“What?”
“He studied Romanian folklore in college, and became obsessed with vampires. He’s undergone severe body modifications since then. He saw specialist surgeons. He grew out his nails, takes supplements to keep them strong, and he files them sharp. As for his teeth, they’re also surgically modified. Lengthened, then sharpened. He never goes in the sun either. He’s been trying to resemble a vampire for the past three years, having more and more surgeries done. And he drinks animal blood, though sometimes he asks to try my own blood… He plans to have even more surgeries done this summer. I-I don’t know what’s caused it. He’s very closed about it. But sometimes I wonder if he’s trying to escape something in his life, whether something happened in his childhood and this is his way of trying to deal with it.” I paused, trying to force tears into my eyes. “Other times, I wonder if it’s our marriage. Maybe I make him unhappy, since he only started doing this to himself after we got engaged…” I made my voice crack and covered my eyes with my hands, pretending to break down sobbing.
I hoped that this tangent would distract Phillipe from asking too many questions about Caleb’s transformation. Like which hospital he went to, and what kind of surgeon would perform such drastic operations on a mentally unstable man.
Phillipe frowned and muttered, “What a nutcase.”
He looked at Guillerme and began speaking with him animatedly in Portuguese. I wished I could understand what they were saying. Some words were similar to Spanish—which I understood since I had studied it at school—but I couldn’t follow the conversation.
I wondered where we were going and how they would get Caleb out of the truck. They couldn’t just keep him in there forever. I comforted myself with the fact that when they did eventually open up the doors, Caleb would spring on them, and no number of bullets could stop him from tearing through their throats. These weren’t hunters after all, with special UV bullets. I hoped that it was now just a matter of time.
Miguel joined Guillerme and Phillipe’s conversation. Phillipe finally turned to me, a broad smile deepening the lines in his face.
“How do you like the circus, Rose?”
Chapter 12: Rhys
I decided to save us time by vanishing us up segments of the highway, for even though we were faster on foot than any vehicle, there was no reason to exert our energy unnecessarily. The only reason I’d ridden Micah through the rainforest for most of the way was because it was part of his training. Carrying me on his back had reinforced my position as his master and helped make him submissive to me. Now that he seemed to have learned his lesson about disobeying me, riding him was no longer required.
The highway was long and winding, and for miles there was only one course that one could travel along, because the Amazon rainforest surrounded either side of the road. Still, I made sure that we stopped every few miles so Micah could confirm the scent was still there. The next few hours were tedious, stopping and starting, but eventually Micah led us off the main road and into a gas station.
“It’s getting strong again,” he mumbled. He led me across the parking lot and stopped in front of an area covered with splatters of blood.
“Whose blood?” I asked.
“The vampire’s. Mixed with human blood… but not Rose’s.”
“Do you still detect Rose?”
Micah paused and sniffed around some more. “Over there,” he said, pointing to a corner of the concrete where an empty parking slot was.
There must have been some kind of fight here involving the vampire. I crouched down and examined the blood. While the sun had already dried out most of it, there was a particularly deep pool of blood that had seeped into a pothole in the road and this was still wet, fresh. We were getting closer.
We left the station and continued along the main road. After about an hour, Micah stopped us short. “I can no longer sense the vampire. Only the girl.”
“What do you mean?”
“His trail stopped here.” We were standing at the edge of the highway, and he pointed to the center of the lane nearest to us. There were more splatters of bloodstains. “I sense Caleb’s and Rose’s blood here.” He walked a dozen feet further. “And here I sense Rose. But I no longer sense Caleb.”
What could have happened to the vampire? I looked up and down the highway. Unless he died here…
Micah was adamant that he’d lost the vampire’s trail even after I’d forced him to walk a mile in each direction to double-check. I cursed beneath my breath. We now had no choice but to continue following Rose’s trail, and hope that the vampire would be with her. I hated the thought of him having died without punishment. He’d had an easy escape out of this world if he was in fact dead.
Not wanting to waste any more time, I kept us moving. As the hours passed, Micah seemed to become more and more confident in detecting Rose. Soon we barely even needed to stop for more than a couple of seconds for Micah to inhale and give me a nod before we swept forward again.
As night began to fall, and Micah was on the verge of transforming, he pointed to a large moving vehicle, traveling along the third lane of the highway. Keeping to the edge of the road, I raced forward on foot rather than by magic, my supernatural speed matching Micah’s as I pulled him forward. We sped up until we ran parallel with the vehicle. And there she was… Finally, I laid eyes on the human girl. She was wedged between two humans, her head lolling as she slept.
I pulled us both to a stop. “You’re going to wait here while I get the girl.” I spoke quickly. I couldn’t afford to lose sight of the vehicle now that we’d found it. “Sit,” I ordered.
His limbs began changing into that of a beast even as he sat down on the concrete at the side of the road. I placed his leash on the ground and uttered a charm that would keep him there, just in case he decided to try to make a run for it. I kept the invisibility spell on him, but I had no more use for it so I removed it from myself.
I wanted Rose to be able to look me directly in the eye. I wanted to see her fear of me.
Once Micah was securely fastened to his spot, I dashed away, hurrying to catch up with the vehicle. For a few moments, as the road curved toward the left, I thought I might have lost her. But then I spotted the vehicle again. It had now moved to the middle lane of the highway. Once I was running parallel with it again, I took a leap, kicking off the ground with all my strength, and landed on top of the roof of the vehicle. The metal roof dented beneath my feet and a thud reverberated through the vehicle.
Finding my balance, I crouched down against the roof. Confused mutterings drifted up from the open window, but the truck wasn’t yet showing signs of slowing down.
I pulled myself toward the front, stepping off the elevated roof of the container at the back and lowering myself onto the cab roof directly above the driver’s seat.
I breathed deeply, preparing myself to duck down and pull Rose out. I needed to be fast, because I wasn’t in the mood for a struggle.
I was seconds from lowering myself down when I heard another loud thud against the vehicle a few feet away. My eyes shot up, but I saw nobody. For a moment I suspected that this was Micah being disobedient again. But that was impossible. I’d secured him to his spot with a spell.
As I stood up, my eyes fell on two dents in the roof. Dents just a few steps back from my own. As I approached closer, I heard harried breathing.
“Show yourself,” I hissed.
A blast of light shot out of nowhere, blinding me. I staggered back, my hands over my eyes. I lost balance. Feeling myself sliding off the sloping roof, I managed to save myself just in time. Gripping on to the edges of the roof, I hauled myself back up. I lunged for the mysterious two dents in the ceiling and found myself grabbing hold of a thin waist. But the moment I did, my surroundings disappeared.
Chapter 13: Rose
After hours of being stuck between the two men in the heat of the truck, I was beginning to feel faint from dehydration. They’d offered me water, but I’d refused it r
epeatedly. Eventually, I had no choice but to accept.
I should have held out. They’d put something in the flask, because soon after I drained it, my head began to feel heavy, my eyelids weighed down. I lost the fight to stay conscious.
When I came to again, I was lying on a stiff mattress. It was pitch black. I sat up, holding my head. I had a migraine. I reached out, trying to get a sense of my surroundings. My throat felt more parched than ever. I staggered a few feet forward until my hands grazed against a rough wall.
Where am I?
The room was cool, but I couldn’t hear any AC unit. I was likely underground. I had no idea how much time had passed. Panic rushed through me as I realized I could have been out for days and I wouldn’t have known it.
Days… Where’s Caleb?
I’d hoped that he would break free. But perhaps they hadn’t opened the doors. Perhaps they’d been smart enough to realize that he’d spring on them again. I spread my hands out on the wall, trying to feel for a switch, anything other than crumbling brick. The wall disappeared and my hands brushed against wood. I felt a door handle. Gripping it, I tried to yank it open. It was locked fast.
“Let me out!” I shouted.
I banged my fists against the door, then placed my ear flat against it. No sounds of anyone approaching. I banged again and again. I kept banging until my fists felt raw and blistered.
Fear welled in the pit of my stomach as I continued feeling my way around the room, still hoping to find a light switch. But I didn’t. I felt my way back to the mattress and sat down, running my hands down my thighs. That was when I realized that the clothes I was wearing were different from those I’d fallen asleep in. I was wearing some kind of top and baggy pants. I shuddered.
I have to get out of here.
I crouched down and spread my hands out around me on the dusty floor. I was hoping by now that my eyes would have adjusted to the darkness and I’d be able to see at least something. But it was so pitch black, I was as blind now as I’d been when I’d first woken.
I almost screamed when my hand hit something hairy. I scrambled back, barely daring to breathe as I strained my ears. It felt like a leg. A man’s leg.
I thought for a moment that it might have been Caleb, but as I fumbled up his shoulders and placed my hands on his neck to check his pulse, he was warm.
Who is this?
It could have been the biggest mistake I could have made, but desperation was clouding all rational thought. I clutched his shoulders and began to shake him.
“Excuse me,” I said, my voice trembling. “Wake up. Please…”
He drew in a deep, rasping breath and began to move. I crawled back away from him, listening to sounds of him waking from his slumber. I could only assume that he too had been kidnapped and drugged.
He began mumbling incoherently. His voice was young, which I was relieved about. Somehow it made me feel safer that at least I wasn’t sharing a room with someone twice my age.
“Do you speak English?” I asked, barely daring to hope.
I breathed out in relief as he replied in a Midwestern accent.
“Y-yes.”
“My name is Rose. My friend and I were kidnapped by three men. Phillipe, Guillerme and Miguel. They drugged me. I just woke up. Who are you? Do you know where we are?”
“My name’s Brody. I… I think I know where we are.” His voice was thick and sluggish.
“Where?”
There was a pause.
“On the coast. Some miles out of Caracas.”
Venezuela. I swallowed hard, trying not to think about how long we must have been traveling to reach here.
“How do you know?” I didn’t want to believe we could have traveled so far.
“I was still conscious when they brought me in. And I’ve been here before, on my brother’s behalf. He… did business with Aurelio.”
“Business? Who’s Aurelio?”
“Miguel, Guillerme, Phillipe… they all work for him. My brother and Aurelio’s business is none of yours. Just know that it was dirty.”
“Why are you down here?” There was a pause and I heard him let out a deep groan. “Are you all right?”
His groans intensified. The anguish in his voice sent chills running down my spine. Clearly he was everything but all right.
I wanted to do something to help, but I was afraid to approach. I didn’t even know what he looked like. And I had no idea what was wrong with him. There wasn’t much help I could offer him when I was just as blind as he.
“Just the drugs wearing off…” His words came amid rapid breathing. “I’m here because my brother did something stupid. Very, very stupid. You see, Rose, when Aurelio’s not happy, entire families feel it.”
“Where’s your brother?”
“Eyes and tongue cut out. Shot three times in the head.”
I winced, my insides churning. “What will they do to you?”
To my bewilderment, Brody began chuckling. Though his laughter soon descended into a violent coughing fit. “You don’t know how funny you are,” he wheezed.
I was too confused by his response to continue that line of questioning. Instead I asked the next question burning at the forefront of my mind. “Phillipe asked me if I liked the circus. Do you have any idea why?” I’d have to be a moron to not have understood by now that Phillipe envisioned Caleb as a circus attraction, but I didn’t know why they would think of me for a circus. I wanted to hear Brody’s perspective on the matter.
“If Phillipe mentioned the circus, then you’re lucky. Exceedingly lucky.”
“How?”
“It means you’ll likely be handed over to Aurelio’s brother, Camilo. Now, Camilo’s hardly Mother Theresa, but he’s less heavy-handed than his brother. At least with the women.”
“Camilo manages a circus?”
“Camilo owns a traveling circus company. The biggest in South America. But they’re successful overseas too. They normally leave for Europe at this time of year.”
My heart pounded against my chest. “Do you have any idea what they could have done with my friend?”
“Is your friend male or female?”
“Male.”
“Ah, impossible to say. There are any number of possibilities.”
“I’m sure they intend him for the circus, but where would he be kept now?”
Brody groaned again.
“No idea. But a word of advice, Rose. Do all that you can to get on that circus boat. Because once it leaves… you’ll be stuck here. Aurelio’s men will have to think of some other use for you. Trust me, that’s not what you want.”
My throat drier than ever, I picked myself off the floor and staggered over to the wooden door again. I pounded and pounded, my fists close to bleeding. Finally, when I was about to give up, footsteps sounded outside. I stepped back, holding my breath, barely daring to believe my ears.
Keys clinked outside the lock, and then the door swung open. The light that flooded in was blinding. I couldn’t make out the figure at the door. I stumbled back, covering my eyes with the back of my hand.
“Come.” A woman’s voice. She had a thick Spanish accent.
Before my eyes had had a chance to get used to the light, a firm hand reached out and grabbed my wrist. She yanked me out of the room and I almost tripped on the step. But just before she pulled me away down the corridor, I was able to cast a glance back at Brody, the light now shining down on his crumpled form.
That vision I was sure would haunt me in my nightmares.
Brody—a blond, blue-eyed boy, who looked not much older than myself—lay in a pool of his own blood. He had a wide gash around his kidney area. It oozed blood, the skin torn open from faulty stitching.
Caleb had been right when he’d said these men would trade anything.
Chapter 14: Rhys
As I came to, the first thing I became aware of was the ache in my neck. My skin stung—it felt parched, burnt. I opened my eyes only to be blinded by sun
beating down on me. I felt moist soil beneath my back. Covering my eyes with a hand, I slowly sat upright. My head felt dizzy.
I was lying in the center of a clearing, lined with tall trees. Sounds of the rainforest surrounded me. I brushed bugs away from my face and arms and stood up. I was still in the Amazon. That much was a relief.
I was still confused as to what had happened. My last memory had been holding someone by the waist, and then disappearing. Soon after that, I must have lost consciousness. But how? Why? Who was that? And where exactly am I now?
Since I’d placed an invisibility spell on Micah, I assumed he would still be trapped by the side of the road. My blood boiled at the realization that I had no idea of how much time had passed. For all I knew, it could be hours or days. Our trail could have gone cold.
Picking myself up off the ground, I began to race through the trees. I tried to listen for any sounds of cars, of the busy highway. I heard nothing but sounds of the rainforest.
It had been a witch who’d done this to me, I was sure of it. The curve of the invisible waist I’d held told me that it was a woman. But who?
Whoever it was didn’t want me to get to Rose. Or perhaps she wanted the girl for herself…
If she was going to draw me away from the human, I didn’t understand why she would keep me in such close proximity. Why not take me to another realm? Hell, why not just kill me? None of it made any sense.
After three hours of running, I finally heard the whizzing of vehicles. I swept over the remaining forest ground quickly and emerged at the edge of the same highway I’d lost consciousness on. I hurried along the concrete toward the closest signpost. At first I’d thought I’d misread. I blinked. I hadn’t. I could barely believe that I was less than a couple of miles away from Micah.
“Rhys?” Micah called out as I approached.
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