Innocently Evil (A Kitty Bloom Novel)

by Beadsmoore, Felicity

  Max’s head lifted at my words and his eyes connected to mine through the mirror. His bright amber eyes glowed luminously against the darkness of his form as he glared at me, clearly surprised and irritated by the interruption.

  “How do you know me, Max,” I asked with a mischievous, but frustrated smile.

  His mouth closed and his jaw tensed, then he straightened and took a step back from me. A flash of worry and pain washed across his hardened expression, before it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. His eyes dropped hurriedly from mine and he turned his head away. “It’s nearly morning,” he said, painfully, like he had something hard in his throat. “I must go.” He stalked towards the bathroom door, then stopped and turned his head to me. “Get some rest,” he said softly. “You’ll need it for tonight.”

  Then, he was gone, slipping out the door and vanishing into the shadows. I didn’t even hear the double doors close.

  Twenty: Under Lock and Key

  It didn’t take long for me to search the room for exits. Besides the main double door entrance, there was a small barred window in the bathroom, just big enough for a cat to climb through if the window hadn’t also been sealed shut and three storeys from the ground. Other than that there was a reasonably sized stained glass window behind a curtain by the bed, but that, too, had huge jail-like bars to stop me from escaping. I was starting to think that this bedroom was more of a prison cell than a room for guests, unless they happened to be dinner guests.

  After shaking the immovable bars by the horridly graphic stained glass window which displayed a dragon eating a villager, I finally resolved to focus on the next item on my list: calling for help. I was pretty sure deep down that calling of any kind inside this house of horrors would get me into lots of trouble, if not kill me. So the calling that I had in mind was more a long shot idea born of desperation than a plan that actually made any sense.

  I sat down on the edge of the tousled bed and closed my eyes. I really had no idea what I was planning to do or how exactly I was going to do it. All I knew was that I was going to try to mentally call out to Sam, and hope that he’d hear me and come to my rescue—somehow.

  With my eyes closed tight, I wiggled myself into a more comfortable position and tried to balance my breathing. In and out, in and out. I breathed slowly, until I began to relax and rid myself of the niggling claustrophobic feelings. Then I tried to make my mind reach out to find Sam. I forced my mind to think of him, to focus on him and to try to bring him closer to me, but all I could feel was emptiness. As I reached out, I seemed to hit a mental wall, a swelling darkness that appeared to be swallowing my thoughts. I’d push my mind out further and the wall of darkness would push back. A few minutes into the game of push and shove, I gave up and decided that I’d have to deal with this situation alone.

  I opened my eyes and pushed myself unhappily off the edge of the bed and stood sullenly taking in the surroundings of the room. “At least I’m not locked in a dungeon,” I sighed ungratefully, as I kicked at the expensive Persian rug by my feet.

  I took a deep breath in and then let it out in a long, frustrated sigh. My hands plopped themselves stubbornly onto my hips and I gazed around the room for something to occupy myself. A tall, ancient looking red wood cupboard stood in the left corner of the room opposite the bathroom. In my purposeless and sleep abstaining situation I decided to investigate. The cupboard itself was taller than me and its huge heavy doors were carved intricately with detailed floral vines. I wrapped both hands around each separate brass door handle and pulled, exposing the contents of the cupboard to the barrenness of the room.

  In one corner were two modern ball gowns. One was a sleek black silhouette of a dress with gold trimmings around the waist, neckline and skirt, while the other was a vibrant sapphire blue with an off-the-shoulder frill and a long, full ballerina-like skirt. Both of them were very clearly not me and I fervently hoped that I was not going to have to wear either of them. In the other corner, to my surprise, was the stunning red dress that I’d left in its garment box in my room earlier that night. Unless it was an identical copy, someone must have gone back to my house to get it. I touched its soft silky fabric, caressing it between my thumb and fingertip. Now this was a dress I’d wear.

  In the bottom of the cupboard below the crimson silk dress, was an arrangement of shoes. There were black stilettos, blue kitten heels and scarlet pumps, all a perfect color match and style to the dresses hanging elegantly above them. Then I noticed a thin, black slip of material folded neatly in the centre of the cupboard floor. I bent and knelt low, then with fingertips pinching the protruding straps, I lifted the material up and saw that the Tiennans had provided me with a nightdress. Personally, I thought it looked more along the lines of a slutty slip, than something a girl would wear to bed specifically for sleep, but I had a feeling it was meant to impress them more than me.

  I dropped the tiny nightgown back onto the floor of the cupboard and stood up. There was no way in hell that I was going to parade myself around in that purely for their pleasure. I closed the cupboard doors, more abruptly than I’d meant to and they slammed, filling the disturbing silence and making me jump. My heart stopped and started beating again fiercely and I noticed despondently that my paranoia was creeping up on me once again.

  I raised my hand to my eyes and wiped them, suddenly feeling more tired than I wanted myself to know. A large yawn escaped my mouth and I felt overwhelmingly sleepy. Shaking my head slightly, I tried to shake the tiredness from me and ordered myself to wake up. Then, I yawned again. “That’s it,” I said annoyed at myself. “It’s time for some cold water.”

  Taking a few heavy steps, I dragged myself towards the bathroom and forced my exhausted body inside. I spun the cold water tap on and splashed some of the icy water onto my face. The chilly liquid seemed to shock my warm skin initially as the two connected, yet the dopey feeling of weariness wouldn’t leave me. I looked up into the mirror at my pale blood covered reflection and tried to find the energy to clean myself up. I grabbed a fluffy, black hand towel from the towel rack on the wall beside me and dipped it under the cool flowing water of the tap. After turning the tap off and wringing the cloth, I lifted it to my face and tried to scratch some of the drier blood from my chin and neck. As I gazed at myself while I scrubbed away the bad memories of the evening, a golden light behind me to my left drew my attention away from the task at hand.

  A warm, yellow glow rose slowly above the dark, blurry waves of the mountainside surrounding Saint Jean. I stepped away from the mirror and closer to the window, internally grateful for the new morning light. I closed my eyes, letting the distant daylight wash over me and felt for the first time tremendously thankful for the peace that I knew the light would bring.

  All of a sudden, my body fell weak, as if my guard had finally allowed itself to drop in the safety and the security of morning, and I no longer had the energy to abstain from a decent sleep. I opened my eyes slightly and felt my head threaten to collapse backwards, pulling me into the peaceful darkness of slumber. Licking my dry lips, I forced my head upright for a moment longer, dropped the damp cloth onto the basin top and dragged myself out into the wide open space of the bedroom. I rounded the edge of the bed, then threw myself into its soft, cloud-like embrace and closed my eyes. In a matter of seconds, my body went numb and relaxed into the refuge of the supple, satin bed sheets. Then, with my worry and paranoia put to rest by the sweet light of day, I allowed my mind to gently drift into a deep dreamland free of fear and darkness.

  Darkness engulfed me, it surrounded me. There was nothing but a hollow, suffocating blackness. Until—a voice, calling me, shining a torchlight of clarity through the ever murky, bewildering shadow.

  “Kitty,” it called, a voice without a male or female distinction. “Kitty.”

  The piercing light flickered through the dark, threatening to expose me, to separate me from the embrace of night. Fear stirred deep inside me and I knew not what to trust. Dark
ness would swallow me whole and silently steal the breath from my lungs, while light would scald me, burning the inescapable truth into my heart and soul. A middle ground, a limbo was what I desired. The demands and opportunities of both realms mixed in one would surely enable me to thrive, but this choice was not one that I was offered. So, my dance between light and dark would forever continue, until an area of grey was created.

  “Kitty,” called the voice again, an echo vibrating deep within my mind. “Kitty, where are you?”

  An image of golden hair and violet eyes stole my attention from the intoxicating dance and my eyes fluttered open. I was in a room, a tiny, empty room with dull white walls and a claustrophobically low ceiling. In front of me was a small, black door, just large enough for a normal sized person to crawl through. I resisted the urge of curiosity to discover what was on the other side and instead glanced around me.

  The four surrounding walls encased me inside the room offering me no escape other than the miniature, black door. I took an inquisitive step forward, fighting the need to open the tiny door, and suddenly the walls began to creak towards me. Slowly at first, they groaned and pushed closer bringing even the black door, my only chance of escape, nearer to me. Then their speed increased and a voice, a familiar voice, called to me.

  “Kitty,” it said, in deep male tones. “Kitty, I can’t find you.”

  The walls came closer and the only way out, my only option, was to crawl through the small, black door. Giving in to temptation out of necessity, I turned the doorknob and crawled through the door to the safety of the other side. Darkness surrounded me once more and although I couldn’t see anything, there was a cold, hard feel of scuffed cement beneath my hands and knees. I crawled cautiously forward until my fingertips touched something with a cold, sharp edge and I stopped.

  I knelt carefully where I was and used my hands to feel the obstruction in front of me. My fingertips traced the sharp edge at the bottom to a solid flat object and then up to a thick, round bar, stretching higher than I could reach above me. I let go of the bar and then reached out directly in front of me with my hands and fingers spread. To my horror my hands found yet another two bars that reached up and up above my head. My heartbeat increased and fear overpowered me. I was trapped in the dark with no way out.

  “Hello,” I cried out helplessly to the shadows. “Is anyone there?”

  In a burst of bright, hot light the room was illuminated and I could see the black metal bars before me. I spun my head around and saw that my fear had become reality. I was in a tall, strong metal cage with prison bars surrounding me and leaving little, but tiny gaps between them.

  “Help,” I screamed feeling tears welling in my eyes. I sobbed, unable to hide my distress, feeling completely and utterly powerless, until I heard a faint footstep. “Hello,” I called desperately, searching the thick darkness just beyond the cage walls for any sign of rescue.

  “Kitty,” a male voice called back, bouncing off the walls of the cage and the surrounding dark like some distant echo.

  I stared deep into the darkness desperate to discover a savior who could free me from my prison, but only the density of the dark stared back. With my fingers gripping the bars in front of me, I pulled myself forward and gazed hopelessly into the shadows. “Hello,” I all but whimpered to the silent emptiness of the surrounding gloom. But, there was no answer, not a word, not a footstep, not a noise. I was all alone and trapped, at the mercy of my cage.

  I let out a helpless sigh and dropped my forehead gently onto the cold metal of the bars in front of me. There was nothing more for me to do, except give up. A heartfelt cry escaped me and I couldn’t stop my body from shaking violently with each sob thereafter.

  Then, like the whisper of a butterfly’s wings on the wind, the voice returned.

  “Kitty,” it called quietly to me from some distant realm. “Kitty, where are you?”

  A handsomely boyish face flashed into my mind and his reassuring violet eyes filled me with hope.

  “Sam,” I whispered to the darkness in front of me as I slowly raised my head. Yet still, there was nothing there, but the thick, threatening wall of night. Then another quiet footstep hit the ground somewhere in front of me.

  I sat up a little straighter, as the anticipation of rescue filled my mind, and I peered hard into the shadows. “Sam,” I called out, my voice growing louder with expectation. “Sam, is that you? Help me.”

  His beautiful face pushed itself into my mind and I couldn’t help but focus all my attention on how much I needed him. Desperately and everlastingly I needed him. Now and forever. “Save me,” I said, as I squeezed my eyes shut at the strong, life-like image of him in my head. “Don’t leave me.”

  A moment passed and all remained silent, then another footstep, this time louder and closer, thumped onto the cement and disturbed the empty silence. My eyes snapped open and there emerging from the darkness like an angelic hero entering the light, was Sam. I cried out in joy, an insatiably girlish noise that I regretted as soon as it had left my mouth. I swallowed back my frantic damsel-in-distress appreciation after the memory of our last moment together washed into my mind. The shame of my earlier stubbornness turned my cheeks pink and I found that I was at a loss for words. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but didn’t know the right thing to say. My eyes dropped from his and I hung my head ashamed by my mistake.

  “Kitty,” Sam exclaimed, and I heard his footsteps pound on the cement as he ran over to me.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him kneel in front of me and stretch his fingers through the bars. His fingertips reached under my chin and he lifted my head up to look at him. The sincerity and worry in his eyes made my heart ache and the shame at my earlier actions left me.

  “Sam,” I whispered, sadly. “I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you, but I had to try to save her.”

  Concern and confusion filled Sam’s eyes as he looked at me. “What do you mean,” he said, trying to understand. “Save who?” His dark violet eyes left mine for a moment, exploring the cage around me and the wall of darkness fighting against the edge of our light.

  Suddenly, his eyes returned to mine and he moved slightly closer. “Kitty,” he said shaking his head. “Where are you? I’ve been trying all day to reach you, but it’s like there’s a wall between us. What’s happened to you?”

  I let out a small sigh and a sob of relief at his concern for my wellbeing and I finally began to feel a bit safer. Pressing my head close to the prison bars, I tried to get as close as possible to the only person who could help me. I smiled half-heartedly up at Sam, and then bit my lip as I attempted to come up with the best way to explain my situation. “So much has happened,” I said woefully. “I just don’t know where to begin.”

  Sam’s eyes looked deep into mine and they reassured me that he was willing and ready to understand. I took a deep breath and sighed. It was now or never, I had to tell him.

  I opened my mouth and the necessary words just flowed out. I told him about the note I found upon coming home, about sharing consciousness with my evil side and about the werewolf. Tears filled my eyes as I told him about Max coming to my rescue and about how close we’d gotten before he showed his true colors once more. I explained to him how worried I’d been about my mum after finding the other letter and how desperate I was to try to save her before it was too late. Then, through burning hot tears, I told him what Max and his father had done to her, how she’d become a vampire and how all three of them had the same plan for me.

  Sam’s fingers left my chin and crept up my cheek to wipe away the warm, falling tears escaping from my eyes. His expression was filled with empathy and love, completely unlike the I-told-you-so or you’ve-betrayed-me expressions I had imagined. I looked deep into his eyes, forcing myself to be strong, and I prepared to tell him the last important point.

  “Max bit me,” I said quietly. “Sometime while I was unconscious after Louis hit me, he drank from me. Plus—he k
nows. He tricked me, her and me, and she took control before I could stop her. So, he knows. He knows that we’ve connected, that we share a consciousness and that we can join together and become one if necessary.” I let out a hopeless sob, feeling the weight and reality of my words as I verbalized the truth. I shut my eyes tight and bit my bottom lip hard, fighting back the chest shaking sobs that I could feel dying to flow out of me.

  Sam’s fingertips wiped several more tears from beneath my damp eyelashes and then stroked lightly over my cheek bone. “Don’t cry,” he said compassionately. “It won’t help. You’ve got to take it in and make yourself stronger. Dwelling on the problems and mistakes of the past will get you nowhere. You have to focus on the future, your future. You have to get through this. I know you can.”

  I opened my eyes, feeling my wet eyelashes separate and set free a couple more painful tears. Sam stared at me, his face filling with worry as my bottom lip quivered. His fingers left my cheekbone and travelled down to my chin once again. Then, he leaned in and before I realized what he was doing, he kissed my lightly on my salty, tear covered lips. As he leaned back, the corners of his pink lips lifted in a tiny smile of encouragement and his eyes shone with assurance.

  I frowned and shook my head at him in disbelief. “How come you’re not mad at me,” I asked, a little confused by how well he’d taken all of my explanation. “I betrayed you with Max. If I was you, I’d be angry.”

  Sam’s small smile grew and he touched his lips briefly to mine yet again. “How can I be mad,” he asked, genuinely. “I don’t own you, Kitty, and neither does Max. You are your own person and unfortunately for you, you’re also stuck with two personalities. I’ve known this for a long time and although at times I wish that I was the only one you could see, the only one you could feel for. Even if that had been true I would be ignoring the fact that there are two sides to you. If I want one, I have to deal with the other, and clearly the other side of you has a soft spot for Max and there isn’t a lot I can do about that.”