by Shaw, Jaidis
I wish I could slap that sneer off of her pretty little face, I thought, rolling my eyes in disgust.
Thomas was across the room so fast I hadn’t even seen him move. His strong hand met Olivia’s face with a loud smack that twisted her body through the air as she spun with momentum. Landing on the floor, she looked up at Thomas as a trickle of blood fell from her nose.
“What the hell was that for?” She shouted.
“Just because you are jealous, it doesn’t give you the right to talk about her that way.” Thomas stood his ground with defiance.
What just happened? I turned my gaze from Olivia to Thomas and back again unable to make sense of what had just occurred.
“That’s enough. Olivia, go get yourself cleaned up. Thomas, come with me. I want to monitor your behavior,” Gavin said as he gazed at me cautiously before turning and walking out of the door.
Olivia picked herself up from the floor and followed Gavin without a word. Thomas followed their lead and walked to the door, stopping to look in my direction. He smiled at me and then proceeded out the door, closing it behind him.
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Chapter Fourteen
The time slowly passed and I found myself nodding off to sleep. My arms and legs had stopped their irritating tingling what seemed like hours ago. The vial of blood that was still nestled between my legs dug into my flesh every time I tried shifting positions. I felt so weak and helpless. Summoning what little strength I had left, I peered around the small room. Panic ran through me as the walls appeared to be closer to me than before. I knew that wasn’t possible but my mind kept imagining the space growing smaller and smaller with each passing moment. Closing my eyes, I tried to push the claustrophobic image from my mind. I willed myself to focus on anything that would help calm the erratic beating of my heart. Images of my garden flashed through my mind and I grabbed onto them like a lifeline. The lush greens of the various shrubs and plant life. The sweet aroma of roses caressing my skin in their floral embrace. The faint trickle of the water echoing in the fountain called to me with its rejuvenating song. I would give anything to be back in my garden again. My longing was almost unbearable and I could feel myself sinking further into despair. The air became thicker with each passing breath and I began gasping for oxygen. What about Jayden? What was he doing at this exact moment? Was he looking for me or had he given up hope? I couldn’t believe that he would give up so easily on us and I pushed the thought from my mind. Focusing my breathing, I allowed thoughts of the fountain’s trickling water lull me into a restless sleep.
Seconds turned into minutes which then dragged into hours, although I wasn’t entirely sure if the amount of time had been exaggerated by the combination of boredom and fatigue. If someone doesn’t show up soon, what is left of my sanity may just snap, I thought to myself. As if summoned, faint footsteps began to walk down the hall towards my suffocating prison. Gazing expectantly at the door, I waited. The heavy lock turned and the door swung open and in walked the two vampires who were still unknown to me. Hesitating just inside the doorway, their eyes locked onto mine in curiosity.
“Where….” My voice cracked over my parched tongue and I coughed to clear my throat. “Where is Gavin? Doesn’t he have the guts to face me himself?” I asked.
The female vampire straightened her shoulders and walked boldly into the room. “He is still talking with Thomas. Between you and me I’d say Gavin may even be a little scared. We thought you might like some water.” She nodded towards a glass that she held in her hands.
“Oh he is definitely worried. Thomas has been trying to convince him for hours that he is fine but Gavin just won’t listen.” The male laughed and I looked up into his twinkling blue eyes. “It’s about time we had some shaking up around here.”
“Would you like us to untie your hands for a while?” The woman asked. “I know I can’t stand to sit in one place for five minutes and you’ve been in here for hours.”
“Please,” I whispered, a sigh of relief escaping my dry throat. My skin began to tingle and itch as the rope scraped across my wrists before dropping to the floor. Unable to move my arms, I allowed them to hang by my sides and focused on flexing my fingers. A hiss escaped my lips as the blood began to flow unrestrained. It felt as though there were thousands of needles pricking my skin in a furious assault. Shaking my hands to help the blood flow, I gritted my teeth and waited for the pain to pass.
“Don’t you just hate when your limbs fall asleep?” The man asked his female companion.
“It’s definitely not one of my favorite sensations,” she replied and sat the cup of water on the table before walking to me. “Would you like help standing?”
“I’m fine. Thank you. I just need a minute.” I began shaking my arms, willing the tingling to stop. I stretched my arms over my head and then out in front of me. “Remind me to show Gavin my appreciation for his hospitable treatment,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Sure thing,” she replied, turning to grab the glass of water.
While I had a moment, I reached for the vial between my legs and slipped it into my jean pocket. Glancing up I noticed the male’s gaze watching me but I was past the point of caring. Daring him to mention it with my forceful stare, he simply smiled and let a small chuckle escape his lips.
“Here, you must be thirsty.” The woman held the glass out to me and I took it eagerly. Staring into the cool liquid as I gulped it, I caught sight of a vision. Flashes of Beth’s face emerged as she battled a furry figure. Taking a painful blow, a scream escaped her lips and Seth ran to her side. Cradling her body against his, he sprinted away from the thrashing tangle of fur and fangs. Wanting to quench my thirst, the remainder of the vision disappeared as I emptied the cup.
I handed it back to her and thought about the vision. Maybe Dominic was able to contact Jayden after all. How else would a shifter be here to fight Beth? I wondered.
“Thank you.” I tried to stand but my weight was too much for my numb legs and I began to fall. I waited for the impact of the hard floor and braced myself. Feeling a pair of strong hands supporting me, I opened my eyes to find her supporting my weight.
“It’s probably best if you didn’t try standing until the feeling comes back in your legs,” she said grinning.
“You’re probably right,” I answered and sat back down in my chair. “So, what are your names?”
After making sure that I was steady in the chair she responded. “I’m Beth and this is my brother Seth. We are twins, obviously.” They laughed in unison and I couldn’t help but smile.
“And you’re vampires right?” I asked.
“What? Are you serious?” Seth asked while his curious eyes roamed over my face.
“Of course I’m serious. I’m kind of new to this whole…” I paused as I tried to find the right word, “uh…paranormal thing.”
“But how can that be? You’re practically a vampire yourself.”
“I am not a vampire.” I pointed at Seth in my defense. “I didn’t even know you existed a little over a week ago.”
Beth spoke up to divert my attention from her brother. “Gavin hadn’t mentioned that. Yes, as a matter-of-fact we are vampires,” she said.
I lacked the energy to put any more effort into arguing and gave up. “Okay,” I mumbled. I stood up slowly, grasping the back of the chair for support and was relieved when I could support my weight. It felt great to take a few hesitant steps around the room after being confined to the chair for so long. “So why exactly is Gavin not his normal arrogant self?” I asked. “He was so intent on killing me himself the first time we met.”
“Oh he is still arrogant. I doubt he will ever change but he is a little more reserved after Thomas’s little performance after biting you,” Seth replied from the table where he was now leaning.
“You mean slapping Olivia?” I asked, smiling at the memory.
“That is the main rea
son. There is only one thing that a woman can do to provoke a beating from Thomas and that is to try and kill him. He would never harm a woman otherwise because he loves their attention to much. So you have to imagine our surprise when he knocked Olivia’s pretty little smile off of her face after she trash talked you,” Beth stated.
“Plus, he has been trying to get in Olivia’s pants ever since she arrived here and you can bet that he kissed any chance he had goodbye.” Seth snickered.
“She deserved it.” I shrugged. “I would have done it myself but was a little tied up.”
“I don’t blame you. I would have done it if I were in your situation,” Beth said, “but that still doesn’t explain why Thomas acted the way he did. Do you know why he did it?”
“Let me guess. Gavin isn’t happy with the response that Thomas is giving him and so he sent you two in here to try and see if I would give you more details?” I asked.
“Not exactly. Of course he wants to know but we are interested too,” Seth said.
I paused as I remembered the thoughts I had after Thomas had bitten me. Had he slapped Olivia because I wanted him to? Aware of the silence I spoke up. “You are wasting your time. You probably know more about the whole situation than I do. All I know is that Thomas drank my blood like a Cherry Slurpee and then Olivia started running her mouth. If anything I should be thanking Thomas. It’s as simple as that.”
“Would you tell us if you did know?” Beth asked sarcastically.
“Why not? It’s not like it would help me at this point,” I retorted.
“It doesn’t really matter to us anyways,” Seth replied. “I’d rather enjoy watching Gavin get a taste of his own medicine.”
“So why are you helping him?” I asked.
“We don’t have a choice. He made us and that gives him a certain amount of power over us,” Beth said, glancing at her brother for a moment.
“Made you? So that means he turned you into vampires right?”
Seth snickered. “Your ignorance is too adorable Alayna. Yes, Gavin turned us into vampires.”
“Gavin has a habit of visiting small towns and picking off the inhabitants one by one, just like he is doing to Juniper Grove. He thrives on the thrill of the hunt, sometimes stalking his prey for weeks before ending their misery by killing them.”
“How come he didn’t kill you two then?” I asked interested in learning more about what made Gavin operate.
“We weren’t as close back then. I had been off at college while my brother stayed at home. We lived in Montana at the time,” Beth began. “Apparently Gavin singled Seth out and started toying with him. But the night that Gavin decided to end his sick game, I came home and caught him attacking Seth. I pleaded with him to stop but he said the only way he would is if I would give myself to him. I just wanted to save my brother. I didn’t know at the time that allowing him to turn us would give him power over us or I may have done more to stop him,” she said, frowning at the memory.
“I told her not to agree but she never was good at listening to me.” Seth smiled and playfully patted her shoulder.
“How long ago was that?” I asked.
“A little over twenty years ago. We are quite young in comparison to Gavin. But just because he made us, it doesn’t mean that we are dedicated to him.” Seth shrugged.
“Why don’t you just team up and take him out yourselves? Wouldn’t that make more sense than waiting for someone to do it for you?” I asked.
“If only it were that easy Alayna. The main reason he has power over us is because we can’t harm him. He also has this allure about him that draws us near him, sort of like a drug that keeps us coming back,” Seth replied.
“So you see, if you did have something to do with Thomas’s behavior, it is okay to tell us. We may even be able to help you,” Beth urged.
“Wow you are a determined little thing aren’t you?” I laughed. “I said I didn’t have anything to do with that. Wish I could tell you otherwise.” I stretched my muscles, thankful that they were back to normal and no longer numb. “So Seth, are you grateful that your sister sacrificed herself for you? After all she could have turned her back and allowed you to die.”
“I sometimes wish she had ran away, but yes I am glad that we are still alive, if you can consider being undead as alive,” he said.
“So you would probably do whatever you could to protect her right?” I sat in the chair and casually crossed one leg over the other.
“What are you getting at?” He stood from his leaning position and looked at me expectantly.
“Since both of you were sent in here to get information from me and I’m feeling generous, I figure you should have a heads up.”
“Heads up about what?” Beth took a couple of hesitant steps in my direction.
“Has Gavin mentioned to you that I see things? Especially with the aid of water?” I asked.
“Olivia mentioned something about it,” Seth stated.
“I don’t know when but Jayden will come for me and he will have backup. It would behoove you to keep an eye on Beth.”
“What do you mean?” Beth’s voice cracked with panic.
“I mean that during the fight that we all know is coming; you are going to be injured and Seth will finally have a chance to save you. If my vision was right then you both may make it out of here and be rid of Gavin for good.”
“I don’t understand. There is no way you could have seen that. There isn’t even any water in here,” Beth said.
Without a word I nodded to the empty glass on the table. Her blue gaze followed my nod and rested on the glass, recognition flashing on her face.
“Why should we trust you?” Seth asked.
“What else do you have to lose? You can take my word for it and make it out alive or you can stay and fight and wind up dead. Either way you will be released from Gavin’s grasp.” I shrugged. “As I see it, the outcome will be based on how badly you want to survive.” I watched as their eyes flickered from me to each other and back again.
Beth hesitated for a moment before asking, “How can you be so certain that your friends will come for you?”
“Because I have faith that they will and even if they don’t, I’m not planning on just sitting around this musty room forever. Just like the two of you, I’ll get out of here one way or the other.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Seth took a step in my direction. “What did you put in your pocket earlier?”
I snickered at the memory. “Nothing you need to concern yourself with,” I replied.
“It would be easy for me to find out you know.”
“You could but it doesn’t involve you. It’s just a small token that Olivia took from me that I reclaimed,” I said in defiance.
“Come on Seth. I think it’s time we get back,” Beth muttered.
“I agree. I’m surprised the boss hasn’t come to check on us yet,” Seth said as he walked behind the chair and began retying the rope around my wrists. Leaning towards my ear he whispered, “I would do anything to make sure that Beth is safe. You better not have been lying to us or I’ll kill you myself.”
“Then I suggest when the time comes you keep her in your sight at all times,” I muttered back.
Without another word, Seth strode towards the door and opened it for his sister to walk through. He followed her into the darkness and closed the door securely behind him.
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Chapter Fifteen
Boredom crushed me again as I sat alone in the quiet room. To help pass the time I began humming, starting out at first in an unknown tune which somehow evolved into ‘99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.’ I had no doubt that Gavin was interrogating the twins, trying to figure out if they had been able to get some new details from me. Not that I had given them anything to tell him. I was confident that they would keep my vision to themselves since they wished to escape his clutches just as badly as I did. My gut t
old me that I couldn’t rely on them to help me but maybe they would be too consumed with self-preservation to help Gavin either. I had to believe that Jayden was on his way here. Not only because he wouldn’t stop until he found me but because I still had the hope that Dominic reached him before being caught. But what if he hadn’t gotten out? Gavin said that he was caught helping me, but was that before or after? All of these thoughts were running through my mind as my incessant humming started on sixty-third round of beers on the wall.
Footsteps marched down the hall and my gut coiled in anticipation. The clatter of heavy steps mingling with the clicking of high heels alerted me that Gavin was on his way with Olivia in tow. I stopped humming, and watched as the door opened, confirming my suspicions. Gavin strolled into the room and glanced at me expectantly.
“Why did you stop humming? You have a beautiful voice,” he said and stood in front of me.
“Save your flattery for someone who cares Gavin. When are you going to stop with all of the games and get to the reason you brought me here?” I spat.
He snickered. “I see that spending so much time bound to a chair hasn’t dampened your feisty attitude,” he said, “but since I enjoy pleasing you, I will get to the point.”
I rolled my eyes in response but had no other option but to listen to him continue.
“I’m sure it has been pointed out to you by now that you are a unique specimen. As far as anyone knows, nobody has ever survived the combining of two blood lines. We know that your blood has ill effects on shifters but seems to be harmless to vampires. So…”
I interrupted his speech with my own. “If my blood is harmless to vampires, then why were you scared to bite me yourself?”
“I wasn’t scared. I was simply being cautious,” he countered.
“And what verdict did you reach? Thomas seems to be fine.” I shifted my gaze to Thomas who was smiling in amusement at our exchange. “He didn’t fall to the floor squirming like a fish out of water before passing out like that one over there.” I nodded in Olivia’s direction and smirked as her face hardened at my words, her fists clenching by her sides.