How to Elude a Vampire (VRC: Vampire Related Crimes Book 2)

by Alice Winters

  Chapter Eighteen

  FINN

  “I’m here for our date!” Claude announces as I open the front door of the house.

  “Hold on… what?” I ask as I stare at Claude.

  My team has to report to a state-wide meeting for vampires only, and I’ve been told that since I don’t gnaw on people, I’m not invited. Earlier today, Marcus assured me it was a blessing and then Karsyn told me how last year they nearly threw Marcus out after he growled at the speaker and told him he doesn’t know his mouth hole from his asshole. Oddly, that kind of made me want to go even more.

  But that means he has to leave me alone… with Claude. Marcus was against leaving me at all, but they’re only going to be half an hour away and the meeting is required. Since Aria will be here with me, I thought it could just be her and Orin watching me, but I’d forgotten Orin had something else going on. He tried getting out of it, but I assured him I’ll be fine. Clearly, Marcus doesn’t think Aria’s adequate because Claude is standing in the doorway proclaiming our date.

  “Claude will be watching you,” Marcus says through a clenched jaw as he gives Claude a hearty pat on the back that sends him careening into the foyer. “While I understand that he’s the last person I would ever want to leave your life in the hands of, I also know that he’s aware I’ll tear his head off if anything happens to you.” He turns to Claude and mimes tearing his head from his body. He even mimes blood spurting out of the decapitated body. “I will bathe in your blood.”

  Claude’s smile drops a little. “Like… is this usually how you act when people do you favors?” He waves Marcus off like his brother is of no concern. “Finny, it’s just you and me tonight, baby. You can sit on my lap if you think it’ll make you feel safer.”

  “I’ve changed my mind. I will stay home,” Marcus says as he literally shoves his brother out the door and slams it in his face.

  “But, Marcus… how will I feel safe if I’m not sitting on Claude’s lap?” I tease.

  Marcus doesn’t find this funny and reaches for his tie like he’s planning on loosening it and getting comfortable for the night.

  “Marcus. You’re half an hour away. Orin will be here until six. You’ll probably be home by seven at the latest. And there’s a security system on the house to identify and alert any movement. I’ll be perfectly fine, alright?”

  Marcus groans before giving a curt nod. “Okay. You call me for anything, and I’ll be here in minutes.”

  “Okay.”

  “Anything.”

  I nod, clearly getting it. “What if there’s like a fly or something. Should I call then?”

  “Yes.”

  “What if the doorbell rings, and there’s an innocent kitten on the porch. Do I get it?”

  “No, it’s a trap.”

  “But it’s a kitten.”

  “It’s still a trap.”

  “Yeah, but the trap might be worth it, you know? Okay, it’s a Persian kitten.”

  “Leave it.”

  “Yeah but what about a Scottish fold? You know you can’t say no to those ears.”

  “Yeah, you can say fuck no.”

  I sigh. “This is so hard for me to comprehend. So let me get this straight. If there’s a kitten, a Scottish fold kitten sitting on the doorstep, crying for me to save it, I’m supposed to just leave it outside to cry alone?”

  “Yes. Just like how I left my brother to cry out there,” Marcus says before opening the door.

  Claude has his arms folded over his chest. “I know you two think you’re cute but you’re not.” He hesitates as he stares at me. “Well… Finnigan’s kinda cute.”

  Marcus turns to his brother. “Claude, I know we’ve… butted heads, but I’m trusting you to keep Finn as safe as you possibly can. This is extremely important to me.”

  “I know, I know. I’m not an idiot. And you promised me a date with the sassy one if I do this. I can’t wait.”

  The sassy… Oh no. Poor Karsyn. “Does… Karsyn know about this?” I ask.

  “Shh,” Marcus whispers as he presses a finger against my lips. “I get it, Claude, but Karsyn will only enjoy it if you do a good job keeping his closest and only friend safe.”

  “Got it,” Claude says.

  Marcus kisses my cheek. “Be good.”

  “I will, I promise,” I say. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  He hesitates before grabbing Artie’s face. “You protect him, alright? Make sure Claude doesn’t touch him.”

  “Wait, now we’re protecting me from Claude? I thought Claude was here to protect me!” I ask.

  “Oh… right. Yeah, that.”

  Marcus shifts his brooding look onto Claude which makes Claude narrow his eyes and shift uncomfortably.

  “I want you to pity me,” Claude says to me. “Pretend I’m that kitten you were hoping shows up on your front porch.”

  I eye him before cringing. “No, thank you.”

  Claude throws up his arms. “Why’d I even come!” he cries, but he heads into the house, clearly not caring too much about none of us wanting him here.

  “I’ll threaten them to make the meeting go quickly,” Marcus assures me.

  “Isn’t… the whole purpose of this meeting about being civil, not eating people, and not using your fangy vampireness to torture people into doing what you want?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you… do you see the issue here?” I ask, kind of curious.

  He seems to think for a moment, even theatrically taps his chin. “Nope. Have fun. Love you.”

  “Love you too,” I say.

  I head upstairs to find that Claude is already sidled up to my sister who is laughing way too hard at one of his jokes. I give her a look and she shrugs. Clearly, her brain no longer works either.

  “What do you guys want to watch?” Aria asks as we sit before the ginormous screen.

  “Maybe something romantic so Finn can see what a real relationship is like?” Claude suggests.

  “Or maybe a comedy so Claude can see how humor actually works,” I suggest.

  “Come, sweet child,” he says as he pats the spot next to him on the huge overly stuffed couch made of heaven and fluff, I believe. I quickly sit next to my sister as Claude continues to pat the couch. Artie thinks this means Claude wants him up there, so he obliges by leaping onto Claude’s lap. Not because he likes Claude or wants Claude to pet him, but so he can plant his ass on his lap, his front end on Aria’s and his head on mine where he then looks up at me with love in his eyes. I pet his wiry head as Claude squirms.

  “Oh my god, this dog is trying to kill me! Somebody save me! Why’s it so big?”

  “And that is what no one has ever said to you,” I say, referring to the last question he asked.

  “Are you referring to my penis?”

  “Shh, you’re interrupting the movie,” I say.

  “The movie hasn’t started yet!” he cries as Hela jumps onto my lap with a pack of gum in her mouth like she’s planning on just eating it while I watch.

  “Hey! Where’d you get that!” I say.

  “Oh, that would be mine. Is she digging around in my purse?” Aria asks as she snatches up the dog, leaving me with the spit-riddled gum pack. I reach over and wipe the saliva off on Claude’s shirt.

  He looks over at me like I just betrayed him and everything he believes in.

  “This is a two-hundred-dollar shirt.”

  “Looks like you plastered roadkill on your body and called it good.”

  He narrows his eyes. “And somehow, you’re still so freaking cute.”

  Once the movie starts, we all settle in. Orin even joins us for a bit before heading out.

  “Do you guys want popcorn?” Aria asks.

  “Ooh, I do have a weakness for popcorn. It’s best when you coat it in blood instead of butter,” Claude says.

  We both stare at him, and even though Aria drinks blood as a dhampir, she still looks disgusted. Claude narrows his ey
es. “Or butter if you insist.”

  “I insist,” I say. “I’ll get it, in case Claude coats it in blood.”

  I head off with my dog posse and walk down the stairs of the mansion to where the kitchen is. I pull open the cupboard and grab a bag of popcorn before sticking it in the microwave. As it begins to pop, I grab some bowls and that’s the moment I hear a beep.

  I smack the microwave door open and listen. The security system that Orin has is set to alert us with a few beeps every time someone walks onto the property. This doesn’t set off the alarm since it could be as simple as Orin coming home or Marcus pulling in the driveway. It shuts off once they put in the code or I stop it.

  But neither one told me they were heading home.

  I drop the bowls and turn as I comprehend what this means.

  There’s someone here.

  Don’t panic, it could be anything. A dog, a raccoon, Marcus, Orin. Anything. I turn and rush up the stairs to get back to the others. When I slip into the room, I notice Aria’s fiddling with her phone.

  “Did anyone text you?” I ask as I check my phone again.

  “No… I’m calling Dad right now to make sure.”

  Claude moves to the window and pushes back a blind. “The lights are coming on around the house.”

  “It means someone triggered it,” I explain. “It illuminates the area that it senses movement in.”

  He lets the curtain fall and rushes over to us. “Get down to the safe room,” Claude says. “I’d rather we wait it out in there—”

  The security alarm begins to sound, telling me there’s someone in the house that should not be here. Either they’ve broken a window or broken the lock on the door. But he’s here. He’s inside this house mere yards from us.

  “Get downstairs now,” I say as I pull my gun out and scoop up Hela. I shove her in Aria’s arms and yank her after me since she’s never had any real combat training. Claude slips past me into the hallway and that’s the moment all of the lights go out, dropping us into darkness. The only light now is the sliver coming in from the window at the end of the hallway, and while my eyes can track things a little better than they should be able to, I can’t follow much in the darkness.

  “With this fucking alarm I can’t hear shit,” Claude growls, but I’m afraid to tell him that even without the alarm, he won’t hear him until he’s there.

  I want to get them down to the safe room, but I know he’s down there. He’s between us and our escape, so we just have to outsmart him somehow. “Don’t take the main stairs. There’s a servant path this way,” I say as I push Aria toward it.

  Claude keeps close to me, almost brushing against me as he ushers us toward the stairs and we start down it.

  “Hold on,” he whispers, yanking Aria to a stop. “He’s coming this way. Fuck. Is there another path besides the main stairwell?”

  I shake my head. “Out the window?”

  “We’ll be sitting ducks out in an open space. There’s no way all three of us could outrun him. We need to make it to the safe room and get you inside and the door locked. Marcus assured me he couldn’t break inside.”

  “There’s a window for the basement; we could drop down to the first floor and break the window,” I suggest.

  Claude nods. “Okay,” he says as he pushes through a bedroom door and shuts it behind us. As I work on opening the window that leads out onto the porch roof and popping the screen out, Claude pushes a dresser in front of the door. Clearly, it won’t stop a vampire, but it’ll alert us when he tries to enter. I push Aria through the open window that leads out onto the porch roof before following her. “Come on, Artie,” I say.

  Artie’s convinced he won’t fit through the small opening and whines as he paws at the windowsill.

  “Leave the dog,” Claude says.

  I pretend he didn’t say such a thing and grab Artie’s collar and pull. Artie begins to balk and with his weight, I’m having trouble holding on. I plead he’ll understand that he has to get through this window or he could die. “Come on, Artie, please.”

  “Dammit, Finn, we’re wasting time!” Claude says, but he grabs Artie and shoves him forward. I grab Artie’s paws and with some pulling, we manage to drag Artie onto the roof. “Finn, exactly where is the basement window?”

  “It should be right below us here,” Aria says as she peers over the roof.

  “We’re going to jump at the same time; I’ll break the window. Aria, you go through first and get in the safe room, got it?”

  She nods.

  Claude grabs me around the waist as well as Artie. “Jump,” he says as he drops both of us down to the ground. He lets go of me and spins around to the basement window, but what I hadn’t realized is how much smaller this window is than the one we’d just gone through. There’s no way Artie is going to fit through it without putting him on his side and dragging him through, and there’s no way I can ask Claude and Aria to waste time and risk their lives. I dig my fingers into Artie’s coat. “Please run, bud. Please,” I whisper, but I know he won’t. But maybe he’ll be scared of him and will if it comes to that.

  Claude breaks the window that rests right against the ground and starts shoving Aria through it into the basement. Then he grabs me, but I need no urging. “Finn, the dog.”

  “Just come through,” I say, hating myself but knowing that I can’t risk Claude’s life.

  I drop to my hands and knees and push my legs through first then shove myself forward through the tight space. If Marcus were with us, I’m not sure he’d have made it through the window as easily. Once I hit the floor, I turn as I see a movement in the dark just as Claude starts to kneel.

  “Claude, hurry!” I yell, but Claude rises to his feet instead. “Claude, get in here!”

  “Get in and get the door closed,” he says.

  The vampire rushes Claude who quickly slips to the side. Refusing to leave Claude alone, I drag a chair over to the window and climb up on it so I can aim my gun outside, but even with my eyesight, I’m having trouble tracking the horror in the dark.

  “Finn, get inside!” Aria pleads, but I can’t just let Claude die.

  The vampire moves to the right and Claude steps to the left but almost like the vampire teleported, he appears before Claude and rakes his nails across his abdomen. Claude cries out but the vampire’s not done with him. He throws him so hard against the side of the house that I hear the wall shake, and Claude slumps before the window. I grab his ankle and pull.

  “Aria, help me,” I say as I reach through the window and start dragging him inside as quickly as I can. Aria rushes over and grabs onto him, her superior strength helping drag him through the window where he crashes down onto me, a dead weight. I start dragging him back when I hear a noise behind me and turn just in time to see the vampire slip through the broken window like it’s nothing. It seemed like nothing more than a shadow oozing through it and I realize that there’s no way I can reach the safe room with the others in time to close it.

  This is my fault. My sister and Claude are going to die because of me. But he won’t kill me. No, he wants to toy with me. He wants to terrorize me and make me fear everything. Live purely in fear.

  I drop my hold on Claude, but Aria doesn’t stop tugging him toward the safe room, leaving a trail of blood behind.

  I step back and Aria must realize what I’m doing because she hesitates.

  “Finn, no!” she cries, but I turn and run for the stairs.

  “Oh, doll, where oh where are you going?” the monster asks, and his voice sends chills racing down my body. The way he calls me doll, the way his aura is so suppressing. All of it haunts me, but I know I need to get him away from my family.

  I step into the dining room, aiming myself for the kitchen as he slips in front of me. I aim my gun and fire, but he easily steps out of the path before slamming into me to grab the front of my shirt and yank the gun from me before tossing it.

  “Oh… you really think you’ll hurt me, doll?�
� He reaches out with his free hand and runs his fingers over my face. In the darkness, all I can see are his red glowing eyes watching me closely.

  “W-Why are you doing this?” I ask, hating the way my voice shakes.

  “Because you’re my precious doll, and yet… you’ve been being bad lately. Why don’t you go back to being a good boy?”

  “What have I done wrong?” I whisper.

  “I want you to leave the VRC. It’s as simple as that.”

  How he seems to think any of this is simple, I have no idea. Not when he’s ruined everything. “Why?”

  He grabs my shirt and tears the sleeve before sliding his fingers up my arm to the scar from where I’d gotten shot. “Because I will not risk my beautiful doll getting damaged.”

  “You damaged my body more than anyone.”

  His grip tightens until pain flares into me. “I removed what others had ruined on you. I made you beautiful again. And yet you blemish yourself? Leave the VRC or I will make sure I lock you up somewhere nice and safe where I can watch you every day,” he says, head lowering toward my throat.

  I swallow hard as I try to pull back but his grip is so tight I can’t even move. Fear ignites itself deep inside me as I hear a growl fill the room a moment before something slams into him, throwing me back. His grip on me loosens as he spins around.

  “Damn you,” he growls, and I hear Artie cry as he’s thrown across the room, body slamming into the kitchen island before slumping to the ground.

  I grab for my gun and aim it just as he’s turning around and put a bullet right into his head. Startled, he jerks back. I think we’re both surprised the bullet hit but when I try emptying the entire gun into his brain, he pulls back and dodges them with ease.

  “Ah, your rescue team has arrived. I suppose I’ll see you again, doll,” he says before disappearing from in front of me.

  I rush over to Artie, who’s lying on the ground whimpering. Blood is pooling out around him as I drop to my knees, my entire body shaking.