Taking a deep breath, I tried to sit up. The room started spinning so I pressed my eyes closed and moaned until I was finally upright. My breathing sounded raspy and my stomach was churning, but at least I was up.
After a few more moments, I opened my eyes again and looked around. I frowned. Where the hell was I? It seemed like I was in some sort of cellar or something. There was a musky aroma surrounding me, like moist earth and after a quick inspection I realized that the walls were made out of packed dirt. The ceiling was made out of boards and there were a few support beams holding it up, but there was no other indication of where I was.
Then another realization hit me. There wasn't any light. Not really. I could tell somehow that it was daylight out, but none of it really filtered into the small space. It was just that my vision was so much better. Even more so than after that night with Sevren. It was like I could see everything. Even the little particles in the air.
I was, or at least had been, lying on a twin size bed that was most certainly out of place in the tiny room. There was an opening dug into the wall next to me and it had a plain wooden door closed against whatever was on the other side. Other than that, there wasn't anything in the room. No clothes, no blankets, no pictures. Nothing to suggest that anyone other than myself had ever slept there.
I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. My coat was gone. I was still wearing the jeans and long sleeved t-shirt I remembered putting on yesterday, but there were dirty stains on my jeans. I swallowed hard when I looked closely at one of them. I was pretty sure it was blood.
"Mason?" I called out tentatively, "Jake? Emma?"
There were tears evident in my voice and I bit my lip trying to keep them at bay. That's all I needed. An uncontrollable outburst of emotion was definitely not on my to do list. Finding out where the hell I was and how I got there, were.
I stood up when I heard footsteps and winced because the motion caused my head to start pounding again. They came toward my door and stopped when I was sure that whoever it was, was just outside the room. I held my breath. I didn't know what to expect. The door opened.
"Landon?"
He grinned, framed in the doorway and I couldn't help noticing that he looked different. Scary somehow.
"I'm glad you are awake, they were worried about you."
I shook my head trying to clear the fog. “Who? What do you mean? Who was worried about me?”
He smiled, “well that’s the problem, isn’t it? Two too many are worried about you.”
Sevren. Remy. It all came back to me and I couldn’t control the nausea that burned from my stomach, up through my throat and out my mouth. I bent over from the force of my heaving and all Landon did was watch, a bored expression on his face. When there was finally nothing left inside of me and the convulsions gave way to shivers, I sunk back on my bed.
“That was unpleasant,” he said.
“Where am I?” I felt like I had the flu. Throwing up had made my body ache all over again. I wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed, close my eyes, and pray that when I woke up again, it would have all been a bad dream and I’d be in my own bed.
“You’re home,” he said with a smirk.
“What happened to you? Emma was worried sick.”
He shrugged, “it’s all good. Everything’s great!” He scratched the side of his neck. My eyes followed his movement and I gasped, there were two small puncture wounds.
“You’re a vampire!”
His eyes widened and then narrowed, “how did you, I mean, I’m not. Yet,” he added.
I shook my head, “you sound like you want to be.”
He laughed, “of course I do! Have you seen what they are capable of? It’s totally badass!”
I sighed, “oh Landon. You can’t really mean that. Not everyone ends up like us.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, clearly confused.
“Some people just die. They kill them.” I walked over and put my hand on his arm to emphasize my point, “it’s not as glamorous as it seems.”
To my surprise he busted out laughing. Hysterically. I mean, he was laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face, “wow. You should have just seen your face! Hilarious!” He took a deep breath trying to calm down, “of course they kill people! How else would they get blood? It’s just like eating a big juicy steak.”
My stomach churned again, threatening to heave even though there was nothing left in it. “That’s sick! How would you feel if it was someone in your family they were ‘eating’ or Emma for that matter?”
He shrugged, “oh well.”
I closed my eyes, “I can’t believe I ever had feelings for you.”
He rolled his eyes, “don’t kid yourself. There was never anything between us except stupid teenage lust.”
“I can’t believe you just said that. You can’t really mean it.”
“It’s nothing compared to what I’m feeling now. You’re nothing compared to Labreah.” My eyes widened at the name, but he didn’t notice, “I don’t even know why those two are fighting over you. It’s disgusting.”
He turned and walked out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Labreah. I was pretty sure that was Jake’s sisters name and this wasn’t the first time I had heard it. Remy had said something about Jane belonging to Labreah too. Did that mean that both Jane and Landon had drank from her? That thought made my skin crawl.
I wasn’t sure what my purpose here was. I didn’t know if I was a prisoner of sorts or a guest. Somehow, with my new abilities, I could tell that there were still a few hours before the sun would go down, but would that affect vampires if they were underground?
Curious, I walked to the door and tried the handle. It turned smoothly and the door swung open. The hall beyond was even darker. There were support beams, but the ceiling, floor and walls were all made out of packed dirt. I imagined that this was what an old mind had looked like and wondered if maybe this was a remnant of that time.
There were so many different ways to choose from that I was momentarily overwhelmed. Halls and wooden doors led in several directions. Everything was so quiet that I had no idea which way to go. When my nose caught a whiff of something appetizing, I decided to follow it; especially when my stomach started rumbling.
It took me to an empty room. I was confused at first, until I noticed the dark stains covering the ground. Someone had fed in there. Disgusted by myself and my unnatural craving, I let tears fall down my cheeks. I sunk to the ground just outside of the disgusting room and brought my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. It was childish and there were so many more productive things I could be doing, like figuring out how to get out of here, but I gave in and allowed the sobs to overtake me.
I cried for my parents, something I hadn’t been able to do before. I cried for Jackson and Piper and my dwindling hope that I would find either one of them alive. I cried for Sally and Jane, for Landon and Hallie. I cried for all of the missing people from Willow Grove, finally understanding that either way, if they had ended up vampires or food, their lives were over. I cried for Mr. Gates and wondered how he had gotten involved in this mess. I cried for Jake, out there searching for a sister who didn’t even exist anymore. At least not in the way he remembered her.
Lastly I cried for myself. I cried for the life I had been living these past few months. I cried for the selfish way I hated my parents for leaving me and hated Jackson for getting involved in something so awful. I cried for the darkness I felt growing inside of me and for my fear that it was only a matter of time before the vampire in me took over completely. I even cried for Remy and Sevren. Two brothers who both wanted me so badly that they had both tainted my blood, tearing me into two different pieces. I wondered idly which one would win and overtake me completely.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
I jumped. Lost in my own self loathing, I hadn’t heard anyone approach. I hurried to my feet when I saw that it was Dan. I was pretty su
re that he was a full blooded vampire and I couldn’t help feeling uneasy in his presence.
“I need you to come with me.”
“Um, okay?” I replied nervously.
He turned, fully expecting me to follow him, and I did. More because I was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t, then out of curiosity of where he was taking me. We walked for a while, twisting and turning from one tunnel to another so quickly that I knew for sure I would never be able to find the room I had woken up in. When we finally stopped outside of a door, he turned back to me, a warning evident in his eyes.
“Do not upset her. I don’t care who you belong to, I will kill you if something happens to her.”
He opened the door. It was a bigger room then the one I had woken up in and it was bizarre in the sense that everything seemed like it belonged and was out of place at the same time. Along one wall was a small bookcase, dresser and crib. Along the other was a queen size bed with Hallie huddled under the blankets.
"Hallie!"
She was sitting up in bed and I rushed to her, so relieved to see that she was okay. A little pale, and even bigger in the belly than the last time I had seen her, but still she was alive and that was all that mattered. You'd think that the two of us were best friends if you saw my reaction to seeing her. It was just that after so many days of nothing but bad news, it was a relief to see something good.
"How are you feeling?"
She smiled and moved over on the bed so that I could sit down next to her. "Pregnant!" She laughed softly and looked over at the door. "It's okay, you can leave us."
I turned just in time to see Dan nod and walk out the door, closing it softly behind him. I was pretty sure that he was waiting just outside, making sure that I didn't upset her, but I didn't care. It was so good to see a face that was just as happy to see me.
"I was so worried about you," I confessed, "you're mom is a mess."
She rolled her eyes, "she's so dramatic. She knows where I am."
I pursed my lips closed. Even if that was the truth, I couldn't blame her for being upset about it. Who wanted to know that their very pregnant daughter was hidden away in a coven of vampires. Especially when she could deliver at any time.
"How's the baby?" I asked, changing the subject.
Her face lit up. "He's great! Just a little while longer and we will see what he is."
"I'm sorry," I said, confused, "what do you mean? If it's a boy or a girl?"
She laughed again and swung her hair to one side. The puncture wounds on her neck looked fresh and I had the sinking suspicion that her pallor had more to do with her loss of blood then it did her pregnancy.
"No, silly, whether it's a human or a vampire."
She said it so matter of fact, so nonchalantly, that I had to let it absorb in my brain for a few seconds. Once it fully processed, I stood up. "That's crazy, what do you mean? Of course it's human."
She frowned, "don't look at me that way. Like I'm some sort of freak."
Her voice was beginning to rise and I looked toward the door worriedly. So far so good, it stayed closed. I sat back down next to her and took one of her hands in my own. "How could it be anything other than human?"
She laughed, her mood lightening once more. "Oh, that's easy. Dan was one drink away from being fully turned when he got me pregnant. We didn't know what that meant at first, but I guess it's pretty important. Otherwise, they probably would have killed me by now."
I gulped. She sounded like it didn't matter; like killing her was normal, or that it would have been normal if they had done it. "Why didn't they turn you?"
She frowned again, "Remy said it could hurt the baby. Sevren promised that they would change me as soon as the baby was born. That should be any time now."
Her voice and her words sounded childish to me. Not like the girl she had been when I first met her. Could lack of blood be messing with her head? My heart had skipped a beat when she had said 'Remy' and again when she had said 'Sevren', but my instincts told me that she was wrong. I had a horrible feeling that once the baby was born she would become nothing more than a snack.
"Hallie, you have to get out of here. It's not safe for you or for the baby."
She pouted, pushing her lips out like an unhappy child, "you're wrong. We belong here. They will take care of me. They will take care of the baby." Her eyes shone with unshed tears, "it's you that you should be worried about."
I frowned, "why would you say that?"
"I've been hearing them whisper about it in my dreams. It's not right to feed off of more than one vampire. There's a connection that is formed when you do and to have that same connection with more than one makes you a threat."
I stood up and began pacing the length of her room. "A threat? How could I be a threat?"
She shrugged, "I think that it makes you stronger or something." She sat up a little straighter, "the worst part is what will happen to them."
I stopped, my jaw dropping open and my heart sinking to my knees. "What do you mean?"
She smiled slyly and shrugged her shoulders, "you'll have to ask them."
I opened my mouth to say something else, but the door opened and Dan walked back inside. "I think that's enough for now. Hallie needs her rest."
I nodded, "I'll see you soon, okay?"
She nodded sleepily and her eyes drifted closed. I frowned, she hadn't seemed sleepy. When I moved to walk past Dan into the hallway, his arm shot out to stop me. We were uncomfortably close together and I had to grit my teeth when he lowered his face to my neck. His tongue darted out, brushing across the puncture wounds and he inhaled sharply.
"So it is true."
I tried to back away from him, but he wouldn't let me move. "What's true?" I figured I knew what he was talking about, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it.
He laughed, "you're fiesty. No wonder they both want you," he licked me again, "I wouldn't mind having a taste of you myself. Just as long as you don't get any of me, it'd be okay. I don't want to get involved in that mess." He licked me again, this time grazing his teeth along my flesh.
"That's enough, Dan, it's my turn."
I looked up thankfully, and then froze. I was looking into ice blue eyes the exact hue and shade as Jake Coles. I had never met her before, but I knew right away I was staring into the elusive face of Labreah Cole. This was one meeting that I wasn't ready for.
Dan groaned, brushing his hand up the length of me. It gave me the chills, but not in the way I was sure he intended to. "I want to play with her first," he pouted.
She was next to us in an instant. I hadn't even see her move. She moved me away from him and had him up in the air by his neck within mere seconds. "Do no defy me, remember who made you."
She threw him down the hallway. He scrambled to his feet and ran the opposite way. She then turned and looked at me, cowering against the wall. "Well, Evelyn Magwire, it's about time we met."
“Shouldn’t you guys be sleeping? I mean it is still daylight out there.”
She smiled at my nerve and turned, walking down another corridor. I had to run to catch up with her. “I’m still young. I can be up during the day as long as I stay out of the sunlight. Dan is the same way.” She turned and looked me up and down, “your boyfriends, on the other hand, will be asleep until sunset.”
I narrowed my eyes and she laughed. We walked in silence the rest of the way. I kept taking sidelong glances at her. She was really quite beautiful and I could see why normal humans would fall in love with her. Being a vampire gave her a sense of mystery, an icy beauty that enhanced her natural appeal. She was the type of person you felt intimidated by.
“I think I like you, Evie, despite the… conflict… you’ve caused. I feel like humoring you. You may ask me three questions.” We had gotten back to the room I had woken up in. She walked through the door first and then perched on the edge of the bed, looking at me eagerly. There was a spark in her eyes, a challenge set forth by the information
she was willing to give me. I knew instantly that she didn’t think I had the courage to ask what I really wanted to know.
I thought about her offer for a few seconds, contemplating what line of questioning I should take. After hearing what Hallie had said about my situation, I was pretty sure that Labreah thought I would ask about that. I could sense that she was a selfish creature and in being so, expected that from everyone else. So I decided to surprise her.
“Piper, Jackson, Jake.” I said, holding up a finger for each of them as I went.
Her expression instantly darkened. That was not what she had expected. “What does that even mean? Those aren’t questions,” she spat out irritated.
I smiled, I refused to be one of the ones intimidated by her. She glared at me. “I want to know what happened to each of them.”
She laughed, “like I care. I don’t even know who they are.”
I shook my head, “you’re lying.”
She spat at me. “Do not anger me. I can break you in two.”
I took a few steps closer to her, “you wouldn’t dare. Sevren and Remy would not allow it.”
She hissed. “I don’t have to take this,” she stood up, “you can wait here for your boyfriends to wake up. I’m sure they will come to you.”
“Scared?”
She spun around and her hand whipped out. She slapped me so hard that my head snapped backwards and I was forced to take a step back.
“How dare you speak to me like this! I eat little girls like you for dinner. As a matter of fact, I shared one of your little friends with Sev just the other night. Sandra or Sarah was her name I think, not that it really matters. She was a little fatty and her blood wasn’t that great.”
My stomach churned and I moved backward until I had the wall to support me. So they had killed Sally. Tears pooled in my eyes and I wanted to scream or cry, to lash out and hurt her for being so evil. Especially when she smiled, triumphant, at my distress.
“Don’t look at me with such obvious disgust, sweetheart, this is what you are destined to become. Just one more little taste of vampire blood and you will be one of us. I can only imagine what that gorgeous older brother of yours tastes like.”
The Willows Page 15
