justice. Right?

This dance club was obviously built to fit the needs of a small town, but there's so many people that it seems that people from nearby towns are here along with the residents of Roxana.

Adrian allows his vampire senses to roam, searching for Matt. Adrian leans against a wall that's off to the side to concentrate without having to worry as much about the dancers. If you can call them that. Adrian's sure that it's impossible to dance when you're that close to somebody.

Adrian can suddenly feel all of the warm bodies near him. This talent Adrian usually keeps hidden because it's annoying to constantly be reminded of how cold and dead you really are.

Instead of using that ability, Adrian relies on his trusty hearing, the sense he always turns to for help and it always comes through.

Adrian listens, scanning the whole building without moving a muscle, searching for a spot in the crowd that's occupied by someone without a heartbeat. Matt. That one word fills Adrian up with hatred.

And there he is, across the dance floor opposite of Adrian, sipping on a suspicious red drink and talking with a group of young people, none of them older than 25 years old, who look a little too enthralled to be next to him. Like he's some hot celebrity. Just the thought of Matt compelling these people makes Adrian sneer and wish to pumble Matt until he cracks. Literally.

So Adrian stalks over, ready for a throwdown between the two vampires. Adrian is embracing his darker side, the side that's more impulsive and does things like go after Matt in the middle of a club.

A voice of reason in Adrian's mind tells him that this is a bad idea, but Adrian shoves that away to focus on his revenge.

"Hey, you!" Matt says with a slight slur and a widening smile at the sight of Adrian. It's like he's gloating in Adrian's face. Matt's mischievously glinting eyes screaming, "Haha! I killed you and you're not gonna do anything about it!"

Even those words that were never spoken out loud get to Adrian. His emotions are running high and they're not going to stop anytime soon.

But at the last second, Adrian forces himself to strategize, using his brain instead of his unruly emotions.

Adrian then pressures his mouth into curving upward into a smile for Matt's benefit. Matt seems too drunk on whatever's in his cup to notice the smile isn't an easy one.

"Sorry bud, I forgot what you're being called nowadays." Matt says, his grin somehow spreading across his face even more.

Adrian wonders if Matt is as good an actor as Adrian is or if he's actually not afraid. Wouldn't Matt have been at least nervous because he got Adrian ran over by a car? Or does he not know? Is it possible that Matt didn't set that up and didn't see the news yet? That he only compelled the girl to walk into the road and he hadn't arranged for a speeding car to be there?

Adrian replies by waving off Matt's words. "It's fine. The name's Adrian."

"Huh... Would you like to join me for a drink, Adrian?" Matt asks me, holding up his drink with a raised eyebrow, implying that it's exactly what Adrian initially thought it was. Blood.

"I've got more where that came from." Matt adds as an afterthought, gesturing to the group of five people around him. Definitely blood.

"Thank you." Adrian says with amusement. Matt hands him a second glass that sat behind him on the table, out of Adrian's view. Matt was waiting for Adrian.

Adrian downs the blood in one drink, feeling warmth spread through his body at that small glass. It's easier to do than Adrian thought it'd be, considering that Adrian has been on a strictly cold blood diet for years.

Okay, so maybe Adrian has created a problem for himself. But it's all part of the plan.

This is when the real fun begins.