42. Bella — Hazel Attacked
Chapter forty-two
Bella — Hazel Attacked
I call Darius and tell him about Tom. This is stage three behavior.
“Promise me you won’t search for him!” he says desperately. “The sun won’t be up for an hour. It’s too dangerous. I’ll be there and a group of vampires can search.”
After an intense search, by daybreak, no one has found Tom. By late morning, the island feels frightened.
Rumors are flying. People move faster through town now. Windows shut earlier. Silver chains gleam openly around nearly every neck.
And Hazel is missing.
Molly called earlier, worried.
“She never misses breakfast at Molly’s,” Finn tells me while helping me prepare Lucy’s tincture. “Not once since Molly’s opened.”
Charlie paces near the clinic windows restlessly. The island smells scared.
My phone rings. Mayor Calloway calls me breathlessly. “We found her!”
Everything in me goes cold as he shout into the phone, “It’s not good. Come quickly to the town square, doctor!”
Hazel lies near the town square fountain wrapped in blankets when we arrive. Alive. But barely. Blood streaks the cobblestones beneath her. One side of her silver chain has melted black against her throat like something burned through it.
“Oh my God,” I whisper.
Finn kneels immediately beside her while I move for her pulse. She has one, fast and erratic.
Her veins—
My stomach twists violently. The black webbing spreads visibly beneath her skin already. Too fast.
“Either an infected vampire attacked her, or the monster came out of the woods. This wound looks like a vampire,” Finn says very quietly so only I can hear.
Darius arrives just then, and joins Finn and I. “This was done by a vampire,” he says quietly to us, angry. No one nearby hears us. “We are trying to account for everyone at The Cliffs, but two are missing…”
Hazel’s eyes snap open suddenly. They are clouded. And terrified. Then they lock onto me.
“The bell girl,” she rasps. I freeze.
“What?”
“It remembers you. It wants you,” she rasps.
Ice moves down my spine. What the hell is she talking about? Behind me, Darius looks worried. Hazel grips my wrist with terrifying strength.
“He walks in the trees,” she whispers frantically. “And the prince still fights the hunger—”
Then she convulses violently. People on the square scream when they see her convulse. Finn helps me restrain her carefully while I inject Lucy’s tincture directly.
“Easy,” I murmur desperately. “Hazel, easy.”
“We need to get her to the clinic, clean up the wounds and sedate her,” I say quietly to Finn, who brought the ambulance. “Let’s go.”
Darius picks her up to place her into the ambulance. Suddenly her eyes roll toward the fog beyond town.
“He’s awake and wanting,” she whispers in a rasp. Then goes unconscious again. Silence crashes over the square.
Mayor Calloway looks shattered. Around us, townspeople stare openly now. Afraid. Not suspicious anymore. Terrified.
Mayor Calloway slowly turns toward the crowd. I notice Lucy on the edge of the square, watching.
The mayor’s voice shakes slightly. “Everyone inside one hour before the bell tonight, and every night until this is solved,” he announces loudly. “No one walks alone. Silver chains stay on at all times. Everyone must be careful and alert.”
Murmurs ripple instantly.
“This is not a request,” he snaps suddenly, fear finally overriding politeness.
The town falls silent. Because now they understand.
Bloodhaven Cove is in danger.