Lacing Shadows

by Tina Smith

  “Shhh.” Caitlin was suddenly at my side. Her lively stare traced my face. She darted her eyes at the hooded woman pointing a gun and backed away from me, slowly.

  Two men in hoodies carefully walked up to thrust armed cross bows at Cyrus, who oddly surrendered backing off further with a frozen look on his face as he leant away from the tip of the arrow. I had never seen him so quiet. The other man nodded in the direction of the door as he faced Joe with his cross bow pointed.

  I watched as Joe was led out by the third cross-wearing hooded man who guided him with a hand on the back of his neck, Cyrus closely behind shoved along by the other darkly clad man. No one spoke.

  The armed posse disappeared after them down the stair well. “Are they vampires?” I asked Caitlin as Cyrus and Joe didn’t protest leaving with them.

  She didn’t answer as she started to slink away.

  “Well, my work here is done.” I had hardly blinked when Caitlin left. As soon as I was alone, I quickly ran over to Sadie. I pulled off the tape that covered her mouth, as carefully as I could, she whimpered.

  “Sadie. I’m sorry.”

  She could stand but she was cuffed to the chair arm. I had an idea. I tipped the chair upside down and kicked at it with force until it fractured. The arm of the chair broke away, Sadie’s wrist still handcuffed but she was free. I helped her outside. She was trembling.

  I called a cab and we went to Henry’s. He was stunned to see us at his door. Sadie was a mess. She did nothing but cry silently the whole cab ride home and she fell into his arms.

  “Are you alright?” he asked wide-eyed with shock as he held her but all she could do was nod.

  Henry used bolt cutters and we had to talk him down from calling the police. After what she had seen Sadie was keeping quiet. I knew it was my fault and she would never be the same. There was bite marks on her arm.

  I was a bad luck charm.

  I didn’t know what had happened to Joe. I wondered who the silent army was that busted in and took them. Would I ever see Joe again?

  Frightened I went back to the loft by myself. To my surprise it was as we left it. He wasn’t there. I found an address book in the study and took it, closing the door behind me.

  *

  Over the next few days I found things to keep me occupied, I cleaned the dorm room and went to class. Winter was cold. Sadie eventually talked to me but she and Henry were joined at the hip since her kidnap. I was relieved to see she wasn’t a vampire. The bites healed. Jack avoided me, with good reason.

  Things were strained. I no longer knew which world I belonged to. I knew there was a part of me that liked the world I had glimpsed but what role did a human have in the underworld? I waited for them to come for me. But it was quiet.

  I flipped through Joe’s address book and read the numbers, I saw Cyrus’s number and Caitlin’s. There was a number for The Guard under G. I touched the writing. I tucked the book away, considering my next move.

  I travelled the bus home for the holidays. My mother hosted Christmas; my brother and I tried to make small talk with her new husband. I tuned out when they brought up the court case. I just wanted to put the accident behind me. I researched the library for information on Vampires and the Guard. I was actually glad when school started. I had a new roommate called Amity who was chatty. Unlike Trinity she didn’t ask why I didn’t have pictures up.

  I wondered if I would ever see Joe again, to know it was all real. I expected to see him in every corner now that I was back. I went back to the apartment, it wasn’t locked. In my heart I knew he wasn’t there, I went twice more but I found it empty still.

  I was certain he would come back for me. When he didn’t my heart started to feel like it was breaking again. I became more desperate as the walls closed in on me once more. The darkness crept in. I slept in his grey T-shirt with the address book in my arms.

  As though answering my prayers, too soon the quiet was broken, Lincoln was a quiet city with a low crime rate. When I heard a student went missing my blood ran cold to learn it was Jack. The papers said it was most likely a murder. They didn’t know how right they were. I suspected Cyrus had played a hand. Maybe Sadie and Henry would be next. I wondered if he would come for me. Maybe Sadie and Henry would be next. I kept looking over my shoulder waiting for them to arrive; to come for me. And I waited for Joe.

  When Jack’s body washed up in the river the police questioned everyone, even me. I wondered if they questioned Joe, wherever he was. I began to realize that it was the Guard who had taken him from the loft. Perhaps they had killed him, or forbidden him to ever come back. During winter break, I saw a dark figure approach through the snow: a man in a black coat—I had dreamed of him coming back for me. But hatred welled in me like tears and my blood heated, despite the chill in the air. Was it really him, or had I lost my mind?

  But I recognized him as he neared. “Was it you?” My heart beat high in my chest.

  He touched my face with pale icy fingers that pressed my cheek. His frown was deep.

  “Was it you or Cyrus?” I had to know.

  He didn’t answer. I hit his hard hand away.

  “Tell me!” My voice echoed.

  “Come with me,” he said in a ghostly tone.

  I watched him walk away. He turned and looked at me. I met his eyes steadily.

  Suddenly he was back looking down into my face. “Please,” he breathed, his eyes begging me. I had missed his intoxicating presence, the honey glow of his eyes. The sweet scent...

  I pressed my hand to his. “Who was it?” I demanded breathlessly.

  “It wasn’t me.”

  I was momentarily relieved, but then I was frightened for my friends. “What about Sadie and Henry. Are they safe?” I prepared myself for the answer. Maybe he was back to save me.

  “Yes, I don’t expect you to believe me.” He shut his lips as other students walked past. “Come with me.” He led me away.

  I let his hand slide down and take my fingers gently in his. I had missed his touch. Despite myself I melted.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “I want a chance to explain everything.” He was staring ahead with a frown.

  Without a word he opened his car door and I got in. He drove steadily.

  “Explain this to me. A friend of mine is dead.” I looked at him. “Tell me the truth.”

  “We suspect a vampire has done it.”

  “Who were those people who took you?”

  “They are the Guard.”

  I frowned. “Who are the Guard?” I needed to know.

  “It’s just a title. They keep us out of the headlines and if necessary exterminate vampires.”

  “But you’re still in one piece.”

  “We didn’t kill anyone—so we were punished.”

  “Is that where you have been?”

  “I had to stay away, they were watching. I didn’t want to risk bringing you any further in.”

  “I think it is a little late for that.” I shook my head. “Will the Guard stop Cyrus now?”

  “If they catch him.”

  “So what now? We are back to where we started.” I realized he was just circling the block.

  He took his time before answering. “No, the Guard is everywhere now. If he touches one hair on your head, he’ll have them and me come down on him.”

  “Why did he risk killing Jack?” I could barely say his name. Everyone I was friends with were either killed or kidnapped. Joe took the car back into the campus lot.

  “I’m not sure it was him.”

  That caught me off guard. “Then who?”

  “Caitlin…”

  I didn’t understand. “But she saved us?”

  “Never trust a vampire.” There was a heavy silence.

  He stopped the car, engine running.

  “What about us?”

  “Farren, we can never be together.”

  I got his drift. “Then I think that’s all we have to say,” I cracked
the door. Despite that I was aching inside.

  “We aren’t all good or all bad.”

  “I know.” I shut the door.

  That night I cried painful sobs with nothing to comfort me.

  Chapter 7. Sculpting Shadows

  It was later that week at the end of winter break when I was walking through the snow that Caitlin appeared. I saw her disappear. Then she was at my left, walking beside me in her black boots as though she had been for the length of the hall. It was unnerving, but she meant it to be, so I kept my game face.

  I kept walking. She didn’t speak either. I reached the dorm door. I slipped the keys in. I knew she couldn’t follow.

  “My darling, aren’t you going to invite me in?”

  “No.” Of that I was certain.

  She grabbed the door and I wasn’t yet inside. It didn’t seem to strain her though I tried with all my might to open it. She dragged me across the hall. Her grip was vice-like. Before I knew it she had dragged me outside. I flailed in the snow. Before I even had time to think she had sunk her fangs into my neck. I cried at the sting as blood ran warm down my neck. I tried to struggle as she fed. Things began to fade. I saw my blood drip onto the snow as I started to go to sleep.

  She was yanked away. Joe was around her, he had pulled her from my neck and I heard a scuffle. I turned in time to see as he snapped her neck. She fell to the ground and he dropped to his knee and plunged a stake into her back. She seemed to vibrate and then disappear into dust which dissipated like a gust of brown pollen into the footpath. I was in a state of shock as he grabbed me up by the elbow and I stumbled, so he picked me up and I was carried and then thrust into his car. We took off speeding down the road.

  “Why not just let her have me,” I complained as my teeth chattered.

  He turned up the heat. “I care. But not everything is black and white, cut and dry,” He growled.

  “I know it’s not! You think I don’t know that, I know it better than anyone.” I looked right at him. “Why did you think I wanted to end my life?” Why did he think he had found me on a bridge readying to jump. “I know things aren’t fair, I know the bad guys win, that my whole life can be wiped out in one swoop—that no one gives a shit. They got the easy way out, but I remember. I’m in hell!” I cried.

  He was silent as he navigated the streets. “Am I infected?” I touched my neck and felt faint as I saw the blood, Sadie hadn’t been turned.

  “No, it takes more than a bite...”

  “Great...”

  “At least your pain will end. Mine goes on forever.”

  “Because you’re a vampire.” He meant my life would end, I wasn’t immortal. “Why do you go on?” I asked more calmly.

  “Lately,” he sighed. “The small things keep me afloat.”

  “That’s not an answer,” I pushed the door but he had locked it. “Let me out!” I tried to open the door though the car was speeding.

  “Stop it.” He leaned across to pull me back. “I won’t let you hurt yourself” He hit the wheel of the Porsche, in frustration. Tears seeped from my eyes. I shut up. I wasn’t surprised to see we drove to his apartment. We walked in silence up the six flights of stairs at a brisk pace. I wasn’t sure how I felt.

  When we were inside I looked at him as he flicked on the lights. His stone face illuminated.

  He walked off rather abruptly and I followed. He appeared from the bathroom with a cloth in his hand. He led me back in and guided me to sit on the closed toilet lid. I stilled as he dabbed at my neck with a frown. I looked at the blood that had stained my jacket.

  “Why did you come back?”

  “I knew I could stop her.”

  My teeth chattered “Did you love her?” I swallowed.

  He gave me a long look. “No,” he finally answered.

  “So why bother.”

  His head was bowed as he searched for something. He pulled out a pack of Band-Aids. He didn’t answer as he applied one with a careful smooth motion of his fingers.

  “Am I infected?” I asked still unsure.

  “No.” He looked annoyed. He cleaned the wound. “She didn’t take enough.”

  “You should have let her.” Tears pricked at my eyes.

  “Don’t say that.”

  “Why not?”

  He hit the door, not hard, but it crumbled, leaving a hole. “You are the little things,” he yelled me. He touched my face and walked into me on his knees, his hand cupped against my face. “You are everything.” He was so close I could taste his breath. His lips were parted millimeters from mine. I pressed my mouth to his, and I felt his mouth press back and then he lost control, kissing me back like he was thirsty.

  He pulled off my coat. His lips locked to mine. My tongue laced his. He pulled me into him, kissing me softly and then he broke away to hold me close, brushing his arms over mine. My heart beat between us.

  He pulled away, his head bowed. I watched as he backed away and went over to open a cupboard and came back with two towels.

  “C’mon.” He gestured to the door.

  I followed him to the living area and watched as he pulled down the ladder and started to climb. I followed him up and as I reached the roof he was nowhere to be seen. I frowned but as I approached the plants I saw that he was in the swimming pool, his clothes left on the chair.

  I took a breath and exhaled as I slid off my clothes. I had hardly seen a man naked.

  “It’s heated.” He smiled his sharp canines showing as he waded. His skin was almost blue in the overcast light. It was starting to rain. I carefully stepped to the edge then took a breath and plunged in.

  I came up and found him, glistening wet and I swam over. The water was just warm. Rain dripped around me.

  “Are you scared of me?” he asked in a husky tone.

  “Yes.” My eyes rested on his.

  He seemed disheartened as his eyes fell and he swam further away.

  I swam closer. “You scare me in all the right ways...” I assured him.

  As he waded, his stare flicked over mine as though searching. “You’re not scared of anything.” He pulled me close and I wanted desperately to push my lips to his as I nestled into his bare chest and breathed in his vampire scent. He washed away the mud, from my heart as he held me.

  The cold rain beat down in heavy drops and dripped down my face. Suddenly his mouth found mine and he kissed me, slowly and then more deeply, his cold arms wrapped around my body firmly, my naked chest to his. When I started to shiver, he noticed.

  “Your lips are blue.” Joe kissed them. He let go of my body and led me out of the water. He passed me a towel and rubbed my body as he held me close. I buried my face in his chest. My body goose-pimpled as I felt his bulging groin press against me. Desire for him sprang through me.

  We climbed carefully down the stairs. Inside, wrapped in our towels, with bated breath his eyes were trained on me. I could still hear the rain on the roof as he took me in his arms again. The towel fell away. He kissed me hungrily. Embraced in his arms, consumed in a kiss, I ran my hands through his wet hair.

  Carefully he walked me backwards until I leant on the ping pong table. It squeaked across the floorboards with the motion, his hips thrust into me. We kissed and he broke away to run his fingers over my face, then crushed his lips to mine.

  Joe’s hands snaked around me, feeling the contours. It was like the first time I had touched him and the last as I pressed my mouth back to his quicker. I needed more. His icy hands caressed my body, my breasts, exploring what they hadn’t before. I felt his fangs with my tongue. I lay back on the tennis table. I could feel him against me, engorged. As we kissed I lifted my leg around him.

  “Do you want to?” he breathed, holding still. I remained steady, though my head raced. I didn’t want to break the moment by telling him I hadn’t had sex before. I was ready, I wanted him.

  “Yes,” I pulled him closer. As we kissed I felt a surging ache in me that only he could satisfy. Unknowingly I had wait
ed for him. The electricity between us heightened. He pushed his parted lips on mine as he started to ease between my legs. He pressed my back down onto the table, kissing my chest, my neck. I felt him rub against me as I arched my back and then he kissed my lips again. His breath hitched in my ear and I felt him tense. I moaned softly into his mouth as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him into me.

  He eased inside my vagina; the burn of his erection in me was contrasted with warm desire as I tried to relax—the new sensation, taking me by surprise. As I became wetter, I adjusted and he moved slowly, easing in and out.

  Joe began to rock, gently pushing deeper, in rhythmic waves. My tight muscles relaxed and he moaned, thrusting harder, and faster. He bent to suck my lips, as he pulled in and out of me; prolonging the pleasure, stopping to taste my skin and brushing his lips over my body, across my shoulders. He thrust his hips, swaying and rolling into me like a dancer, as he tilted his head back. We rocked in search of ecstasy, the water from his hair rolling down his neck and dripping on my chest.

  He slipped a hand between us, brushing my pubic hair and his cool fingertips slid over my clitoris. He stroked it in arcs with his thumb as my breath caught. Pleasure spread through me. I clenched harder around his penis as he thrummed my soft flesh. A sensation worked its way through me, building. Suddenly exhilarated my thighs squeezed his buttocks. His icy fingers massaging me, as he throbbed inside me. He stroked faster back and forth until I made a sound like a whimper and then he slowly moved his penis deeper increasing my pleasure, along with his own.

  I dug my fingers into his marble back. I ran my nails through his hair as he picked me up, carrying me across the room, my body wrapped around his. He rocked me as I held to him and when we reached the room he threw me on the mattress.

  I waited as he opened a drawer by the bed and I heard the rustle of a condom wrapper. I crawled backwards as he approached me like a tiger stalking prey. I was excited as he gripped me with his hands and pulled me close. He found my opening and plunged deeper inside me than before. His breathing increased as every inch of his body seemed to writhe with the pleasure and he groaned softly, throwing his head back as he swayed into me. His head bowed as his shoulders rose and still he thrust.