The Sanctuary (Union Cross Park Series Book 1)

by Felicia Leibenguth

  She’s looking directly at me with a hard stare. When she sees that she has my attention, she says in a timid, yet strong voice, “After everything I’ve been through, I hope you understand that whatever you do to earn my trust, I still cannot cure you.”

  I stare at her blankly for a moment, letting her words sink in. Anger flares behind my eyes, but I continue to show no emotion when I say in a dark tone, “Then I will have to find another way to get what I require from you.” I pause and watch her body tremble at my cold words. I continue on in the same dark tone, “Just remember, my offer of letting you go still stands. You have twenty-four hours to decide.” With that, I turn on my heel and head through the door leaving Alexandria alone with her thoughts.

  Chapter 22

  In a desperate need to get away from Alexandria, before I kill her, I head to the roof and enter into the blinding sun. I hear kids playing on the playground and teens on the basketball court. It’s a bit early in the day for all this activity, so it must be the weekend. I don’t keep track of the days as I have no reason to. I’m just lucky if I keep track of the years.

  Picking the secluded back side of the old radar tower, I jump down to the ground with ease, but soon regret it when my hip crunches upon impact sending a shock of agony down my leg. I may not have enough time left to give Alexandria the twenty-four hours I told her she could have to decide.

  I clench my teeth and start a slow, painful walk toward the picnic tables under the trees. Sitting down, I watch the two kids horsing around on the playground and notice that their parents are non-existent.

  After giving my hip a few minutes to heal, I watch as the two kids are called away by their parents, and in their place, two older teens head over to the swings. They sit side by side and pass a joint between them while they chat. After they finish the joint, they get up and spot me sitting under the tree alone.

  “Do you think he lives at the rehab?” The twenty-something male asks his buddy, looking in my direction.

  The younger male replies with some excitement. “I don’t know man. We can ask. Think he may want an eight ball?”

  The twenty-something smiles cockily, “One way to find out.”

  They head in my direction and I decide to play along for the moment.

  As they get closer, the older male says, “Hey, man. How you doin?” They stop walking and keep a little space between us.

  I smile sarcastically. “I’m doin…” I pause and act like I’m looking around for anyone eavesdropping on our conversation.

  The older male looks around as well. He seems to be the mouth piece for the pair as he turns his attention back to me. “You live around here?”

  “Unfortunately.” I jerk my head toward the rehab in disgust.

  “Yeah man, I can understand that,” he laughs. “What was your poison?”

  “Coke. Damn stuff is still pumping through my veins,” I grumble. It may not be coke in my veins, but I rather it was. “Damn detox, feel like I’m going nuts.”

  The two men look at one another and then the older male speaks again, acting a bit nervous. “We may be able to help if you’re interested.” He smiles.

  My eyes widen in false excitement. “Really man? You got some?”

  “Of course man. I have dimes or eight-balls.”

  I grin. “How much are your eight-balls running?” I question, getting them excited.

  “Hundred,” he states quickly building with anticipation.

  “I’ll take three,” I state flatly.

  “Really man?” He looks at his buddy excited.

  I laugh. “Haven’t been doing this long have you?”

  He scrunches his eyes in frustration. “What do you mean man?”

  I glare into his eyes, making him uncomfortable. “New to the drug distribution scene, thinking you’re cool, maybe teach your little friend here the ropes that you have no idea about.”

  “You buying or not?” he snaps.

  I smirk. “Don’t even have that much on you, do you?”

  He throws his hand in my direction and says, “Forget you man. You don’t know nothin,” he spits with anger. He turns to his friend and says, “Let’s get outta here.”

  I laugh, “I don’t think so. I feel like playing a while longer.” They both turn around and look at me and I grin.

  I lock eyes with the younger male, making the connection. “Don’t move, don’t speak.”

  The man instantly follows my will.

  The older male looks at his friend who isn’t moving a muscle and then looks back to me with confusion and slight fear. “What the hell man, what’s your deal?”

  I don’t answer as I stare into his eyes, making the link I need.

  I grin once I have him under my control, and say, “Climb to the highest point on the playground, and dive off head first.”

  I look back at his younger friend and say, “You will watch without a word. When it’s finished, you will not remember me or this conversation, and you will never speak again.”

  I release them and they come back to their senses.

  “Whatever man, we’re outta here.” The older male says and they both spin on their heels and head for the playground.

  I watch in sadistic enjoyment as the older male walks up the steps of the playground and gets to the highest point. He then climbs onto the red railing.

  His friend is standing below, not saying a word, but I can see the panic on his face.

  I grin as the older male dives off the railing head first, hitting the ground with a satisfying snap of his neck. He dies instantly. His friend remains in position looking down in horror, his mouth open wide with screams that will never come.

  Several teens, hearing the loud snap from the basketball court, come running over. The younger male starts acting out in hysteria, not saying a word, but he becomes so frantic that two of the larger male teens pin him to the ground. Two other teens go over to the dead male and check his pulse, but by looking at the position of his head, anyone can see he didn’t survive.

  The teens holding the male on the ground continually ask him what happened, and he doesn’t reply.

  Hearing the sirens in the distance, I hide in the maple tree next to my building so I can continue to watch without suspicion being placed on me.

  An ambulance soon arrives and tends to the dead male while the police take the non-verbal male in handcuffs to the patrol car after finding dimes and eight-balls of coke in his pocket. The police take reports of the incident from the teens and quickly close the park down. An investigation team arrives to check the scene and things become boring.

  Well, I’ve managed to kill three eventful hours.

  With no other entertainment around, I go to the secluded back of my building and jump the five stories to the roof, but I only make it to the third floor.

  “What the hell?” I say aloud to myself. I’ve jumped this a thousand times and always succeeded. I jump again, and once more only make it to the third floor. I glare in anger at the fourth floor where Alexandria resides. I’m losing my ability to jump because of her.

  Knowing I can’t leave climbing holes in the concrete structure, I decide to climb the old, large pipe back up to the roof. Once at the top, I sit on the roof for a while listening to the investigators below. Not ready to go back inside and be near Alexandria, I lay back and close my eyes. I lose myself in thoughts of the past but suddenly my brain becomes like a fog. It’s hard to concentrate and my thoughts start to jumble. I open my eyes and realize I see nothing but darkness. I have a massive headache, and the muscles throughout my body tense and spasm.

  I avoid screaming out in agony by clenching my teeth the best I can and dig my nails into my palms with another full-body muscle spasm. My back arches off the cement and I pant heavily in agony. It’s nothing like I’ve ever felt before and I know it’s the cause of the old soul's blood pumping through my veins. My time is coming to a close and if I don’t get what I need from Alexandria, this is only a taste of what
’s coming for me.

  It feels like an eternity has passed by the time my body becomes limp and relaxes. I breathe deeply for several minutes as my body recovers from the onslaught.

  Slowly, my vision returns, and the fog lifts from my mind. I continue to breathe normally for a few more minutes before I take the chance to move and sit up. Sitting up, I grab my head and close my eyes as things spin and I become nauseous. I have not felt any human pains or ailments since becoming a vampire and having this all hit at once is disorienting.

  I wait for the nausea and dizziness to pass before opening my eyes. Looking at my hands, horror fills my mind. Every vein in my hands and arms has turned purple. I pull up a pant leg to find the same purple veins covering my leg. Not good…

  Standing up in panic, residual muscle spasms continue in random places. Trying my best to ignore them, I head back into my home and resist the urge to go down to see Alexandria, as I don’t want her to know how close I am to the end. She will only use it to her advantage. So I head into my bedroom and into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I touch my face and trace the purple lines that now cover my skin. My eyes are bloodshot and I instinctively run my hands through my once jet black hair as it’s now dark grey.

  I have the urge to put a few holes in something but don’t have the strength to carry through with it. Instead, I drag my sorry self to my bed and lay down. I need to recover from this with hopes I at least have a few more days to convince her to willingly give me her blood. I’ve lived for over two-hundred years as an immortal and for an old soul to take me down… infuriates me…

  But as I ponder over my life as a vampire and the unspeakable things I have done, the people I’ve forced to suffer, maybe I deserve this. Yet, I’m not willing to go out without one last hurrah. One last story to air on the news across the country. One last run around for the police and FBI…

  I slip into darkness with the thought if I awaken, I will get my one last hurrah…

  Chapter 23

  I vaguely become aware of the deafening silence surrounding me. My body is stiff, but otherwise not painful, and I find myself being grateful. I slowly sit up and realize that I must not have moved in hours as I work out my muscles. Glaring at my bare arms, I see that the purple veins still remain. Taking a deep breath, I comprehend that the episode did permanent damage to my body and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it until I get the cure. I punch my mattress as I get up and walk into the kitchen. Peeking at the clock, I realize I’ve slept for a solid fifteen hours.

  I let out a hard laugh at the thought Alexandria probably thinks I’m dead by now. Figuring she’s probably hungry, I grab a pack of pop-tarts and head to the stairwell. Heading to the next floor, I find Alexandria sitting on the floor with her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. I walk over into the light and clear my throat to get her attention.

  She suddenly looks up startled. Her eyes widen as she looks at me and covers her mouth with her hand in shock.

  “Oh my God, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…” she cries.

  I walk over ignoring her and place the food I brought on the nightstand. Turning around, I look at her as tears stream down her face.

  “You’re sorry are you?” I question in an angry tone.

  She nods her head sadly. “I didn’t want any of this to happen. I don’t want to die down here alone… I thought… I thought you already…” She openly sobs now. “I’m sorry.”

  I remain cold, but I still can’t help the irritating feeling that I want to dry her tears. I growl aloud causing her to flinch. “Have you made a decision yet?” I ask coldly.

  She looks up at me with saddened eyes. “I… I can’t.” She turns her head away from me in shame at her answer.

  A feral snarl escapes my lips. “Why can’t you?” I demand.

  She’s physically shaking with fear. “Because I can’t,” her voice cracks.

  I become threatening as I step closer to her, causing her to turn away from me. “That’s not an answer!” I yell.

  She says nothing as she cries.

  My anger is at my breaking point and I grab her arm roughly hoisting her up from the floor, causing her to cry in pain.

  “Answer me!” I growl in her face.

  She’s shaking so violently, I begin to think I’m the only one holding her on her feet.

  “That’s… why,” she stammers and looks at my hand on her arm.

  I instantly let her go and she manages to stand on her own.

  “I… I can’t… trust anyone.” She turns her head away ashamed.

  I laugh. “You know, if I go down, you will die here on a chain, alone, starving to death.”

  Her head snaps around with anger written on her face. “Don’t you think I know that!” she yells. “If I could, I would have given it to you already! But I am no longer like the other old souls your kind is so used to.” She quickly seals her lips as if she’s said too much.

  I narrow my eyes at her. “What do you mean?”

  She refuses to talk again, and I grow angry. I grab her and throw her onto her bed and place myself overtop of her in a threatening tone. “Answer me!” I growl again.

  She turns her head to the side exposing her neck. In a quiet voice, she answers, “Quillon… likes to… experiment.” Tears flow onto her pillow. “I’m sure you saw my scars…” she trails off and becomes silent.

  I get off the bed and look at the frail woman lying there, trying to protect herself by curling into a ball.

  She looks lost like she’s reliving her past.

  I try to keep my voice soft. “What experiments?”

  She shakes her head ‘no.’

  “Fine, why are you not like the other old souls?”

  Another, ‘no.’

  I’m growing livid again. “Is the only reason you can’t cure me because you can’t trust?”

  She peers up at me through her eyelashes and stares at me, not saying a word.

  I kneel on the floor next to her and stare into her unwavering eyes. Speaking sternly, I say, “You’re not making any sense Alexandria. I feel as though you’re giving me the runaround…” I pause and see a hint of something in her eyes that tells me I’m hitting the nail on the head. I smile darkly and continue, “If you refuse to give me the cure, their blood will be on your hands… do you understand?”

  Her eyes widen as she lifts her head, not breaking her gaze on me. “What do you mean?”

  “Just what I said, give me the cure, or the blood is on your hands. What is so difficult to understand about that?” I mock.

  “Please… please don’t do this…” she begs.

  “The choice is yours Alexandria. It’s not in my hands, it’s in yours.”

  She’s panicking as she sits on the edge of the bed. Grabbing my hands in her own, she pleads with me, “Please, please don’t hurt anyone. I want to cure you but I can’t. It’s not in my hands. Please understand that.”

  “So you’re asking me to lay down and die?”

  For that, she has no answer. She stares blankly at me trying to find the words to convince me.

  “Please…” she pleads one last time.

  I smile sinisterly as I stand. I place my hand under her chin and lift her face up. Leaning down I place a kiss on her soft lips, causing her to freeze. I then move to her ear and whisper, “Their blood is on your hands…”

  I spin on my heel and head for the door. Alexandria gets off the bed suddenly and runs after me only to reach the end of her chain causing her to fall flat on her stomach.

  I turn to her and say, “May you not suffer long after I become nothing but a corpse.”

  I close the door as Alexandria screams, “Noooooo!”

  Heading to the top floor, I grab a pair of black leather gloves, and go to the ladder that leads to the roof.

  Let the fun begin…

  Chapter 24

  Tonight will be a bloodbath. Possibly the last time I have the chance to hunt, raise havoc, and give the cops the
runaround. My last hurrah before my death. I grin evilly… I know just where to go.

  I need to keep a low profile, so my motorcycle is off limits tonight. I should have enough strength to get there and back as it’s only a few miles down the road.

  After leaving the sanctuary, I stick to the woods when possible, and maneuver my way to Glenmore Creek where ninety, well-manicured homes set within a secluded, adult only cul-de-sac, with only one way in and one way out.

  No one will escape tonight…

  I follow the three dead-end roads and note the homes that still have their lights on. These I will avoid for now. I want to slip in and slip out without raising alarm. It may take a day or two, but people will find my slaughter eventually and the police will have nothing to go on. Just a whole community decimated with no explanation or evidence to start with.

  Starting at the farthest house in the community, I place the black leather gloves on my hands before I enter the dark home. Taking in the layout of the house, I note the large knives on the kitchen counter.

  I listen for the hearts of those living here and hear only two, both coming from a room upstairs. Wasting no time, I grab the largest knife from the counter and jump to the second-floor balcony without making a sound. My knees ache in protest and I grind my teeth in frustration. I’ll have to use the stairs for the rest of the homes tonight, wasting precious time.

  Opening the master bedroom door slowly, I see the two unsuspecting humans lying under the covers in the darkened room. I approach slowly and stand next to the female whose long, auburn hair flows across her pillow. I look down at her, uncaring of the atrocities I will commit tonight, and stab the knife into her heart.

  She gasps and her eyes fly open in horror as she looks up at me. I smile sinisterly and watch as she goes limp, her head flopping to the side with her eyes remaining open. The light of life vanishes from her eyes.

  I pull the knife from her chest and bring it to my mouth licking the bloodied blade clean, allowing the explosion of flavor to coat my tongue.