Bitten – Episode 27
Chapter 27
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The next few days rolled by without incident. I hadn’t seen that silver haired young man since the bowling ally and he was slowly easing out of my mind. Every now and again a random thought about him would pop up, but I’d shrug it away. It was weird he knew my name, but a lot of students at my school I didn’t know knew my name. It could’ve been one of them. When I walked the halls now I kept an eye open for the smoky eyed man.
Vincent, while not being quite the social butterfly, started being a little friendlier with my friends. Well, Alli and Leah at least. There was still some unspoken tension between him and Kai— which I didn’t understand. Unless Vincent thought Kai had a crush on me, or something. That was possible. Kai could be over friendly. And it was cute to think Vincent was jealous of him.
When Friday arrived again, my friends and I were planning out what we were going to do that night. To nobody’s surprise, Vincent was skulking in the corner while Kai did most of the planning. I personally didn’t care what we did as long as we went out. My brother had to stay home, so I didn’t want to subject Vincent to that. They still didn’t get along at all.
“I say bowling,” Leah suggested, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. “We should keep up the custom.”
Kai shook his head vehemently. “No, we did that last week. I say we go to the movies.”
“Or the carnival,” Alli suggested, cupping her elbow with her hand. Leah gave her a crazy look. “There’s no carnival.”
“Yes there is,” she disagreed, shaking her head. “In the mall parking lot. I passed it yesterday and it wouldn’t only be opened on a Thursday and not a Friday, Leah.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“I’m up for a carnival,” Kai said, a grin slipping onto his face. “How about you, Vivi?”
“I’m not going.”
I whirled around to stare at him. “What? But I want to go!”
Kai narrowed his eyes at me. “What does him not going have to do with you?”
“He, um—”
“It doesn’t. She can go.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “What? Really?”
Vincent shrugged. “Go for it. I have plans for tonight.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, with a pretty lady.”
Alli nudged him in the side with her elbow. “Eh? What’s this? I-Hate-The-World Vincent has a date?”
He shoved her away lightly, which to her, was roughly. “Shut up.”
“You have a date?” I repeated, an unusual tightness in my chest forming. Was that jealousy? Did he even know any girls to date? He never left my side throughout the school day, nor did he ever go out at night.
“Yes,” he stated, his sapphire eyes piercing into mine. “You don’t know her,” he emphasized.
Kai gave him a slap on the back. “Good going, Vincent!” “Touch me again and I will break your fingers.”
Normally I would scold him for his words, but I was still in shock. Why would Vincent be going out on a date? He said he liked me! He even knew I liked him too, so why would he say yes to a date with someone? Unless he was the one to ask the girl… “You can’t go,” I blurted out.
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Everyone turned to look at me. Vincent smirked. “Why not?”
“I, uh, w-well I’m sure my parents wouldn’t let you. You do remember you’re hear because of your delinquency, right?”
“That never meant I was going to stop.” Incredulity filled me as I stared at him. “But—”
“Someone’s jealous,” Alli sang tauntingly. “I never thought I’d see the day Emily got jealous.”
“I’m not!”
A hand appeared on my shoulder and I turned to see Kai shaking his head at me. “Wrong guy to get jealous over, Em.”
“I’m not jealous!”
Even Leah was giving me a pitying look. “There’s nothing you can do…”
“Vincent, can I talk to you alone for a second?” I muttered, grabbing his arm before waiting for his answer. Despite the fact I was using all the strength in my body to tug at him, he didn’t budge. Straining so hard I could feel the muscles in my neck tightening, I couldn’t to push him.
Without warning he started moving, causing me to tumble forward. My friends chuckled as my head went straight into his rear. Blushing, I erected myself and began to march away from them, rounding the corner to the stairwell. Within seconds Vincent caught up to me, smiling smugly again, holding the door open for me to pass through. “You wanted to talk?”
“What do you mean date?” I demanded, glancing at him from the corner of my eye. “Why are you going on a date? If you wanted to go on one, why not ask me?” The last words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Vincent cocked an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you’d be up for another date.”
“Another?”
“Didn’t I say the movies was a date?”
I frowned. “Oh, yeah…”
“You don’t need to worry though. It’s not that kind of date. You don’t need to be
jealous .”
“I’m not! Geez! You’re a vampire! No way!”
His hand shot out to cover my mouth with enough force to cause my top lip to smash painfully into my front teeth. A muffled cry of pain left my lips and he gave me a harsh look. “Shut up.”
His words sent a shudder down my spine. An unreadable expression crossed his face, but I couldn’t determine what it was. It looked almost offended. After a moment of trying to pull his hand away, he finally released me. I licked my lip, feeling it burn painfully and tasting the tang of blood. “Ow…”
“Sorry,” he muttered, catching my chin in my hand. Without warning, he pressed his lips to mine in a deep kiss. Caught off guard, I tried to push him away as a blush rose to my cheeks. Unfortunately for me, he easily batted my hands away.
Part of me was enjoying the kiss while another part was panicking. What if someone walked in on us? Everyone knew we were living together. It would get incredibly awkward if they thought we were dating. The teasing would be endless. My worrying ceased when Vincent eventually pulled away, sliding his tongue over his bottom lip.
Giving him a disapproving look, I wiped my lips with the back of my hand, pulling it away to see blood. “Hey!” I cried, my head snapping back up so I could meet his eyes.
“What?”
“You did that for my blood, didn’t you?”
The corners of his lips twitched, but other than that he kept his face straight. Or at least tried to. He was failing miserably. “How could you accuse me of such a thing?” he inquired.
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I scowled at him. “That’s gross!”
“Not when you essentially live off blood.”
“To me it is!”
He waved me off. “Are you planning on going to the carnival or not? If so, take Joel or Fiona with you.”
“Why aren’t you?”
“You know.”
“I thought you just said you had a date—”
“With my meal,” he clarified.
Realization set in and I wrinkled my nose. “Oh. In that case, go right on ahead. I’ll bring along Fiona if she’s interested.” And maybe I could drag Sebastian along as well…
“If you’re thinking about asking Sebastian, don’t. He’s busy tonight,” Vincent told me.
“How do you know?”
“I already asked him if he wanted to hunt for… my cat together,” he muttered as the door to the stairwell opened.
I nodded at him, watching as the passerby (Ben, one of the members of the baseball team) hurried past us, saying a quick hello. We exited the stairwell after that, going back to Leah, Kai, and Alli. They all had knowing expression on their faces that made my cheeks warm up. Hopefully not enough for them to notice though.
“So, are you going to go?” Kai questioned. “I’ll drive.” “I’m up,” I told him, smiling. “But I’ll drive myself.”
“I’ll drive myself too,” Leah added. “No offense Kai, but you’re car sucks. It’s a hazard just look at.”
He stuck out his tongue. “Fine.”
“I haven’t been to a carnival in a long time. I’m pretty excited for some cotton candy,” I commented thoughtfully.
“I’m excited for the baked potatoes,” Alli said excitedly, her eyes lightening up. “If I could live off of those, I would.”
Leah laughed at her. “Yeah, but that’s a lot of starch. You’d be fat in no time.”
She rolled her eyes. “You take the fun out of everything, you know?” “I’m just looking out for you.”
“So we’ll me up at eight?” Kai suggested, looking at all of us. “Make sure to bring a coat. It’s getting cold.”
Alli grinned widely. “That’s because there’s twenty-five days until Christmas.”
I blinked at her. “Wait, really?”
“Where have you been? It’s December first.”
It was already the first? That meant a month had passed since I’d met Vincent. Which meant it’d already been about two weeks since he came to live with me. And nothing had happened in that amount of time. There had been no attacks, not even any threats. Was he really needed after all? I glanced at him. He seemed to be thinking the same thing. Hopefully he wouldn’t think about leaving… Just in case.
“Eight?” Kai pressed, waiting for our answers.
“Sure,” Alli, Leah, and I chorused.
He nodded, turning to Vincent. “Sure you don’t want to come, Vivi?”
He shot Kai a dirty look. “Don’t call me that. And no, I don’t want to go if you’re going.”
“Ouch,” Kai responded, putting a hand to his heart. “Your words pierce me deep…”
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“Shut up.”
I shook my head, smiling in amusement. “Come on, Vincent. Let’s get you home before you turn rabid.”
“Ha,” he said sarcastically. “Thanks to that comment, I get to drive.”
“What? No!”
“Too late,” he responded, dangling my keys in front of me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How did you even get those?”
He smirked for a second before turning on his heel and heading for the school exit.
Sighing, I said a quick goodbye to my friends and trotted after him.
*****
At eight o’clock sharp I pulled up to the carnival parking lot. It was already dark, so the event was lit up brightly with different styles of lights. Four towering stadium lights were positioned at the four corners of the parking lot where the carnival was set up. From where I was, I could see countless tents and booths set up. Driving slowly, I maneuvered my car around all the people swarming the parking lot. Eventually I found and open spot and quickly pulled into it.
Kai was already waiting by the entrance when I came up to him. He grinned and waved excitedly as I hurried toward him. “I bought your wristband for you,” he told me, giving me a bright green piece of paper.
“Wrist band?” I repeated, furrowing my eyebrows as I slipped it around my wrist and snapped it into place.
“It’s to let everyone know you paid admission,” he informed me. “Apparently you have to pay this time to get in.”
I stared at the bracelet in annoyance. At least my sweatshirt would cover it. “Where are the others?”
“Already inside,” he responded, slinging an arm around my shoulder. “You’re late.”
“No I’m not,” I told him, glancing at my watch. “It’s only two after. I pulled in at exactly eight.”
Kai rolled his eyes. “Rule of thumb, Em. Did you forget? Always arrive ten minutes earlier than our set time.”
“No one said that.”
“Well it just so happened everyone but you showed up early.”
I shoved him. “Whatever. Just bring me to where everyone is.”
“So Vincent didn’t want to come after all?” he asked, apparently deciding to change the subject. “Was it because of me?”
“No, he’s just, um, well he’s going on a date.” Might as well use the excuse he told them. Now that I knew it wasn’t a real date, it was okay.
Kai frowned. “Really? I thought he liked you.”
“You did?” I asked in surprise.
He snorted. “It’s really obvious.”
“It is?”
“Just not to you, I guess. Everyone else thinks so too.”
I shrugged it off. It wasn’t like it was untrue. A smile crept onto my lips. Kai noticed and smirked at me. “Guess you like him too, huh?”
“No—”
“Don’t deny it. It’s written in the stars.”
“Huh?”
“A million miles away. A message to the main.”
It took me a second to realize the background music from the carnival. Kai smirked at me. “Seasons come and go, but I will never change. I’m on my way!”
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I rolled my eyes at him. “And here I actually thought you were going to say something semi-romantic.”
“Me? Never,” he replied with an impish grin. “Look, there are the others!”
Following his pointing finger, my gaze landed on Alli, Leah, and Joel, who came in place of Fiona seeing as how she was helping Sebastian with something back at the manor. He started jogging up to me, an apologetic look on his face. “Hey, Emily. Do you mind if I leave? Samuel is in dire need of someone to play Halo with—”
“He’s lying,” Leah interjected, smiling slyly. “He’s going on a date. Some girl named Tiffany.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”
Joel scowled at Leah. “You ruin everything, you know that?”
“Who’s Tiffany?” I asked, feeling a smile spreading onto my face.
He pursed his lips at me. “Never mind.”
“Aw, are you embarrassed?”
“Do you care if I go or not?” he demanded.
“Umm, is that a good idea?”
“Yeah. Nothing’ll happen with this many people around,” he told me casually. “Just make sure you go right home after you leave.”
Going against my gut feeling of telling him to stay, I agreed with him, and let him leave. Kai and I rejoined the rest of the group. Alli was holding a half-eaten baked potato. As I approached, she held it out to me to take. I shook my head to refuse her offer. “So have you guys looked around yet?”
“A little bit,” Leah responded, folding her arms over her chest. “There’s a lot of food booths. Not so many game ones.”
“Are you kidding me? There are plenty!” Alli disagreed, looking at her friend skeptically. “Are you sure you don’t need glasses?”
Leah rolled her eyes. “I’m sure.”
“Let’s take another swoop around then,” I suggested, leading the way.
“Swoop!” Kai mimicked.
I shoved him sideways, causing him to laugh. “Don’t make fun of me.”
We circled the entire carnival twice; taking in everything was there. During the second round, I stopped and bought some cotton candy. After that, Kai started pestering us to play games. My hand found its way into my pocket, fingering the money I had on me. Normally I spent way too much at these types of attractions, so this time I’d decided to limit myself and only bring thirty. With the purchase of my cotton candy, that left me twenty-five. Enough for a few games.
“Emily,” Kai started, turning his pleading eyes toward me. “You know what you should do? Play that basketball game and win me a giant penguin.”
“That’s not fair,” Leah complained. “I want one of those gigantic stuffed animals too! You can only win once!”
Kai stared at her. “Then play yourself.”
“But with Emily it’s a guaranteed win!”
“I asked her first, so ha!”
“Emily!”
I crossed my arms. “How about you both try to win for yourself? That sounds pretty fair to me.”
Kai shoved me toward the basketball hoops. “Just go win something for me.”
“Fine,” I grumbled. “But you and Leah can fight ‘till the death for the plushy. I’m not choosing.”
Determination flashed across Leah’s face. “Understood.”
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Together we walked up to the worker in charge of the booth. He was a grizzly old man, resembling a bear in many ways starting with the thick beard on his chin and his bulky physique. A happy smile crossed his face as I stopped in front of him.
“Would you like to play? Two dollars for one ball, five for three.”
“She only needs one,” Kai told the man confidently, holding out two singles to him.
“Sure,” he responded, taking the money and tossing me a ball. “Good luck. One in wins you any prize.”
No sooner had he finished his sentence, my basketball swished in the net. The worker’s jaw dropped. “W-what would you like for your prize?” he finally asked after a moment of awed silence.
“Penguin,” I said, pointing to the black and white animal. When he gave me it, I quickly put it on the ground. “Okay. You guys can go after it in three, two, one…” I stepped away from the stuffed animal and Kai and Leah both lunged for it, causing Alli and I to burst out laughing. Leah had its feet while Kai had its flippers and they were both caught in some kind of tug-a-war.
“While they’re busy, I’m going to get a drink,” I told Alli, slipping around her in search for a food stand or trailer. In the immediate area were only game booths, so
I had to travel a little ways before I could find a concession one. I went to the closest one and ordered a can of overpriced coke. As I turned to go back, a familiar silver-haired person entered my vision: The smoky-eyed man.
My breath caught in my throat. What was he doing here? By the looks of it, he was alone. He stood casually, his hands in his tight black jeans’ pockets. A light blue, long-sleeved Hollister shirt covered his torso. An expression of mild amusement was on his face as he watched a couple of children play with tiny water guns. My feet were glued to the ground as I stared at him. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. What I needed to do was find out who he as, but I didn’t want to go over to talk to him. What if he was Ashton? No one was around to help me out.
With that thought in mind, I spun my heel to go round the booth I was at so I could evade him. As long as he stayed where he was, I could pass without being noticed. My pace was unusually quick as I all but jogged past the two booths that separated us. What if he noticed me? Would he even recognize me if I was moving this fast? Would he call out to me? Did he remember my name? What if—
My thoughts were cut off when someone suddenly turned the corner of the water gun booth, causing my body to barrel into theirs. Two firm hands steadied me as my head reeled from the impact. My body went rigid when I recognized the Hollister shirt. When my eyes met smoky grey ones, I wasn’t surprised. The young man smiled at me. “Hello, Emily.”
“H-hey,” I stuttered, taking a step back away from him as casually as I could manage. If I acted normal, he wouldn’t think anything was weird between us.
“We always seem to be running into each other,” he told me, his voice deep and smooth.
I nodded in agreement. “S’pose so…”
“I don’t think I’ve ever formally introduced myself,” he started, holding out a slim hand to me. “My name’s Kyle.”
Kyle? I eyed him suspiciously. “We’ve never met before. How did you know my name?”
“I’ve seen you on Facebook,” he admitted sheepishly. “Friends of friends.” “Like who?” My voice sounded more accusing than I intended. “Well for starters, Kai.”
My shoulders sagged in relief. If he knew Kai, that meant he definitely wasn’t Ashton. “Oh, well nice to meet you in person.”
.
.
Together we walked up to the worker in charge of the booth. He was a grizzly old man, resembling a bear in many ways starting with the thick beard on his chin and his bulky physique. A happy smile crossed his face as I stopped in front of him.
“Would you like to play? Two dollars for one ball, five for three.”
“She only needs one,” Kai told the man confidently, holding out two singles to him.
“Sure,” he responded, taking the money and tossing me a ball. “Good luck. One in wins you any prize.”
No sooner had he finished his sentence, my basketball swished in the net. The worker’s jaw dropped. “W-what would you like for your prize?” he finally asked after a moment of awed silence.
“Penguin,” I said, pointing to the black and white animal. When he gave me it, I quickly put it on the ground. “Okay. You guys can go after it in three, two, one…” I stepped away from the stuffed animal and Kai and Leah both lunged for it, causing Alli and I to burst out laughing. Leah had its feet while Kai had its flippers and they were both caught in some kind of tug-a-war.
“While they’re busy, I’m going to get a drink,” I told Alli, slipping around her in search for a food stand or trailer. In the immediate area were only game booths, so I had to travel a little ways before I could find a concession one. I went to the closest one and ordered a can of overpriced coke. As I turned to go back, a familiar silver-haired person entered my vision: The smoky-eyed man.
My breath caught in my throat. What was he doing here? By the looks of it, he was alone. He stood casually, his hands in his tight black jeans’ pockets. A light blue, long-sleeved Hollister shirt covered his torso. An expression of mild amusement was on his face as he watched a couple of children play with tiny water guns. My feet were glued to the ground as I stared at him. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. What I needed to do was find out who he as, but I didn’t want to go over to talk to him. What if he was Ashton? No one was around to help me out.
With that thought in mind, I spun my heel to go round the booth I was at so I could evade him. As long as he stayed where he was, I could pass without being noticed. My pace was unusually quick as I all but jogged past the two booths that separated us. What if he noticed me? Would he even recognize me if I was moving this fast? Would he call out to me? Did he remember my name? What if—
My thoughts were cut off when someone suddenly turned the corner of the water gun booth, causing my body to barrel into theirs. Two firm hands steadied me as my head reeled from the impact. My body went rigid when I recognized the Hollister shirt. When my eyes met smoky grey ones, I wasn’t surprised. The young man smiled at me. “Hello, Emily.”
“H-hey,” I stuttered, taking a step back away from him as casually as I could manage. If I acted normal, he wouldn’t think anything was weird between us.
“We always seem to be running into each other,” he told me, his voice deep and smooth.
I nodded in agreement. “S’pose so…”
“I don’t think I’ve ever formally introduced myself,” he started, holding out a slim hand to me. “My name’s Kyle.”
Kyle? I eyed him suspiciously. “We’ve never met before. How did you know my name?”
“I’ve seen you on Facebook,” he admitted sheepishly. “Friends of friends.” “Like who?” My voice sounded more accusing than I intended. “Well for starters, Kai.”
My shoulders sagged in relief. If he knew Kai, that meant he definitely wasn’t Ashton. “Oh, well nice to meet you in person.”
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“You too,” he responded with a handsome smile. “My friends are waiting, so I have to go, but can I ask you a quick question?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Where did you park? I parked in the Target parking lot, but I’m not sure if we were allowed to park there…”
I laughed a little bit at his nervous expression. He definitely wasn’t as intimidating as he seemed. This whole Ashton thing was making me paranoid. Kyle couldn’t be an evil guy if he was wondering about parking.
“It’s okay to park there,” I told him, “I parked there too. Toward the back though. It’s easier to pull out.”
“Is it?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll remember that for next time,” he told me, a grin spreading across his face. “Thanks, Emily!”
I waved my hand at him. “No problem! See you around.” “You too!”
For a second I watched as he walked away. I couldn’t help but think about how cute he was. It was normal for a girl to think that too. It didn’t mean anything. Pulling myself from my thoughts, I headed back for my friends. Luckily, they were still near the basketball game. The penguin was in Leah’s arms and Kai was holding his eye, scowling at her. I raised an eyebrow as I grew closer.
“Where were you?” Alli asked curiously.
“I ran into Kai’s friend, Kyle,” I told her, glancing at Kai to gauge his reaction.
Kai’s eyes grew round. “What? Kyle’s here? Where?”
Using my pointer finger, I pointed back to the food stands. “He went off that way to meet with his friends.”
“Argh! I need to find that kid!” he responded, frowning. “He owes me twenty bucks!”
“You owe me fifty!” Leah told him.
He scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, well… I’m going to go find Kyle! See you guys later!”
“Wait!” Leah demanded, chasing after him. “I’ll find you two later!” she called over her shoulder to Alli and I.
The rest of the doubt in me was cleared by Kai’s words. He obviously knew Kyle. Maybe Vincent was right. Ashton wouldn’t try anything in public. I was safe here and I was making a new friend. Kind of. If I kept running into him like that, he could become scared of being harmed when he was near me. I smiled to myself at that.
“Emily? Want to go play with darts?” Alli questioned, waving her hand in front of my face.
“Let’s go!” I chirped, linking my arms with her. “I’m going to own you!” She laughed. “Why’d you get so happy all of a sudden?” I gave her a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“You went off all tense and returned all relaxed,” she clarified, leading me toward the darts.
“Maybe I was just really thirsty,” I told her, trying to change the subject. “I think I’m going to try to win Kai a giant penguin. I kind of feel bad.”
“I’ll help,” Alli said, letting out a sigh. “Otherwise we’d never hear the end of it from him.”
“True,” I agreed, wrinkling my nose.
“Oh, by the way, can I hitch a ride home with you? Leah’s going to her mom’s house which is on the other side of town.”
I bobbed my head in an affirmative response. “Any certain time?”
.
.
She shook her head. “Nope.”
“Okay. Now let’s go win that penguin!” I cried, thrusting my fist into the air.
Two hours later, sixty bucks down the drain, Alli and I finally were victorious. After trading up multiple times, we’d succeeded in winning three more giant penguins— one for each of us. Leah and Kai had rejoined us and for the rest of the time the carnival was open, we sauntered around showing off our prizes and eating different carnival snacks. By the time we were heading toward the exit, my legs
felt dead and only a few stragglers were left in the area. The mall had shut down, so the only cars in the parking lot were the few teenagers left in the carnival.
“I parked up here,” I informed my three friends, gesturing toward the dark part of the parking lot. “So we’ll split up here.”
“I’m going with her,” Alli told the other two. “So see you guys later.”
“Bye,” they chorused, both raising a hand in farewell.
I returned it with a quick wave. “Bye guys. Come on Alli, it’s freezing.”
“Sure,” she replied eagerly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Put on the heat full blast.”
“I will,” I told her, feeling a shudder run through me.
We hastened toward my car; ready to get out of the chilly air. The only light in this section of the parking came from the stadium lights facing the carnival, so it was shadowy and a little intimidating. It reminded me of the night I’d run into Joel and Vincent. My body subconsciously moved closer to Alli.
“Hey!”
Both Alli and I jerked in surprise at the loud voice shouting after us. Turning around, I saw Kyle coming toward us, a stuffed bear in his arms. He grinned as he approached. “You two leaving now?”
“Yep,” we replied simultaneously.
“Want a bear?” Kyle offered me, holding out the white plushy.
I raised my penguin. “I’m good. Thank you though.”
He smiled and shrugged. “No problem. I won it kind of by accident. I didn’t realize how good at darts I was.”
Alli and I exchanged a secret glance.
“Who are these girls?” a new voice asked, a young male appearing in my field of vision a few seconds later. He was about as tall as Kyle, but much more physically built. A wave of unease washed over me as I took him in.
“This is Emily and…”
“Alli,” Alli introduced herself with a smile. “And I hope you don’t mind, but we’re cold, so we’re going to head out, okay?”
Kyle’s smile faltered a little bit. “Oh, sure…”
Alli gripped my arm, turning me and leading me toward my car. I turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Who is that?” she asked, lowering her voice. “That guy and his friend aren’t normal… There’s something weird about them.”
“That’s Kai’s friend Kyle.”
She stopped, giving me a confused look. “What? No. I know Kyle and he definitely doesn’t have silver hair.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What? Are you sure he didn’t dye it?”
“No, I saw him yesterday,” Alli told me, looking as apprehensive as I felt. “We should probably go…”
“Not just yet.”
.
.
I whipped around to see Kyle— or whomever the smoky eyed man was — standing behind us with his bulky friend and another new person, this time a slender, young male with pale blonde hair. Alli took a step closer to me, drawing herself up to her full height.
“Who are you?” I demanded, forming my hands into fists.
The blonde man on the left turned to the silver haired one. “Wow, you were right. She really doesn’t know who you are.”
Smoky eyes chuckled deeply. “Well, I might as well introduce myself, shouldn’t I?”
“How’s Joel?” the bulky one asked, his black eyes piercing into mine. “I haven’t seen him since I left him bleeding.”
Ice water washed through my veins. That guy had to be the vampire who’d attacked Joel. One of Ashton’s goons…
“Who are you? Joel’s perfectly fine,” Alli spoke up, her voice ten times more confident than mine.
The blonde frowned at her. “Who is this girl, Ashton?” “Ashton,” I gasped, my eyes locking onto his grey ones.
“I see you’ve heard my name,” he commented casually, not showing any kind of emotion at all.
Alli nudged my side. “You know these guys?”
“Luca.”
“Yes?” the blonde, Luca, asked, turning toward Ashton.
He pointed at Alli. “Take care of her.”
Before I could blink Luca was in front of me, shoving me away form Alli. “Let go!” she shouted as Luca captured her arms and twisted them behind her back.
“Let her go!” I cried, gripping Luca’s shoulders and trying to pull him away. “Stop it! She doesn’t have anything to do with his!”
“What’s going on?” she demanded. “Let me go!”
I whipped my head to Ashton. “Ashton! Tell him to let her go!”
Suddenly Alli started screaming. “Help! Someone help us!”
“Luca,” Ashton barked.
As abruptly as it started, Alli’s screaming stopped and her motionless body crumpled to the ground. For a second I couldn’t breathe as I stared at her still body. “W-what did you do?”
“Don’t worry. She’s not dead,” Luca responded in an offhand voice. “It was just to shut her up.”
Swallowing nervously, my gaze switched from Alli, to my car, to the three vampires before me, and back to Alli, and back to my car again. There was no way I could just leave Alli here, but I had to get away. No one was around to help me out. I was in serious trouble.
“Get her in the car,” Ashton demanded. “Jared, bring the redhead back to her house on Bridge Street. Number thirty-six.”
How did Ashton know where Alli lived? Was he stalking my friends? Before I could think about it anymore, Luca moved toward me. I twisted on my heel, preparing to run. I could come back for Alli. For now, I couldn’t be caught. Unfortunately that plan came crashing down around me as Luca stuck out his foot, bringing me effectively to the ground. Just as I was about to scream, a hand was slapped over my mouth. Ashton took my hand, pulling me to my feet and shoving me toward what I assumed to be his car. Luca followed us, telling Jared he’d see him later.
My heart pounded so hard in my chest I was afraid it was going to burst out. I was positive the reason Luca and Ashton were smirking was because of the sound of it. Panic was welling up in me, but I managed to keep it from spilling over. I’d been kidnapped before. It wasn’t something new. I came out of that one okay… But this one was a lot different.
These vampires actually wanted to hurt me.
