by Jayme Morse
When she rang the doorbell, the door was quickly flung open and her father stared back at her. His eyes were bloodshot, as though he had been crying.
“Dad? What’s wrong?” Lexi asked, stepping inside the house and wrapping her arms around her father in a tight hug. She didn’t know what was wrong, but she hated to see her father this way because he generally didn’t show much emotion when things went wrong. He was one of the strongest and bravest people she knew.
“They’re gone, Lexi,” her father mumbled, his voice sounding more monotone than usual. “It’s all my fault. They’re gone.”
“What are you talking about?” Lexi questioned, pulling back and narrowing her eyes at him. “Who’s gone?”
“Darlene, Erica, and Connor. That’s why I called you a few days ago, asking if you’ve talked to Darlene recently. When I got back to the house, they weren’t home, and Darlene had promised me that they would be home on Erica’s birthday, which was a few days ago.” Her father took a deep breath. “I’ve been looking for them ever since, but I can’t find them anywhere.”
Lexi hesitated before asking, “Do you think Darlene took them from you? Maybe she kidnapped them.” She hated to use the word ‘kidnapped’ to explain what she meant; if Darlene had taken Erica and Connor away, it was probably in the kids’ best interest.
Since Erica and Connor were half-Hunter, there was a chance that they could have the same blood as Lexi and Mary-Kate—the type that could save people from Wilkins’ Syndrome. Even though no one knew if Erica and Connor could save people for sure, if the vampires of Briar Creek ever found out that they were half-Hunter, they would want to put them to the test. The vampires would come after them for their blood eventually, too. It was surprising to Lexi that the people of Briar Creek hadn’t somehow found out about them yet.
“I don’t think Darlene would have done something like that,” her father said, shaking his head, as Dan and Austin came into the house. “We always said we would stick together if something happened. She would have at least told me if she was planning to take them somewhere. Besides, it was Darlene who wanted to keep them in Briar Creek most of the time. The only reason we have this second house is so I can visit them without needing to worry about everyone figuring out my whereabouts.”
Her dad paused, seeming to consider everything. “Even though our lives can be confusing at times, we do have a happy marriage for the most part, you know?” He sighed and seemed to take Lexi in for the first time. “I’m sorry. I don’t need to talk to you about my marital status. You’re my daughter, not my therapist.”
“It’s okay, Dad. I don’t mind,” Lexi said honestly, knowing that her father probably felt bad for talking about his marriage with his new wife because things hadn’t worked out between him and her mom. But Lexi knew that her father had wanted things to work out with her mom; her mom was the one who hadn’t wanted him to have any involvement in her—or Lexi’s—life.
Her dad smiled. “You really are a great daughter, kiddo. I’ll spare you the details, though. All I’m really saying is that I know Darlene didn’t take the kids.”
“What do you think happened to them, then?” Austin questioned.
“Someone was here,” Lexi’s dad said firmly. “I don’t know who it was, but they were here . . . and they took them.”
Lexi hugged her arms around her jacket. Suddenly, she felt very cold. “We need to go find them, then. We can’t just sit around here and do nothing.” She headed for the door and glanced over her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Chapter 14
“Where are we going, Mary-Kate?” Gabe asked. His hands were still cuffed behind his back, and while he felt like he was strong enough to probably break through the metal now, a part of him knew that it wasn’t even worth it. Mary-Kate had already shown him the can of gasoline and the matches that she had in the back seat of the car. She’d threatened to light them if he acted out, or if he didn’t do what she wanted him to do.
Even though he was beginning to regain his strength now that he had drank from Mary-Kate once, Gabe still felt completely vulnerable.
Slamming her foot on the gas pedal, Mary-Kate glanced over at him, and her lips tilted into a wide smile. “You’ll find out soon enough. The short answer is we’re going to ruin Lexi Hunter’s perfect little family.”
Gabe held in the sigh that he wanted to let out. As much as he knew that none of this was Lexi’s fault, he found himself wanting to blame her for everything. If she only just agreed to save the town—without them trying to kill her—they wouldn’t have go through this, and Gabe could be with Caroline.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, though, Gabe knew that Lexi couldn’t have helped save the town of Briar Creek without them killing her. He’d had plenty of visions that had shown him what would happen if she attempted it.
Gabe sighed. All he wanted to do was get to Caroline. He had debated going back to Dan Nichols’ parents’ house once he finally freed himself of Mary-Kate. Gabe knew it would be a waste of time, though. Caroline wouldn’t be at the house anymore, anyway. Even though Gabe wasn’t sure how long he had been gone, he did know that it was probably long enough for Caroline to have started her semester at Juilliard.
Gabe had to go to New York if he was going to find Caroline.
A part of him was beginning to wonder if Caroline really believed that Kevin was him. Even worse, he wondered where Kevin was right now. Gabe doubted that Kevin would be in New York with her. Kevin wasn’t the type to stay in a relationship long. He normally scared girls away pretty quickly with his sometimes psychotic behavior. Plus, he had seemed really enthusiastic about drinking from Lexi, who was probably still at the Nichols’ house. Gabe wasn’t sure where else Lexi would go now that Huntington had burnt to the ground, except for maybe her father’s house.
Of course, that was all assuming that she was still alive.
Mary-Kate came to an abrupt stop and pulled into a parking lot. Gabe glanced at where she was parking, and he quickly realized where it was they were going.
Briar Creek.
Gabe hadn’t wanted to come back here any time soon. Even though he had lived in Briar Creek for most of his life, the memories of the town were beginning to haunt him. That wasn’t even to mention the fact that if he went back there, the vampires who were still left would probably try to come after him. They would be convinced that he knew of Lexi’s whereabouts, since he had been involved with her before he and Austin had helped her skip town.
Briar Creek was still home to Mary-Kate, which was probably why she was taking him back there. Maybe she just needed to stop and get some things, but she would probably threaten to tell the other vampires he was there if he didn’t agree to whatever she wanted him to do.
Mary-Kate’s current control over Gabe made him feel sick to his stomach. And it wasn’t because he wasn’t used to being controlled by another person; the problem was that he had been controlled and manipulated in the past. Rhonda had controlled him, and the day Lexi had killed Rhonda, it had been a relief to know that he was no longer under someone else’s control—that he could finally be himself again.
But now he was back in the same exact situation again. Well, maybe he was. Even though Mary-Kate was threatening to kill him, all he needed to do was find a way to outsmart her. At least she didn’t have control over his mind the way Rhonda had, and physically, Gabe had some advantage over Mary-Kate.
“Get out of the car, Gabe,” Mary-Kate said as she turned off the ignition. She glanced over at him, a serious look on her face. “We’re going to be walking the rest of the way . . . after I show you what’s inside the trunk. I suppose you can say it’s a present.”
A bad feeling formed in the pit of his stomach, as Gabe glanced over at her with wide eyes. Unsure of what her “present” could be, he reluctantly climbed out of the car and onto the black pavement. He walked to the back of the car, waiting for Mary-Kate.
“Wait till you see what’s inside. Or
who’s inside, I guess I should say,” Mary-Kate said with a devilish grin, before opening the trunk. As it popped open, the scent of garlic wafted into Gabe’s nostrils. The scent was strong, and it made his eyes burn.
Gabe gasped when he saw the three bodies that were inside the trunk; it was a woman with dark curly hair and two children, who were slumped against her. They were all blindfolded with their wrists and ankles tied with rope, but it didn’t take Gabe long to figure out who they were—Lexi’s stepmom, Darlene, and her two half-siblings, Erica and Connor.
A knot tightened in his stomach, and he turned to Mary-Kate. “You didn’t.”
“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong, Gabe. I did. I so did,” Mary-Kate said, as she laughed sinisterly.
“How long have you had them in there?” Gabe questioned, as he realized how crazy Mary-Kate actually was.
“Oh, don’t worry about them,” Mary-Kate said with a hand wave. “I’ve had them for a few days, but they haven’t been in the trunk this whole time. I put them in there when we left this morning. They were in the same abandoned building I was keeping you in the rest of the time.” She glanced up at him. Noting his concern, she rolled her eyes. “And don’t worry. I’ve been feeding them and watering them and all that. I wasn’t trying to kill them. They would be of no use to me if they were already dead.”
“What do you mean if they were already dead?” Gabe asked. “You’re not planning to kill them, are you?”
“I’m not,” Mary-Kate replied with a smile. “But they’ll probably die, anyway. You’re going to help me walk the kids to the Briar Creek town square, where we’re going to offer their blood up to everyone with Wilkins’ Syndrome, including my mother. She gets to drink first, since she’s very close to death.”
Gabe could feel his own jaw drop. Was Mary-Kate really that sick that she would feed these kids to a bunch of vampires who were like hungry lions, desperate for their blood?
When Gabe met her eyes, and noticed how serious she looked, he knew the answer. She was serious. She was dead serious.
“Come on, Gabe,” Mary-Kate said. “Help me get them out of the trunk. They’re too heavy for me to move on my own. I’m not sure how I even managed to get them in the trunk in the first place.”
Gabe didn’t hesitate to do what she said. He reached into the trunk and pulled Lexi’s sister out first and then her brother, setting them both carefully down on the ground. Gabe felt bad about the fact that they had all been squished together inside the trunk; it was probably difficult for them to breathe in there, and he knew that they were probably cold since it was still winter.
Once the kids were standing on the ground, with their eyes still covered by the blindfolds and terrified looks on their faces, Gabe reached into the car to help Darlene out of the car, when Mary-Kate batted at his hand.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, eyeing him accusingly. “Darlene is staying in the trunk.”
“But we can’t just leave her here,” Gabe protested, feeling a twinge of guilt about leaving the woman there while her kids might be killed.
“Why can’t we, Gabe? It’s not like she’ll even know she’s inside the trunk the whole time. She’s not even conscious. Like you, Darlene has a garlic allergy, and there’s plenty of garlic inside the trunk,” Mary-Kate said with a proud grin.
Gabe raised his eyebrows at her. “How do you know that? That she and I have garlic allergies? It’s not like it’s even that common.”
“All it took was a little snooping through the hospital’s patient records,” Mary-Kate explained, waving her hand in the air. “They keep a list of all the patients who have needed to be hospitalized due to an interaction with garlic. It was pretty easy to find, luckily. I needed some way to control the both of you.” She glanced down inside the trunk. “Anyway, Darlene Hunter is out like a light. Besides, it’s not like she can die, anyway. Not from that, at least.” Mary-Kate pushed the trunk closed and then turned to Gabe. “Now, come on. Let’s start walking. It’s getting late.”
Gabe was about to protest. He was going to tell Mary-Kate that he didn’t need to do what she said, but he noticed the stake that she held behind her back. All it would take was one wrong move on his part, and she would try to shove it through his heart.
Not that it would necessarily work. Gabe was stronger than her. Even if she tried to stab him with the stake, chances were, he would be able to defend himself from her. It’s not like the girl was on steroids.
But there was always the chance that Mary-Kate might actually be able to hurt him—that, by some chance, she might somehow overcome his physical strength and kill him. Like Lexi, she might have the vampire hunting gene; she might be able to kill them with ease. What worried him more than Mary-Kate trying to hurt him, though, was the fact that she might try to hurt Connor and Erica.
As long as Gabe was with them, he would be able to keep them safe. He felt like he owed it to Lexi to keep her brother and sister out of harm’s way, especially after what he’d done to Justin. Gabe knew that he would never be able to bring Justin back and that it was something he would have to live with for the rest of his life, but if there was a chance that he could do something to try to make up for it, he had to take that chance.
No, Gabe had to be the stronger one here. The only way he was going to die would be if it was to protect Connor and Erica.
Mary-Kate pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and met Gabe’s eyes. “I’ll take your handcuffs off, just as long as you promise to be good.”
“I will be,” Gabe promised. He wasn’t even lying to her. He wouldn’t go anywhere or do anything that could put the kids in danger. Even so, he had to figure out a plan before it was too late. Gabe hated to think about what would happen once Mary-Kate announced to the whole town that there were other Hunter children, and that they were here.
What made him sicker than anything else was that these weren’t just some random kids she was planning to feed to the vampires. These weren’t just Lexi’s half-siblings. They were Mary-Kate’s, too.
Mary-Kate studied his face for a moment, as though she were trying to decide if he was lying or not, before she reluctantly unlocked his handcuffs.
Once his hands were free, Gabe flexed his wrists. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since his hands had been free, but he was relieved to finally have the handcuffs off.
Gabe took a step closer to Erica and took her hand, which was trembling, in his. She faced him, even though he knew she couldn’t see him through blindfold, and whispered, “Where are we going?”
Mary-Kate laughed mercilessly. “You’ll find out soon, Erica.” She began her way down the street and motioned for Gabe to follow after her. “Come on, you guys.”
Gabe placed his other hand on Connor’s shoulder to guide him. Once Mary-Kate was far enough ahead of them that he was sure she was out of earshot, Gabe whispered, “You guys are going to be okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.”
Even though Connor and Erica didn’t say anything in response, Gabe could tell from the way the tension in their bodies eased up that he had been able to calm them down a bit.
Once they approached the town square, Mary-Kate glanced over her shoulder at them. “I need to go get my mother. She’s in the nursing home a block away.” She hesitated a moment, tapping her finger against her chin. “Do I trust you to stay here with them? I think you might try to run off.”
Gabe decided that it was time to plead with her, even if it was just because he needed some way to stall her. “Mary-Kate, you can’t do this.”
“Yes, I can, Gabe. And I will,” Mary-Kate said, frowning at him. “I thought you promised you were going to be good.”
“I’m going to be good,” Gabe insisted. “There has to be some way you can let them live, though. Just tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it. Anything.”
Mary-Kate tapped her finger against her chin for a moment before her lips tilted into a small smile. “Actual
ly, Gabe . . . yes, there is something you can do to save them. But you’ll have to act quickly. The time left to save my mom is running out.”
Gabe braced himself, knowing that whatever Mary-Kate would say next wouldn’t be easy, but it didn’t matter. He would do whatever it was, as long as it meant he could try to win back Lexi’s trust.
Chapter 15
Anna tried to close the filing cabinet drawer, hoping that no one would catch her rummaging through Greg Lawrence AKA Geoff’s file. She had to get out of the office and call Lexi to let her know what she’d just found out.
Even though Anna had known that Greg Lawrence was a crazy, deranged person, he had never done anything to hurt her personally. Not that she knew of until now, anyway.
Just thinking about it made her livid. Now that Anna knew who had killed her mother, she wasn’t going to give up on getting her revenge anymore. She was going to make sure that Greg Lawrence would pay for what he had done.
Before she had the chance to stuff the folder inside the drawer, she heard Darius ask, “What are you doing in here, Anna?”
Anna froze in place. She was busted.
Slowly, she turned around to face Darius. Anna felt guilty about snooping through his files, but she also hoped that he would be able to understand if she explained. He had loved her mother, after all, so surely he wanted to know more about the vampire who had murdered her. “I was just . . . I looked through your files to learn more about my mother,” Anna offered lamely. Holding up the folder, she added, “And I found this.”
Darius motioned to the folder. “What is that, exactly?”
“It’s Geoff’s file,” Anna explained, remaining rooted in place. “Except his name isn’t really Geoff.”
“What do you mean his name isn’t really Geoff? Of course his name is Geoff.” Darius narrowed his eyes at her, and Anna was pretty sure that she noted a look of coldness in them—a look that she had never seen in them before, and she began to feel uneasy.