Hunted (42 page)

“Lanie! 
Run
!” she heard Kyle’s voice suddenly growling at her. 

Lanie’s stunned body struggled to pull itself out of the darkness and the numb stupor it seemed to be in.  It took several tries before she could blink away the shadows and collect herself enough to understand that she was lying on her back, looking up at the night sky.

“Lanie!  Run!” Kyle’s voice sounded out again, coarse and thick and almost…animal like.

Forcing herself up to a sitting position, she glanced around, finding herself lying in the middle of a street with houses all around.  And just up the street, in the circle of light cast by a street lamp, were two figures rolling and writhing around on the pavement, locked in a vicious battle that was happening so fast Lanie couldn’t tell one shape from another.

Terror spiked through her and Lanie was on her feet, her breath coming hard, her mind trying to seize onto what she should do, where she should run.  She glanced around again, trying to recognize her surroundings, but her addled mind had trouble placing any of the houses surrounding her. 

But, then she suddenly knew. 

Spinning on her heel, Lanie bolted down the street as fast as her legs could carry her, away from the two brawling, snarling shapes tearing at one another, and heading in the only direction she could think of.

Lanie was running, flying through the darkness, the sound of her footsteps echoing up and down the dim, empty street and the sound of her heartbeat echoing just as loudly in hear ears.  She expected to feel hands clawing at her, pulling her to the ground so that sharp, deadly fangs could sink into her flesh and that possibility spurred her onward.  Lanie made it to the end of the street and then banked a hard left, her lungs heaving and her heart threatening to pound out of her chest.  She flew past the first two houses on Endicott Lane and then cut across the lawn of the third, making for the lighted front porch as fast as she could go. 

Lanie bounded up the wooden steps and threw herself at the front door.  “Johnna!  Johnna!” she screamed, pounding on the door with one hand and working the knob with the other.  But, the door was locked!  “
Johnna
!” 

If she couldn’t get inside…she was dead.

After a second of vicious pounding and screaming, no one answered the door, and Lanie’s gaze flew to the little wrought iron table sitting between the two rocking chairs by the big front window.  She had to get inside the house!  As desperation overwhelmed her, she rushed over to the table, threw a potted plant off onto the porch and snatched it up just as a sound caught her attention. 

She’d heard that sound before.  Like soft thunder in the distance.  Only, she knew it for what it was this time.  It was the sound of Frederik’s footsteps.  He was coming for her.

Lanie drew the iron table back and let it fly out of her hands with as much as strength as she could find.  The resulting crash of smashing glass filled the night air.  As soon as the big window was broken she lifted her foot and kicked in the remaining shards of glass from the bottom so that she could climb inside.  And that’s when the front door was jerked open.

“What in hell—“ Johnna’s angry voice halted as she stepped out and saw Lanie.  “Lanie!  Was that
you
!  What the hell are you doing throwing—“

Lanie spun around the rushed the girl, trying to push her back through the doorway.  The footsteps were closer, so close she knew if she turned around she’d see Frederik bolting down the street toward her.   “Johnna, get inside!” she screamed, trying to force the girl through the doorway, but Johnna dug in her heels.

“Lanie, what is wrong with you!  Where have you been!” Johnna demanded.

The footsteps were so close that Lanie let out a shriek of terror and in a desperate move she shoved Johnna through the doorway as hard as she could, causing the girl to stumble backward over the threshold.  Lanie followed her, but before she could get more than a foot across a hand clamped down onto her shoulder and a loud snarl exploded in her ears.

Terror clutched at Lanie and she shot both hands outward, grabbing hold of the doorjamb and digging her nails into the wood.  It wouldn’t help.  She wasn’t strong enough to keep Frederik from taking her.  But, she had to try.

A shrill shriek split the air, it actually took Lanie a second to realize it hadn’t come from her, and then Johnna was there, reaching out to grab hold of Lanie’s arm with one hand while the other hand, clutching a tiny canister, shot past Lanie’s face.  There was a loud
hiss
and an instantaneous roar and the hand on Lanie’s shoulder loosened a fraction and Johnna was pulling her forward into the house with such force they both wound up toppling to the floor. 

Another snarl sounded out and both Lanie and Johnna whipped their gazes toward the front door, finding Frederik standing there, his face a mask of rage and his gleaming ruby red eyes pinned to Lanie.  He lifted his large fists and pounded against the barrier that was keeping him out of the house, sending the dull reverberations echoing through the structure.

Johnna, lying next to Lanie, shrieked and scrambled backward across the floor, trying to get away from the doorway and Lanie did the same, even though she knew Frederik couldn’t get into the house. 

Frederik snarled at them, his fists pounding hard against the nothingness separating them and Johnna shrieked again, struggling to her feet and backing away until she hit the bannister of the stairway.  Lanie got to her feet, heart pounding, mind racing, and fear swelling inside her.  If Frederik was there and Kyle wasn’t…  No!  No, Kyle said that Frederik wouldn’t kill him!

As Frederik again pounded his fists against the barrier keeping him out of the house, Johnna screamed again, suddenly surging forward, slamming the door shut in Frederik’s face, sliding the deadbolt into place, and then backing away from it until she was once again pushed up against the bannister. 

“Lanie, what
the hell
!  You—“ Johnna’s words turned into another shriek as Frederik suddenly appeared at the broken window, his ashen face twisted in rage and his teeth barred as he pounded his fists against the space where the glass had once been. 

Frederik abruptly took several steps backward and flung himself full force at the broken window, which only served to shake the house from the inside out and send him stumbling backward a few steps, but seeing that caused Johnna to scream again, the sound slicing through Lanie’s skull like a white hot knife blade.

Lanie spun around, grabbed Johnna by the arm and pulled her out of the entryway and into the living room where they couldn’t see Frederik hurling himself at the broken window. 

“Johnna, calm down!  He can’t get inside!” Lanie ordered, sounding more distraught than firm.

Johnna paused, visibly trying to pull herself together, but another reverberation sounded through the house and she shrieked yet again. 

“Johnna!  He can’t get into the house!” Lanie repeated, grabbing the girl’s shoulders and giving her a hard shake.

Clearly startled, Johnna’s face went slack and her eyes went wide and for a full minute she just stood, staring at Lanie with an open mouth.  But, then something visibly rolled across her features and she suddenly snapped awake, shaking Lanie’s hands off her. 

“Lanie, why the hell didn’t you tell me about this! 
You let your best
friend know when there’s a vampire in town
!”

Lanie gasped, the denial forming on her tongue, but then she stopped.  It was a little too late for that now.  If anyone would understand what had just happened, it would be Johnna.

“The bum from The Pub is a vampire, too, isn’t he!” Johnna accused and Lanie opened her mouth, but her friend continued onward without waiting for the answer.  “I
knew
it!  You should have told me!”

“I-I couldn’t te—“

“Those girls that were killed, the one outside killed them, right?” Johnna went on, still sounding accusatory.  “And he’s been after you, hasn’t he!  He was the person you saw in the park!  And your friend, the bum from The Pub, has been trying to keep him away from you!”  

Lanie was astounded by Johnna’s accuracy.  If watching teen vampire movies honed a person’s perception to this extent, she was shocked that every vampire roaming the earth hadn’t already been discovered!

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

“What does the one outside want?” Johnna questioned, flinching as another reverberation echoed through the house.  “Does he want to kill you or does he want you for…something else?”

“Something else, I think,” Lanie answered hoarsely, not quite at ease with how quickly her friend was coming to grips with the situation.

“Where’s your friend at right now?” Johnna asked, beginning to pace, her hands nervously fiddling with the little canister she was still holding.  Lanie only then realized that it was a can of Mace.

Lanie shook her head, trying not to let her worry over Kyle overwhelm her.  “I-I don’t know.  He was taking me home and Frederik…blindsided us.”

Johnna considered that for a moment.  “So, how do we kill him?” she asked, a serious expression on her face.

“We can’t,” Lanie answered.  “We don’t have the right…weapons.  Kyle has them.”

Johnna let out a sudden gasp, her already wide eyes going even wider.  “Lanie!  My parents are at a meeting at the Town Hall!  Everyone went there to see what the Mayor’s doing about finding the killer, but they’ll be back!  What if he’s still out there when they come home?  What if he…what if he…”

Lanie didn’t know what to say to that.  This wasn’t like it was in Johnna’s books or movies.  People had died and people were probably going to continue to die.  And if Johnna’s parents got in the way, they might die, too. 

Another reverberation shook the house and Johnna bit back another scream.  “What do we do!  I can’t let him hurt my parents!” she exclaimed, panicked now.

Lanie felt a surge of tears hit her hard.  She had no idea what to do.  Maybe if she’d read more of Johnna’s terrible vampire novels, she’d have an inkling.  But, at the moment, she had nothing! 

The house reverberated again and Lanie heard herself let out a shriek.  She knew Frederik couldn’t get into the house, but it sounded as if he might figure out a way at any second.

Lanie stood in an agony of indecision.   But, another reverberation echoing through the house had her mind lurching into action, searching for options.  She couldn’t make a run for it.  Frederik would have her two seconds after she stepped out the door.  She couldn’t call for help.  He might kill anyone who came and no one could help her anyway.  As long as she and Johnna were inside the house, they were safe, but how long would he wait out there?  Johnna’s parents would eventually come home and then…Frederik might kill them.  Or force them to invite him inside so he could get to her. 

There was only one option that she could see.  She had to get out of Johnna’s house.  If she wasn’t there, Frederik wouldn’t be either and Johnna’s parents would be safe.  And there was only one place she knew for certain that no one would be coming home to.  She had to get to her house.  Somehow. 

However, she lived four streets away.  That was no short distance, especially not with a vampire who could move faster than lightning chasing after her.

“What should we do?” Johnna questioned, sounding choked.

“I have no idea,” Lanie answered, wondering why Johnna kept asking her.  Wasn’t Johnna the vampire expert!

A sharp gasp suddenly flew out of the girl and Lanie could see a light bulb go on inside her head.  But, a thought flashed through Lanie’s mind, too, one that had her leaping forward to clamp a hand down over Johnna’s mouth. 

“
He can hear us
!” she mouthed the words to her friend, whose eyes were as enormous as saucers. 

Johnna nodded her understanding and spun around on her heel, exiting the room with Lanie right behind her.  They made their way to the back of the house and into the den, where Johnna pointed to the large, glass fronted gun cabinet sitting next to the window. 

Johnna’s father was an avid weapons collector, and luckily, he’d taught Johnna how to use them.  Lanie, being the daughter of the town sheriff, was also well versed in how to use firearms.  In that moment, Lanie didn’t see any good reason why they shouldn’t riddle Frederik with bullets.  Maybe it would slow him down enough to let her get away from Johnna’s house.  That was all she needed.  Just enough time to get away from Johnna’s house so that the girl’s family would be safe.  Johnna didn’t deserve to lose the people she cared about.  This had nothing to do with Johnna.