“I have my reasons.”
“That’s not an answer.” What am I doing? This guy could be a murderer and I’m treating him like a naughty schoolboy. I should run away, but I don’t want to leave him alone. He needs help. Mia wrestled with her conscience, unsure what she should do.
“No, the police are not after me.” He managed a smile, but still did not look up at her.
Appalled at herself for questioning this injured adult–he needed help, not the third-degree. “I have a tent. You can rest in it if you like, just until you feel better.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Can I call someone for you?” Better, more sensible question, she thought.
“No.” Cain slumped to his knees with a piercing squeal as the pain shot through his whole body.
Mia gave a low short scream as she backed away. She stared at the man and the strained look on his face. She had to help, had to do something. “You really need help. I’ll go and get an ambulance.”
“No!” He held his arms tightly around his chest and panted for a moment before he could speak again. “Please,” he continued with difficulty, “please don’t do that.” He licked his dry lips and swallowed. “Do you think you could help me to your tent?”
When the man lifted his head, Mia noticed his eyes, the most piercing blue eyes she had ever seen. She liked his eyes. She knew she could trust him. “Yes, it’s not far.” She really hoped he wouldn’t die, but was afraid that that was exactly what was going to happen.
Once inside the tent, Mia asked what had happened to him, why was he burned, and had he been stabbed or shot because there was so much blood? Here I go again with the twenty questions. She just could not help herself. She wanted to know everything about him so she told him her name.
“I am not a nice man, Mia, and others think I should not be part of this world.” He saw the confusion in her eyes.
“Well, I think you are nice.” How could anyone want to hurt him? She could not stop looking deep into his eyes. She had never met anyone like him. He was nice in a strange sort of way. She had a sudden thought. She crawled to the tent entrance. “I’ll be back soon. I know how to help you.” But the man didn’t answer. He was fast asleep or had blacked out, or died; she wasn’t sure how to tell the difference.
Chapter 12
Mia reached the hospital doors. She stood there for a minute, and took a deep breath. She could do this! The man with the blue eyes needed her help, needed blood, and she was all he had. She walked in and the receptionist saw her.
“Hi, Mia. Is your mother working today?”
“I think so. Phil is in bed after his night shift and I was bored.” She could feel her face going red. She had never been a good liar but this was an emergency.
“Just go straight through. You know the way.”
Mia had always liked her. She was never sad, always had a big smile on her face and really pretty, blonde curly hair, which suited her round face, especially with the ruby red lipstick she always wore.
In the corridor, Mia passed one of the male nurses. He never questioned why she was at the hospital. He’d just wink and say, “Here comes trouble.”
She giggled and waved. He was one of the nurses who had treated her mom when she had her blood transfusion. He had made fun of Mia when her mother wasn’t well to try and make her laugh and keep her from being too worried. She thought his goatee beard and red hair didn’t quite go with his very tanned skin and his mammoth build. She always imagined him running around in animal skins, too big to be scared of anything. She liked him. He had always been kind to her.
Jess’s office was right in front of where they kept the blood. Mia quietly approached. There was no one about so she quickly went in and found the keys she had seen her mother using to access the room where they kept the blood. She unlocked the door and went to the first fridge. She put two of the bags that contained blood inside her sweatshirt. Not too cold. She put the keys back in her mother’s office.
Just as she was leaving, Doctor Porter came around the corner.
He was a heavyset man with the biggest stomach she had ever seen, even on pregnant ladies. She always felt a bit intimidated by him because he spoke to her while looking over the edge of his glasses. And he never seemed to smile.
“Hello, Mia. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“I was looking for my mom, Doctor Porter.” She had always seen Doctor Porter as an authority figure and he reminded her of an old school principal, with his balding head and power tie. Now she was scared she would not be able to keep up the pretence.
“Your mother’s not working today. Isn’t she at home?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry. Of course, she is. I just forgot what day it is.”
“Let me ring her and make sure she’s home.”
“That’s okay, Doctor Porter. I guess I got it wrong. I was out playing and just thought I would visit my mom. Phil is in bed. He was working night shift. I forgot she wasn’t working today.” Mia could feel herself shaking. She felt faint and had to remember to breathe.
Doctor Porter looked at her. “Are you sure everything is all right? You look very pale, Mia.”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“Let me get my coat and I’ll run you home. I’m just about to finish my shift.”
“That’s okay, Doctor Porter. I like to walk.”
He looked over his glasses at her. “No, I’ll take you. You don’t look well at all, and your mother would have my guts if I let you walk home while you appear unwell.”
Mia was now really scared. Oh, damn, what’s going to happen now? Mom will want to know why I’m at the hospital, and what if they notice the blood’s missing? Things were getting out of hand.
***
Doctor Porter pulled up outside the house. Mia darted out of the car through the front door and up the stairs. She put the blood in the drawer next to her bed. She could hear Doctor Porter talking to her mother. She snuck into the bathroom.
“Mia? Mia! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just had to run to the bathroom.” She flushed the toilet and made her way downstairs.
“You do look a little pale. My God, you’re shaking.”
“I’m fine, Mom. Thank you for bringing me home, Doctor Porter.”
“You’re welcome, Mia, but now we’re here with your mother I would like to check you over, if that’s all right with you, Jess?”
“Yes, of course, David. I would be grateful if you‘d do that.” Jess was relieved that David was here, and that he had brought her daughter home, but she was still filled with anxiety.
Doctor Porter examined Mia and pronounced that he was happy she was okay. He said her color seemed to be returning, and all her vitals appeared normal, though it would be a good idea to keep an eye on her, just in case she was coming down with something.
Jess breathed a sigh of relief that there was no immediate cause for concern, but that did not help her with the uneasy feeling that something else was troubling her little girl.
“Thanks, David. I have been worried about her. She seems subdued and keeps to herself a lot lately.”
“Maybe we can get Mia to see Darna Thornton, the new child psychologist.”
“I think that might be a good idea, David. I haven’t really got to know her as well as I should have, but she might be able to help.”
David smiled. “She’s very nice.”
Jess smiled at the doctor. “Thanks for bringing her home.”
David left, but he had a feeling of general unease about Mia. Something was going on with the little girl whom he had always known to be so happy and full of joy, but there was nothing concrete to investigate.
Jess saw David out and then returned to her daughter. “Okay, I think you should go lie down for a while, just to be sure.”
“Mom, I’m okay.”
“You were shaking, Mia, and very pale. I have never seen you that pale before. You went to the hospital whe
n you knew I wasn’t working. When was the last time I worked on a Sunday?”
Damn it! This is getting worse. Mia had to convince her mother that she was okay.
“Mom, please. I just forgot it was Sunday. With the holidays I got the days mixed up, and I was embarrassed. Please, I want to go outside.” She was scared the man she had left in the tent would not be there, or that he might die. For all she knew he could be dead already. This thought made her stomach turn.
“It’s eleven o’clock now. We’ll have some lunch in an hour, and if you are still okay then maybe I will think about letting you go out.”
“Aw, Mom, but….”
“No buts, Mia. Now go and lie down. I will call you when lunch is ready.”
Mia went to her room. She got her backpack out and put the blood she had taken from the hospital inside it, and then she hid the backpack under the bed. She thought it was probably best not to argue any more just in case her mother got mad, but if she didn’t get let out soon she was going to have to sneak out and deal with the consequences later.
At eleven forty-five, Jess went up to Mia’s room. Mia sat on her bed, drawing. Jess looked around the room, at the cream wallpaper with tiny pink and red flowers dotted over it, the pastel pink bedspread and baby pink headboard. She looked at the wardrobe and remembered them attaching the pink princess and fairy stickers to it together. Somehow time had flown by and Mia now looked too old for her room.
She hugged her daughter. “I think your room needs a more grown up make-over.”
Mia’s face lit up. “Really? I can decorate?”
Jess nodded. “How are you feeling? You have a lot more color in your cheeks.”
“I’m good, Mom, honestly.” She smiled at her mother, hoping it would convince her that she was all right and she would be able to go out soon. She had been going crazy in her room, imagining finding the man’s dead body in her tent. She had heard her mother coming up the stairs and grabbed her sketchbook. She could not show any worry on her face.
But she was used to keeping up appearances in front of her mother.
“Do you feel like some food? I’ve made fried chicken.”
“Yeah, then can I go out?” She looked at the clock on the wall. “Please, Mom, I’m meeting a friend.”
“Okay, but I want you to promise me if you feel unwell you’ll come straight home.” Jess was a little relieved that Mia was not going to be on her own.
“I promise, Mom.”
Mia rushed her food down and immediately asked if she could go out. She promised again to be home by six, and earlier if she felt ill. When her mom agreed, Mia ran to her room, grabbed the backpack and raced off outside.
As she approached the woods she could hear a dog, or maybe two, in the distance. They sounded like the hunting dogs you heard on TV, but they couldn’t be hunting dogs, not here. There was nothing to hunt in the woods, just squirrels, birds, grass snakes, rodents, and maybe stray cats.
Back at the tent, Mia found the man unconscious. She took the blood bags out of her backpack and placed them next to him. But then a thought came to her. Oh, no! I forgot to get food and water! How stupid can I be? She decided to run back to her house to get some things.
Jess called out when she heard the door slam. “Mia, what’s wrong? Are you feeling ill?”
“No, I’m okay, Mom. I thought I might have a picnic later. I‘ve got some stuff.”
With her backpack loaded with a packet of chips, a cheese sandwich, and a bottle of water, Mia headed back to the woods. As she neared the tent she heard the hunting dogs again, but this time they were very near. Just as she was about to unzip the tent she heard a noise behind her.
She turned around as a strange man approached.
“Hello, my name’s Ted. Who are you?” the man said as he smiled at Mia.
“I’m not allowed to talk to strangers.” She did not like the look of this man.
“And you shouldn’t. Are you here alone?”
Mia did not know what to say. Should she lie? Ted stood waiting for an answer, but she was instantly on guard. Why did this weirdo want to know if she was alone? Did he plan to hurt her? There looked to be something dangerous about him, like the Flanders boy from down the road. That boy was always fighting, drinking and riding his motorbike around the streets at a hundred miles an hour. She needed to bluff her way out of this.
“I am at the moment, but my dad is on his way and he will be here in a minute.”
“Okay, that’s good. You shouldn’t be alone in the woods. It’s not safe.”
Mia looked at the man and thought to herself, Yeah, from people like you.
“Have you seen anyone else in the woods today?”
“No,” she answered, hoping he didn’t notice how nervous she was.
He raised his eyebrows, “is this your tent?”
“Yes, it’s mine and my dad’s.” Why is he asking so many questions?
“Can I take a look inside? I was thinking about getting one of these.”
Mia stood there frozen. Is this one of the men who hurt the man in my tent? If he was, then she could not let Ted find him here. She had to stop him. “No. You need to go away before my dad gets here.” Mia thought she sounded tough and was pleased with herself that she hadn’t turned on her heels and run in the opposite direction.
The man rushed forward, unzipped the tent, and thrust his head inside.
Mia thought she was going to cry. She held her breath, but then she heard someone calling her. She recognized his voice and smiled.
“Where are you? Come on, we have to go home now.”
It was him! He wasn’t in the tent, and he’s alive.
Ted pulled his head out of the tent and looked up suspiciously.
“That’s my dad. I have to go.” She ran toward the edge of the woods and there was the man with the blue eyes. She could have hugged him, but thought better of it.
“Are you all right?” he asked her.
“Yes. Is he the one who hurt you?”
“One of them, yes.”
Mia looked at him, concerned. “Are you okay?” Cain nodded. She grabbed hold of his hand.
He looked down at her hand in his. She was a strange little thing, and far too trusting for her own good. She should not be this friendly toward a complete stranger. He watched as Ted left. “He’s gone now. Let’s go back to the tent.”
Back at the tent Mia looked around for the blood, but it was nowhere to be seen. “Did you take the blood?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Did it help?”
“Yes, it helped a lot, but I will need to get more.” Cain did not want the girl to worry. He should have never put her in this position in the first place, but what choice did he have?
“What’s your name?”
“Mia.”
He held his hand out towards her. “My name’s Cain, and I am very grateful for what you have done for me.”
Mia put her head down, embarrassed, but looked up through her eyelashes. “I don’t know if I can get more. I nearly got caught, but I can try. Or…if you like you can take some of mine.”
She suddenly felt stupid. Why did I say that? How can he take my blood when I can’t get transfusion equipment?
Cain saw the pain in her eyes. He smiled at her. “You are very brave. You offer me your own blood. Does that not scare you?” He was a little amused and also intrigued by this girl. He also felt nervous for her. He was a monster, but there were worse than him around, ones that would not think twice about hurting her in cruel and sadistic ways.
“Yes, a little. But you need it. And I have brought you some food as well.”
“You are an angel, but I will not need the food. Tell me, how old are you? Eight?”
Mia looked at him with slight disgust. “I will be eleven in three months.” Now maybe he won’t think of me as a little girl.
“You should not be here, and you should not trust anyone you don’t know.”
“You needed
my help. Sometimes it’s the people you know that you should be afraid of. I know you don’t want to hurt me. I can tell.”
He tried to keep a straight face, and not show the concern he felt for her. “You are right. I will not hurt you, but you couldn’t have known that.”
“You have kind eyes. When I saw them, I just knew you wouldn’t hurt me.” She could feel the heat in her face as she looked away.
Anger crossed his face and his jaw tensed. “Behind these eyes is a man you do not know, whom you should not trust, who you should be afraid of. I could kill you easily, especially if I took your blood.”
Mia looked down at the ground again and twisted her toe in the dirt. “My life isn’t that great. It wouldn’t matter if you did.” She quickly put her hand to her mouth. Did I really just say that out loud?
Cain studied Mia. What could be so troubling for a girl so young that she would risk her life for a stranger and not care if she died?
He was not fully recovered from his injuries and the wound in his chest was starting to open up again. He tried to hide his pain from her. He was going to have to take a little blood from her. Not much, just enough to enable him to hunt when it got dark. This would also benefit her; he would make her a token. He would always be indebted to her and this way he would be able to help her if ever she needed him. “Do not worry, Mia, I am not going to hurt you.” He reached out and touched her arm. “Close your eyes.”
Mia felt a sharp pain, and then everything went numb. A few minutes later the feeling was back in her arm.
She opened her eyes and looked at Cain. “Your burns look a lot better.”
“Ah, yes, the burns. I heal very quickly.”
Mia looked at her wrist. It was red and a little tender but nothing else. But what had just happened? Why couldn’t she remember? Did he really just take my blood? How could he do that without equipment? Perhaps I’m finally going crazy.
They spent the afternoon talking about the countries he had been to. She wanted to know every detail about each and every one of them.
Behind Blue Eyes: The Good The Bad & The Blood Page 9
