Hunted

by T. M. Bledsoe

  “I brought you some food, Lanie,” the young man told her, crossing the space and coming over to unlock her cell.

  “Can I use the bathroom?” she asked, not wanting to give herself that bit of relief not knowing what her aunt might be going through, but her body was telling her that if she didn’t while she had the chance, she would be in trouble.

  “Well, there’s a bathroom behind the partition there,” Deputy Sterling said, pointing to the half wall at the end of the space. “Here’s your breakfast and some magazines and crossword puzzles.”

  Lanie took the two plastic bags being offered to her and placed them onto the cot before turning back to Roger Sterling. “Where’s my dad?” she asked, her voice breaking. “Is he okay? Have you seen Kyle?”

  “They’re out there taking care of business,” Roger told her with an awkward smile. “I just talked to Sam a few minutes ago, so you don’t need to worry.”

  “They haven’t found Gretchen yet?” she asked, trying to keep her chin from quivering.

  “Not yet, but they’re looking. We’ve gotten a few tips from the news conference last night and we’re checking them out,” the young man stated. “We’ll find her, you can bet on it.”

  “When will I get to talk to my dad?” she wondered, a desperate image of herself charging at Deputy Sterling and wrestling his card key from him flashing through her mind.

  “He’ll talk to you soon. Meantime, I’m leaving your cell unlocked so you can do your business. But, I’ll be back in a while to check on you,” he assured her and with another awkward smile, left the cell block, the door clanging shut behind him.

  Lanie nodded, waiting to hear the second steel door close before she hurried to do her business. That weight off her, she returned to her open cell and sat on the bunk to eat her breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and hash-rounds, which had come from Katy’s Korner. But, it was useless. She couldn’t touch a bite of it. Just looking at the food made her stomach turn. How could she eat when her aunt was out there someplace, alone and scared? Maybe Gretchen was starving or needed something to drink, but she couldn’t have anything.

  That thought had her pushing the Styrofoam container away from her and getting to her feet. On a whim, she walked out of her cell and over to the steel door, just to make sure it was really locked. It was. So, she went back to her cell and started flipping through magazines, which were all six months old, but there was nothing else to do but worry, so she had no choice.

  She was given some lunch and then dinner, none of which she actually ate, and spent the hours in between wandering around the empty cell-block trying not to think about all the terrible things that might be happening to her dad or Gretchen or Kyle.

  She didn’t want to think about it because she couldn’t help. She was trapped, locked up like some sort criminal even though she hadn’t done a single thing wrong, except turning to her dad for help.

  She knew her dad was just trying to keep her safe. He thought locking her away until things were sorted out would keep her alive, but at that moment in time, she hated him for it! She could have been out there trying to find Gretchen, she could have been helping! She didn’t care if Frederik got his hands on her! At least she would have died like a woman instead of hiding in a concrete bunker like a sniveling coward!

  The sun set again and Lanie spent another restless night wallowing in a fog of fear and misery, a misery made worse by the fact that she hadn’t heard from her dad. Not a word. She’d asked Deputy Sterling what was happening when he brought her meals in, but he would only say that things were fine and not to worry, which actually made her worry even harder.

  Daylight again broke outside the window and Lanie was left to wait for Deputy Sterling to bring her breakfast and hopefully news of what was happening outside the concrete walls surrounding her. But, Deputy Sterling didn’t come in with her breakfast. And when the clock, which was wrapped in a wire cage, came to the noon hour, he didn’t show up with lunch, either.

  And then fear set in. Cold, stark fear.

  Something bad had happened. It was obvious that something bad had happened, otherwise Deputy Sterling would have come in with her meals.

  Frederik had killed everyone. She just knew it. Frederik had killed everyone, her father, Gretchen, and probably Kyle, too. He’d killed everyone she cared about and now…he was going to be coming after her. Could he enter a police station? Yes, of course he could. Kyle had entered the building without a problem. Could Frederik get through steel doors and iron bars?

  Not that it mattered. If he’d killed her aunt, her father, and Kyle, then she might as well be dead, too. Although, she did not want to end up like Frederik, a monster and a murderer. If it came down to that, she’d kill herself before she let Frederik bite her and turn her into a monster.

  Of course, trapped in the cell-block of the police station, she realized there were no ready weapons for her to use to end her life, nothing at all that would cut or stab or slice. And then she realized, as she was searching for something that she might possibly use to slice her wrists open, that only a week ago she was busy planning all the Homecoming activities with her friends and now…she wanted to kill herself to avoid becoming a vampire’s mate.

  It didn’t make sense. It would never make sense.

  By the time daylight began to fade again, Lanie was absolutely certain that something had gone terribly wrong. Otherwise, someone would have come to the cellblock by now. Her mind was throwing up all sorts of horrendous scenarios involving her father and Kyle and possibly most of the residents of Fells Pointe. Images of people running for their lives and buildings set ablaze and in the middle of it all, a blood thirsty monster killing anyone he could get his hands on.

  Lanie spent hours pacing around the cell-block, hours lost in a fog of terror, hours listening to the dead silence pressing on her ears and wishing she could just claw her way out through the concrete walls.

  As darkness fell yet again and she was on the verge of actually trying to beat her way through the steel door using nothing but her fists, a sound fell on her ears. Lanie’s heart lept up into her throat and she stopped pacing, straining to hear. Barely a breath later, the building was filled with a loud crash that echoed through Lanie’s skull and tore a shriek from her throat and she instantly knew that someone had broken through the first steel door.

  Frederik! Oh God! Frederik was coming for her!

  Fear, sharp and cold, gripped Lanie and she spun on her heel, wildly glancing around for a way out or at least for a weapon she could use to keep herself from falling into Frederik’s hands, but there was nothing she could do! She was trapped and completely defenseless!

  With no other option left open to her, Lanie rushed back into her cell and slammed the door shut behind her, knowing it was a feeble attempt, but at least it would stall Frederik for a few seconds. It would give her a few more seconds of life before she became…like him.

  With her breath held and her heart hammering hard in her chest, Lanie barely had time to put herself against the farthest wall of her cell before an explosion of sound echoed through the small cell-block, tearing a scream from her throat and forcing her hands up over her ears.

  “Lanie!” a familiar voice suddenly growled out and Lanie whipped around toward it.

  Kyle! Kyle was there, outside the cell, alive and well! Frederik hadn’t killed him!

  “Lanie, are you alright?” he asked her, his gaze sliding over the iron bars separating them.

  “I-I…I’m…I don’t know,” she half sobbed, rushing over to the cell door, her legs feeling weak from the sheer relief of seeing Kyle Vincent’s ruggedly handsome face and not the twisted face of a monster.

  Kyle reached through the bars and took her hands in his, his green eyes swirling with darkness. “I have to get you out of here,” he said roughly.

  “What’s happened? Where’s my dad?” she asked, fear swelling up inside her, pushing the air out of her lungs.

  “He’s…h
e’ll be fine,” Kyle answered. “Stand back.”

  Lanie felt her heart drop into her stomach as she let go of Kyle’s cold hands and backed away from the cell door. Jaw set, Kyle grasped the bars next to the hinges, set his feet on the floor, and gave a hard tug. The iron hinges screamed so loudly that Lanie had to cover her ears to try and stifle the sound. Kyle gave another hard tug, straining against the bars, and again the hinges screamed in protest. But, with a loud, reverberating clamor that shook Lanie’s insides, they suddenly gave way and the door was pulled open.

  With another sob, Lanie was throwing herself at Kyle, realizing what an inept attempt she’d made by locking herself into the cell. If it had been Frederik, the iron bars wouldn’t have stalled him for more than a second. “What’s happened to my dad?” she asked as Kyle wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight.

  “Frederik…had a go at him, but he’s okay. He’s with Deputy Sterling at the Town Hall.”

  Lanie’s mind began whirling. “Tell me what’s going on! What’s happened! Where’s Frederik? Did you find Gretchen?” she fired the questions at Kyle as quickly as they jumped into her mind.

  “We haven’t found Gretchen yet, but we did find Frederik’s lair. And we almost had him,” Kyle said in a tight, bitter tone. “I almost had him, Lanie. I-I…I stalled…” Kyle’s voice trailed off then and Lanie looked up at him, finding a slightly confused expression on his handsome face. He didn’t say anything else, but instead lifted her up into his arms and settled her against his chest.

  “Where are we going?” she questioned hoarsely.

  “I think I shook Frederik, so I’m taking you home. You’ll be safe inside your house,” he told her.

  “No! I need to get to my dad!” Lanie argued, but it was too late.

  A jolt went through her and they were streaking out of the cell-block and then out of the building. The wind was screaming past her and the cold biting into her, forcing her to press her face against his shoulder. Anger surged through Lanie and even as she was being raced through the night she decided that she was going to get to her dad, no matter what.

  Without warning, Lanie felt herself leaving Kyle’s arms and then she was hurtling through the air like a rag doll. Barely before she could open her mouth to scream, her body crashed against something hard, knocking the breath out of her and sending darkness washing over her.

  “Lanie! Run!” she heard Kyle’s voice suddenly growling at her.

  Lanie’s stunned body struggled to pull itself out of the darkness and the numb stupor it seemed to be in. It took several tries before she could blink away the shadows and collect herself enough to understand that she was lying on her back, looking up at the night sky.

  “Lanie! Run!” Kyle’s voice sounded out again, coarse and thick and almost…animal like.

  Forcing herself up to a sitting position, she glanced around, finding herself lying in the middle of a street with houses all around. And just up the street, in the circle of light cast by a street lamp, were two figures rolling and writhing around on the pavement, locked in a vicious battle that was happening so fast Lanie couldn’t tell one shape from another.

  Terror spiked through her and Lanie was on her feet, her breath coming hard, her mind trying to seize onto what she should do, where she should run. She glanced around again, trying to recognize her surroundings, but her addled mind had trouble placing any of the houses surrounding her.

  But, then she suddenly knew.

  Spinning on her heel, Lanie bolted down the street as fast as her legs could carry her, away from the two brawling, snarling shapes tearing at one another, and heading in the only direction she could think of.

  Lanie was running, flying through the darkness, the sound of her footsteps echoing up and down the dim, empty street and the sound of her heartbeat echoing just as loudly in hear ears. She expected to feel hands clawing at her, pulling her to the ground so that sharp, deadly fangs could sink into her flesh and that possibility spurred her onward. Lanie made it to the end of the street and then banked a hard left, her lungs heaving and her heart threatening to pound out of her chest. She flew past the first two houses on Endicott Lane and then cut across the lawn of the third, making for the lighted front porch as fast as she could go.

  Lanie bounded up the wooden steps and threw herself at the front door. “Johnna! Johnna!” she screamed, pounding on the door with one hand and working the knob with the other. But, the door was locked! “Johnna!”

  If she couldn’t get inside…she was dead.

  After a second of vicious pounding and screaming, no one answered the door, and Lanie’s gaze flew to the little wrought iron table sitting between the two rocking chairs by the big front window. She had to get inside the house! As desperation overwhelmed her, she rushed over to the table, threw a potted plant off onto the porch and snatched it up just as a sound caught her attention.

  She’d heard that sound before. Like soft thunder in the distance. Only, she knew it for what it was this time. It was the sound of Frederik’s footsteps. He was coming for her.

  Lanie drew the iron table back and let it fly out of her hands with as much as strength as she could find. The resulting crash of smashing glass filled the night air. As soon as the big window was broken she lifted her foot and kicked in the remaining shards of glass from the bottom so that she could climb inside. And that’s when the front door was jerked open.

  “What in hell—“ Johnna’s angry voice halted as she stepped out and saw Lanie. “Lanie! Was that you! What the hell are you doing throwing—“

  Lanie spun around the rushed the girl, trying to push her back through the doorway. The footsteps were closer, so close she knew if she turned around she’d see Frederik bolting down the street toward her. “Johnna, get inside!” she screamed, trying to force the girl through the doorway, but Johnna dug in her heels.

  “Lanie, what is wrong with you! Where have you been!” Johnna demanded.

  The footsteps were so close that Lanie let out a shriek of terror and in a desperate move she shoved Johnna through the doorway as hard as she could, causing the girl to stumble backward over the threshold. Lanie followed her, but before she could get more than a foot across a hand clamped down onto her shoulder and a loud snarl exploded in her ears.

  Terror clutched at Lanie and she shot both hands outward, grabbing hold of the doorjamb and digging her nails into the wood. It wouldn’t help. She wasn’t strong enough to keep Frederik from taking her. But, she had to try.

  A shrill shriek split the air, it actually took Lanie a second to realize it hadn’t come from her, and then Johnna was there, reaching out to grab hold of Lanie’s arm with one hand while the other hand, clutching a tiny canister, shot past Lanie’s face. There was a loud hiss and an instantaneous roar and the hand on Lanie’s shoulder loosened a fraction and Johnna was pulling her forward into the house with such force they both wound up toppling to the floor.

  Another snarl sounded out and both Lanie and Johnna whipped their gazes toward the front door, finding Frederik standing there, his face a mask of rage and his gleaming ruby red eyes pinned to Lanie. He lifted his large fists and pounded against the barrier that was keeping him out of the house, sending the dull reverberations echoing through the structure.

  Johnna, lying next to Lanie, shrieked and scrambled backward across the floor, trying to get away from the doorway and Lanie did the same, even though she knew Frederik couldn’t get into the house.

  Frederik snarled at them, his fists pounding hard against the nothingness separating them and Johnna shrieked again, struggling to her feet and backing away until she hit the bannister of the stairway. Lanie got to her feet, heart pounding, mind racing, and fear swelling inside her. If Frederik was there and Kyle wasn’t… No! No, Kyle said that Frederik wouldn’t kill him!

  As Frederik again pounded his fists against the barrier keeping him out of the house, Johnna screamed again, suddenly surging forward, slamming the door shut in Frederik’s face, sl
iding the deadbolt into place, and then backing away from it until she was once again pushed up against the bannister.

  “Lanie, what the hell! You—“ Johnna’s words turned into another shriek as Frederik suddenly appeared at the broken window, his ashen face twisted in rage and his teeth barred as he pounded his fists against the space where the glass had once been.

  Frederik abruptly took several steps backward and flung himself full force at the broken window, which only served to shake the house from the inside out and send him stumbling backward a few steps, but seeing that caused Johnna to scream again, the sound slicing through Lanie’s skull like a white hot knife blade.

  Lanie spun around, grabbed Johnna by the arm and pulled her out of the entryway and into the living room where they couldn’t see Frederik hurling himself at the broken window.

  “Johnna, calm down! He can’t get inside!” Lanie ordered, sounding more distraught than firm.

  Johnna paused, visibly trying to pull herself together, but another reverberation sounded through the house and she shrieked yet again.

  “Johnna! He can’t get into the house!” Lanie repeated, grabbing the girl’s shoulders and giving her a hard shake.

  Clearly startled, Johnna’s face went slack and her eyes went wide and for a full minute she just stood, staring at Lanie with an open mouth. But, then something visibly rolled across her features and she suddenly snapped awake, shaking Lanie’s hands off her.

  “Lanie, why the hell didn’t you tell me about this! You let your best friend know when there’s a vampire in town!”

  Lanie gasped, the denial forming on her tongue, but then she stopped. It was a little too late for that now. If anyone would understand what had just happened, it would be Johnna.

  “The bum from The Pub is a vampire, too, isn’t he!” Johnna accused and Lanie opened her mouth, but her friend continued onward without waiting for the answer. “I knew it! You should have told me!”