Flinching at the sound of clanking metal, Emily glanced over at the bike and back to his pale angry features that now loomed over her. “I only asked as a courtesy, Emily. You seem to forget, my dear,” he began coldly, reaching out and grasping roughly her by the arms, “I can do any damned thing I desire and you are powerless to stop me.”
Emily knew it was too late to look away. Develyn had already pulled her into an enthrallment. He swept her up in his arms and as he moved quickly up into the woods, she was terrified. This was her worst nightmare coming true! Develyn had come back to Turn her. She just knew it. It was the very reason why she had journaled her time with David. Although she knew her parents were far too pragmatic to believe the story she had written, she had wanted a record, an explanation of some sort to leave in the event she had to disappear from her loved one’s lives one day.
Emily wanted to fight against him, scream for help, but it was useless. All she could do was whimper when he set her on her feet, and as he stepped close, pressing her against the wide trunk of an old elm tree with his cold hard body, she could smell the overpowering scent of his expensive cologne.
Holding her gaze, Develyn unclasped her helmet, tossed it aside and unzipped her vest. His eyes dropped to her heaving breasts and devoured the sight. They were considerably larger than he remembered, which meant she must breast feed the babe and that, instinctively, pleased him. He smiled. “Motherhood seems to agree with you, my dear,” he murmured and after a moment of drinking in the sight of what his fingers itched to touch, he recaptured her eyes.
Producing a silver stryker from his coat pocket, he slipped it on his right thumb. Delving his other hand into her hair, he pulled her head back, fully exposing her neck to him. Softly, he ran the tip of the stryker along her jaw line and down the column of her neck, before firmly pressing it into the plump pulsing vein just above her collarbone.
Instantly, a dark red puddle welled up around the stryker’s tip and he lowered his head toward it and inhaled. Her blood smelled strongly of iron and copper, as did every Natural Mortal’s typically, but he didn’t draw attention to that mundane aspect of it. He never did. It wasn’t something he had ever murmured to a Natural. Instead, he always complimented the women on their overall scent. He found it was simply more pleasing for them to hear. “Ah, yes, sunshine and roses. Just as I remembered. You haven’t changed much, my dear, and the fact that you are mine, hasn’t changed at all,” he whispered hoarsely. Pulling the stryker out, he clamped his mouth down on her neck.
Emily was screaming on the inside, but the gasps and whimpers that came from between her parted lips, sounded as if she was in the throes of passion, and not in the grips of fear and revulsion. Which she was. She was being violated by a vampire she despised! The monster who murdered the man she loved and robbed their son of his father! She wanted to push him away, scratch his eyes out and knee him in the groin, but her arms lay limply at her sides and her legs were just useless props holding her up. She was completely at his mercy and it sickened her. But what far outweighed her revulsion, was her fear for her son. Why did he want to see him? Was he planning on stealing him from her and Turning him into a vampire one day to ease the loneliness of his miserable existence like he had done with David. Oh God, save us from this evil monster! she thought frantically.
Develyn needed only a taste to re-Mark her, but the euphoria he felt when he swallowed the first mouthful of her fear-laced blood was dangerously intoxicating and he drank greedily.
Colors exploded behind his eyelids. Her scent overpowered that of damp earth and rotting leaves. Every nerve in his body awoke and crackled with life. His insides felt as if they had been lit afire and he began to warm quickly. The sounds of birds chirping and leafs rustling around them sharpened to a point where it was almost painful and then the pounding rhythm of their hearts filled his ears, only to be drowned out within moments by her racing thoughts.
Emily felt intense heat everywhere his body came into contact with hers– his tongue and mouth on her neck. His hand gripping her hip. His chest crushing against her milk swollen breasts. His enlarged penis and pelvis locked against hers– and she wanted to vomit.
Develyn knew she was losing consciousness and with a considerable amount of self-control, he stopped drinking and pressed the tip of his tongue against the puncture until the bleeding stopped.
His breathing was ragged and his voice thick when he lifted his head and whispered at her ear, “I’m not here to harm you or the child, Emily. I simply want to see him and I will not be denied.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Old Wounds and Regrets Revisited
When Emily came to, she was lying on her side in the woods. She wasn’t sure how long she had been laying there, but she sensed it had been only a few minutes.
Pushing herself up, she looked around in confusion. She ran her hand through her hair, combing a dried leaf from it in the process. When her fingers brushed her along her collarbone, Develyn’s fierce face flashed before her eyes, and everything came rushing back. The picnic– Benny handing her the flag– The bike ride down the hill– The pedals locking– Develyn rescuing her– Develyn Marking her– Develyn telling her why he had come back.
Panicking, she scrambled to her feet. Noticing a crumpled up black leather coat that had been her makeshift pillow, she felt a resurgence of revulsion. Kicking it away as if it were the vilest thing she had ever seen, she took off running, her feet crunching loudly through the fallen leaves.
At the roadside, she skidded down the steep incline and as soon as her Sketchers hit the asphalt, she took off running. At the bottom of Hairpin Curve Road, she cut across the field to their family’s picnic site, to her son.
As she approached, she saw that everyone was sitting in a small circle around the end picnic table that Benny and Ione were leaning against. Next to Ione was Robert, who was now holding David. Next to him was her mother, then father, Uncle Steven, Aunt Mere, Cousin Erin, Chad, Wade and finally Cousin Heather, while their son, Joshua, was asleep on a blanket in the center.
Benny had been anxiously awaiting her return and when he saw her, his still naturally beating heart squeezed painfully at the sight of her blanched features and panic-stricken eyes. He sensed Develyn had re-Marked her and the scent of him on her, enraged him. Fists clutching angrily, he pushed himself away from the table. Although he wanted to run to her and pull her into his arms, he stayed rooted where he stood. And although he already knew the answers to his questions, he again feigned ignorance and called out, “Emily! Are you all right? What happened? Where’s the bike?”
With that said, everyone turned to her and once they saw her harried, disheveled state, everyone stood as the group erupted in excited chatter. Ignoring the bewildered looks and frantic questions from her parents, she hurried up to Robert and collected David, who, sensing her agitated state, began to squirm and gently cry.
Meeting Robert’s troubled eyes, she fought back tears and snuggled David close. She kissed his dark little head and breathed in his sweet scent and began to gently rock side to side. After a few moments of cuddling and cooing, David slipped back into peaceful sleep and she turned and faced the group.
Calmly and quietly she related her story of the bike incident. A far less harrowing and completely vampire-free version of course, but one that shocked everyone, left her parents visibly shaken and her Uncle Steven apologizing profusely.
As she assured them she was all right and no harm done, she was struck by the truth of the words David had once told her. ‘A little white lie, designed to save a loved one from needless worry and pain, is well worth telling.’ Seeing her parents’ fear stricken looks and her uncle’s guilt-ridden one cut her to the quick. She never wanted any of them to know just how close she came to dying that day.
Benny watched Emily as she told her tale to her captive audience. He was surprised how well she was able to convince everyone that she was fine when she so clearly wasn’t. She was death white. The pulse poi
nt in her neck thrummed. Her pupils were dilated. Her breathing was shallow and rapid. To him, her fear was palpable and the scent of it was making his human facade slip dangerously. Fighting the urge to carry her off into the woods and tear open the same vein Develyn had just tapped into and feed on her himself, Benny volunteered to fetch the bike. He left before anyone had a chance to acknowledge he had even spoken.
Still shaken, Emily hastily bade everyone goodbye and with one final assurance to her parents, she, David and Robert left.
After snapping David’s carrier into the car seat, Emily climbed into the back with him and Robert waited till she closed the door before he turned the key. As the engine came to life, he peered into the review mirror. The poor girl was as pale as milk in moonlight and she was trembling like the last Autumn leaf on a tree. He suspected it wasn’t just the close call she had told them about. Something had her scared her to her very core. “Fer heaven’s sake, gurl. What is it? What really happened back there?” he asked, backing out of their parking spot.
Tears sprang to her eyes and she shook her head. She didn’t think she could say the words aloud without breaking into hysterical sobs. Unconsciously, she touched the wound above her collarbone and Develyn’s face flashed through her mind. Squeezing her eyes hard against the image, she whispered, “Develyn is back. And he–” she paused, remembering he had first saved her life, but what he did after, had totally negated the nobility of his rescue, and she didn’t even mention it, “he dragged me into the woods and Marked me. But that’s not all,” she said, casting a fearful glance at her sleeping son, “he said he wants to see David.”
Robert spat a terse curse and pounded his fist against the steering wheel. “I knew it!” he said, slamming the car into drive. “I knew that bastard would be back. I’m so sorry, gurl, I shoulda killed him when I had the chance.”
With a sniff, Emily met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “David said Develyn would’ve killed you that night if you had tried.”
His gray head nodded. “Aye, tis true. If David hadn’t Marked me that night long ago, my poor Laura Ann woulda been doomed for sure, but that’s not what I’m referrin’ to,” he said, his eyebrows drawing together.
With apprehension squeezing her chest and her own brow furrowing, she softly demanded to know what he was referring to.
“That mornin’ when David was . . . When he– ”
“Yes, I know which morning, Robert,” she snapped emotionally, wishing he’d just get to the point.
“It was early. The sun hadn’t even come up yet, when I heard somethin’, a noise, a voice, somethin’, that woke me. I grabbed me pistol and–”
“Pistol?” she interrupted.
“Aye. A child’s toy. A water pistol filled holy water–”
The low tones of her Fur Elise ring tone interrupted him. Robert reached over and took it from her purse on the front seat and handed it back to her. Seeing it was her mother Emily didn’t bother to answer it. With an aggravated sigh, she tucked it under her leg, and ignoring the music as best she could, met his eyes in the mirror and nodded for him to continue.
“By the time I reached the second floor, I heard glass breakin’ and when I hurried into the parlor and I saw Develyn. Well, he was just a dark figure in the moonlit room, really, and he was . . . crazed. Cursing and bellowing like a man possessed and swattin’ lamps and throwin’ furniture about the room like a child tossin’ his toys in a fit. He threw a chair through the front windows and kicked one sofa so hard, it rocketed across the floor and stuck into the wall. And when there was nothing left for him to destroy, he threw his head back and let loose with such a howl . . . ” Emily was sure she saw him shiver as he paused. “It was the likes of which I had never heard before. And I pray to God, never will again.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and when they opened they were glistening with unshed tears. “I don’t know why I dinna take a shot. Why I hesitated,” he muttered, with a grave shake of his head.
“Don’t blame yourself, Robert. None of this is your fault.”
He shook his head as if to argue. “If only I had gotten off a shot that would’ve paralyzed him long enough for me to sink me blade into his black heart,” he muttered angrily.
Emily knew she should have been appalled by Robert’s vengeful words, but she wasn’t even phased. She, herself, had wished Develyn dead many times over in the past year. Her fantasies ranged from versions of Develyn being the one who was killed that terrible morning to confronting Develyn and killing him herself. Having the opportunity and the strength to sink the blade deep into his chest and watching him burst into–
“Whatever the reason,” Robert began, rousing her out of her dark daydream, “I didn’t do it and when he finally took notice of me, he was on me within a shake of lamb’s tail. He knocked the gun from me hand and it shattered on the floor. And you know what the arrogant bastard said? ‘It’s only a little bit of water. It’ll dry soon enough.’ And then he looked me in the eyes and said, ‘If I didn’t have some unfinished business to tend to, I would let you kill me right here and now, old man. But as it stands, Robbie, I need you to see to my brother’s last wishes and his woman.’”
Robert wiped at his nose and cleared his throat before he spoke again. “He stepped aside and that’s when I saw David, lying there, wrapped in a sheet, on the sofa. Already gone.”
Emily fought back a sob, but didn’t bother hiding the tears that had slipped from her eyes. Swallowing with difficulty, she turned and stared out the window.
For a moment, neither one spoke. Each engulfed with renewed grief, and in the silence, the phone rang again making them both flinch. Grabbing it, Emily flipped it open and angrily barked into it, “Mom! Please! I told you. I’m fine.”
“Well, my dear, your mother does not appear at all fine,” came Develyn’s deep voice. “In fact, from where I’m sitting, your parents still seem quite upset by your little mishap.”
Emily’s heart jumped in her throat and she sat forward. “Develyn! Stay away from them! Please don’t hurt–”
“Stop!” he bellowed back. “I told you, Emily, I’m not here to harm you or the child. Or anyone else for that matter.”
Her stomach knotted painfully and she felt like she was going to be sick, but she boldly retorted, “Well, excuse me if I don’t believe a single word you say, Develyn.”
With a chuckle, Develyn coolly responded, “Touche’, my dear. However, I am here to see David and see him I will. And as a token of my sincerity, I will let you decide when and where our little visit shall take place.”
Emily hesitated. She met Robbie’s troubled eyes in the mirror as she wondered what to do. She didn’t trust Develyn and she certainly wasn’t swayed by his proposal, but she knew there was no possible way she could stop him from doing what he wanted. She knew she had no choice in the matter.
With a heavy sigh, she gave in, and said, “Fine. Noon tomorrow. Northwest corner of Old Courthouse Square.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Develyn’s Discovery
Develyn stepped from around a tree and watched Emily disappear into the woods. Retrieving his jacket from the ground, he shook it out and slipped it on. He picked up her forgotten helmet and followed her path back to the road, where he left it beside the bicycle. Slipping on a pair of extraordinarily dark sun-glasses, he delved hands into his pockets and began whistling a tune he had heard Joplin first play at the World’s Fair in Chicago back ‘93.
By the time he had reached his car, a sleek silver Jaguar XK that drew far more attention than he needed, he saw Benny striding toward his pick up. Develyn had to admit, the boy was quite adept at blending in with his surroundings, something every vampire was quick to learn. Not only did Benny look and act like a young man in a small Midwest town, but his vehicle was perfect. It was a mid-80s Ford, midnight blue with big knobby tires and shiny chrome rims and bumpers.
Yanking open the door of the truck, Benny paused and shot him a glare that made Develyn
chuckle. If looks could kill, Develyn knew he would be nothing but a pile of ashes sitting in the driver’s seat.
As the pickup roared away, Develyn turned his attention back to Emily. He watched as everyone flitted excitedly about her and the babe as she told her story and he remained there in the park long after the phone call he made to her. Long after the last of her family, Benny and his Willing had left. Long after the warmth Emily’s blood had given him, had faded.
As the sun began to set, Develyn left in search of lodgings, somewhere that afforded him the degree of peace and privacy he required.
In his search, he passed by the courthouse square that was to be the meeting spot the next day. The building was a large three-story limestone structure that sat on a square, elevated piece of property in the middle of town. As he continued, he discovered Dixon was an old and established village, evident by the homes and buildings from every era of the last 170 years.
It was a small town, encompassing roughly only eight square miles and was completely surrounded by farmland. He noted it had all the essential civic and civil organizations and offices, professional services and typical enterprises as well as modern businesses and conveniences that catered to the contemporary needs and tastes of its citizens.
All in all, Emily’s hometown was a quaint, but vital community that was an ideal place to raise a child. Undoubtedly, another reason, other than to be near family, why Emily had remained there and not taken up residence in David’s house in Chicago.
However, on his scouting mission Develyn was unable to find a suitable dwelling within the city limits, so he tried his luck with the outskirts of town. He traveled in all directions, but it wasn’t until he headed north, passed Lowell Park, when he spotted an old and abandoned farmhouse.
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