There was no warning, only the smack of Victoria’s hand across Henry’s face. “Don’t you dare question me,” she growled. “Kekoa is old enough to feel the temptations. Evil of heart, if not by deed, is still evil. Tyrone and his brother were much younger.” Even before Henry could return to his feet, Victoria ordered, “Now leave. I need to pray for a sign of when to leave.”
Grabbing Stephen by his shirtsleeve, Kekoa quickly led him back to their cabin before Henry could get there.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The vision was of a river. A river of tears. Sterling felt each wet tear in his head, each cry for a parent, and each prayer to God to be saved. They were young children, scared, and for the first time knowing the limits of mortality.
With his ungloved hands, he rubbed his temple. Sterling needed to shake the voices out of his mind before a migraine formed. He was relieved when the three of them checked into the Motel 6.
Kate made a hasty exit to her room to shower, so Sterling followed Ben into his room to charge up the laptop found earlier and to do research about surrounding campsite areas. Obviously, many people from Tennessee enjoyed camping since there were many campgrounds. Ben searched the map for any site within five miles of a body of water, and that didn’t narrow the search down by much.
Sterling’s phone rang. After a short debriefing he put his phone away and said to Ben, “Looks like all the names on the list are vampire children. The list goes back five years. Some of these parents have given up hope.”
“Five years is a long time to hope for a miracle,” Ben said, not even looking up from his computer.
Sterling walked over to the window and peered out. The heavily overcast sky proved to be a good sign. His head hurt, his skin itched … he just needed some relief and the upcoming storm looked inviting. He took a glass from the bathroom and unlocked the room safe to get a bag of blood. “Want some?”
Ben glanced up. “Nah, not right now.” He paused and glanced towards the opened window. “Is it raining yet?”
“Soon,” Sterling said. He took tiny sips from the glass in an effort to heal his body and not expose himself to blood lust. His fangs clinked on the glass as they made contact. When a knock sounded on the door, he crossed the room and opened it.
“Can I come in?” Kate asked. “How is the search going?”
The strong scent of peaches hit Sterling’s nose as Kate walked passed him. Her wet hair was parted down the center in a 1970s style. She now wore a different camisole top, a dark blue one. Again, her outfit brought out the color of her eyes. She crossed the room, her long legs taking awkward strides in her oversized borrowed shoes.
“The search isn’t going that great,” Ben confessed. “Plenty of public campgrounds exist near water. Hard to narrow down the search since the camp, ‘First Foundations’, was never registered online anywhere.” He pointed towards the computer. “The laptop we got from the house is charging, but I figure the computer has probably been wiped clean. I’ll have to recover deleted files off the memory boards tonight.”
“What about summer camps for kids and teens? Maybe even religious ones?” Kate suggested.
Ben looked at her with a new determination in his eyes. “Yes. That’s a great idea. With so many kids you’d need a place for all of them to eat; you’d need bathrooms and such.” Ben busied himself on the computer looking for any older summer camp that may no longer be in use.
Kate sniffed the air and Sterling knew she caught the scent of blood in his glass. “Where did the blood come from?”
Sterling looked over at the young vampire. She had spent the day with him and obviously must have become hungry by now. “We brought blood with us.” Handing the glass to Kate he said, “Here. You can have this glass. We have plenty.”
She eyed the delicious liquid hungrily. “Thanks.” She downed the tumbler of blood as if the container was only a shot. Sterling glared over at Ben with a raised eyebrow.
“How do you do that?” Sterling asked.
“What?” she asked, licking her lips.
Sterling studied her face. “Even when not feeding from a vein, fangs usually extend when vampires eat. Our eyes turn black as well.”
She stammered a little, but finally got out, “I’m gifted. I can control it.” She walked around Sterling and made her way to the bathroom to rinse the glass.
Ben stared at Sterling. “Her eyes didn’t blacken?”
“No.”
“And we’re sure she’s a purebred?”
Sterling scratched his head as he turned towards the bathroom. “If she isn’t, I’m not sure what she is. She’s more of a hybrid vamp/human than I am.”
Ben whispered in a high vampire pitch. “She’s still a woman and can help rid you of pain. But let’s see, you’ve criticized her on her style of clothes, her taste in music, and her habit of chewing gum. Hey, I know, you haven’t commented yet on her hairstyle. That would seal the deal of her never wanting to help you out.”
“I like her hair.” Sterling replied in the same high pitch.
Ben’s jaw tightened. “Sterling …”
“Shut up.” Sterling turned and noticed Kate leaving the bathroom.
“What can I do to help?” she asked.
“Evidently, not much,” Ben said, his voice returning to a normal pitch. He gestured for Sterling to hand him the laptop which sat on the nightstand charging. “I’m going to review any information from this laptop and see what we can get.”
Sterling walked over to the bed and picked up the computer. He had taken off his gloves when he had entered the room, and now his fingers felt hot as they began to get information from the tiny computer. Sterling sucked in his breath sharply and the feeling nearly overpowered him. “I didn’t touch this when we were at the house.”
Sitting on the bed, Sterling closed his eyes. He used both of his hands as he touched the computer. An image appeared in his mind. The vision was of the man that had kidnapped Tiffany. Sterling recognized him from when he had first met Kate and read her memories of the ordeal.
He watched mentally as the man wrote down the name Brooke Smith. Sterling saw the man typed on the keypad and pulled up the website for a school. It was a high school. Taking a deep breath, Sterling focused on the name of the school, but came up with nothing. The data wasn’t personal information about the kidnapper, and didn’t mean much to the man, so the experience felt to Sterling as if he was grasping into a vapor with nothing solid to hold onto.
Next he focused on the name Brooke. Again not much, but he did see an image of a girl in a volleyball outfit. A school uniform. She was in high school.
Sterling’s face twitched in pain as he continued reading. Brooke was the next target, just as he had suspected. He let out a moan as his head pounded and his migraine raged. He gleaned only one more piece of information, and that was the date, which was for tomorrow.
His hands shook as he lifted them from the keypad. Ben caught the computer before the machine fell to the floor.
“What did you see, Sterling” Kate asked.
Clearing his throat, Sterling told them about his visions. Tomorrow another kidnapping would take place, and somewhere nearby since he couldn’t sense anything other than a van was to be used. The kidnapper wasn’t taking Brooke back to the house they had inspected earlier that evening. She was to be taken directly to the camp.
“Sterling, your eyes are still closed. You okay?” Ben asked.
The sensations were too much for Sterling. He needed to break away, find some rain.
“I can handle searching for Brooke. Just tell me about her appearance.”
Sterling balled his hands into fists to prevent from scratching his skin off. He swallowed hard, opened his bloodshot eyes and glanced over to Kate. “Brunette, long hair, tall.”
Kate’s eyes grew wide. “She looked like me?”
“Not as pretty, but yes,” Sterling said, closing his eyes once more.
Ben helped Sterling off the couch. “Get h
im to his room Kate … and take care of him. We need to be able to go at a moment’s notice once I narrow in on Brooke.”
*******
Once outside the room, Sterling could smell and hear the rain. He walked out into the parking lot, stripped down to his bare chest, and held his face up towards the sky. Instantly he felt the comfort of the blessed rain. The raging itch of his skin lessened. He stared into the rain and allowed the drops to moisten his eyes. He let out a soft moan once he no longer wanted to scratch his eyes out.
“Sterling?”
He had forgotten she was standing behind him. “Rain makes me feel better,” he said, trying to dismiss any further questions. His clothes were getting soaked, but what he needed to do was to get into a pair of shorts and lay out in the rain shirtless. The pool would probably be a good place. He turned to face Kate. She stared at him as though he was from Mars.
“Everything’s okay,” he said, walking past her towards his room. “I’m better now.”
He noticed that she followed him all the way to his room. It wasn’t a far distance away, but she remained quiet as though studying him for her next great psych paper. He opened the door to his room and she followed him in.
“How does the rain make you feel better?”
Not wanting to go into much detail, he said, “It just does.” He opened his bag and pulled out a plastic container, his collection of raindrops and his small spray bottle. Now, thanks to aviation control, the bottles with rainwater were the regulation three ounces – much smaller than he was used to carrying with him, and they emptied way too soon for his liking.
“I try to collect rain whenever I get a chance. I used up my supply already during the trip.” Sterling walked back out of the room and looked around. Finding a good collecting spot he placed the plastic container down and reentered his room. Kate was still staring at him, so he added, “The rain takes away the pain and the itching I feel when I read inanimate objects. It’s not a big deal.”
“You do look a little better.”
He nodded. He always managed to look like a dog with the mange when he felt his worst. Good to know that he was putting his best foot forward in terms of his appearance in front of this beautiful vampire woman.
“You could stand in the rain and I can move the TV so we can both watch it,” she offered.
Sterling closed his hotel room door. The rain was only a few feet away, but so was another cure. “I don’t watch television.” He studied her eyes, but he saw no change to black since she had drunk the blood. Whatever ability she had to control her vamp nature, she had it down to a science. She wasn’t even going through blood lust after consuming that much blood so quickly back in Ben’s room. Perhaps the blood lust was on its way.
Kate shrugged her shoulders as she noticed the door was now closed. “We’ll do something else then.”
Sterling smiled. “Fine. We’ll stay in.” Sterling never missed an opportunity to enjoy the rain, but to be with this particular female vamp, he’d miss a typhoon. She was sexy, intelligent, caring … perfect. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Then, he walked over to Kate and stood in front of her. He placed one hand on the wall she stood against and leaned in. He gazed into her still gray eyes. This was it. Third strike? Or home run?
He made direct eye contact with her, inhaled her scent, and moved in so his lips were only a mere inch from hers. Then, he said in a low and purposely seductive voice, “Kate, stay the night with me.”
Her expression reminded him of a deer caught in headlights, as if he had asked a second grader to perform open–heart surgery on her mother. She didn’t utter a word. She stood there looking at him with his proposition hanging in the air. He started to kiss her, only to have her turn her head away as he approached. Her reaction didn’t surprise him, but the rejection hurt. She had spent the day giving him mixed signals, and this was just another one.
“Sorry, my mistake.” He moved away from her and gave her room to leave. Strike three. He was out, and that was that. This wasn’t about getting rid of his headache. He had never been with someone who knew him for who and what he was, and he wanted to be with her. Honestly, he wasn’t going to beg to sleep with her. But looking at her beautiful body, and feeling his erection straining against his jeans, he wasn’t sure about that last statement.
“Sterling?”
He glanced over to her, his eyes dismissive. “I understand. If you’re not interested, you’re not interested. It’s okay. I must have misread some signals.”
“No. You didn’t misread them.” Her eyes darted away from him. “I am an idiot. That’s all.”
Sterling didn’t know what she was talking about, so asked, “Why are you an idiot?”
“A part of me would like to stay the night, but a part of me just can’t.” She took a deep breath and let the air out slowly. “The situation is hard to explain.”
His eyebrow rose as he tried to wrap his mind around her reasoning. He realized that he didn’t understand women, not that he had ever tried to in the past. “It’s fine. You don’t owe me any explanations.”
She hung her head down and fiddled with her gloved hands. “It’s difficult to talk about, that’s all.”
Sterling remembered the bruising on her arms. She wasn’t wearing a ring, so she probably had a jealous boyfriend that beat her up every time she talked to a guy. The asshole! And, of course she had a boyfriend. Duh! Pretty women, especially pretty vampire women, didn’t sit home alone on Saturday nights knitting.
Boyfriend or not, she didn’t deserve to be abused by some lucky bastard. He took a deep breath and appeared as harmless as he could, just in case men scared her. “You can tell me anything Kate. I won’t judge you or hold it against you. If I can, I’ll do my best to help you.”
“No one can help me. I’m trapped with no way out.” She sat down on his bed with tears in her eyes.
Sterling hated to watch a woman cry. If she felt trapped, there was probably a good reason behind it. It was common among purebreds to secure their family line and finances for future generations, so he had to ask, “Has your family arranged a marriage for you? Is that why you feel trapped?” Sterling sat on the bed next to Kate.
Kate started to laugh. “It’s not that.”
“If it isn’t an arranged marriage, is it a problem with a boyfriend or fiance of your own choosing?” He touched her arm with his gloved hand. “I saw your bruises earlier, Kate. They don’t come out of nowhere. Is someone hurting you?”
She took a deep breath and glanced over to Sterling shaking her head. “You don’t want to sleep with me. Trust me.”
He smiled at her. “No. I really do want to.” He gently rubbed her back and added in a lower, huskier tone, “And trust me; I would have you screaming in pleasure all night long.” He licked his lips and could feel his fangs extending once again. He knew his eyes were black. “I want to feel you shudder underneath me. I want to hear you shout out my name as I take you ten different ways.”
In her fake, sexy voice, Kate said, “Only ten, Sterling? Really? Is that all?”
“I’m serious Kate. I want you in my bed tonight.” He swallowed the lump in his throat as he realized how true that statement was. For the first time, probably ever, he wanted a woman. He leaned in closer to her, his lips nearly touching hers. “I don’t know who has hurt you in the past, but I would worship your body and make you feel incredible.”
She turned her head away so she was no longer making eye contact with him. “No. I don’t think you could.”
He whispered into her ear, “Stay and find out.” He kissed her neck, and his lips tingled. She moved slightly away as though he had tickled her. He then placed his hand on her knee and began moving it north, to her upper thigh.
She placed her hand atop of his and stopped his hand from its journey. She looked him in his eyes. “Sterling, your eyes show your desire. I’ll stay with you tonight if you will look at my eyes and honestly tell me if they have any hint of black in th
em.”
He studied her. Not even a hint of black penetrated her gray eyes. There existed no sexual excitement in them, not even due to blood lust. He didn’t understand how it was even possible not to undergo the effects of the blood. As she got off the bed to leave the room, she said, “It’s a lovely offer, but I’m a lost cause, and not worthy of your time.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Kekoa marched with the boys around the circular path that surrounded the cabins. His shadow, the guard named Henry, followed close behind. Across the compound, Kekoa watched Rebecca walking the girls, with a female guard keeping a close tab on them. Exhaustion proved a powerful tool for their captors, with the weaker kids succumbing to fatigue first. If the walking and the sun didn’t do the kids in, the drugs were always there to keep them manageable.
Rebecca stood out from the group of girls, standing a whole foot taller. Her lean frame, freckles, and long hair that covered her back were easy to pick out of the crowd – and Henry ogled her as she led the girls. No longer a child, Kekoa knew what was on the lecherous man’s mind. He also wanted to warn Rebecca about Henry. He wanted to tell her of the plan to switch camps. Of course, the kidnappers always kept the genders separated much of the day.
After marching the boys, Kekoa took them to the boys’ showers where they cleaned up for bed. The newer arrivals would be brave during the day, but he found that they, and the younger boys, would cry more at night since they missed their families, at least until the evening meal, filled with drugs, took hold of them. Kekoa tucked each boy in bed by 8:30pm. He read and sang to the little ones. He knew Rebecca did the same for the girls.
The camp had four cabins for the boys, and four for the girls, but the captors preferred to cram the children into only two cabins to reduce their workload. Cabins with locked doors, locked windows, and children too drugged to care. It wasn’t much of a challenge to guard them, especially with guard dogs posted at the gate. A small team of male and female guards rotated during the day and at night.
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