Burn Like Fire

by Jayme Morse

Running a hand over his dark hair, Gabe hesitated. “I-I don’t know,” he stammered. “This doesn’t feel right for some reason.”

  “But Gabe, they already agreed to it,” Rhonda said with an eye roll. She turned to look at both girls and met their eyes. Tell Gabe that you agreed to this. Tell them how much you want to do this.

  “We want to do this, Gabe,” Laura said aloud, a very enthusiastic tone in her voice.

  “Yeah, we are the ones who agreed to this,” Diane insisted. She tossed her hair over her shoulders, which almost made Rhonda squeal. It was sexy and fun; it made the whole thing seem all the more convincing.

  “You’re both sure you want to do this?” Gabe questioned. He didn’t seem too convinced.

  Rhonda wanted to roll her eyes. Why was Gabe so reluctant to drink from the two of these girls, when he had been so willing to drink from her without even telling her what was going on? It seemed unfair, in a way, that he had gone to the extent of having to change her into a vampire without even giving her a warning.

  That was why Gabe was hers and only hers now, though, Rhonda reminded herself. The only way he would ever be able to make up for what he had done to her was for him to be with her until the end of the time, whether he liked it or not.

  “We want to do this,” Laura said again, nodding her head. She glanced over at Diane with a look of confusion, and Rhonda realized why. Even though Laura and Diane were agreeing to do something, they both had no idea what it was that they were actually agreeing to.

  Rhonda met their gaze. You’re going to let Gabe drink your blood. She watched both of their eyes fill with what appeared to be a look of fear, but she quickly assured them. Don’t worry, girls. This is going to be painless. In fact, you’re both going to really enjoy it. It’s a very pleasurable thing to experience. I promise you that you’ll both enjoy yourselves.

  A relaxed look registered on both girls’ faces, and they turned to look at Gabe. “We want you to drink from us,” Laura said aloud. She pouted her lips, in a way that was all too perfect. “Please?” she begged.

  Gabe sighed relentlessly, giving into her. “Fine.” He shot Rhonda a glare. “You and I are going to have a talk later.”

  Rhonda stared him in the eyes. Actually, no we’re not. You’re going to drink from Laura, and you’re going to enjoy it. While you drink from Laura, I’m going to drink from Diane . . . and by the time I’m done with her, you’re going to be feeling jealous.

  Gabe stared back at her with a dazed look in his eyes. “Okay, Rhonda,” he agreed. He knelt down on the floor and licked the blood that was still wet on top of Laura’s hand. Once he had licked that up, he sunk his teeth into her neck. Laura squirmed and leaned back to enjoy the experience.

  A feeling of jealousy washed over her, triggered by the fact that Gabe was drinking from Laura—even though she knew that he couldn’t drink from her because vampires couldn’t drink from other vampires—Rhonda decided that she had no other choice but to drink from Diane. If Gabe was willing to drink from someone else, she could have fun, too.

  Rhonda climbed onto the bed and met Diane’s gaze. I’m going to drink from you now, she told her mentally.

  Diane nodded and smiled at her, an eager look in her eyes.

  Glancing over at Gabe, who was going to town on Laura, Rhonda turned back to Diane and decided to skip drinking the blood that was oozing out of her forearm. She went straight for her neck, provoking her to moan loudly.

  Rhonda darted her eyes over in Gabe’s direction, just in time to see the jealousy register in his eyes. Trying to hide her smile, she focused on making drinking from Diane the most pleasurable thing either of them had ever experienced.

  Chapter 12

  The following afternoon, Austin stared at the building that loomed ahead of them. It was a brick building with barricaded windows. It reminded him of a prison. He glanced over at Anna. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

  Anna glanced down at the GPS on her cell phone. “212 Hillside Drive.” She looked up at Austin. “This is definitely the right place.”

  Austin narrowed his eyes at her. “Did the tip say if this was supposed to be someone’s residence?”

  Anna shook her head. “No, it didn’t actually say what it was supposed to be. I assumed it was someone’s house, though, or maybe a mall or some other public place where we’d be meeting the person . . . or vampire.” She eyed the building, studying it to see what it was. “Maybe it’s an apartment complex.”

  “It would be the shadiest apartment complex I’ve ever seen,” Dan mumbled from his place in the backseat.

  “Plus, if it were an apartment complex, there would have been an apartment number listed with the address,” Lexi pointed out.

  “Oh, yeah, that’s right.” Anna sighed.

  Austin felt his stomach tighten as a nervous feeling washed over him. He hated the unknown, and it scared him to think that there was a possibility that they could be walking into a trap—and possibly even a death trap for Anna, the only one in their group of four who could be easily killed.

  Anna inhaled deeply. “It’s a few minutes to two o’clock. We should probably go inside.”

  Austin nodded. “Yeah, we probably should. The sooner we go in, the sooner we get this over with.” He waited for a few moments. They all remained in the car, not attempting to move.

  “Does anyone else feel like they’re going to puke?” Lexi asked. Austin was pretty sure she was trying to pass it off as a joke, but the fear was obvious in her voice.

  “Just a little,” Anna muttered under her breath, as she pushed car door open.

  Austin followed her out of the car. Once Dan and Lexi were out, too, Austin pressed the button to lock the car doors behind them, though he had to wonder if locking it was a mistake. Even though he didn’t want to risk anyone getting inside the car, he also worried that unlocking it would be an inconvenience later on if, for some reason, they needed to make a quick escape from whatever they were about to walk into.

  Austin tried to catch up to Anna, who was already briskly walking down the sidewalk that led to the entrance of the building. She glanced over her shoulder and offered him a weak smile.

  Anna looked about as nervous as he felt.

  Once they were at the door, Austin whispered, “I wish there was a window so we could see inside.”

  “Me, too,” Anna agreed. “But here goes nothing.” She turned the doorknob and pulled the door open. A surprised look registered on her face.

  Austin half-expected someone to jump out at them. This isn’t a haunted house, he reminded himself. Though, he wished it was. Whatever they were about to walk into had the potential to be much scarier than a haunted house.

  Anna glanced over at him. Austin could tell that she was nervous about entering the building, so he did what any good boyfriend would do. He stepped into the darkened room, which looked a lot like a lobby, first.

  As Anna fell into place after him, Austin heard a loud pounding sound. He glanced around, trying to figure out what it was. At first, he thought it was music coming from speakers somewhere in the building or maybe even a TV that was turned up really high.

  But as Anna inched closer to him, Austin realized that it was the sound of her heart beating. It sounded like it was going to pound through her chest.

  It was the first time he’d ever heard a human heart beating. Normally, the only way he could hear the sound of a heartbeat was when he pressed his ear against the person’s chest or pressure point. Although he’d heard that some vampires could hear a human’s heart beating when they drank, he still had yet to experience this phenomenon. He normally chalked it up to his age; maybe he would be able to hear a heartbeat when he fed once he had matured a little—possibly around the same time he would stop wanting food.

  But now, as he stood in the lobby, staring at Anna, the love of his life, he listened to the sound of her heart beating throughout the room, echoing throughout the halls. Austin was sure that the reason her heart wa
s beating so loudly because she was terrified, but it didn’t matter. The sound made him want to drink from her.

  Trying to control his urges, he tried to focus his attention on the situation that they were dealing with: finding out what this place was.

  Austin led Anna, Dan, and Lexi down a dark hallway. As he rounded a corner, he heard voices. Austin was positive that he heard someone utter, “They’re here!”

  He glanced back at Anna, who took a step closer to him. She placed her hand in his, nervously squeezing his fingers. Austin squeezed back, trying to reassure her—and trying to convince himself not to sink his teeth into her neck right there in the hallway.

  Once they had rounded the corner, they approached a desk where a man and woman were working.

  The woman eyed them as they approached the desk. “May I help you?”

  “I . . . I’m not sure,” Anna replied quietly. “I’m supposed to be meeting someone here . . . I think.”

  “Anna Lancefield?” the woman asked.

  Anna nodded, smoothing out her black and hot pink striped sweater nervously. “Yes, that’s me.”

  The woman glanced at Austin, Dan, and Lexi inquisitively. “I see that you’ve brought company with you.”

  “Yes, I hope that’s okay. I wasn’t told that I wasn’t allowed to bring anyone with me,” Anna replied, darting her eyes over at Austin nervously.

  The woman’s lips tilted into a small smile. “Of course it’s okay. Your guests will need to register, however, so that we can give them visitor’s passes. It’s not within our protocol to allow just anyone to come through here. We do have security standards.”

  Visitors’ passes? Protocol? Security standards? Is this really a prison? Austin wondered to himself. Or maybe it was a hospital. Maybe they were visiting a patient.

  Austin had never been to a real hospital before. The only hospital that he’d ever been to was the one in Briar Creek, but it was run by doctors who focused on vampire medicine. Lexi was lucky to even be alive after the car accident that had almost killed her, since none of the doctors were used to regularly working with humans.

  “Here’s the visitor’s pass that we’ve made for you,” the woman told Anna, handing her a nametag that was attached to a lanyard.

  Anna slid the visitor’s pass over her neck, as Austin stepped forward. “What information do you need from me?” he asked.

  “I just need you to fill out this registration card with your full name and date of birth,” the woman replied, handing Austin a clipboard with a piece of paper and a pen attached to it.

  As the woman handed Lexi and Dan registration forms, too, Austin scanned the paper for any indication of where they were. He was hoping for there to be a name on the top or the bottom of the paper, but he didn’t see anything.

  Sighing, he filled in his information. When he was finished, he handed the clipboard back to the woman. Deciding to be straightforward, Austin asked, “Can you tell us what this place is?”

  The man shot him a warm smile and spoke up for the first time. “Darius will be with you in a few moments. He will explain everything to you.”

  Austin nodded, even though he felt frustrated. Why wasn’t anyone telling them what was going on? He hated waiting.

  The woman behind the desk handed Austin, Dan, and Lexi their nametags. Austin slid his on over his neck and then glanced over at the man and the woman expectantly.

  “You may have a seat,” the woman told him, pointing her chin at a few chairs that were lined up in the corner of the room. “Darius will be with you in just a second.”

  Austin followed Lexi and Dan over to the chairs and plopped down in one. Anna sat down next to him. Leaning over, she whispered into his ear, “Who do you think this Darius guy is?”

  Austin shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out soon.”

  They waited for a few long minutes in awkward silence; the only sounds that could be heard were the woman typing on the computer and Anna’s heart, which continued to beat loud enough for Austin to hear. Austin glanced over at Dan, wondering if he had heard it, but Dan seemed to be unfazed if he did.

  Apparently, Austin was the only one who had heard it.

  The door next to the registration area was swung open and Austin heard the sound of shoes clacking against the tiled floor.

  A tall man with dark hair and the palest skin he’d ever seen stood in front of them. “Hello. My name is Darius,” he said, taking Anna’s hand in two of his own. “It is a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to Westbrooke Vampire Training Facility.”

  Chapter 13

  Darius’s cold skin sent a shiver down Anna’s spine and made a trail of goose bumps rise on her arms. Her breath caught in the back of her throat at his touch; even though she’d been around plenty of vampires, she had never felt someone who was so cold.

  “What exactly is a vampire training facility?” Austin questioned from next to her.Anna breathed a slight sigh of relief. Leave it to Austin to ask exactly what she had been wondering but was unable to ask herself.

  Darius pulled his hands away from Anna and turned to Austin. “A vampire training facility is exactly what it sounds like—it is a facility in which we train vampires.” He glanced at each of them and smiled. “If you’re ready to follow me, I’d be happy to give you the grand tour.”

  Anna rose to her feet. Even though she wanted to object to following him, to ask what this all had to do with her mother’s death, there was a tone in Darius’s voice that told her that this wasn’t up for discussion. They had to take the grand tour of the facility, whether they liked it or not.

  Darius led the four of them through the doorway that he’d entered in. As he started down the hallway, he motioned to a room that had a television and four couches. It didn’t look like it belonged in a vampire training facility, Anna thought. It looked normal.

  Darius glanced over his shoulder at them. “This is our vampire lounge. It’s where some of the vampires who live at our facility hang out during the day. It’s similar to the living rooms that humans have in their homes. Here at Westbrooke, we do our best to make certain aspects of our facility closely resemble what humans are used to. We find that it makes them feel very much at home.” He chuckled before continuing down the hall.

  Anna glanced over in Austin’s direction. She wondered if he was as nervous as she was about being at the facility.

  Austin wouldn’t meet her eyes. Anna wondered if this was his way of dealing with his own nerves or if, as she suspected, he had something else on his mind. Ever since they’d stepped foot in the building, something had changed within Austin. He was quieter than he usually was, but she couldn’t put her finger on why.

  Deciding not to think about it right now, Anna focused her attention on Darius, who had opened a door that led to a stairwell. As they began to descend the stairs, Anna was positive she heard the sound of her own heartbeat get louder. When they’d first entered the building, she was sure she could hear her the sound of her heart pounding against her chest, but it was starting to beat even louder now.

  Anna was more nervous than she even realized.

  Once they reached the bottom of the staircase, Darius turned to look at them again. “This is our storage facility.” He motioned to the row of refrigerators that lined the wall. “As you can see, we keep numerous fridges down here. This is where we store blood for our vampires. Due to the nature of our facility, our vampires are required to feed often. It helps to keep their energy levels in check. We make sure to keep five hundred gallons of blood stocked in our fridges at all times so that our vampires don’t run out of food.”

  Anna only gaped at him. She knew that vampires had big appetites, but how could this facility possibly keep this much blood in stock for their vampires at all times? Anna didn’t even want to think about the number of humans who had probably died to feed the vampires at Westbrooke . . .

  “Okay, now that you’ve seen our storage facility, I suppose we can go up to the top floo
r. Follow me,” Darius said. He walked over to the wall and pressed a button. There was a loud beeping sound and the wall was pulled apart, as an elevator door opened.

  “I didn’t even know that was there,” Dan mumbled.

  Anna hadn’t known, either.

  Darius stepped inside the elevator and motioned for the four of them to follow. “Don’t worry. I won’t bite,” he said, tilting his head back in laughter.

  As she followed Dan and Lexi into the elevator, Anna felt a sick knot twist in her stomach at Darius’s joke. Did he really think it was funny to joke about not biting them?

  Darius smiled at her from across the elevator as he pressed the button to determine what floor it would stop at, and the elevator began to creep upwards.

  Anna realized that maybe Darius hadn’t intended for his joke to be funny. Maybe biting them was exactly what he was planning to do. Maybe the whole reason Darius—or whoever it was who had convinced her to come here—was planning to do the same thing to her as he had done to her mother.

  Anna had come here to find out what had happened to her mom, but there was a chance that she wouldn’t even make it out alive.

  Once the elevator door slid open, Darius stepped out and motioned for the others to follow him. Anna noticed that there was a room that was lined with windows. It was the type of room she had once heard referred to as a fishbowl room because anyone standing outside the room could observe the people who were inside the room, similar to fish inside a bowl.

  There were a few men and women sitting at each of the chairs. They were staring ahead of them, a dazed look in their eyes, as though they were in a trance. Behind them, a red curtain hung. Anna could see the legs of two chairs behind it.

  “This is our blood donation station,” Darius explained, following Anna’s gaze to the room. “This is where we draw blood from our donors. Many of them come here several times a week to help ensure that our blood supply is fully stocked. Our donors are often people who have ties to vampires, whether it be relatives or significant others. Occasionally, our donors are people who are simply fascinated by vampire culture and know we exist.”