by Apryl Baker
She increases her speed, preparing to shift, when his voice slithers through her head. “No.”
Her body quivers with the need to ignore his command. To shift. To turn and tear him to pieces.
But her body only responds to the man who now owns her control.
“You may run, little one, but you may not shift.”
The darkness that lurks in those words pushes her to run faster, harder. Even in her human form, she can run faster than a regular human. She just has to make it to the sawmill on the other side of the forest. It is abandoned, but Claudia, her best friend and a witch, keeps her potions there. The wards will allow Bobbie Sue to enter, but not the vampire. She’ll be safe there.
The laugh that follows causes her blood to run cold.
She pushes her legs to move faster, to make it.
There.
Just ahead.
The old, abandoned building looms ahead of her, and joy bursts through her. She did it. She’s…
Her body goes flying through the air, and she lands against a tree with a sickening thud.
He stands above her.
Smiling.
She tries to move, but she can’t. She’s frozen.
Kneeling, he gathers her to him.
“My poor, sweet, Bobbie Sue. I’m going to free you. You must be quiet, pet, or you’ll wake your family. I’d hate to have to hurt them.”
What…she’d run away from her house. She glances around, and for the first time, she notices she isn’t in the woods. She’s sitting in the man’s lap on the rocking chair on her front porch, her purse sitting on her thighs. The purse with the vial of dead man’s blood.
He laughs right before teeth sink into her shoulder. She tries to scream, but not even a whimper escapes her. He’d told her to be quiet, and her body obeyed.
There’s nothing she can do as she sits there, being quiet and still, as the blood is drained from her. And with it, the life dies from her eyes, leaving nothing behind but an empty shell.
Chapter Thirteen
Ella
Day 4
7:22 a.m.
Eli honks the horn, and I scramble to grab a piece of toast from the heaping mound Mom has piled on a plate. I’m starving. Between Mom’s failed dinner last night and my worry for Eli’s safety, my appetite wasn’t appeased last night. So now I’m dying to find food for my poor stomach.
“Ella, don’t be out late.”
“Yes, ma’am! I might stay with Eli and Gramps tonight.”
“Call and let me know,” she calls after me as I run out of the house and hop into Eli’s Jeep. There is a lot to do today.
“Where’s Jordan?” I’d expected him to be here as curious as he always is about everything. He thinks of life as an adventure, and I don’t know what would be a bigger adventure than exploring a local legend. Especially one steeped in danger.
“Sleeping like the dead.” Eli hands me a large Styrofoam cup of coffee from the new place that opened on Main, Beanz. “They even have diabetic-friendly scones.”
And that explains the delicious smell coming from the white paper bag on the console.
“There’s a little sugar in it, but they assured me it wouldn’t be enough to hurt you.”
“That’s what they always say.” I open the bag and inhale the yummy aroma. “Anything that smells this good is inherently bad for me.”
“You sure?” He looks crestfallen, but as much as I’d like to believe these are diabetic friendly, I’d need to see the sugar content.
“Yeah, but I can live vicariously through you.” I offer him the bag.
“Nah, we’ll give them to Gramps. He has no diabetic restrictions.” He puts the car in gear and pulls away from the curb. “Or maybe the sheriff, if he looks hungry enough.”
“Shifters are always hungry.”
“Speaking of, there’s something you should know.”
“Hm?” I yawn and stretch my legs. Eli’s Jeep has more than enough leg room for someone as short as me.
“There was another death last night, a waitress at Hap’s Bar. She was a shifter.”
“What?” My eyes go wide. “How did a vampire get a jump on her?”
“Honestly, it could be as simple as she stepped out of her car, and he was in her head that fast.”
“Or?”
“Or he could have gone in the bar earlier in the night and planted himself in her head, or anyone in the bar, for that matter.”
“Are you sure it’s a he?”
“No.” He sighs and heads out of town. “That’s the problem with vampires. There’s no tell-tale sign. I could be a vampire, and no one would ever know it.”
“Are you?”
“No.” He doesn’t laugh, and I can tell he’s really disturbed by this.
“This bothers you more than a little, more than it should.”
“My family were hunters, Ella. If we could stop a monster, that’s what we did. I feel lost not being out there hunting it.”
“It’s more than that.”
His lips purse. “If we survive this, I’ll tell you why.”
Pushing is going to get me nowhere, so I let it drop. “Deal.”
“Don’t say that, Ella.”
“What?”
“Never, ever use the word deal in regard to a pact. Demons can and will use that word against you.”
“But you’re not a demon.”
“No, but you don’t know how to distinguish a demon from a normal person. Just trust me on this. Even Jordan, who’s part demon, doesn’t use that word.”
“Okay.” He is touchy this morning. “Did you know the woman who died last night?”
He nods woodenly. “Yeah, she was a good person.”
Kinda generic, given how he’s acting. Is something else going on with him?
“Is everything okay, Eli? I mean outside of the obvious.”
“Someone went missing last night.”
“Missing?”
“We don’t think it’s the vampire. He or she leaves their victims to be found. One of the coal miners, a gryphon shifter, hasn’t been seen since he got off work yesterday afternoon. His wife is terrified.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t the vampire?”
A knot of dread curls in my stomach.
“He texted her to say he was stopping to pick up some milk from the grocery store before it closed, and he’d be right home. His car was still parked in the store lot this morning.”
“My dad?”
He nods. Eli does his best not to do or say anything to further the wedge between me and my father, partly, I think, because he knows what it’s like to lose his own. But Daddy can’t keep doing this. Not if he wants a relationship with me.
“Gramps told us when we got home last night.”
“So, Dad is using the town terror and the police force’s preoccupation as a way to sneak around and kidnap people.”
“We think so.”
I hunch in on myself. No wonder people in this town distrust me and Cecily. Well, me more than Cec. She’s a sweetheart, and it pulls people to her. They’re more likely to forgive someone the sins of her father if you have the kind of disposition my sister does. I’m the quiet, nerdy one who doesn’t inspire others to take care of me.
“Hey, hey, I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad, but you need to know.”
It’s my turn to woodenly nod. I can’t help but feel responsible for my father’s actions simply because he’s my dad. Nothing I do will change Dad’s mind about his job, and I’m slowly coming to accept that. It just means that once I turn eighteen, I’m going to leave. I can’t be around him if he chooses to hurt innocent people simply because he can. There’s nothing I can do until I turn eighteen, but once that happens, I’m out of there. With each new disappearance, it’s one more nail in the coffin of my relationship with my father.
“Do you think Gramps will let me come stay with you guys when I turn eighteen?”
“Ella.” That one word hol
ds such a depth of pain and sorrow that I can’t bear to look at him, knowing what he’s lost.
“If not, I can look…”
“Stop it, Shortcake. You know Gramps will let you stay with us.”
Thank God for that.
The rest of the ride to the woods takes about twenty minutes. There’s a thick fog that’s rolled in overnight, thanks to the heavy rain that started a little after four in the morning. Thankfully, it’s no longer raining, but the scent permeates the air when we get out of the Jeep. I love the smell. There’s nothing like it anywhere else we’ve lived. It’s like this particular area has a scent that calls people to it, makes them relax and be at ease.
That is until you see the police tape that’s roped off an entire section of forest.
Ethan’s waiting for us by the tape, talking to the deputy whose name I can’t remember, but who is constantly trying to arrest Eli. He even tried to arrest me when we rescued Princess from certain death. I still haven’t gotten over that. Never in my life have I been threatened with being locked up. He’s got a scruffy beard now that makes him look like a true mountain man and even bigger douche.
“Ella, thank you for coming out. I’m hoping you can also visit the other two crime scenes.”
“She will not be going anywhere she can be seen by the military and their spies.” Eli stands taller, and a warm energy bathes me. His Guardian Angel gene is coming out.
“I would never put Ella in danger like that, Eli. Bobbie Sue’s body was found on her front porch, so I thought you could make your way through the woods and come in through the back yard.”
The deputy snorts, and Ethan’s glare is enough to quell whatever he was about to say. “Why don’t you go post up and make sure we’re not disturbed?”
“Sure, sure.” He walks away, and I say good riddance.
“He’s actually a very good police officer,” Ethan tells us. “I just wish he had more tact and could control his opinions.”
“Opinions get in the way of good police work,” Eli rebuts. “You have to look at the facts without letting opinions color those facts. You end up twisting them to mean what you want them to mean instead of what they actually do. You lead the evidence instead of letting the evidence lead you.”
Eli’s father was a member of the FBI, and he definitely rubbed off on his son over the years.
“Once your NFL career is done, son, you come back here, and I’ll hire you.”
“I have no desire to ever be in law enforcement.”
“You’re exceptionally good at it, though.”
He shrugs and turns his attention back to the scene at hand. “This is, what, maybe ten minutes from Lisa’s house?”
Ethan nods. “Yeah, her father heard him screaming, and it was over by the time he arrived, and he got here fast. Said it took him around fifteen minutes to find Shane.”
Hold up. That is not what Gramps told me and Cecily yesterday. “Hang on a sec. Gramps said he was in town and heard them say a patrol of shifters found his body.”
“That’s because we let people believe that. If they honestly knew the complete truth, how fast this happened, it could demoralize them more than they already are.”
“Vampires are fast, almost as fast as a shifter.” Eli leans against a tree, his gaze sweeping the area. “Knowing it and really understanding it are two entirely separate things. People would freak.”
“Shane wasn’t a shifter, though.” I step closer to the police line. “He’s human with no special skills and certainly no super speed.”
“The second victim was human, too. Bobbie Sue is the first Supe to fall prey to the creature.” Sheriff McReynolds looks off into the woods. “We’ve been getting calls at the station since people woke up and found out. They’re really scared.”
“So, they were fine with it when just humans were dying?” That is…
“No, Ella, they weren’t fine with it, but until it happens to a Supe, they tend to ignore it. Maybe now the council elders will speak with me.”
“You’ve tried?”
He nods. “Again yesterday afternoon. I’d hoped Eulah would reconsider, given her nephew’s death, but she refused. I’m hoping the Supes on the council will persuade her to reconsider speaking with me.”
“Why do you think they’re keeping all this so secretive?” I ask, glancing around. It’s creepy with the fog curling around everything, hiding the forest floor.
“I don’t know. I’ve gone through every record I can find at the police station and at the courthouse. There is no mention of the monster that lives behind the fence line.”
“Can we see this fence line?”
“Why?” Ethan’s tone is sharp.
“Because sometimes ghosts follow the things that hurt them the most. If Shane isn’t here and he hasn’t moved on, he might be where the monster sleeps.” Another thought occurs. “One question, Sheriff. Why hasn’t anyone just gone and found the vampire during the day while it sleeps?”
“It’s not that simple, Ella.” Ethan looks around, his face troubled. “Vampires can’t easily go out in the sunlight. They will sleep in a place they consider safe. Somewhere dark and quiet. If you disturb a vampire while it sleeps, it can be even more deadly than finding it at night.”
“He’s right. The last time we took care of a nest that tried to set up outside of town, they killed three grown shifters before we managed to take care of them, and that was at night. During the day, when you attack, they have no control over the beast that lives within, and I’ve been told they’re a hundred times more deadly than when they’re awake.”
Well, there goes that idea.
“Trust me, Ella, if it was as simple as that, I’d have already organized a hunting party.”
“So, what do you want to know, Sheriff? You asked me here to identify what the monster was, but I think we can all agree, this is a vampire.”
“Anything you can find out could be important, Ella. Yes, we’re fairly certain it’s a vampire, but if we can find out any small detail, that might help us find it while it’s out hunting.”
I still think this is probably going to end up being a waste of time. They know what it is, and they’ve dealt with vampires before. They don’t need me.
But I’ll try to find Shane, if just to help him move on.
Nodding, I step away from both of them and close my eyes, imagining the mountains in Germany where I was lost once. The snowy forest appears almost instantly, and I start to walk, looking for the power that is my reaping ability. I won’t call it a gift, but it is powerful.
There, right in the heart of the forest, I find it, but my fear begins to crowd me as snow starts to fall from the cold winter sky. The temperature drops, and the sky darkens until I can barely see. I want to stop, to curl up against a tree to hide from the things I can hear all around me, things that want to eat me alive.
But I know if I can reach that shining light, I’ll be safe.
I push myself and force my feet to move.
One foot in front of the other until I’m standing right before it.
The light is cold, but it soothes my fear like nothing else. I reach for it, and once I touch it, it wraps around me, blanketing me until it’s seeped into the core of every cell in my body.
When I open my eyes again, I feel the difference, the shift in the air.
“What are you doing, Ella?”
Of course she’s here.
“Looking for Shane.”
“Who’s she talking to?” Sheriff McReynolds whispers.
“No one you need to worry about.”
He knows it’s Selena.
“I thought we already talked about you trying to help the police.”
“I’m not doing that. I want to help Shane if he’s here. He didn’t deserve to die like he did. He has to be scared, not understanding what’s going on.”
“He lived here in Jacob’s Fork, Ella. He understands better than you what happened.”
“Doesn’t mea
n he isn’t traumatized. I want to help. And it gives me a chance to practice.”
“Your job isn’t to practice. It’s to help only when you are approached.”
“And that’s not who I am. I don’t just help when it’s convenient. If I can help someone, I will. That’s how I’m built. I’m sorry if that’s not what you want me to do, but it’s who I am.”
Her lips purse.
“Is Shane here, or am I wasting my time?”
See, even I learn.
It takes her a long moment to reply, but she doesn’t look happy. “He’s here. He wouldn’t go when my friend tried to help him.”
Nodding, I push my power out, searching for the soul. “Shane?”
Nothing, and Selena smirks. I’m really starting to dislike her.
“Shane, Philip came to see me. He’s worried about you.”
A flicker of energy wavers to my left, and I turn that way.
“He’s scared. I promised him I’d try to find you. To help you.”
“I’m dead. You can’t help me.”
“You’re wrong. I can help you if you let me.”
The flicker gets stronger until it’s an outline of a person.
“I promise I can help.”
The boy shimmers into existence. He looks from me to Selena and starts to dissolve.
“It’s okay. She’s not here to hurt you.”
“She wants me to go. Two others were here already, and I’m not going anywhere until I make sure my family survives the Reaping.”
“Stay here,” I mutter to her and walk over to where Shane is standing.
There’s a huge bite mark at the base of his throat. Not a drop of blood can be found on him. He looks a little like his brother, but his hair is a lot lighter, and his eyes are a deep brown. His pallor is chalky, though, his lips blue, and he looks fierce with his need to keep his family safe.
“Shane, there’s nothing you can do to help them yourself. You’re a ghost, and ghosts can’t affect the living.” At least I don’t think so. “But maybe I can?”
“You? How?”
His voice is scratchy, like the sound the dish scrubber makes when you’re trying to get off stuck on food. It’s harsh and grates on my ears.
“Is there anything you can tell me? Anything to help me figure out where it might strike next?”
