Chapter 9 - Anson
9
ANSON
I act as soon as the door begins to glide shut on its own. I lunge toward the bedside stand and snatch up my phone, then rush over to the door. I lean down and slide the phone sideways across the floor between the door and its frame mere inches before it closes and the lock can engage. Then I straighten and freeze, listening for any sign that Ameera and the others have noticed what I’ve done. I stay like that for several moments until their footsteps fade away up the stairs. Then I ease the door open and I poke my head out to find the sitting room empty. Good. It’s time to get the fuck out of here.
I push the door open the rest of the way, then kick my phone across the floor back into the bedroom. I’m not stupid enough to take something with me that Ameera could use to track me. Plus, it’s not like I’ll ever need it again if my plan for tonight is successful. I close the door, then creep over to the stairwell and up the stairs, my steps silent in a way I’d never manage if I was still human.
I pause near the top and listen to Ameera ask Dre to wait in the kitchen, and frown. Fuck me. The back door I plan on using for my escape is in the kitchen, and now I have to get past Dre to do it. A surge of panic has my emotions threatening to rise and overwhelm me yet again, but with an effort of will, I battle them back down until I feel nothing. It’s getting easier every time I do it now.
I consider my options as I wait for Ameera and Samuel to move into the study. The front door is out, since Logan Rourke is about to be escorted through it into the house, and I’d have to pass Ameera’s study to do it. I could slip out a window, but they’re all fitted with sensors that will alert the guards if I open one. The kitchen door it is then, and maybe I can slip past Dre without him even knowing I was there.
I ease out into the hallway and glide toward the kitchen, then reach the doorway and peer into the room. Dre is standing at the sink and looking out the window with a frown. I drop into a crouch and move into the room, keeping the large kitchen island between us as I sneak forward. When I reach the far corner of the island, it’s only a matter of a few feet between me and the back door. I rise just enough to peek over the countertop, and Dre is still standing in the same spot. I can hear the slow beat of his heart and the blood pulsing beneath his skin, and it awakens my bloodlust. But thankfully I’ve fed recently, and it only takes a bit of effort to fight it down.
I stifle a sigh and lower back into a crouch as I glance at the door again. How the fuck am I supposed to get through that door without the sound of the latch drawing Dre’s attention? I suppose I could just stand up and use my glamour on the man when he sees me and make sure he forgets he ever saw me leave the house. But the success of that plan depends on Dre being foolish enough to meet my eyes. Somehow, I don’t see that happening. Fuck. I don’t know what to do now.
I’m contemplating going back to my little prison to bide my time for another opportunity to escape when Dre’s phone chimes with a notification. I peer over the countertop at Dre again as he pulls his phone out of his pocket and glances at it. My sharp vision allows me to read the words, “Are you up?” on the screen with a clarity that surprises me. Dre grins at the message before pressing a few buttons and raising it to his ear. I’m stunned when I realize my hearing is so acute now that I can hear the call ringing through the device’s tiny speaker.
“Do you ever sleep?” a male voice asks in amusement after the call goes through.
“Not if I can help it,” Dre says with a smirk that fades quickly. “Why are you awake? Is Andre okay?” he asks with concern in his voice now.
Ah, he’s talking to his younger brother, Xander, and Andre is his three-year-old nephew. I’ve never met any of Dre’s family, but he talks about them often and with a lot of love. His brother married into a werewolf pack in some little podunk town called Wolcott when he formed a mating bond with one of its members, a woman named Harmony. The two are happily married with one child. I decide to take advantage of Dre’s distracted attention and ease toward the back door as his conversation continues.
“The kid’s fine,” Xander replies. “So is everyone else.”
Dre lets out a deep breath. “Thank God.”
I reach the door and plaster my back against it, my hand resting on the knob as I wait for the perfect opportunity to slip out of the house.
“Harmony told me I should wait until morning, but I’ve just been lying in bed wide awake and waiting for dawn. I won’t be able to sleep for shit until I tell you the good news.” Xander pauses for effect before speaking again. “Harmony’s pregnant.”
I should be thrilled for my friend and his growing family, but I don’t feel a damn thing, just a passing curiosity that quickly fades. The two brothers start talking over each other in their shared joy, and I take advantage of the noise and turn the knob. Dre doesn’t react to the slight sound at all and still doesn’t react even as I ease the door open and the sound of the pouring rain outside filters into the house. I glide through the doorway and close the door behind me with care. Then I pause to make sure Dre doesn’t come after me, but his conversation with his brother continues without interruption.
I turn and hurry across the covered patio and out into the rain, hurrying over the wet grass to the trees that stretch along the massive security wall that surrounds the property. I’m drenched by the time I pause at the base of the brick wall. It’s irritating and uncomfortable, but I’m not chilled to the bone like I expected to be, which is strange considering how cold the rain is. I’m not overwhelmed by the noise and sensations of the rain either, which is a relief and means I finally have a handle on my hypersensitivity. I push my wet hair out of my eyes, then glance around and don’t see a guard in sight, and suspect the heavy rain is the reason they’re not patrolling as thoroughly as they usually do. Then I turn my attention to the ten-foot wall. I guess it’s time to test my new vampire body.
I crouch low, then leap upward and land in a crouch atop the wall with little effort and more grace than I ever could’ve managed as a human. Holy shit. But I don’t have the time to marvel at my physical feat and drop down to the sidewalk on the other side, landing on my feet without even a twinge of pain in my back or legs. I check the surrounding area for any witnesses to my escape, then hurry down the sidewalk with a grin spreading across my lips as I take my first steps of freedom in days.
I break into a run as I head north toward the nearest bridge over the Unity River, and my inhuman speed has everything flying past me in a blur. I’m amazed yet again, but it still doesn’t hold a candle to the way it felt to wield my magic, to feel it welling up from my soul and bending it to my will. I still feel empty inside with it gone, and no amount of physical gains will change that.
I come to the bridge and turn east to cross it, following the sidewalk without slowing down. The light traffic and the heavy rain, in addition to the darkness, keep anyone from noticing me, let alone how impossibly fast I’m moving. The rain lets up into an annoying drizzle after I reach the other side of the river, and I slow my pace as I move through the trendy neighborhood full of shops, bars, and a few other businesses.
The rain stops several blocks later as I continue east. I pass a local pub across the street just as the front door opens and three men stagger out into the night, laughing and talking far too loud for the late hour. I slow as I watch them head down the street in the opposite direction. I fixate on them and a sudden urge to follow them hits me hard and wipes out any coherent thought. The next thing I know, I’m crossing the street and tailing them down the sidewalk in silence, sticking to the shadows so they don’t notice me a few yards behind them.
After a few blocks, one of them splits off from the others and heads north. Without a conscious thought, I follow him, moving in close enough now that I can hear his heart beating. The sound calls to me like a siren and urges me onward as bloodlust pounds through my veins, my vision sharp and my upper jaw aching with my erupting fangs.
He nears the entrance of a narrow alley, and I move in closer. “Hey man,” I call out. “You dropped your wallet.”
The man, or should I say kid since he doesn’t even look old enough to drink, whirls to look at me. Our eyes meet and I snag his drunken mind with an ease that astounds me. He just stands there with a blank, glassy-eyed expression, waiting for me to do whatever I want with him. I glance in both directions and see no one in sight, then lead the kid into the dark alley until we’re out of sight from the street. Then I focus all my attention on my food.
I stare at his neck, fixating on the flutter of his pulse under his skin. I can almost taste the sweet metallic tang of his blood. I put a hand on his chest and push his back up against the nearest building. I meet his gaze and see a hint of fear in them, so I push a wave of euphoria into his mind until his eyes grow dreamy and he sags against the wall behind him. Then I reach up to grip his short hair and tilt his head to the side, exposing the side of his throat, and lean in close, ready to pierce his skin and drink my fill, heedless of the consequences.
Headlights flash across the wall, distracting me, and I glance over my shoulder to see a car pulling into the alley. The car jerks to a stop and a head peeks out the driver’s side window. “Hey!” the man shouts. “What the fuck are you doing?!”
Self-preservation kicks in, along with a healthy dose of reality, and I flee up the alley, leaving my hapless victim swooning against the wall. The driver shouts after me, but I continue until the shadows swallow me up, then turn to look back. The man is out of his car and walking toward the kid, who has slumped down the wall onto his backside.
“Are you okay?” the man asks as he stops in front of the kid. “Was that guy trying to mug you?”
“Wh… what?” he says as he blinks up at his savior, still dazed from my glamour.
“Come on,” the man says as he reaches down toward the kid. “Let’s get you somewhere safe.”
He hauls the kid up onto his feet and slings an arm around his waist to keep him upright. Then he glances up the alley in my direction with a deep frown and I sink even further into the shadows and freeze. After a moment, he shakes his head, then turns and leads the kid toward his car. I watch as he loads the kid into the back seat, then climbs into the driver’s seat and backs out of the alley before driving away. Then it’s my turn to slide down the wall behind me onto my ass.
I was going to kill that kid, no doubt about it. All that mattered to me in that moment, when he was at my mercy, was feeding the monster I’ve become. He wasn’t even a person to me anymore. I’d given him as much thought as I’d give a fucking steak dinner. Horror and self-loathing assault my psyche at that thought and shatter the fragile control I had. My moment of weakness has the rest of my emotions bursting free from behind the now crumbling walls I’d built around them in my mind. Within seconds, they overwhelm me and I fall over onto my side and curl into a ball as a harsh, painful sob tears its way out of my chest. And then I’m lost, drowning in the unending torment of my emotions until all coherent thought is gone.
It’s a strange sense of impending doom that brings me back to myself as much as the rain that’s falling once more. I sit up, drenched yet again, my T-shirt and jeans plastered to my skin and water dripping from my hair into my eyes. The dread sitting like a hunk of lead in my gut supersedes all the other emotions that were overwhelming me and helps me rein them in.
I get to my feet and glance down at my watch and still when I see the time. Shit. I was catatonic far longer than I thought. Sunrise isn’t far off now and I have one last thing to do tonight and not a lot of time to do it. I hurry out of the alley and head northeast toward the historic district.
Once again, the darkness and heavy rain, along with the early hour, keep the few people out and about from noticing me or how inhumanly fast I’m moving. Before long, the rain has tapered off and I’m standing in the alley that runs behind the old Victorian house I called home when I was human. The lights inside are all on since my sister doesn’t feel safe at night if they aren’t. I let myself into the backyard through the gate in the fence and move around the side of the garage at the back of the property.
I cross the yard and step onto the deck, then approach the back door on leaden feet. My emotions threaten to overpower me, but I somehow keep from losing myself to them again. I reach out to knock on the door, then listen for any reaction inside the house. It doesn’t take long and I hear footsteps on the stairs and my sister cursing under her breath as she approaches the door. I step back, making sure I’m visible for my sister through the peephole I had installed on the back door, then wait.
“Anson?” she cries as she yanks the door open.
She looks like she hasn’t slept in days with dark circles under her eyes and her honey brown hair hanging limp around her wan face. Just the sight of her has bloodlust pounding through my veins and I step forward, only to be stopped by an invisible wall of impenetrable energy. Thank fuck. It was an educated risk coming here. I knew the ward on the house wouldn’t keep me out, since it’s keyed to my physical body, no matter what happens to it. But from my extensive research on vampires, fed by my hatred of them after one attacked my sister, the moment I died, the house I owned in life was no longer mine and became Amber’s, and I wouldn’t be able to enter without an invitation. I’m relieved that it wasn’t just hearsay.
A loud hiss captures both our attention, and we look down at the white cat at her feet. Gimpy is staring daggers up at me with his back arched and the fur along his back sticking straight up as a long demonic growl erupts from his little body. He hisses one more time, then whirls and races out of the kitchen as if his tail were on fire, moving far faster than should be possible for a cat missing his right front paw. Fuck me, even the cat knows I’m a monster now.
Amber blinks after him in confusion, then turns her attention back to me. “Oh my God,” she says as she takes in my wet, bedraggled appearance. “You’re soaked.” She takes a step back as if to usher me inside and opens her mouth to speak again.
“Do not invite me in,” I say, my voice harsher than I intended as I interrupt her.
Amber flinches and meets my gaze with confused and questioning eyes. My vision sharpens and my fangs extend, and I force my eyes closed before I snag her mind and bend it to my will like the bloodlust is urging me to do.
“Don’t look me in the eye, either,” I say in a low growl.
She gasps, and I open my eyes to see absolute horror on her face as she slaps a hand over her mouth and stares at my mouth in terror. She realizes what I’ve become and seeing her afraid of me is so much worse than my father’s disgust ever could be. I take a step back, trying to minimize how much I’m frightening her, but it doesn’t work because the next thing I know, she’s slamming the door in my face.
“Amber, please,” I say, feeling my control over my emotions slipping in my desperation. “Open the door.”
“Go away!” she shouts from the other side of the door before she dissolves into broken, hiccuping sobs. She’ll be hyperventilating soon and there’s nothing I can do to help her through her panic attack like I normally would.
“I just want to talk,” I say, but I know I’m wasting my time when I hear Amber’s footsteps rushing away from the door. She flees upstairs, and I flinch as her bedroom door slams shut. Fuck me. All I’ve accomplished by coming here is scaring the hell out of my sister and showing her what I am now, a monster that I want no part of being anymore. My emotions slip past my control again and swamp me, pressing down with a weight that feels like it’s crushing me. My knees threaten to buckle beneath the onslaught, but I fight hard to rein them in and shove them down so deep into my mind that I feel nothing but an empty gaping hole inside me.
I turn away from the house and stare at the horizon to the east, over the trees of the wooded area that’s next to our neighborhood. It’s barely discernible, but the sky is brightening with the approaching dawn. Good. It’s time to put an end to this once and for all.
I walk away and leave my home behind, my aimless steps taking me across the yard and out into the alley again. I head east until I reach the wooded area and follow the path that leads through it to the other side, my keen night vision making it easy to navigate. I emerge next to a street that runs along the Warton River, one of the many tributaries that flow into the Unity River. Then I cross the empty street and approach one of the many wooden benches that line the river here and take a seat.
I stare off over the river to the east, noticing the ever lightening sky again and the slight tingling along my exposed skin that tells me it won’t be long now. I release the rigid grip I have on my emotions and let them free to sweep away all coherent thought. I sob and collapse onto my side under the onslaught of pain and despair, ready to greet the sun one last time and eager for the sweet release of true death that will follow.