Page 7 of Cloak of the Vampire
My heart kicked in my chest.Don’t panic,I told myself.Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Maybe Cassidy is simply in the toilet, and I’m worried for nothing.
First, I walked out of the bar, but the street was completely empty. Cassidy was probably in the restroom, then. I went back inside, walked toward the toilet, and entered the room.
Fear gripped me when I saw Cassidy wasn’t there.
A cold wind caressed the nape of my neck, causing my ponytail to sway a little. Urgency burning through me, I turned to the window and saw it was open ... and wide enough for a person to climb through.
Without thinking twice, I pulled myself onto the ledge, using the sink right beneath it, and looked out. The window led into a deserted alley, and I debated whether to jump out. What if Cassidy was already backstage, and I’d simply missed her? What if my instincts were wrong?
The problem was I’d disregarded my instincts before, and that had resulted in deadly consequences I still had nightmares about. I waslearning not to ignore past mistakes if I didn’t want another innocent person to get killed.
Especially not Cassidy.
Decision made, I jumped out the window and landed roughly on my feet. My knees ached from the impact, slight shock vibrating through my body, but I ignored the sensation and scanned the alley. There were dumpsters to my left and the main road to my right.Where should I go?
A noise to my left followed by a masculine hissed curse was the answer. I crouched behind one of the dumpsters and peeked from behind it, trying to listen beyond my thundering heart.
The man from the bar was holding Cassidy against the wall. He loomed over her, his lips pressing against hers.
The logical thing would’ve been to call the police, if not back when I hadn’t found Cassidy in the bar, then right now. But I couldn’t get involved with the police. I couldn’t have my name associated with anything having to do with law enforcement, and even though I could have left an anonymous tip, Cassidy was running out of time.
If you were to never see me again, would you miss me?she’d asked merely two days ago.
My heart beat like a drum in my ears. I had to do something.
When Cassidy went limp in the man’s hold, I couldn’t help the gasp that left me. My hand squeezed my phone. I was frozen in place as I watched the horrible scene unfolding before me.
Time seemed to slow down. The man’s eerily aglow neon-blue eyes stared at me, like he was trying to decide his next move. He was breathing heavily, stepping closer to me, his eyes blazing as he scanned me from head to toe. His black boots hit the ground in reverberating thuds I could feel vibrating in my bones. Like a deer caught in headlights, I stood rooted in place, horror and fascination flowing through me in equal measure at the sight of this tall, gorgeous man making his way toward me.
I shrieked when the man was suddenly right in my face as though he’d teleported over to where I was. All I could do was stare, wide eyed, as he ripped the phone from my hand and clutched it so hard it broke apart and fell to the ground in little electronic pieces.
Now that he was so close, he seemed faintly familiar. It was only when my instincts started yelling at me toRUN!that I realized where I’d seen him before—a couple of days ago, in fact, in the Hole. But I couldn’t run. My body was locked in place, unable to move, as if held there by his sheer will, an invisible force I was sure was there while I struggled against it in my mind.
He didn’t say a word when he suddenly pushed me to the ground so that I was flat on my back. He leaned down and grabbed my chin in an unbreakable hold. As he hovered over me, his trench coat fell around him, casting a weird shadow.
And when I tried to move, I couldn’t. I could move only my eyes, and even then, I couldn’t blink.
Panic unfolded inside me, rattling so much that I felt all kinds of terrible memories rise to the surface of my mind. It was like the nightmares kept repeating themselves.
I couldn’t save Cassidy.
I couldn’t save myself.
I was helpless.
Utterly helpless.
The basement flashed before my eyes. The blood. Ash. The belt in my hand. The hazel eyes of my father, so similar to mine and yet so alien, bright with fervor as he delighted in forcing me to participate in his abhorrent activities.
And here I was again. Unable to move. To help either my friend or myself. But it wasn’t fear holding me in place. It was ...him.
Then something astonishing happened.
His lips landed on mine.
Everything in me wanted to thrash against him. But all I felt was groggy instead, as though he was drugging me the longer his lips werepasted against my own, unmoving. My eyelids grew heavy, falling like drapes over my eyes, breaking the contact with his eerily glowing ones. Soon, my entire body became limp, exhausted, as if I’d just finished running a marathon.
Before I could form another thought, reality fell away, and my mind was no more.
