Chapter 8 #3
“Wha-” Before I can finish a single word he disappears from sight.
I whirl around just in time to see a dark shape shoot away down the street.
I get to my feet and stand there in the park, rain cascading around me as I try to make sense of what just happened.
I see my purse by my feet and pick it up.
I must have dropped it in the heat of the moment.
Without permission tears run down my cheeks.
I rub them away angrily just in time to see my mums’ car come speeding around the corner and come to a screeching stop right in front of me.
The passenger door swings open and still stunned by the whirlwind of events from the past hour I get in.
“Krista whose blood is that? Are you OK?!” My mums voice is panicked as she takes in my dishevelled appearance.
“I'm fine. It's not my blood.” I sound hollow and empty. I sit there unmoving as we speed down the road.
“Where did Alistair go?” Mum keeps shooting me quick glances as she switches gears in rapid succession.
“I don't know he just disappeared.” I realise we're not going home. “Mum where are we going?” I sit up and try to make sense of the blurry landscape whizzing by.
“It's too dangerous to go home now they've found us. We need to get away.” She sounds on edge and it's now I notice her constantly looking at the rear-view mirror.
“Who's they?” How can this be happening? I just wanna go home.
“Hades and Alistair. Alistair is his son. The Son of Hades and Gaia! One of the most powerful beings in existence. Hades and Alistair are more than just vampires. They’re Gods.
Hades has gone by many names over the centuries.
Pluto, Lucifer. He's the Devil Krista. Vampires are ancient. Created by Hades millions of years ago. They’ve hunted Nymphs nearly to extinction.
It's a game for them.” She spits the last bit.
Her tone drips with disgust and hate. Her knuckles are white on the steering wheel.
My head spins at the insane amount of information that it’s trying to process. Bile rises in my throat and I open the window to try and stop my head from spinning.
“What the fuck mum?!” My hands are shaking.
“Are you saying The Devil himself is chasing us? You said Hades. Like the blue cartoon Disney guy with fire on his head?” I start to laugh.
It sounds just as hollow as my voice. I think I've lost the plot.
I lean my head against the window frame and watch my mum.
“Not quite like that baby. I know this is a lot. You've done so well at taking in all this so far. We've got a long drive ahead of us. Using your powers has exhausted you. Sleep if you can. I'll keep us safe.” She smiles at me and pats my leg. I take her hand and hold it tight.
My eyes feel heavy and I yawn. I hadn't realised how exhausted I am.
Since waking up this morning, everything has gone level 10 crazy.
Is there such a thing as emotional whiplash?
Either way my mind is officially overloaded.
Sleep sounds amazing right now. I yawn again.
“Fine but you've got a lot -splaining to do...” I slur my words as sleep overtakes me.
*
Suddenly I'm back at home. I'm looking around frantically.
Moving with impossible speed through the rooms. I get to my bedroom and see Cassey crying on the bed.
I grab her by the throat and pin her to the wall.
Her eyes are wide in terror as she struggles to try and get free. When I speak the voice is not my own.
“Where did they go?!” Alistair's voice is stern and terrifying.
Cassey is desperately clawing at his hands. Her voice comes out between laboured breathes. “I... D-Don't... Know.”
He moves his face closer to hers and catches her panic-stricken gaze. “Stop moving.”
Instantly her body freezes and he removes his hand from around her neck. Her empty stare is haunting as she stands like a zombie.
“I'll ask again. Where did Gwen and Krista go?” His tone is irritated.
Cassey's voice is hollow and emotionless. She doesn't even blink. “I don't know.”
“Fuck!” He punches the wall next to her head. Plaster crumbles away leaving a great big hole and still Cassey doesn't move. She just stares gormlessly at Alistair. At me. “Did they tell you to do anything?”
“No.”
He whirls around in frustration. Yelling he grabs my solid oak wardrobe and throws it across the room. It crashes into the bedroom door frame and goes through the stud wall into the hallway. I hear Cassey shout from behind me.
“Get the fuck out of my head arsehole!”
As I turn a fist collides with my jaw. It's barely noticeable. Cassey on the other hand is cradling her hand in agony.
“You made of fucking stone or something?! OW!”
You groan with impatience. “Give me your phone.”
“No! I'm not going to help you kill my best friend!” She crosses her arms over her chest and stares out the window.
Alistair crosses the room and grabs her chin to force her to look at him.
She squeezes her eyes shut and tries to fight him off.
“I'm not gonna help you! Let go of me!” In her struggle Alistair sees her phone in her back pocket and quick like a snake he grabs it.
He grips her hand and forces her thumb on the home button to unlock it.
“No! Give me my phone back!” She struggles to try and take it off him but he easily holds her back with one arm whilst tapping on the phone screen with the other.
I watch in helplessness through his eyes as he disables the security settings on her phone then sends a text to my number.
'Hi Hun I'm worried about you. Where are you going? Xxx'
He clicks send and pockets the phone then shoves a royally pissed off Cassey onto the bed before disappearing downstairs and out the door. As he goes I can hear Cassey yelling and cursing at the top of her lungs.
*
I'm woken up by my phone dinging and buzzing in my lap.
Groggily I open my eyes and see we're still travelling in the car.
It looks like early morning but looking out the window I have no idea where we are.
As I force myself awake the events of yesterday come flooding back.
My chest tightens when I think of Alistair.
That kiss was beyond intense and so stupid!
I went from trying to kill him to... to having the best kiss of my life.
Then he ran away just after he was going to bite me. My heart sinks.
He was going to bite me! But he didn't. Why?
I was a hot mess in his arms. I've never been so turned on in my life.
It's like my emotions and common sense were on totally different planets.
What I did was so wrong on so many levels so why did it feel so right?
I can't trust myself around him. Common sense leaves me when it comes to him.
Even after I realised what he is I still couldn't resist him.
Some of the things he said though... He murmured that he took no pleasure in catching me or something along those lines. So maybe he's not as bad as my mum thinks? If he wanted to kill me he had plenty of opportunity.
Now my mum has whisked me away to gods knows where supposedly running for our lives from Alistair!
No wait. More of what my mum said comes back to me.
Something about the devil. Hades. Alistair's freaking dad!
That's who we're really running from. Alistair is the son of Hades.
This knowledge makes what Alistair and I did last night seem even more surreal.
Vampires, Nymphs, Greek Gods. What else is real?
! Dragons and leprechauns? I don't know what to believe any more.
What am I going to do about Alistair? This is all so crazy.
That kiss was incredible but is it all a game to him?
Some of the things he said and did makes me think there's more going on in his mind than just a hunting game though.
I guess there a chance I'll never know because my mum is hard set of keeping us away from everything to do with vampires.
This is a good thing though. Despite what happened, Alistair is a vampire.
He kills people and hunts Nymphs for sport.
It will be a good thing if I never see him again.
I don't like the effect he has on me. Perhaps he was lying when he said he can't compel me.
It's the only reason I would have been so stupid.
I force myself to stop dwelling on Alistair and focus on the here and now.
The road we're driving on is cushioned by rolling hills and mountains on either side.
The landscape is covered in dense pine woodland with a thick layer of snow.
I rub my eyes and turn to mum. She has dark bags under her eyes from driving through the night.
Her mouth is set in a hard line of concentration as she stares at the winding mountain road but the worry lines on her forehead betray her concern still.
“Morning mum. Where are we?”
“Scotland. There's a werewolf pack in the highlands that can protect us. They're friends. Your father and I stayed with them years ago.” She yawns and finishes a can of energy drink.
There's so much of that sentence that shocks me but at this point I don't think anything else can surprise me.
I've never been to Scotland and I've never met a werewolf.
Looks like I'm doing both today. I make a mental note to check when the next full moon is.
I'm certainly not interested in another supernatural being trying to take a chunk out of me.
I'm sure my mum knows what she's doing though.
Like she said they're friends so maybe I have nothing to worry about.
My phone bleeps in my lap again with a message from Cassey asking where I am. I remember hearing her down the phone last night panicking after telling my mum about Alistair. She must be so worried! I quickly fire back a reply.
'Mums driven us all the way to Scotland! Oh, and would you believe werewolves are real too?'
It's only after I click send that I remember my dream. Could it be possible that the text was from Alistair? My heart plummets at the prospect. Surely not though? With all the crazy can I add mind reading to that list? No, it was a dream. Besides I have really crappy signal. Chances are the text won’t even go through anyway.