Tainted (Vastow Vampires Book 1)

by J Johnson

  “Fuck that twit. He claims he doesn’t have it either, but I know better. Twenty minutes?”

  “I know he has much more than that.”

  “Okay. Times up.”, Jeff says.

  “NO!”, I scream. “Please. Just let me talk to him a little more. He was about to tell me what Jordan can do. Please. It is my life we’re talking about here. The least you could do is let me try to solve this shit before you rip my fucking fingers off.”

  The bravery came from nowhere. I am so sick of these two assholes and the one on the phone that I can hardly stand it. Jordan, too. What the fuck is wrong with them? I thought they both loved me. Fucking awesome way to show it.

  “Fine. A few more minutes and that’s it.”

  He holds the phone up to my ear again.

  “Don’t let them get to you, love.”

  “Don’t let them get to me? Are you fucking kidding me right now?!”, I hiss. “If you gave two shits about me, I wouldn’t be in this mess! You can’t tell me that between the two of you, the two men that supposedly love me, you can’t come up with the money! I’ve fucking had it! Either get the money here to these two assholes or I’m going to make them let me go so I can fucking kill you myself!”

  “We don’t have time to argue.”, Zane growls. “But we will pick this conversation back up later. An hour?”

  “More!”, I yell. Mainly because I’ve noticed that when I do these two pricks look away. It’s like they're afraid to see the anger in my eyes.

  “An hour and a half?”

  “I swear to God, Zane. You have twenty minutes to figure something out or I swear… When I get out of here…”

  “An hour and ten minutes. Got it. Any chance you can tell me which direction you were heading?”

  “For the love of all that’s holy.”, I mumble. “Go to my office and look in the top drawer of my desk. My office is on the North side of the building. You’ll find a safe under a false bottom. Get what’s in there to help. And please hurry.”

  He and I both know I don’t have shit in my desk. I probably don’t have a dollar in my wallet.

  “North. Got it. I’ll be there before the days over with love. I love you, Ashlyn.”

  “You have a funny way of showing it, you fucking asshole.”, I grit between my teeth.

  Jeff must be tired of hearing me talk because he yanks the phone back up to his ear.

  “You have one hour to get me what I want, or your girlfriend here won’t be able to see, much less speak.” He hangs up and shoves the phone in his pocket, then looks at me. “You better hope for your sake that he listens this time.”

  An hour comes and goes, as I knew it would, with no Zane in sight. Dave and Jeff have both been pacing the floors waiting on a phone call, but there’s been nothing. I know that whatever they’re about to do will not be pretty. When Dave starts messing with his new toys, I beg them to just wait.

  “You don’t have to do this. He’ll call. He’s just going to need a little more time.”

  “He’s had enough time and I’m tired of the games.”, Dave growls at me. “It’s time to get the message across loud and fucking clear.”

  “Get ready, Dave. I’m calling now.”, Jeff tells him.

  Dave pushes the table closer to me for easy access. Tears start streaming down my face and I silently curse my friends for not saving me. This is it. This is how I’m going to die. Cold and alone in a fucking warehouse somewhere with two men that are as evil as the devil himself.

  “I told you an hour.”, Jeff says into the phone. “Your hour is up.”

  Jeff sits the phone down on the table and nods at Dave.

  “Let the fun begin.”, he grins.

  Thirteen

  ∞∞∞

  I hear voices. They’re muffled and far away, but I hear them. Or is that someone’s thoughts? I can’t tell anymore. My eyes are glued shut, my entire body is screaming in protest and I just don’t care right now. About anything. I hear footsteps and I silently groan to myself. My lips are swollen… hell, my whole face is swollen. More than likely it’s Dave coming back to finish what he started.

  “Just kill me, please. He’s not coming for me. Please, just kill me or let me go.”, I sob. “He’s not coming.”

  Suddenly, my arms fall to my sides, no longer in chains. It feels like a thousand pounds has been lifted. My feet leave the floor and I feel something rock hard against me. I’m being carried but I don’t know by whom and honestly, I don’t care.

  Dave did a real bang-up job of torturing me that last time. So much so that Jeff refused to let him do anything else to me until I started healing. That was two days ago. I think. The voices are there again, but I still can’t make them out or even know if they’re real. Maybe I’m hallucinating.

  I feel someone move my hair out of my face and I flinch. The next thing I feel is a light breeze on my skin. It feels so good, then I feel something soft against my back. Another movement makes me think of a car ride, but that’s not possible. I’m in a warehouse being tortured.

  The next time I wake up, I know I’m in a different spot. I’m no longer hanging from the ceiling and it feels like something soft is beneath me. A bed? I guess Jeff felt bad after all. A bed is a step up from what I’ve been getting. A few steps up, actually.

  I try to move and figure out where I’m chained at now, but feel nothing cold and metal against my skin. The movement though causes an alarming amount of pain everywhere, making me moan. My eyes swollen shut and everything about me hurts. I feel a hand grab mine and I instinctively pull away and whimper.

  “Ash?”, a voice whispers. “It’s me, sweetie. You’re safe now.”

  “Zoe?”, I whisper. My throat is killing me. “Is that you?”

  “Yes.”, she cries. “It’s me. I’m here. Oh Ash. I’m so sorry. You’re in the hospital.”

  It takes a minute to register what she’s saying. When it finally sinks in the dam breaks. Tears stream down my face and I sink back into the bed.

  “You’re okay now.”, she softly cries with me. “They can’t hurt you anymore.”

  Exhaustion sets in or pain medicine, I’m not sure which. I slowly doze off and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

  When I wake up again, Zoe is still by my side. I can kind of make out her blurry shape, but my eyes still won’t open all the way.

  “Zoe?”, I ask, just to make sure.

  I know it’s probably childish, but I need to hear her voice.

  “Yes, honey. I’m here. What do you need? Water? Are you hungry?”

  She sounds like she’s caring for her child.

  “Water would be good. Am I really in the hospital?”

  “Yes, you are really here. Oh Ash. I’m so sorry.”, she cries. “We looked everywhere for you. I’m so sorry we didn’t get to you sooner.”

  “It’s not your fault, Zoe. Don’t blame yourself. They had me; God knows where. They made sure no one could find me.”

  Her cell phone rings.

  “Hello.” Pause. “No, she’s awake now.” Pause. “Yes, she’s talking.”

  “Ash, it’s Zane. He wants to talk to you.” I shake my head no. “Uh, Zane, she doesn’t feel like talking right now.” Pause. “I’m not sure.” Pause. “Yeah, I’ll call you back.”

  “Honey, why don’t you want to talk to Zane?”, she asks. “Did he do something that I don’t know about?”

  “No, he did nothing to me.”, I said not really wanting to get into it, but Zoe wasn’t having that. She’s the type of person who wants to know everything, and she wants to know now.

  “Ash, what is it? If there’s something I need to know, tell me, and I’ll keep him away from you. I can have security keep him out of here. What happened?”, she asks again.

  “It isn’t anything like that, Zoe. He did nothing. That’s the problem.”, I cry. “He left me there. He didn’t come find me. They wanted something from him in exchange for me. A fucking diamond or money. Why didn’t he just give it to them to get
me back? Why didn’t he save me? I know it’s a lot of money, but I somehow can’t shake the feeling that he could have gotten his hands on it. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just overreacting.”

  “I don’t know, sweetie. All I know is that he said he didn’t have it anymore. He tried to find it again but couldn’t and he looked for you tirelessly with us.”, she tells me. “He’s actually the one that figured out where you were. Something about you helping him with the time. After that, he searched every building he thought you could be in north of town.

  “I’ll keep him away if that’s what you want. I’m always on your side no matter what. But I know that he looked for you and you’ll have to talk to him, eventually. I genuinely believe he loves you, but it’s not my decision. It’s yours. Just say the words and I’ll make sure he doesn’t get anywhere near you.”

  I’m so confused. I don’t know what to do or say or think. I want to see him, and I don’t. I want to yell at him and tell him how much I hate him, but I don’t hate him. I love him.

  “For now, I don’t want to talk to anyone. Just you. If that’s okay.”

  “Of course. Whatever you want.”

  We sit in silence for a while which is fine with me. I’m in and out of it, dozing off and waking up. At one point I hear Jordan talking to Zoe, but I pretend I’m sleeping. I’m just not ready to talk to anyone, really. Especially Jordan and Zane. The only reason I want Zoe here is so I’m not alone. I’ve been alone for what feels like forever. How long was I in that place?

  My mind keeps replaying the horrible things that were done to me. It’s like I’m stuck in my own head and can’t get out. I could always tell Zoe about it, but what good would that do? She would start crying then I would cry and that accomplishes nothing. Not to mention, I don’t really want to fill her head with the horrible images. The only thing I want to do is sleep. When I sleep, I don’t think. So that’s what I do. I sleep.

  I wake up to someone holding my hand. Since my eyes still won’t open, I can’t see him, but I know it’s Zane. The feel of his hands is etched in my memory. I jerk away from him and he sighs. Where the hell is Zoe? I thought she said she wouldn’t let him in here. I’m not ready to talk to him yet.

  “Ashlyn, please talk to me.”, he whispers. “Please love.”

  I don’t know what happens or where it comes from, but I’m suddenly so angry I could kill him.

  “GET THE FUCK OUT! JUST GO! I HATE YOU, I FUCKING HATE YOU!”, I yell and start sobbing.

  I’m now sitting up and trying to punch him. I make contact a few times but can’t really tell what I’m hitting. It hurts, but I’m so angry that I don’t care. He doesn’t back away, instead he sits on the side of my bed and grabs my hands, so I can’t hit him. When I start sobbing, he pulls me into him and holds onto me, but I’m still trying to fight him off.

  “Get away from me. I hate you. You didn’t come for me. You left me there. I thought you loved me. Why did you leave me there?”, I sob into his chest.

  I’m too exhausted to fight anymore, and I’m caught between hating him and needing him.

  “Shh, love. I’m so sorry. I’m here now. No one will ever hurt you again. Shh.”

  He lays me down and climbs in behind me, covering my body up with the sheet. I bury my head in his chest and continue to cry against him. I’m still in and out of it, but every time I wake, he’s there holding me. I’m holding on to him so tight that he wakes me up when he tries to move.

  “Don’t go.”, I whisper to him. “Please.”

  I’m all over the place. One minute I want to strangle him and the next I’m afraid he’ll leave.

  “I’m sorry, love, but I have to go. I promise you I’ll be back tonight.”

  I just nod and sob. I feel like such a baby. I’ve done nothing but cry. He bends down and kisses me softly on the lips and I flinch.

  “I’m going to find the assholes that did this to you and I’m going to fucking kill them.”

  His voice is so filled with rage it scares me. The images of the paperwork I found in his desk flash through my mind, which doesn’t help.

  “I need to know.”, I start.

  “Know what? I’ll tell you anything.”

  “Why do you have files on me, Zoe, and that other woman in your desk?”

  He sighs again. “I promise you, Ashlyn. When you get out of here and get back home, I’ll explain everything to you. Everything. Please just trust me, love. It’s not what you think. Do you trust me?”

  I could lie and say yes, but if this is going to work at all, the truth is what we need.

  “No.”, I whisper. “I don’t.”

  “Then I’ll do whatever it takes to earn it back.” He brushes a strand of hair off my cheek and kisses me on the forehead. “I’ll be back tonight. I love you.”

  I bite my tongue to keep from saying the words back to him. The moment he leaves, I know he’s gone. It instantly feels empty. I feel empty.

  “I don’t know how this is possible.”, the doctor says while looking me over. My eyes are still hurting, but I can open them and see now. The bruising and swelling have gone down tremendously, and my broken ribs don’t hurt near as bad as they did two days ago. “It’s like we gave you some miracle healing drug. Are you sure you don’t have an abnormal gene that runs in your family? I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s baffling.”

  “Not that I’m aware of.”, I reply. “Maybe I’m just a fast healer.”

  “Maybe.”, he mumbles. He keeps staring at me like I’m his next science experiment. Um… no thanks. “I guess you can go home if you want. With the rate you’re healing, you’ll be good as new in a few days or so.”

  “That’s great news.”

  “Yes. But if you feel lightheaded or strange or anything out of the ordinary, you call me immediately. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I actually feel like I could run a marathon. It is strange, but I don’t question it for fear he’ll keep me here longer. As soon as he leaves, I call Zoe to pick me up. When we get in her car, she asks me where I’m going.

  “Zane’s, I guess. We need to talk so might as well get it over with.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I don’t want to be by myself and you have to work. I can’t hang around while you are working at the hospital.”

  She seems a little leery, which is odd considering she was just telling me two days ago that I had to talk to him, eventually.

  “Does he know you’re coming?”

  “No. I haven’t called him.”

  “Don’t you think you should?”

  “Why? If he doesn’t want me there, he’s going to have to say it to my face. I’m tired of being afraid of everything. Afraid of being rejected or yelled at. Or attacked.”

  “Okay.”, she smiles. “Just know that if he tells you he doesn’t want you there, I’m going to kick him in the balls before we leave.”

  Laughter fills the car from both of us. I shake my head at my best friend, who I know will do exactly as she said she would. The image of her, short and pixie like, kicking an almost six-foot-tall man in the gonads is amusing.

  When we pull up to Zane’s shop, he meets us outside and helps me out of the car. I’m not sure why because I feel great considering what happened. Zoe whips back out of the parking lot as soon as I tell her it’s okay to go.

  “How are you feeling?”, he asks once we get inside to the couch.

  “Better, actually. The doctor said he’s never seen someone heal so fast. It’s weird.”

  “Yeah.”, he mumbles and averts his eyes.

  “What? What is it?”

  “You just got here. We can talk later.”

  “No. Now.”

  “Are you sure love? Because once I tell you everything you want to know, you’ll probably want to leave this place and never come back.”

  “Zane. Just spill it already. The files you have first. Why do you have them? And what is it you’re hiding? I know you
’re hiding something and I’m tired of all the secrets. And why didn’t you come sooner for me? Why would you leave me there that long? Something tells me you could have gotten to me sooner.” I sigh and drop my head in my hands. “Maybe I’m crazy.”

  “You’re not crazy. I have been keeping something from you. A few something's actually.”

  “Then talk.”

  He nods and takes a seat across from me. His eyes look… sad. He looks like he’s about to lose his only friend in the world. What could he possibly be hiding that he’s so afraid to tell me?

  I wait for what seems like hours for him to speak. When I think I’m about to explode, he finally opens his mouth.

  “We’ll start with the files. It’s the easiest thing to explain.”, he says. “When I first saw you, it was like a magnet was pulling me towards you. I’ve felt nothing like it before, and it scared the shit out of me. When I tell you my secret, you’ll understand this more, but I knew I had to find out more about you. I also had to make sure you weren’t sent to kill me or mess with my head.”

  “Why would someone send me to kill you?”

  “I’m getting to that. When I found nothing on you, I started looking into your friends and anyone that you hung around. Zoe obviously and Jordan, of course.”

  “Where was his file? I didn’t see it in there.”

  “I wasn’t sure if you would go snooping, so I hid it just in case.”

  “Hid it? Why?”

  He shakes his head. “His secrets are not mine to tell. As much as I hate the guy, I won’t divulge personal information that he’s not willing to share with everyone.”

  “I still don’t understand. Why would someone want to kill you? Why would you think I would kill you? Or that I even could? Look at me.”, I throw my hands in the air. “Look at me.”

  “I’m getting there.”, he says again nervously. “Just give me a second love. I’m about to confess everything to you, and I’m not in a real big hurry to see you run out of here.”

  “Zane.”, I sigh. “Unless you’re a serial killer or hold small children hostage or do… I don’t know… satanic rituals, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll admit the files really pissed me off and I’m still pissed off about them because your reason for having them makes little sense. None of this does. Just spit it out already or I’m going to walk out of here right now.”