“We’re up,” Mark said loudly from his seat.
“You’re full of all kinds of fun information today,” she said through gritted teeth. Parker bent to leave his seat. As he did, she saw a gun tucked in a hidden holster under his shirt. She averted her eyes as if she hadn’t seen, but Mark was watching too closely.
“Yes,” he whispered when Parker disappeared in the back, “his gun is loaded with silver bullets.”
She glanced up sharply as her heart fluttered with anxiety.
“I thought you might be wondering,” Mark said with an innocent shrug. “He’s a pretty good shot too.”
Parker returned then and held a champagne glass filled to the brim with a golden, bubbly drink. He offered it to Clara who glared at the delicate glass.
“It’s to calm your nerves,” he said and offered it again.
“I’m not old enough.”
Both he and Mark chuckled. “We promise not to report you,” he said and offered it a third time.
“I would really rather not.”
Mark’s head appeared above them again and he swiped the glass from Parker. “I’ll take it if she won’t. Do you have something stronger? It takes a good strong drink to get a werewolf nice and buzzed.”
“I’m not giving you more, I’ve seen you buzzed before.”
“Yeah, but she hasn’t.”
“She’s terrified enough as it is, poor thing.”
“Alright, I’ll get buzzed on my own time.” He tipped the champagne back and swallowed it down in one gulp. Doing her best to ignore the wink he offered, she peeked out the plane window. The ground was so far, looking down made her lightheaded.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Parker asked as he sat next to her once more. She nodded and leaned forward to put distance between them, pretending to try and see around the wing. The scenery changed rapidly and her heart twisted painfully. Her family was down there, Tyson and the pack as well. She remembered how angry Tyson was on the video clip. Up until she watched it, she hadn’t believed he loved her. The desperation behind his eyes when he attacked Mark revealed his feelings. Oddly, her heart was heavy because of the confusing words Mark read from the journal. Tyson had always insisted in warning her of just how dangerous he was and that only served to worsen her confusion.
When the plane landed hours later, her life seemed pretty bleak, but it would have been a lot worse if Parker knew how to attain her blood. It was only a matter of time before he discovered her secret and she wondered if it would be safer to form an alliance with him. Gaining his trust might give her the keys to escape.
They were piled into another dark car and Parker’s men came in the other plane. They followed behind in another small bus. Again, she kept a sharp eye out for any clue to tell her where she was, but had no luck. The building Parker brought them to was a large, lonely abandoned hospital. There weren’t any street numbers in sight. All she knew was the vegetation that surrounded them and the weather was comfortably warm despite it being early November.
The place had been renovated some, much like the previous building and Parker gave her a nice room. He left her to herself after the flight. “I’ll come around seven to accompany you to dinner,” he informed her.
True to his word, Parker came promptly at seven. He brought her to a room situated for their dining convenience. She ate little and didn’t speak.
Afterward, as he walked her down the long, silent hall, he announced he’d planned a surprise for the next day. “I have a feeling you’ll love it,” he said excitedly.
“I…surprises aren’t exactly my favorite thing,” she said discouragingly. Truthfully, she loved surprises from people she loved.
“You will love this when you see it,” he reassured her and patted her arm. “Just wait, I’ll come for you tomorrow at eleven.”
Her options were limited and she nodded.
At eleven the next day, Parker came right on time. Felix unlocked the door and held it open for both Parker and Mark. Clara got to her feet, leaving the confines of her bed.
“I trust you slept well,” Parker said with one of his amiable smiles.
Mark’s hands were in his pocket and she was relieved he wasn’t recording. He stopped short and sniffed the air. Parker stopped as well and held as still as he could.
“What is it?” he asked.
“She smells different.”
“I…smell?” Clara squeaked.
“What are you talking about?” Parker demanded. “You didn’t tell me she has a smell.”
“Everyone has a smell,” Mark responded curtly. “She smelled different after she injected herself with Rita’s blood. Now she smells the same as before.”
“What does it matter?” Parker asked.
“She’s not infected anymore,” he responded.
Parker glanced to Clara and shook his head. “That’s not possible.”
“I’ll prove it,” Mark said and held his hand out. “Give me your knife.”
Parker did not look sure about the whole situation, but he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a pocketknife that dangled from a set of keys. Mark flipped it open and stepped toward her. She inhaled sharply and inadvertently backed from his determined stare. He took a hold of her hand and the knife flashed when he ran the blade over her palm. She cried out when pain tore through her flesh and blood seeped from the fresh wound.
“How…?” Parker asked in a gasp as he stared at her hand. “Are you sure she isn’t infected?”
“I am sure.”
“We can be doubly sure,” Parker pointed out. “Drink her blood and see if you are healed.”
Mark frowned. “Get Felix to do it.”
Parker slipped a two-way off his belt and put it to his mouth. “Felix, come in here please,” he said without taking his eyes from the blood trickling down her wrist. Felix rushed into the room, his body and face already claylike to transform. He expected trouble, but his transformation halted and he came to a standstill.
“Sir?” he asked Parker.
“We have a small problem,” he said and nodded to Clara. “Will you settle something for us and taste her blood?”
“Of course, sir,” Felix said. His large person came to stand before her, but he hesitated. “I will have a sample reserved for the new moon?”
“Without a doubt,” Parker agreed with a nod. “As soon as we can figure out how to retrieve the blood, you will have it.”
Felix’s lips curled. Her stomach dropped with horror when he grasped her hand and pressed her palm to his lips, licking the dripping red stream. Her blood stained his lips and teeth.
“I wish I had my phone,” Mark muttered. “No doubt Tyson would love to see this.”
She jerked her hand away and they stood anxiously. Felix licked his lips and smirked at her as if he would take more if allowed. She moved further from him and hid her injury behind her leg.
“Well?” Parker asked. “Do you feel any change?”
“The wolf is as alive as ever, especially after tasting blood,” Felix growled. “There is no change.”
“This can’t be!” Parker said and went to her side, pulling her hand out to examine. He was further perplexed to see the cut completely healed over. He snatched the little pocketknife from Mark and attempted to slice her skin open once more, but the blade bounced off.
“He infected her,” Mark said. “She didn’t have to endure the transitory fever this time.”
“The infection leaves her then,” Parker observed. “I wonder how long it stays in her system.”
“There is only one way to find out. We’ll have to see if she can be hurt each day until we know.”
“I will be happy to sample her again…if ever you need,” Felix said. Her nose wrinkled and her forehead crumpled. Her stomach churned, threatening to upturn.
“Thank you, Felix. You are dismissed for now,” Parker said with a wave of his hand. The lumbering man went to take his position outside the door, still lic
king his lips.
“Does this mean we don’t have to take her to that surprise?” Mark asked as Parker stood, contemplating what he’d just seen.
“This doesn’t change anything,” he answered with a shake of his head. “Come along, my girl.”
They led her out of the building and into another of his sleek cars.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I must insist on blindfolding you.” Parker held up a kerchief after they were seated. “It’s a safety precaution.”
She allowed the blindfold and felt the car moving soon after. Their ride wasn’t a very long one and she soon smelled salt on the air. Parker removed the blindfold and there, in front of them, was the ocean. Waves could be heard gently lapping at the shore when Mark killed the engine.
“Have you ever seen the sea?” Parker asked, watching her and acting like the morning’s events never happened.
“No.”
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Very,” she breathed, unable to lie.
“You are both as sentimental as Jo,” Mark said from the front. “I can’t imagine getting all worked up over water. You might as well go cry over a puddle.”
“Shut-up,” Parker said and waved a hand at him. “I’ve brought a picnic if we get hungry.” He popped the car door and offered a hand to help her. They walked down the beach with sand shifting underfoot and the smell of salt assaulting their nostrils. She was relieved to note there were others on the shore. A family played in the shallows and some children busily constructed a sandcastle. She was content to walk along the edge of the foaming water after she’d removed her shoes. The sand was fine beneath her feet.
Mark carried their basket of food and placed it on a rock. He was never very far, but gave them as much privacy as possible. Parker shadowed her and made small talk about nothing. His endless chatter was becoming all too common and that disturbed her.
Afternoon smiled on the shore by the time Mark reminded them of the food. “She may be shy about eating, but I’m not,” he said as he approached. “I say we have our meal and get out of here.” He turned toward the promise of food.
“I suppose we should eat as well before he finishes it all. Undoubtedly you have come to realize what a nuisance he can prove, but I must keep him around. Do you know why?”
“I assume you keep him for protection.”
“Yes, precisely. He can warn me if other werewolves are coming. There is another reason. Mark can track a person down in seconds.”
“Meaning me?”
“Yes. You will not outrun him, as I’m sure you can imagine.”
“You believe I’ll run?”
“It doesn’t matter what I believe, the fact is that I wouldn’t dare take you out if it weren’t for his presence. Because of his age, his abilities surpass that of the others. I do wish there was a way around it, my girl, I’m sorry.”
With Mark helping, the contents of the basket disappeared quickly and they made their way back not long after.
Chapter 17 - Healing
The next morning, Mark returned with Felix. They pricked her finger with a little needle and discovered she bled. Of course, Parker was desperate to attain her infected blood and ordered she be re-infected everyday. So, each morning, Mark brought Felix and his phone, which was cracked but seemed able to record just fine, and they ensured a fresh werewolf infection coursed through her system.
The new moon loomed ever closer and she sensed it was time to reveal she could in fact pierce her own skin while infected. Her desire to angle things in her favor made her wait. She took comfort in knowing Parker would have little choice but to do as she asked, otherwise, she would simply not give him her blood.
Parker came as he always did one night and she was determined that things work to her advantage. She ate little as she focused on what she wanted to say. The words had been rehearsed in her mind so many times that they wanted flow out all at once.
“You’ve been quieter than usual,” Parker said after a time. He was sitting across the table, eating a helping of spaghetti and meatballs.
“I have been considering what you said about my blood,” she said cautiously. “About how sick children might be healed.”
“There is no question, my girl, they will be healed if we ever find a way to access it. Have you decided to help me find the solution to our little problem?”
“I wish I could know as certainly as you do that it will work.”
“My darling girl,” he started to say and leaned over the table, resting a hand on her arm. Ever since she’d pried her hand from his on the plane, he’d refrained from touching her as if to respect her wishes. She gasped when her skin burned like he held a glowing ember to it. There was a sizzle in the air as she cried out and jerked her arm back. A small, smooth burn showed on her skin and was no bigger than her fingernail. They watched the wound heal before their eyes and Parker held up his hand to study it. He wore a gold band. The smooth surface fit the disappearing mark perfectly. They realized what had happened in the same instant. She tried to stand from her chair when he reached for her arm again, but she was too slow. He yanked her forward with such force that a few dishes fell to the floor with a crash.
“Parker, please wait—”
He pressed his ring to her bare skin and she immediately fought his grasp. Another telling burn formed as she wriggled to be free. He looked over at her and grinned madly. “I knew the secret would come out in time. Why didn’t I think of it? Gold!” He laughed happily and got to his feet. “Felix!” he called out the door and he came.
“Take Miss Rita to her room,” Parker said then left them with a smile, staring at his ring all the time.
She was roused much before the sun rose the next morning. The gray darkness outside was not promising, as if a sign of things to come. Mark had been sent to retrieve her and didn’t give her time to dress from her nightclothes. He held a new phone and grinned like it was his birthday. The toy was set aside just long enough for him to cut her palm with the little pocketknife and spit into the wound, making certain to infect her before they left.
“What are you going to do with that?” she asked when he retrieved his phone.
“I understand Parker stumbled upon your weakness,” he replied. “You know what that means? I can go back to using you as sport.”
Her mouth snapped shut and she remained quiet, recalling her mother saying it was less painful to do as they asked. He took her to a room that did not differ much from the one before. They strapped her to the same kind of horrible chair while Parker busied himself with a tall vile that held gold glitter. Once restrained, she watched him add a pinch of it to a tiny plastic cup that had already been filled with water.
“My girl, please don’t put up a fight,” he said when he came to her side. Mark’s phone was ready to record and she was determined not to dramatize anything. She took the offered water without incident. The gold specks were gritty and burned like boiling water. Her body tensed against the pain as the gold settled in her stomach, spreading like flowering fire.
“I think it worked,” Mark said when he observed her trembling.
Parker’s laugh filled with satanic joy. “At last!”
She squeezed her eyes shut when he took hold of her arm. There was a tight pinch on the inside of her right elbow and he moved to her left and did the same. When she peeked down the needles were connected to tubing which was connected to a plastic pouch. She had donated blood before and the sensation was much the same, aside from the spreading fever. Her blood slowly left her body and she became sleepy and cold. Eventually, even the pain faded as Parker drained every bit he possibly could, switching the bags as needed. She was unconscious before the session was over.
Parker allowed her to recuperate a few days. She’d woken from the event feeling sick and weak, but the burning sensation had passed. When she stumbled to the bathroom her pale reflection startled her and she avoided looking in the mirror after.
There was a coll
ection of iron rich vegetables on a trolley just inside her door. She ate a little, but was too groggy to accomplish much and fell back into bed. She wished, not for the last time, that she had shared her secret before Parker had discovered her weakness.
She wasn’t taken on any excursions as they’d done before. Instead she was kept shut in her room until Mark and Felix came. He had his familiar phone and she wanted to smash the thing to pieces every time she saw it.
“You have some color,” he remarked sarcastically after Felix had gone and they walked down the hall.
“No thanks to you,” she bit back.
“What do you expect? This footage is perfect.”
“There was a time when you were the only person to show me kindness.”
“I was very convincing, wasn’t I? I knew that would get under Jo’s skin.”
Back in the torture sanctuary, Parker gave her the glittering gold to drink and hooked the vampire-like tubes back to her arms. Parker drained her until the only life left was the immortal’s inability to die. She was more than relieved to fall under the comfort of sleep.
They continued taking her blood on a regular basis. She was usually well enough to be alert and conscious for one day before she was taken back. She lost track of the days and the number of times her blood was drained. She was left alone except when Mark came. The more blood they took, the more exhausted she felt each passing day. There was a constant dull ache behind her eyes and her muscles were stiff. She could go for days without even getting out of bed except when absolutely necessary. After a particularly weakening day, she woke to clicking. She saw Mark through her heavy lids. He was using a still camera to take pictures.
“What are you doing?” she asked sleepily and sat up.
“Taking pictures. I thought I might try an actual camera for once. Do you like it?”
“For Tyson?” she asked.
Bright Moon Page 23