Chapter 47
Darkness Always Rises
The cabin was not a cabin at all, but a double-story house.
It was all wooden with full-length windows that allowed views across the lake and forest. The inside was modern, with the latest appliances and a roaring fireplace.
There were no houses for miles. No people.
No vampires. No witches. The air was fresh, crisp.
And still it felt like I could barely breathe.
Monique placed two paper bags loaded with groceries on the counter. “This should be enough to get you through for a few days. There are condiments already in the cupboards.”
“Condiments for a vampire?” My voice sounded raw.
“I have human company sometimes.” She brushed off my question.
Of course she would … to fuck, to feed.
I rubbed at my sore eyes and plonked on the couch.
She switched on the kettle, then leaned her hip against the bench.
“I know what you went through was obviously awful.” Her voice was so soft and filled with compassion, I lifted my head up.
“I was abused as a child by a man old enough to be my father. I know what it does to your heart, to your soul, how it shatters your innocence and rebuilds who you are inside.”
My throat had dried. I swallowed. “How did you get through it?” I whispered.
Monique stared out of the window at the fading rays of day.
“One second at a time mostly.” She met my eyes again, and in hers was something cold, determined.
“When I was turned, I hunted him down and made him suffer like he made me suffer. I took the warped parts of him and rearranged them so he’d feel a little of how I felt. Then I killed him.”
“Did it help?”
She shrugged and picked at a nail. “At the time it did. It made me feel like I was no longer a victim when I took the power back.”
“I can’t remember faces,” I whispered.
She nodded slowly, like she understood. “The darkest moments of your life can’t stay buried forever. Darkness always rises, and when it does, I will help you find him.” There was a promise in her tone, and an anger.
The kettle reached boil and switched off. She straightened and began to make me a coffee. She glanced over her shoulder, a wry smile on her lips. “That’s if Karson doesn’t work out who he is and skins him alive first.”
Karson would be ropable when he found out she helped me leave. He wouldn’t hurt her, but she’d risked his wrath to help me.
I rubbed my sweaty, shaking palms down my jeans. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“You will be safe here. Call me when you are ready to leave.” She handed me the cup, and I took it gratefully, cradling it between my hands.
She collected her keys off the bench. “That’s if I’m alive to call.”
Monique left, and I sagged to the side, curled into a ball, and sobbed. All those fractured moments shattered through me. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to force them back down.
Darkness always rises.
Somewhere deep down, I could hear it all screaming to be let free. But I could feel another voice, a warning.
Some things are meant to stay buried.