Lanie knew that statement was true, but did that make it right to return that same sort of thinking?
“I want you to watch out for yourself, Lanie,” Gretchen said seriously, finally bringing her gaze up to her niece. The look in her large blue eyes sent a ripple of shock tearing outward from Lanie’s stomach. Gretchen was…afraid. “Listen to what Kyle tells you. I-I want you to…just listen to him.”
Lanie nodded, unable to come to terms with the fear in her aunt’s eyes. This woman had assaulted a man armed with a crossbow without even batting an eyelash. And now she was afraid?
“I-I wish I could just keep you locked in the house until whatever the hell is going on around here is over, but I know that’s impossible,” Gretchen said to her, trying to smile and failing.
Lanie didn’t want to stay locked in the house. She had a life. She knew what was lurking out there, but was she willing to give up her life and cower in the house until it went away? Was it even fair that she be allowed to hide behind what she’d been told was the safety of her walls while everyone else in Fells Pointe was walking around unaware?
“Kyle says this…this Frederik will eventually move onto some other place. Maybe it’ll be soon, especially since everyone in town is going to be hiding their children away for a while,” Gretchen said.
Lanie felt hope sprout within her. Gretchen was right. Everyone in town thought there was a serial killer on the loose. They would be making sure their kids were safe at home. People would be on the lookout for anything unusual, thinking maybe their own friends or neighbors might be responsible for the murders. If everyone was locked inside their houses, if the monster roaming Fells Pointe couldn’t get his hands on anyone…he would have to leave.
“Kyle said he told you everything you wanted to know,” Lanie stated. “What did he tell you?”
“He told me all about his life,” Gretchen said quietly. “It’s not pretty, Lanie. And I’m not sure I should tell you.”
“Why not?” Lanie wondered, bewildered.
“Because,” Gretchen answered.
“Because why?” Lanie persisted.
It didn’t sit well with her that Gretchen knew all about Kyle Vincent and she knew absolutely nothing. Not that she had a right to know anything at all about him, but still, it didn’t seem quite right somehow. It…bothered her.
Gretchen let out a sigh. “Because there’s clearly…something between the two of you.”
Lanie flinched and then gasped and then flinched again. “No there’s not! There’s nothing! I-I’ve barely even talked to him!”
She was completely thrown off by that allegation! Had Gretchen lost her mind!
“Like that matters!” Gretchen scoffed at her. “I have eyes, Lanie. There’s something between you. And if I tell you about that boy, you’re going to find him even more fascinating and I…I don’t want to encourage you.”
Lanie’s mouth fell open and she found herself at a loss for words. She had no idea what her aunt was getting at!
“Lanie, he’s not…completely human. Do you think I want my sister’s only daughter, my only niece, getting involved with someone who’s…half…” Gretchen didn’t seem to want to say it.
“Vampire?” Lanie finished for her.
“Right,” Gretchen said on a sharp breath. “I don’t want you involved in…all that.”
“I am not going to get involved with him,” Lanie denied, wondering where on earth Gretchen was coming up with this. “He-he’ll be leaving town when…Frederik goes, won’t he?”
“Maybe that’s what I’m worried about,” Gretchen said soberly.
Lanie could not follow her aunt’s logic. Why in the name of Pete would she run off with a complete stranger, who just happened to be half vampire, so they could go off chasing after another vampire? Not to mention the fact that Kyle lived in his car and couldn’t even buy food! She did not want that for herself!
Clearly, her aunt had been joining Johnna in watching some of those awful teen movies!
“I will not run off with Kyle Vincent. I promise,” she avowed.
“I know you believe that, kiddo. Right now,” said Gretchen.
Oh for the love of gravy! “Aunt Gretchen, just tell me. I’m not going to run off with him!”
Gretchen let out a sigh. “Fine! But, if you do, I’m going to be pissed, Lanie. And you can bet that I will hunt you down and drag you back here kicking and screaming!” the woman warned.
“I know you will,” she told her aunt, meaning it.
“Just remember that, girlie!” Gretchen said to her. “I’m telling you this under protest and only because Kyle Vincent will probably tell you himself at some point and I want to make sure you understand that it’s not as romantic as it sounds.”
Lanie really doubted she would find anything involving the monster she’d seen in the woods romantic! Terrifying, appalling, ghastly, perhaps, but definitely not romantic!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lanie sat in the overstuffed chair, staring out into the darkness and listening to the silence of the house all around her. She’d given up trying to sleep long ago, unlike Johnna and Devyn, who were both sleeping soundly, and had been sitting at her window ever since, her mind going over and over the things her aunt had told her about Kyle Vincent.
She couldn’t get those things out of her head and she found herself wanting to see Kyle. She just wanted to tell him…that she was sorry. She knew what it was to lose someone. True, she’d never lost a loved one to a bloodthirsty creature of the night, but she did know the pain of loss. She wanted to let Kyle Vincent know that about her. She wanted him to know that she understood why he was doing what he was doing. If she could have placed the blame for losing her mother on a specific person, she would have gone after them, too.
So, she sat in her chair by the window, waiting. But, she hadn’t seen a sign of Kyle. Nor anything else. The world was still, not so much as a shadow was moving along the street outside. Maybe Kyle was at Gretchen’s house, sleeping. A part of her hoped so. He looked so weary and worn. But, a part of her wanted to see him, to tell him what was on her mind. She thought that might help him somehow.
A flash of movement from below the window suddenly caught Lanie’s attention and her body stiffened, her heart leaping up into her throat as she turned her full attention to the shadowy world outside. The glimmer of motion had come from somewhere off to the left of the yard and as she looked in that direction, she saw it again. It was just a quick flash, perhaps the sway of a shadow or the flicker of something blown on the wind. Only, something inside Lanie knew it wasn’t the movement of a shadow she was seeing. Someone was out there, in the night. Approaching her house. And she wanted to see that someone, to tell him that she was sorry and that she understood.
Getting to her feet, she tightened the belt of her robe and slipped out of the room and down the stairway, being extra quiet because her dad had been asleep for several hours and any noise might wake him up. With him roaming about the house, like he usually did, there would be no middle of the night conversation with a very handsome young man who’d saved her from a vampire.
Hitting the bottom of the stairs, Lanie hurried across the entryway and over to the front door, sliding the deadbolt back and pulling the door open, only to find the front porch empty. A little stab of disappointment hit her. She’d been sure she’d seen something moving outside. She’d been sure it was Kyle.
Clearly, she was becoming a bit too focused on Kyle Vincent. She was starting to imagine things. Not to mention that she was awake at three thirty in the morning, staring out her window waiting for a glimpse of him when she should be sleeping! She had school the next day, along with all the upcoming Homecoming Week activities she’d spent hours and hours of her life helping to plan. She couldn’t enjoy all her hard work if she was too tired to even see straight!
With a sigh, Lanie took hold of the door to close it and suddenly realized that she was staring at the hulking form and ashen, distorted f
ace of…Frederik. Terror shot through her, so sharp and sudden she couldn’t even scream. She could only suck in a breath and stumble backward away from the door, her limbs going numb from shock.
Frederik was standing at the door, his ashen face completely void of expression, his eyes glinting like two blood red gems, his pale lips pulled slightly back over his teeth. Those blood red eyes were focused on Lanie, piercing right through her, freezing her right to the spot. She was horrified to find that monster standing in her doorway, only mere inches away from her, yet…she could not have moved a muscle nor opened her mouth to scream even if he’d stepped inside and sank his teeth into her throat. She simply…could not.
The terror was there, setting fire to her nerve endings, the need to turn and run away was there, clenching her stomach and tightening her muscles, the need to scream out for help was there, filling her lungs and choking her throat, but she simply could not do either. She was just…frozen. Fixated by the man in front of her, by his gleaming eyes and his face, which would have been a very handsome face, a very beautiful face even, had he been a person and not…a monster.
For a long, quiet moment Frederik stared at her and she could do nothing but stare back at him, her body stalled, her thoughts stalled. And the longer she stared at him, the more she seemed to understand what he wanted.
He wanted…her.
And he wanted her in a way that sent a chill completely through her.
As that realization crossed her mind, Frederik held his hand out toward her, his expressionless face softening faintly. He was waiting, patiently waiting, for her to step forward, to step close enough so that he could reach out that large, strong hand and pull her to him.
Lanie knew she should be petrified at the notion of taking hold of that large hand, and she was. The fear was there, making her want to recoil, making her want to get as far away from him as she possibly could, but…why should she run when…he didn’t want to hurt her. That face wasn’t the face of someone who would cause her pain.
He wanted her for another…softer…purpose.
It was strange, but the longer she looked into those gleaming eyes that were akin to pools of freshly spilled blood, she could almost hear his voice inside her head, she could almost hear him whisper the words that would make her step forward into his arms. And he might have whispered them, if only he knew the exact words that would convince her to be unafraid. That was what he wanted, for her to be unafraid, for her to trust him enough to reach out and take his hand. And then he would whisk her away to someplace…quiet, private, and he would show her just how soft and tender he could be with her.
Lanie felt her body moving forward a step, one step closer to that large, strong hand, a hand that could be gentle and careful, despite its strength. One step closer to those gleaming eyes and that pale, handsome face. Such a fascinatingly handsome face. He was almost as handsome as Kyle. Almost.
Would Kyle want her to take hold of that large hand and let Frederik whisk her away into the night?
No. He wouldn’t.
The answer to that question sent something similar to a bolt of lightning tearing through Lanie and she was suddenly…awake…and stumbling backward across the entryway, her body gripped by terror and her mouth opening in a silent scream. As soon as Lanie was…freed…from the pull of those gleaming eyes, Frederik’s placid expression instantly twisted into a mask of rage and he suddenly rushed forward and in that instant Lanie knew that she was dead.
Kyle was wrong about the monster having to be invited inside.
Lanie watched in horror as Frederik threw himself at the open doorway, another scream trying to tear its way out of her throat and failing. But, he never made it over the threshold. His body was slammed to a halt, his fists lifted into the air, pounding hard against…nothing. The door was standing wide open and Frederik was beating his fists against…nothing, yet Lanie could hear the sound. It was deep and resonant and it reverberated through the house and through her body, jarring her.
Lanie stood, momentarily fascinated by watching the monster on the other side of her door fighting against an invisible barrier, his teeth barred and his eyes flaming with wrath. She’d never seen anything like it. It was like he was trying to force his way through a piece of clear glass that was too strong for even someone like him to break.
“Come over to me!” Frederik suddenly growled at her in a deep, raspy voice that sent a cold and sickening wave washing over her.
Never had she heard a voice that sounded so…demonic. Lanie sucked in a sharp breath.
Now, she was going to scream.
But, before the scream could work its way up throat, Frederik went stiff, his face contorting and a deep, pain-filled roar bursting out of him. It took Lanie a stunned second to understand what had happened, to absorb the fact that she could see the sharp end of a gleaming, jewel-toned shard sticking out through the front of Frederik’s black shirt and the shirt was suddenly wet with blood.
An angry snarl erupted from out of nowhere and in the space of a heartbeat, a dark shape came flying at Frederik, hitting him full force, knocking him away from the doorway and sideways across the front porch. There was an enormous thud that Lanie thought must have shaken the entire house and then…there was no sound at all.
Lanie stood immobile, the scream still lodged in her throat, her heart thudding against her ribcage, her mind swirling and yet somehow unable to form a coherent thought. It took her a long minute before her body jolted into action and she bolted for the door, her thoughts going not to herself, but to Kyle, who was out there somewhere with the monster who’d just tried to lure her out of the house, and had almost succeeded.
On legs that were barely able to hold her up, Lanie made it to the doorway, but halted at the threshold, unable to take that step over and out onto the porch. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t force herself to step outside! Not after what she’d just seen. If she was in the house, then Frederik couldn’t get to her. But, Kyle was out there!
Lanie stood on the threshold, her heart in her throat and her breath coming in ragged spurts. She wanted to step outside, everything inside her was telling her to go out there and try to help Kyle! But, she wasn’t crazy. She couldn’t do a thing to help Kyle Vincent even if he was having his throat torn open right there on her front lawn. She thought about going to wake her dad, but he couldn’t help Kyle, either.
Kyle was fighting the monster on his own.
Standing at the front door, Lanie waited, staring out into the darkness, her body starting to quake so that she heard her teeth clicking together. Kyle was out there in the night, fighting a monster. But, he would be okay. He’d been chasing the monster for four years. He would be fine. He’d show up to let her know he was okay at any second.
A sob escaped Lanie. And then another. Followed by another. She tried to choke them back and half succeeded, but a few escaped her now and then as she stood, shivering, her teeth chattering, her mind numb, waiting for Kyle Vincent to appear out of the darkness. And he would. Kyle would be okay. He would come back and let her know that he was okay.
Knowing that, Lanie waited. Standing in the doorway, the chill night air washing over her, making her chattering and shaking even worse, she waited for Kyle to come back so she could see he hadn’t been hurt.
So, she waited.
She listened to the wind tossing through the tree tops and the silence of the night pushing on her ears. She knew that Kyle would come back when he could. He would want her to know that he was okay.
So, she waited.
She waited until she began to see the first grey light of dawn stealing in from over the tree tops and then she felt her heart give a sharp and painful tear. Kyle hadn’t come back.
Kyle hadn’t come back.
She knew he’d have come back to let her know he was alright…if he could have.
Fear and…something else she couldn’t put a name to were both fighting for position within her as she decided to take a step back and
shut the door. She’d call Gretchen. Maybe Kyle had decided to go to Gretchen’s house. Maybe she’d been wrong in thinking that he’d come back to tell her he was okay. Why would he? He didn’t owe her any explanations.
“Lanie,” a familiar voice sounded out and Lanie suddenly found herself staring up into the handsome face of Kyle Vincent.
A sob flew out of her and Lanie was suddenly over the threshold of the door with Kyle’s arms closing around her, holding her tight against his chest.
“It’s okay, Lanie. Everything’s okay,” he whispered to her, squeezing her to him. “He’s gone for now. He’s gone.”
Lanie nodded, having a hard time finding her voice. “Are you okay?” she rasped against his shirt, closing her eyes so she could feel him, so that her mind could absorb that he was really there with her, that he was really okay. She wanted to know, really know, that Frederik hadn’t hurt him.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” Kyle told her, running his hand over her hair. “I chased him as far away from here as I could. I nailed him twice, but I-I didn’t kill him.”
Lanie didn’t care about that. “Did he hurt you?” she asked, aware that her hands were fisted into the front of his shirt. And also aware that something…was off as Kyle held her to him.
“He got in a couple of licks, but I’m fine,” Kyle told her, holding her tighter. “Are you alright?”
She honestly didn’t feel alright. “I-I don’t know,” she admitted, taking in a deep breath of Kyle’s masculine scent. His scent was even better than her father’s. It made her think of the outdoors, of blue skies and fresh air and open fields warming in the sunshine.
“What happened, Lanie? What was Frederik doing?” he asked her, his voice suddenly hoarse.
Lanie felt herself stiffen. She wished she could tell Kyle that she had no idea what he’d been doing. Now that it was over, she could almost believe that she’d imagined the entire thing. Maybe Kyle would agree with her. But, she didn’t want to talk about it here. Not when her father could wake up at any second.
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