by Joelle Ayers
I was fully aware of this, and yet…
Olivia sputtered for breath and the knife clattered to the floor as she began to lose consciousness. The thought never entered my mind to let go, to spare her. After what she’d done to Liv, after what she’d done to the Hardy family… after what she’d done to Cody.
Killing her with my bare hands seemed like poetic justice.
“Vi…”
The sound of Josh’s voice made me blink, aware of my surroundings for the first time in several seconds. From behind, his arms encircled Olivia’s waist and, slowly, reluctantly, my grip on her throat loosened. The urge to end her was still very much present and strong. I could taste it, craved her death.
Olivia was nearly unconscious as Josh restrained her on the floor. His eyes were set on me, though, maybe wondering what that was he’d just walked in on. He managed to tell me to call the cops and I did just that, realizing I’d much rather Olivia rot in a cell, paying for her crime, instead of watching her die.
“9-1-1 What’s your emergency?”
“I need to report a murder,” I panted. “And the victim’s name… is Elizabeth Hardy.”
—Chapter Ten—
Epilog
Within minutes, blue and red lights pulsed outside Olivia’s window. Thanks to Josh’s quick thinking, I traded my bloody shirt for one of Olivia’s clean ones, shoving mine deep down inside one of her empty purses along with the knife, pretending the handbag belonged to me. I had just enough time to clean the blood from the wood floor and flush the paper towel before anyone arrived. There was no wound, just blood staining my skin in two spots where the knife had entered, but I was healed. Apparently, that was now something I could do on my own without Josh’s help.
A swarm of cops came in quickly after that and wrangled her into cuffs. Josh and I spent the better part of that night at the police station, explaining our side of everything, but I didn’t mind. I would have stayed there a week if that’s what it took.
If that’s what was necessary to bring Cody home… and it wouldn’t be long now before I had him back. There was a process, but at least we knew the outcome would be what we all hoped for.
I learned several valuable things that night. One: never forget that anyone is capable of anything. Olivia taught me that one. And two: my belief that being bitten hadn’t had any effect on me, other than the dreams, was false. It became abundantly clear there was something going on with me and I needed to figure it out before I hurt someone.
In fact, Josh was pacing the living room of our apartment now trying to figure it out. With the Liz Hardy case now behind us, this had been the week’s assignment—figuring out what was up with me.
“I’ve got it!” I announced from my comfy seat on the couch. The look on Josh’s face was optimistic when he turned toward me. I almost felt bad for getting his hopes up. “I was abducted by aliens when I was a baby and the alien DNA I was injected with is having a bad reaction to your vampire blood.”
I smiled big.
He did not.
“Funny.”
“I try.”
He went back to pacing, but I was exhausted. Even a week hadn’t been enough to catch up on all the lost sleep. When I yawned, Josh turned toward me again.
“Get some rest. We’ll… comb through the books again after class tomorrow.”
At his words, I eyed the tall stack of leather bound bestiaries shoved in the corner. They were jam-packed with descriptions of strange creatures and we hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface.
“Or we could take a field trip in the afternoon instead.”
I was intrigued—had the one brow lifted to an arch and everything.
“I’m listening.”
Josh came to sit, lifting my legs for a moment before letting them settle across his lap.
“Well, apparently, there’s this kind of… secret society on campus.”
I snorted a laugh. “Absolutely not. No way.”
“No, hear me out. We’re not talking like an… Eyes Wide Shut sort of thing. They’re just a team of students who run this online forum. They research all things paranormal.”
I stared at him without words.
“Are you seriously suggesting that we tell them what happened to me? Tell them what you are? Because that’s what would have to happen, you know.”
He was already nodding before I finished.
“I’m aware,” he answered. “But I guess that’s just a risk we’d have to take to figure this thing out.”
I stared at him some more, but not for the same reason as before. It wasn’t because I thought he was crazy for thinking it was wise sharing our secrets with outsiders. It was because I thought he was crazy for his willingness to expose his own secret… just to help me.
“You’re too much sometimes, Joshua Parker. Too much,” I exhaled, sliding my calves down his thighs until my feet were on the floor.
“Is that a yes?” he asked with a smile.
“It’s an ‘I’ll sleep on it’,” I replied, standing the very next second. “Night, kid,” I yawned.
“Night,” he called out from the spot where I’d left him on the couch.
I closed my bedroom door behind me and fell out on my bed. It’d been so nice having my dreams to myself now that Liz was resting peacefully. There was no more anxiety about being alone at night, no more late-night runs to the diner—unless it was because we craved pancakes, of course. There was just… rest.
The sound of the door I just closed creeping back open made an irritated sigh puff from my lips.
“Josh, I said let me sleep on it. The operative word being sleep.”
I laughed a bit, knowing he only pressed so hard because he cared, but I needed to wrap my head around this.
“Go away. Seriously,” I laughed. But, this time, I turned over to point at him like our seventh-grade Social Studies teacher used to do when she sent us to the office.
Only… there was no one there and… the door was still latched tight like I left it.
My breaths came harder now as panic set in and, when I exhaled, the air was frosty, leaving my mouth like smoke. Fear left me paralyzed. Liz was supposed to be at peace now. At that exact moment, I realized this was different. This didn’t feel like her.
As soon as I made that observation, the sound of eerily squeaking hinges filled my room again. Only, this time, I was positive of where it came from.
The closet.
I moved to sit upright, forming my mouth to call out to Josh, but there was no time. A dark, shadowy figure rushed toward the bed as a deep, quivering voice filled the room, surrounding me like it came from every direction.
And it said two words that echoed inside my head:
“Help me!”
To be continued…
*****
Find out what happens next in “THE BLOOD FILES, Case #2: Give Me Shelter”.
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