Chasing Shadows (40 page)

Sebastian brought me breakfast in bed. Toast, blood-soaked scrambled eggs, blood sausage, and a big glass of room-temperature blood covered a small tray. The smell of my breakfast tickled my nose, and my stomach took that moment to growl hungrily. It didn’t take long for me to devour what was on my plate and guzzle the contents of my glass. After he took the empty tray away, he ran a nice warm bath to get my day started. Sounds of rushing water from the tub faucet trickled from the bathroom and pricked at my ears. I smiled with excitement and jumped out of bed. My legs wobbled underneath me but I forced them forward, ready to catch myself if necessary.

The brightness of the lightbulbs in the bathroom stung my eyes and felt overly hot on my skin. Looking away, I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping the stinging and burning would somehow stop. I felt my way along the wall and flicked the light switch down, turning the lights off. Darkness swept the room, although the gray light of the day seeped in from bedroom. My skin tingled back to a cool state, and I sighed. Feeling slightly overwhelmed at my body’s new sensitivity, I sank down to the bathroom floor and stayed there.

“AubrieAnna? AubrieAnna, are you okay? Wake up!” Sebastian’s voice cut through the darkness and shattered the quiet that had settled over the room.

My cheek was cold from lying against the floor. The lights were still off, and Sebastian was kneeling in front of me with a worried look on his face. Confused, I slowly sat up and looked around. I was still in the bathroom, the bathtub had finished filling up, and there was a small drool spot where my cheek had been. At some point, I had passed out. Who knows how long I had been there or how long I would have been there. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself up off the floor and into a standing position.

“AubrieAnna, are you okay?” Sebastian was gripping my arms, holding me upright.

“I’m not sure.” I cocked my head to one side and listened to the wildlife outside.

“You’re not sure?” He raised an eyebrow and looked at me strangely.

“I need to go outside.” I turned and headed outside.

The air was crisp and cool. Leaves had fallen off most of the trees and begun rotting on the ground. Different smells attacked my nostrils, and I sniffed in various directions. Earthy, vegetable, flowery, nutty, and rotten smells all covered the scent I wanted most, meat. Vampire instincts that I had never dealt with before washed over me, taking over my thought process. All I wanted was food. Food that was alive, with a beating heart. Without missing a beat, I sped off into the woods. It didn’t take me long to catch up to it. My gums ached and sharp points pricked my lips, drawing small drops of blood. I licked it up quickly and started stalking.

He smelled like roast beef that had been cooked to perfection. A deer stepped on a twig a few feet from him and his head snapped up at the noise. The deer caught a glimpse of me and ran. Curses flew from my prey’s mouth as he pulled his gun down. He was hunting, just like me, but he had no idea he was being hunted. The poor man had lost his chance to catch and kill his prey, but I wouldn’t lose mine. My lips pulled up into a gruesome smile, and I walked toward him.

A hard body slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. I couldn’t catch my breath, and I choked for air. Sebastian had run after me and tackled me away from the man I had been hunting. My mind took a moment to catch up with my jumbled thoughts. I was hunting. Not only was I taken over by instincts I didn’t even know I had, but I had almost gave into them, and I had almost killed an innocent man. The horrifying thoughts that ran through my mind terrified me. Tears ran down my cheeks as I sped off toward our home.

I slammed the front door shut behind me. The tears were pouring down my face as I sobbed. Sebastian came into the house and I turned to him and yelled, “What is wrong with me!?”

“I’m not sure. Let me go make a call and I will let you know what’s going on.” His voice was sad, and he stepped outside to make a few calls.

“Oh, God,” I sobbed as I sank to the floor. My hands shook as they covered my face. “I’m a monster. I am a freaking monster.” Helios chirped at me and rubbed on my legs, trying to comfort me. “What if I try to eat you, Helios?” I looked at him with blurry eyes and cried again.

My sobs were so loud that I hadn’t heard the door open again. “I know what’s wrong,” Sebastian’s voice said, calm, even, and cold.

“What?” I peeked up at him with blurry eyes.

“Mrs. Summer had to give you something that would activate your vampire cells to be more aggressive so you could heal faster. Once you satisfy the needs of those cells, you will be back to your old self again.” He bent down and kissed my head.

I perked up at the thought of being back to normal again, but then the thought hit me: “How do I satisfy my vampire cells?”

“You have to feed on something that’s alive.” His eyes glimmered lightly with his words.

Sebastian went out and left me with strict orders to stay put. Almost two hours had passed when he walked through the front door carrying a grungy rat. My eyebrows cocked in confusion and he shrugged. It was clear he didn’t want me to go out hunting, but he also wanted my overdrive vampire DNA to go away. With a deep breath, I held my hands out for the rat and he placed it carefully in my palms. I stared at the small shaking animal in my hands, and my heart sank as I watched his fearful eyes. Closing my eyes, I shook my head and bit the rat as gently as possible. Warm, salty blood flowed into my mouth, and I drank it hungrily. Once there was no more left in the small body, I felt my need for fresh blood wane slowly until it was no longer there.

I bickered back and forth with Sebastian for a few minutes over burying the rat. He wanted to toss it in the trash at first, but when he saw how bad I felt about ending its life, he gave in to my wishes. We stood outside with our heads bowed in the misty air, burying the rat. In my hands I held two sticks that I had tied together with string in the shape of a small cross so the rat would have a grave marker. My heart reached out to the little being that had helped me. I sent a silent prayer to the gods and thanked the rat one last time before we headed back inside.

The house was warm, and my body shuddered at the change in temperature. Sebastian went to work on the door to our hidden library and office space while I sat on the couch and cuddled with my cat. An hour passed, and I was bored and incredibly restless. I shifted the way I sat, stood, paced, sighed, and complained before I gave up and decided I was going to go to Clamora’s warehouse. It was time to put the protection spell over that place so Luke could stay there safely. With my mind made up, I ran upstairs, got dressed, and then told Sebastian where I was going. Of course, I didn’t tell him why I was going there, just that I was going, but he nodded and continued on his work.

Chapter 19

“Luke, I’m going to need your help soon.” I spoke with my back to him as I cleaned up my mess from the spell.

“For what?” His voice was hesitant.

“It’s a long story, but I need you to promise that you will keep it a secret.” I turned to him then, hoping he would see the seriousness in my eyes as well as hear it in my tone.

“I can’t promise to keep a secret until I know what it is,” he replied. Luke was still hesitant, but I had him curious. “If you tell me and I agree to help, or even if I don’t, I might be able to keep it a secret,” he offered.

“I need your blood for a spell,” I answered simply.

“What kind of spell?” His voice let me know he knew it wasn’t for something ordinary.

I sighed. “It’s a spell, well a potion really, that will help me pass as a shadow so I can get in their world to save Clamora.” I pushed the words out really fast in one breath and looked down when I finished.

He didn’t say anything at first. His eyes just stared at me and his teeth caught his bottom lip and chewed it restlessly.

“Are you going to help me?” I asked.

“Yeah, I will, but what about the fact that my blood is really bad for vampires?”

“
I’m not just a vampire.” I forced my head up and looked down my nose at him.

“Right, I forget about that sometimes. So when do you need it?”

“As soon as I can get it safely without anyone else knowing about it. I am going to try to get away from Sebastian for a long enough period of time so I can do this without him knowing what I am doing right away.”

“Well, you have my number. Go ahead and give me a call when you’re ready.” Luke turned to walk out of the room and paused at the doorway. “AubrieAnna, you really are one crazy girl.”

“Thanks, I think.” I smiled and he walked out of the room, leaving me alone to finish cleaning my mess.

When I had everything cleaned up, I packed my supplies into my car and drove home. Silver rays cut through trees and lit the road. The moon was full and bright. It was strange how different everything felt to me. Nature was more alive, vibrant, and loud. Whenever there was a fire or someone wanted to carve their initials into a tree, the trees called out, begging for help, asking to be healed. Elements that surrounded me every day flew through my spirit, bringing it higher and higher, filling me with the sensations of the world. Fire flicked at my will and kept me warm. Air was always tingling in my veins as it pumped through my bloodstream. The earth collided with my nose so every smell was always a delight. I continually felt an urge to run barefoot through the grass and dirt, while water soothed me in the most calming way and stormed on with my energy. And my spirit—my spirit scared me sometimes. It reached out toward other souls around me, touching those who needed a boost to get through the day or to get past their wicked, harmful thoughts. But it always kept me going, it always filtered back to me, and it continually kissed and cared for Sebastian’s soul more than anyone else’s. My vision had grown stronger than ever, so I was able to see the pure beauty in everything. My hearing was more acute too—I could hear the subtle pitch tones that those with average hearing wouldn’t be able to notice. Life had gotten better in some ways, but harder in others. I was okay with all of it. I was happy.

I pulled into my driveway and wiped at my cheeks. Tears had begun to fall slowly. Laughing at myself, I parked next to Sebastian’s car and ran inside. He was still hunched over, working on the door for our hidden room. I raced toward him and tackled him to the floor. Happiness overflowed from me to him. We laughed, and I kissed him hard. His green eyes smiled at me and glowed joyously. I smiled and laughed again. “I love you, and I’m happy with our life, no matter how scary it’s going to get, I am happy. You make me happy; your love makes me happy. My abilities make me happy. The way I can feel and see and hear so much more than the average person or supernatural, it’s amazing! And I happily accept the burden that comes with these gifts. I love you, Sebastian, and everything else that is beautiful in this world.” I kissed him again, breathless from my proclamation of joy.

He laughed and kissed my nose. “I’m happy that you’re happy, and I love you too.”

We kissed some more, then I let him up off the floor and sat down on the couch, watching him with a smile stamped on my face. His shoulders moved gracefully with every slam of the hammer, with every drill of a screw, and with every measurement. There were times where it still got to me, knowing he was mine, knowing that I was his. This was definitely one of those times. Happy tears drifted down my cheeks and I swiped at them in hope that they would stop. Sebastian heard my soft sniffles and turned around so fast he startled me. I smiled at him and waved away his concerns; after all, they were just happy tears. The barrier in my mind was pushed and gave way to his. When he decided that there really was nothing wrong, he kissed my forehead and whisked away the remaining tears that were streaking out of my eyes and down my face.

Two hours later, the secret room’s new door was almost completed and Sebastian was showering. As I waited for him to finish up in the bathroom, I sat back against the pillows and looked outside at the now cloudy night sky. The stars were being snuffed out by dark clouds, and the moon was being forced behind the ominous entities too. My ears picked up the faint squeak of metal from the shower handle being turned off. Water stopped flowing, and steam escaped when he opened the door. His dark-tinted skin looked darker with the white towel wrapped around his waist. I felt my cheeks get warm as I watched him walk to the dresser and grab a pair of plaid boxers. He changed slowly on purpose, knowing my eyes were on him. I groaned and flopped down into the pillows facedown, turning away from him and his glorious body. His laugh filled the room and he quickly pounced on the bed next to me and kissed me hungrily.

***

A hard cramp in my stomach made me jump upright, startling me out of my sleep. Pulling my knees to my chest, I took deep breaths and looked outside. Rain pattered down on the roof and windows while the sun was beginning its ascent into the sky. Gray clouds were slowing their release of water and moving at a caterpillar’s pace to make way for the beautiful sunrise. For a brief moment as I watched the sky lighten, my stomach relaxed, but it didn’t last long. My abdomen was bloated and cramped down so hard that I jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom to release stomach acid into the sink. I choked and slumped down on the floor when my body thought I was out of juice. When I felt safe enough to move off the floor, I stumbled my way back into bed and fell back to sleep.