Obsessed (Book #12 in the Vampire Journals) (7 page)

Scarlet’s sobs
tore through her. She clutched Sage tightly to her chest as she flew through
the air. His eyes were closed and she could only just feel his soft heartbeat
where he was pressed into her.

Her arms ached
but there was no way she was stopping. Something was pushing her onwards, as
though some force were drawing her toward the tower she’d seen in her locket.

She didn’t know
how long she’d been flying. It felt like forever. Time had become a blur of
fear, grief, and pain. And worse than everything was the deep gnawing sensation
in her stomach, the sensation that told her she needed to feed. She was craving
blood and it was agonizing. She didn’t want to be a soulless demon, feasting on
raw flesh like a cannibal, but the need inside of her was one she knew she
couldn’t ignore. She would have to feed, and soon.

Desperately she
looked around her, trying to see whether there was anywhere to land and hunt.
She felt guilty at the thought of setting Sage down just so she could eat, but
the vampire she’d become was as demanding as a petulant child.

Then, finally,
over the misty horizon, Scarlet made out the features of a tall tower. It was a
black silhouette against the murky sky, but the image perfectly matched the one
she’d seen shining from her locket.

“There it is,”
she whispered to the unconscious Sage.

She couldn’t let
herself feel relief yet. It was too soon, too precarious, she might still fail
in her quest to save him. But she was one step closer and that thought
bolstered her.

She tipped her
head down and flew faster, propelling her and Sage toward the tower.

As she drew
closer, she picked out more features. The tower looked as though it were a
million years old, constructed of huge square stones like a Mayan temple. It
stretched up impossibly high, the tip disappearing into the clouds. Scarlet
tried to imagine the people who had built it all those centuries ago. They must
have worked by hand. There was no way such a building could have been
constructed by humans—this was an architectural feat surely performed by
vampires or Immortalists.

Around the base
of the tower, huge waves lapped. But Scarlet noticed that the structure wasn’t
entirely surrounded by water. Just one part of it adjoined the sea. The rest
was attached to an island brimming with lush forests. She made a beeline for
the undergrowth.

As she ducked
through the canopy with her precious bundle in her arms, shadows engulfed them,
painting lines of light across Sage’s pale face and making his sweat glisten.

Scarlet touched
down, her feet landing in a blanket of forest mulch. The air was pungent with
the smell of bark and leaves, and filled with the buzz of insect wings.

Scarlet laid
Sage beside a fallen trunk, propping him up. He was naked from the waist up,
his torso revealing the brutal torture he’d received at the hands of Octal. The
sight of him made Scarlet weep.

She stroked his
cheek and his eyes fluttered open.

“Where are we?”
he gasped, his words punctuated by wheezes.

Scarlet smiled
at him, trying to look reassuring, hoping that he wouldn’t notice her puffy red
eyes from all the crying she’d done. She squeezed his hand.

“Somewhere
quiet,” she said. “Somewhere safe.”

She didn’t want
to tell him that she was still chasing a cure. In the caves he’d seemed adamant
that it was over, that she should let him die. But Scarlet knew that was just
the pain talking. That was the whole point of Octal’s torture—to make him give
up.

Too bad for them
that I’m not the sort of girl who gives up easily,
Scarlet thought to
herself.

She turned her
gaze back to Sage. His head was bobbing as though it was taking him a great
effort to stay awake. Scarlet leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against his
mouth. His lips tasted as salty as her tears.

“Get some rest
now,” she whispered.

Sage’s eyes
fluttered closed and he let his chin drop to his chest, as though he’d been
waiting for her permission to sleep.

Scarlet
swallowed her resolve and stood. She glanced around at the thick foliage. She
could just about make out the tower over the thick tangle of branches and
leaves above. She began to make in that direction.

She hadn’t gotten
more than ten paces when movement up ahead made her stop in her tracks. There
was an animal just the other side of a low tuft of shrubbery. Immediately her
stomach growled. The vampire in her was telling her to feast and she had no
power to control it.

Her body worked
on an instinct she’d never before possessed. It made her freeze, her breath
becoming shallower so as not to make a noise. The background of her vision
blurred out so that her sole focus was the shrub before her, rattling as some
unknown creature moved behind it.

The creature
must have sensed danger because in a sudden blur it darted away. In a split
second Scarlet had taken in a thousand pieces of information—its size and
color, its speed, its vulnerabilities—and she pounced, tearing through the
forest after it. The creature was deer-like but similar in size to a dog, and
Scarlet couldn’t help but think of Ruth, her husky back home. It made her feel
sick to think that she could possess these murderous instincts, and that she
had no control over them.

Scarlet tore
across the undergrowth, shoving branches out of her way as she ran. The
deer-like creature had a better grasp on the terrain and it dodged and weaved
expertly. It hopped elegantly over a stream. Scarlet went plunging in after it,
splashing gracelessly in the freezing water.

But despite its
upper hand, the deer was no match for a starving vampire. Scarlet reached her
prey and leapt on it. She sank her fangs into its neck.

Its blood was
delicious, filling her veins with power and strength. She sat on her knees,
devouring the creature, sucking on its blood.

As soon as it
was drained she sat back and took a deep breath. She turned her gaze up to the
stars twinkling through the canopy and a silver tear streaked down her cheek.

She wiped the
blood from her lips and looked down at the limp creature.

“I’m sorry,” she
whispered.

But as she
stood, she felt a surge of strength wash through her. As much as it disgusted
her to kill, she knew she needed it to survive. She was just going to have to
accept that this was her new reality.

She turned on
the spot, realizing that in the chase she’d lost her orientation. The trees
were so thick here she couldn’t even see properly through the tops. The tower
was nowhere to be seen.

Scarlet’s heart
began to race as she realized she was lost.

“No, no, no,”
she muttered under her breath.

Her throat was
constricting with panic. How could she be so stupid? To have gotten lost when
she was just a stone’s throw from a possible cure for Sage. If he died now, it
would all be her fault.

She turned on
the spot, looking wildly around her, trying to decipher the path she had taken
to get here. But the trees were too thick, the branches too many, and there was
no way of knowing which way she had come or which way she needed to go. In her
panic, she couldn’t help but think of Sage lying there, cold and in pain, his
breath shallow. If he died alone she would never forgive herself.

She couldn’t
help but let the tears fall.

Then suddenly
something changed. The gloom around her seemed to lift. She cleared the blurry
tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and realized that her locket was
glowing once again. The light coming from the hinges banished the shadows
around her.

“Of course,” she
said aloud, “my tears open the locket.”

She clicked open
the two halves. Instead of showing her the image of the tower this time, a thin
thread of light came out, floating through the air like seaweed tendrils under
water. Scarlet realized immediately that the light was guiding her.

She ran,
following the strange threadlike glow through the thickets. Branches snagged
her, tore at her clothes, but she ignored them. Her mind was entirely focused
on reaching her destination.

She heard the
sound of breaking waves in the distance and realized she must be close. Then
all at once she had burst from the forest, leaving behind the shadows and
replacing the pungent aroma of trees with the sharp, salty smell of the ocean.

She found
herself at the bottom of a row of steep steps that led up to the tower.

She staggered
back, her breath stolen from her lungs by the sight of it. The building was so
tall she couldn’t see the top. The bricks were laid haphazardly and the steps
were eroded, bowing in the middle from generations of feet walking up them.
Scarlet wasn’t sure how the ancient tower was still standing. Like the Leaning
Tower of Pisa, it seemed to lilt to one side, lurching toward the ocean.

Scarlet saw that
the tendril of light from her locket was winding its way up the staircase. It
wanted her to go inside. She swallowed hard, afraid of what might await her.

Then she snapped
her locket closed, shutting out the light, and began her ascent up the stone steps.

Her destiny, she
knew, life or death, lay before her.

Caitlin held on
tightly to Caleb as he tore through the countryside on the roaring motorcycle,
twisting and turning, leaning so far she nearly thought they would fall. His
motorcycle skills were about as terrifying as his plane flying. He twisted the
throttle, making the engine roar, pushing it ever faster.

“So how the hell
do you propose we get to Egypt?” he cried over his shoulder, his voice
swallowed by the wind.

Caitlin chewed
her lip. She’d been thinking the same thing. Even though they’d outrun the
police in Boldt Castle, that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be more after them. It
wasn’t like they could just go to an airport and hop on a plane without someone
at customs recognizing them.

“I have an
idea,” Caitlin said.

“Go on,” Caleb
replied.

But Caitlin
didn’t get a chance to explain because just then, coming from behind, a strange
shape appeared on the horizon.

“What is that?”
Caleb gasped, his wide-eyed gaze fixed in the rearview mirror.

Caitlin turned
around in her seat and squinted at the shape. It looked like a storm cloud or a
swarm of birds. That’s when she realized it wasn’t birds at all. It was people.
Immortalists. They were flying and they were headed straight for them.

“Caleb!” Caitlin
screamed in her husband’s ear. “You’ve got to go. Go, go, go!”

Caleb twisted
the throttle and the bike began to accelerate even more, picking up a
terrifying speed that made Caitlin’s stomach churn.

Still, it wasn’t
enough. The Immortalists pursuing them were gaining, coming closer and closer,
until they were close enough for Caitlin to make out some of their features.
Their eyes flashed with murderous intent.

“Why are they
following us?” Caleb cried against the roaring wind.

“Scarlet,” Caitlin
replied. “They want Scarlet. And they think we’ll lead them to her.”

“Then we’d
better make sure we don’t,” Caleb replied.

He jerked the
handlebars left and the bike careened sharply down another winding path.
Caitlin gasped, her stomach doing somersaults as Caleb threw the bike from one
side to the next. They started to pick up speed as they raced down the
hillside.

Finally having
caught her breath, Caitlin looked behind her again. The Immortalists were
closing in.

“We’re can’t
outrun them,” she cried, desperately.

“Yes we can,”
Caleb returned.

Caitlin looked
ahead and saw that they were fast approaching a tunnel. A sign above it
proclaimed that it had a low ceiling and was unsuitable for trucks. Caleb raced
toward it.

The tight
squeeze had a funneling effect on the Immortalist swarm. Some burst through with
no problem, but there was only enough room for them to fly three abreast and the
others had to slow. The crowd bottlenecked around the outside of the tunnel,
some flying too fast to stop and careening into the others at great speed.
Despite the wind rushing in her ears, Caitlin could make out the sound of their
pained yelps and groans as they smashed into one another.

“Amazing!” she
cried to her husband.

But they weren’t
out of danger yet. A strong crowd of at least ten Immortalists had made it into
the tunnel and were gaining on them. It was clear to Caitlin, however, that
without room to soar and without the less dense air to glide along they were
struggling to keep up pace. Flying through the tunnel was hard work for them.

“It’s just like
with an airplane,” Caleb said. “It’s easier to glide in thinner air.”

“So we make sure
they stay low?” Caitlin replied. “See if we can tire them out?”

“I’ve got a
feeling that the bike will give out before they do,” Caleb replied.

The tunnel came
to an end and the motorbike bumped back onto the roads. Caitlin looked back and
realized that some of the Immortalists caught in the bottleneck had flown up
over the tunnel and were ready to rejoin their pack. Their group was stronger
again, and now they had the open air to glide through.

“Now what?”
Caitlin cried, her heart leaping into her throat.

The road was
beginning to widen, indicating they were approaching civilization of some sort—a
village or town. But first there were rows upon rows of fields and farm yards.

Caleb twisted
the handlebars and the motorbike veered into a field of corn. Caitlin realized
what he was doing. He was heading straight for an open barn. He was hoping to
maneuver the Immortalists through difficult terrain.

The bike whizzed
into the first barn.

It was filled
with cows. They lifted their heads and mooed their disapproval as the bike
roared through. But, Caitlin noted, the Immortalists weren’t behind.

“They’re not
stupid enough to follow,” she cried. “They’ll just fly over the roof.”

“I know,” Caleb
replied.

Then he hit the
brake and twisted the handlebar, making the motorbike screech and turn sharply
on its side. Caitlin gripped on for dear life. When the bike righted itself
again, she looked up and saw that they were back facing the way they had come.
Caleb was trying to outsmart the Immortalists.

They raced back
out the barn. Caitlin glanced over the roof top. Sure enough, the Immortalist
swarm was racing over the roofs in the wrong direction, expecting them to
emerge from the other end of the barn. She watched as they realized their
mistake and came to a sudden, angry halt, before doubling back on themselves
and racing back the way they had come. They were still coming for them, but
Caleb’s maneuver had brought them a little bit of breathing space.

Caitlin held on
tight as Caleb steered toward another barn. This one was full of pigs. The
stench was unbearable.

“You can’t trick
them twice,” Caitlin shouted in Caleb’s ear.

But this time,
Caleb didn’t turn the bike around. This time, as he drove through the barn, he
knocked open the gate locks of the pens. The pigs were smart enough to know
that an unlocked pen meant freedom, and they rushed for the gates, causing a
stampede.

Caleb burst out
the other end of the barn. Sure enough, the Immortalists had been expecting him
to pull the same trick as before. They were all waiting to pounce at the
entrance of the barn. But instead of Caitlin and Caleb, they were confronted by
a herd of pigs.

Caitlin couldn’t
help but laugh at the sight, as she turned back and watched the Immortalist
army grounded by nothing more than a gang of stinking pigs.

“Have I told you
recently how much I love you?” Caitlin called into Caleb’s ear.

Caleb laughed
gleefully and maneuvered the bike back onto the main roads, heading once again
in the direction of the village, and leaving their pursuers behind in the
wrecked farm yard.

“So you were
going to tell me how to get to Egypt?” Caleb said to Caitlin once they were
driving steadily again.

“Actually,”
Caitlin said, “I was thinking of a detour.”

There was a
pause. Then Caleb said in a strained voice, “A detour?”

“Yes.” Caitlin
cleared her throat, feeling a little awkward. “To Florida.”

In the pause
that followed, Caitlin could almost feel Caleb’s frustration radiating off him.
First she makes him fly to Boldt Castle to find Scarlet, then she changes her
mind and tells him they have to go to Egypt to find a cure for vampirism, and
now she was talking about Florida. She was putting her poor husband through the
wringer and pushing his trust to the maximum.

“Should I even
bother asking why?” Caleb muttered.

“We need to get
to my grandmother’s attic,” Caitlin replied.

“Why?” came
Caleb’s clipped response.

“When I was
talking to Aidan about the sphinx, something triggered a memory inside of me,”
Caitlin replied. “I can’t quite put my finger on it but I know that my
grandmother had all kinds of artifacts in her attic. I have this feeling that
she’ll have something to help us locate the vampire city.”

“Right,” Caleb
replied wearily. “So we’re still going to Egypt. Just via your grandma’s attic.
Because of a hunch. And how much time exactly do you think we have to find this
cure for our daughter?”

Caitlin tensed.
She hated it when Caleb couldn’t see her point of view, or when it felt like he
suddenly wasn’t on her side anymore. This was their daughter they were talking
about. Surely he understood that she only had Scarlet’s best interest at heart.
Hadn’t he learned to trust her yet? If she could sense that their daughter was
in danger from miles off, surely Caleb could accept that going to her
grandmother’s was more than just a hunch, that she had some deep, primal
instinct inside of her compelling her to go there.

“I’m sorry, but
you’re just going to have to trust me, Caleb,” she replied tersely.

“Like I trusted
you with the whole ejecting out the airplane thing?” he shot back. “Do you have
any idea how useful it would be right now to still have an airplane at our
disposal?”

No sooner had he
said the words than the village they’d been heading toward materialized before
them at the bottom of the valley. It looked like the typical backwater farming
town, with a gas station and an auto salvage yard filled with rusty cars and
retired tractors. All of a sudden, Caitlin saw something that caught her eye.

“Caleb, I don’t
believe it!” she cried, grabbing her husband’s arm.

Caleb looked
left. And there is was. Amongst the wreckage of beat-up pickup trucks and
crushed vans stood an old biplane.

“I don’t believe
it,” Caleb said.

“Do you think it
still works?” Caitlin asked, feeling elevated by hope.

“There’s only
one way to find out.”

Caleb steered
into the auto salvage yard and raced past the rows of cars. He drew to a halt
beside the biplane. Caitlin leapt from the motorbike. Her legs were trembling
from the vibrations of the bike. It felt good to be on solid ground, though she
hoped she’d soon be off it and airborne.

Caleb wasted no
time inspecting the aircraft.

“I haven’t flown
one of these things since my training days,” he said, looking in awe at the
relic. “We got to fly them in air displays at the weekends sometimes. Beautiful
machines. Amazing to handle.”

Caitlin smiled.

“So?” she said.
“What do you think?”

“It’s in good
condition,” Caleb cried.

“Can it get us
to Florida?” Caitlin asked.

Caleb looked up
and smiled at his wife.

“Do you know
what? I think this might just work.”

He pulled open
the driver’s door. It creaked and bashed against the side, the hinges rusty and
loose. He looked at his wife as he climbed inside.

“Just promise me
you won’t change your mind again,” he said, settling into the seat.

Caitlin hauled
herself up and crossed her heart.

“I promise,” she
said as she settled herself behind him. “As long you promise not to crash this
thing.”

Caleb turned the
biplane on and the engine spluttered and coughed. Once the engine was turning
over nicely, he began to taxi through the auto salvage yard, heading for the
open fields.

“I don’t know if
I can promise that,” he said, lining the plane up for takeoff.

He pushed the
thrusters forward. The biplane picked up speed. With a stomach-churning
sensation, they left the ground and took to the skies.