by R K Close
I turned around, only to come face to face with Lorenzo Romano. He was standing so close to me I had to look up to see his face. His smile froze me in place. Lorenzo glanced down, and I followed his gaze—just in time to see him unplug the extension cord for our lights.
It went dark for a moment. I was blinded again. Faster than I could think, he grabbed me and covered my mouth with his hand.
I heard Daisy from a distance. “Hey, who cut the lights?”
THERE’S THAT MOMENT between sleeping and waking where you’re partially aware of the dream you’re leaving and the world you’re waking to. It’s like having a foot in two different realms, both trying to pull you further into one or the other.
I could smell smoke first. It made me wonder if I were still on campus. But I couldn’t hear the nearby traffic, the shouts, and commands of the first responders, emergency sirens, or people crying and speaking in excited voices.
There was the sound of popping or cracking. My mind recognized this as a fire burning. I finally opened my eyes, and a great bear stared at me. I sat up quickly but realized that it was only the stuffed head of a bear hanging on a wall.
I was alone in a small rustic cabin. The many stuffed animal heads on the wall and the sparse furnishings told me that it was a hunting cabin. The floors were bare wood, except for a couple simple rugs.
There were three doors and five windows. Three of the windows had Indian blankets nailed above as curtains. The other two had shabby beige curtains. Some were partially held back by a small clamp. The sky was dark beyond the windows.
One of the doors may have been for a bathroom. I could tell the others led outside.
I had no memory of how I arrived and no idea of how long I’d been here, but I did remember seeing Lorenzo. Panic was setting in, but I forced it down with everything I had. It was critical that I keep it together.
My brain kept screaming the same thing over and over—Lorenzo is a vampire, Lorenzo is a vampire. I concentrated on controlling my breathing. Was Lorenzo still here? I climbed off the cot I’d been lying on and cautiously moved to one of the windows. The moon was still bright enough to cast a little light. I could only make out the vast forest, but little more.
I moved to each window and peered outside. There were no vehicles, so maybe he had left. The dark forest frightened me, but not as much as staying in that cabin until Lorenzo returned. The vampire scenario had taken hold in my mind, and I couldn’t shake it. As impossible as it seemed, I believed it was true.
Even if Lorenzo had been just a man, I would still be in serious trouble. Did Daisy know I’d been taken? Was she all right? I know there was a lot happening at the scene of the fire, but how did he manage to bring me here without anyone knowing?
A terrifying thought occurred to me. The night he came to my home, I lost an hour of time. Daisy told me the night at the bar, I wanted to leave with him, even though I have no memory of any of it. What if I left with him willingly? Nobody would have questioned him. I knew that Daisy would never have allowed me to leave with him. I hoped she was safe.
I rummaged through the drawers next to a small sink. There were flatware and a few cooking utensils. I finally located what I’d hoped to find—a long carving knife.
Carefully, I turned the handle to the door that I assumed was the back of the cabin. It was cold, even with the fire in the fireplace, but beads of perspiration began to run down my face despite the temperature.
The doorknob made too much noise, but turned easily. I slowly pulled it open and peered into the trees beyond. It seemed nothing moved, and even the animals and insects were silent. In my gut, I knew that wasn’t normal.
I couldn’t stay and wait for him to return, I would rather face the dangers in the woods and even the risk of being lost in the forest, than face a dead man and whatever nefarious intentions he had.
My heart was pounding loudly in my ears, and I was beginning to feel faint. I realized that I was on the verge of hyperventilating and squeezed my eyes shut until I forced my breathing to slow. I could not afford to pass out.
I sprinted across the open area that surrounded the cabin and into the forests. I’d barely passed the first row of trees when I tripped on something and fell hard.
The memory of my mother warning me not to run with a sharp object in my hands, came to mind as my hand holding the knife scraped across the ground.
I pushed up from the ground and ran again, but this time I moved more cautiously, trying to avoid the shadowy obstacles that might trip me up again.
The moon shown through the trees, and I wished I knew what direction I was heading. My primary goal was to put as much distance between me and the cabin as possible.
A sound to my left pulled me up short. I stayed as still as I could and tried to control my breathing. It was silent. Too silent.
Some basic instinct kicked in and I ran again—leaving caution to fate. I ran almost blindly, as fast as I could. Branches scraped at me and pulled at my clothing, but I still didn’t stop.
Inevitably, I tripped and fell again. The knife flew out of my hand, but I had no time to look for it. I was too desperate to flee. Climbing to my feet, I began to run as if my life depended on it, and I knew it did. Every fiber in my being told me I was being stalked, even though I’d seen no. The forest was deathly silent. All I heard was the noise I made and my own labored breathing.
In my frantic thoughts, I imagined Liam running with me, leading me to safety. I wondered if he knew I was missing. Would I die out here and never be found? The thought of never seeing Liam again caught me by surprise. I’m fighting for my very life and thinking about him, of all things. Not dying should be my only thought. Surprisingly, thinking about Liam gave me courage.
Without warning, I feel my feet leave the ground as I’m snatched up as if I weigh nothing. There’s a moment of weightless and then it’s gone as my back crashes onto the hard bed of pine needles. All the air leaves my lungs.
A dark face hovered above, and a firm hand held me to the ground. I couldn't breathe for several more moments, and my head felt foggy as I fought to stay conscious.
“There you are, Jessica. I was worried when I didn’t find you where I’d left you.” I still couldn’t make out the face, but there was no mistaking the voice. Lorenzo had found me.
Slowly, I managed to take shallow breaths as my body remembered how to breathe. Lorenzo easily lifted me from the ground. I was shaking uncontrollably, and it had nothing to do with the freezing temperature.
“You almost ruined my plans,” he said, pulling me in the direction I had been running. He had ahold of my leather jacket and held me against his body so that I was facing away from him. He reached around and grabbed my face, forcing me to look down.
At first, there were only murky shadows until my eyes adjusted enough to make out a cavernous valley, and I realized immediately that we were standing at the edge of a cliff. A cliff I almost ran over, if Lorenzo hadn’t stopped me.
“Do you see? You almost died too soon,” he said, his mouth next to my ear.
His words sent a new wave of fear through me. I wondered if I’d soon be wishing that I’d gone over the cliff.
BACK AT THE CABIN, I sat in a chair next to the fire. My hands weren’t tied, but I didn’t leave the chair. Lorenzo commanded me to sit, and I did. I wanted to sit, but knew that it didn’t make any sense.
I wanted to be running out the door, but I couldn’t leave the chair. I began to do mini exercises by commanding my body to move. Slowly, but surely, I was getting the hang of it. The only thing was, it was exhausting to focus on telling each part of my body to obey me instead of this invisible compulsion.
Lorenzo was somewhere behind me, watching me. And then he was before me, looking down. My mind could barely register the speed in which he moved. I might have found him attractive under different circumstances. That made what he was all the more terrifying.
He smiled as if reading my mind. “You have no idea what I’m
about to give you.” He dropped to one knee and placed his hands on my thighs. The action was far too intimate, causing me to shudder.
“I don’t want anything you have to offer,” I spat.
He threw his head back and laughed. “That may be, but you’ll change your mind soon.”
“Never,” I said, sounding braver than I felt.
“I’m going to make you like me, Jessica.” My blood turned to ice.
“No,” I breathed.
“I’ve grown tired of my adopted family and their silly rules. I plan to start my own family, beginning with you, my dear Jessica,” he said, reaching up to tuck my hair behind one ear. The tender gesture made my skin crawl.
“No, I don’t want this!” I said frantically.
“It’s already begun. The initial bite was the first step,” he said, still smiling his evil smile.
“The first bite?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“The night I came to visit. You remember?”
And I did. Suddenly, I could recall everything that happened during the hour I’d lost, and I was horrified. Not only at what Lorenzo had done to me, but at myself.
I remembered him standing on the porch. He told me to invite him in, and I did. He led me to the bedroom and closed the blinds. He walked around behind me and moved my hair aside, tilted my head and then...
He bit me! It hurt at first, but then it felt...good. I didn’t want him to stop. It was sensual, and even though some dim notion in the far reaches of my mind knew what he was doing would eventually kill me, I didn’t want it to end. I wondered if that was what addiction felt like.
I knew right where he bit me because it burned and pulsed, even now with the memory. I stared at him in horror. He brushed my lips with his thumb, and I turned my face away in shame.
“It takes three bites and then the first death. Then freedom as you’ve never known,” he said, standing. I wasn’t listening. I couldn’t stop playing that moment in my head. How could I have let him? How could I have wanted it?
“How did you make me do that?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“It’s a gift I have. We have many gifts, but only a few manifest, and then only certain ones receive certain gifts. Mine is persuasion, as you may have guessed. Only Victor and I have this particular gift,” he said proudly.
“Who’s Victor?” I asked, confused.
“Victor is the leader of my coven. Was. He’ll be angry with me when he learns what I’ve done. You see, I’ve gone to a great deal of trouble to arrange this. I’ve been avoiding Victor and the rest of his lackeys, while also planning a way to steal you away from that guard dog of yours. Setting the fire was sheer brilliance. Wouldn’t you agree?” I could only stare at him in shock and horror.
“You set that fire.”
“You shouldn’t look so surprised. I left you a pretty telling message with the lilies. You must’ve known I was coming for you,” he said, feigning surprise. When I didn’t answer, he added, “It doesn’t matter. But this does,” he said, then disappeared.
He was suddenly behind me, moving my hair from my neck. Every muscle in my body tightened, as my mind screamed at my body to flee.
Lorenzo slid my jacket off my shoulders. Underneath, I wore a loose sweater that hung almost off my shoulders, giving him complete access to my flesh. He held my arms as he gently kissed my exposed shoulders and then my neck in several places. His kisses became more demanding and rougher.
Then, I felt intense pain as his teeth sank into my neck. A scream escaped my lungs, filling the night with my terror.
23
Liam
We’d been triaged quickly and tucked into the back of a medic truck until the paperwork was completed. It was only a formality. We were ordered not to return to the fire as they currently had enough assistance.
I was anxious to get out of there and speak to Jessica. She may have still been on the scene, but I doubted it. I’d stop by her house first.
Seth was lying on the gurney with one arm draped over his eyes and the other hanging off the side. Cole and I sat on the benches generally used by the medics. Cole must have been bored because he was examining every drawer and cubby he could find.
We’d been discussing the fire and the fact that it was arson when Daisy poked her head in. I was surprised to see her. “Thank heaven, I found you,” she said, climbing into the back of the truck and pulling the two doors closed. She seemed anxious as she pushed Seth’s legs over so she could sit on the gurney next to him.
Seth sat up, and Cole stopped poking around the rig.
“What’s going on, Daisy? Where’s Jessica?” A nervous feeling had started in my gut as soon as she closed the doors.
She looked at each of us in turn. Then she looked at me, and I could see the concern in her eyes. “That’s why I’m here. Jess is missing,” she said.
“What do you mean, she’s missing?” I demanded.
Tears began to fill Daisy’s eyes. “We were here, about to film. I went to the van for just a minute, then somehow the lights got unplugged, and she was just...gone,” she said as she wiped at her face. “I told the sheriff, but he didn’t seem to take it seriously. He said to call him if she’s still not back by tomorrow evening.”
She buried her head in Seth’s chest, and he held her while I tried to think. “Daisy, what do you think happened to Jessica?” I asked, trying to gauge how much she knew.
“I’m afraid that Lorenzo guy took her. It’s not like I could tell the sheriff that a dead guy took my best friend.” She wiped her tears and looked up at me. “I know you think he’s a vampire, so basically, you guys are all I’ve got. Who else would believe such a crazy idea?”
I turned to Cole and Seth. Their expressions were grave. “We have to find her. Let’s divide up and try to find the other vampires. We can force one of them to lead us to Lorenzo,” I said.
“What? There’s more than one vampire?” Daisy said, sounding panicky.
I nodded.
“We’re on it,” Seth said. “I’ll hit the hotel bar.”
“I’ve got a few places in mind to check out. I’ll keep you posted if I spot any,” Cole said.
The doors started to open. The medic who had initially spoken to us looked at Daisy and then at us in confusion.
“Sorry. We have a family emergency to see to. If you can just sign off on our release, we’d appreciate it,” I said, moving past him. Daisy, Seth, and Cole climbed out of the medic truck after me.
I could hear the paramedic stammering as we left. “But you haven’t finished filling out the forms.”
“We’ll come back tomorrow,” Cole promised.
DAISY INSISTED ON STAYING with one of us, assuring me she could help, but we sent her home and promised to call her with updates if there were any. She reluctantly agreed.
We didn’t know what could happen, and even though Daisy seemed to accept the existence of vampires, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t flip out if she knew what we were.
It was just before midnight, but the bars and restaurants were staying open late for all the visitors and locals celebrating Homecoming weekend.
I walked into the Moon and spotted Zoey drawing up a beer behind the bar. She made eye contact with me as I made my way toward her. I don’t know if she saw something in my expression, but she finished serving the beer, then said something to the other bartender before coming to meet me.
She nodded for me to follow her. Zoey led me to the same employee hallway as before. As soon as she’d closed the door behind us, the noise was muffled.
“What’s happened?” she asked warily.
“Jessica is missing. I think he took her,” I said.
She knew who I meant because her expression looked frightened. “How long?” she asked.
“Sometime between seven and eight tonight,” I said.
She leaned against the wall and seemed to be thinking hard. “It may be too late. You know that, right?” she said, searching my eyes.
&n
bsp; “I can’t think about that. What do I need to do to find him and kill him, Zoey?”
She didn’t answer right away. “I can do a locator spell that might point you in the right direction, but it’s not always exact,” she said cautiously.
I looked at her stunned. “What? Are you like a witch or something?”
Her gaze bored into me. “Ya think?” she said sarcastically.
I held my hands up in surrender. “I don’t care. I just didn’t know that was an actual thing,” I confessed.
She raised an eyebrow at me. “Like you didn’t know vampires were a thing? For shifters, you guys are pretty naïve.”
“Exactly. We don’t know why we’re different, Zoey. But you saw that for yourself, didn’t you?” I asked. She nodded. “When this is all over, I want to have a chat.” I leaned back against the opposite wall, facing her. “Now, how do you do a locator spell, and how do I kill something that’s technically already dead?”
I WAS ON MY WAY BACK from Jessica’s house. Fortunately, Daisy was able to meet me there and let me in. She kept Jessica’s spare keys. I could tell she wasn’t comfortable allowing me into Jessica’s home, especially when I asked for something personal of Jessica’s.
“Do I want to know what this is for?” Daisy asked, when she came out of the bedroom, holding a necklace that belonged to Jessica.
“It’s best you don’t,” I said. I held out my hand, and she placed a small sapphire necklace into my palm.
“Let me know as soon as you find her,” she said, locking the house as we left.
“I’ll find her,” I promised, before climbing into my truck. Daisy gave me a grateful smile, then got in her car. I pulled away from the curb and headed to Zoey’s apartment above the bakery.
I’d only learned that she lived there tonight when she told me what she needed and where to meet her. I wasn’t confident how to tell Cole that the woman he’d been crushing on for over a month was a practicing witch.