A Time To Kill (Elemental Rage Book 1)

by Jeanette Raleigh

  Jade unhooked her belt, “It’s okay Mindy. We just…”

  But it wasn’t okay.

  Because there was a man standing in the van, right next to Mindy. He was semi-transparent, as if the van had gone over him and stopped just where he was standing. Jade felt like screaming when she looked at his face. It was a mass of scars, as if it had melted.

  He reached for Mindy. Jade thought she heard him whisper, “You’re in danger.”

  Jade climbed over the seat and threw herself between the man and her sister. She yelled to Raven, “Go. Get us out of here.”

  Once she had seen the weird ghostly thing in the van, Raven froze. Now she started the van up again, put it into reverse to get straight on the road, and squealing the tires, drove off. Jade fell, hitting her chin against the arm of the seat.

  Claire reached out a hand to steady her sister. Her voice was barely above a whisper when she said, “Sit down.”

  Jade looked around, “Is it gone?”

  Mindy said, “No. He’s here with us.”

  As Raven accelerated, Jade yelled into the darkness, “What do you want? Show yourself.”

  Claire grabbed Jade’s hand, “Jade, stop.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t think we want to know what he wants. Mindy’s afraid of him,” Claire covered her eyes when they screeched around a corner halfway into the other lane. Raven was a terrible driver.

  Mindy shook her head, “Not scared.”

  Muttering under her breath, Claire said, “Well, that’s a first.”

  Jade held up her hands, “Okay, guys. That’s enough.”

  As the sun sank below the horizon, she felt a burning sensation work its way from her neck, spreading out to hands. Jade swallowed hard.

  “Raven, pull over,” Jade watched in horror as her fingernails grew in an instant, sharpening into claws.

  Raven snorted, “In case you haven’t noticed we’re in the middle of nowhere and there aren’t any turn-offs.”

  In a quiet voice, Claire said, “Raven, you need to find a place to stop.”

  When Jade saw the fear in Claire’s eyes, she felt guilty. She reached out her hand to touch Claire’s arm. Claire flinched and pulled away. Jade pulled her hand back, holding it as if she were injured.

  Jade said, “I’m sorry, Claire.”

  Claire shrank away from Jade, unable to reconcile the fangs and teeth with the sister she knew. She said, “Me, too. Are you going to kill us?”

  Jade’s first impulse was to be insulted, to say, no, of course not. But she realized that changes were happening to her, things that she might not have control over. She said, “I’ll try not to. I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

  Her gums hurt, aching as if she’d gotten a piece of popcorn wedged up between her teeth. She ran her tongue along the edge. She was growing fangs.

  Mindy said, “Vampire.”

  Claire tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. Sometimes she just couldn’t help being a smart aleck. Without realizing how bossy she sounded, she said, “Even Mindy knows what’s happening to you.”

  Raven caught Jade’s latest change in the rear view mirror. She accelerated for a few seconds and then realized she’d have to actually drive slower if she was going to find a place to turn off in the dark.

  When no one spoke for several minutes, Raven said, “Well, this is awkward.”

  “What should I do?” Jade rarely asked her sisters for advice, especially Raven whose behavior wasn’t always something Jade agreed with or would emulate.

  Raven said, “For starters, keep your teeth to yourself.” It was one of those honest jests, on the border between offensive and completely spot-on.

  Licking a fang with her tongue, Jade’s mind made the leap from disbelief to belief. She was a vampire. She sat back, shocked. “Raven?”

  “Uh-huh?” Raven asked as she turned down a gravel road lined on either side with trees. She found a nice wide space for parking next to a creek that fishermen used and parked there.

  “Is this permanent?” Jade felt sick to her stomach. The churning worry that she had become a monster ate at her from the inside out. She could actually see the blood pumping through her sister’s bodies, as if she had some weird infrared goggles that could image blood instead of heat. The worst was that the blood smelled like food, like a cheeseburger or maybe more like a blackberry pie. It smelled sweet.

  Raven didn’t have an answer. She didn’t even have a guess. With her sister looking like she swapped mouths with a snake, Raven figured the more pertinent question was whether her sister would want to bite them all in the meantime.

  She took the coward’s way out. Raven said, “We’ll call Bertha tomorrow. She will know. You’re not hungry or anything, are you? I mean, we’ll all survive the night?”

  “No.” Mindy said from her seat in the window.

  They were sitting in the dark in the middle of nowhere. Jade had to admit that Mindy might be right. Although, she hoped that somehow she could fight this strange assault on her body, the hunger built in her stomach and on the back of her tongue like a slow burn. She heard her sisters’ hearts beating, felt their blood as if it were her own.

  It wasn’t fair. She felt betrayed. Her fingers shouldn’t look like they belonged on Cat Woman. She didn’t even enjoy manicures. Why would she need such long fingernails?

  It was at that moment that the shadow reappeared. This time with the van stopped, Claire who was nearest to the van door, unbuckled her seatbelt and dove to get out, pushing the door open as fast and as hard as she could.

  The shadow seemed to grab Claire’s arm…or at least it wanted to, but its hand went right through her arm.

  “No, don’t leave,” it said.

  Claire popped off Mindy’s seatbelt. “Come on Min Min. We need to get out.”

  Mindy shook her head.

  Jade closed her eyes. The shadow somehow hurt them. It felt familiar, like she should know it somehow. Her sisters couldn’t see how bright he was. Jade hoped her eyes would adjust and opened them again with a squint.

  The shadow said, “Un-invite her. Hurry.”

  Raven and Claire exchanged a glance. Jade could see the debate sparking in silence between the two sisters. They knew exactly what the shadowy figure wanted. Jade wondered what would happen when Raven said the words. It would be Raven. She was the sister most likely to run wild. She wouldn’t think twice about throwing Jade out into the cold.

  No one was more surprised than Jade when Mindy said the words, “Jade uninvited.”

  She felt a pressure in the depths of her being, like a terrified hysteria that threatened to unravel her whole body. Jade fought against the feeling, trying her best to stay in the van, to block the stranger from Mindy.

  When she glanced at Mindy, Jade lost the battle. Mindy’s lower lip quivered, her eyes locked on Jade in terror. Jade fought the intense need to leave the van. This was all a huge mistake. She said, “Mindy, are you afraid of me?”

  Mindy nodded.

  That was all Jade needed to hear. The fight lost, she scrambled for the van door, wrenching it open as she fell onto the gravel. The night was cold and clear. The sound of the water from the creek chuckled in the distance, laughing its way down the mountainside while Jade stood outside the van, feeling alone.

  Mindy’s face was pressed to the window. She was watching Jade. Jade raised her hand. Mindy didn’t wave back.

  Another wave of changes hit and Jade collapsed with a cry. She felt as if someone had electrocuted her. Her body convulsed. Jade opened her eyes and found that she was watching herself from a distance. She could see the shadow standing in the middle of the van, a strange flickering light, and she knew it to be a disembodied soul, just like herself.

  From her vantage point, she could see her own body. It was hers, but something had taken it from her, another being controlled it now, and she watched while the beast in her body circled the van, trying to find a way in. As she floated in the trees
, Jade knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that if her sisters opened that van door, that creature who took her place would rip them out of the car and devour them.

  Jade had never found her place among the elements. She searched for Air, Water, Earth, and Fire, but none answered.

  She cried out, “Please help me! Tell me what to do.”

  No one answered.

  ~~ Raven ~~

  Raven hardly knew what to think when Jade pushed her way outside, fangs bared with a low growl in her throat. Raven didn’t think Jade even knew she was making a sound. What bothered her the most was the sad look in Jade’s eyes, at odds with the animal sounds she made as she thrust the door open.

  Claire was in the back seat, shrinking away from the shadow still standing in the center of the van. Oddly enough, Mindy was the only sister not frightened by the ghastly figure.

  Raven sat in the driver’s seat and wondered what to do next. The engine was still running and the headlights on. Raven turned off the van. She couldn’t very well leave Jade alone in the woods, vampire or not.

  A banging on the driver’s side door startled Raven. From the back, Claire screamed. Raven shot out of her seat, but she was still wearing her seatbelt. She scrambled to take it off. A dark face pressed against the window. Raven could hardly see in the dark, but she knew it was Jade.

  Jade’s voice was a howl, “Let me in.”

  Mindy started crying. She said, “Raven, don’t.”

  The van was dark. Raven listened to Mindy’s whimpers, and Claire’s fearful moan. Raven was in charge now. She said, “They say that vampires have to be invited. Whatever happens, don’t invite Jade in.”

  The banging on the driver’s seat door didn’t let up. Neither did Mindy’s crying. Raven couldn’t see Jade clearly, only her shadow. She fought with her seatbelt. When it came clear, she grabbed the keys out of the ignition and shoved them in her jacket pocket.

  She climbed over the console. Somehow sitting in that seat while Jade was on the other side of the door was just too scary. Raven released Mindy’s seatbelt, “Climb into the back seat with Claire.”

  There was a time in the not-so-distant past when such an invitation would have triggered a series of complaints and snide remarks from Claire. She held her arms open and Mindy nestled in next to her. Claire said, “It’s okay, Mindy. It’ll be okay.”

  Raven leaned over the seat to the suitcases and duffel bags in the back. She started pulling things out. There were three full-sized fleece blankets in the back. Mom was big on emergency kits. Now Raven understood why. She wondered if her parents had known about monsters. All those years and no one thought to mention that vampires were real.

  “Raven?”

  Mindy’s voice was small. Raven hated the sudden weight of responsibility.

  “Yes, Mindy?” Raven tried to be calm, to speak without the frantic fear she felt.

  “Jade.” Mindy’s finger pointed to the window. Raven couldn’t see anything outside. The windows outside the van were so dark.

  Claire turned on the flashlight and pointed it to the window right next to her head. She screeched when Jade’s face appeared, her bloodshot eyes and lips peeled back over inch-long fangs. She was scarier than any vampire they had fought against at the house, maybe because she wore Jade’s face. Mindy grabbed Claire’s arm, yelling, “Off. Off. Off.”

  Claire flipped the flashlight off her whole body shaking, “I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s off.”

  Raven pulled out the blankets, dragging them into the seat. Now Claire and Mindy were hunched together in the middle of the backseat, not wanting to get too close to the window.

  Raven’s heart rapped against her ribs in a staccato tempo that said, “Run. Hurry. Run.” She forced herself to close her eyes. There wasn’t much difference between the darkness with her eyes open and the darkness with her eyes closed, but she needed to calm down. Her first impulse was to flee. Take the van and leave Jade behind.

  Drawing in a deep breath, she said, “If I remember vampire lore right, Jade can’t come in. We’re in essence living in the car for now, which makes it a dwelling place. We’re safe. Let’s change into our pajamas and sleep. We’ll look for Jade in the morning.”

  Claire took a shuddering breath, “I’m not sure I can sleep. I think I’ll be afraid of Jade for the rest of my life.”

  Mindy, her body pressed up against Claire’s arm and her own arms wrapped tightly around her sister said, “Jade gone.”

  Claire kept one arm wrapped around her sister’s shoulders while she turned the flashlight back on, “I’m actually relieved.”

  But Jade wasn’t gone. Her face hovered just on the other side of the van, waiting, a predator lying in wait, “Mindy, she’s still there.”

  Claire didn’t turn off the flashlight right away. Somehow it was easier knowing where the monster was. Mindy stared into Jade’s eyes. She shook her head against Claire’s arm, “Jade gone.”

  Raven hated seeing those cold animal eyes coming from her sister’s face. Jade didn’t look like Jade. She wasn’t there anymore. She said, “I think Mindy’s right. That’s not Jade. Please turn off the flashlight.”

  Claire flipped it off. She said, “How do we get her back?”

  Raven didn’t have an answer.

  This time, Jade howled and pounded against the side of the van. Raven ignored the sound, pulling up Mindy’s duffel bag. Ignoring Claire’s questions, she said, “Can I see the flashlight for a second?”

  Claire hesitated, but handed it over. Raven was grateful. She didn’t want to start a sister fight in the middle of this craziness. She found Mindy’s pajamas and then handed them and the flashlight to Claire, “Help Mindy change. I’ll look for your bag.”

  “Mom kept another flashlight in the netting behind the driver’s seat,” Claire said. She jammed the flashlight into the corner of the seat and turned it on. It fell, but the ambient light was strong enough that she could help Mindy change.

  “Come on, Mindy. Let’s get ready for bed,” Claire said.

  Raven suddenly remembered the shadow man, “Wait, where did that creepy shadow guy go?”

  He had disappeared once Jade was outside the van. Somehow they had forgotten about him when Jade had turned feral. Mindy said, “Gone.”

  Raven narrowed her eyes, trying to see in the hidden recesses of the van. Seeing a shadow in the shadows that could walk through solid objects wasn’t comforting. She hoped he really was gone. Mindy was the one to answer. She pointed outside the van, “Gone.”

  Of course Mindy said the same about Jade, and whether Jade’s soul was there or not, her vampiric body certainly hovered outside ready to attack.

  “Do you think he’s some creepy perv who will watch us undress?” Claire asked while she helped Mindy out of her t-shirt.

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Raven said. She moved to the space behind the driver’s seat and sat down, reaching for the net with all of the junk that somehow gets stored in little slots like that. She pulled out a bracelet that Claire had made, a beanie bear, a small book, and a clean handkerchief before finding the tiny pen light.

  “He’s a good shadow,” Claire said, “He was trying to warn us about Jade. That’s why Mindy wasn’t afraid.”

  “Maybe,” Raven wasn’t big on trust.

  She found the last two bags and got their pajamas. Handing Claire a couple of pillows, Raven put a pillow on her own seat. No matter where she was in the van, Raven felt a sharp tension between her shoulder blades. She knew Jade was watching. Claire and Mindy curled up together in the back seat, as close as a pair of baby bunnies. She was in the middle seat. Raven was wearing her pink sweats and a black “Introverts Unite” t-shirt.

  The night was endless. Jade stopped pounding on the side of the van, and for a long period it was quiet. Claire and Mindy settled in, their breathing regular. Raven stared out of the window, not that she could see anything. The whole world was dark.

  Raven’s mind flitted back and f
orth across the dozens of stories she’d read or watched about vampires. They all had something to say about the killing of vampires…garlic, stakes, beheadings, sunlight. Not a one said anything about how to reverse vampirism. She stared into the darkness and wondered if she had lost her sister forever.

  Chapter 11

  ~~ Mindy ~~

  Jade was in the air. Mindy felt her floating above the van, but even asleep, Mindy couldn’t talk to her sister. An animal had moved into Jade’s body. It was an evil thing. Mindy might not have the proper words, but she knew. She knew.

  The shadow was gone, but he had left instructions. Mindy had to find a way to tell her sisters. Jade needed to come down from the sky. She needed help from her Element, but Jade didn’t have an Element. At least, not that Mindy had ever seen. The shadow man seemed to think she did. Mindy had to find her Element and bring her back. Not just the Element, though.

  The Death Keepers had bottles that held the secrets of the universe, bottles that were special. They could kill the vampire inside Jade and bring Jade back. Mindy saw the map. She had to remember, remember, remember. Town on map. Mindy saw the church, not just a church, but one that belonged to the Keepers.

  Mindy needed to find one of the bottles and fill it with water never touched by human hands and purified in the four Elements. Jade must drink the water and bathe in Fire.

  Mindy had to remember. That was the most important thing. In Mindy’s dreams she ran from the beast that stole Jade. When she woke up, the sun was shining in the window and she had to go to the bathroom, but she was in the van.

  “Have to pee,” Mindy said. She was tangled up with Claire. Good thing she didn’t have an accident last night. Claire would never forgive her.

  Claire groaned, “Mindy, we can’t go outside. It’s not safe.”

  Raven checked outside each of the windows, looking for Jade. “It’s daylight. Vampires can’t survive sunlight.”

  “Do you want to go out there?” Claire asked. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.