She beamed at him. “Yeah. I hope you’ll find your friend soon.”
“Oh, I’m sure I will.”
Helena unlocked the front door, and her mother zeroed in on her like a vulture in a desert. Sasha gripped Helena’s wrist and dragged her into the living room.
“What were you thinking, leaving Richard’s car like that? What if something happened to you again?”
Lifting her hands in defence, Helena knocked her mother’s hand away. “I got here just fine. Stop worrying about me.”
“Stop worrying? You almost died!”
Helena winced. She knew her mother’s panic wasn’t unfounded, but this was driving a great wedge between them. Her shoulders quivered with unspoken truths about the situation. The longer she held on, the more annoyed she became with the freak show her life had become after the damn incident.
“Don’t look at me like that, Helena. Stop putting yourself in needless danger. What are we supposed to do if you die?”
Those words broke the cap of her bottled up emotions. “I’ll die faster if I remain here with you guys!” She didn’t wait for her mother’s response and ran out of the room. Bumping into Richard outside the door, she lowered her face to hide her tears. She knew she shouldn’t have said anything, yet she could no longer contain the pain within.
Helena ran to her bedroom. Once she locked the door, she tossed her bag on the floor and collapsed on her bed. Although faint, she could hear Richard trying to calm her mother with soothing words.
She rolled over. Burying her face in the pillow, she let out her frustration with a muffled scream. So many things were missing from her memories. The doctors had said they didn’t know what caused her memory loss because she hadn’t hurt her head. They also didn’t know if her memories for the past year would come back.
Why a whole year? Why not only the accident?
When she checked the time, it was a little after nine in the evening. Her stomach rumbled. She ignored it and called her friend.
“Hey, what’s up?” Britney’s cheerful voice pounded against Helena’s sensitive eardrums, causing her headache from crying to come back.
Helena groaned. “Can you talk quietly?”
“Did something happen?”
“I’m contemplating running away and joining a circus.”
Britney giggled. “I’d love to see you walk a tightrope.”
“You never know, I might be good at it.” The more she talked to her friend, the better she felt, allowing the tension in her body to slip away. Helena slid off her bed and looked out of her window. For a second, she thought she saw movement in the shadows across the street. She shook her head. It had to be her imagination playing tricks on her.
“Did you fall asleep on me?” Britney asked.
“No. Sorry. I got distracted. What were you saying?”
“The party’s tomorrow. I’ve talked with my mom, and she’s fine with giving you an alibi when we go out. So, if your mom calls, we’ll be in bed by ten, tucked in like the good girls we are supposed to be.” She let out a snort. “I feel like a naughty teen.”
“You’re nineteen,” Helena corrected her.
“Good point. It means I can keep being a bad girl for another four months.”
They both laughed, and Helena hung up the call after they said their goodbyes. Leaving her room, she waded into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Richard joined her. His concerned expression started to get on her nerves.
“We need to talk about your behaviour,” he said, crossing his arms.
She raised a brow. “Really, Richard? You want to do this now?”
“The way you spoke to your mother was uncalled for. You should apologise in the morning when she wakes up.” He let his arms fall to his sides. “She cares about you. You’re her only daughter.”
“I won’t be in a month, and I’m old enough to take care of myself.”
The haunted look in his eyes returned. “You will always be a child to her. Instead of running off and seeking trouble, just stay here. All we want to do is—”
“—trap me here and keep me on a shelf like a doll,” she finished for him. Helena slammed her glass down and the water splashed the counter. “I want you guys to stop treating me like I’m a two-year-old. At twenty, I’m pretty sure I can go out and come back at any time I want, drink alcohol, pay taxes, and make mistakes.” She balled her hands at her sides. “Isn’t that what life is about? Learning from your mistakes?”
“It is. If it wasn’t for your accident…”
“No. Stop. I don’t want to hear it. Tomorrow, I’m going to sleep over at Britney’s,” she announced and fled the kitchen.
The next day, neither of her parents tried talking to her, which she found to be a blessing. She grabbed a backpack and stuffed it full of spare clothes and toiletries for staying over at her friend’s house. Leaving the overflowing bag by the door, she changed into her washed out blue jeans and a tank top. She passed by the living room and mumbled her goodbye before leaving.
As expected, Britney was parked out front. Her friend had many great qualities, one of which was punctuality.
“Are you ready to have some fun?” Britney asked with a mischievous grin.
“Oh, I’m ready to get drunk enough to forget my troubles.”
Britney reached over and unlocked the car door for her. “Then hop on the fun train. Let’s get changed at my place, so we can be in the spotlight for once.”
“Looks like you’re determined to get a boyfriend.”
Her friend grinned as Helena climbed in and put her seatbelt on. “Always. I mean, who wouldn’t want a nice, loving guy to bring me flowers, worship me on a daily basis, and cuddle on the weekends?”
“You could get a teddy bear instead…” Helena offered.
“Dummy, a teddy bear has no wallet.”
Helena shook her head. “It’s no wonder you’re the class rep. You drive a hard bargain.”
“Thanks.” Britney grinned and sped towards her home.
An hour later, as the sun set, Britney threw multiple colourful dressed at Helena from her walk-in wardrobe. Once she emptied half of her things, she emerged holding two pairs of heels. “Start with the red dress. Guys like red.”
“I don’t know if I want to attract male attention tonight. Maybe I can be your wingman?”
Britney waved her comment away. “The red one.”
Helena squeezed into the scarlet cocktail dress that looked a lot like a massive blood stain. Her head started to ache the longer she looked at it. Her fingers traced the area over her heart. Sweat formed on her forehead, and she quickly undid the zip on her side.
“Why are you taking it off?” Britney demanded. “It looked great on you!”
“I can’t wear it. Let’s try something else.”
Her friend said nothing and handed her a dark green sun dress. This time, everything was fine. Helena did a twirl, and Britney gave her thumbs up.
“What are you going to wear to the party?” Helena asked.
Britney winked and pulled out a black halter dress from the pile. She stripped to her lacy underwear and put it on. The material wrapped around her slender waistline like a glove. She finished her look with a practised Halloween makeup application to make her look like a cat and then tortured Helena with the same treatment.
“It’s done!” Britney squealed. “If at least one hot guy doesn’t try to get into my pants tonight, I will be very disappointed.”
“That’s how you measure success?”
She folded her arms over her ample chest. “I’m pretty sure ninety percent of guys our age only think about sex. The other ten are playing video games and talking to digital girlfriends.”
Helena snorted. “Fair enough.”
Britney draped her arm over Helena’s shoulder, pulling them together in front of the full-length mirror. “Should we sing Too Sexy For My Shirt?”
“Let’s just get to the party,” Helena replied, trying to contain her laug
hter. “I’m afraid your sexiness may be too much for the human race.”
Britney swatted her shoulder playfully. “Watch and learn, baby. We’ll be the stars tonight!”
Contrary to Britney’s earlier belief, they were outdone by almost every girl at the party with their short nurse outfits and almost non-existent mini-skirts to match their oversexed Devil costumes. Helena covered her ears to keep the constant offending words of the rapping singer from entering her head while they sat on the barstools in the kitchen. The kitchen island was full of plastic cups and different kinds of alcohol. To get rid of her misery, she contemplated taking a swig from the scotch bottle but thought better of it. At the end of the day, she had no idea whether the drinks were spiked before they got here.
Britney nudged her with her elbow. “Cute guy alert, three o’clock.”
Helena wiggled her brows. “Are you going to talk to him?”
“Why can’t he talk to me? Is there some unspoken rule that a woman has to go first?”
“No, but if you keep sitting in this kitchen with me, I’m sure he’ll find someone who is dancing and enjoying the night.”
Britney pouted. “What should I say?”
Straightening in her seat, Helena assessed her nervous friend. “Don’t tell me the class representative slash beauty queen is nervous to talk to a mere mortal man…”
“Okay! Okay…I get the point. I’ll”—she heaved a breath—“go talk to him.”
Helena nodded and reached for a plastic cup. She poured some cola in and watched her friend edging closer to the guy in a baseball cap with the logo of the local football team. He was cute, but the blonde hair put her off for some reason. She scanned the crowd of cramped dancers in the living room as she rose from her seat. There were a lot of people from their college here and only a few faces she recognised from her lectures. She decided against sparking up a conversation and headed out back to the pool where the party was in full-swing. Wading past the initial swarm of swaying and nattering classmates, she managed to find a free lounge chair.
She propped her legs up, thinking she was an outsider looking in. Their smiles, laughter, and excitement didn’t bring her any joy. She couldn’t relate to them any more than a cat could relate to a mouse.
“Are you here by yourself?” a familiar voice asked.
Her head whipped to one side. Ben—the tourist—stood with his hands shoved in his pockets. He smiled warmly at her and took the free seat next to her. The khaki shorts he wore revealed his muscular calves. On his left leg, a long scar stretched from his ankle to his knee. She winced. That must have hurt.
“Should I leave?” he asked.
She grasped his wrist, stopping him from rising. “Sorry, I was looking at your leg. Are you alright?”
He nodded. “I got this scar while hunting with my partner near Berlin.”
“I didn’t know Germany had designated hunting areas for wildlife.”
“What brings you here?” he asked, changing the subject.
She studied him with interest. Being around him brought her a peace of mind as if they had known one another forever. Only, that was impossible. They had just met yesterday.
“I’m here because—” She thought about her words with care. “I needed to get away.”
“Do you feel like something is missing?”
“How did you know?”
He didn’t reply. Climbing to his full height, he offered her his hand. “There is someone I want you to meet.”
She observed his hand with suspicion. “Is this some kind of a trick?”
“No.” He smiled. “Take my hand, Helena, if you wish to find out what you’ve been forgetting all along.”
Her eyes widened, and she shot out of her chair. “You do know me!”
Ben wavered. “I used to. Last time we met was in July.”
“I don’t—” The word ‘remember’ was stuck in her throat. She couldn’t recall anything from that period or him, for that matter. Her gut told her that he could be trusted, even though this could be a cheesy pickup line he was trying to use on her. Deep down, something told her that wasn’t the case.
Gingerly, Helena placed her hand in his. “Tell me what I’m forgetting.”
2
POSSESSED
LUCIOUS
W hen the lights go out, mortals cower in their homes. They covet possessions they had fought to claim, cry over the deaths of those they had lost, and cheer when the tides turn in their favour. Mortals were in a different world to Lucious entirely.
Tonight, luck was running out for this possessed vampire. It took a week to track him down and locate the lair of such an abomination. The creature left drained corpses all over London, threatening to expose their existence to humans. Many such beings remained on the loose after the Demon Gate collapsed and Eliza perished. With the weeks going by, those numbers started to decrease with the Council’s desperate efforts to seek them out and eliminate the threat.
Red glowing eyes glared back at Lucious as he drew closer to his target. The ebony skin of the man he once knew almost merged with the shadows of this unlit derelict building. As he advanced, old wood of the abandoned house creaked under his weight.
Hunched over, Phil snarled at him. Drool mixed with blood dripped down his chin. It was a sad sight to see London’s best informant reduced to such a pitiful state.
To his right, Lucious heard Hans drawing closer from the other room—the only other way out. Tensing his body, Lucious released his shields, allowing him to see the true mask of the beast hiding within his old friend. Black shape of a large dog shifted inside of Phil. To his dismay, much like with the other afflicted vampires, Phil’s soul was no longer present. After eradicating so many vampires he once knew, Lucious grew numb to the feeling of loss.
When loss is all one knows, it becomes an everyday matter.
“Lucious, are you ready?” Hans asked, appearing from the doorway.
“Don’t let him escape.” Lucious rushed the creature.
Phil lunged at him, sinking his fangs into Lucious’ shoulder. The leather of his jacket tore and needle-like fangs sliced at his flesh like razor-sharp blades. While the beast remained distracted with the blood of a Royal vampire running through his veins, Lucious’ hand lit up with a bright orange flame, making everyone squint. He grasped Phil by the throat, singeing his skin and causing the vampire to voice a high-pitched shriek of pained protest.
Hans grabbed Phil’s hands before they could claw at Lucious’ face, snapping his wrists and elbows.
Another howl of agony escaped the vampire. His face melted from the bright flames. The stench of burned meat drowned out the putrid odour hanging in the air from the remains of his recent victims that were scattered around the property.
Lucious nodded to Hans who tightened his hold on the creature’s forearms.
Without delay, Lucious grasped the sides of Phil’s head and, with a strained jerk, ripped the head off of his shoulders with an audible snap of the spinal cord.
“May he rest in peace,” Hans muttered under his breath.
Discarding the head, Lucious wiped his filthy hands on his jeans. He studied Phil’s leathery face rolling on the ground. It quickly turned into dust and scattered through the cracks in the rotting flooring.
“We are done here,” Lucious said, devoid of emotion.
“Are you okay with this? I know he was your friend.”
“I am fine.”
Turning on his heel, he started walking away, but Hans caught him by the shoulder. “You should feed. It has been a week since the last time you’ve taken blood.”
“I did not ask you to become my donor!”
“After everything that happened, I consider you a friend. Drink from me. I know you’re struggling to keep the hunger down around our subordinates.”
Lucious glared at him, knowing his eyes had lit with a bright red glow the moment blood was mentioned. “You know nothing about me.”
“I know enough. He
lena may not be by your side, but she is alive. She wouldn’t want you to suffer like this.”
Anger surged through him at the mention of his lover’s name. Helena was better off without his presence in her life. The reports from the US informed him that she was happy. She made a friend, hadn’t been ill once, and knew nothing about the supernatural world around her. He made certain of that. Any threat to her and her family was eliminated before they made contact. He hated to get Zafira involved, but she managed to convince the American Council to provide sufficient protection on their territory.
“Lucious,”—Hans undid the button on his sleeve and rolled it up—“drink or you will attack someone at the Council building. How will we explain that?”
Lucious cursed under his breath. Everything in his new life revolved around appearances, his people, and the safety of the vampires across Europe. Endless reports of threats appearing in different ends of their territory signified just how weak the new Council was. The number of the hounds had decreased as many had perished in the hunter attacks. They were spread so thin, the Council members were in the field, taking care of the stray problems.
“Alright.” He grasped Hans’ wrist and struggled to maintain his composure as his fangs extended. The smell of sweet blood stirred the starving animal in him. He savagely bit into this man’s flesh and drank the rich crimson liquid in the shadows of the night. Three months ago, when Hans figured out his need to drink vampire blood, he said nothing to Kallias and the others. Without question or protest, he kept offering him blood, which kept Lucious uneasy. There was no true kindness in their community. He always waited for a request or a favour to come from this act of supposed selflessness.
Once he finished taking his fill, Lucious wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Thank you. As I have said before, you do not have to keep doing this.”
Hans chuckled. “If I don’t, I think I will be left alone on the Council with Kallias. I do not trust that Royal. He is plotting something, I can feel it.”
“I believe you are mistaken,” Lucious said. “Everyone on the Council is plotting something. We are no exception.”
Fated Origins: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 4) Page 2
