“Who said that?” Hayley demanded.
“Maximus,” I said, just a little smugly. Hayley might have had flawless pores and perfect blonde hair and the body of a model, but did she have her own bad ass drinker? I didn’t think so. “He’s the one who’s going to get us out of here.”
I hope.
The next few hours dragged by one after the other after the other until it was impossible to keep track of time. Not wanting Hunter to pass out I kept asking him mindless questions. His answers were slowly getting further and further apart. I wasn’t a doctor, but even I could tell it didn’t look good. Not for Hunter. Not for any of us.
When the basement door creaked open we all jumped. Stevenson cursed and Livy started to cry.
“Stay away from the door,” Hayley warned in a low voice as footsteps echoed on the stairs. “And keep your heads down.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.
A crawler emerged from the shadows. Its eyes darted down the row of cages. It carried a long stick in one hand and a piece of rope in the other. Twice I felt its gaze sliding past me and both times I held my breath. For as brave as I pretended to be I didn’t want to be the one picked.
Go away, I ordered the crawler silently. Go away and take your nasty sores with you.
The crawler’s tongue darted out as its nostrils flared. It smelled something. Too late I realized what that something was.
“No!” I shouted when it opened the door to my cage and reached in to grab Hunter. He struck out with both fists but in his weakened condition he was no match for a crawler. “Leave him alone!”
Without thinking about what I was doing I launched myself at the crawler. It was so transfixed by the sight and scent of blood that it was slow to react and I had the stick wrenched out of its hand before it realized what was happening.
“Lola, stop!” Maximus commanded. He rattled the bars of his cage. “You’re going to get yourself killed!”
Ignoring him I brought the stick crashing down over the crawler’s head. The blow dazed it, but not for long. With an animalistic snarl it whirled on me with snapping teeth and slashing claws. I swung the stick awkwardly, aiming for the crawler’s abdomen. It grabbed the end of the stick and yanked hard, pulling me off balance.
“LOLA!”
Maximus’ voice roared in my ears as I stumbled forward. The crawler grabbed me by the throat, its jagged nails sinking into my flesh as it squeezed my windpipe. I scratched mindlessly at its wrist, trying to get it to release me, but it was too strong. Black pinpoints danced across my eyes.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t scream. Couldn’t think.
With a loud hiss the crawler threw me across the cage. I hit the bars hard and crumpled to the ground, too disoriented to stand. Wrapping its hand around my braid the crawler dragged me out by my scalp. Dimly I registered the sound of the cage door being slammed shut and Maximus’ furious howl as the crawler yanked my arm out of its sling and roughly tied my wrists together.
It kicked me in the stomach before pulling me to my feet. I wobbled. Almost fell. Saliva spewed from between the crawler’s lips as it hissed something unintelligible before grabbing my bound hands and shoving me up the stairs in front of it. I fell twice, landing on my bad knee both times. Below me I could hear shouting and swearing, but there was nothing my dad or Maximus or Hunter could do.
There was nothing anyone could do.
I was on my own.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Drinker
THE CRAWLER DRAGGED ME ALL the way up to the third floor attic and slammed me down into a rickety old wooden chair. I hit the seat with a pained yelp and turned my head to glare, but the crawler wasn’t interested in nasty looks. It darted out the door after one fearful glance over its shoulder that I was pretty sure wasn’t aimed in my direction and hurried down the stairs.
It didn’t even bother shutting the door.
I strained against the rope tying my wrists together. It stretched a little but the knots held firm. I blew out a frustrated breath, struggling to hold onto my anger as fear and desperation began to lick at the edges of my consciousness.
If I stayed angry I could stay calm. If I stayed angry I could keep a level head. Once I gave in to fear…
Once I gave into fear there would be no going back.
Think Lola, I ordered myself as I looked around. You’ve been in worse situations than this before.
Yeah right.
I was weaponless, defenseless, and one scream away from losing my mind.
Rocking my weight onto my toes I started to stand up. I might not have been able to fight, but I could still run and the crawler had left the door open. If I could make it back down the stairs and out the front door I could…what? Run off into the woods in the dark?
The sad thing was I’d had worse ideas.
“I would not do that if I were you,” a masculine voice drawled from the shadows as I hovered above the chair, thigh muscles trembling. “Please sit back down.”
My heart slammed into my ribcage. “Who’s there?” I gasped, gaze darting in every direction.
“Sit down and I’ll tell you. Ah, there’s a good girl,” the voice purred when I slowly lowered myself back onto the chair.
“What do you want?” I demanded. “Who are you?” My eyes strained to see but it was no use. If I’d thought it was dark in the basement it was nothing compared to the attic. I could see about two feet in front of my face and that was it. Everything else was blackness and shifting shadows.
“Who am?” the voice asked softly. It sounded like it was coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once, preying on my worst fears and darkest nightmares. “Who are you, Lola Sanchez?”
My stomach clenched. “How do you know my name?”
I smelled sulfur and heard the hiss of a match as it was lit. Turning blindly towards the light I screamed, long and loud, when I saw the pale face grinning back at me through the flickering flame.
“Now, now, there’s no need for that. At least not yet.” Using the match to light an old-fashioned oil lamp the boy – for surely he was no older than fourteen or fifteen – set the lamp down on the floor between us and dragged over another chair. Sitting directly across from me he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, head tilting thoughtfully to the side as he studied me under a fringe of dark brown bangs. I studied him right back. He was my height with a medium build and a round face that hadn’t lost all of its baby fat yet. His hair curled around his ears and brushed against the collar of his white button-up shirt. I did a double-take when I saw he was wearing khakis and sandals.
What kind of big bad drinker wore khakis and sandals?
“I thought you’d be a little taller, to be honest,” he said as one eyebrow lifted.
“Who – who are you?” I choked out.
“Anthony,” he said easily. “But all of my friends call me… Actually, I haven’t got any friends. It is very nice to finally meet you face to face, Lola. I’ve been waiting quite a long time for this.”
He’d been waiting to meet me? “Are you–”
“A drinker? Yes, yes. Do not let my outward appearance fool you. I am a tad older than I appear.” For some reason he seemed to think that was hilarious. I remained silent as he giggled, the sound of his laughter uncomfortably human. Without warning he suddenly stopped laughing and his eyes, eyes that were as black as pitch and filled with a cunning cruelty that set the tiny hairs at the nape of my neck on edge, narrowed to thin slits. “You hurt someone very dear to me, Lola. Very dear.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Tsk, tsk.” He clucked his tongue and sat back in his chair with a disapproving shake of his head. “No reason to lie, my dear.”
“I’m not–”
“Yes you are,” he said, cutting me off. “To me. To your friends in the holding cages. To yourself. Has your life become so filled with lies, my dear Lola, that you can no longer tell
fact from fiction? I wonder.”
“Who are you?” I repeated for the third time. He had given me his name, but that didn’t tell me who he was or what he wanted. He claimed to know me, but I’d never seen him before in my life. I definitely would remember if I had. Anthony might not have had a very memorable face or looked all that dangerous, but there was something about him that was wrong. I could feel it all the way down in the depths of my soul.
“Haven’t I told you that already?” He frowned. “Yes, I believe I have. Aren’t you listening, Lola?”
“I’m listening,” I bit out.
“With your ears, perhaps, but not with your mind.”
“What do you want? If you’re going to kill me just get it over with already.”
“Kill you?” Anthony’s eyes widened with exaggerated surprise. “Why would I kill you when I went through all that trouble to find you? For a human, you are surprisingly difficult to track down. Although I suppose Maximus had something to do with that. Yes,” he said when my face paled. “I know all about your drinker lover. He’s been very naughty, you know. Very naughty,” he repeated. “Although I suppose it is not entirely unexpected. Maximus has done this before, you know. I warned him what would happen if he did it again... but the boy is predictably stubborn. Always has been, I fear. ”
“Done what before?”
A delighted smile curled the corners of Anthony’s mouth. “You mean he hasn’t told you?”
“Told me what?” I growled, wishing I could smack the smug smile right off Anthony’s face. The guy was seriously conceited. Then again I guess he had a right to be given that I was the one with my hands tied behind my back.
“About Daniella. His first human pet. How happy they were together! How in love,” Anthony sneered. “Maximus was actually going to leave me to be with her, which of course I could not allow.”
Daniella.
I’d heard that name before. Maximus had spoken it when we’d been standing on the roof of the Renner Hotel.
“You killed her.” It wasn’t a question.
“Indeed I did,” Anthony said without a flicker of remorse. “The young, sweet Daniella came to quite the bloody end. Maximus was devastated, of course. Not to mention a bit cranky. I felt rather bad, to be honest. Peeling her skin was a bit much. But what could I do? Allow him to leave his maker for a human? I thought he’d learned his lesson, but then here you are.”
My head whirled. Anthony was Maximus’ maker? And he’d murdered the girl Maximus loved? No wonder Maximus had warned me to stay away from the farmhouse.
Too bad I hadn’t listened.
“So that’s what you’re going to do?” I lifted my chin. “Kill me like you killed Daniella?”
“I won’t lie and say I haven’t considered it. But I have something in mind for you that is far greater than death, my dear Lola. You see, you and Maximus took something from me. Something I held very dear. So now I will take something from both of you.”
I had no idea what Anthony was talking about. Maximus and I hadn’t taken anything from anyone.
A shadow rippled across his face when he saw my confusion. “I imagine she did not mean anything to you. But she was everything to me!”
I jumped when he leaped to his feet, his black eyes burning hot with a boiling, bubbling rage. He raised his hand and for a moment I thought, this is it. This is how I’ll finally die. But instead of raking his claws through my neck he took a deep breath, smiled, and sat back down.
“Excuse me, my dear. You could say I have a rather…volatile temper.” He laughed again, except this time it was not the giggle of a young boy but the dark, cruel laughter of a man. And I felt my heart stutter because I recognized that laugh. I’d heard it once before in a nightmare that wasn’t mine.
“Angelique,” I whispered as the pieces clicked together and my insides slowly turned to ice. “You’re talking about Angelique.”
After all this time, it came back to Angelique.
“She was my finest prodigy. My greatest creation. And you took her from me.”
“Because she tried to kill me! What was I supposed to do?”
“What were you supposed to do? I should think that is rather obvious, don’t you? You were supposed to die, Lola.” He leaned forward, studying me with the same idle detachment a scientist used when they stared at one of their test subjects. “You were always supposed to die.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Travis
“SO KILL ME ALREADY.” I didn’t want to die. I wasn’t ready. Not yet. But at this point a quick, painless death was the best thing I could hope for. I wasn’t going to be saved. Not this time. Anthony was going to kill me and when he did it was going hurt. It was going to hurt worse than anything I could possibly imagine.
“You keep saying that.” He rolled his eyes, looking for all the world like the teenager he was pretending to be. “Does your life hold such little value to you? Or are you simply trying to goad me into doing it quickly? Yes,” he said, a smile slowly unfurling when he saw the truth reflected in my eyes. “I rather thought so. You see death as a way out. But the truth is that death is only the beginning. Cliché, I know. But all clichés have some basis in truth, do they not?”
I gritted my teeth. Big bad evil drinker or no big bad evil drinker, Anthony was seriously starting to get on my nerves. What did he think this was, the Dr. Phil show? If he thought I was going to sit around and get all philosophical he was destined for disappointment. He might have thought he couldn’t be goaded into killing me quickly, but that was only because he’d never met anyone as annoying as me before. If there was one thing I excelled at it was pissing people off.
“What. Do. You. Want,” I growled.
“What do I want?” One eyebrow lifted. “It’s quite simple, really. I want what you took from me.”
“Angelique is dead. I watched her die. I watched her bleed out on a dirty brown rug. It was kind of pitiful, actually. I almost felt bad for her. Almost.”
Anthony’s eyes flared with heat but he kept a tight hold on his temper. “So you did. Which is why I’ve brought a special surprise for you. Come here,” he ordered, looking past me into the shadows. I tensed as I heard the floorboards creak, a soft exhale of breath, and then my best friend stepped into the soft glow of the lamplight.
“Travis.” Stunned, I twisted in my seat and stared up at him as he stood motionless beside me. There was no mistaking him for anyone else. He might have had on different clothes and his red hair was slicked back away from his face, but it was Travis. My Travis.
Except it wasn’t.
I knew it wasn’t him even before he turned his head and I saw that his eyes had changed from warm brown to cold, icy blue. I knew it wasn’t him even before his lips peeled back in the parody of a smile, revealing two silver fangs.
“Hey Lola. What’s up?”
“Travis.” I repeated his name as tears flooded my eyes. “What have they done to you?”
My sweet, goofy Travis had been turned into a monster. Maximus had warned me. He’d told me what had happened. I’d even seen the empty grave with my own eyes. But I had still believed, with everything inside of me, that even as a drinker he would still be my Travis.
Now I knew how terribly wrong I’d been.
“Done to me?” He tilted his head to the side. “They haven’t done anything to me. Except make me better.”
“I’ll kill you for this,” I snarled at Anthony as I lunged forward. Travis swept his arm out, catching me across the throat. I gagged as I fell back into the chair.
“Now children,” Anthony admonished with a wave of his finger. “No need to fight. There will be time enough for that in a little bit.”
I turned my head and spat out a mouthful of blood. “You’re not Travis,” I said, glaring up at him. “You might look like him and sound like him, but you’re not him.”
“What do you mean?” he said cheerfully. “It’s me, Lola. Aren’t you happy to see me?” His tongue
darted out, swiping at his lower lip as his eyes took on a glow of unmistakable hunger. “I’m happy to see you.”
I looked away. I couldn’t stand to see him. Not like this.
“Well then.” Anthony clapped his hands together and stood up. “Now that re-introductions have been made, let’s get on with the show, shall we? Travis, bring her outside if you please. I will be there in a moment with our last special guest of the evening.”
“Don’t touch me,” I spat when Travis grabbed my arms and yanked me up out of the chair.
“Jeez Lola, take a chill pill. I’m not going to hurt you. Yet,” he whispered in my ear as he shoved me in front of him down the steps.
The moon was shining bright when we stepped outside, covering everything in a shimmering silver glow. Travis brought me over to a tall oak tree. A faint breeze stirred the leaves and swept through the long grass. A perfect circle had been mowed in the overgrown lawn right in front of the oak tree. My gaze slid from the circle to a ten foot steel post sticking out of the ground. A steel post with a short metal chain dangling from it. The dirt around the post looked freshly dug up.
“What are we doing here? What is all this?” I said, nodding at the circle and the post.
“Patience never was one of your strong suits, was it?” Travis let go of my arms and stepped back. “Go ahead,” he taunted when my gaze darted to the tree line. “Try to run. I’ll even give you a head start.”
Ignoring him I watched the farmhouse instead, waiting for Anthony to appear with his ‘special guest’.
I didn’t have to wait long.
Four crawlers came out first. A woman was next. I didn’t recognize her, but her flashing blue eyes told me everything I needed to know. Another drinker.
My breath caught in my throat when Maximus was led out. He had a gag tied around his mouth and his hands were handcuffed behind his back. Two crawlers walked on either side of him, their claws digging into his arms. He walked with his head high and his spine straight; even bound and gagged and in the hands of the enemies he didn’t look defeated.
The Lola Chronicles (Book 2): A Day Without Dawn Page 19