by Candy Crum
“Kailah,” Aeric said, slowly standing. The way his eyes bore into mine, I could tell that he was being ultra-cautious to keep me calm, but there was no hope of that. That was long gone. “Tell us what’s wrong.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t. It would do no good, and I couldn’t be there any longer. They couldn’t help, even if they both tried to take Jeff. He’d been a wimp in his human life, but if he was really a Vampire, then there’d be no way the boys, even with the size they were, would be able to take him.
Without another word, I took off as fast as I could manage. Not knowing where I was going, only that Rachel and Jeff would be outside. I weaved my way through the people as I threw more elbows and shoves, earning a lot of disapproval and fancy names.
As I forced my way through the front exit, Jake caught me by the arms. “Kailah! What’s wrong?”
“Rachel… I can’t find her, and don’t ask me why, but I think something bad is happening to her.” It all came rushing out, and I was grateful that I was able to keep the vision part to myself.
“What do you think is happening?” he asked.
His voice and expression were serious. I could tell that he cared about Rachel, though I doubted it was in the romantic sense. Probably more of a brotherly love.
“I think Jeff has her and is gonna try to kill her,” I said breathlessly. “I don’t know this area. I need help finding her. What I saw was dark. There were a lot of shadows. It definitely wasn’t in the building.”
And just like that, I blurted it out. My worry was making a poor planner of me. There wasn’t much time between the thought process and the mouth process. Verbal diarrhea at its finest.
His expression then changed from one of deep concern to serious anger, maybe even rage. “Kailah,” he said through gritted teeth. “Wait right here. I’m getting someone that can help.”
I grabbed his arm, and it was like trying to stop a truck. “We don’t have time! We have to go right now.”
He shook his head. “You have no idea what we would be up against,” he said.
He knew. He knew what Jeff was. There was no question about it. Was he headed inside to get Kim? She did say that anyone breaking the rules of her sanctuary would feel her wrath.
“Stay here and don’t do anything stupid – like running off,” he said.
He went inside, and I couldn’t stop myself. The stupid girl in movies that you scream at… That you cuss at non-stop because her dumb ass decided to run upstairs with the murderer on her tail? Yeah – hi… That’s me.
As soon as he disappeared behind the door, I ran for it. It was like there was an invisible source leading me, and I followed without question. Taima, my senses, and the visions that I’d been having had gotten me that far. There was no reason not to trust them right then.
I ran down the block until I saw an alley on the left between the club and a large parking garage. I heard a noise that sounded like clothing being torn, and I forced myself to move even faster. At the end of that alley was another alley intersecting that connected the corners of four buildings. Looking to my left, I saw them. The strange woman was nowhere to be seen, but jeff had Rachel pinned to the ground and was shredding her clothes off at an alarming rate.
“Jeff!” I called out.
It was stupid, but I had no choice. I had to do something to get his attention, and at the moment, I didn’t care that he would come for me. As long as Rachel was safe, even for the time being, I would to anything it took. I just hoped that I could buy enough time for Jake to return with help.
“Why Kailah… It’s so wonderful to see you,” he said, a dark smile spreading across his face.
Just like in the vision, his cold voice sent chills racing through my body and my skin was beginning to feel sore from the energy in the air nipping at me. It was like my entire body was sensing him, and it was overwhelming me, just as it had with Sydney, only far worse. I knew Jeff was ready to kill Rachel or me, and I wouldn’t be able to stop him. I only hoped that it would be possible to stall him.
“Let her go and you can have me instead,” I said.
“Well, I have been so curious to know what you taste like. Hmm. Maybe I’ll find out once I’m through with my appetizer.”
It felt like my chest exploded. Never had I been so angry. To see him with her like that, and to hear him refer to her so coldly and callously made my skin crawl and my blood boil. I was never upset. I was always the one that backed down and let others walk on me. Not that time. He was messing with a part of me long buried and was definitely triggering some massive rage.
“Fuck you, Jeff,” I said. I was surprised at how cold my own voice sounded with the short phrase. “I said, let her go.”
“My, my… Those are awfully filthy words for a mouth so typically sweet. I’ve never heard you use such language. That’s pretty hot actually,” he said as he rose from Rachel’s side.
Seeing her so still worried me more and more with every passing second. I had to get to her, though, I had no idea how to do it.
“You’ve always been a worthless piece of shit. You never cared about her and have gone out of your way to hurt her. I’m relatively sure I’m not going insane, and I know what you are. I also know what you’re going to be if you hurt her again,” I said.
He laughed, and as fast as his hideously dark laughter was there, it vanished as a dangerous expression replaced it. In a flash, he was standing right in front of me, his hand wrapped around my throat. I didn’t even have enough time to blink before he’d closed the distance between us. Sydney was one thing. She was kind and sweet. Jeff was evil, through and through. I was truly afraid.
As cold as his voice had been, his hand was even colder. It was something deep and chilling. Even my bones ached with his touch.
“And what will I be?” he asked, voice quiet, yet threatening.
“Dead. I’ll find a way to kill you, Jeff. This is all really new to me, so I don’t know how you fuckers actually die, but I’ll figure it out.”
His expression turned curious. “You fuckers?” he asked. He had a nasty habit of repeating things and it was no less annoying in his afterlife than it was when his heart still beat. “So, you do know what I am. Good. Then I don’t have to waste time explaining it. Though, I must say, I’ve never known you to have a violent bone in your body, Kailah.” His voice was enlightened and humorous, while still holding it’s dangerous edge.
“I was shown. I saw you bite her and feed from her. Not to mention the fact that a baboon’s ass has always had better complexion than you. And not from genes or bad teenage years, but from laziness, drugs, and alcohol. Now, that greasy shell of yours resembles something remotely close to skin. It was pretty obvious something had happened to you. You make me sick. Literally.”
He laughed again. “You smell even sweeter when you’re angry. Mmm. I can taste you already.”
A low growl escaped his throat as he gave a wide smile. It was the first time that I was able to get a good look at him. I saw two, tiny, yet elongated, razor sharp teeth, and the eye teeth were slightly longer than those and even sharper. I closed my eyes out of instinct and disgust.
My heart was beating wildly, allowing me the displeasure of being able to feel my blood rushing around in my hypersensitive body. With the fear came a flood of energy coursing through me. Quick flashes of light and the sound of loud pops forced me to open my eyes. He made his move, and I was surprised to hear his scream ringing in my ears, instead of my own.
Along with seeing the street lights exploding around me, telling me where the flashes and pops had come from, I also so smoke starting to roll out from under my hands as I held Jeff’s wrist. He jerked his hand away from my throat and nervously stepped back. He fumbled a bit, the sound of broken glass hitting the ground all around us. Though I didn’t understand why, I stepped forwar, wanting to touch him again. It was almost as if I needed to touch him.
“Your eyes,” he said softly.
I
wanted to ask what he was talking about, but decided against it. I took another step forward, reaching out for him.
“Jeff!” a feminine voice called.
I looked around Jeff to see the woman from my vision standing at the end of the Alley.
“Get away from her! She’s not human, you idiot! She’ll kill you!”
Jeff nodded, his eyes locked on mine and his confused expression deepening the longer he stared at me.
“Jeff! Now!” she called again.
Jeff turned then, running away. The only clue that I had as to which direction he went wa the black blur that his jacket had made.
I wasted no time getting to Rachel. She was lying completely still, which terrified me. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing and there was blood everywhere. Kneeling down beside her, I thought about how to help her. With only a single touch, I was able to burn Jeff and I worrie that I might be able to do the same to her.
Warmth washed over me and the decision was made for me. I felt compelled to tough her, just as I had with Jeff, but that somehow felt different. My body ached for it. Reaching down, I gently placed my hand on the side of her neck to check for her pulse and was relieved to find one. It was weak, but it was there. My hand started to tingle and it felt as though heat was flowing from me into her.
“Rachel!” I shouted. “Rachel, please wake up! Don’t die on me!”
“Kailah!” I heard a familiar voice coupled with heavy, quick footsteps.
I turned to see Jake, Brett, and Aeric all running toward us. Before they even reached us, Jake had removed his long, black jacket. As he handed it over to cover Rachel with, I noticed that all heads were turned so they wouldn’t see her nearly naked body.
“Move over,” Aeric said once Rachel had been covered.
He knelt down next to Rachel and began inspecting her. He checked her pulse and breathing, the same as I had.
“Where’s Jeff?” Jake asked.
“He and whoever he was with took off. I was too late when I got here. He’d already done a lot of damage,” I said.
“But she will live because of you. You should know that,” Aeric said.
“How the hell do you know?” I snapped. I didn’t mean to, but his presence wasn’t helping my already heightened senses. I also couldn’t stop thinking about the obvious. Why did it take them so long?
The battle over my reaction to Aeric was raging within me. I told myself that my hate for him stemmed because they’d taken so long. But, in reality, it started before then. And it wasn’t their fault that it had happened. Sure, they could have followed me out, but I never asked them to. I was scared to wait and explain. That was my fault.
On the other side of my unexplained hatred was my guilt. I’d been too hard on him and for no reason. The thought occurred to me that it was all my fault that Rachel was in that mess. If I hadn’t been so rude and overreacted to him, and everything else around me, then I wouldn’t have had to leave the table. Rachel wouldn’t have had to come check on me. Jeff never would have gotten a chance at her.
“I just do,” Aeric replied, pulling me from my thoughts. “Everything will be okay, Kailah. I promise. Let’s get her off this rocky pavement.”
He slid an arm under her shoulders and another under her knees and I lost it. If one could hear an actual sound when they inexplicably lost their mind, when they snapped, right then I would have heard the sound of a thousand sticks breaking at once. I felt like a mama bear that had to protect her cub, even though the nice man was only trying to save it.
Instinct told me not to let him touch her, so I jumped across Rachel and pushed him as hard as I could. The moment that my hands made contact with his chest, there was a massive shock that passed between us and he grunted loudly as he fell back against the wall. It was the largest one that I’d felt, and I saw him gripping his chest where I’d pushed him.
The way that Jeff cried out when I’d touched him came back to me, and I felt my heart racing.
“You’re one of them!” I shouted. “Get away from us!”
“One of who, Kailah?” Aeric asked.
“Kailah, it’s okay. You can trust them,” Jake insisted.
“Trust?” I looked at Jake. “I don’t know a single one of you! The one person that I do know just tried to kill my best friend! And the same thing just happened to Aeric that happened to Jeff when I touched him. So, I don’t want to hear anything about trust!” I looked back to Aeric, who was still clutching his chest. “Are you one of them?”
“Kailah, I don’t understand what you mean,” he calmly said.
“A Vampire!” I shouted. “I had no idea they existed until a week ago, and part of me didn’t believe it until this, but I do now. I also know what seems to happen to them when I touch one. You’re seriously overreacting to a little static shock. So, either that big size of yours is overcompensation for you being the biggest vagina I’ve ever met, or you’re one of them, and I actually hurt you.”
“It’s not what you think. I was only trying to help Rachel. I’m not going to hurt either one of you.” His voice was calm and sincere.
“Open your mouth,” I demanded.
“Kailah, this is ridic –”
“Do it!” I shouted.
He rose onto his knees and leaned over, opening his mouth wide. The four teeth in the front were flat, just like a human’s. His eye teeth were a bit sharper than usual, but I could let that go. I had a friend that had to have hers filed down because she kept biting herself, so I knew that was semi-normal. His teeth looked nothing like Jeff’s.
“Thank you,” I said, defeat in my voice. I was shivering from head to toe from the adrenaline. “I appreciate you humoring me, but let me just say that I stand by my word. You are the biggest pussy I’ve ever seen.”
Brett barked out a loud laugh. “Damn. She has you figured out already, bro.”
Aeric smiled and lightly shook his head, at my comment, I imagined. “You can trust me. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
I jumped a little when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Jake. “Please trust them. I know you don’t know me, but Rachel does. I’ve been watching out for her as best as I can for a long time because I knew Jeff was an asshole. I know you don’t know Aeric and Brett either, but please. They’re good guys and they’re going to help her.”
I sighed and nodded at Jake before turning to Aeric. “Go ahead. Thank you.”
He nodded and once again lifted her bridal style. He managed to do so without jostling her even a little. His movements were smooth and graceful. It made me glad that it was him and not me. I’d never have been able to do it. Trusting men that I’d never met made me nervous, but I knew that it was the only way.
Chapter Nine
Aeric headed toward the parking garage, me just behind him, and Brett following me. Brett was our lookout, making sure Jeff and that woman didn’t come back for us.
“Our car is on the third level,” I said.
“Ours is on the first,” Brett said. “We’ll take ours and bring you back for yours later. There’s not much time. She’s lost a lot of blood.”
I had no idea why I agreed. They could be anyone. I especially had no idea why I agreed, given that not three minutes before that, I was attacking Aeric and determined to prove him a cold-blooded murderer Vampire.
But… I did.
“Okay,” I said.
I followed along, not wanting to ask any more questions. All that I cared about was Rachel needing and getting help. It didn’t take long for us to get to their car. What a shocker it was to find that it was a brand new, black Dodge Charger with tinted windows and charcoal colored leather interior. My dream car.
The hospital in the area wasn’t very far away from where we were, and I found comfort in that. I still had no idea what I would be telling the doctors. And eventually the police. I imagined that I would just figure it out when the time came. I already know that whatever I said wouldn’t go well at all. I’m the world’s worst
liar. I make every gesture that is symbolic of lying at any given point.
Sliding into the back of the car felt amazing. I was happy about that because I wanted Rachel to be as comfortable as possible. Aeric slid in next to me, and I helped him adjust her so she was lying over both of us, her head resting in my lap. She was still unconscious and bleeding, but it had slowed significantly. I wiped away some of the blood on her neck to see the wound. Even though I’d seen Jeff’s fangs, it still stunned me.
I was a lover of all things Vampire, but to me, it was just good storytelling. I never imagined in all of my twenty years of life that they really existed in any form. The reality of it all still eluded me, but I was getting dangerously close to adjusting.
Rachel’s poor face was bloody and beaten and it made me sick. Her nose was mangled, obviously broken. Her left brow was bleeding and looked slightly deformed, causing me to worry for her eyesight. The whole left side of her face was bruised and swollen, and I couldn’t hold bac the tears. If only I’d been faster. If only I’d been able to understand my grandfather and what he’d been trying to tell me, then maybe I could have gotten help sooner and prevented her from being hurt so intensely.
I looked out the window and realized we were driving. I’d been so engrossed in my friend’s injuries that I hadn’t even noticed that we were moving. I saw the hospital sign coming up, and I felt instant relief. I sighed lightly, as if exhaling away the inner turmoil. That quickly ended when we passed the entrance to the hospital.
“That was the hospital entrance,” I said.
Brett opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again.
“Brett! Where are we going?” I demanded.
“Kailah, it’s okay. Calm down,” Aeric softly said.
“No! Where are we going? The other hospital across the street?”
There were two in Louisville and each one worked together for excellent patient care. If we weren’t going to one, the other would be just fine.
“We aren’t taking her to the hospital –”
