Chapter 27 #3
Caroline comes in just as Claire finishes making the tea.
She sets a cup down in front of me. I can smell the lavender in it and my mouth waters.
I never thought lavender was edible, but Claire seems to put it in everything.
Caroline watches me sip my tea, a strange look on her face before grabbing her cup. She sighs after she takes a sip.
“How are you feeling today?” she asks.
“The same as always,” I murmur.
“It will be over soon,” she says but adds nothing else.
Like my death is an unwelcome topic. I go to ask her a question when a pained expression takes over her face.
The cup she is holding, drops from her hands, shattering.
Her eyes glaze over. I watch as she grips the table, the broken glass cutting into her hands.
Caroline tries to ride out the sudden pain.
I stand, alarmed, moving away from her, as her eyes regain focus turning a crimson shade, her fangs protruding making her features look malevolent.
The pain seems to leave her, but her breathing remains ragged. Claire is watching her worriedly.
“I know,” she says to Caroline, touching her shoulder. Caroline looks to me in panic, before pain has her clawing at her back as she screams in agony. Her voice distorts as she tries to talk through her pain.
“I have to go. I can’t let him bear it,” she screams. Claire is frantically racing around the kitchen while I stand paralyzed in fear.
“Bear what, Caroline?” I stutter. Her eyes flick to my face, her teeth bared as an animalist glint flits across her features. Claire is busy making something before walking over, a green concoction in a cup in her hand.
“Drink this, it will help.” Caroline clutches the cup, her hands trembling as she tries to hold it to her lips, gulping down the liquid fast. It works instantly. I can tell she is in pain, yet it somehow becomes bearable for her.
“I need to go. Claire, you need to watch over her,” she gasps out.
“What’s going on?” I ask in panic.
“They’re torturing him. Something has gone wrong.
I can feel my partner being tortured. Josiah, I need to get to him.
I’m sorry, Imogen, I must go.” She trying to stand on shaky legs.
I have no idea how she thinks she can run to him in this state, but I can tell she is determined to try.
She walks over to the sink and I nearly throw up as I watch her grab a knife and run it across her wrist, letting the blood run into a cup.
My mouth instantly waters at the smell of it. I swallow loudly, my mouth filled with my saliva.
“It will congeal but you’re going to have to force it down, Imogen. They will kill me if you die,” she says before turning toward Claire.
“Make sure she takes it as soon as she is in pain.” Claire nods before giving Caroline a hug.
Caroline walks on wobbly legs as pain hits her again. She wraps her arms around me before rubbing my swollen belly.
“Take care of yourself, I will be back as soon as I can.” She runs out the door. I can hear the wind howling and screaming. The storm will hit soon. I just hope Caroline clears the mountains and doesn’t get stuck outside in it.
“Maybe you should go lay down, Imogen. I’ll call out when dinner is done.”
I nod. I feel like all I do is sleep. Feeling constantly drained and exhausted.
My mind goes to Josiah, wondering what has happened to cause such panic in Caroline.
I can feel Tobias and Theo’s anxiety, they also feel closer to me.
Like they aren’t far at all. I play with the bangle Claire gave me that blocks the bond, knowing I only have to take it off and they will find me.
I can’t risk my baby. So, I drop the bangle and it presses back against my wrist. I lay on the bed before slowly drifting off.
My sleep is restless, and I can’t find a comfortable position, tossing and turning constantly.
When I finally wake, it is because the storm is raging outside.
The wind sounds like a freight train against the walls.
The entire place shakes in its wrath. I throw my legs over the side of the bed and notice there is no light, and the cottage is eerily quiet.
The only noises are the crackle of the fireplace.
I stand and stretch, taking a deep breath only to see my own breath in the air.
I can feel the heat coming from the fireplace, so why am I so cold all of a sudden?
My breath makes little clouds in the air.
Opening my bedroom door, I see darkness.
The lights are all off. I trudge down the stairs, excited to see the flames in the fireplace offering a little light.
I can’t hear Claire anywhere or smell her cooking which I have become familiar with.
Feeling a sense of dread wash over me, I feel the first sharp pain stirring deep within my stomach.
I clutch my belly, trying to breathe through the pain and stumble down the rest of the stairs.
That’s when I smell it. Blood and lots of it.
My mouth waters at the delectable smell.
I stagger into the kitchen as pain ripples through me again, knowing I have to get the glass of blood from the fridge.
But where is Claire? Flicking the light switch, no lights come on, the storm having knocked the power out somehow even though it runs off solar.
I feel my way into the kitchen at the back of the house, listening for any sounds, but can only hear the storm raging outside and my own footsteps on the slate floor.
It’s not until my feet step in something warm and wet that I know something is wrong.
I bend, pain searing through my abdomen at the movement and I feel the ground, my hands coming in contact with the intoxicating liquid spilt on the floor.
I feel around my hand becoming coated in the gooey liquid, before I feel hair, curly hair and I jump. “Claire,” I gasp.
It’s her body bleeding out on the floor at my feet.
I stagger back, panic setting in. That’s why she couldn’t see the baby being born, why she thought my future was dark.
She was never going to live for it. I scream in agony as I feel something shift within me.
Pain now being the only thing I can focus on.
I hear her laugh before I see her figure standing in the kitchen's corner in its shadows. She steps forward; I step back toward the primary room with the fireplace. I turn and try to run, holding my stomach, but she is in front of me in seconds.
The fire crackling, illuminating her features as I come face to face with the homicidal bitch.
“Miss me?” she taunts just as another wave of pain ripples through me bringing me to my hands and knees. My scream echoing and dying in the storm raging outside.