by Andrea Wölk
Channing looked over the roof of the car, giving Maroush a sullen look. Maroush just looked back at him smirking.
In steps faster than the human eye could register, the four raced down the street after the women and their male companions. The streetlights were on along the main street, but the side alleys were pitch dark. After hearing several loud screams, Shia, who’d reached the alley first, jumped into the air and leaped in front of the three vampires, who’d already attacked the women and driven their sharp fangs into their throats.
»Good evening, gentlemen! Can I join your party?« The three vampires growled threateningly as Shia aimed his SIG at the leader and shot him in the stomach. Impulsively, he let go of the tall woman he’d bitten. Blood was streaming out of his belly and he tried to stop it with his hands. The woman closest began screaming hysterically.
»Where are Jôrek and Ruben?« Shia called out behind him when he saw Aragón sprint around the corner. »Get the women out of here!« As if out of nowhere, company appeared at the other end of the alley. Attracted by the smell of blood, several creatures flew towards the warriors. They’d come out the basement of the house across the street and could already be identified by their stench from a distance.
Shia and Maroush fired a few shots from their SIGs to first keep them at the distance.
»Where are they all coming from?« yelled Sara grabbing her sword roaring wildly and running at one of the attackers. First she struck him against his legs with all her might. When his legs gave way and the creature fell to the ground, she cut off his head with a single blow to the neck, the head then rolling onto the dirty street. Hissing, the creature began to instantly decompose.
Jôrek and Ruben, together with Aragón, after finally arriving at the scene, carried the screaming women out of danger.
»Get them out of here!« shouted Shia, grabbing his dagger and ramming it into the stomach of the closest creature and then a second later, taking his sword and cutting its throat.
Two of the creatures assessed the situation and clearly saw that they were dealing with real warriors and took off running. Channing fired a few shots after them, but missed. He leaped into the air following the stench the two had left behind. Out of the corner of her eye, Sara saw Channing disappear around the corner after the two creatures. She also saw that he was holding a SIG in his hand and then he was gone.
»Hey Roush, does Channing have his sword with him?«
»No, I don’t think so. It’s still in the car!« he answered trying at the same time to keep to off the so-called bouncers off him. »What an idiot!« she screamed pulling her sword out of one of the creatures. She ran after Channing, leaving Shia and Roush alone to take care of the rest of the pack.
Three city blocks south Channing confronted the two runaways. They had stopped because they weren’t able to get away from him. They stood in front of him with their mouths wide open in a growl, bloody saliva drooling greedily out of their mouths. Channing aimed and fired his weapon twice and then only click. Damn it! The ammunition was on the backseat of the car along with his sword! He’d hit the two, but the shots hadn’t seemed to affected them in any way. The first one leapt up and struck Channing in the shoulder with his foot. Channing was able to expertly block the blow, just like he’d learned from Maroush that morning. The second vampire landed behind him and pulled him down onto the ground on his back. Hissing with rage, the first one dug his teeth into Channing’s chest, blood gushing out immediately. The other one went for his jugular vein. Channing was shocked by the brutality of the attack and tried to fight back, but without a sword or weapon, it was hopeless.
»Hey, assholes, he’s mine!« With out a sound Sara landed next to the two vampires who were in the process of devouring Channing. She pulled her sword on the first creature and cut his throat. His eyes still on Channing unknowing of what had just happened to him. Before his brain had even registered the weapon on his body, it had already begun to hiss and decompose to ash. Sara kicked him hard to get him off Channing’s body.
»Spread your stinking ashes somewhere else.« The second creature had bitten through to Channing’s jugular vein and was sucking the blood out of him. Sara kicked him too, but in the head. He rose up and hissed violently at her, as if she were trying to take away his dinner.
»Say hi to your friends in hell!« she called out and then separated his head from his shoulders. His body fell over onto the street next to Channing and his head landed a few feet away in the gutter. Breathing heavily, Sara bent over Channing to check his injuries.
»Shit, where did you leave your fucking sword?« she cursed under her breath. »In the car,« he gasped. »Be quiet. You have to save your energy. We have to get out of here. Can you get up?» She pulled him up by his torso. Blood came gushing out of the wound in his chest and he moaned. »Damn it! You’ll never make it three blocks in this condition. We have to get you off the street first.« Police sirens could be heard in the distance and were getting louder. Someone had probably heard the shots and called the police. Sara looked around and discovered a door leading into an old warehouse. She helped Channing get up and then dragged him towards the door. Using her weapon she fired at the lock to open the door and then pushed against it with her foot. She only needed a second to get her bearings. The building was an old warehouse, two stories high and besides a few boxes, burlap sacks, a desk and a chair, there wasn’t anything else inside. She found a small room in the back, which was dry and had a little window. The glass on the window was so dirty that you couldn’t look outside, but at least it could be used as a means of escape if necessary. Sara put Channing down on top of a stack of burlap sacks and leaned his back up against the wall.
This place would be crawling with police in a few minutes. She made sure that the warehouse door was secured, by propping an old chair up under the doorknob and then pushing the desk in front of it. When Sara returned to the back room, Channing was still leaning against the wall bleeding heavily from the open wound in his chest.
»Channing, can you hear me?« She kneeled down next to him and lifted his chin. He could hardly open his eyes. »Hey, when was the last time you had a drink?«
He shook his head. »Not since the transformation?« Channing hardly had enough energy to move or even look Sara in the eyes. »Damn it! You urgently need blood, so your wounds can close.«
Channing shook his head again slightly. »No, leave me alone,« he whispered faintly through his closed lips. »I’ll be fine.« »Sure you will, until you go into a coma. I’m definitely not going to leave you alone here and wait till someone finds you. You should have listened to me and stayed in the car,« she cursed.
He lifted his head up slightly and smiled at her.
»You would have liked that, wouldn’t you?« he whispered back.
She gave him a disapproving look. »Channing, please. Drink from me. Do you have enough energy to bite my neck?« He shook his head violently and groaned in pain.
»No, I don’t want your blood.« »You have to take it. You don’t have a choice. Don’t be so stubborn!«
Sara pulled him up into a more comfortable position and sat down on his lap. She pushed her hair back and then held her neck directly up to Channing’s nose. Despite his serious injuries, he registered her scent as it drifted appealingly into his nostrils. His legs seemed to be burning where Sara’s thighs were touching him. He could feel his fangs beginning to grow.
»God damn it! Can’t you do what I tell you just once? We have to get out of here fast and as long as you’re too weak, this is a dangerous situation to be in.« She rocked closer to him.
»You’re bleeding all over me! So come on!«
Driven by an internal force, Channing lifted his head and saw Sara’s perfect skin in front of him appearing like an oasis in the middle of the desert, illuminated dimly through the dirty window. Although the thought of fresh blood sent a chill down his spine, he followed an instinct and drove his fangs into her neck. He drank in deep, hurried gulps, each mouth f
ull bringing him more and more back to life. The two creatures had messed him up horribly. His neck was covered with bites and the wound on his chest extensive, but the bleeding was beginning to stop.
Channing lifted up his arms and wrapped them around Sara to pull her closer to him. After awhile, he drank in calm, deep swallows and held onto her tightly. It intoxicated him to drink her blood. It tasted sweet with a hint of honey, and with each swallow, he could feel Sara’s sensuousness flowing into his body.
Sara could feel his heavy tongue on her neck, as he took the blood from her. Although he was totally covered in filth, she only took in his own unique masculine scent. He smelled like sandalwood and a fresh, salty breeze, as if he’d just taken a swim in the ocean. She held onto his shoulders carefully so that she wouldn’t hurt him, as there was hardly a spot on his body that wasn’t injured. Sara watched as the wound on his neck slowly closed, and little by little his body began to stop bleeding. The sound in her ear as he drank from her made her crazy. It was arousing and she could feel his tongue on her neck again and again. Sara moaned and her legs pressed harder against him. Channing lifted his head to look her in the eyes when he noticed that his erection was pressing hard against his pants.
»Keep on drinking, Channing,« said Sara quietly, running her finger tips lightly over his face pressing his head back down to her neck. Her voice sounded so wonderful in his ears. He let his hands wander slowly down her back as if he were checking to make sure she wasn’t injured anywhere. He could feel her breast pressed close to him and he had to gasp for breath.
Sara was moving her hips in the rhythm of the blood flowing out of her body. Her skin was tingling and felt like a thousand needles flowing through her veins as she felt Channing’s hands stroking her back. She wanted more. She wanted to feel him on her naked body. Without thinking she took off her black turtleneck sweater.
»Oh my God, Sara!« moaned Channing. His thirst had been quenched and he looked into her passionate silver green eyes. The wound on his chest had begun to close slowly now and the other smaller wounds were hardly visible. She ran her finger along his arms and looked him longingly in the eyes.
The gesture said more than a thousand words. He touched the back of her head softly and pulled her closer to him. Full of desire, he brought his lips to hers and entered her mouth with his tongue. Moaning, Sara began to move faster against him as she unzipped his pants with her agile fingers
»Please, Channing, I want you, now!« she whispered full of eagerness.
It was clear to her that they didn’t have much time. They had to get out of there fast so neither the creatures nor the police would catch them. But her body wanted something totally different. Channing was just as fast as Sara and he quickly got her pants off of her. Wearing only her bra, she moved onto his lap as he entered her and they began moving together in a steady rhythm.
The sound of heavy boots on the pavement forced itself into Sara’s consciousness and persisted in her movement. Channing even stopped to listen for a moment and then looked into her eyes. Sara held her finger up to her lips telling him not to say a word. Someone turned the doorknob, but the door didn’t open. Quiet voices could be heard on the other side, but after a few endless seconds the footsteps disappeared into the night.
They felt wonderful, soft and warm. He kissed her mouth again and then down her neck and shoulder, his fangs leaving a little trail in the process, grabbing hold of her hips to penetrate into her even deeper.
He knew that he couldn’t hold back any longer. He moaned loudly as Sara’s body began to shake with pleasure. In a muted cry, they exploded together moving one step closer to heaven.
A half an hour later, the two cars stopped in the parking lot behind the old warehouse. Sara had notified Maroush and Shia of her position via cell phone and a couple of minutes later they were there at the meeting point.
»Where have you guys been so long?« Shia jumped out of his Audi GT angrily. »Our doctor urgently needed a blood transfusion!« Sara called out to him and got into the car shrugging.
Shia put his hands on his hips and watched Maroush help Channing into the Audi. Although his wounds were closed, they still hurt like hell and he could hardly hold himself up straight.
Shia sat down behind the wheel again and Sara noticed that he had a huge bite on his neck, which hadn’t stopped bleeding yet. He pressed down on the gas pedal scowling and the car shot out onto the street.
He didn’t say anything for a while, only looked over at Sara who was looking out the window lost in thought.
»And which one of us here smells like sex now?« Sara shrugged her shoulders. »I told you to leave Channing in the car.«
Shadows of the Day
Chapter 9
She woke up slowly to the constant hissing sound of water. Eva could see the bathroom light on under the door, but she needed a few minutes to clear her head.
The water was running in the shower. Shia was there!
She smiled and turned over onto her side, but after listening to the same constant sound of running water for ten minutes, Eva jumped out of bed and cautiously walked into the bathroom.
Shia was sitting on the shower floor with a huge ugly gaping wound on his neck.
He was still bleeding profusely and there were other wounds on his body that were bleeding too.
»Oh my God, Shia!« Eva turned the shower off and bent down towards him.
»What happened?«
»I don’t want you to see this blood, but the wounds aren’t closing. I need to feed.«
Shia’s voice was weak and he didn’t want Eva to see him like this. He stood up.
»Get out of your wet clothes.« She handed him a large towel and after he’d struggled to take off his blood soaked clothes, threw them directly into the washing machine.
Eva had already seen too many things on the job as a police officer to be troubled by bleeding wounds. Being near Eva was almost unbearable for Shia. He’d wanted to attack her immediately when he’d seen her asleep in bed, but he’d been covered in blood and hadn’t wanted to get close to her in that condition. His wounds were so bad that he was hardly able to stand on his own.
Eva was as busy as a bee trying to clean up after Shia. He’d sat down on the edge of the bathtub smiling and watching her. Then reached up and grabbed her arm.
»Eva, stop. Come over here to me.« He pulled her into his arms.
»Why don’t you take care of me instead?» he whispered quietly to her and then kissed her.
Eva turned to jelly in his arms. She’d spent all night thinking about how to tell him that their relationship had no future, but after one kiss, she’d forgotten everything she’d wanted to say to him in a breath.
She felt his teeth puncture her throat and a feeling of tremendous power came over her. She didn’t want to feel anything else ever again. Although he was sitting on the edge of the bathtub and she was standing in front of him, she was just tall enough for him to look into her eyes. She felt his hands on her back and how he pulled her head closer to him. He took deep, steady mouthfuls and Eva could hardly hold onto his shoulders. His scent was too intensive, too arousing to fight against. Eva realized at that moment that she would never be able to banish Shia out of her life. If it ever came to that, he would have to take that step. She caressed his muscular chest and traced along his tattoo with her hands. She heard him moaning softly and a deep rumbling in his chest got continually louder. She tried to stay away from his gaping wound, but after he’d taken her blood, the injury finally began to close up. He pushed her away from him and looked into her eyes and then kissed her on the mouth.
»Thank you!« he whispered tenderly to her. »For what?«
»For my breakfast!«
The flight in economy class was everything but comfortable. Sixteen hours in a tight, uncomfortable seat, squished between a pimply kid torturing his ears with heavy metal on his ipod and an overweight French woman, were enough for Philippe Orlandie.
It was the
cheapest flight he could get and he was sure that all this trouble would pay off.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to track Sara down, coming from one of biggest cities in Europe. He was excited to see the look on Sara’s face when she saw him. She would definitely know at that moment how he felt about her. Just taking this long trip to see her would have to prove to her how much he was in love with her.
Channing stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. His body had recovered remarkably well from all the wounds. Thanks to Sara’s blood. But he didn’t want to think about that. He hadn’t wanted her blood and he didn’t want anything from her now that he’d have to pay back later. He picked up his shaving brush and lathered up his chin when he met Sara’s eyes staring at him in the mirror. She was standing there leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded in front of her.
»I knocked.«
»It’s your house.«
»But it’s your room.«
Channing shrugged his shoulders as if it didn’t matter and began to shave like he had all the time in the world. It had been a fairly long time since Sara had watched a man shave and she realized that she was enjoying it. She was lost in the moment, watching his muscular arms move in short precise strokes over his skin. Their eyes met again in the mirror when he was finished.
»I wanted to see it with my own eyes.«
Channing didn’t really know what she was talking about so he raised his eyebrows in question.
»Your destiny. You were talking about it in the car with Roush.«
Channing was wondering how she knew about the conversation.
»You forgot to turn off your headset, you dope, because I assume that conversation wasn’t meant for my ears.« Channing wanted to walk past her into his room, but she blocked his way with her arm.
