Hunting Tess

by Kathryn Summers

  “It would appear you are through with your meal.” My food disappears within moments of the implied order, whisked away to some basement kitchen in this fortified labyrinth.

  I did manage to scramble out of my rooms once when a maidservant made the mistake of turning her back. Kleidion wasn’t pleased with having to dispose of a body on my first night here, but I didn’t make it far. Unconscious when they kidnapped me, I wasn’t fast enough to solve the intricate tangle of halls.

  “Leave,” he orders the crowd on the balcony. Instead of looking at each other as if questioning his command, they clear out without hesitation. I wonder what the punishment is for dithering.

  The fine silken tux he wears is black as night, his cravat perfectly in place. The picture he portrays is one of wealth and sanity. “Tomorrow I expect you to behave with better etiquette.”

  “Etiquette?” I repeat. “I’m the one with behavioral issues? You had my parents killed and then kidnapped me. And now you expect everything to smooth itself over because you’re what, ‘a catch’? Newsflash: You missed the etiquette course during the academy you attended three hundred years ago.”

  “Others would find themselves grateful to be in your place.”

  “Well then ‘others’ need therapy.”

  He takes a pause before continuing, “What happened to your parents was a regrettable action. I assure you the person responsible was dealt with swiftly.”

  “Wow, great apology.”

  “It is the most you will get,” he bites, “and more than is deserved. You are here to further the vampire race, creating a new age for my kind. The extent of my civility reaches to those I deem worthy. All else are lower than dirt; I care neither for their feelings nor scruples. I have given you a period to adjust, but it is time you learn your place.”

  Eliza would say that some are a glutton for punishment. “Strike a nerve, did I?”

  His fangs descend in a flash but my nails are ready to go, manacled and all. He’s physically faster than me but if I can get him close enough to the balcony’s ledge, I may be strong enough to flip him over.

  “Your Grace,” a vampire calls from inside my sitting room. “Your eleven o’clock appointment has just arrived.”

  Breathing heavily, his fangs remain visible as he directs me back into my prison. He waits as the servers rapid clear away any trace a meal existed, never taking his eyes off me. Once the dishes are cleared and the door to the outside world locked, I expect him to leave with the rest since he has a previous engagement. Instead, he stays behind accompanied by the same two vampires from the bathroom.

  Unsure if he’ll try to attack or use verbal remarks to cut me to ribbons, I don’t expect him to slowly peruse the length of my body in a painstaking fashion. The longer he takes the harder my heart beats from fear.

  “If you so much as come near me,” I utter, “I will rip out your heart.”

  He ends the protracted perusal at my face, staring into my eyes. “As I seem to recall, you were incapable of stopping me from taking what I wanted last time. What makes you think this time will be any different?”

  How seconds can be such vastly different lengths of time is beyond me, but this one seems never ending. Only when he leaves, a touch of a smile ghosting his lips, does time snap back into place. My knees shake and I nearly collapse into a chair, fully aware he succeeded in attaining his desired result. Because the truth of the matter is that I can’t stop him. Which means the only thing I can do is die fighting my way out, or find a way to jump. But I won’t jump without taking him with me.

  ***

  “Emily?” I ask, rubbing the corner of my eye to make sure she isn’t just some hallucination from staring at green patterned wallpaper for the last four hours.

  “Oh, Tess, you are here! Why didn’t you tell me about your past? I can keep a secret.”

  She bounces into the room, leaping onto my bed sending ruffled movement across the thick down comforter. A headache forms behind my right eye thinking how in the world Emily got here and what possible reason she could have for being here. It’s not like this is a great tourist spot.

  “Emily, what are you doing here? Do you know where you are?”

  “Of course I do,” she giggles, her blond curls bouncing on her shoulders. Before I can register why she would have a syringe in her hand she’s stabbed it into my arm, pushing the contents into my body.

  “Emily!” I shout, rolling off the bed and away from her. Yanking the syringe out of my arm, I chuck it to the ground.

  She gets to her knees on the mattress and fishes out a second needle from her back pocket. “Now hold still so I can get this—”

  “Are you crazy? What was in that syringe?”

  “Just something to relax you a little, that’s all. Now I have to do the second dosage—”

  “Why did you stab me!”

  “It’s the only way I can become like them,” she pleads, tears forming in her brown eyes. “I’ve dreamed of this my whole life and to find out it’s actually possible . . . I want to become a vampire. I knew what Dmitri was the moment I saw him.” She rises on shaky legs as she crosses the mattress trying to get to me. “And this is the last thing I have to do before they make me like them.”

  “Vampires aren’t made, they’re born. If a vampire bites you at the neck you aren’t going to change into one of them. You’re going to die from blood loss,” I speak, scampering out of reach. My mind feels like it’s been flipped on its side as I try to piece together what’s going on while staying away from the loon.

  “You’re wrong!” she cries, swinging at me with childlike strength. That’s the only thing I can compare what her dangerous delusion has dwindled her to. “I will be their princess! The Master has promised me! Now hold still!”

  If it were to come to a fight, I would win with hardly any effort. But this is Emily. I’m not going to attack her. “Emily, listen to me. You’re sick. We need to get you into a hospital.”

  “You’re just selfish!” she screeches, hunting me into the sitting area where she pauses by the main door. “I have done everything they’ve asked. I got them onto campus and gave them the distraction they needed to get to you, yet you’re the one with the prized position! You have always been one step ahead of me, but not anymore. I will be the one on top. And you will not get in my way!”

  Lobbing the needle in my direction, I easily swat it aside letting it hit the ground with a dull thud. Prepared to catch her when she inevitably dives for her small weapon, I don’t expect an arm to slink through the cracked door and break her neck.

  Emily drops in slow motion, her form reminiscent of a rag doll as her baby doll curls bounce once against the floor before going still.

  The violent and sudden end of a friend, however misguided, rolls my stomach. Finding the solid form of a table I lean my weight against it, worried of fainting. The arm becomes more visible as the door swings open revealing Dmitri. “You need to leave. Now.”

  He withdraws a folded paper from his jacket pocket. “Here are directions on the quickest way out of the citadel and into the Rhodope Mountains. Keep going south until you hit the town of Paranesti, then you’ll know you’re in Greece.” His outstretched hand holds the directions and I don’t get why he doesn’t come into the room and hand me the paper.

  “You want me to leave?” I ask slowly, taking longer than normal to understand his words.

  “You are the bane of my existence,” he seethes, heavy bags sitting beneath his eyes. “I don’t want you or your scent anywhere near me.”

  Walking toward him I have to blink my eyes several times to stop the carpet from moving. “Your pupils are dilating.” Dropping the paper into my chained outstretched hands, I see delicate cursive marking the path for escape. “You only have a couple of hours until sundown so you should use that time to get as far away from here as possible.”

  I look down at Emily.

  “Believe me when I say it was a mercy killing,” he claims, his
haggard face growing more worn by the second. “My father had something much more painful in mind.”

  “Why?” I ask, wondering what would possess him to help me.

  “If I kill you, then no matter how many times I wash my father will still smell your scent and know what I did, making my life forfeit. My brother is dead because of you. My few years in the sun were wasted because of you. I would gladly rip out your throat where you stand. But my desire for self-preservation is stronger. Barely. And maybe this way the elements will kill you.”

  By the time I look back up from his instructions, he’s gone. I would question why he didn’t try killing me with a sword, or even a gun. But that would produce blood. Maybe his self-control isn’t so great.

  Running back to the bed for the thick down comforter, I cast one final glance at Emily on my way out. At the girl who supported me when all the other girls mocked. An outcast befriending an outcast.

  Swallowing a painful lump in my throat, I step around her, focusing on solving the labyrinth and going free.

  CHAPTER 18

  HER

  Focus on the branch.

  On second thought, maybe climbing a tree to hide wasn’t the best idea. Especially considering the fact everything is spinning. Gripping tightly to the closest branch, I rest my forehead against my knees. Hopefully whatever Emily dosed me with will wear off soon.

  Leaves crackle on the forest ground in the last of the dying light as woodland creatures make their way home. The area is beautiful and poetic, but a terrible location to be hunted by vampires. A better spot to hide would be over a pit filled with silver spikes at the bottom.

  Pulling the blanket over my head so I can keep a firm grip on the surrounding branches, I wonder if I did enough to offset its blinding whiteness sure to be visible in the dark. Dragging it through mud on one side will hopefully help. What did not help was traveling down the river. I tried to keep most of the material above my head but had a nasty moment when I slipped on a rock. I doubt the vampires will give up just from losing my scent for a moment, but hopefully it’ll buy me time.

  I can travel in the dark. I can travel less quietly when bumbling through bushes because I was drugged with who knows what.

  The warning squawk of a bird cries from the distance and I feel as if the countdown on the gameboard just hit zero and the pregame is over. Now the real game begins. My rear goes numb from sitting on a branch that’s too narrow, but I wanted to get as far up into the tree as safely possible.

  The night gradually darkens around me making it near pitch black inside my cocoon. Jerking awake, my heart pounds as my throat painfully constricts from fright. Breathing deeply to calm the new adrenaline rushing through my veins, I’m shocked to discover my head is clear. Shuffling a corner of the blanket out from under me provides a good view of the branches below which no longer wobble like cooked noodles. Cool air rushes inside and seeps into my damp clothing, but the rest of me feels invigorated.

  “Alright,” I pep talk, wiggling my arms to shake them loose. I probably look like a chicken but can’t dredge up enough embarrassment to care. I’ll have to listen for any vampires getting too close, but I can finally head south.

  Stripping off the blanket makes me gasp. Holy freaking cow it’s cold! The little breeze from before was a trickle of tepid water compared to Niagara Falls leeching all my heat. Move. I have to move. Internally whimpering at the miserable night ahead I wrap the blanket around me as best I can, tucking edges into my clothing where possible before starting the trek down.

  As footholds turn to handholds, I’m pretty sure whatever I was injected with messed with my memory because there is no way I remember climbing this high. I’m not even halfway down the tree when yells sound from the direction I started. Instead of pausing, which has proved my nemesis, I push myself to go faster. It feels like an eternity before my feet hit the forest floor, but when they do, I’m off.

  Shoeless with only a thin sock to offer protection against the twigs and rocks I’m flying over, there are times I grimace from a sliver or cut. Not because of the pain, my toes are already going numb so I’m sure my feet aren’t far behind. I grimace because it leaves a trail of blood.

  Dodging around trees, I glance behind me when a snapping echo fills the night, no longer looking at what’s ahead. Taking a step midair, my feet scramble to find purchase as I tumble head first down a rocky slope. Wrapping my arms over my head I tuck myself into as tight of a ball as possible to minimize damage.

  All air is knocked from my lungs on the final drop, dumping me on my back. Clenching my eyes against the pain springing up everywhere skin exists, I wish I could just rest. For ten hours. That’s not too much to ask.

  Something wet presses against my face and I jerk, kicking a protruding tree branch and probably breaking a toe.

  The dark outline of two cats sit next to my face. Their soft fur brushes against my upper arm and I nearly sob with relief. How the Twins found me I have no idea. But if they’re here, I bet Parker is too.

  The closest tabby meows a long pitiful cry while the other sharply chirps as if ordering me to stand. Placing my hand on her head I mutter, “Good kitty.”

  Taking a deep breath in, I hold the air while standing to keep from crying out in pain. Soft white feathers float across the rocks lining the twenty-five-foot slope I tumbled down, the inopportune trail ending at my feet. The blanket didn’t make it. Ripped and losing its contents, the piece is nothing more than two bits of fabric sewn together at the shredded edges.

  “Well, I’m lucky it wasn’t me,” I say to the cats, holding up the tattered remains. The second one chirps again before taking off into the woods, leaving its relative staring up at me. “Hey, I’m following you.”

  Taking off in the silent way cats do, I trail behind and forcefully ignore my body screaming at me to stop. Without the additional layer from the blanket, I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep up this pace without frostbite setting in.

  Ducking under a massive fallen log that has to be at least five hundred years old reminds me of the creature I’m attempting to escape from. I wonder how long Kleidion has been in this area, and more importantly, how many others he lords over in his coven.

  “Tess?” a heavy German accent asks. Twisting my head, I see a man wearing what must be night vision goggles. “Are you Tess? I am a friend.” His looks much better outfitted to endure the evening than my flimsy nightgown. The crossbow in his hand makes him look formidable.

  The cats don’t seem to be afraid, so I nod my head. Pressing a receiver on his shoulder he speaks into it, “Ich fand das Mädchen.” Regripping the crossbow, he scans the forest once. “Come. These woods are not safe.”

  Not needing to be told twice, I stagger in his direction with the Twins close on my heels. Taking off his puffed jacket to wrap around my shoulders he introduces himself as Ryker. I nearly melt in the warmth of residual body heat before he grips my hand to pull me along. He must think I’m completely blind in the darkness. In order to conserve what little energy I possess I don’t correct him on the assumption.

  He continually scans the surrounding trees with that contraption on his head. He must work for The Agency. It’s interesting to know they have European branches as well.

  “Wait,” Ryker whispers before actually stopping. I appreciate the gesture since in his mind I can’t see a thing. Narrowing my eyes, I try to separate any unnatural movement from the wind whistling through the trees. It would be better to find high ground since it will be more difficult to fight our way out of this divot.

  Straining my ears, I can just make out the nearly silent crunch of leaves beneath a heavy entity. “Someone’s coming, but I can’t tell the direction.”

  Handing me a six-inch blade pulled from a side holster, we stand back to back to increase our odds of locating whoever is lurking in the night. That or he took a guess at where the attack will spring from and put me behind him. I look down and notice that the Twins have disappeared which
can be construed either way.

  “Your right,” I announce, pivoting to the left and gunning straight for the vampire poised in plain view. My limbs are sluggish when I stab the vampire through the heart. Though this one enemy is down there are countless others out scouring, and the more my internal temperature drops the less success I’ll have in taking down these monsters.

  “Not bad, Mädchen, not bad. Good help to see in the dark.”

  “Yes, it is,” I agree, pulling out the dagger with some difficulty. “How far before we reach help?”

  “At our pace, another hour.”

  Gritting my teeth, I lean against my knees. Even with Ryker’s jacket I don’t think I’ll be able to walk for another hour. I can barely feel my feet as it is. He can’t carry me and aim that size of a crossbow and I’ll be no good fighting if I can’t feel my hands.

  Thunder peals across the sky, bringing with it a bad omen. If it rains right now then so help me.

  Huffing out an angry breath full of frustration, I stand out of sheer irritation. I’m thousands of miles from home trekking through dark cumbersome woods being hunted by a mythological creature determined to create babies with me. This is not what I was planning on doing after graduation.

  “Let’s go,” I grit, fueled with a new fire that won’t last very long but dang it, I’m going to get as far as I can.

  Stomping up hills swarming with roots, Ryker keeps me from tripping which I’m profoundly grateful for. At least I don’t have to add more scrapes to my already beaten up body. I have yet to take inventory beyond making sure nothing is broken, but I’m fairly confident there are several, several major cuts. One of them oozing blood that’s leisurely dripping down my left hand.

  White flood lights click on, beaming through the trees and momentarily blinding me. Shying away, I raise my hands to block out the intensity of the light, too tired to quickly think of a game plan if it’s vampires.

  “Tess!” Leo calls, running in front of the blazing beams to sweep me up in a hug before setting me back down. “Holy crow, you don’t look great. How did you escape? Never mind, that can wait. I’m so glad we found you. We were worried it was going to take longer or that those vampires might get to you first.”