Dahlia (Blood Crave Series)

by Christina Channelle

  Dahlia instantly felt a stab of anger as she heard herself, again, referred to as tainted. The word struck a chord in her, although she knew that Ava was just testing her. She looked into Ava’s face as she said calmly, “You’re not going to get away with this.”

  Ava chuckled loudly as she lightly touched a hand to her stomach to contain her laughter. Then she lowered her sunglasses from her eyes as she looked over at Dahlia with glowing amber eyes and winked.

  “Watch me.”

  Then her body shifted as she simply vanished without a trace.

  ***

  Sam drove as quickly as possible as he sped away from Meg’s, desperate to get home.

  There was a lot of strangeness going on lately and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. But for some reason he felt as if Dahlia was involved. No, he knew she was involved. She had been even more closed-off than usual. She appeared exhausted beyond belief, had emotional breakdowns, and became very accident-prone, like that night when she fell in the forest or that water incident at Meg’s.

  Speaking of that night in the forest, Sam may not be a medical doctor, but he’d watched enough television in the past to figure out that the amount of blood he saw on Dahlia was from no simple blood wound. There was something going on, but he didn’t want to draw any crazy conclusions.

  He wouldn’t go there.

  And that night when he found her crying in her bedroom was just downright suspicious. Every time he thought about their conversation, he got a killer of a headache and couldn’t remember anything. It was like he was being blocked from his memories.

  Something was definitely up.

  Plus that guy he saw in Dahlia’s bedroom? Although Sam kept his cool, there was something about him. He was definitely older and Sam wondered where Dahlia met him, considering she was either at home or at school. As far as he was concerned, the guy was no English teacher.

  Sam had refused to admit it to her but he had seen on more than a few occasions certain marks on her back. While she sat in the kitchen as he passed her from behind, he’d noticed her shirt riding up without her knowledge and he would see the beginnings of two scars at the base of her back as they traveled up and disappeared underneath her shirt. Or when he had startled her in her bedroom a few weeks ago. Dahlia was quick, but not quick enough, for him not to notice the strange glowing scars on her upper back. He knew she was self-conscious, the reason why he never said anything about it, but still, they looked unusual.

  They glowed, for Christ’s sake.

  He cared about her. Not romantic by any means, but there was something inside of him that wanted to make sure she was okay.

  Like how he was feeling at this moment. Only now, he wanted to make sure his parents were okay.

  Pulling up into the driveway, he put the car in park and quickly darted toward the front entrance, leaving the car door unlocked and keys still in the ignition. Realizing that, he turned to go back to retrieve them, but the front door suddenly opened slowly, as if waiting for his arrival.

  Freezing in front of the doorway, he cautiously stepped inside as he pushed open the door further, walking into the house. He looked around his home, finding nothing out of the ordinary but still felt unsettled in the darkness. He flicked on the lights, finding everything in its usual place, silence surrounding him from all directions.

  Taking his phone out of his pocket, Sam looked at the text message sent to him when he had been at Meg’s, the reason for his abrupt departure.

  Come straight home, Sam. Your parents need you. Don’t tell Dahlia anything—we don’t want to worry her.

  He frowned at the puzzling message from his parents and wondered if they and Dahlia were involved in some huge prank to screw with his mind. It was especially strange why the message was sent from an unknown number and they hadn’t just called him. He knew from experience that they hated texting with those “tiny devil buttons,” as his mother liked to call them.

  “Mom? Dad?” Sam cautiously called out as he walked down the hallway.

  No one responded as his shoes echoed on the hardwood floors. It was bizarre, but Sam was beginning to find his own house a little bit creepy as he walked further inside. The kitchen had a doorway so he opened the swinging door with his hand, expecting to find his parents.

  “Mo—” Sam didn’t finish the word, his voice trailing off at the sight before him. Instead of his parents, an extremely attractive girl sat on top of the kitchen counter, her crossed legs dangling as she eyed Sam playfully with a sinful grin on her face.

  “Hello, Sam. You’re cute.” She reached out a hand toward an apple that was sitting on the counter as she took a bite of the fruit, slowly taking her time in devouring her meal.

  “Who are you?” Sam managed to find his voice as he uttered the words. In any other situation, he would probably want to get to know her a bit more intimately. But the sight of her in his house freaked him out.

  The girl smirked as she took another bite and dropped the remaining part of the apple onto the ground. Sliding herself off the counter, she peered up at him as the smirk never left her face.

  “That’s not the question you should be asking, Sam. How about, ‘Where are my parents?’” She asked the last part with a mocking tone in her voice.

  Sam drew himself up as he frowned down at the girl, her face becoming less and less appealing. He spoke slowly and low, not trying to show his fear, as his heart hammered in his chest.

  “What did you do to them?”

  The girl paused at the seriousness of his voice as she contemplated what to say. “Let’s just say you won’t be seeing them in this lifetime. Too bad they weren’t actually on a cruise. Wouldn’t mind being there myself,” she ended as she distractedly sighed.

  Is this girl crazy? What the hell did she do to my parents?

  Sam was about to take a step forward, frustrated that she kept dodging his questions, but was blocked by a larger figure, instantly stopping him in his tracks. Sam stepped back in alarm as he saw a guy staring down at him with an evil glint in his eyes.

  “Can I do it now?” The guy asked the girl, but stared directly at Sam as he continued to eye him like a bird stalking its prey.

  “I wanted to play with him more, but sure. Go ahead, Maddox,” she replied with a flick of a finger.

  As the words left her lips, Maddox’s brown eyes gleamed alarmingly bright. Sam, unable to look away, felt his mind literally dragged into the dark holes that were Maddox’s eyes. A band-like pressure surrounded his head, like a vice, before he screamed out in pain.

  Then there was nothing.

  Chapter 23

  Dahlia arrived home to an empty house feeling unsettled. She walked over and looked at the phone, seeing there no were messages left on the answering machine. Sitting down on the couch, she buried her head in her hands, still not believing that Meg and the boys were all dead.

  Dead.

  A tear slowly rolled down her face at the finality of the word. She realized that even though they wanted nothing more than to kill her, she had lost what she had considered friends. People she was beginning to have feelings for.

  Now they were gone, extinguished and left as dust.

  She shivered at the memory, sighed deeply as she tried to shake the emotions away. She left Meg’s place exactly as it was; not knowing what she should have done. It wasn’t as if she could call the police. She couldn’t imagine how that conversation would have gone.

  After Ava’s dramatic departure to God knows where, Dahlia stood staring at the charred bodies in shock, eyes stinging from the fumes. The smell of burnt flesh eventually drew her away from the destroyed house where she took Meg’s car to drive herself back home. She should have contacted Greyson immediately but had wanted to be alone with her thoughts while she drove. She was miserable, and as muc
h as she would enjoy having Greyson’s arms around her, she knew he’d be happy that they were all dead.

  She couldn’t deal with that right now, his lack of empathy.

  Still sitting on the couch, Dahlia glanced toward the front door, wondering where Sam could be. His car was in the driveway so it was odd he was not home and had gone off somewhere without it. Now was the best time to break everything to him, taking into account this situation involved him. She wondered how he would take the news about the people he considered friends deceiving him like that. Who were Sam’s real friends? Could Greyson reverse the damage done to his mind?

  Where did Sam go, anyway?

  Dahlia hadn’t known she had fallen asleep until she woke up with tears streaming down for face. She sat up from the couch and glanced down at her watch, groaning. She had been out for hours. Her chest felt heavy as she blinked away the blurriness from her eyes, wiped the fallen tears from her face.

  She had another dream. In it was the dark-haired man from her other dreams. He was a vampire—lamia. She was sure of it, even though she had never seen one. They had a connection of sorts. How, she did not know. Like the last dream she had, they weren’t alone. Three figures stood behind him, a woman and two children. They clutched their hands tightly together as they looked on with glowing eyes, staring solemnly at Dahlia and the vampire. The vampire ignored them. He just gazed down at Dahlia as if he wanted to tell her something. But she couldn’t understand anything he said, thin lips moving wordlessly as he cupped the side of her face. Then a loud ringing erupted in her ears and everything around her disappeared.

  Then she was suddenly at the orphanage.

  Dahlia groaned as she rubbed the side of her head. Now was not the time to make sense of that dream. She sat up slowly, noticing the silence of the entire house. She frowned as her mind finally woke up, an overbearing sense of dread washing over her. Standing up, she gazed out the window and saw that it was night. Eyeing the front entrance, she realized Sam’s shoes were still missing from the doorway.

  Panic rising up deep in her chest, Dahlia rushed up the stairs as she ran to the door at the end of the hallway and opened it widely, his name at the tip of her tongue.

  “Sa—,” Dahlia voice became silent as she looked in his room.

  It was empty.

  “Sam?” Dahlia continued to call his name as she turned around and quickly took the steps back down the stairs as she looked into each individual room, searching for him. She made her way back to the front entrance and opened the door as she walked quickly toward Sam’s car, her heart sinking in the pit of her stomach.

  The key was still in the ignition.

  She quickly walked back into the house and slammed the door shut as she took her phone out of her pocket and dialed Sam’s number, waiting impatiently for him to answer. It went straight to voicemail causing Dahlia to slam it shut in frustration.

  Flipping the phone back open, she dialed another number, one she had memorized when he first called her. It too, went to voicemail as she closed it shut as soon as she heard the automated voice. Taking a calm breath, she tried again as she dialed, pressing each button slowly as she prayed he would answer.

  At last, the phone picked up as she heard Greyson’s low voice through the phone.

  “Dahlia.”

  A tear ran down the corner of her eye in relief. “Greyson.”

  He immediately heard the strain in her voice. “What’s wrong?”

  “Sam,” she said with a quiver. “He’s not in the house. His key’s still in the ignition but I can’t find him anywhere. Something’s wrong, I can feel it.”

  “Stay where you—”

  His voice cut off, causing Dahlia to stare at her phone blankly. “Greyson?” She heard nothing on the other end of the line, just emptiness. She set the cell phone down slowly on the table, realizing she wasn’t alone in the house. Walking back toward the staircase, she grasped the railings tightly with her fingers, her heart rapidly pounding in her chest. She stared as the front door slowly opened to reveal a figure standing silently. Breathing a sigh of relief, Dahlia started forward, one name on the tip of her tongue.

  “Grey–”

  Before she could even finish, a heavy pressure slammed into the back of her head as she fell to the floor. Lying on her stomach she painfully rolled onto her back as she looked up to see a pair of bright eyes looking down at her before she lost consciousness.

  ***

  When Dahlia opened her eyes again, her head felt as if she’d been bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer.

  “Morning, Sunshine! You sure like to sleep, don’t you?”

  Dahlia blinked rapidly against the harsh lights aimed directly into her face and winced at the harsh voice in her ear. She remained silent, tried remembering why it sounded so familiar.

  “Cat caught your tongue, D? How come you’re not talking to me, your best friend?”

  Dahlia closed her eyes, not wanting to believe, but knew she had to face the hard truth. The person she had once considered her friend, but really hated her to the core, was holding her against her will.

  Ava stood over Dahlia as she lay on the hard linoleum floor, duck tape tightly bound to her wrists. Crouching, she stroked the hair away from Dahlia’s face causing her to flinch away from the touch as a tear rolled down her cheek. Without her sunglasses, Ava’s blinding amber eyes stared down at Dahlia with fake concern.

  “Are you crying, D? Oh, don’t do that.” Ava wiped the tears away from Dahlia’s face with the pads of her thumb. Then she pouted, raising eyebrows down at Dahlia as she patted her cheek. “Why aren’t you talking to me, D? You didn’t know this would happen today, am I right? I’m a few days early, I guess.

  “Really, D, I’m starting to feel lonely right now with your silent treatment.” Ava covered her mouth as if she were truly concerned. “Oh, I forgot. I covered your mouth with duct tape. Let me help you there.”

  As soon as she spoke, Ava quickly ripped the tape away from Dahlia’s mouth, leaving her lips raw and stinging.

  Dahlia breathed deeply through her nose, looking at Ava accusingly as her lips throbbed, red with beads of blood on her now sensitive skin as she licked it away. She was thankful her lips began to heal instantly and she spoke stronger than she actually felt, although hoarse. “Why are you doing this, Ava?”

  She waved her off with a hand. “Greyson told you all this. There’s no point in me sounding like a broken record. Since the four musketeers are finally dealt with, I figured there was no time like the present. Too bad Greyson isn’t here to save you.” She twirled her hair between her fingertips. Then Ava stood up with a smile on her face as she looked toward the door.

  Dahlia became aware for the first time that they were in the school’s cafetorium.

  “Well, speak of the devil. You’ve arrived just in time! The main act is about to happen.”

  “Let her go, Ava.” Greyson entered the dimly lit room, surrounded by candles. Seeing Dahlia lying helpless on the ground, he headed straight for her.

  “I don’t think so.” Ava gave her head a little shake and raised a hand, stopping Greyson abruptly in his tracks. Grimacing, he struggled roughly against the invisible barrier but was unable to budge.

  “Did you like that trick? It’s a little gift from Merrick since he’s out of commission.” She laughed loudly then continued. “Guess what else I can do?”

  She stared hard at Greyson, her amber eyes glowing. Greyson’s body unwillingly walked over to Dahlia, who was sprawled on the floor. He picked her up by the shoulders, encircling her neck with his fingers. He then tightly gripped her throat with so much force as she looked up at him in panic. She saw his mind try to resist what his body was forced to do as tears filled his brilliant green eyes.

  “See, Greyson? I can make you do anything
. Even kill your precious Dahlia,” remarked Ava as Greyson locked his grip even tighter around Dahlia’s neck who struggled to breathe against the pressure. Just as she felt she couldn’t take anymore, she faintly heard Ava’s voice mumble something as Dahlia instantly crashed to the ground, landing painfully on her knees. She gasped for air as her chest burned, coughing uncontrollably.

  “You little bitch,” growled Greyson, murder in his eyes as he stared at Ava. “Why are you doing this?” He was still unable to move from his place.

  “Why? You know exactly why, Greyson. Why we have to do this. Frankly, I’ve had enough of your stalling. The lapsus after Dahlia are all dead—I saw to that. Now we can use her for the whole point that she was even created.”

  Ava paused as she looked up at him amusingly. “I thought I was the one who was supposed to get chummy with her, not you. You were only supposed to keep watch until you changed your mind and decided to fall in love with the capture.”

  Greyson shook his head, frustrated. “But you don’t have to hurt her, not like this. You can take what you need without harming her.”

  “Don’t hurt her?” Ava exclaimed with raised brows. “Have you grown soft? This is our whole purpose. And you decide to turn your back on us. For one whose blood is tainted with lamia? How could you? There’s a bigger vision than just her.” She spat out the last word as she looked down at Dahlia in disdain, who was on her hands and knees.

  “Ava,” Dahlia whispered faintly, but Ava heard because she instantly looked over at her.

  She slowly walked over and crouched so they stared eye to eye, unblinking. “What is it, dear?”

  She continued to look Ava in the eyes as she spoke. “Our friendship…was it all a lie?”