"Run! Get out of here!" she yelled.
There was another explosion, and as the ground shook, more people screamed.
"Run!" she yelled again. She turned to Natalie, who was sitting there, not moving. She wasn't even blinking.
Clara grabbed Natalie's shoulders. "We've got to get out of here."
Natalie just continued to stare. Was she in shock? Could she even understand what Clara was saying?
The ceiling above them creaked and tiles fell only inches from them. Clara grabbed Natalie and threw her over her shoulders. It wasn't the time to worry about people wondering about her supernatural strength. She had to get her friend to safety.
Cracks were forming in the walls around them as she ran. They wouldn't be able to hold the crumbling ceiling much longer. Clara looked for an exit, but all she saw were stores. Didn't they have laws about how far apart exits were supposed to be?
She picked up speed, tripping over people. "Get up, you idiots! Get out of here."
Tiles were falling from above all around them. Clara darted around, doing her best to avoid them. She heard a thunk, followed by a gushing noise. "Ow," moaned Natalie.
The smell of her blood reached Clara's nose. Her mouth watered, but she ignored it. "Where did you get hit?"
"Uhh…"
Clara shook her head. She would see about healing her when they got outside—assuming that it was even safe out there. It had to be better than being in the mall. The loud creaks were intensifying, and Clara could see cracks running along the walls, almost as though they were racing her.
A tile fell right in front of her, almost hitting her in the head. Where was an exit? It had to seem further than it actually was because she wasn't able to run very fast. She was going slowly even by human standards.
Several large pieces of wood plummeted to the ground on either side of them. The roof was coming down that moment. Clara noticed a bright light not too far down the long hall. It had to be an exit. Even if it wasn't a door, sunlight was coming in, so there had to be a way out.
She turned toward the light, focused on reaching it. Tiles and wood were falling all around them. She managed to avoid most, although one tile sliced through her arm. The wound healed pretty fast, but not before her blood ran down her arm, soaking her shirt.
They were almost to the light. Just a few more feet and they would be able to get outside.
Someone ran into her, startling her. "Watch out!" Someone else ran into her too. People were heading for the exit from all directions. They didn't care who they hurt on the way out.
Clara held on tighter to Natalie, who was still moaning. She had to get her somewhere safe. Depending on how bad it was, she would either need medical attention or Clara's healing blood. Her blood would be best, but if she couldn't get anywhere isolated, she would have to hand Natalie over to the humans.
They were so close that Clara could see some trees outside. She could actually see out there. She turned her direction, and one more imbecile slammed into her. She lost her footing and fell to the ground. Somehow, she let go of Natalie in the process, and as Clara landed on the hard floor with a thud, Natalie shot out of her arms and flew toward a wall.
Just as she hit, a portion of the ceiling came crashing down right where she was.
"Natalie!" Clara scrambled to her feet, running for her. She ran into someone else trying to get outside. She got her bearings again and finally made it to where Natalie was. She grabbed the chunk of ceiling and flung it away. Natalie was covered in blood. How would she be able to help her?
She didn't have time to think about it. She had to get them both outside before either of them got hurt any worse. Clara picked Natalie up and ran to the light—an emergency door propped open with a gum ball machine.
Once outside, it took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the light. People were everywhere, and it was complete chaos. Some were crying, others were pacing, and a lot were on their cell phones. Most of them appeared to be unable to make calls. They were all dialing, or cursing, but no one was talking into one. The towers had to be down.
A lady nearby was looking around, not doing anything. Clara walked up to her, still carrying Natalie. "What happened?"
She shook her head, not saying anything.
Clara went to several other people, but no one knew what had happened. It sounded like bombs, but why would anyone bother bombing Delphic Cove? It was just a quiet little town.
Wait. Hadn’t Victor said something…?
It wasn't the time to worry about that. She had to help Natalie. Sirens could be heard in the distance, but there were none close. Clara looked around and saw that no one was near an outdoor courtyard. She ran over there, lying Natalie down behind some tables. No one should be able to see them from there.
Natalie rolled her head back and forth, mumbling something incoherent. Clara pulled her hair out of her face, trying to find the source of the blood. Part of her hair close to the back was a deep red. That had to be it.
Clara pulled the hair away as best as she could. It was already starting to dry on her hair. She pulled the hair back further, and more blood gushed out. Her mouth watered again. She fought her fangs as she lowered herself and licked the wound. It started to heal, but it was too slow. She needed more saliva to seal it properly.
She looked at the blood covering Natalie, and allowed her mouth to water as much as it wanted. She took all that she collected and placed it on the wound. It sealed the rest of the way.
Natalie moaned, but didn't say any actual words. Clara checked her over and discovered that both her right leg and arm were broken. If the explosions were a major catastrophe, it could be a long time before Natalie got any help from a doctor.
"Can you hear me?"
She mumbled nonsense.
"Hopefully you won't remember this." Clara bit into her wrist. "I have something you need to drink. It's going to help you feel better."
Again, Natalie spoke nothing that made sense.
Clara put her wrist up to Natalie's mouth. "It might taste a little bitter, but you need to drink."
Her mouth didn't move.
"Natalie, you need to drink this. It's going to help, I promise."
Chapter 23
CLARA PUT HER bloody wrist up to Natalie's mouth, forcing her mouth open. "You need to drink this, Natalie. Don't worry about opening your eyes, okay? Just drink, please. It's the only thing that will help you feel better."
Her mouth didn't move.
"You need to drink this," Clara repeated. She could hear Natalie's heart getting slower and weaker. What could she do to get her to drink? There were no sirens nearby, which meant she couldn't rely on humans to help. This was all on her. "Come on. We haven't even had a chance to get together since I got back. Do this so we can have our girly time and catch up."
Natalie moaned, mumbling gibberish again. Part of what she said sounded like Braydon. That was it!
Clara pushed her wrist further into Natalie's mouth. "We need to find Braydon, Natalie. He might need help. If you drink this, you'll get strong again, and we can go find him. Drink this for Braydon."
Finally, Natalie's mouth started moving, but Clara couldn't feel the pulling sensation that she should have. She pulled her wrist away from Natalie, quickly looked around to make sure that no one was watching, and then she squeezed her wrist, forcing blood drops out. She put her wrist back to Natalie's mouth, still squeezing.
After about a dozen drops made it into her mouth, Natalie started drinking. It usually didn't take too long for her blood to start healing a human since she was half royal—and royal blood was practically magical.
It took a few moments of her drinking for Clara to feel the pull that she was waiting for. She let out a sigh of relief. Natalie was finally getting enough to actually help. She would need quite a bit, given the damage she had taken. She just waited, keeping a lookout for people, or worse, signs that more disaster was close.
After several minutes, Clara started to
feel herself weaken. She could probably handle a few more minutes of this, but not much more. She had to stay strong to get Natalie back to her house, plus she had her own guy to worry about too. In all the commotion, she hadn't had a moment to stop and wonder how William was holding up.
Now that she thought of him, she was eager to make sure he was okay. She had promised to give him space, but surely he couldn't complain about her finding out about his safety. It wasn't as though they had been planning on these explosions.
She looked Natalie over. Her coloring was returning to normal and the cuts on her arms and legs that she could see had healed. What about her broken bones?
Clara checked her right arm and cringing, set Natalie's bones in the right place so they could heal properly. Then she did the same thing with the broken leg. She started to feel weak. Hopefully, Natalie had gotten enough of her blood to completely heal, because Clara had to stop.
"We're going to have to take a break from this…drink." Clara pulled her wrist away, but Natalie reached up with her left hand and held onto her arm, pulled it back to her mouth. Clara smiled. "I'm glad to see your strength returning, but you need to let the…medicine…work for a little while."
Natalie let go, and Clara checked her arm and leg again. She could feel resistance when trying to move the broken parts. That meant the bones were starting to rejoin and become one again.
"Can you open your eyes, Natalie?"
"I'll try." She sounded weak, but at least she was speaking actual words. That was an improvement.
Natalie's eyes fluttered, but didn't open.
"Don't force anything. These things take time."
"We need to get to Braydon."
"I'll try calling him. You just take it easy."
Clara pulled out her phone. It didn't have a signal. She wasn't going to say anything to Natalie. She needed to rest and let Clara's blood run through her system, working its magic.
She held her phone up as high over her head as possible. Still, not even a single bar. She moved it out as far as she could in every possible direction, still not getting even a trace of a signal. She hated relying on human technology. It was so inconsistent, never reliable when you really needed it.
"Are you texting him?"
Now she would have to tell Natalie. "I can't get a signal. Do you want me to say here with you, or would you prefer I walk around and see if I can get anything?"
"You can walk around. Just don't go too far."
"I won't let you out of my sight." Clara got up and walked around the courtyard, waiting to see even just one bar light up. She couldn't even get the dang thing to flicker. She didn't want to get too far from Natalie. Once she healed, they would be able to at least get away from the mall, and hopefully close to a functioning tower.
She went back to Natalie, who was looking around. Clara sat down, smiling. "You look better already."
"Did you get a hold of him?"
Clara shook her head. "The towers must be down. Once you're feeling up to it, we'll try to find him."
Natalie nodded, and then pressed her palms against the ground. She struggled to get her back off the pavement, but then cried out in pain, grasping her right arm.
"Let me see that." Clara held Natalie's right arm as gently as possible, feeling the areas that had broken. They were already far more solid than when she checked a few minutes before. She set her arm down and checked the broken leg. It felt like it was healing at about the same speed. "Why don't we give the medicine a little time to take the pain away? Then we can get going."
"What was that stuff?"
Clara thought fast. "Someone came along with medicine. They looked like a paramedic, so I took it."
Natalie didn't look convinced, but she didn't question it. She rubbed her arm. "Do you think Braydon is okay?"
"He's a smart guy. I'm sure he got out of harm's way."
"Unlike us." Natalie grimaced and rubbed her right arm at the break. "Are you okay? I haven't even asked about you."
"I'm good. Don't worry about me."
"How did you get me out of there? What happened? Something hit my head, and I can't remember anything after that."
"The ceiling was coming down all around us, and a tile got you pretty good. I helped you out."
Natalie looked around. "How did you get me here, though? This is all the way on the other side of the mall."
Clara shrugged. "They say adrenaline makes people do crazy things. Moms have lifted cars off their children. I didn't stop to think, I just knew I had to get us out of there." She didn't want to remind her that she was a vampire and have her figure out that she had had Natalie drink blood. She probably would have never spoken to Clara again.
Once again, she didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anything. She put her palms back on the cement and pushed herself up about a foot. Clara reached to help, but Natalie shook her head. "I need to do this myself."
Clara backed up, giving Natalie all the room she needed. Her skin looked like the right color, so perhaps she was already healed. She held her breath, watching. Natalie continued to struggle until she was sitting up.
"Will you let me help you now?"
She looked like she was thinking about it. "Sure." She held out her hand, and Clara took it. She tried to put her other arm around Natalie, but she pushed it away. "I need to do this as much as I can on my own."
Stepping back, Clara kept her hold on Natalie's arm, giving her as much support as possible. Finally, Natalie was standing completely on her own. "How do you feel?"
"Pretty good, considering."
"Want to try walking?"
Natalie nodded, pulling her arm away from Clara's hold. She moved her right leg and then took a step. It was wobbly, but the leg appeared to hold her weight. She took another small step, and then another, until she was walking around like nothing had happened. No one would have ever guessed that her leg had been broken.
"Let's find Braydon."
"Or at least a signal. Is your car nearby?"
Natalie looked around. "It's not too far. I parked by the hair salon."
They walked back to the area where Clara had gotten them out of the building. More people had gathered outside, most of them milling around aimlessly. Each one of them looked like they were in shock.
Clara saw a guy who looked less distracted than the rest. "Does anyone know what happened?"
"Everyone thinks bombs, but nobody knows for sure." He didn't even look at her. "There's no phone signal on anyone's network, so no one can call out or check any news online."
"Thanks." Clara turned back to Natalie. "Let's get to your car."
Natalie nodded, and they continued to walk around the building, walking around dazed and injured people all along the way.
"Should we help anyone?" Natalie asked.
"I don't know what we could do." That was the truth. Clara didn't have it in her to share anymore of her blood, not that she would be able to with so many onlookers, anyway. "There are so many sirens in the distance. Some of them have to be on their way here."
"You're probably right." Natalie looked around. "We can't help all these people. I wouldn't even know what to do. I've never taken any first-aid class or anything." She looked pretty upset.
Clara put her arm around Natalie. "Someone will be here soon. We need to get to Braydon and then find out about William. At least they live in the same neighborhood."
"Oh, yeah. William. I'm sorry I didn't even ask about him."
"Don't worry about it. I'm glad you're feeling better."
They walked around the next corner of the mall in silence. As they came around to that side, a huge chunk of the wall was gone. Natalie gasped. What was left of the stores on the other side was charred beyond recognition.
A guy walked by them. He was covered in blood, and missing an arm.
Natalie took one look at him and threw up, barely avoiding her and Clara's feet. Her vomit was red, and for a moment, Clara worried that Natalie would ask abo
ut what she had given her to drink. Natalie wiped her mouth with her sleeve and looked at Clara. "Let's get out of here. I don't want to see anymore."
"Me neither. Is this where the salon was?"
She looked around. "Yeah. My car's over there." Natalie pointed kitty-corner to where they were.
Clara squinted, looking for her car. "I see it. Let's go."
"Can you drive? I can't get the image of that guy out of my mind."
"No problem."
"Didn't that gross you out? You don't seem that upset."
"I must be in shock a little myself," Clara lied. The truth was that she had seen so much blood and gore over the course of her lifetime that it rarely bothered her. It was just a part of life, even though she didn't have to see it on a daily basis.
Finally, they made it to her car. Natalie fished the keys out of her purse and unlocked the doors with her remote. She climbed into the passenger seat, handing the key to Clara.
"Maybe the radio signals are working." Clara started the car. Loud static shot out through the speakers.
Natalie pushed the volume button down. "Sorry. I was playing my favorite song on the way here."
Clara nodded. She rolled the windows down to dissipate the heat while Natalie scrolled through the radio stations. It was all static.
"Try the AM stations," Clara suggested. "Isn't that where they have the emergency systems set up or something?"
"I wouldn't know." Natalie pushed a bunch of buttons until the radio switched over to AM, and immediately they heard a voice.
They both let out a sigh of relief.
An irritating noise ran in the background, behind what the woman was saying.
"Is that the emergency signal?" asked Natalie.
"Yeah." Clara was trying to listen despite the sound. The woman speaking on the radio had a harsh voice, making it even harder to hear against the emergency sound playing in the background. She kept repeating that it wasn't a test.
"What is she saying? I'm getting a headache."
Clara turned the volume down slightly. "Maybe that will help."
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