Leticia (31 page)

“You need to get dressed and we need to go
,
” I blurted out
.

“Why
?
”

“Leticia has gone, I don’t know where, but she’s gone
.
”

“What! Why?”

“She’s gone to find them, to find Tristan. You should have seen her Nancy, she looked so different...”

I explained to Nancy how I thought I’d seen a darker side to Leticia. Her eyes were normally full of warmth and love, but before they
were
so dark
and
cold. He
r
jaw was tight, he
r
body language had gone from laid back and relaxed, to tense and angry.

“Oh shit!” Nancy shouted
.
“I can’t lose anyone else
.
”

“Neither can I
.
”

She walked into the bathroom with her clothes shutting the door behind her, but continuing to talk.

“Which direction did she drive in?” she asked
.

“I don’t know
.
”

“I told her the van we were in was heading towards
Holmfirth;
I bet she’s on the bloody Moors
.
”

“Hurry up, we need to find her
.
”

“I’m going as fast as I can, calm down, she’s not been gone that long
.
”

“More than fifteen minutes, that’s long enough
.
”

“Is she armed?”

“What?”

“
Is she
armed?
”

“I don’t know I’ll see if anything’s missing
.
”

I ran to the spare room. The trunks that housed my guns w
ere
pulled out and left open. I instantly noticed several of them missing. That made me feel a little bit better, but not much. At least she had
something
to help protect her. As I turned to make my way out Nancy appeared.

“I want a few, load me up
,
” she started
.
“They’ve
taken
my soul
mate;
they
’re
not
taking my only friend too
.
”

“Nancy what if we don’t find her in time
?
” I panicked
.
“I don’t know what I’ll do
.
”

“Don’t think like that
.
”

“I can’t help it
.
”

“Just breath
e
and try to keep a level head, we
will
find her and
drag
her
ass
back here
.
”

“I don’t want to lose her. I
can’t
lose her...”

“I won’t let you lose
her;
I won’t have you feeling how I do now
.
”

After taking several
guns
and plenty of bullets from the trunks, we ran downstairs and out the door. We were only a few feet from my car when four men came charging out of the trees. I didn't have time for
this;
I had to get to my girl.
Nancy shot two of them, killing them instantly. What sort of idiots were they
?
I mean, who would come at people that have weapons? Did they actually
want
to die? I shot the other two thugs, but they didn’t stop running.

“What the hell?!” Nancy shouted
.

We shot them over and over, one of them slowed down, just about managing to walk
, and then finally fell
. But the other, the biggest of them, threw himself at me. We both went crashing to the ground. This man, although h
e
was extremely tall, was only skin and bone, how could he be so strong? He was
on top of
me, he his hands wrapped around my throat. Nancy
tried
to attack him, but he knocked her to the ground with ease. That did
,
however, give me the opportunity to break free. I punched him in his jaw so hard that I heard it snap. He cried out in pain. I kicked him off me and jumped to my feet. I walked over to him, readying myself for one hell of a fight, one I didn’t intend losing.

“Jackson wait
,
” Nancy shouted
.
“Look
.
”

The bullet wounds that only a few minutes ago seemed
not
to have hurt
him
were now pouring out blood. The man was shaking from head to toe, sweating terribly
, and choking on his own blood.

“Kill me
,
” he gurgled
.
“Please
.
”

“O
K
,
” I said carefree. I grabbed him and snapped his neck, then let his lifeless body slump on the ground.

“We need to drag their bodies into the bus
h
es for now, we can get rid of them later
,
” Nancy ordered
.

As much as I just wanted to get in the car and get to Leticia, I knew she was
right;
we couldn’t just leave them there.
Thankfully it
only took us a few
minutes
.

We were about to get in my car when we heard the sound of another vehicle approaching the house.

“I haven’t got time for this!” I nearly screamed
.

“You go, I’ll stay
,
” Nancy told me
.

“No, I can’t leave you, Leticia would go berserk
.
”

“Just go I can...
L
ook
.
”

I turned just as Leticia’s car came into view. I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I felt. It came to
an abrupt stop and we ran over
;
Nancy froze on the spot when she saw who was driving it.

“Tristan
,
” she choked
.

He got out of the car
quick
and
almost ripped the back passenger door off
its
hinges.

“What’s...
?”
I lost my voice when I saw him pull Leticia off the back seat. Nancy ran back to the house, opening the door.
He ran in with her in his arms, straight up the stairs and
laid
her on her bed. Nancy and I ran behind him. As soon as he lay her down Nancy grabbed him and held him tight, tears running down her cheeks.
I sat next to Leticia, stroking the side of her face
;
she looked so
pale, but
peaceful, like a sleeping beauty
.

“What happened?!” I demanded to know
.

Before Tristan answered me I noticed blood on her neck. I moved her hair only to find two puncture wounds hiding underneath.
I was instantly filled with rage
.

“Jackson, now look...” Tristan began
.

I jumped off the bed and punched him,
sending him crashing
into the wardrobe.
“You fucking bastard!!”

“JACKSON!”
Nancy screamed
.

“Look at
her, look what he’s done to her!”

She walked over to look at Leticia. “Oh my god
,
” she gasped
.

“Look she will be
fine
...
” Tristan told us
.

“Get out, don’t you dare come anywhere near her
,
” I threatened
.

“She told me to do it, you have no idea what happened, she knew I wouldn’t kill her. If she hadn’t
have
helped me I’d
be
dead by now
.
”

“
Then why is she like this?”

“She told me if I took
her
blood I would heal twice as fast, and she was right. She just told me not to kill her or she would come and haunt me. She will be perfectly fine. The blood loss has made her collapse, but she heals Jackson, she’s a werewolf. Give her a few hours, she’ll be awake, a little tired, but awake
.
”

“She better be or you’ll wish she hadn’t found you!”

“You might not be saying that when you find out what all this is
actually
about
,
” he shot
.

“What?” Nancy interrupted
.

“There’s more to it than she let on, a
lot
more. I didn’t get in the state I was
in because some idiot staked me
through my ribs. They didn't even get within
an
inch of my heart...”

“So what then?”

“Do you remember they suddenly got sick?” he asked Nancy
.

“Yeah
.
”

“They injected themselves with
something;
I coul
dn’t see what at the time. Their
strength returned
and I couldn’t fight all of them alone. The
y
took me to a barn just off the Moors. They drained me almost dry
.
”

“They were vamps?” I asked rather confused
.

“No, they used needles Jackson,
big ones,
dozens of them, then left quickly with it all
.
”

“Why?”

“Ask her
,
” he said pointing to Leticia
.
“
She hasn’t
exactly
been
honest with us
. She could even be in on this
.
”

“What
!
” I seethed
.

“Jackson, she’s not who you think she is,
or
who you
want
her to be
.
”

Nancy had heard enough and stormed out of the room, Tristan followed behind her. My mind was working overtime
. I thought I knew her, I’d watched her almost every day and ni
ght since I knew she lived here
and what she was. I’d never seen her doing anything remotely strange or stupid.
He had to be wrong.
She looked peaceful still, and I could hear her breathing. That provided me with some form of comfort. I lay beside her, just st
r
oking her face and holding her hand, praying it wouldn’t be long until she opened her eyes.

I could feel someone’s hand on mine, squeezing it slightly. I tried to open my eyes, but they felt so heavy.

“Leticia
,
” I heard Jackson say
.
“
Come
on baby
-girl
open your eyes
.
”

“
Oh
god
,
” I croaked
.
“Where am I?”

“You’re home
,
safe
.
”

“Where’s Tristan?”

“He’s downstairs with Nancy
.
He’s
OK
.
”

“Good
.
” I breathed a sigh of relief, and then managed to open my eyes fully
.
“What a cute face to wake up to
,
” I smiled at him
.

“Thanks
,
” he laughed
.
“
Do
you remember what happened?”

“Yeah, I told him to take my blood, I didn't expect this though
.
”

“He knew he wouldn’t kill you, you’ll be
OK
.
”

“How’s Nancy?”