Lanie opened her mouth to warn her dad about what was out there in the darkness, but she quickly snapped it shut. She couldn’t tell him what she’d seen, she couldn’t say anything about the…monster that might come swooping out of the shadows to tear and claw at him. Could she?
No. No, she couldn’t. If she told him…if he believed her…he would only wind up getting himself killed. He couldn’t interfere. The young man who’d saved her life was the one who knew how to fight…him.
“Come on, Chase,” Sam said, motioning to the boy to follow him toward the kitchen door. “Lanie, I’ll text you in the morning and tell you when to come to the station to give your statement.”
Lanie slid off her stool and followed her dad and Chase down the hallway and out into the foyer, where she found herself suddenly grabbing her dad in a hard hug. “Be careful, Daddy,” she whispered against his shirt, breathing in his familiar scent.
“I’m always careful, squirt,” Sam told her, hugging her back. “Try and get some rest. I’ll see you this afternoon. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said to him, holding on until she had no choice but to let go.
Sam dropped a kiss onto the top of her head and stepped out into the night, leaving Lanie to stand at the front door and watch him as he climbed into the patrol car. A fear that she’d never experienced before washed through her, bringing her heart up into her throat. She didn’t want her dad to go out into the darkness. She knew what was out there. She knew. She’d seen…And she wouldn’t know what to do if her dad didn’t come back to her. Her dad was all she had. If a monster…took him…
Lanie stepped out onto the porch, wanting to scream out, wanting to stop her dad from leaving the house, but it was too late. The patrol car was already out of the driveway and heading down the street. As the car disappeared around the corner, Lanie went back inside and closed the door, pushing the deadbolt into place and trying to block out the memory of those gleaming red eyes and long, needle-like teeth, trying to convince herself that she had nothing to worry about. Her dad would come back to her, safe and sound.
Her dad would come back to her, safe and sound.
Her dad would come back to her, safe and sound…
Maybe if she said it enough times, it would actually happen.
Sleep eluded Lanie that night. Her mind simply would not let go of what had happened to her in the park. She could not stop seeing that face…that face…it was the face of a monster.
Everything had happened so fast in the park, it all seemed like a horrible dream now, and though she had only seen that face for just a flash, for just a split second it seemed, it had been burned into her mind’s eye. She would never be able to un-see it.
That face…that face…was the face of a monster. That face…that face…was the face of a demon.
No. Not a demon. There was a word for what he was. A word that she didn’t want to even think because it sounded so utterly ridiculous. But, that’s what he was. She knew. She’d seen…
She was having a hard time getting her mind to come to terms with what her eyes had seen, yet she had seen…him. And he’d tried to kill her. In that split second when he’d come flying at her out of the night, she’d known what he wanted to do to her. He’d wanted to sink those teeth into her and…that was as far as her mind would allow her to go with the scenario.
What a terrible way to die that would have been. If that was how Stacy had died…and she just knew it was…she shuddered to think what the girl’s last few moments on earth had been like. Or what hers would have been like if the young man hadn’t been there.
She wished she could talk to that young man. She wished she could ask him…what he was. She wanted to ask him if he was like the monster who’d tried to carry her away into the night. He must be like that monster if he was able to fight…it…off. And despite the fact that he had saved her life, she honestly didn’t know how she felt about that possibility.
She thought about those seconds when she was being held in the arms of that pale, handsome…monster. Now, a few hours later, those seconds seemed like a blurry jumble, a confusion of strange thoughts and odd images, thoughts of how handsome the man was, images of his blue eyes and pale skin. Those few seconds made absolutely no sense to her. In fact, she couldn’t even be sure she was remembering them right. Maybe she wasn’t. Because she should have been remembering herself screaming and fighting and clawing instead of looking into those eyes and thinking about how beautiful they were. Maybe she’d actually struck her head on the ground and her memories had gotten all mixed up.
However, her memories of the ruggedly handsome young man who’d saved her life seemed to be very clear and concise. She remembered, in vivid detail, every second with him, ever moment from the instant she’d seen him standing over the shape lying on the ground, to him firing the crossbow into the monster coming at her, to his ordering her to get home and stay there until she heard from him. Which she fully intended on doing, even if that meant she would have to skip going to school that morning. She was not leaving the house until she’d heard from him because she knew what was out there. She knew. She’d seen…
With her thoughts winding up right back at that shape flying at her from out of the shadows, Lanie decided to get up and go downstairs for a glass of water. Lying in bed, squashed in between Devyn and Johnna, who were both sleeping soundly, was useless. She wasn’t going to be able to rest, not with her thoughts on a continuous loop that she couldn’t break.
Carefully, Lanie climbed out of bed, having to go over top of Johnna to do it, but the girl didn’t even move a muscle. Seeing Johnna lying there, sleeping so soundly, caused a waft of guilt to crest inside Lanie.
Johnna Delaney was obsessed with a certain…assumedly mythical creature, thanks to all those awful novels and movies that were out there. And Lanie knew, that deep down, Johnna actually believed those creatures existed. Johnna actually believed, though she’d never admit it, that someday she, too, would find her own brooding, tortured lover who would want to sweep her away into eternity.
How pissed Johnna would be that her best friend wasn’t sharing with her the knowledge that those creatures were really roaming the earth.
She actually might have told Johnna the truth of it, had the creature she’d encountered in the park been one of those haunted, ruminating, overly handsome, perfectly coiffed types that walked in slow motion and also happened to be embedded with dazzling gemstones that glittered in the sunlight.
That sort of being was soft and glamorous and alluring, if not completely annoying. What she had come across in the park, though, that being was not so soft and alluring, nor was he all mesmerizingly iridescent. It was probably better if Johnna kept her dreams set on the twinkly vision in her head. At least that one wouldn’t tear her throat out and leave her lying in a heap in the middle of a deserted park.
Once she was out of bed, Lanie grabbed her robe from off the hook on the bathroom door, slid it on, and slipped out of the room, quietly moving down the hallway and toward the staircase. The house was silent around her, which she’d never minded before, but now the stillness gave her an eerie feeling, causing her stomach to tighten and apprehension to tingle up her spine. She was uneasy in her own home, her sanctuary, the place where she had always felt the most comfortable, the most comforted. And it wasn’t fair.
It almost seemed a sacrilege to be in such a familiar place, surrounded by such familiar things, and yet feel as if some sinister and foreign presence was taking over.
Lanie recognized that sinister presence for what it was. Fear. But, that only made it worse for her. To be afraid in her own home, to be afraid of what might be lurking outside her own home, was a violation. Yet, there was nothing she could do about it. She was aware of what was out there now, prowling through the night, and there was no going back.
Nothing would ever be the same for her. Not ever again.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs and began passing through the foyer, Lanie was
suddenly swept with the urge to peek out the oval window in the front door, but she hesitated. What if she peeked out and…saw someone? And not just any someone. What if she saw…him? What if she saw him outside in the darkness? What would she do? What if he decided to try and get inside? Someone…like him…probably wouldn’t let doors and windows and locks stop him.
Deciding it was probably best if she didn’t look outside, she went on into the kitchen, forgoing the glass of water and opting for a glass of sweet tea instead. She felt like she could use the hit of sugar. And then she decided to heat herself up a slice of Aunt Gretchen’s lasagna because it dawned on her that he stomach felt rather empty. It then occurred to her that there hadn’t been a Sunday dinner prepared in the Bancroft household that day. This was the first time in memory that Sam Bancroft hadn’t sat down at his table with his family to enjoy a meal and catch up on the week. That knowledge left Lanie feeling rattled.
Plate and glass in hand, Lanie headed back through the house and toward the living room, where she intended on watching infomercials until she either fell asleep or the sun came up, whichever happened first.
However, on her way back through the foyer, she was again swept with that urge to look out the window, just to make sure no one was out there in the darkness. Pausing halfway across the entryway, Lanie stood, debating heavily with herself. If she actually saw…him outside her house, it would accomplish nothing but giving her a heart attack.
For a long minute, Lanie waffled back and forth, but in the end, she gave in and moved toward the front door. If he was out there, then she wanted to know. Better to see him coming so that she could prepare herself. If she was going to die, she wanted to face her death head on. She wasn’t fond of surprises.
At the door, Lanie hesitated, her heart thudding hard against her chest and her breath coming in loud, uneven spurts. Once she pulled the sheer curtain aside and looked out, she wouldn’t be able to un-see anything that might be out there. But, she did it anyway. Carefully setting her glass on the edge of her plate, she lifted a trembling hand to the sheer and slowly pushed it aside, her stomach knotted and dread coursing over her, praying that she find the night still and empty.
Carefully, Lanie peeked out through the window, stalling a moment while her eyes adjusted to the gloom. When she could finally see enough to make out the dim shapes of the world outside, a painful start jolted through her and she heard herself let out a sharp gasp.
There, sitting on her front steps, leaning back against the porch railing, was a figure wearing a long leather coat and high combat boots, his wheat colored hair looking like burnished gold in the soft glow of the street lamp just down the way.
Lanie stood frozen for a second, her heart in her throat and panic cresting inside her, unsure exactly what she should do. Should she call her dad, which is what she normally would do if she saw a strange man sitting on her porch in the middle of the night?
But, no. She would not be calling her dad. That was what she would have done under ordinary circumstances. But, ordinary circumstances these were not. She needed to speak to the young man sitting on her porch, not have him arrested.
Pulling in a fortifying breath, Lanie stepped away from the window and reached for the deadbolt, hoping she wasn’t taking her life in her hands, and really hoping that Sheriff Bancroft never found out what she was doing. Balancing the plate and glass, she unlocked the deadbolt and pulled the door open only to find the young man standing right in front of her, his tall, lean frame blocking her exit.
“What are you doing?” he demanded, his green eyes sparking and his expression suspicious.
Lanie, little shards of fear slicing through her belly, fought hard not to slam the door shut and run for her phone. “I-I…I was coming out to talk to you. You-you told me to come home and wait to hear from you,” she answered in a wavering voice.
The young man’s suspicious expression softened, but he did not step away from the door. “Right. And you’re hearing me tell you to close the door and go back to bed. You shouldn’t be out here.”
“Why? Is…is…he out here?” she whispered, the trepidation in her voice making her sound like a scared little girl.
“Probably,” came the answer. “Now, go back to bed. I’ll be out here watching the house.”
Sure. She’d go back to bed and get a restful night’s sleep, knowing that there was a ruggedly handsome man sitting on her porch—with his crossbow, which she now noticed was clutched in his hand—guarding her house from the…monster that had nearly carried her off into the night.
“I’m not going back to bed,” she told him, trying to inject a bit of firmness into her tone. “I-I want to know what’s going on here.”
She was actually intelligent enough to have pretty much figured it out on her own, but she wanted to hear someone else say it out loud, just so she didn’t feel quite so…crazy.
“I think it’s a better idea for you to go back to bed,” the young man told her, his voice stern.
Anger flared up inside Lanie and her spine stiffened. Her father was not at home and as far as she knew, she hadn’t asked for a surrogate. “I’ll go back to bed when I’m good and ready!” she shot at the young man. “You told me to come home and wait to hear from you, and now I’m waiting to hear from you! So, talk!”
Her little outburst seemed to take the man aback, but not enough to move him away from the door. “Don’t you remember what almost happened to you tonight? You should be inside where it’s safe.”
Yes. In fact, she did remember. Which is why she would not be going back inside until the young man had spoken the word that she wanted to hear. “You can stop telling me what to do. It’s a waste of breath,” she said hoitily, taking the glass of sweet tea from the edge of the plate and fairly elbowing her way past the young man.
Really! A wild eyed, murderous…creature had tried to make her the next body to be found in the park and this man just wanted her to go back to bed as if nothing at all had happened!
Once she was past the hulking wall of leather and stubble trying to keep her inside the house, Lanie padded across the front porch and over to the steps, plopping down there and waiting for the young man to join her. Perhaps being outside in the night wasn’t the brightest of ideas, especially knowing what might be skulking about in the shadows, but she did have a young man armed with a crossbow there with her, so she’d risk it.
Only a moment later, she heard heavy footsteps on the porch and the young man appeared, taking a seat beside her, his crossbow resting on his knee. “Are you always so stubborn?” he asked, turning his sparkling green gaze to her, his brows lowered in consternation.
“Maybe,” she shrugged, deciding to hold out the plate and glass to the young man. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” he said stiffly. “And you really should go back inside.”
“Why? Do you really think…he…might come here and…” she left the thought open ended, turning a quick glance out over the yard and the street beyond, but found only blackness.
“I’m not sure, but that’s what I’m prepared for,” the young man stated honestly. “He’s capable of anything, so giving him the benefit of the doubt will get you killed.”
Lanie looked back to the young man, her breath coming just a little faster now. “Who…who is he?” she asked hoarsely, though that wasn’t the question that was at the forefront of her mind.
“His name is Frederik,” the young man answered. “At least, I think that’s his real name.”
Lanie swallowed hard, preparing to force the next words out. “And he-he…he’s…is he…what is…he?” she fumbled.
She wanted to hear it said out loud because she could never be the one who said it first.
The young man’s ruggedly handsome features suddenly became unreadable. “He’s a vampire,” he stated matter-of-factly.
Something akin to a feeling of scorn ran over Lanie at hearing that word said out loud. How ridiculous it sounded! Yet, she
’d seen it with her own eyes, so that was the word she’d wanted to hear. The ashen skin, the eyes that were gleaming like two polished rubies, the long, razor-sharp teeth that were made for tearing through layers of flesh, she knew there was no other word. She knew. She’d seen…
“You should go back into the house. You’ll be safe in there,” the young man told her firmly.
“Why will I be safe in there?” she asked him, her mind still grappling to accept that word. “He…he really can’t…can’t…you know?”
Accepting that word was hard enough, but accepting the notion that a wild eyed, blood thirsty monster couldn’t get into her house simply because he hadn’t been politely asked to come in, was even harder.
“He really can’t,” came the response. “Not unless he’s invited. Which, I would not do if I were you.”
That was not something he needed to worry about. She would not be inviting any snarling, frothing, red eyed…vampires…who knocked on her door into her house any time soon.
“Do…do you really think he might…try again?” she croaked out, that prospect sending terror skittering through her. She wouldn’t ask how Frederik would know where she lived because finding her clearly wasn’t that hard. The young man sitting next to her had managed it with apparent ease.
“I don’t know,” the young man replied. “He was obviously following you, waiting for an opportunity to make a try for you. And since I stopped him, who knows what he might do. I’m hoping he’ll just move on.”
If he moved on, then did that mean he would find someone else to…leave in a heap in the park?
“So…what am I supposed to do?” she questioned. “I-I…can’t hide in the house.” She had a life, she had responsibilities at school. Hiding behind a locked door was not an option.
“I know you can’t,” he agreed with her.
Hunted Page 12
