“No idea, but I know someone who might.”
****
The actual leap from the window was surprisingly easy. Convincing herself to jump in the first place proved the most difficult part. Sure, she felt invincible, but did that necessarily mean that she was now immortal? Was she merely fueled by anger? Would her mistake result in a bone-crunching fall? Eventually she had decided to take the risk. She had nothing to lose but her life and if she was correct, she’d already paid that price.
The street was empty but somehow Anna could sense the people moving around in their apartments and homes. Their blood called to her and the temptation to feed was stronger than she could ever have imagined. She licked her lips. The lingering taste of Derrick’s blood sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine, her incisors lengthened. She could almost hear the blood pumping through the veins of the individuals who lived in the homes she passed as she made her way back to the hospital. She had to be sure Susie was all right. Patrick had escaped. He may head straight for Susie.
After entering the hospital grounds, Anna realized she had made a huge mistake. Assaulted by the scent of blood from every direction, she somehow managed to find the strength to pass the man slumped in a waiting room chair, a large gash on his head bleeding profusely while the triage nurse assessed his wounds. She ran down the corridor trying to ignore the call of blood as it cried out from a multitude of potential victims. When she finally reached Susie’s room, she found her friend asleep, a catheter feeding her a transfusion to make up for the blood loss caused by her attack. Anna stared at the bag of red fluid and was horrified to realize she was salivating at the sight.
“Anna? Oh, Anna! Thank God you’re okay.” Susie reached out and grabbed Anna’s wrist. “The nurse said you’d gone home.”
Anna tried to answer but her attention was focused on the bright blue vein throbbing in Susie’s wrist.
She shook her head. “I have to go, Susie. I just came to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye? I don’t understand. Where are you going?”
“I … I don’t know yet. I’ll call you when I’m settled somewhere, I promise.” It hurt to lie to her friend but Anna knew that Susie would try and stop her if she knew Anna’s true intentions.
“No. Don’t leave, Anna. I need you to help me through this. I’m still confused about what actually happened. Sometimes I feel as though it was all a bad dream until I wake up and realize it was all true. Please don’t leave me.”
“If I stay, I’d only make things worse for you.” Anna stared at her feet, fearful that Susie would see the monster she was becoming and recognize the danger “I’m not the same person, Susie.”
“Neither am I. What happened to me has changed me but I know we can get through this together. Derrick was here earlier. He said he will help—”
“Derrick is no longer a part of my life.” Anna slowly raised her head.
Susie’s hands flew to her mouth, too slow to mute the gasp of horror. “Anna … your eyes.” Her hands trembled, her fingers flittering in front of her face as she squealed her accusation. “You’re one of them.”
Anna sucked in a sob and bit down on her bottom lip. The taste of her own blood, exciting her. Reminding her of what she had become. A monster. The pain and terror in Susie’s expression ripped a giant hole in her heart. A hole that could never heal. She would never forget the fear in her friend’s eyes. “Now you know why I must leave. Goodbye, Susie … I’m sorry.”
As Anna ran from the room, she expected to hear Susie call for security. Instead she heard her friend’s mournful sobs. She carried the pain of the Susie’s accusation with her as she sprinted down the hall and into the car park.
****
I’ve calmed her down,” David informed Derrick when they met outside Susie’s room. “She won’t remember Anna’s visit now, so there shouldn’t be any problem later.”
“Did she know where Anna was headed?”
“No. Only that she was leaving. She believes Anna will contact her once she is settled in a new town.”
“We both know that’s not true.” Derrick’s heart ached as he realized her plans. His sire connection with Anna had not fully formed, but her intentions were clear. “She will try to find a way to end herself.”
“You may be wrong,” David reasoned with him. “She might decide to give our life a try.”
“You didn’t hear her, David.” Derrick’s voice trembled with emotional pain. “When she lay dying, I asked her to allow me to change her and she refused. She’d rather be dead than like us. No matter what happens now—if she survives as a vampire or perishes at her own hand—she’s still lost to me. She’ll never forgive me for what I have done to her.”
“You forgave me,” David reminded him.
Derrick nodded. He recalled the day that his brother had returned from Paris and found him dying. He too had insisted on being allowed to die but, fortunately, David ignored his plea and turned him. It took a while, a long while, but eventually he came to accept his fate and forgave his brother for taking away his right to choose.
“Anna’s much tougher and smarter than you’re giving her credit for, you can’t give up on her now.”
“I’m not giving up on her, she’s giving up on me.”
David threw his hands in the air. “Oh suck it up you stupid son of a bitch. She needs you to man up.”
Derrick grabbed his brother by the collar and forced him against the wall. “At least I’m man enough to go after the woman I love.”
“What do you mean by that?” David, in turn, grabbed Derrick and rammed him into the wall on the opposite side of the room.
“I’ve seen the paintings you have been doing for years … all of the same beautiful blonde. You stare at them for hours after you’ve finished and then immediately start sketching another. You’re obsessed with her. If you love this woman … why haven’t I ever seen her? Aren’t you man enough to go after the woman you want?”
“Mind your own business. You should be concentrating on finding Anna and saving what’s left of your love life. Leave me out of the equation.” He released his grip and straightened his collar. “Go see Sofie. She may know where Anna is headed next.”
“I will.” Derrick nodded and headed for the door. Mid step, he turned to his brother. “David, I’m—”
“Yes, I know. Me too, sort of.” David grinned back.
“You really should approach the woman … the blonde. Tell her how you feel.”
“Okay. I promise you that when I see her I will do just that.”
As Derrick hurried away, he made an attempt to telepathically connect with his brother and caught him mid-thought. What he heard surprised him. Tell her how you feel? David sighed That’s easy for you to say, brother. If I could, I would walk over broken glass to tell the woman from my visions how much she means to me. There is only one problem… I just haven’t met her yet.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Anna wasn’t surprised when the doorknob turned easily. She knew that Sofie would have anticipated her arrival. She found her friend pretending to dust a display of crystals in the back room.
“Oh, Anna … what a nice surprise.”
“You can’t fool me, Sofie. I know you were expecting me and you know why I’m here.”
Sofie sighed. “Yes. I had a vision of what happened. I’m sorry child. It’s not fair.”
“What’s done is done.” Anna shrugged despite knowing that Sofie would not have seen the telling movement of her shoulders. “You are the only one who can help me now. I’m here to ask you to fulfil your promise.”
“I am sorry, Anna, but what you ask is murder.”
Anna grabbed the woman by her shoulders and looked into her sightless eyes. “You can’t murder someone who is already dead.”
“No. Not dead Anna, undead. There is a difference. Derrick and David will teach you how to live as a vampire. You must try and accept this way of life.”
“Dead, undead, I don’t car
e what you want to call it … I’m not human.”
Anna slammed her fist into a wall, leaving a gaping hole, and instantly regretted her action when Sofie jumped, startled by the noise. “If you could only see me, Sofie. I wouldn’t need to explain how different I am. I’m a monster.”
“I can see you child. Maybe not in the conventional sense but I can see your soul. You are a beautiful woman, both inside and out. Now you will always be beautiful. You will never age, not like me. You will never become weak and helpless. You are strong now and getting stronger every day. Derrick can teach you how better to protect yourself and I will train you in the ways of Wicca. It will be all right, you’ll see.”
“Nothing has changed Sofie. I still don’t want this type of life. I could hardly control myself when I visited Susie at the hospital. Do you even realize how much danger you are in at this very moment?”
She was grateful that Sofie couldn’t see her face. “You don’t understand this hunger for blood. It’s driving me insane.” She wondered how Derrick had been able to control his thirst on each of their encounters. He never gave her cause to believe she was in any danger yet he must have used incredible willpower in order to keep his hunger at bay. The call of the blood was strong … possibly more than she could bear.
“You are wrong Anna.” Sofie told her, her voice surprising calm considering her present situation. “I do realize the danger and I do feel your need to take my blood, but … I also feel you fighting that urge with every cell in your body. You can survive this ordeal. I have faith in you.”
“Faith?” Anna laughed. “I had faith in Derrick. I trusted him not to turn me into a vampire and yet … here I am.”
“He had no choice.”
“No!” Anna’s protest reverberated around the small shop, shaking the glass in the window. “He should have let me die.”
“How could he let you die, Anna?” Sofie found a chair and gingerly sat down. “Derrick loves you.”
Anna knew there was truth in Sofie’s words. She felt his love now more than ever. Since turning, she could feel the mental connection or sire bond that she had heard about. His mind was in turmoil. He needed her as much as she needed him. Despite this, she still argued her point.
“If he loves me so much, why did he turn me into a killer?”
“You do not have to kill to eat. I have given David blood on occasions when he was caught in town and in need of nourishment and I’m clearly still here to tell the tale. Come Anna … take some of my blood.” She held out her wrist. “There is no need to compel me or kill me. I have no fear of you.”
For what seemed to her like an eternity, Anna stared at the wrinkled skin of Sofie’s wrist. Blue veins throbbed beneath the paper-thin, pale skin, promising rich sustenance to quench her terrible thirst. Her gums burned, her fangs elongated in anticipation. She tried to cover her mouth with the back of her hand but, try as she might, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight of the blood as it pulsed through Sofie’s veins.
Unconsciously, she took the offered wrist and raised it to her lips before coming to her senses. “No!” she protested as she pushed the woman away. “I can’t do this … I won’t.”
Before Sofie could argue, Anna bolted from the store, slamming the door hard enough to break the glass in the front window. Shards of glass flew into the shop shattering over the floor at Sofie’s feet. A few stray splinters hit the woman’s legs piercing tiny holes in her skin which immediately dotted with spots of blood. Although already meters away, Anna could smell the blood calling to her. She screamed in protest, picking up speed in an attempt to escape the pull of the precious red fluid. Within moments, she had managed to cover a distance of a few kilometers, a feat that both shocked and delighted her. The distraction helped lessen the call of Sofie’s blood. How fast could she run? Her mouth twisted into a smile when she decided … why not find out?
Anna reached the town boundary without breaking a sweat. For a few moments, she held her fingers to her throat trying to check her pulse and almost laughed at her own naiveté when she realized why she couldn’t find it. The realization brought home the reason why she was running in the first place. She had been tempted by the call of blood. Willing to take a chance with the life of someone she cared about for a meal. What if she had killed Sofie? How could she even contemplate doing something so gross? Drinking blood from someone’s wrist or neck would be disgusting, wouldn’t it? Anna remembered how tempting the blood had looked as it coursed through Sofie’s wrist. Even the plasma bag attached to Susie’s arm had looked appetizing. She recalled the hospital visit and was disgusted with herself for salivating at the thought of making a meal from the contents of the bag.
Once again, she began to run, this time towards town with no particular direction in mind. She needed to clear her head and the thrill of passing cars as if they were stationary was becoming addictive. She soon realized that her speed was undetectable to the human eye. Despite herself, Anna found she was enjoying the new power as she darted around the town, timing her movements. Delighting in beating her own best time again and again. The game was distracting, amusing, until she suddenly stopped cold in her tracks. Something’s wrong.
Something in the glass of a store window attracted her attention. Like the vision in her bathroom mirror, the glass showed her a scene, but this time it was different. This time she knew it was not a memory but a premonition. Sofie was sweeping up the glass from the broken door and placing it in a small bin. A small shard cut her hand and she covered the blood with a handkerchief before heading out to the kitchenette to make a pot of tea. Anna could almost smell the blood seeping through the hanky. She licked her lips and swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched Sofie settle down in her chair to enjoy her herbal beverage. A gust of wind blew the door open. Anna gasped in surprise when her vision became audible.
“Nice place.”
“Thank you.” Sofie felt for the table and slowly placed her cup back on its saucer. “I’m sorry but the store is closed, sir. If you come back tomorrow morning, I’ll be happy to help you.”
“I think we both know I can’t do that,” Patrick said as he picked up a quartz crystal and feigned interest. “Really … nice shop. You have a lot of interesting things here.”
“Thank you but I must insist that you leave.”
Patrick ignored her request. “Lots of witchy looking things.” He picked up a pack of Tarot cards and looked at the instructions on the box. “Are you a witch?”
“If you’re not going to leave...” Sofie rose from her chair and headed toward the counter feeling for the silent alarm. “…maybe you could tell me what it is you are interested in?”
“Nothing in particular, everything in general.” Patrick informed her. “I actually came into town for a quick bite but now I’ve come to the conclusion that I was drawn here for a reason.” Patrick continued his exploration of the shop, examining and replacing items as he teased his prey.
“I don’t understand. Why would you be drawn to my humble store? Are you interested in crystal healing?”
“One of the interesting aspects of being a vampire—oh, don’t pretend you don’t know what I am—” he warned “is that we can sense each other.” Sniffing the air, he smiled. “Anna has been here … and recently, which means that Derrick turned her.” The smile quickly dissolved and Sofie stumbled back in shock when Patrick suddenly flipped a heavy table with ease, shattering porcelain ornaments and scattering knick-knacks everywhere.
“She was mine! Do you understand? Mine to sire and Corel had no right to take that away from me!”
“Corel? I’m sorry but I—”
“Don’t lie to me, woman.”
In a blur of speed, Patrick grabbed Sofie by her throat, lifting the blind woman off her feet so her face was only inches away from his fangs. “Derrick and his brother have been in this store many times. Their stench fouls up the place.”
“I don’t want any trouble. Just leave. I’ll tell D
errick you want talk to him, okay?”
Patrick smiled and shook his head. “I didn’t come to ask you to talk to Derrick on my behalf. I’m hungry and you’re the only place open tonight. I would have preferred to eat a young chick but I’m hungry enough to settle for an old bird like you. The smell of your blood drew me in. You may be getting on in years but I bet you’re still tasty.”
“I hope you choke on me, you dirty demon.” She spat at his face, a drop of spittle hitting his cheek.
“Well, I was going to kill you fast but…” He wiped the spit away with the sleeve of his shirt, “now I think I’ll make it hurt.”
He twisted his grip so her neck, exposing the wrinkled throat. She flailed helplessly. The breath stolen from her lungs.
“Enough talk, I’m hungry.”
Before his fangs were able to break the skin, Sofie dropped to the ground and Patrick slammed through the wall at the opposite end of the store. Plaster cracked as the wall shattered. A cloud of powdery mist filled the store.
“Interesting. I didn’t realize how much fun that would be.” Anna turned to Sofie and asked “Are you all right, Sofie?”
Sofie nodded. “I was hoping you would get my message.”
Anna lifted the woman to her feet. “I’m sorry I’m late. It took a few minutes to work out what I was seeing.”
“Well, well, well.” Patrick laughed as he brushed the debris away from his suit. “So you allowed him to turn you after all.”
“Rather him than you.” Anna could not allow Patrick the satisfaction of knowing how upset she was with the transformation.
Patrick looked past her towards the door and shrugged. “So, where is he then? Dumped you already?”
“More like I dumped him.”
“Nice to know you finally came to your senses, Angel. We can rule this town together.” He reached for Anna but she disappeared in a blur of speed, re-appearing with Sofie at the other end of the store where she ushered the woman towards the back door.
“If you leave now, I may allow you to live,” she warned him, surprised at how confident she sounded. She hardly recognized her own voice. It sounded richer, almost sensual.
Kiss of Death (Blood Brothers Book 1) Page 20
