“You’re not going!” he quickly walked over to me and grabbed my arms. “I nearly lost my sister; I’ve lost my best friend...”
“You’re not...”
“I cannot lose you,” his eyes seemed to be tearing up. “I just can’t."
“I just...” I sighed.
“I only just get you and you’re ready to leave me? Jesus, you can’t do this to me, you have no idea how much you mean to me, how I feel about you; you can’t just walk out on me now.”
I sat on the bed, elbows on knees and my head in my hands. He sat beside me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me close to him.
“Promise me you won’t go, please Leticia, I’ve waited my whole life to find you, I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”
I looked him in the eyes for a moment. He looked so sad, so worried. I hated seeing him like this. I didn’t want to leave him; it had taken me all this time to get him to open up, but I didn't want to risk him being hurt or worse. He put his hand to the side of my face, lightly stroking my cheek with his thumb.
“Promise me,” he pleaded.
“I promise.”
He exhaled in a way that made me think he’d been holding his breath for the last five minutes, he looked so relieved. I put my clothes and gun away while he checked on Nancy again. She was still sleeping. When he came back in my room, I was under the duvet. He stayed by the door.
“Leticia, can... can I stay with you?”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“No funny business Tish, it’s hardly the time. I just... I just don’t want to be alone”
“OK,” I half smiled. “Come on.”
He closed the door and climbed in the bed next to me. He had his black combat trousers on still, but removed his shirt. He had two large tattoos on his back, one of an eagle and the other a panther. He also had a tribal design at the top of his right arm. His body was well defined and rather tanned. I found myself staring at him, inspecting every inch of visible skin.
“Are you alright?” he asked, snapping me out of it.
“Yeah, sorry, I was just looking at your tattoos.” I knew I was going slightly pink, but he didn't say anything, he just smiled. “They’re cool.”
He moved closer to me and eventually laid his head on my chest. He wrapped his arm around me, snuggling into me. We lay there for a while in silence. I held him and ran my fingers through his hair, just listening to him breathe.
The next thing I knew it was almost dawn. Neither of us had moved a single inch all night. Jackson was still asleep. I closed my eyes again hoping to drift back off, when the sound of screams filled my ears. Jackson shot up straight. We looked at each other for a brief second before jumping out of the bed and running to Nancy’s room. She was hysterical. Screaming, shouting and crying out for Tristan. Jackson tried to restrain her, but she hit and kicked at him over and over. In the end I pulled him away, grabbed Nancy, and slapped her hard across her face.
“STOP IT!” I shouted. “CALM THE HELL DOWN!”
The slap seemed to work, she looked at me in shock, holding the side of her face, then just started crying again. Jackson went to make her a coffee while I sat there hugging her.
“I don’t know what I’m gonna do, I can’t live without him,” she choked. “I love him so much.”
“I know honey, I know, shhh, its OK.” It was getting hard for me to hold the tears back now.
Once Jackson had returned with her coffee she started to tell us what had happened.
“We were in the kitchen making a few snacks and talking about you two; saying how happy we were for you. Then Tristan said he heard something, he didn’t say what, but shot out of the room. I got as far as the kitchen door... erm... he came back in and stood in front of me... he was protecting me. At first I didn’t know what from, but then these guys came in. They were strong, like stupidly strong. One of them threw Tristan across the room like... like it was effortless. I tried to attack them, but there was too many of ‘em. Tristan got back on his feet but the others, they were strong too. It didn’t matter what we did, we couldn’t get free of them...”
“Were they human?” I asked.
“I don’t know, I think so, they didn’t have that supernatural or fantastical aura about them.”
“How can humans take a vamp and a shifter? What else do you remember about them?”
“They looked ill, sweating, shaking, they smelled... strange... sickly sweet. They looked like the others we’ve met, thin and frail, tattered clothes. How can people like that be so strong?”
“None of the others looked ill,” Jackson pointed out. “Well, not to the same extent as these, none of them have been sweating or shaking...”
“Something about this doesn’t feel right, something is obviously happening or being done to them,” I debated.
“That’s how I got away,” Nancy continued. “They threw us into the back of a van; they looked surprised when Tristan didn’t burst into flames in the sun. I think that’s what they were hoping for. Anyway, there were two of them riding up front and six of them in the back with us. One minute they were fighting with us and restraining us, the next they started being sick and holding their heads, screaming in pain. Tristan kicked the van doors open; he pushed me out while the van was still moving. Just before he jumped... one of them... of them...” she struggled.
“It’s alright, take your time.”
“Tish, they staked him.”
I didn’t know what to say. I felt sick to my stomach, my hands started shaking and tears rolled down my cheeks. Jackson walked out of the room. We heard him swearing and shouting at the top of his voice, then the sounds of pots and furniture breaking. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do!” she cried.
“What happened after that? You must tell me.”
“I watched him fall back onto the floor of the van, it was swerving everywhere and it disappeared up the road, heading back towards Holmfirth.”
So they may have done one of two things, either dumped him somewhere on the Moors or took his body with them. You see, contrary to popular belief, vampires don’t just disappear if they are killed, there’s still a body. Oh yeah, and of course they can walk around in the sun, why would they be condemned to darkness? This was where the world of fiction got it all wrong.
“What do I do Tish?” she cried.
“We’ll find them, and we’ll find Tristan, but first you need to get cleaned up and have something to eat.”
“I couldn’t eat anything.”
“You have to, if Tristan were here... he’d say the same, you need to keep your strength up.”
She didn't say anything after that, she just nodded and made her way into the bathroom. I shouted to her to let her know I was going to find Jackson and left the room. I took several deep breaths before throwing some different clothes on, and making my way towards the noises downstairs. It was going to be hard to calm Jackson down, if not impossible. I walked in the second living room, it was absolutely trashed. It looked as though a small bomb had exploded in there. He stood by the window, looking out into the back garden; I could see he was shaking.
“Nancy is getting cleaned up, then she needs to eat, can you make sure she does?” I asked.
“Why? What are you doing?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Yes, I think I can look after my own sister.”
“Good.” I didn't rise to his off tone, he was upset. I understood that.
I ran upstairs into the room where Jackson stored a lot of his weapons. After picking up several guns, and loading every pocket with ammunition, I ran out of the house, grabbing my car keys on the way. I’d just started to pull out of the drive when Jackson appeared in front of me, blocking my path.
“What the hell are you doing?” he scolded.
“Get out of the way.”
“Where are you going?”
I didn??
?t respond. The look on my face said it all.
“Leticia, sweetheart, NO! You promised!”
I didn't reply, I put my foot down on the accelerator and he jumped out of the way quickly. I could hear him shouting my name as I drove, begging me to come back. But I couldn’t, enough was enough. Something inside me had snapped and somebody was going to pay...
Chapter 26
I drove into Holmfirth center at a very high speed and headed in the direction of the Moors. I wound the window down. Tristan had been staked which meant he would have bled out a little. I was hoping to be able to pick up on his scent. If I could it would lead me straight to him. Or at least that’s what I was hoping. I’d gotten as far as The Ford, the large public house just at the foot of the Moors, when the smell of vampire blood filled my nose. I swerved to the left following the smell and down the thin winding road that led deeper into the hills and eventually into Holme. The annoying thing about this road was that I couldn’t go as fast as I’d like, the bends were so sharp.
The smell was getting stronger and stronger. I stopped just before reaching Digley Reservoir, pulling the car onto the grass verge. I took one of the guns out of my jacket pocket, making sure it was fully loaded and the safety was off, then headed closer to the water holding it tightly with both hands. I moved slowly and silently. The last thing I wanted was for them to hear me coming. Then again, they might not be here, they could have just dumped Tristan’s body and ran. I looked around me, it was eerily quiet, no cars on the road, which was actually a God send. Can you imagine what people would have thought if they’d seen me? There was no sign of life anywhere, and yet the smell of Tristan’s blood was almost overpowering, he had to be here somewhere.
I walked along the road that acted like a dam for the reservoir. I was completely exposed, anyone could have shot me and I honestly didn't care. To the right of me was the water, I knew he couldn’t be in there; he wouldn’t smell so strong if he was. On my left was more grassland, with what looked like a small run down barn around two-hundred feet away from me. He had to be there. I ran as fast as I could, faster than any human, and kicked the door through. The copper-like smell of blood hit me like a ten ton brick. My mouth started watering and I had to fight hard to stop myself vomiting. There was blood all over the floor, up the cracked and decaying walls, and syringes scattered around. My stomach and heart sank, what had gone on here? Other than those atrocities, the barn was completely empty.
There was no sign of Tristan, but it dawned on me, with the amount of blood that was in the barn the chances of him being alive were slim at best. I walked out and screamed his name over and over. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know what I was expecting in reply, but what I got was good enough.
“Leticia,” I thought I heard someone say. “Leticia.” the voice was extremely quiet. Muffled.
I stood still and closed my eyes allowing my wolf senses to come through. I waited and waited, and eventually heard my name called again. This time I knew which direction it had come from. I ran around the back of the barn and through the field, until I noticed some freshly disturbed earth. I slid down on my knees and started digging frantically in the dirt, throwing it and dragging it behind me.
I could see his arm now; I grabbed it, stood up and dragged him slowly out of the hole. I was thanking God constantly for my wolf-strength. I lay him flat on the grass, kneeling beside him, trying to get all the dirt and soil off his face. His lips were blue, his skin was pale to start with, but now it was almost completely white. He tried to speak but no sound would come out, he tried to tell me something, speaking with breath; I already knew what he was saying, he needed blood and if he didn't get it soon, he would die.
“Now you listen to me,” I said, pulling him into a sitting position and supporting him. “You heal fast, and so do I, so you take my blood and the healing effect should be twice as fast. But if you kill me I swear I will come back and haunt you. Blink, if you understand me.”
He managed to blink a few times before showing his fangs. I moved my hair off my neck before moving closer to him. My heart was racing; I never thought I’d be doing this. I took a deep breath just before his teeth pierced my skin. I thought it would have hurt, but it didn't. I gasped as his fangs first entered me, but after that there was no pain, the only thing I felt was an adrenalin rush, a really intense one. The more he drank the stronger he got; he gripped me and pulled me closer. I could feel myself getting tired, weak...
“Tristan stop,” I gasped. “Stop... you’re killing me.”
I wasn’t strong enough to push him away. I went cold, everything was spinning and then...
Chapter 27
Jackson’s Story
I watched as Leticia drove away from me, powerless to stop her. If I chased her I would have to leave Nancy and I couldn’t do that after everything she’d just been through. My heart sank as her car disappeared out of view. I had to get Nancy; we had to go after her. I ran back inside and up to her room, she was still in the shower. I stood in the hallway listening for her coming out, shouting her over and over again, but she couldn’t hear me. I was fidgeting like crazy, every minute that passed felt like hours. After about fifteen minutes I heard her rummaging around. I knocked on her door before walking in again. She looked a lot better now, clean for starters, and her eyes didn't look as sore from crying.
“You need to get dressed and we need to go,” I blurted out.
“Why?”
“Leticia has gone, I don’t know where, but she’s gone.”
“What! Why?”
“She’s gone to find them, to find Tristan. You should have seen her Nancy, she looked so different...”
I explained to Nancy how I thought I’d seen a darker side to Leticia. Her eyes were normally full of warmth and love, but before they were so dark and cold. Her jaw was tight, her body language had gone from laid back and relaxed, to tense and angry.
“Oh shit!” Nancy shouted. “I can’t lose anyone else.”
“Neither can I.”
She walked into the bathroom with her clothes shutting the door behind her, but continuing to talk.
“Which direction did she drive in?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“I told her the van we were in was heading towards Holmfirth; I bet she’s on the bloody Moors.”
“Hurry up, we need to find her.”
“I’m going as fast as I can, calm down, she’s not been gone that long.”
“More than fifteen minutes, that’s long enough.”
“Is she armed?”
“What?”
“Is she armed?”
“I don’t know I’ll see if anything’s missing.”
I ran to the spare room. The trunks that housed my guns were pulled out and left open. I instantly noticed several of them missing. That made me feel a little bit better, but not much. At least she had something to help protect her. As I turned to make my way out Nancy appeared.
“I want a few, load me up,” she started. “They’ve taken my soul mate; they’re not taking my only friend too.”
“Nancy what if we don’t find her in time?” I panicked. “I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“Don’t think like that.”
“I can’t help it.”
“Just breathe and try to keep a level head, we will find her and drag her ass back here.”
“I don’t want to lose her. I can’t lose her...”
“I won’t let you lose her; I won’t have you feeling how I do now.”
After taking several guns and plenty of bullets from the trunks, we ran downstairs and out the door. We were only a few feet from my car when four men came charging out of the trees. I didn't have time for this; I had to get to my girl. Nancy shot two of them, killing them instantly. What sort of idiots were they? I mean, who would come at people that have weapons? Did they actually want to die? I shot the other two thugs, but they didn’t stop running.
“What the hell?!” Nancy shou
ted.
We shot them over and over, one of them slowed down, just about managing to walk, and then finally fell. But the other, the biggest of them, threw himself at me. We both went crashing to the ground. This man, although he was extremely tall, was only skin and bone, how could he be so strong? He was on top of me, he his hands wrapped around my throat. Nancy tried to attack him, but he knocked her to the ground with ease. That did, however, give me the opportunity to break free. I punched him in his jaw so hard that I heard it snap. He cried out in pain. I kicked him off me and jumped to my feet. I walked over to him, readying myself for one hell of a fight, one I didn’t intend losing.
“Jackson wait,” Nancy shouted. “Look.”
The bullet wounds that only a few minutes ago seemed not to have hurt him were now pouring out blood. The man was shaking from head to toe, sweating terribly, and choking on his own blood.
“Kill me,” he gurgled. “Please.”
“OK,” I said carefree. I grabbed him and snapped his neck, then let his lifeless body slump on the ground.
“We need to drag their bodies into the bushes for now, we can get rid of them later,” Nancy ordered.
As much as I just wanted to get in the car and get to Leticia, I knew she was right; we couldn’t just leave them there. Thankfully it only took us a few minutes.
We were about to get in my car when we heard the sound of another vehicle approaching the house.
“I haven’t got time for this!” I nearly screamed.
“You go, I’ll stay,” Nancy told me.
“No, I can’t leave you, Leticia would go berserk.”
“Just go I can... Look.”
I turned just as Leticia’s car came into view. I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I felt. It came to an abrupt stop and we ran over; Nancy froze on the spot when she saw who was driving it.
“Tristan,” she choked.
He got out of the car quick and almost ripped the back passenger door off its hinges.
“What’s...?” I lost my voice when I saw him pull Leticia off the back seat. Nancy ran back to the house, opening the door. He ran in with her in his arms, straight up the stairs and laid her on her bed. Nancy and I ran behind him. As soon as he lay her down Nancy grabbed him and held him tight, tears running down her cheeks. I sat next to Leticia, stroking the side of her face; she looked so pale, but peaceful, like a sleeping beauty.