5 Darkness Falls

by Christin Lovell

  My chest caved; my lungs refused to expand.

  She closed the phone and stared directly into my eyes. “Run, Kellan. Run.”

  Chapter 21

  Lexi

  “You feeling okay?” Kai asked, leaning against the arm of the couch as he inspected me.

  “Yeah, thanks.” I smiled.

  “Would you stop interrupting the movie to ask her that?” Mel griped. She shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth, completely riveted by the romantic comedy she’d selected from Redbox on our way home.

  “Why do you need to watch this? You have the real thing with Craig.”

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s not the same. Craig doesn’t do half the things this guy does.”

  “Reality will never be fiction, Mel.”

  She sighed, turning off the TV. She set the popcorn on the coffee table and faced me and Kai. “Really, Lex? Because while maybe not all the plot points of your life are a fiction bestseller, I’d say you’ve had a pretty good run so far. You got the hot guy while you were chunky, got engaged on Christmas day to the same hot guy. Then, you went on a top-secret double-oh-seven mission and roped in another hot guy to drool over you, creating a rather interesting love triangle. Then, the first hot guy knocked you up, but stuck around and has surprised you with a house full of flowers, a renovated kitchen and is out there fighting for your safety right now while you’re getting even cozier with the second hot guy over here. Oh, and I forgot the other fascinating layer of awesome; you’re part vampire, which happens to be a popular paranormal twist. Oh, and it’s no big deal, but you have an army of them that you rule over too, all while successfully playing Miss Betty Crocker. So, would you like to tell me again that reality will never be fiction?” There was a storm brewing in her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” I frowned.

  “Oh, gee, now you ask. You get sick, are forced to take some down time and finally have enough time to notice that something’s off with me. That’s wonderful, Lex. Very reassuring.”

  “I’m sorry. What do you want me to do? I have a job. I can’t put everything on hold to have a personal life.”

  “Well, then I do feel sorry for you because one day you’re going to want that time, but you won’t have anyone left to spend it with.” She abruptly stood. “Maybe you haven’t thought about this aspect either, but is this the same excuse you’re going to tell the baby every time it cries for its mother?”

  “Hey!” Kai growled, getting in Mel’s face. “Back off on that one.”

  What happened? How did everything flip so quickly? Just earlier she was talking about being there through everything. Now she was angry and snatching the words back in a round-about way. “Mel, talk to me.”

  “My relationship isn’t all love and roses, okay, Lexi?” Tears welled in her eyes. “I want what you have, so bad. Hell, I’d even take the knocked up part. But I’m not you. I’m not lucky enough to be Lexi Jackson, Miss Perfect Life.” She pressed her lips into a straight line.

  “Move, Kai.” I pushed him away as I got up.

  I held her shoulders. “Hey. We’re best friends, through thick and thin; in good times and bad, even when the bad times mean we neglect each other. I’m sorry. I can’t change the past, but I’m here now.”

  All of her anger melted into sadness. She trembled as tears streamed down her face. “We…” Her lip quivered. “We can’t…” Her face twisted. “We can’t do the deed.”

  Her hands flew to her face; she sobbed into them uncontrollably.

  I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tightly. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to love someone and never be able to experience their love in every way.

  I held her, the way she held me when my grandmother passed. She cried hard and long; she broke down in my arms like I’d never seen her do before.

  Her body shook; her cries rang out in gut-wrenching gasps. I could almost hear her screaming, ‘Why me?’

  “Hey, how about we order pizza, and we can watch as many romantic comedies as you want?”

  She sniffed several times, lifting her face to peer at me. “I like the pizza part. The last part is just too depressing.”

  I giggled. “Alright. We’ll order pizza and think of something else to do.”

  “Truth or dare!” she popped out of my arms, her eyes suddenly drying.

  “Um, okay.” I fidgeted. This was a bad idea. I was almost sure of it.

  “Yay!” she squealed. “Drex and Kai have to play too; otherwise, it won’t be as much fun.”

  I looked at Kai. He shrugged. Apparently he was in. “Drex!”

  He came out of his room, narrowing his eyes on Mel. “You’re going to pay for wrangling me into this game.”

  She laughed. “Bring it on, tough guy.” She bounced up and down dragging me over to the dining table. “I volunteer Lexi to go first!”

  “Gee, thanks,” I droned.

  Kai gave me a slick smile, winking.

  “Truth or dare, Lex?” she asked. She seemed ready to burst; her eyes were wide with excitement.

  I bit my lower lip. I’d never been a fan of this game. The truth questions were ultra personal and the dares were ridiculous stunts that no one should perform. “Um, truth.”

  “Ooh!” She nibbled her lip, looking devilishly around the table. “If you weren’t with Kellan, would you be with Kai?”

  I’d never wanted to smack her more. She buried the knife deep in my back with that one. That was the one subject I’d wanted to avoid.

  My embarrassment began to show, as I averted my gaze. “Yes.”

  “I knew it!” she yelled.

  I chanced a peek at Kai. He had a goofy grin on his face; his eyes were sparkling with a strong emotion, unidentifiable at the moment.

  “My turn!” Mel was like an energy bomb tonight.

  I shook my head, snapping myself out of it. “Truth or dare?”

  “Hmm…Dare!”

  “Uh…I kind of always sucked at this game, especially with making up dares. Plus, there isn’t much a vamp can’t do.”

  “Make her kiss my bare behind for making me play this game,” Drex offered.

  I laughed; just the thought alone was good enough.

  Mel sobered quickly, crossing her arms over her chest. She gave Drex what I called her Popeye face, one eye squinting while the other just glowered daringly. “That is so not cool.”

  “Sounds good to me.” I smiled. “That’s your dare.”

  She frowned. “I am so disowning you.” She stormed out of her chair and went over to Drex. “Stand up and bare it,” she ordered.

  “You have to record this, Baby Cakes.” Drex passed me his iPhone.

  I stood up, moving over to the side to capture the whole thing on video.

  “Eww! Uh! Gah! Bleh!” Mel swiped at her lips. “I can’t believe I just kissed his ass literally.”

  “Just one cheek,” I said.

  “At least it wasn’t hairy - or worse - I could have been human: and farted on you.”

  That got a reaction from her. “Uh! Gross!”

  Kai snickered, amusement flickering in his eyes.

  “You think it’s funny?” Mel turned to him.

  “Yeah.” He didn’t flinch. “I do.”

  “Fine. Truth or Dare, Kai?” She crossed her arms, standing beside the table so she was a tad taller than him as he sat.

  “Dare.” He bravely faced her, not budging an inch at her challenge.

  “I dare you…to lick Lexi’s swollen pregger feet.”

  “What?” I shrieked. “I cannot believe you.”

  She smiled proudly. “I can’t believe myself either, but it’s a frickin’ frackin’ brilliant dare.”

  I eyed her sideways. “You’ve been hanging out with Craig too long.”

  “Get moving, Kai. I am so uploading this.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket, moving to get a better view.

  Kai swished me sideways in the chair, his eyes boring into me. He knelt down in front of m
e and lifted my foot upwards so my leg was straight.

  I squirmed, steeling myself.

  His expression was playful, but there was something just beyond, something just beneath his surface that had my heart beating a little faster.

  He bent his head backwards and placed his tongue against the back of my heel. Lightly pressing, the warmth of his mouth left a trail as he made his way to the tips of my toes.

  It tickled, but more than anything, he was sending shivers throughout my entire body. A tremor touched my core as his kisses gently slid from toe to toe. Thank God they were clean.

  I knew my face was red when he gently released me. “I can’t believe you did that.” I laughed.

  “And I got it all on video,” Mel announced.

  I pouted my bottom lip. “Come to think of it I don’t have any pictures of any of you guys. Well, I have an old one of us, Mel.”

  “Oh! We should take pics. Come on.” She yanked me from the chair and pulled me towards the kitchen island. “Kai, come snap a pic of me and the momma-to-be.”

  Kai obligingly took pictures of me and Mel; some goofy, some sweet.

  “Come on over, Drex. I want one of us,” I said. He meant a lot to me. I wanted to have at least one photo of us, even if I’d be bloated in it.

  I squealed as he lifted me into his arms. I hugged his neck, turning to Kai and Mel; they each snapped a photo. I leaned in and kissed his cheek.

  “That one was golden,” Mel said. “Now Lexi and Kai. Give me your phone, Kai.”

  Drex set me down and moved to take my phone from Mel so he could capture this too.

  As Kai moved towards me, I suddenly grew shy. Out of all the times for me to abruptly become unnerved by him, this was the strangest.

  He gave me a warm smile, but hesitated near me.

  “Come on you two. You’ve kissed for crying out loud. Kai, put your arm around her and smile, both of you.”

  Leave it to Mel to break the ice.

  Kai slipped his arm around me. My heart seemed to grow heavier beside him. This almost too closely resembled a family photo. I never realized until now how easily it could have been; Kai and me with a baby on the way.

  I gazed up at him. He had a beautiful profile. His hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, displaying good bone structure.

  “Look forward, Lex.”

  I had a warm feeling as Kai’s eyes sought mine. Without speaking, I already knew he was asking what I was looking at. I chuckled as if it was an inside joke and faced Drex and Mel.

  “Got it!” Mel passed me my phone.

  I’d have to print the pics later and frame them for the house. I needed one of Kellan and me too.

  “It came out good,” Drex said as he handed Kai his phone.

  “Thanks.” Kai gazed at the photo for a minute before shoving his phone in his pocket.

  Right then, my tummy growled.

  “Aw. Baby’s hungry.” Mel rubbed my belly. “Let’s order pizza.”

  Chapter 22

  “Um, Lex. I guess I feel like I should tell you about Kellan.” Mel fidgeted as she plopped back down on the sofa beside me. She’d just put her plate in the sink as Drex retreated to his room.

  For the moment, I’d forgotten about Kellan’s secretive trip, but instantly, all the anguish returned with a vengeance, suffocating me. I sucked in a breath, facing her. “That’d be nice.” I set my plate aside. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to want anymore pizza after I heard what she said.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Kai stated.

  “That doesn’t seem fair,” I protested.

  “I’m not doing it to spite you. I just don’t want to see you upset.” He walked towards the windows looking out, distracting himself. He clearly didn’t want any part of this.

  I faced my best friend. “Please, tell me.”

  She gazed back at Kai, nibbling her bottom lip. “Maybe he’s right. Maybe it is best that you don’t know.”

  “Oh, no. Not you too. How would you feel if this was Craig and you were in the dark while everyone around you knew?”

  “Damn. You really are good with words.” She deliberated a little longer before finally meeting my gaze. “He’s been communicating with some guy for months now. No one knows who he is.”

  “Communicating how?”

  “Texts, Face Time chats, e-mails.”

  I sucked my lips in, rolling them between my teeth. This didn’t sound good…or safe. That guy could be anyone.

  “One other thing. Even though he’s cammed with him, he doesn’t know what he looks like. The guy knows what Kellan looks like, but he was always just a shadow.” Mel’s brows drew together. “Crap. That doesn’t even sound smart to me, the ditz of the group.”

  My eyes darted in her direction. “You’re not a ditz.”

  She shrugged, pursing her lips and considering me. “Sorry, Lex. He’s gone to meet with this stranger and to go find Cecilia.”

  “What?” I shouted. Yup. I was definitely done eating. “Of all the stupid, ignorant moves to make. How does he know this isn’t a trap? How…err! Oh my gosh. Idiota!”

  ***

  Kellan

  I yanked the dart from my father’s chest and lifted him against my left side. My elbow wrapped around the side of his waist as my arm splayed up, over his chest.

  I quickly ran to Derek. Ordinarily, I would have been a selfish prick, and left him, but he had helped me finally find her. I tossed the dart aside and awkwardly gripped him with my other arm.

  Thank God for my supernatural strength.

  I took off for the forest. It was much harder to maneuver through the trees with them at my sides. It slowed me down, just enough that I knew I’d be cutting it close.

  Damn. If I got caught; if we got captured…I couldn’t even think about it. I’d made a big mistake in coming here. This was not how things were supposed to go. Derek had assured me that she was accessible. He didn’t lie there. What he neglected to mention was that while she was accessible, she was still impenetrable.

  I knew I was going to have to stop soon and make the call, to warn them…

  In the distance, I heard rustling through the woods. Shit!

  ***

  Lexi

  I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I couldn’t light up. Dr. H had read me the riot act for my previous slips. The baby moved within my belly. I smiled, despite the circumstances. In a few short weeks, we’d know whether we were having a boy or a girl. Dr. H said we had to wait until my skin was stretched a bit further for their super-sono machine to get a visual on the baby.

  “Okay. Let’s think this through. Kellan is already gone. We can’t bring him back, but…” I swallowed hard.

  “What, Lex?” Mel sat on the edge of the couch.

  “He hasn’t called.” I got up and grabbed my phone off the kitchen island. I had no missed messages except from Jarrod. He was letting me know that a few more props on the list were dead ends.

  “Well, I mean, that doesn’t automatically indicate he’s in trouble. He…he could just be busy! Or strategizing…or…crap! He’s probably gotten himself in a pile of horse manure.” Her voice deflated the longer she spoke. She was grasping, trying to find the positives, but there just weren’t any.

  “Maybe I can access the chat history on his computer,” Kai offered.

  “Please.” I knew my eyes were wide, fully displaying the fear that was threatening to consume me. Thoughts had gripped my heart and weren’t releasing it. Something could have easily happened to him. I hated thinking about it. I was ready to vomit after the first idea that popped up.

  Kai sat down at the computer and started browsing through programs.

  I moved to stand behind him. I clutched my stomach, as if my baby’s life depended on this information being located, whatever this information happened to be.

  Mel came up beside me, grabbing my right hand. “We’ll get through this. Together.”

  I couldn’t help but feel betr
ayed by all those not in this apartment. Kai, Drex and Mel were the only ones who trusted me. That was a painful truth to have to face.

  “I have something.” Kai pulled up a log on the computer. It was similar to video play software, but with notes already recorded and available to select from a list.

  Kai clicked the first one and the Face Time chat popped up on the screen. The black silhouette took up most of the screen, but it still showed Kellan’s upper body in a small square at the bottom right.

  “We’ll work on my terms. I don’t work for free,” the shadow stated.

  “Why are you contacting me rather than her?” Kellan crossed his arms over is chest. I could see the wheels turning as he faced the figure on the screen.

  “It’s personal.”

  “Fine. Why should I work with you?”

  I heard the silhouette release a sinister laugh. “Because you’ll need me. No one’s gotten closer to her than I have.”

  Kellan’s lips formed a hard, wrinkled line. His usually bright green eyes were dark and dangerous in the image before me. “Fine.”

  “Fine. I’ll contact you later.” The stranger immediately signed off, followed by Kellan a few seconds later.

  “That must have been the first time they chatted,” I stated.

  “We should run this guy through the voice recognition software. Maybe there’ll be a match.” Kai turned his chair around to face me.

  “What if…” I clenched left hand, rubbing my fingers along my palm. I inhaled quick, trying to calm myself. “What if he’s one of them?”

  “All the more reason to do it. If we don’t act now, we may not have a chance at pulling him out.” There was sadness in Kai’s eyes. I knew he didn’t care about Kellan. It must have been his feelings for me; knowing I would suffer if I ever lost Kellan. He was showing selfless compassion.

  I nodded. “I can access the back office from my laptop at the vamp army headquarters.”

  Drex came running out of his room.

  We all turned towards him.

  “Get her out now!” He pointed to Mel.

  “What? Why?” Mel jumped away from me. “What’s wrong?” Her voice squeaked.

  “You need to leave. You’re not safe here,” he pressed.