“I won’t pretend to know why you’re here or why you might want to stay. I’ll only say that if you do decide to stay, I want to finish the real tour. You need to know a few things about this town if you plan to survive in it.”
Choice 36
Leave town while I still can
I want to see more
Let him go.
I don’t follow Spencer out for several reasons. First of all, he could be lying to me. I can’t believe that the guy who has been cold and callous all week is suddenly a Good Samaritan. It’d be pretty damn convenient.
Unless you’ve misunderstood his antagonism, a quiet voice warns.
Whatever.
I also don’t follow him out because doing so means leaving Katie alone with these guys, unattended. And while they may be bad news, at least here there are dozens of eyes on them. If I left her alone, anything could happen. She could think I ditched her and leave with them.
No. Best to stay put and make sure nothing happens to her. I would want someone to do the same for me.
The one good thing about that awkward and downright infuriating exchange with Spencer is that my head feels clear now. I no longer have the drunk, dizziness consuming me like it did when I was in the booth.
The downside, however, is that now the situation seems clearer.
The guys in the booth do look pretty shady. I don’t like the predatory way they fawn over Katie, who seems to be soaking in their attention the way one soaks in sunshine on the beach.
“You want another dirty martini?” a voice asks.
I turn and see the bartender standing at the edge of the bar, one hand resting on the polished wood. Her black painted nails gleam in the bar’s light.
“No, I think I’ve had enough,” I say. “That last one went to my head pretty fast.”
“It wasn’t the drink,” the bartender says with an arched brow. “I mean, I make them strong, no denying it. But what you were feeling in the booth wasn’t the drink. Can I give you some unsolicited advice?” she asks.
I shrug, settling my forearms against the bar. “Why not? Everyone else is doing it.”
“Ditch those guys.”
To hear Spencer’s words echoed so soon chaffs. Was Spencer telling the truth, being straight up with me? Did I really misunderstand him this whole time?
“I know, I know,” she says. “I don’t know you, and I’m telling you what to do. But I do know them, and I know what they’re after, and I’d hate to see something happen to you. Do what you want, but I didn’t want to go home tonight with that on my head.”
She seems awfully sincere.
“What’s their story?” I ask.
Kristine considers how to answer for longer than I think is really necessary. Then she speaks so low I can barely hear her. “They were accused of murdering a woman and skipped town before their trial. But everyone knows they did it.”
Murderers who got away with it. Just great.
Kristine points across the bar at Katie. Katie and her two escorts are making for the door.
“Get her away from them,” Kristine warns. “Call if you need help. I’ve got great hearing.”
I thank her and hurry through the throng of people to catch up with them. But they’re moving fast. So fast that we’re already through the wooden door and out on the street before I manage to grab hold of Katie.
“Hey! Are you ditching me here?”
“Hey!” she says, looking very very drunk with glassy eyes and a stupid grin. She tries to pull her elbow out of my grip. “Where’d you come from?”
I don’t know what to say to that. “Come on. You can’t leave me here. You were my ride.”
I start to pull her away from the guys, but the closest seizes her other arm.
“Don’t ruin the party,” he says, his breath hot on my cheek. “There’s room for both of you.”
He gestures toward the black car on the curb with its dark tint.
“I don’t think so,” I say. “Come on, Katie. Let’s go back inside.”
“Baltimore, don’t be a buzz kill.” Katie wraps one hand on the car door and starts to climb inside.
Choice 37
Get into the car with Katie
Call for Kristine’s help
Get into the car with Katie.
I climb into the backseat of the car in Katie’s wake. I still think this is incredibly stupid and risky. What chance do we have against these two guys? We need help. I know what I’ll do. I’ll call the bar and tell Kristine where they’re taking us. Or I can call 911 and tell them.
Anyone. I’ll call anyone. I’ll be discreet about it.
I reach my hand into my pocket and wrap it around my cell phone. I’m about to pull it out, but the other man slides in beside me, pinning me in the middle of the backseat.
His aftershave is overpowering in the tight, dark, space and I feel that wave of confusion wafting over me.
I’m worried I should have called for Kristine after all. Not only because my hand is pinned against my side now, but because I can’t remember what I was about to do.
Something about my cell phone. I needed to make a call. A very important call.
But this guy’s breath is hot on my neck. His hand is on the back of my head, wrapping itself up in my hair.
“I don’t know if I can wait until we get to the heights,” he breathes. “This one smells amazing. I think she’s got a drop of something extra in her.”
“Henry,” the driver warns. “Wait until we get to the Heights. The smell of blood in town will leave a trail.”
A warm tongue licks up the side of my neck and he sighs, warming it. “If you insist.”
A distant, desperate part of me feels my body relaxing and is horrified. Don’t give in, it begs. Don’t.
But that part of me is small and so far away.
Katie is babbling on beside me, and I don’t even know what she’s saying. Instead my eyes are fixed on the bright moon hanging over the ocean. We must be on Canyon Road. Only a couple streets in the city have this wide, unfettered view of the water, stretching out to the endless horizon.
I turn briefly at the flash of neon, The Crossroads. That strange, rough-type bar at the edge of town made up to resemble an old-timey saloon from the Wild Wild West. But the wooden porch and blare of music barely register as the car speeds past, continuing its climb up to the Heights.
The car tires grind to halt in the gravel as it pulls off the main road.
“Here we are, ladies. The Heights.”
The door beside Katie opens, and she falls out into the driver’s arms.
More strong arms wrap around my chest, hauling me backward out of the car.
“Come on,” Henry whispers in my ears. “You’ll love the view up here.”
He walks us across the road until nothing but the edge of the forest looms in front of us at the edge of the vast field.
“Keep up, ladies, keep up.” Henry is all laughs now.
“Where are we going?” Katie asks.
It’s more than I can manage. Henry is keeping himself close, drowning me in his scent.
“We’re going to take a little moonlit stroll,” Richard says, laughing. “You aren’t afraid of the woods, are you girls?”
“No,” Katie laughs, hanging in his arms. This only seems to delight Richard more. “I love the dark.”
“Love the dark? Do I have a treat for you,” he says.
But I’m seeing the looming forest approach. The distortion of the world makes it seem like that the trees are coming at me rather than the reverse.
“No,” I say. “No, I don’t want to go in there.”
“You’ll like it,” Henry says. “It’s so beautiful in there.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” Katie says, giggling.
“Only the delicious ones.” He laughs as if he’s made the best joke.
A fresh breeze blows across the grassy field stretching between the road and the forest. My head clears
.
“No,” I say. I pull back as my mind regains focus. My heels sink into the grass, stopping the monstrous forest in its track. “No.”
“Don’t ruin the fun,” Richard coos.
“No.” My voice finds me. I’m screaming now. “Let go of me!”
A sharp, hot pain stabs down through my neck and chest. I can feel it all the way in my navel.
My cry drowns in the blood bubbling up between my lips and down my chin. I look up, and for a moment, all I can see are the stars above. So clear and bright. A thick strip of the milky way hanging like dust in a calm pool.
A hideous sucking sound joins the pounding in my ears and head.
My vision swims, and I sag in the arms holding me.
I’m so cold. So, so cold.
Straight ahead, I see Richard lift Katie and throw her into the forest. Every limb is limp, unmoving. I hear her hit the forest floor, but I don’t see it. The darkness has already swallowed her whole.
“Ah, that’s better,” Richard says, wiping at his mouth with his thumb. “I’m ready to take on Ethan’s lesbian bitch now.”
Henry doesn’t reply because he’s still holding onto me, clutching me against his hard and unforgiving chest.
“Christ. You intend to get every drop?”
Henry only sucks harder.
“Hurry up. I want plenty of time with Josephine before the sun rises. I don’t suspect she’ll give up the location of the tomb easily.”
The mouth around my throat pulls back. And before I can collapse from the sudden lack of pressure, I’m lifted high in the air and thrown.
Trees and darkness whiz past me, and I am foolish enough to think I might fly like this forever—through the dark, like a night dove.
But then the ground reaches up to meet me. My shoulder hits hard, and I don’t even have enough life left in me to cry out, even though the pain is excruciating.
Something in my back cracks, and all at once my arms and legs go to sleep. I can’t feel the earth underneath me, nor can I move from where I fell. I can only see the trunk of the tree that my body wrapped itself around.
The rich scent of pines cloaks us. I say us, but at first, I don’t know if Katie is nearby or not. But then I hear her soft crying.
She can’t be too far from where I fell.
Stop crying, I want to beg. It’ll be okay. I’ve just got to get myself up and…
But I can’t get my voice to cooperate.
And it’s too late anyway.
Something has heard Katie and knows there’s easy prey to be had.
Feet—or hooves—pound through the underbrush. Branches crack and leaves rustle.
Something is coming.
Something wants to finish what the vampires started.
When Katie’s cry explodes, full throated into the night, I’m suddenly grateful I can feel nothing at all. Because the limb I hear snapping doesn’t belong to a tree. And that foul, blood-scented air rolling over my face isn’t the wind.
The End
Create a new story
Call for Kristine’s help.
Hell no.
She isn’t getting in this car with these guys. I grab Katie and pull hard. I’m not trying to hurt her, but I feel like a bruise is better than what might happen if she gets into a stranger’s car.
“Balt—”
“No!” I scream louder. “Kristine!”
“Hey!” Katie shrieks and tries to wiggle out of my grasp.
But I can shriek, too. “You don’t know them. You can’t just leave with them! Get out of there!”
I feel a rough hand on my back, shoving me toward the car. Nice guys don’t try to stuff women into the back of their car. If I had any lingering doubts that these guys were trouble, they vanish. My adrenaline surges, heart pounding.
We’re going to be abducted. Oh my god, we’re going to be abducted.
The hell we are! the fighter in me replies.
I scream. “Kristine. Kristine!”
The weight at my back disappears, and I stumble in its sudden absence.
I hit the pavement hard, whacking the back of my head against the concrete. For a moment, all I can do is lay there and stare at the sky. Endless stars dance behind shifting clouds, bright with moonlight.
“You okay?” a familiar voice asks. Someone hauls me up, sending the night into a tailspin around me. I swallow down the nausea. “Damn, Jack. You could’ve busted her skull open on the pavement.”
“A busted skull would’ve been the least of her problems.”
Kristine sighs. “Fair enough. Hey, how many fingers am I holding up?”
I try to focus on the wiggling flesh two inches in front of my face. “Four?”
“Close enough.”
“Where’s Katie?”
No one answers me.
“Where’s Katie?”
“She wouldn’t get out of the car,” Jack says.
“I need to go after her. Do you know where they went?” I beg. My heart races. How could she do that? How could she just leave with those guys? Didn’t it feel all wrong to her?
“It’s not her fault,” Jack says quietly. “She didn’t stand a chance.”
Kristine growls. “Watch what you say. She just moved here.”
Why are they talking about me like I’m not here?
“Are you going to come back inside on your own two feet or do I have to carry you?” Kristine asks, her golden eyes stern.
Choice 38
Go into the bar and get checked out
Go home and go to bed
Try to find Katie. She could be in serious trouble
Go into the bar and get checked out.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start,” I say. And I realize it’s true. Katie drove us here, so I wouldn’t get very far even if I chased after her. I have no vehicle. And where would I be chasing to exactly? It’s not like she left an address.
“I reported those guys,” Kristine says, tugging at my elbow again. “They’ll be on the lookout for her.”
That settles it. I won’t be able to help her tonight, but I can help myself. “I need a cab.”
“Then let’s call you a cab.” She motions toward the bar, trying for the millionth time to get me to come inside.
Jack holds the door open for us. The roar of the bar hits us full force. I’m not sure if it’s louder than it was when I came in earlier, or if my headache is amplifying this sound unpleasantly.
I grimace.
“I’ve got some aspirin for that headache, too. If you’ve got a concussion, you probably shouldn’t go to bed before you’re checked out.”
I shake my head. This only makes it throb more.
“Let me shine a penlight in your eyes at least. I’ve got one in the cash register.”
“Why do you have a penlight in the cash register?” I ask.
“Because there’s a hole in the back and money falls through. If we’re short, I have to shine a light back there and check.”
I must make a face, surprised that she’s willing to share such important information. She laughs.
“Going to rob me now, Baltimore?”
I stiffen. “Do I look like a thief?”
“Looks are deceiving in Castle Cove. It doesn’t matter how cute you are, you can still be dangerous.”
She crosses the bar, and I notice how the crowd simply parts for her. Must be nice. Someone is always perpetually stepping on my toes or spilling beer onto my hair.
Once Kristine is behind the bar, a buxom bleached blonde, whose hair is pulled up in twin pigtails, hands her the phone. The ends of her pigtails are black as if dipped in ink.
I slide into an empty bar stool across from Kristine, just left of the register. I don’t miss the serious shift in the room’s energy. With those guys gone, the mood has relaxed. Laughter reverberates off the walls and the space actually feels warmer. Cozier.
Of course, this only makes me worry more about Katie.
What did you ge
t yourself into? I wonder.
The register dings, and the drawer pops open. Kristine produces a black penlight. She does indeed flash it into my eyes. It leaves my vision spotty.
I swear under my breath. “You could at least buy me a drink first.”
“I already did that, remember?” she says. She lowers the light and clicks it off. “You’re okay.”
“Are you a medical professional?”
She laughs. She fills a glass of water from the filtered tap.
For a moment, all I can do it look at it, nausea rolling me.
She arches a brow and throws a cherry in it. “Drink up.”
“Is the cherry supposed to make it festive?”
“Hydrate,” she commands. “You need to clear your head.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Who says I’m being nice?”
“So you’re like this toward everyone?”
The bartender with the black-tipped pigtails laughs.
“No,” Kristine says, exchanging a grin with the other bartender. “Not everyone.”
Then she turns back to me, giving me a long hard look.
“Maybe I think you’re cute,” Kristine says at last. “And maybe I don’t like guys who prey on women.”
My face warms.
“Whatever happens to your friend tonight, it’s not your fault. Or hers,” Kristine says.
I did try to help Katie. I can’t think of anything else I could’ve possibly done for her, yet I can’t shake a horrible feeling.
The phone rings and she presses it to her ear. “Alpha’s.”
“Yeah, Dwayne, I need a cab. No, not me.” Kristine’s eyes meet mine. “Where do you live?”
“Old Town.”
Kristine repeats this to whomever is on the line. “Yep.”
She hangs up. “Five minutes.”
“Five minutes. That’s fast.”
Welcome to Castle Cove: A Design Your Destiny Novel Page 17
