Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance

by Tara Shuler

  “But I have a beef with you, blood sucker,” he

  snarled. “You killed a whole family right before

  Christmas, and now you were going to kill this

  guy, too. It’s taken me months to find you, but

  now you’re dead!”

  “I didn’t kill that family,” I explained. “I never

  kill.”

  “A vampire that doesn’t kill?” he growled.

  “Impossible.”

  “It’s true,” I tried to convince him. “Please, I

  don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You

  hurt me?” he laughed. “Don’t be

  ridiculous!”

  “I’m not the one who killed those people!” I

  insisted.

  “Oh, yeah?” he leered. “Then who did?”

  “I… I don’t know who did it,” I lied. “But I

  saw the family. I was there that night.”

  “Oh, so you admit being in the vicinity the

  night of the murders,” he challenged me.

  “I do,” I said. “I was there. But I would never

  kill a human, and I would certainly never hurt a

  woman or child.”

  “Too bad I don’t believe you,” he said, glaring

  at me.

  He made a lunge toward me with his dagger,

  but I stepped to the side. In a split second, I

  jumped behind him and wrapped my arms around

  his neck. He slashed at me with his dagger as I

  held him tightly in a headlock. I screamed in pain

  as the silver blade tore through my arm, but I

  held fast. He struggled to pull my arms away,

  clawing and slashing, but still I held on. In a few

  moments, he slumped to the ground.

  As he lay there helpless in the sand, I touched

  my fingers to his neck. He still had a pulse. I ran

  back to Kai’s car, where he was waiting for me.

  “Thank God you’re okay!” he whispered,

  embracing me tightly.

  “We need to find a pay phone,” I said.

  Kai nodded, and we hopped into his car. He

  drove me down the street to a gas station parking

  lot, and from the pay phone, I called 911. I told

  the dispatcher I’d seen two men fighting on the

  beach near the pier, and that one appeared to have

  a knife of some sort. Then I hung up.

  “That takes care of that,” I said. “Let’s get

  home and warn Will and Mother.”

  On the way home, I tried several times to call

  Will, but he wouldn’t answer his cell phone or

  the house line. Kai raced through the streets,

  trying to get us home as quickly as possible. The

  police would detain the hunter for a while, but it

  would probably buy us twenty-four hours at the

  most.

  At home, I raced up the stairs and flew into

  Will’s room. He was fast asleep, and he shot up

  like a bullet when I burst into the room.

  “What’s going on?” he gasped.

  “Hunter!” I hissed, tossing him the clothes

  he’d left hanging over a chair.

  I knocked once on my mother’s door, and then

  quickly burst in to shout, “Hunter!”

  My mother was instantly on her feet throwing

  clothing into a suitcase. She needed no further

  prompting.

  Kai had already started packing a bag for me,

  and I told him to go pack a bag for himself while

  I finished mine.

  “The painting,” I gasped, and Kai nodded. He

  knew exactly which painting I wanted to take

  with us.

  My mind was reeling. We had to get a head

  start on this hunter. We had no idea what type he

  might be. If he was a Zephyr, he would be able to

  run faster than the wind, but he wouldn’t be able

  to track us. He’d have the advantage in speed, but

  little else.

  I didn’t think he was a Psych. They could use

  various psychic abilities to move objects, read

  minds, and even force their victims to a

  standstill. He hadn’t used anything like that on

  me, so I assumed he wasn’t.

  He might be a Viewer. They were the most

  dangerous of all hunters. Viewers could see

  through their target’s eyes, watching every detail

  of everything they did at any moment. They only

  needed to meet their target once, and they could

  track them anywhere in the world by looking for

  landmarks their targets saw. You could never run

  away from them, because they could find you

  anywhere.

  Will peeked into my room and said, “Jamie’s

  on her way.”

  “What?” I shouted. “Why would you get her

  involved again? Are you crazy?”

  “She made me promise I’d call her if we ever

  needed her again,” he explained calmly. “We

  don’t know anything about this hunter, so we

  need her.”

  “I don’t like this,” I growled.

  Unfortunately, he was right. If the hunter was

  a Viewer, there would be nowhere we could run.

  We’d need Jamie to see for us. We were helpless

  without her.

  “Wait, do we have time to rent a van again?” I

  asked him.

  “Jamie’s already taken care of it,” he said.

  “When we got back last time, Mother gave her

  the money to buy one just in case.”

  “Why didn’t anyone ever think to mention this

  to me?” I grumbled.

  “Because we all knew you’d react just like

  this. You wouldn’t want her involved.”

  “Good point.”

  Jamie showed up a few minutes later, and we

  packed everything into the van as quickly as

  possible. Kai had wrapped my favorite painting

  in a blanket and placed it underneath the back

  seat to protect it.

  Kai had been painting it when we met. It was a

  painting of a mother gently cradling a young boy.

  Obviously, it represented the person he so

  desperately wanted his own abusive mother to

  be. That painting meant a lot to me.

  This time, I packed my laptop and I

  remembered my cell phone. In the van, I tried to

  call Max, but it went straight to voicemail. I

  opened up my email program.

  Max,

  I haven’t heard back from you. I’ve emailed

  you a couple of times and your phone always

  goes straight to voicemail.

  I know you’re busy, but I really need you. A

  hunter’s in town. He saw me. Please call me.

  Alice

  I didn’t want to get Max involved, but I was

  hoping he’d know this particular hunter. If he

  did, maybe he’d know which power he had, so at

  least we’d know what we were up again.

  Just moments after I sent the email, my phone

  rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Alice!” Max shouted. “What’s going on?”

  “Max, why haven’t you answered my other…”

  “I wasn’t allowed,” he interrupted. “I’m not

  supposed to have any outside contact during

  training.”

  “Oh.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked frantically.

  “A hunter saw me feeding,” I admitted. “I

&
nbsp; think I took care of it. I knocked him out and

  called the police, so he should be in jail for

  twenty-four hours or so.”

  “He saw you?” Max gasped. “How could you

  be so careless?”

  “Kai and I caught this guy abusing his

  girlfriend,” I explained. “We got her to safety,

  and we thought we were alone on the beach. It

  was the perfect time to…”

  “Wait!” Max shouted. “He saw Kai, too?”

  “Kai wasn’t feeding,” I said. “I think I

  managed to convince him Kai was human.”

  “You convinced him…” Max paused. “Kai

  left you alone with a hunter?”

  “I asked him to,” I explained.

  “And he did?” Max shouted. “He just left you

  there alone with a hunter? Are you fucking

  kidding me?”

  “Max, please,” I begged. “Don’t do this. I just

  called because I need your help.”

  “I can be home in twelve hours,” he said

  quickly.

  “No,” I said. “That’s not what I’m asking. I

  just wanted…”

  “If you’re in trouble, I’m coming home!” he

  yelled.

  “Max, no,” I insisted. “I certainly don’t want

  your father mad at you or anything. I just wanted

  to know…”

  “I am coming home,” he said firmly. “I can’t

  leave you alone with a hunter after you.”

  Before I could object, Jamie slammed on the

  breaks. The tires screeched loudly, and the van

  began to spin. The world began to pitch and roll,

  and everything became a blur. I heard the

  sickening crunch of metal and the high-pitched

  tinkle of thousands of shards of glass hitting the

  pavement as the van rolled. Once on its top, the

  van slid across the street before finally coming to

  a stop against a tree.

  “Alice! Are you alright?” I heard a muffled

  sound.

  Blood dripped into my eye, casting a red hue

  over everything. Confusion flooded my mind.

  What had happened? Where was I?

  “Alice!” the voice shouted again. It was Max.

  I fumbled in the darkness and located the

  phone, pressing it to my ear. “Max?”

  “What happened?” he yelled. “Are you

  alright?”

  “I don’t know, Max,” I mumbled. “Am I in a

  van?”

  “You don’t know where you are?” I heard him

  ask.

  Suddenly, I felt my body raked across the

  shattered glass, and I was hoisted into the air. I

  felt as though I was floating, and underneath me,

  I heard the crunch of glass. Footsteps. Someone

  was carrying me. I felt an unfamiliar stinging

  sensation in my arm, and I fell into a deep sleep.

  At some point later, I woke up in an

  unfamiliar room. I shook my head, trying to clear

  the fog from my brain. Through a blurry film, I

  looked around. I was alone.

  “Hello?” I shouted in confusion.

  “Alice?” I heard another voice say somewhere

  in the distance.

  “Kai?” I yelled. “Is that you?”

  “It’s me,” he called. “Where are you? Are you

  okay?”

  “I’m in a room,” I shouted back. “It’s… it

  looks like a dungeon or something.”

  “I think we’re in a hunter’s prison or

  something,” Kai called.

  I looked around the small room. The back

  wall was concrete, like a basement, and the other

  walls were brick. The door was wooden, but it

  looked very sturdy.

  “Can you break down your door?” Kai

  shouted. “You’re the one who’s fed recently.”

  “I’ll try,” I shouted. I backed up and ran

  toward the door, thrusting the entire brunt of my

  power against the door with my shoulder. “Ow!

  Damn it!”

  I lifted my leg and kicked at the handle, but it

  would not budge.

  “Hey, hey,” I heard a gruff voice say outside

  the door. “None of that.”

  “Who’s there?” I shouted.

  “Just your friendly neighborhood hunter,” he

  snarled.

  “Hunter,” I mumbled, disgusted.

  He didn’t sound like the same hunter who had

  found us on the beach. This guy sounded much

  older – and meaner.

  “Just chill out, honey,” he said. “As soon as

  my boss gets here, we’ll get you all sorted out.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked. “Sorted out.”

  “You’ll find out,” he chuckled.

  I kicked the door again for good measure, and

  he chuckled again. “You’re not breaking through

  this one anytime soon.”

  I had to find a way out of this place. My whole

  family must be here. Kai, my brother, my mother,

  and even poor Jamie. I was right to worry about

  getting her involved. Suddenly, my stomach

  lurched.

  “Kai?” I called. “Jamie…”

  “She’s fine,” he shouted back.

  I heaved a huge sigh of relief. I knew my

  vampire family could probably survive a car

  accident intact, but a weaker human like Jamie

  would be much more vulnerable. I was so glad

  she was okay.

  I spent hours trying to find a way out of the

  room. It was sealed. The floor and back wall

  were thick concrete, and the walls were brick,

  reinforced with steel bars – which I discovered

  after breaking a few of the bricks from the wall.

  The wooden door was unbelievably strong, and I

  couldn’t imagine how thick it must be for me to

  be unable to break it.

  At least the hole I managed to break in the

  brick wall gave me a line of sight to Kai. We

  were able to fit our hands though the hole, and

  his touch was enough to calm me a bit. He took

  my hand and kissed it gently.

  I knew we had to make an escape soon. The

  longer we were in there without food, the weaker

  we would become. If I had any chance to get us

  out, it had to be done immediately.

  The only thing in the room was a shabby

  mattress on the floor and a small ceramic toilet. I

  managed to detach the toilet from the wall to use

  as a weapon as soon as anyone entered. I had to

  incapacitate one quickly, because I assumed there

  would be at least two. I just needed someone to

  open the door.

  Some hours later, I heard the jingle of a key

  ring outside the door. I scrambled to my feet and

  readied the heavy toilet. I raised it high above my

  head and prepared to launch it.

  The door creaked ominously, and a bit of light

  filtered in, spreading slowly in an arc across the

  floor. I readied myself.

  Just as the head peeked around the corner, I

  began to heave the heavy toilet toward the door.

  Just as quickly, I stopped with a gasp. The heavy

  toilet crashed down onto my food, and I grunted

  in pain, choking down a shriek. It was Max!

  “Alice!” Max gasped, running to me.

&n
bsp; “Max!” I whispered. “How did you find me?”

  “I’ll tell you later,” he said. “Let’s get

  everyone and get out of here.”

  He put my arm around his shoulder and

  helped me hobble into the hallway. My foot was

  probably broken, but it would heal in a few

  hours. I winced in pain, but we had to hurry.

  Max opened Kai’s cell, and Kai glared at him

  when he noticed my arm around him.

  “Thanks,” Kai muttered, taking my arm away

  from Max and putting it around his own

  shoulder. Then he said to me, “What happened to

  your foot?”

  “I dropped a toilet on it,” I moaned.

  “A toilet?” he asked. Then he added, “Never

  mind.”

  “Let’s just get everyone else,” I said, and we

  moved quickly to open the other doors.

  Jamie looked really banged up. She had

  numerous cuts and bruises, and she was limping.

  The accident had hurt her, but at least she was

  alive.

  “This way,” Max whispered. “Hurry.”

  We all followed Max down the hallway to a

  set of rickety wooden stairs. He paused briefly,

  listening. When he heard no activity, he motioned

  for us all to follow him.

  At the top of the stairs, I noticed we were in

  what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. I

  noticed two men slumped on the floor. Max

  must have disabled them before he came to

  rescue us. We made our escape out a small door

  in the back. Max had his car waiting, and we all

  squeezed in and took off.

  “What is this place?” I asked Max.

  “Hunter holding warehouse,” he said.

  “What’s it used for?” I wanted to know. “I

  thought

  your

  kind

  always

  killed

  indiscriminately.”

  “My kind,” he mumbled, shaking his head

  solemnly. “Hunters do not risk human lives. We

  only kill once we’ve verified our target is a

  vampire. And we don’t kill all vampires.”

  “Is that what we were there for?” I asked.

  “Your hunter took you there for verification,”

  he said. “It’s procedure when a verified vampire

  is in a large group. We have to be sure there are

  no humans in the mix.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked Max.

  “I have to get back to my father before he

  realizes I’m gone,” he answered. “I’m going to

  take you to the airport so you can get out of

  town.”

  “What about our stuff?” I asked him.

  “I’ll go back and find the van after I drop you

  off,” he responded. “I’ll take your stuff back to