Page 49 of The Awakening

The glimpse of battle mode David I catch is unnerving. The David I know is no longer visible. His face is distorted, nearly unrecognizable. Eyes turned black, fangs bared like a savage beast—this is worse than the night he fought Tristan.

“Go inside now, Jess,” he commands.

But I can’t move. I’m in a state of total shock.

The rogue takes advantage of David’s momentary distraction to attack and tosses David into the pool. Tristan grabs a nearby chair and breaks a wood legs from it. David resurfaces without so much as a splash and pins the rogue’s arms behind him while Tristan stabs the wooden spear into his chest. David spins him around and lands a kick that pushes the stake straight through him. Blood shoots out and all over me. Tristan and David rip his head off and toss it out into the yard, followed by his body.

My hands immediately cover my mouth and filter a scream. David and Tristan turns, I stare in awe as their faces transform back to the men I know.

“Jess, I didn’t want you to see any of this. Why didn’t you go inside?” David asks. He isn’t angry, but he isn’t happy either.

I’m so freaked out all I can manage is an awkward shrug.

“Do you think we should bury him or something?” Tristan asks David.

“No, sunrise is near. Let nature do its job,” David replies. “Do you recognize him?” he asks Tristan.

“No.”

This whole situation is way out of my comfort zone. To be honest, I’m totally wigging out right now, like as in full blown panic mode. Not only did I just witness my first murder, but it’s also the first time I’ve seen my fiancé transform into someone I don’t recognize. And oh ya, I nearly got killed by a rogue fucking vampire.

Murder.

Vampires.

Rogue.

All words that should not be in anyone’s vocabulary. This is some straight out of a fiction book shit. Staring into those red eyes were like looking into the eyes of the devil himself.

“Will there be others?” I blurt out. The panic in my voice conveys just hownotokay I am with this.

David and Tristan look at each other before David replies, “Luckily, this one was only a youngling. I’m sure there’ll be others that are fully mature, including my mother.”

Chapter Seventeen

Jess

Three nights later we are back at school pretending like nothing happened. Personally, I was more than ready to be in a large group setting. Not that it would stop any rogues, but you know that whole safety in numbers thing. At least, that’s the happy thought I chose to cling to.

Having not slept worth a shit since that night, I find it hard to focus on anything.The images ingrained in my memory are the cause of frequent nightmares and I’m back to constantly looking over my shoulder while my mind fucks with me.

When we get home from school, Tristan informs us he’s headed out to The Hollow to gather intel. He hopes to hear rumbling of rogue sightings.

“Wow,” David says when he gets up to stretch, “it’s three-thirty in the morning and Tristan isn’t back.” David glances at his messages, “And he hasn’t texted either.” Neither of us has a good feeling about this, so we hop in the car to search for him. The Hollow will be our first stop.

On the way there, David gives me the low down. “I hate taking you here, but I wasn’t about to leave you home alone. Play it cool and stay in the car with the doors locked. That will deter them long enough for me to get to you.”

My heart races and my nerves jump into hyperdrive.

We pull up to what looks like a dilapidated row of old warehouses in the heart of downtown Phoenix. There are homeless people lining the alleyways. Most of the nearby buildings appear to be abandoned, except for a new loft building east of the warehouses. We drive around to the alley behind it and see a body on the ground behind the rear entrance to The Hollow. Our first thought is it might be a vagrant, but when David rolls down the window to get a better look, the smell of fresh blood permeates the car.

“Tristan!” he hollers as he bursts from the car and runs over to Tristan’s body. “Stay put, Jess.”

He scoops Tristan up and turns toward the car. I reach for the door to get out and help when David orders, “Stay in the car, Jess!” He manages to open the door and places Tristan on the back seat. There is blood everywhere and I can hardly make out his gnarled face. Bite marks and lacerations litter his once flawless skin.

“He’s been drained of nearly all his blood and left for dead. His wounds aren’t healing like normal cuts on vampires do, usually within seconds they’re gone,” David says as we pull out of the alleyway.

“What could’ve made these cuts and why aren’t they healing?” I want to help but don’t know how. Is it safe for me to touch him?

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