Flutter

I wrapped my arms around his neck, but he reached back and grabbed me by my hair. He lifted me by it, and I screamed. I kicked and clawed at him, and he threw me against the wall.

  The pain stopped instantly. Hitting the wall hurt like hell, but it was over right away, and I was back on my feet. I dove at him again, punching at him. I had never been in a fight before, so I was just doing whatever I could think of.

  Theoretically, I should be really fast and strong, but I did not feel like it. He blocked every move before I even made it, and when I was resorting to simply scratching and kicking, he turned me around. He wrapped his arms tightly around me, pressing my back to his chest, and I couldn’t move.

  “Drop the meat!” Jonathan roared at Milo, and I looked over at him. Milo had carefully picked Jane up off the floor, but he didn’t want to leave me alone with Jonathan.

  “Get out of here!” I shouted. I didn’t really want him to leave me, because I had a feeling that I couldn’t win this fight, but this was his only chance to save Jane. “Go!”

  Milo was indecisive, and Bobby stood in the hallway right out the door, looking pale and afraid. I struggled against Jonathan but didn’t accomplish much. He tired of the stand off, and in a ridiculous move, he bit into my shoulder.

  I yelped, and I could feel the blood flowing hot and strange from the wound, but he didn’t drink from me. He could’ve bitten my throat and caused real damage, but he was doing this just to hinder and annoy me. Losing blood weakened me, and I wasn’t that strong of a fighter to start with.

  “Alice!” Milo shouted.

  “Drop the girl!” Jonathan snarled, and threw me to the ground. My shoulder had already stopped hurting, and it tingled from healing, but I could feel the blood seeping out of me. It was incredibly nauseating.

  “Run, Milo!” I yelled, and Jonathan turned back to glare at me.

  He stood right by me, where I lay on the ground, and an idea occurred to me. He kicked me, and I let him, and Bobby shouted at me to get up. If Jane wasn’t unconscious, Milo probably would’ve handed her to Bobby and helped me himself.

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  As soon as Jonathan turned back to Milo, I moved forward and bit into his ankle as hard as I could. I tore through his Achilles tendon, and Jonathan screamed in pain and fell back on the ground. Even though the pain would stop soon, the damaged ligament would slow him down.

  I got to my feet. Jonathan, still on the floor, grabbed my ankle. I stomped on his hand before he would get the chance to bite me the way I had done him, and he hissed but wouldn’t let go. He bared his teeth like he was some kind of animal, so I kicked him hard in the face. At the same time, he pulled my leg, so I fell back onto the ground.

  His mouth was full of blood from me kicking him, and when Jonathan laughed, some of it sprayed on me. The worst part was that all the blood still smelled like Jane. I kicked him in the mouth again. He finally let go of me, and I scrambled to my feet.

  Milo had started setting Jane down on the bed, preparing to help me fight off Jonathan, but Jonathan was busy holding his mouth to stop the blood from spilling out. I rushed over to help Milo get Jane, even though he wouldn’t need any help. She was little more than skin and bones. Her throat was torn open, and Jonathan had really gone to town on it when he had bit her. It was like a dog bite and not the usual small incision vampires made.

  I swallowed back vomit and lifted her up in my arms. I couldn’t feel a pulse, and her head and limbs just dangled. Milo stared down at her with a look of dull horror. If she was still alive, she wouldn’t be for much longer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement, and Bobby gasped. I looked up, but it was already too late.

  Jonathan had Bobby in his clutches.

  - 26 -

  Milo lunged after them, into the hall where I couldn’t see anything. I wanted to throw Jane on the bed, but if she was dying, I didn’t want that to be the move that killed her. All I could hear was the sound of growling and flesh hitting flesh and Bobby screaming.

  Finally I decided saving Jane’s life wasn’t worth my brother or Bobby dying, so I set her on the bed.

  “Sorry, Jane. ” I pushed her short hair off her forehead, and she felt completely cold under my touch.

  I got to the hall the same time as Ezra. I’m not sure how well the fight between Milo and Jonathan had been going, but Ezra flew in and grabbed Jonathan by the throat and pinned him back against the concrete wall.

  Milo’s costume was in tatters and he was out of breath, and he just stood across from Jonathan, glaring at him. Jonathan fought against Ezra, but then Olivia appeared behind Ezra, and he completely stopped.

  “Enough,” Ezra boomed, and let go of his throat. Jonathan licked the blood from his lips and straightened out his clothing.

  My mouth had blood on it from when I’d bit him, and I wiped at it with the back of my hand. I could almost taste it, but I refused to. It was Jane’s blood, and I didn’t want any of it.

  “I don’t want to see you around here anymore,” Olivia said, and her voice sounded surprisingly commanding. “Is that clear?”

  Jonathan didn’t say anything. He looked at the ground and started hobbling down the hall. His tendon hadn’t healed yet. I couldn’t quite figure out why he’d listened to Olivia, but I didn’t have time to think about.

  “Are you okay?” Milo knelt on the ground next to Bobby.

  Bobby slumped against the wall, and he was bleeding, but I’m not sure from where. He nodded, and I could tell he was fighting back tears, but otherwise he was alright.

  I would’ve like to stay and make sure they were both okay, but I had to get Jane. I ran back in the room and scooped her up in my arms, and she hung like a rag doll. Her sheer, tiny dress revealed all her ribs, and I felt her spine. The wound on her neck had started clotting, which meant there had to be some life, but that was the only sign I had.

  “That’s your friend?” Ezra looked in the room at her, and his expression was grim.

  “Yeah. Can you help her?” I held her out towards him, like I was a small child and she were a broken toy I expected him to fix.

  “We’ll take her back to the house,” Ezra said simply. Gingerly, he took her from me, and I felt better just knowing that he had her. In my mind, he could fix anything.

  “Take the back way out,” Olivia suggested when she saw Jane. “You remember how to get there?”

  “Yes. Thank you for all your help,” Ezra said.

  “Anytime,” Olivia smiled at me. “You take care of yourself. Try and stay out of trouble, okay?”

  “I’ll try,” I nodded, but I was already walking down the hall, following Ezra. Milo and Bobby came more slowly behind us. Milo tried carrying Bobby, but he kept insisting that it wasn’t necessary, even though it kind of was.

  When we left the club, the alley around us was deserted, and Ezra had planned ahead because he had parked right next to it. He commanded Milo and Bobby to go straight home, and we’d meet them there.

  He laid Jane in the backseat of the Lexus, and I climbed in back with her, resting her head on my lap. Very slowly, her neck wound was healing, and I could feel her breath coming out faintly. Somewhere in there, she was still alive.

  “Why’d he bite her neck like that?” I asked, more to myself than Ezra. I brushed her hair back, trying to get the blood out from it, and held back tears. “Was he trying to kill her?”

  “Not exactly,” Ezra said and looked at me in the rearview mirror. “He was trying to get more blood, and she was running out. ” I sniffled and looked back down at Jane. “Are you okay, Alice? Did that vampire hurt you?”

  “No, I’m fine. ” I glanced at my shoulder, and it was almost entirely healed. “What about you? Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I am. ” Ezra didn’t appear to have a mark on him, but he had come in for the last minute of the fight. Although, I couldn’t help but wonder if it would’ve gone on longer if he hadn’t had Olivia with him.
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  “Why did that vampire seem so afraid of Olivia? She doesn’t seem that scary to me,” I said. Most of the time, Olivia seemed too drunk and hazy to be anything but harmless. But this was the second time she’d saved my life.

  “Well, for one thing, that’s her club, and for another, she used to be a vampire hunter,” Ezra said. “Although, she tries to keep it quiet on both accounts. ”

  “Wait. What?” I looked incredulously at him. “She owns the club, and she’s a vampire hunter? But she is a vampire! That doesn’t make any sense!”

  “People can’t possibly take down a vampire, not with a wooden stake or an uzi,” Ezra said. “You could barely hold your own against one, and you are a vampire. So the only ones that can police us are other vampires. We don’t have a system of laws, but every now and then, vampires get too renegade, and someone needs to be called in. That someone used to be Olivia, but she retired years ago and bought the club. ”

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  “Why do I feel like you’re making this up?” I asked.

  “Because Olivia is easily underestimated, but that’s part of her strength,” Ezra said. “She’s one of the strongest and oldest vampires I’ve ever met. She must be… nearly six hundred years old. ” He looked at me in the rearview mirror. “And she’s quite taken with you. ”

  I might have found that more amusing, but Jane made a sound in my lap. Ezra sped up, probably deciding that there might actually be hope for her. He carried her into the house, shouting for Mae as soon as we got in the door. For the second time in a matter of days, Ezra’s expertise with blood was called into action.

  Much to Peter’s dismay, Ezra kicked him out of his room, and Mae and Ezra went about making Jane comfortable in there. I tried to help, but I was too upset to be useful, so they sent me downstairs. Milo was in the main bathroom, tending to Bobby’s lacerations, and I went in under the guise of helping, but really, I wanted a distraction.

  I sat on the edge of the bathroom tub and watched them. Bobby had a few minor scratches across his chest and shoulders, and a bite wound on the back of his neck. The bite was already healing, thanks to vampire saliva’s healing properties, but it hadn’t been that bad in the first place. Still, that was the wound that concerned Milo the most. He rinsed off all the rest of them, but he cleaned off Bobby’s neck with peroxide.

  Bobby winced. He sat on the bathroom counter with his head tilted over the sink as Milo scrubbed mercilessly at the swollen bite mark on the back of his neck. The peroxide fizzled white, and Milo rubbed at it with a damp rag.

  “That really stings!”

  “It needs to be clean,” Milo said through gritted teeth.

  “I don’t think it’s that dirty,” Bobby grimaced. “You bit me all the time and never washed them at all. ” Milo didn’t say anything, and Bobby tired of it, so he pulled away from Milo. “It’s clean enough. ”

  “No, I don’t think it is!” Milo reached up for Bobby’s neck again, but Bobby grabbed his wrist and stopped him. Milo could easily overpower him, and he looked like he was considering it. “Please. Just let me clean it a little bit more. ”

  “Milo! No! It hurts, and it didn’t hurt until you started messing with it!” Bobby held onto Milo’s wrist because if he let go, Milo would immediately start cleaning his neck again.

  “That’s because I’m getting all his saliva out!” Milo pushed Bobby’s hand back, but Bobby jerked back in the corner and pressed his back against the mirror so Milo couldn’t reach it. “Bobby! Just let me clean it!” If he got any more aggressive, I’d have to intervene. “You still smell like him, and I have to get it out!”

  “No!” Bobby shouted. “You’ll have to deal with it! I just got attacked by a vampire, and I’m feeling bad enough without you clawing out the back of my neck!”

  “Fine. ” Milo sighed and threw the bloody rag in the sink, then he had a change of heart. “You’re right. I’m sorry. You had a really bad night, and I’m just glad you’re alive and that you still want to put up with me. ” Ashamed of his behavior, Milo stared down at the sink.

  “I’ll always want to be with you,” Bobby smiled at him and gently touched his face.

  Milo lifted his head and they kissed, just long enough for me to feel embarrassed that I was in the same room with them. I cleared my throat, and Milo blushed when they stopped.

  “Sorry about that. ” Milo dried the cuts on Bobby’s chest and shoulder so he could apply giant Band-Aids.

  “So all those scratches, those are from Jonathan’s fingernails?” I nodded at Bobby’s chest.

  “Yeah, I think so,” Bobby said, watching as Milo bandaged a particularly nasty one that ran down his collarbone. Hopefully, none of them would leave scars, or they would damage his tattoos.

  “That’s weird. Clawing at you seems like such a girlie thing to do,” I wrinkled my nose. Sure, that is how I had fought against Jonathan, but I was a girl, and I was openly a terribly fighter.

  “Maybe, but our fingernails are more like claws,” Milo said absently. “It’s a weapon we have, so why not use it?”

  It wasn’t until he said something that I looked down at my own nails. Before I had turned, I had bit them all the time, but I lost the urge. They were longer than I had them before, but I hadn’t really thought about them being stronger. I tested one out on my arm and winced.

  Milo and Bobby continued talking, getting more flirty and lovey, so I tuned them out. Milo had gotten awfully freaked and possessive because Jonathan had bit Bobby, and he hadn’t even drank his blood. It surprised me because Milo had never been the possessive type, but I suppose that had nothing to do with who he was as a person. It was all part of being a vampire, but I had never gone through it because nobody else had bitten Jack since we’d been together.

  Or at least that I know of. I had no idea what he was doing now. For all I know, someone could be biting him. Lots of someones could, or he could be biting lots of people. He could be doing anything, and I had no idea when or if he would ever be back.

  After Milo finished getting Bobby cleaned up, they went back up to his room so they could change out of their costumes, and Milo needed to wash off all his makeup. Ezra and Mae were still up in Peter’s room with Jane, so I sat on the steps and waited for someone to tell me what was going on. The night seemed to drag on forever, but finally, Ezra descended the stairs towards me.

  “How is she?” I got up but held onto the wall, bracing myself for bad news.

  “I don’t know,” Ezra shook his head. “She’s been doing this for too long. Part of the reason her bite looked so terrible was because she had scar tissue building up. He had to gnaw through it to get to her veins. ”

  “Oh my gosh!” I gasped, feeling disgusted.

  “But the good news is that she hadn’t lost as much blood as I’d originally thought. ” He gave me a weak smile. “I didn’t give her any blood, although we did give her IV fluids. ”

  “You have IV fluids just lying about?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “In a houseful of vampires and the occasional human, someone is going to lose too much blood eventually, and its best to be prepared,” he said. “Your friend is resting now, but only time will tell how well she will do. Mae is giving her vitamins and plenty of water, and that’s the best we can do. ”

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  “Why didn’t you give her a transfusion? Wouldn’t that have fixed her right up?” I asked.

  “No. Like I said, she’s been doing this too long,” he said. “Her blood wouldn’t mix or coagulate right with fresh blood. She has too much vampire saliva in her, messing with her body. That might actually be to her benefit. Our saliva can be very helpful in the healing process, and the only thing that has been keeping her alive the past few days is how much she has in her system. ”

  “So the fact that she’s getting bit too often is killing her and saving her life?” I looked at him dubiously.

  “So it wo
uld seem,” he sighed. “You can go up and see her if you like, but she’s unconscious. ”

  “Unconscious like sleeping or unconscious like coma?”

  “Only time will tell,” Ezra said

  “Really?” I had been asking more as a lark, but if there was a possibility that she could be comatose, it didn’t seem right that we were just keeping her in an upstairs bedroom. “Shouldn’t we get her to the hospital or something?”

  “If I thought there was anything they could do for her that we couldn’t, I would’ve already taken her there. She just needs to rest and rebuild her blood. ”

  “No offense, but you’re not a doctor. How can you possibly know? If she’s dying, they can put her on life support,” I said.

  “She’s not dying, not yet, but if you think she would be better suited at a hospital, or she would be happier living out the rest of her existence on life support, I will take her there,” he said, not unkindly. “But I have spent most of the past 300 years trying to keep the human victims of vampires alive. I doubt highly that anybody at the hospital can make that same claim, but yes, they do have more advanced medical equipment than I do. ”

  “I understand. ” I looked down at the steps. “As long as she’s stable now, I say we leave her here. But I reserve the right to take to her the hospital if her condition worsens. ”

  “You’ve always had that right, whether it worsened or not. ” Ezra touched my shoulder, trying to comfort me and alleviate my shame. “Why don’t you go see her?”

  I argued with him just to avoid seeing her. Ezra would always do what was best for everyone, and I knew that. If he couldn’t take care of Jane here, he wouldn’t have brought her back.

  But I didn’t want to see her, knowing how sick and frail she looked. Jane had often been superficial and a bitch, but she was always powerful. She carried herself with purpose, and the last thing she’d ever want anyone to see is her being weak and small.

  Slowly, I pushed open the door to Peter’s room. In his huge bed, Jane looked even smaller. Mae sat next to her, monitoring her pulse and blood pressure, all by ear and touch. Jane was just a thin little line down the center of the bed. Her arms lay over the covers, and they were nothing but skin and bone.

  Her normally manicured nails were broken and chipped. A bandage covered the bite mark on her neck, so at least I didn’t have to see that again. She kept her hair short, but her roots were showing. Jane wasn’t even making time for hair appointments anymore.

  Mae had changed her out of her designer dress to put her in more comfortable pajamas, and left her dress discarded at the end of the bed. It looked dirty and faded. The only thing in life that had ever really mattered to Jane was her appearance, and she had completely let it go.