Jake let go of her arm and she hurried off down the hall and into the delivery room. In the opposite direction, the elevator chimed and the doors swished open. I didn't have to hear the voice in my head to know I was in trouble.
Jake pushed me behind him, trying to protect me when Sevren and Remy walked down the hallway toward us. It seemed surreal to see them in this setting. They looked pale and somewhat gothic, but for the most part, they looked normal. Is this what it was like? Had vampires always walked amongst us and we just didn't know? I guessed the answer was yes.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Sevren said.
I was surprised when Jake hissed, standing his ground, "you need to leave."
Sevren laughed, "don't play with me, I'll obliterate you."
I pushed Jake to the side; easily. "It's okay, Jake." I didn't want to go with them, not really, but I also didn't want them anywhere near my brother. "I need to go with them."
He shook his head, "no way. I won't let you go with them."
Sevren stepped closer, his fangs began extending and he no longer looked normal. He looked terrifying. Jake stood his ground. Remy grabbed hold of my hand and started pulling me toward the elevator. "You don't belong here," he told me. "Come with us. Live forever."
I knew what I had to do to keep my family, at least what was left of it, safe. I nodded. "I'm sorry Jake."
Sevren smiled and grabbed hold of my other hand. "Let's go."
Together the three of us got in the elevator, leaving my life behind.
Chapter Sixteen
The cold night air felt amazing on my cheeks. I was surprised that I wasn't freezing. I was still just wearing the torn dirty jeans and long sleeved shirt that I had been wearing the past few days. I realized that I hadn't seen a mirror in a while and wondered what I looked like. I was sure I was a mess.
"Where are we going?"
We were walking through the woods. I had sort of been expecting a car, but I had to remind myself that these were vampires I was dealing with. It's not like I was on a real date.
"There's something we have to finish up. Then we can leave here."
It was Sevren who spoke, Remy had remained pretty silent and I was torn as to which one of them had the stronger hold on me. With Sevren it felt dangerous and wild. With Remy it was bittersweet and romantic. A picture of Jake flashed in my mind but I pushed it aside. This is the life I had chosen.
"Okay," I stopped, "what is it?"
Sevren smiled, "don't worry about it."
Remy stopped too, "maybe we shouldn't do this, Sev. I mean, I don't think it is necessary."
Sevren growled. "Since when are you such a whiny little bitch, brother?"
Remy pushed him, "do not speak to me that way."
I backed up, sure I was about to see another scuffle between them. This time it would be my fault though. "seriously guys, what's this all about."
"Me."
I turned at the sound of the new voice and gasped. "Mr. Gates!" I rushed to him, "you're okay! It's so great to see you, I was so worried."
He looked a little older since the last time I had seen him and then it occurred to me that we were in the middle of nowhere in the woods. What was he doing there? And why was he looking at Remy and Sevren as if he knew them?
"Dad!" Remy said nervously, "we were just coming for you."
Dad? "More like coming to finish me off. I knew that you boys were up to no good when you came back here."
"Mr. Gates?"
He glared at me, "I warned you to stay out of the woods at night, Evelyn Magwire. I knew my boys would take one look at you and fight just like they did when they were children. Had Alexander still been alive, he would have been right in the middle of it."
"Alexander?"
He nodded, "my other son. You're friend Piper killed him. That night that she came to your house, she was trying to get away from him. She realized at the last minute that even enhanced, she was no match for a vampire. Alex was too strong for her, though, and he pulled her back into the woods. She found a branch and in a moment of his weakness, she stabbed him in the heart."
The stick and the blood that the police had found. It hadn't been Jackson's or Piper's blood. Jake had known all along what it had meant. So had Mr. Gates, apparently.
"What happened to her?" I whispered.
Mr. Gates laughed, "I killed the little bitch. How dare she murder my oldest son? And after all of these years. Such a ferocious creature, he was. Not weak like these other two."
I shook my head, unable to believe what I was hearing. "You wouldn't have. I mean, you couldn't have? You're not a vampire. I've seen you plenty of times in the daylight."
He laughed cruelly, "just as you can go in the sun." He stretched his neck, wrinkles distorted the small scars, but they were still there. "We're not that different, Evie."
I shook my head, "No. I am nothing like you. I would never hurt someone who was innocent."
"Innocent?" Sevren laughed, "she killed our brother."
"Just like Labreah killed mine," I spat at him. Remy looked at me, confused.
"What do you..." he started, but with one look from Sevren he stopped talking.
"Look at the two of you. So disappointing. Does she even know what will happen the next time she drinks?" Mr. Gates said, shaking his head.
"I'll become a vampire," I answered.
He laughed, "so stupid. I always had high hopes for you Evelyn. Such a pretty, vivacious girl." He walked over to his sons and smacked them on the side of the head. Sevren first and then Remy. Then he looked at me. "You can only choose one to change you. The next time you drink, whoever you drink from, will own you. The other will die."
I narrowed my eyes, "you can't be serious. That's ridiculous."
Three pairs of eyes zeroed in on me, all three of them narrowed and cruel. "It's true, Evie." Remy said, coming to me. He took my hands in his, "I should have never done this to you; to us. Now you have to choose."
I backed away, pulling my hands from his. "No. I don't have to do anything."
Sevren growled. "you can't go on this way. With both of our blood running through you, you are too powerful as a human."
I shook my head. "I won't do it. I don't want to be a vampire and I don't want to choose between you." I bent down and picked up a branch, breaking in into two small stakes. "Neither of you will own me," and then I ran.
"Get her, you idiots!" I heard Mr. Gates yell.
The forest worked with me instead of against me. Unlike the last time I had ran through the woods, tripping and falling like a helpless human, I had Remy's blood running through my veins. I could analyze every jump, every placement of my feet, allowing me to rush through the trees without even disturbing the scenery.
I could hear the two of them in pursuit of me at first, but after a while it sounded as though I had lost them. I slowed down and began looking for a place to hide. Underneath some bushes, or up in a tree were pretty much my only options.
"Nowhere to go, is there?"
I spun around, Sevren was leaning against a tree close by. How had he caught up to me without me hearing? He smiled. He was twirling a twig between his fingers, watching me as I tried to come up with a plan. I could tell that I was amusing him.
"Why did you exchange blood with me anyways?" I asked him, "you don't even like me."
He pouted, "now that's not a very nice thing to say." One second he was standing by the tree and the next he was next to me, breathing on my neck, his arms wrapped loosely around me. "Of course I do."
He licked the side of my neck and at first I lost myself in the sensations he was causing. My head fell backwards and a sigh escaped my mouth. He moved his hand down the side of me, barely brushing over my breast and I moaned. I couldn't help it. He had some sore of power over me, even if I didn't want him to.
"There... see... I like you." He kissed me, just below my ear and I shivered.
"You don't play fair, Sev."
We both looke
d up in time to see Remy walking toward us. "He's using his powers on you, Evie. Please, for me, overcome them."
His eyes were pleading with me. Grabbing deep down inside of me. There had been a connection between the two of us since that first night. I wouldn't deny that, but had it been real? Of that I wasn't certain.
"I'll leave you alone, Evie. If that's what you want, I won't force you to choose or to change. I really do love you. I have since the first night I saw you. I knew I had to have you. Sev just couldn't stand it. He hated knowing that Alex was gone and that I had found the one thing I wanted. So he took it from me."
He looked at his brother, hatred blazing in his eyes. I found the strength to step away. Sevren hissed and tried to pull me closer, but I was too strong for that and I backed up, leaning against a tree.
"You really mean it?" I asked Remy, "you'll leave me alone?"
He walked to me and kissed me hard on the lips. His hand reached up and cupped the side of my face, tenderly. It was me who deepened it. My body became alive. His blood flowing through me, invigorating me, igniting me. Finally he pulled away.
"If that's what you want, you have my word." He was sad and it broke my heart. I knew how easy it would be to give in to him. To let him have me. I wanted it. He wanted it. But there was so much more at stake than us.
I nodded and turned determined eyes onto Sevren. "I will not let you touch me again."
He laughed. His eyes scanning the woods behind me. I knew they were there. I had heard them. "What are you going to do to stop me?"
I looked at Remy, he understood what I wanted. With one last sorrow filled look at me, he nodded. Quietly he turned and walked deeper into the forest. I knew that would be the last time I ever saw him. I turned, facing my fate. Labreah and Dan both smiled wickedly at me.
"Let me do it, Sev. She deserves to die."
He growled. "No. I will change her. Hold her down for me."
I was prepared for that. Labreah and Dan came at me. One on each side. My hands clenched around the make shift stakes I was still holding on to. They pounced on me, each one grabbing hold of an arm, but they had misjudged how strong I was.
I lashed out. The first stake sunk straight into the heart of Dan. He screamed, withering in agony as he fell to his knees. The second one hit Labreah somewhere in the vicinity of her shoulder. She too screamed, but she wasn't brought to her knees by the pain. Instead, she grabbed hold of the stake, pulled it out and threw it to the ground. With one last look at me and then at Sevren, she turned and fled. Like I said, she was a selfish creature and in the end, self preservation won out any loyalty she had to him.
Sevren laughed. "You will be mine, Evie."
I lunged at him. Strong arms pulled me off. It was Oliver Gates. "Get away from my son, you little bitch!"
Sevren laughed again. This time he blew me a kiss and then took off into the woods. Mr. Gates watched him run, confused by the turn of events. Then he turned on me.
"It's your fault! You made my boys leave me again!" He was crying, tears streaming down his face. "It's been so long since they've been home and look what you've done."
He flew at me. Scratching, biting, tearing at any piece of me he could reach. It was hard to visualized fighting an old guy, but my instincts overtook me and I pushed back. Finally we fell to the ground. Rolling around on the soft surface was almost worse than fighting upright.
We both fought for control. The victory within each of our grasps. We were well matched and that would have confused me if I'd have had time to think about it. In the end, it was my victory to be had. The stake I had used in Labreah came into view and I didn't allow myself any hesitation. I grabbed it and shoved it deep into Mr. Gate's chest.
There was blood on my hands.
My eyes stared, fixated on the red streaks as tiny rivulets splattered on to the ground at my feet. It was warm and sticky as it dripped through my fingers and just as fast as the bloodlust had hit me, it was gone. In its place was a nauseated feeling made worse by the metallic scent perfuming the air around me.
I hadn’t always been this way. There was a time when I had normal feelings, normal wants, and normal needs. Then the accident happened and with it had come the emptiness; the feeling of numbness that never quite went away. At least it hadn’t, until him.
I backed away from the body laid before me, mortified by what I had done, by what I had been doing. Who was I? What happened to me? What had I become? The answers screamed through my mind, threatening what little sanity I had left. I had to get away. I had to run, and running, I let my mind remember what it had felt like to be human…
Epilogue
It had been months since that horrific week. The summer sun shone down on the little town of Rocky Point, eliminating the darkness and shadows. If the devastation hadn't been so great, I would have believed it all a dream; a nightmare, but it had been real. I was the proof.
I was kneeling down in the cemetery. Strong sunglasses shaded my eyes, as I was now highly sensitive to the light. The scars on my neck tingled. They did that sometimes.
There were three headstones in our family plot. When I had finally told Mason the news that Labreah had thrown at me, he had insisted on adding a headstone for Jackson. We hadn't at first, since most people frowned upon suicides, but we knew the truth. Our brother wasn't a coward. He wasn't a murderer and he hadn't killed himself.
Piper's headstone was in the same cemetery. Both graves were empty as the bodies had never been recovered. People had simply forgot about them. When the news of the cave in at the Willows reached Rocky Point, it was all anyone could talk about for a while. No one had known about the tunnels that were beneath it. Now, months later, that too was just a memory. A story that people brought up when there was nothing else to talk about.
Even the disappearances had been forgotten. In all, twelve teenagers had ended up dead or missing from Willow Grove. Those that hadn't fully changed, returned home after the cave in. I saw them from time to time. The small scars on their neck a warning sign that they were different, but I knew and they knew that they were no match for me. I was respected. I was feared.
In all, three teenagers had disappeared from Rocky Grove. Other than Jackson and Piper that is. Landon never returned home. I had seen him that night. I was fairly certain that he had survived, but I had no idea what had happened to him. Sally had been murdered. Labreah had confirmed that. I felt guilty when I thought about her. Jane and I had seen her that night. If only I had figured it all out sooner, I could have saved her.
The worst was Jane. Not knowing what happened to her haunted my dreams. Sometimes I would wake up screaming, Mason running into my room in the middle of the night, scared that the nightmare was starting all over again. He would sit with me afterwards, rocking me back and forth like a child.
We had talked again about selling the house. Moving away and starting over again seemed too easy, though, and in the end we both agreed to stay. We had started new lives here. Emma and Mason had been together since that night. They were pretty much inseparable and it was sometimes annoying to have my best friend dating my older brother. I was happy for them, though. They were good for each other.
As for me, there were parts of me that would always be tainted. The darker ones belonging to Sevren and the lighter ones to Remy, but for now, the rest of me belonged to Jake Cole. He had kept his job on the police force. It was in his nature to protect people and I was happy that he had found a place here with me. There was a part of him, one that I could see from time to time that still longed to be out there chasing after his elusive sister. Making the world safer from a much darker villain than the typical thief you found in our town.
I stood up, stretching, and pulled my sunglasses off. The sun was setting. Shadows played over the tombstones and a shiver worked its way down my spine. I always hated this time of night. To me, it was the time of night that the real monsters came out and I was always on the look out for them. I knew one day, they'd come back for
me.
A horn honked in the distance. I knew it was Jake. He had said that he would pick me up when he got off of work. I walked toward the street and paused. I was wrong. It was Hallie.
When she saw me, she got out of the car and waved. In the months that had passed, we had become friends; sort of. It was uncomfortable to be around her sometimes, but I knew she meant well.
"Hey! Sorry, Mason said you'd be out here. I hope that we didn't disturb you."
She opened the back door of her car and pulled Lilly out of her car seat. When she saw me, she held out her chubby little arms, begging me to hold her. I did. Lilly was a strange child, but as far as we knew, she was human. There was something in her eyes, though, something that made me feel like she saw too much... and understood it.
"Hi pretty girl," I crooned at her, "how are you guys?" I asked Hallie.
She smiled. "We're good; really good, actually." She held something out for me, it was a plain brown box. "I just wanted to bring this to you. Someone left it at the diner."
I frowned and looked at it closer. My name was written in red sharpie on the top of it. That was all. No address. No sender. Just my name in blood red. "What is it?"
She laughed, "I don't know, I wasn't going to open your package, silly." She held her arms out for Lilly and the small baby eagerly went back to her mother. "Well, we better get going. We're having dinner at grandpa's house tonight."
Arnie had really warmed up to his granddaughter and her mother. I had thought that he would be upset when I told him what had happened to his son; what I had done to him, but he had been relieved. He had cried, but he had also hugged me and said "thank you."
"Do you need a ride home?" Hallie asked, once she had Lilly safely belted in her car seat.
I shook my head, "no, I'm good. Jake should be here any time now."
She nodded and smiled, "well don't be a stranger. I'm working all week, come see me at the diner."
"Okay!"
I waved as she drove away and walked back toward the cemetery. My eye caught movement and I froze. Someone was watching me. I could feel it. I balanced the box on my hip and strained my eyes. There, in the shadows at the other end of the cemetery was someone dressed all in black.
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