When Darkness Falls

by Amanda Perry

  Brecken grabs the end of the stick and pulls it from my grasp, causing me to pitch forward and fall to the ground. I duck my head and cover it with my hands, thinking he’s about to attack me, but nothing happens. After a moment, I look up in confusion and scream at the sight that greets me.

  Brecken’s facial expression is murderous, but that isn’t what has me backing away and screaming bloody murder. It’s the fact that his canine teeth are extended into razor sharp points. His honey colored eyes are glowing golden and are narrowed dangerously at me. His body vibrates with the depths of his anger. Powerful, jet black wings extend from his back like a giant raven. He snarls and flashes his pointed teeth. One second, Brecken the demon-vampire hybrid thingy is before me, and the next, Brecken the pissed off man is back.

  “You want to try and fight me, Little Girl?” Brecken snarls, stalking toward me. “I can show you what happens when you try to come after the Black family. You have stolen from us and now you think you can try and hurt me?”

  I whimper and cower away from him, shaking so hard my teeth chatter together. My poor mind won’t comprehend what I’ve seen. It can’t be real, there is no way it’s real. They drugged me. It’s the only explanation. I’m hallucinating because of some kind of drug I was given. Except, I know what I saw and I know how real it was.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper, as I clamber to my feet and press my back against the wall. I slowly slide my back along the wall to try and put distance between myself and Brecken. “I really didn’t mean to.”

  Brecken’s features show surprise for a brief moment before anger takes center stage again. I almost wonder if I imagined the surprise but I’m too preoccupied with visions of my death to care.

  “Brecken Black, what the fucking hell do you think you are doing?” a female voice calls out, scaring the bejesus out of me and causing Brecken to cringe. He stands straight up, with his shoulders hunched dejectedly. Brecken’s large body is a mere foot from mine so I can’t see who’s behind him, but he seems to know the person. I watch as he gets a guilty look in his eyes and slowly spins around to greet the new comer.

  “Izzy, Sugar.” His voice, all soft and sweet, makes me wonder where the big growly demon looking, sharp-toothed thing from five seconds ago went. Maybe the drugs had me imagining the whole thing. “You’re home early. You all weren’t supposed to be home until next week.”

  “The meeting was rescheduled so we flew in early. Now, what the hell are you doing, B?” the woman asks, stepping farther into the room so I can finally see her.

  She is stunning. Her fiery red hair falls in soft waves around her perfect face. She has the brightest green eyes I have ever seen and her face is covered in subtle, yet adorable freckles. Her skin is cream colored and completely flawless. She doesn’t look to be wearing any makeup but she is still gorgeous and appears to be in her twenties. In fact, all the men I have met look like they are in their mid-to-late twenties as well.

  The woman’s eyes land on me and widen slightly before narrowing on Brecken. “You did not kidnap that girl and bring her here!” she shouts, stomping over to Brecken.

  “Sugar, listen,” he pleads, putting his hands up as she approaches him quickly. “She stole from our family. I couldn’t let her get away with that.”

  The red head looks furious, and I can almost feel her shaking. “You can’t just kidnap people, Brecken! It was a few jewels that didn’t mean that much to your parents. They told you it wasn’t a big deal and to let it go. Instead, you go and lose your temper and show a human what you are! Do you know what you have done?”

  Brecken pales slightly at her words. The entire time they’ve been arguing I’ve been inching my way toward the door. If I can get there without them noticing, then maybe I can make a run for it while they fight it out.

  “I won’t let her get away with taking advantage of us,” Brecken insists, his gaze not wavering from hers.

  The two of them continue their argument and I’m able to make it to the door. Without a second thought, I turn and run down the hall and to the stairs. I don’t dare look behind me to see if they noticed or started to chase me.

  6

  Running as fast as my legs will carry me, I make it to the bottom of the stairs and swing the front door open without stopping. Unfortunately, that’s where my luck runs out again. I run full speed into a solid chest and fall hard onto my back, knocking the breath out of my lungs and bruising my spine in the process.

  “Oh my god,” an unfamiliar male voice mutters, and I hear numerous people enter the room.

  Tears leak from my eyes as I realize I failed to escape yet again. I’m going to die here for sure. Brecken isn’t going to let me get away with my second attempt at freedom. The thought makes me quiver with renewed fear and the tears flow faster as I drag ragged breaths into my lungs.

  “What the hell is going on here?” the man shouts, causing me to flinch.

  I try to sit up and wince at the pain in my back. In front of me, I see an older man looking around the room in anger. With a quick glance, I realize the room is filling up. The three men I already knew, the fiery redhead, and now three more strangers—a younger man and two new women.

  The young man is really more of a boy, as he couldn’t be more than sixteen years old. His skin is pale and his eyes light. His hair is medium brown and cut short. He’s about six inches shorter than Brecken, Remus, and Leviathan which still puts him almost a head taller than me. He has an anxious look on his face as he grips the hand of the girl next to him.

  She has long honey colored hair and tanned skin with honey eyes very similar to Brecken’s. Her mouth is pulled up into a sweet smile as she gently rubs the boy’s arm in comfort. She’s around my height and not nearly as intimidating as the rest of this strange group.

  “Dad, you’re home, too?” Remus visibly pales as he watches his father’s face become more and more red.

  “Vivian and Joseph, take the girl back upstairs for now,” the older man orders, then turns and walks out of the room without another word.

  The blonde girl gives me a guilty smile as she and her, presumably, boyfriend walk over to me. “I’m really sorry about this. My brothers are kind of idiots.” She rolls her eyes and helps me up.

  “Is there a bathroom I can use?” I ask, about ready to empty my bladder where I stand.

  Her eyes widen for a moment then nods and leads me to a small bathroom beside the staircase. There are no windows, of course. There’s only a sink and a toilet. I quickly take care of business and wash my hands, then use them as a cup and take a few gulps of water. It may as well be gold it tastes so good on my parched throat.

  I stop myself from drinking so much that I get sick and splash a bit on my tear stained face. I’m not sure how much more I can handle today. Who the hell are these people? Are they some sort of crazed psychotic family? The blonde girl and the three men who took me are clearly siblings. The resemblance tells me that.

  The man who stopped my exit this time is obviously their father and they’re afraid of him. They didn’t hesitate to follow him out of the room when Vivian took me away. But why did they take me and why do they think I stole anything from them? Does their father know they kidnapped me? Was he in on it? Is that a normal thing for them? Maybe he’s angry that I’m still alive and he’s telling them to kill me right now.

  The thought causes the blood to drain from my already pale face. I try to shake the negative thoughts off as I look at myself in the mirror hanging above the sink. My blue eyes are dilated with fear. My dark brown hair is a total mess, hanging around my shoulders and dropping to my waist. I suppose it doesn’t matter if I look horrible. I’m probably about to die anyway.

  With one last drink of the cool water from the sink, I open the door and silently allow Vivian and Joseph to lead me to the room I’ve tried to escape from twice. With a resigned sigh, I walk to the corner and sink down to the floor. My back still hurts from landing so hard, but I try to ignore it. Vivian and Joseph
give me sad smiles, then exit the room. I have nothing to do now, but sit and wait for whatever fate has in store for me.

  7

  Leviathan Pov

  Father is vicious when angered. Brecken doesn’t look up from the floor as father lays into him about kidnapping a human girl. To be honest, I think Brecken was just sick and tired of humans and others of our kind taking advantage of our family’s kindness. No one had ever gone so far as to steal from us until now, however. The girl had guts to try such a thing.

  I watched from the hall where I could not be seen when Brecken went into her room and she tried to fend him off with a piece of wood. I saw her reaction when he lost his temper and showed her what he is, what we all are. She had no idea, which tells me she did not know who she was stealing from when she took the gems. They weren’t truly important to the family. They were only fun little treasures collected over the years and while they would be worth a lot to a typical human, they were only decoration to us. Still, Brecken couldn’t seem to let the theft go.

  Ever since meeting the small human, I’ve been on edge. There’s just something about her that makes me uneasy and I can’t seem to put my finger on it. She made me smile against my will. The way her face burned with embarrassment when she compared my name to a monster, I couldn’t help the smile that desperately wanted to break free. It has been a very long time since I had anything to smile over.

  She is perfection to look at, for sure. Her bright blue eyes seem to show her every thought without her having to speak a single word. When she looked terrified, for some strange reason I wanted to help her, comfort her. The feeling is unsettling and I need to stop thinking about it, about her.

  Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I realize the room has gone silent and everyone is staring at the doorway. Turning around, my eyes widen when I see who has entered the room. I send a sympathetic glance at my two terrified brothers. They are in so much trouble. Mom’s home now.

  JULIANNE’S POV

  My head snaps up when I hear the door handle turning. Fully expecting it to be Brecken coming in to end my life, I’m quite shocked when an older woman with blonde hair and a sunny smile walks in. My thoughts must show on my face because she giggles lightly.

  “I’m sorry that there are so many of us, that must be very intimidating,” she tells me sympathetically. “My name is Margaret, though you can call me Mary if you would like.”

  Walking fully into the room she surprises me again by sitting on the floor about five feet away from me. The door to the room is wide open and I can’t stop myself from trying to decide if it’s worth it to try and run.

  “Do you understand why you are here?” she asks, distracting me from my internal debate.

  Slowly nodding my head, I scrunch my brow in frustration. “I was told I stole gems from you all.”

  Mary’s eyebrows raise in question. “You were told you stole them or you did steal them?”

  “I didn’t steal anything, I would never do that,” I insist, not breaking eye contact with her. “I could help you find who took them but I swear it wasn’t me.”

  Mary is quiet for a long time as she watches me. I feel my eyes start to water when it appears as though she doesn’t think I’m telling the truth.

  “Julianne,” she murmurs, studying me intently. “I believe you, but the evidence shows the contrary. Also, we have witnesses. Reliable ones that named you as the thief. They also told us you had very little of your own and needed it.”

  “I don’t have anything of my own. I just got laid off as well,” I tell her truthfully, running my hands through my messy hair. “That doesn’t mean I would take something that doesn’t belong to me.”

  She watches me for a few more silent moments then finally nods. “All right, do you have any idea who might try to use your name then?”

  I shake my head. I don’t even know anyone. I can’t think of any criminals who would set me up in a robbery. “Where did you get my name from in the first place?” I ask, sure that there wouldn’t be a thief polite enough to introduce him or herself.

  Mary smiles kindly at me. “We have wonderful security cameras. While we never saw the thief’s face, whoever it was, had hair just like yours, or a wig to make it look like your hair. The height was the same and the sweatshirt you’re wearing now was the same. They also dropped a wallet that contained an ID with your name and picture on it. We thought ourselves lucky when the wallet was found. Now, I’m wondering if it was planted so we would come after you.”

  I nod my head in understanding, then think about the last time I remember seeing my wallet. I rarely use it because it’s always empty and I don’t have a car so I don’t need my license with me all the time. The last time I saw it was when I gave Lauren the money for rent at the start of last month. After that I put it in my bag and forgot about it.

  “My bag!” I shout, startling Mary. “I left it in the street. It has everything important to me in it.”

  “It’s right here,” Leviathan’s voice comes from the doorway, pulling my gaze to him. “Brecken picked it up.”

  Standing and running to him, I grab my bag and clutch it to myself like a security blanket. “Thank you!”

  Leviathan’s brow furrows as he studies my face curiously. “You’re welcome.”

  Mary chuckles after a few tense moments of silence and gets to her feet. “Okay, I’m going to assume my boys didn’t feed you and I heard you have been here for a long while so let’s get you food. We can talk to everyone in the kitchen and let them know that my darling eldest sons kidnapped the wrong girl.”

  Leviathan shakes himself out of his thoughts and leaves the room without a word. I wait for Mary to dust her jeans off before I follow her from the room and down the stairs. I’m unable to stop my eyes from straying to the door and briefly debating making another run for it.

  After seeing Brecken turn into a scary sharp-toothed, winged... thing and getting caught twice trying to escape, I decide against it. I may as well hear what they have to say. After all, I don’t have anything to lose and they haven’t technically tried to killed me yet.

  8

  Making it into the kitchen I see that the whole family has congregated there, plus one more girl who appears to be with Remus, if the way they’re holding hands is any indication. Like the rest, she’s stunning, with tight dark curls that fall to the middle of her back and perfect caramel skin. When she sees me walk in her smile drops and her eyes go wide.

  “Whoa,” she breathes out as she follows me with her eyes. Feeling my cheeks flush with embarrassment, my gaze finds the floor so I don’t have to see their faces anymore. I don’t know what they think of me, but if it’s bad then I don’t want to know.

  I stop in the entrance of the kitchen, feeling weird around all these people... Or whatever they are. I should be more freaked out, or blaming them for drugging me. Except, I know they didn’t. I know I didn’t imagine what I saw. My curiosity outweighs my fear now that Brecken doesn’t have his giant raven wings and incredibly pointy teeth. Do they expect me to pretend I didn’t witness him shift into some sort of inhuman monster before my eyes?

  “What sounds good, Julianne?” Mary asks, opening the fridge and glancing at the contents.

  “I’m not picky. Except for nuts. I’m allergic to nuts,” I mumble with a shrug. Most people would call me insane for considering a meal with the family that kidnapped them. Then again, most people haven’t gone several days without a real meal.

  The youngest girl in the bunch, Vivian, furrows her brow as she studies me. “What happens if you eat nuts?”

  “My throat swells shut and I have about five minutes to get to the hospital or use my EpiPen or I die,” I explain. “It’s a pretty serious allergy.”

  “WHAT?” she screeches. Her eyes nearly pop out of her pretty head. I may as well have told her I was sending her to the gallows. “That’s horrible!”

  I can’t stop the small giggle that escapes me at her exaggerated reaction. Leviatha
n, who’d spent the entire conversation studying the countertop in front of him, jerks his head up at the sound of my laughter. His eyes lock with mine and his expression turn to one of curiosity that stops my giggles immediately. My breathing picks up and goosebumps form along my body with one simple look from him. It’s the weirdest feeling, but not unpleasant.

  Clearing my throat, I glance back at Mary to see she has her head tilted in contemplation as she watches me. When my eyes meet hers, she schools her features and turns back to the fridge. She goes about pulling out enough sandwich fixings for a small army. I wonder if more people will show up.

  After she makes a large platter of sandwiches, I watch in fascination as all the men in the room grab one for their significant others before fixing plates for themselves. Do men really do that kind of thing anymore? When I worked at the diner, I never saw men acting so old fashioned. It’s rare to even see a man open a door for a woman anymore.

  Leviathan glances at me for a moment before putting a sandwich on a plate and handing it to me without a word. I whisper a small thank you to him and dig in. I want to eat slowly, but I’m just too hungry. Within minutes, my plate is empty and I’m tempted to reach for another. Most of the people in the room are headed for seconds as well. Even the tiniest one, Vivian.

  Suddenly, a thought occurs to me and tumbles out before my brain-to-mouth filter kicks in and tells me what a horribly stupid question it is. “You eat real food?” Feeling my cheeks burn with humiliation and fear, I shut my eyes tight and shake my head. “Never mind. I’m sorry, that was rude.”