28. Willow
Twenty Eight
Willow
W illow didn’t pry her eyes from the two men convulsing on the floor, even as Waldo stood up and walked toward the door. It was then she realized how they were able to sneak into her café and stalk her in the club without being suspect.
They were seen as inconspicuous, innocent humans.
But as red foam began dripping down their mouths and their canine teeth elongated, they were becoming monsters. For a split second, the image of Marla going through a similar process flashed into her mind.
“Well, my dear, it’s been fun. I must get going before the sun comes up. I would wish you well, but I know better. As soon as these two finish their transformation, you’ll be ripped to shreds. What lucky bastards to have a girl who smells as sweet as you as their first meal. My first meal was some homeless hag who cried the whole time. How annoying.” He rolled his eyes like he was joking with a friend.
Willow did not have to debate what to say—her pride wouldn’t let her beg and her rage began to consume her. “Fuck. You.”
Waldo laughed and waved goodbye before flipping off the light switch and turning his back to her. He hit a button that shut the garage door slowly. Willow watched his feet walk away until the door had shut completely, and she was left alone in the dark with the two men who had quit their convulsions and were eerily motionless on the cement floor. The only thing she could hear was her own steady breath.
It felt like hours, but finally her eyes adjusted to the dark and she saw the dark-haired one’s hand twitch. It twitched again, and his fingers curled inward. A soft moaning sound escaped his lips as he sat up in a smooth, fluid movement, with his eyes still shut and his head hanging down. The other one remained on the floor, but he had opened his eyes and he was staring off into the corner of the room.
Willow grabbed the pipe she was chained to and tested its sturdiness. To her astonishment, it wobbled and creaked like it was coming loose. Water trickled out of the top of the pipe, confirming that it was not secured to the valve.
Her attention snapped back to the dark-haired man as he slowly lifted his head from his chest.
“You…smell so…divine.”
His eyes popped open in a crazed manner and he crawled over to her, his long legs moving in a spider-like way as he attempted to stand up but failed. His new body seemed to be failing him, and he was not sure how to use his immortal muscles, which gave Willow a spark of hope.
“Come here, fucker,” she whispered under her breath.
She positioned both hands to get the best grip on the pipe and scooted so that her feet were placed strategically against the heater. She thought of all the things that had gone wrong for her in life, from her mother’s cancer, to her abusive ex, to growing up without a permanent home, to her current home being taken away. She funneled that rage and adrenaline and used her entire body to pull the pipe off the heater, freeing herself and giving her a weapon to fight with.
Kill him, mo stóirín.
At the sound of her mother’s voice returning, Willow raised the pipe and slammed it down on the man’s head with a sickening thud. He hissed and fell over, but reached out to grab her ankle. She angled the pipe vertically and slammed it down again, this time impaling the man’s hand. She twisted the pipe before ripping it out.
“Stupid bitch!” He screamed, spittle dripping onto his beard.
Her only response was to smile as blood oozed out of the hole she had made. He lunged for her again, but was met with a kick in his face, her shoe creating a satisfying crunch against his nose.
She developed tunnel vision as she focused on the beast withering on the floor beneath her. Everything around her blacked out, until it was like a spotlight had landed on him. His blood was a glittering, blackish-red, and his skin was as white as moonlight in the dark.
She kicked him in the face again, not giving him another chance to reach for her, and slammed the pipe down on his spine. He sprawled out on the floor, flipping over onto his back and covering his broken face with his bleeding hand. His other hand was in the air, blindly swiping around for the pipe. But she was quicker and moved to his legs, bringing the pipe down onto his knees repeatedly until she heard them pop. He tried to roll over, but she swiftly straddled his chest and grabbed his arms to trap them against his side with her legs. He tried to wiggle out from under her, but he was losing too much blood and was exhausted from his transition.
“Stupid bitch,” he whimpered.
She slapped him across the face and crushed the pipe against his throat. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to call a woman that?”
He couldn’t respond with her full weight pressed against the pipe. His bloodied face began to turn a matching crimson, but she released the pressure as soon as his lips began to turn blue. She toyed with the idea of suffocating him, but decided on a more primal method.
She took her pipe and lifted it high above her head, feeling the whisper of her mother’s hands on hers as she brought it down and straight through his rib cage, piercing his heart. She felt as the dull pipe tore through the layers of muscle and sinew and felt the vibration of his heart attempting to pump a few final times before it settled and he went limp.
She wasn’t sure how long she sat on top of him, her hands wrapped around the pipe and her knees soaking up the blood pooling around them. The sound of someone slowly clapping pulled her back into full awareness. Her breathing began to slow, her arms trembled, and her body began to ache at the exertion.
“Bravo, that was quite the fight. I am honestly shocked at how quickly you took him down.”
Willow looked up to see the copper-haired man relaxing on the couch in front of her, with his disinterested expression back in place. With her focus so intent on the one beneath her, she had forgotten about him. She attempted to pull the pipe out, but her hands were slippery and all her strength dispersed.
“Do not worry about that, I will not hurt you. I have come to like you, actually. Your café is so inviting. My original plan was to leave as soon as I turned, leaving Waldo and this stupid compound behind. All I wanted was to become a vampire, not join a cult. I wished I would have met Gage first instead of Waldo. I feel like he would have turned me without any commitment, but alas that is not what happened.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes out from between the couch cushions and lit one. “I am truly sorry for bringing you out here. It was the last thing I had to do before he would turn me. I had no idea he wanted us to feed off you.”
Willow stared at him. Her instincts were quiet, and she decided to take a chance. “If you help me get home, I’ll make sure Gage lets you live.”
He took a puff as he mulled over her statement. “Deal.”
He stood up and walked over to her, being sure to avoid any blood, and held out his hand. She took it and was startled to find how coordinated he was compared to the other man as he pulled her up and helped her stand. It was like he was meant to be a vampire. He patted down her hair and wiped some blood that had splattered her cheek.
“The name is Alistair, by the way. First things first, I need blood and you look exhausted. There is a motel not too far from here we can probably walk to before the sun comes up if we are quick.” He checked the gold watch on his wrist. “Most of the others are in their homes by now, it should be easy to sneak out of here without being caught. We only have twenty minutes before the sunrise, though.”
“Can we steal a car instead of walk?”
“Are you alright with that?”
“I killed a man, Alistair. I don’t really give a shit about stealing a car.”
“Technically you killed a vampire, and some people find that heroic. Me, on the other hand? I have always been a piece of shit, so we should steal an expensive sports car.”
Willow stared at the bloody mess of a corpse next to them, and something about the situation made her want to confess all her sins. “No, I’ve killed a human man before.”
“Listen, I may be a piece of shit, but I am not a priest. We have to go, we are running out of nighttime.”
He gently took her wrist and pulled her toward a door that led out into the backyard, and helped her creep through the darkness until they came across a black Mercedes-Benz. It was sitting in front of a modular with a window that had been left wide open.
“Well, it is not the sports car of my dreams, but it will do. Wait here while I look for the key.”
He left her leaning against the trunk as he quietly removed the screen from the window and slipped inside. It took him less than a minute to slip back out with the keys dangling from his long fingers. For the first time since she met him, he smiled.
“The guy who lives here is named James, and I completely loathe everything about him. He is a pompous ass and a narcissist. I wish I could see his face when he wakes up and finds his precious car gone from his driveway.”
A small smile spread across Willow’s face, but it did not match her feelings of fatigue. All she wanted was to lie down in a bed and disappear forever. Twice now, she had been attacked by a vampire, and she was tired.
She was barely aware of the drive to the motel, or walking herself into the room he rented. She hardly acknowledged him as he said goodnight and left her alone to go hunt down his first prey.
She stripped off her clothes and took a scalding-hot shower that turned her skin bright pink. She scrubbed her skin dry with the sandpaper motel towel, and fell into bed naked, still feeling the thick blood covering her skin. She fell asleep to the image of the red liquid pooling around her knees.
She dreamed again of being underground, held down by chains that wrapped around her wrists and ankles. The darkness consumed her and became her.
Gage’s voice called her name, this time close to her, and his desperate tone was replaced with a whispering love. She felt a caress on her forehead and the darkness that had nestled into her mind began to stir. A soft kiss followed the caress, and the chains disintegrated so that she was able to move.
“Willow, baby, wake up.”
The moment she realized his voice was real, the darkness completely fled her body. She flung her eyes open and saw his green ones crinkle with the smile that spread across his face.
“Gage!” She sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him tight against her.
He pulled the fallen bedsheet back into place, covering her exposed breasts from the three other men that were standing behind him, pretending to look anywhere but at the naked girl that had a death grip on their leader.
“Hey guys, will you give us a minute?” Gage asked.
Horatio raised an eyebrow. “Is that all it’s going to take you?”
Nikolas shook his head and started to herd the twins out, but he stopped and turned back around.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Willow. We were all worried about you.”
Once the boys had shut the door, she cupped Gage’s face with her hands and pulled him toward her for a kiss. She was hesitant to let him go, but her curiosity had her pulling away.
“How did you end up finding me? Where’s Alistair? You didn’t hurt him, did you?”
“No, I didn’t hurt Alistair.”
He placed a kiss on her forehead and stood up from the bed to grab a new set of clothes that were sitting on the dresser. He helped her into her shirt and pants, trailing his fingers down her sides as he slid the fabric over her skin. The blood she thought had been a permanent feeling was removed with his gentle touch.
“He was the one who called me to tell me that you two were in a motel in Georgia. Not going to lie, I was about to head out in the sunlight to strangle the prick who was sharing a room with my girl, but lucky for him he was able to convince me that he wasn’t here for sexual reasons. It was merely a pit stop to recover.”
His face shifted and he looked like he was on the verge of tears. “I should have never let you go up to your apartment alone. Waldo can’t handle rejection, so I should have known he would be up there ready to hurt you. I’m so sorry, Willow. I’m so sorry I messed up and you were attacked again. Though Alistair did say you did an impressive job with him.”
“Please don’t feel guilty, it’s my own fault for telling you to stay in the truck. Neither of us were thinking straight after watching our friends get hit.” Marla’s crumpled body flashed through her mind. “I saw Horatio and Matteo were okay, what about Marla?”
He gave her a gentle smile and she prepared herself for the worst: funerals, and crying, and never ending grief.
“Marla is making sure Snickers is getting fat on carrots and hay back at the mansion.”
“So she’s okay!” She quickly pulled him back onto the bed and hugged him, but he was still tense. She pulled away and looked him in the eyes. “She’s okay, right?”
“Yes, she’s okay, but Matteo had to make a tough decision when they were hit. She had severe injuries and a broken back, and was seconds away from dying.” He hesitated. “He had to turn her.”
“Is she okay with that decision he made for her?”
“To be honest, I don’t know. I haven’t had the chance to see her, because as soon as I got the call from Alistair, I was more focused on getting you back. I’m going to assume that with her obsessive love for Matteo, she’s probably okay with it.”
“That’s still a huge life change that she had no say in, though. I know if you ever did that to me, I would be livid.”
“Even if it meant saving your life?”
Willow chewed the side of her lip. “I mean, I would be grateful to be alive, but I would also make sure that you made amends for taking that decision away from me.”
His voice deepened and he leaned forward, touching her nose with his. “Oh? And how would I have to make amends? ”
“Well, you could start by buying me whatever I wanted.”
“Mhm.” His hand trailed over her stomach, then traced an invisible line up and down her thigh.
“And then by giving me unlimited rides on your motorcycle.”
“That’s too easy.” His hand inched closer to her inner thigh.
She let out a small sigh and let one leg drop open, giving him easy access to what she really wanted him to caress.
“Oh, and then every night you would have to get on your knees at the end of the bed and put your head between my legs until I moan your name in ecstasy.”
His chuckle rumbled through her. He sat up and pulled her so that she was laying down, legs splayed open. He started to undo the pants she’d struggled into earlier when there was a knock on the door.
“Put some clothes on, you two horny youngsters, Alistair is back with a plan!” Horatio called from the other side.
She looked at him with a gleam of hope in her eyes. “So not only did you not kill him, but you already put him to work?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pleased with him by any means, but he can help us. He’s currently in the process of setting up a meeting with Waldo.”
“I know he helped Waldo kidnap me, and he didn’t save me from the other guy, but he had a change of heart and helped me escape the compound. All he wanted was to be a vampire, but Waldo made him jump through hoops before he would turn him. What if—and stop me if this is stupid—but what if you offered him a spot in your f—”
“Stop.”
“Gage! I’m serious, he’s a new vampire and he might need help, plus I also have seen how you run things with the others. You pretty much give them the freedom to do whatever they want within reason. And I highly doubt he would want to live with you, so you don’t even have to offer that. I feel bad using him to get to Waldo, then throwing him to the wild. Something tells me he has potential to be either really good or really bad, and right now he’s choosing to be good. But if he’s left on his own with no support, who knows what will happen.”
“So I’m hearing that there’s potential for him to be bad, and we should kill him after he helps us.”
Willow punched him lightly on the shoulder. “That is not at all what I am saying.”
Gage rolled his eyes and helped Willow off the bed, readjusting her pants and placing one last kiss on top of her head. “I’ll think about it. Let’s go get some revenge babe, I’ll make amends to you later.”