Chapter Four
Celeste left right after Nathan brought out the pizza.
“Are you sure you can’t stay? I won’t be able to eat all of this by myself,” he said, trying to give her one of his puppy-dog looks.
He was so pathetic.
“It’s getting too late,” she said, grabbing her coat.
“Yeah, won’t daddy be worried about you?” I asked sarcastically.
She smiled. “Well, he certainly knows I can handle myself. Plus, I promised him I’d bring back a late night snack on the way home.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but from the look on her face, I knew she’d said it to get me fired up again. I decided to let it go.
“Okay,” said Nathan, licking pizza from his fingers. He walked over to her and gave her a friendly hug. “I wish you’d let me drive you home.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said, flashing him one of her blindingly white smiles.
“Okay, but I still feel funny about this. If anything happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”
She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger and batted her eyelashes. “Oh, Nathan, you’re so sweet.”
I wanted to throw up. The monster was flirting with my brother like she was a typical teenaged girl. I truly hated her just as much as my brother was truly smitten.
“Maybe we can hang out again next weekend?” he asked.
She pushed her hair behind her ears and nodded. “Yeah. I was thinking about checking out that new club, Nightshade.”
“Don’t you have to be twenty-one to get in?” I asked.
She smiled. “Yeah, but I can get you in. I know how to bribe the bouncers. In fact, I know a couple of them.”
I’ll bet.
“That sounds awesome,” smiled Nathan.
“You should come, too,” said Celeste, turning back towards me. “I’m sure it will be a blast.”
“I have plans,” I answered, quickly.
“Right,” said Nathan. “You’re coming, too, Twerp. You need to get out more. You’re turning into a paranoid old lady and you’re not even out of high school. Plus, I’m sure Duncan will be tagging along.”
I snorted. “I doubt Duncan will go if he finds out I’m going.”
“I doubt that,” said Celeste, opening the front door. “I think Duncan has a thing for you.”
“Maybe once, but not anymore,” I muttered as Nathan walked her outside. He probably hated me and I didn’t blame him one bit.
***
We didn’t see our mother until almost nine o’clock Sunday night. She was paler than ever and looked so thin, her clothing practically hung off of her.
“Mom,” scowled Nathan as she removed her long, brown coat. “You don’t look well. Isn’t that sheriff feeding you?”
She removed her sunglasses and laughed. “He’s actually a wonderful cook. I just haven’t been very hungry lately.”
“Jeez, I wonder why…” I mumbled.
“What was that, Nikki?” she asked.
I cleared my throat. “Nothing. How are your eyes doing?” I answered.
She sighed. “Still very sensitive.”
Nathan shook his head as she walked by him towards the steps. “Mom, you’re skin and bones. I’m making you a sandwich,” said Nathan. “Maybe two.”
She yawned. “I’m really not hungry. I just need a shower and some rest.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Well then take some vitamins or something. You’re scaring me.”
She smiled. “Thanks for your concern, ‘dad’, but I’m fine.”
I stared at her and thought about how much she’d changed over the last couple of months. Not all of it had been bad, in fact, I’d never seen her so happy in my life. It was her health that I was worried about; that and the fact that she was only a few steps away from being one of those Roamers.
After she went upstairs, Nathan turned to me. “I’m really worried about her. First the eye thing and now she’s skin and bones. Maybe she has some kind of virus or something?”
I sighed. “You’re so blind.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked gruffly.
I leaned forward. “She’s been bitten by a vampire. I can’t believe you don’t remember any of this stuff.”
He looked at me with disgust. “Don’t start this again.”
I brushed him away and went upstairs to my room. His ignorance was so frustrating and it was clear whose side he was on.
Celeste’s.
Because it looked like I was on my own with everything, I decided to do some more research on vampires. As I grabbed the book from the den and began reading it, there was a soft knock on my door.
“Nikki?” murmured my mother.
“Yes?”
She walked in, sat down at the edge of my bed and cleared her throat. “I wanted to let you know that Caleb and I are going out of town next weekend.”
A cold fist wrapped around my heart and began squeezing; I could barely breathe. “What?”
She smiled. “We’re going to Vegas.”
“Vegas?”
Her eyes began to sparkle. “Yes, and I’m so excited. I’ve always wanted to go!”
“You can’t,” I whispered hoarsely.
Her face fell. “What do you mean?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Mom, you can’t go away with him. He’s…”
She frowned. “He’s what?”
I knew she’d be pissed but I had to fight for her and the rest of my family. I didn’t want Caleb turning her into a full-fledged vampire. “He’s a vampire.”
She groaned. “We’ve been through this before. You know, I think Nathan is right; you need to talk to someone about this paranoia of yours. It’s not healthy.”
“Mom –” I argued.
“No,” she shook her head. “This is getting to be way out of hand. I’m going to make an appointment for you sometime this week. I mean really, Nikki, a vampire? Caleb?”
“Well,” I pointed towards her neck, which I noticed was covered. “How do you explain those marks on your neck?”
“What marks?” she asked, pulling her green turtleneck away from her skin. “You mean these hickies?”
I stared at her neck in horror. There were indeed red circular marks on her skin, but they weren’t from bites. “Hickies? What are you guys, sixteen? Come on, mom, I’m talking about the bites from last summer. Remember those?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “And I told you before, they were just some kind of allergic reaction, the insect bites are long gone now.”
“Mom,” I begged. “You have to believe me! Ethan was a vampire, Celeste is a vampire, and Caleb is definitely a vampire.”
She shook her head sadly. “This whole thing with your father has really taken a toll on you. I think the sooner we schedule a meeting with a counselor or therapist, the better.”
Before I could respond again, she kissed the top of my head and left the room.
This is insane, I thought. How in the world was I going to stop my mom from going to Vegas?
Feeling helpless and frustrated, I lay my head back on my pillow and closed my eyes, wondering what the hell I was going to do next. Within minutes I was fast asleep with the disturbing images of vampires, again, haunting my dreams.
Chapter Five
Sometime after eleven-thirty, my cell phone began to vibrate, startling me awake. When I recognized the number, I answered it immediately.
I cleared my throat. “Duncan?”
“We need to talk,” he murmured.
The sound of his voice stirred up some of the butterflies that had been dormant for the last couple of months. Although my hands were shaking slightly, I tried to remain impassive on the phone. “Um, sure, how about tomorrow night, after work?”
“Actually, I’m right outside; can you meet me by the garage?”
I smiled. “Sure, can you just give me a few minutes?”
“Yeah.”
I hung up and slipped on a pair of jeans, a light brown sweater, and my short leather boots. Because it was the end of October and the nights were getting frosty, I also grabbed a short gray wool jacket. Thankfully, Nathan and my mother were both sleeping, so I didn’t have to explain myself as I slipped out the front door and into the cool darkness.
“Over here,” called Duncan, as I stepped off of the porch. He was leaning against his white work truck, his hands in the front pockets of his faded jeans. Remembering the times we’d spent alone in his truck, I felt something tug at my heartstrings. Smiling hesitantly, I walked over to him.
“It’s chilly,” he murmured, looking up into the night sky. “Let’s talk in the cab.”
I nodded and went around to the passenger side and got in.
Starting it up, he turned on the heat and rubbed his hands. “Man, I forgot how cold it gets this time of year.”
Delighted that he was even talking to me, I didn’t trust myself to say anything that might ruin the moment. I just nodded and waited for him to tell me what was on his mind.
Staring ahead, he brushed a hand through his dark hair and sighed. “So, I think someone’s stalking me.”
My eyes widened. “Stalking you?”
Duncan turned to me, his silvery-gray eyes shining in the moonlight. “I noticed it a couple of weeks ago and it’s just gotten worse. There have been shadows and strange noises just outside of my house.”
The shadows didn’t shock me in the least, especially with vampires prowling around town. “What kind of strange noises?”
He licked his lips. “Whispers. Eerie voices in the darkness. And then, last night, I actually heard footsteps on my roof, right above my bedroom.”
I leaned back against the seat and folded my arms under my chest. “Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?”
He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Vampires,” I said, staring out towards the dark woods, wondering if any were watching us at that precise moment. I really wasn’t worried about myself, but Duncan. He didn’t have any protection, not even from Caleb or Celeste. “Don’t you remember anything that happened last summer either?”
His face darkened. “The things that I remember have nothing to do with vampires.”
“Duncan, it had everything to do with vampires. The problem is that some of your memories have been erased.”
He stared at me for a minute and the shook his head.
“It’s the truth,” I said.
“Well, whoever erased my memories sure had a cruel sense of humor because they left only the painful ones,” he answered with a tight smile.
I reached out and grabbed his arm. I needed him to understand.
“Listen,” I pleaded, “you have to believe me, Ethan is a vampire, I swear to you, he is a vampire and he has this…this… control over my mind. I just couldn’t resist him. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
He shook my hand away. “Do you really expect me to believe that? That he somehow hypnotized you and made you do things? I saw you returning his kisses on the beach and you were definitely enjoying the hell out of them.”
I didn’t know what to say. Part of me wasn’t even sure what had happened on that night. Ethan had always been so seductive and irresistible. “I…”
Just then something landed on the hood of the truck with a loud thud and I cried out in shock.
“Holy shit!” gasped Duncan.
Ethan.
“Oh, my God,” I squeaked.
He stared at the both of us, a dark smile spreading across his handsomely familiar face.
“Speak of the devil,” muttered Duncan. “Where in the fuck did he come from?”
Ethan jumped off the hood and swaggered towards the passenger door with purpose.
He was coming for me!
I was so frightened, I could barely breathe. “Leave,” I managed to blurt out. “Go, get us out of here!”
“Already ahead of you,” replied Duncan, slamming the truck into gear. Soon we were flying through the bumpy yard and towards the dirt road leading to the freeway.
“See,” I yelled, turning to look back. “I told you! He came from out of the sky! He’s a fucking vampire!”
Duncan didn’t say anything; he just kept glancing through his rearview mirror as we sped away towards the main road.
Not seeing anything but darkness, I turned back to the front and gasped. A lone figure, who had to be Ethan, was about fifty yards ahead of us, standing directly in our path.
“Hold on,” ordered Duncan, noticing it as well.
“Oh, my God!” I yelled, holding onto the dashboard as Duncan pulled hard to the right, trying to avoid hitting Ethan. Before I knew what was happening, something slammed into the side of the truck and we began to roll.
“Duncan!” I screamed, my body slamming into his. The last thing I remembered before the darkness swallowed me up was the sound of glass shattering and Duncan’s groans.
Chapter Six
“Nikki.”
My eyes fluttered open against the brightness of a strange hospital room. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I noticed an I.V. sticking out of my arm. The other was bandaged and sore.
“Good, you’re awake.”
I turned towards the sound of my mother’s voice. I was still groggy and it took me a few seconds to respond. “Mom,” I whispered.
She cleared her throat. “The doctor said you’ll be fine, honey. You sprained your wrist, have a few bruised ribs, and a concussion, but other than that, we can take you home as soon as you feel up to it.”
I licked my dry lips. “Duncan?”
She gave me a puzzled look. “What about Duncan?”
“We…we were in his truck. It flipped…”
She shook her head in confusion. “No. Nathan found you near the bottom of that large oak tree just outside of your bedroom window. He thought you might have tried climbing it and fell or something.”
My eyes widened in shock. “What?”
“Yes. Early this morning, he heard some kind of loud noise and found you unconscious, just lying there. Thank God Nathan found you when he did. You could have gotten hypothermia or something. It was pretty cold last night.”
I shook my head. “No…no… no… Duncan stopped by late last night. We were talking in his truck and then…Ethan…”
She raised her eyebrows. “Ethan?”
I nodded. “He was there, mom. First he jumped on Duncan’s truck, and then tried blocking our path. We tipped over…and that’s the last thing I remember.”
Her cell phone began to ring. She looked at the caller I.D.
“Oh, it’s Nathan,” she murmured and then answered. I heard her relaying everything I’d told her and then she stared at me with deep worry lines etched across her forehead while he responded. “Okay,” she murmured into the phone. “I’ll let her know. We’ll be home soon.”
“What did he say?” I asked the moment she hung up.
She touched my hand, softly. “Um…Duncan’s… missing. I guess Sonny hasn’t seen him since Sunday afternoon. He didn’t show up for work this morning, either.”
“Oh, my God,” I whispered in horror.
“I guess Sonny is really concerned about him.”
“Mom,” I said, trying to sit up. “Ethan must have done something to him. In fact, Duncan said someone was stalking him. That’s why he stopped over. He wanted to talk to me about it.”
She closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead.
“Mom?”
She opened her eyes and I saw tears. “There’s another possibility,” she said. “I think your father may have found us.”
Chapter Seven
I stared at my mother with alarm. “What do you mean?”
She walked over to the window and looked outside. “Someone’s been following me, too. I’ve noticed a dark SUV tailing me a few times and yesterday, I could have sworn someone followed me through the mall.” She wrapped her arms around he
rself. “I just have this feeling it’s Galen.”
My father, Galen, went A.W.O.L. after attacking my mother back in June. Although they’d been separated for over two years prior, he’d flipped out when she’d finally started dating other men, leaving her mentally and physically abused. He was the whole reason we’d left California for Montana. She was terrified he’d hurt her again, especially after pressing charges.
“Well, how do you think he found us?”
She turned around and sighed. “Honey, he’s a cop. I’m sure he has friends who could have helped.”
I wasn’t personally afraid of my father, he’d never hurt me or my brother in the past, but now I was terrified for her. “Does Nathan know?”
“I told him this morning. He’s quite upset, obviously.”
“What about Caleb? Did you tell him?”
She nodded. “Yes, he knows.”
I felt a cold chill run up my spine. Although I was worried about my father getting his hands on my mom, I was also nervous about Caleb. What would he do to my dad? Was Caleb a murderer? I didn’t want my dad killed, just stopped and put away.
“Mom,” I said. “Let’s go home.”
***
Nathan was still working at the marina when we arrived back at the cabin sometime after six. On our way home I hadn’t seen any sign of Duncan’s truck at the side of the road, either, which was very odd, because I distinctively remembered the accident.
“That tree right there,” pointed my mom. “You were lying there, unconscious.”
I stared at it in confusion. Things weren’t making sense, and for the first time since we’d moved, I wanted to talk to Caleb.
“Mom,” I asked. “Is Caleb stopping by later tonight?”
“Not that I know of,” she said.
“Well, I’d like to talk to him,” I said.
She raised her eyebrows. “I could call him.”
I nodded. “Yeah, if you could.”
“Sure. Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat.”
Shiver (Night Roamers #2) Page 3