Susan smiled. “Listen to me,” she began, her eyes boring into Julia's. “I am not like them. But you know that, don't you?”
Julia didn't answer. She was not going to cooperate with any of this.
“I am human...”
“Yeah, whatever. You work for them. That's all the info I need.”
“Who do you think got soup down your throat? Bathed you? Put clothes on you?”
Julia looked at her in horror. She touched her when she was unconscious. Julia studied her closely. There was something... almost familiar about her.
Memories assaulted her in a torrent. Being in a tub and floating. This woman washing her... ugh. Julia thought of the intimacy all that entailed and wanted to throw up. She remembered the food that she'd been spoon fed woodenly. She'd wanted to die.
She still did.
Susan looked at her, watching the emotions and thought processes flood her face, filling it with recognition and understanding.
She nodded. “You remember.”
“Yes,” Julia replied through clenched teeth.
“Not a very grateful sort, are you?”
Julia tore her thin arm free, her legs trembling. “I didn't ask for anyone to care for me,” she said in a fierce voice, the first, hot tears falling. “You should have let me die. That's all I want. I want to die.”
Susan was moved with compassion. This waif with such bottled up emotion and aggression had lost too much. They would have to start from nothing with her.
Ground zero.
Susan crossed her arms and stared at Julia, who glared back, raising a hand to move her tangled hair behind her ear.
“Well, my dear, you're not going to die. On the contrary, my job is to get you living and healthy for transport.”
Despite her commitment to be contrary, Julia heard herself ask, “Transport... where?” her lip quivered, on the brink of crying harder.
“Seattle. You were acquired by that coven.”
Julia's vision wavered, tripling. She began to fall and Susan screamed, “William!”
Suddenly she was held in arms of warm steel. Julia's heart slowed and her body calmed, her body's chemistry lulled by his closeness. Just before she crossed the threshold into unconsciousness her mind told her what she feared most.
Blood share, her body a traitor to her mind.
Somehow, she was connected to her captor. Whether she wanted to be or not.
Julia faded, the tailspin of knowledge following her down into the spiral of her dreams of before.
CHAPTER 5
consequence
Truman looked from one to the other of them and sighed. “Listen kids...” he ripped a hand through his already disheveled hair. “I believe you tried to do the right thing, but Caldwell...” he spread his palms away from his body.
Jason dropped his eyes, his hands gripped in Julia's. He hadn't meant to kill Terrell. But... when he saw him shoot at Julia, something profound and primitive had kicked in. All he could think of was eliminating the threat.
Eliminating Terrell.
So he did. Terrell was gonna kill her. A red veil had descended, clouding his vision, clouding his mind. It hadn't lifted until the cops had pulled him off Terrell.
Four of them.
At least they'd let him wash off. Wash Terrell off him. He'd had blood splatter and gore wrist-deep. His stomach churned a little with the memory.
Now he and Julia were in the police station, making noise about self-defense. The cop might look like a rumpled dishrag but his eyes were sharp, sharp like the bald eagles that flew outside the windows. Those eyes tracked him like the majestic bird, equal parts wise and aware, missing nothing.
“You're of age, son. It doesn't matter that you were still technically a student. We know you're over eighteen. Hell... you're almost nineteen, aren't ya?” When Jason nodded, he continued, “So is your girl here.” His gaze went to Julia and Jason tensed. The cop took that in, wondering about the extreme protectiveness of the kid, it struck him as noteworthy. If he could be called a kid. He looked like a man to Truman, all height and muscle mass. A jock.
The girl was the opposite. She had a sullen and fiery cast to her but she was a tiny thing, different coloring, all champagne and... those eyes, he thought, repressing a shudder. They were like a cat's, spun gold. They followed him with an intensity that was unsettling. He cleared his throat. “As you know, the teacher was the one that brandished and fired a weapon. You may be able to get off with counseling. But, your reaction wasn't typical and there will be some accountability for that.”
Jason nodded and Julia stifled a sigh. She'd never get the image of their teacher's brains on the floor out of her mind. The bigger question would always be: why? Why did he try to shoot her?
As if reading her mind, Detective Truman asked, “Is there some reason Terrell would commit violence against you, Julia?”
Her face showed her confusion, Truman thought. She didn't know either. He'd do some digging and see what was what. Try to make sense of the senseless.
His eyes flicked to Jason. “Your parents have made your bail. And,” he waggled a finger, “I wouldn't skip town, pal.”
Jason almost laughed. Like he'd leave Julia.
Ever.
He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. He stood to leave, pulling her with him.
His last thought as he left the building was that their elopement plans were screwed. With a grim face, he pulled Julia behind him, his parent's car parked in front of the broad concrete steps of the precinct.
The storm on his dad's face told him what the next few days would be like. The barometric pressure was dropping as it moved in.
*
Jason
It was a tense drive on the way to Julia's house, his parents were glancing back at them in the rear view mirror surreptitiously. He wanted to comfort Julia more than he wanted to worry about a lecture from them. Forget that he'd almost been killed himself, that he'd protected Julia... maybe more kids. It was all about image. And he had tarnished theirs. He was so pissed he could spit. It'd be so great once he and Julia were safely in Anchorage, married and beginning their life together. His parents could piss up a rope. He'd accomplished everything they wanted, they needed to get off his dick about it.
Julia interrupted his thoughts with a small noise and he looked down at her, a small bundle in the cradle of his arms. He was instantly alarmed.
Delayed shock.
Great timing, they were just pulling up to her front door, her Aunt Lily waiting on the top step, wrapping a thin cardigan around herself, her hands fisting the material in a death-clench. She skipped down the stairs, making a war path for their car.
Before Jason could properly shield Julia, Lily had torn open the door, putting her hands on Julia.
“Don't, Lily,” Jason said, meeting her tense and angry eyes.
“You don't tell me what to do. I almost lost my niece today. The one that you were taking care of.” She said that last like an accusation and it made Jason's heart clench in his chest. He had taken care of her. The best he could. He didn't need this right now.
Julia didn't need it.
He looked down at Julia, her skin clammy and pale, her breathing rapid.
“What's wrong with her?” Lily asked in a panic.
“She's in shock,” Harold Caldwell said.
Jason sighed. “Please move, I'll carry her into the house and get her in a supine position.”
Thankfully, she backed away and Jason unfolded his body outside the car, swiveling Julia as he went, swinging her up into his arms.
“Jason,” she said, her eyes fluttering open. They widened and she said, “They're coming... the wolves and... the blood... blood...”
“What is she saying?” Shelia Caldwell asked.
Jason shook his head, puzzled. “I don't think it's anything. She's in shock, getting her lying down is key here, Mom.” Jason's eyes left the loose group of adults and he strode to the house, toeing open the u
nlatched front door. He pegged the first sofa he saw and brought a still and pale Julia to it, laying her down gently. He swiped a hair from her forehead and kissed it. She felt cool. He wasn't leaving until she was okay. She was far from okay, he thought as he looked at her.
“Stay away from here, Jason,” Lily yelled, huffing into the room.
“I don't think this is helping things...” Shelia said, her hands fluttering helplessly in front of her.
Lily gave her a withering look of such contempt that Shelia took a step back. “Don't tell me what is helpful or what is not. What would you even know about suffering... challenges, anything? Eh?” Seeing Shelia's helpless expression she said, “That's what I thought. Go home to your fancy house and your comforts and leave me and my niece alone.”
Harold Caldwell looked down his nose at Lily Wade. She was beneath him. He had suffered the relationship between Julia and Jason, knowing it was a high school sweetheart thing. Jason would see that she was all wrong for him and dump her when he was attending college. This incident might prove to be the perfect break for the relationship.
It put Harold in good spirits. Magnanimous spirits.
“We understand, Lily. Of course we'll leave you here to comfort Julia.” He smiled the first genuine smile of the day since hearing the wretched and humiliating news of his son's involvement in the shooting. He began to back out of the house when he caught sight of Jason moving back toward the couch. He pursed his lips into a thin line.
“Jason,” he commanded in a low tone.
Jason didn't even turn. “What?” His eyes on Julia's pale face, her lips tinged blue.
“Let's go.”
“No,” Jason said, his eyes steady on Harold's.
Lily's head snapped up. She wasn't having this big guy in her house. This kid that Julia was gone over.
This family! How dare they try to bulldoze their way in her house, force their involvement. She picked up the nearest phone, her finger hovering above the number nine. “Don't make me call the police,” she threatened Jason in a low voice.
Jason couldn't believe this was happening. The hell with this! He walked right back over to the couch and scooped Julia up in his arms, her soft moaning twisting something inside his chest.
Without mercy.
“Put her down, Jason!” his dad yelled. Their eyes met again.
“No. I don't give two shits and an eff what you guys do. I'm an adult and everyone needs to back right the hell off.”
He'd never talked to his dad that way. It was long-past due.
Lily stabbed the numbers in the phone and Shelia tore it out of her hand and jammed it into the receiver. “Please,” her voice trembled, “let's discuss this.”
Lily looked at them like they'd gone insane.
“Listen here, Jason. I posted your bail. I am responsible for you until that hearing, where you'll be found innocent. Until then, don't jeopardize this with your he-man stunts. Leave that girl where she belongs. NOW.” Harold planted his hands on his hips and stared at Jason.
A loud ticking from the clock on the wall reverberated around the room, the moment swelling unbearably around them, the tension a living breathing thing.
Jason wanted to scream so badly his eyes burned with frustrated unshed tears. He turned away from them, blinking fiercely, feeling like he was betraying her.
Betraying Julia.
He laid her back down on the couch, her eyelashes like soot against chalky cheeks and turned before he wrapped her up against him again. Saying nothing, he stalked out of the house, shouldering past his dad and almost knocking him over.
He looked up as the cold air hit him, the clouds roiling above him, the look of their charcoal anger exactly matching his.
CHAPTER 6
existing
Julia sullenly took another spoonful of soup. After a week of suffering through liquids, she'd finally been upgraded to soup with meat. Susan was the cook too. Versatile gal.
If Julia was honest with herself, she had to admit that Susan was a saint. But she was not here to make friends. Every day she thought of how she could get away, each day she wanted away from William, and to a lesser degree, Pierce.
At least she finally had answers. William was deliriously complacent with her presence here. He thought he had it handled. Well, he had another thing coming. Julia was waiting for the best opportunity she could manage to leave permanently.
William had expounded on her importance, making her desire to leave even more acute.
Blood Singers were rare. They were critically needed in the human population. The vampires looked at the humans like cattle. Blood Singers were just a fraction of the human population; one tenth of one percent, to be exact.
Julia had listened to his speech silently. William and Pierce were “runners.” Their express purpose was the acquisition of Blood Singers. The Blood Singers balanced the vampires “food load.” The properties their blood afforded made the human population's blood of a high enough quality to sustain their existence.
Whatever, Julia thought, remembering his words.
*
“So you see... how essential you are?” William spread his palms out on either side of his body, his coal-black hair shimmering with blue low lights in the subdued glow of the dining hall. His silver eyes bored into hers and a sudden memory of them shifting to a red so deep it was nearly black as he'd almost struck her flesh caused her heart to speed slightly. She rode it out. He could probably hear her blood course through her veins. That's all she needed. Julia would never be able to help herself if he was anticipating all her moves, especially as weakened as she'd become.
“Why take me? It sounds like you need us out in the... populace,” she restated, genuinely puzzled.
“We're reconnaissance,” he said simply. “We seek the Rare Ones.”
“Okay,” Julia threw up her hands, her soup forgotten. He frowned when she pushed the bowl away. “I give. Who are the Rare Ones?”
William stared at her and she held his gaze. “You are a Rare One, Julia.”
She shrugged. So? Who was he kidding? How was it different than what he had essentially told her? Basically, the Blood Singers of the human race were the purebred cattle of homo sapiens.
Wonderful.
He took in her expression. “Maybe you have not asked the right question. It is quite simple, actually.”
Julia thought about it. It slowly came to her. “Why do you have that name for us... Blood Singer?”
He smiled at her like she was a prized pupil and looked achingly human for that one moment. Then his face fell into the handsome but otherworldly lines she was becoming accustomed to. “Do you not feel it?” He placed his fist to his chest, where his heart must beat.
Or did it?
They stared at each other and Julia felt a pull to him. She fought it, it was simply like ignoring one voice amongst many. She tried that, tuning out that one strand, like a distant bell that sounded. She silenced it with an effort.
His hand slowly fell from his breastbone. “That is the call of the blood. I have shared mine with you. It now calls to yours.”
“Why?” Julia asked, deeply creeped out.
“Because I have shared blood with you.”
“No, you forced your blood inside of me!” she raised her voice at him, crossing her arms, high color seeping across her cheekbones.
William's eyes narrowed slightly. “True. So that you might live, I gave you my blood. I have Blood Singer ancestry.” Julia cocked an eyebrow, the conversation becoming more confusing by the moment. What he said next made her forget her curiosity like falling off a precipice. “How do you think we found you? Found... Jason?”
His name fell like a stone in the room, the horrible memory threatening around the edges of her consciousness. She clenched her eyes against the images assaulting her.
He continued as if the oxygen had not been forcibly torn from the room. Julia felt like an elephant had sat on her lungs. “Your blood calls to us. It
sings to us. We follow it like a melody on the wind. All roads lead to the Blood Singer.”
Julia opened her eyes. A startling revelation was blossoming in her mind. “Jason was... he was a Blood Singer?” she asked on a breathless whisper.
William nodded.
Julia jumped off the bench and flung herself at William, beating against him with her fists. Her hair flailing wildly about her. It was like beating a brick wall. Stony and cold. “You killed him! You had no right!” she wailed. “You killed him...” she sobbed as he grabbed her wrists. “Why didn't you kill me instead?” Julia asked on a sorrowful moan as she sagged against him, fainting from exhaustion.
William picked her up in his arms, the burden of her weight no more than a feather. His pain at watching hers was unmatched with anything he had ever known.
He carried Julia back to her room, his soul as heavy as a ton of lead.
*
Julia
William had been fairly quiet since the scene in the dining hall the week before and Julia was glad. She thought the ache for him would never end. But thankfully day by day it lessened. She didn't want to be tied to the blood drinker. Because that was what he was.
All he was.
He and Pierce lingered in the hall, speaking in covert whispers as she dabbed at the corners of her mouth, bread half-eaten in front of her.
The dreams had started again and with them, her long-lost friend, Headache. She sighed, rubbing her temples.
William and Pierce were suddenly beside her. “Are you ill, Julia?”
She glared up at the pair. A prudent girl with half a brain would have been scared of the vampires; deadly and menacing. But she didn't care about her welfare anymore, her future. She wasn't interested in being taken anywhere with them.
“No, I'm fine.” She looked at them impassively.
Pierce stared a moment more then turned to William. “Perhaps her awakening has begun.”
Julia thought she was about done with the revelations.
“Possibly...” William said thoughtfully.
“What?” Julia asked, standing, her arms crossed over her body, she hugged herself to stay warm. She looked up at the pair, such a contrast to each other. They were huge men... vampires, Julia self-corrected. She gulped back a sudden stab of fear.
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