Sunrise at Sunset (26 page)

“Cabin fever already?” she teased.
I suggested this might not be easy
. She smirked, almost impressed with his artful attempt to gain some outdoor freedom even under the current dangerous circumstances. But she had already considered the issue and had a solution well in hand. “No need,” she said.

His expression soured.

“I already found a local grocery store service that delivers at night. After you finish your soup, come down to my room, and you can order what you want.”

He sighed, aggravated she was so determined to keep him under lock-down conditions. He was used to open windows, open doors, and free passage at a moment’s notice. Now he didn’t even get the benefit of the sunlight through a window. Night and day were meaningless under his current circumstances. But at least he welcomed some Internet distractions.
Maybe she’ll let me surf the Web.

“Sure,” he replied. “Thanks.”

She turned as if to leave, but he hastily swallowed his mouthful of soup and waved at her.

“Wait,” he urged. “I misplaced my cell phone last night. I had it when we got to the house.”

“It’s safe,” she said dismissively. “You can have it back when this is all over.”

He frowned, wondering what his cell phone had to do with anything. But before he could inquire further, she sped down the hall back to her lair. He groaned as he returned to his soup.

A short time later, he sat beside her clicking on the various food items for sale on the grocer website, while she intently observed his selections.

“If you have something else to do, it’s perfectly okay with me,” he offered.

“Nope, I’m fine. Your product choices are intriguing.”

He rolled his eyes and continued shopping. It felt more like she was monitoring his activities.

“Don’t forget toiletries,” she prompted.

He clicked on a number of relevant items.

After twenty minutes, he finished his selections. He had covered all of his favorite foods, as well as other necessities he’d need for a couple of weeks’ stay. He had no idea how long his current isolation might last. The final price of shopping cart selections with the delivery charge was a small fortune, but Katrina seemed unconcerned.

As he clicked the order button, he opened up a new window to do some surfing. However, her hand darted out to cover his on the mouse and locked his hand firmly in place.

“Okay, thanks,” she offered. “We’re done here now.”

He gave her a vexed look, but she merely stared back at him with a polite, resolute expression.

“I’d appreciate some surfing time,” he suggested. “It would be a great way to occupy myself, and it’ll keep me out of your way.”

She merely smiled slyly and politely countered, “Oh, then you’ll love my movie collection in the theater room. I have hundreds of titles covering numerous genres. And if nothing strikes your fancy, you can order as many movies as you want via cable. Either way, it’s a great way to pass the time and still be out of my way.”

He started to click the mouse to open a new window, but her grip tightened around the bones of his knuckles. It was firm, but not enough to cause him pain...yet.

“I’ll play nicely if you will, my love,” she offered in a friendly voice, though her eyes were steely.

It was the most pleasant-sounding warning he had ever received. He gave her a dirty look as she allowed him to remove his hand from atop the mouse.

“So, what if I decided to retract my agreement to let you protect me?” he asked pointedly.

She paused, letting him stew a moment before replying, “Sorry, but my plan is in action now. I’m afraid you missed your window of opportunity. But trust me, you’ll thank me when all this is over, my love.”

“I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” he said flatly as he got up to leave.

She watched him depart with a sigh, knowing full well he was upset. Certainly, what he was going through was difficult. But for the first time since events unfolded, she felt comfortably in control. Unfortunately, she also sensed that he was nearing a boiling point soon, and she wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation.

The boiling point came sooner rather than later.

Caleb spent part of the early afternoon loading a computer game on the notebook he had brought from home, but the software wanted to perform a hardware update for his video driver to work correctly. Unfortunately, Katrina locked him out of the wireless Internet access throughout the house. That nixed checking both his personal and work email and killed Internet surfing, as well. So he ultimately turned off his notebook.

Instead, he decided to pass the time playing a game on his cell phone. That is, until he recalled that she had taken his cell phone from him. He growled under his breath and barreled through the house to stand at the top of the stairs leading down into her lair.

“Kat, this is crazy,” he complained. “No phone or text messaging, no Internet access, no email, no outdoors access, not even an open window during daytime!”

“It’s for your own protection,” she countered with an even voice as she typed on her keyboard.
He has no idea what lengths Chimalma will go to in order to get to him
, she considered.

Her patience was running a little thin, but he apparently failed to pick up on that.
Doesn’t he realize I have important preparations to make?

“I just don’t understand,” he persisted irritably. “I think I have at least some say in this.”

Her patience level weakened, and she flew from her computer console in a blur to tower before him at the top of the stairs. She grabbed him by the shoulders and instantly placed her face less than an inch from his. His head darted backwards as if he’d been struck.

“No, you don’t have a say,” she said in a cold, level voice. “I’m the vampire here, the one with the important skills and experience that are going to keep you alive. That makes me the alpha in this partnership right now, understand?”

“I won’t be bullied, Kat,” he snapped. “Not by you and not by some rogue maniac vampire.”

“I’m not concerned with your male ego, Caleb,” she countered heatedly. “I’m worried about saving your life!”
You overly sensitive man
, she fumed silently.
Can’t you see I love you and can’t have a future with you if you’re a corpse!

He had no response to her outburst. Instead, he merely glowered at her.

She rolled her eyes in disgust. “Listen to me, Caleb. Chimalma’s an expert predator and loves to use cruelty and intimidation as part of her arsenal. She’ll butcher some innocent person just to send the images via cell phone or email. She’d issue threats to you, some very creative in their imagery, to work you into a scared frenzy. All simply to unnerve you before moving in for the kill. She takes terror to new levels for humans. And she’s very good, too good.”

His muscles tensed as the chilling nature of her explanation hit home. But another thought at the forefront of his mind bothered him. “Exactly how do you know so much about her techniques, Kat?” he insisted in a rough voice.

Katrina loosened her grip on his shoulders and moved her face away from his slightly. She gazed right past him as her eyes took on a distant stare.

“I’ve been a violent creature at times, but never like that, Caleb. And fortunately, my last mate was spared such treatment,” she continued grimly. “But after Chimalma’s mate died, she changed. She became cold and cruel. Her bitterness towards me slowly grew greater over time because she was closer to me than to the others, so I watched much of her cruelty develop firsthand. Before we severed all ties, she left a path of butchery and intimidation in her wake through Central and South America. There were letters, pictures, films, and a sordid host of other horrors with her calling card on them. The authorities thought it was the work of death squads or crime lords, but others of my kind knew the truth, and some of us tried to reason with her. She went after a number of our human associates and their loved ones to send a message that she felt betrayed. Some of my peers and I hunted for her, but she disappeared with no trace.

“We thought she went into the sunlight for a final time to end her pain or simply went underground into isolation. The killings stopped, so those of us searching for her returned to our own lives. That was maybe fifty years ago. A number of weeks ago, some of my peers who participated during that horrible time suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. Then she showed up here in Atlanta to come after you. That’s my first contact since she dropped off our radar all those years ago.”

He thought that she was recollecting the script of some horror film rather than reality. He was dumbfounded as he stared into her eyes. She slowly pulled him into a firm embrace, which he didn’t resist, and held him against her body for a few silent moments.

“When Chimalma suddenly reappeared with you in her sights, almost in her grasp, I had to hide you, Caleb, immediately isolate you from any access to her or the world in general until I have the opportunity to deal with her once and for all,” she explained.

“I apologize. I didn’t realize any of those things,” he whispered as his arms wound loosely around her slim waistline.

They stood silently embracing each other for a time before he let his thoughts turn to an equally dark topic. “How do you fight a vampire, exactly?”

She sensed his heartbeat increase slightly, and her expression grew hard as she considered his uncharacteristic topic of interest. She pulled away from him to look into his eyes, but still encircled him in her arms. “I don’t think that’s something you need to worry about,” she replied carefully. “Leave the vampire fighting to me.”

“I think it’s good for me to know,” he insisted. “Just in case, you understand.”

Katrina’s expression turned grim, and she released her hold on him. She took him by the hand and half-dragged him out into the hallway.
Fine
, she thought,
you want to see how to fight a vampire? You may reconsider once you see this.

“Come here,” she insisted as she pulled him behind her. She led him through the house to the exercise room. When they entered the large wood-floored room, Katrina rolled a ten-foot-square, heavily padded crash mat to the center of the floor. She removed her sneakers and socks and told him to do the same.

“Come on, Kat,” he pleaded with annoyance. “Look, don’t beat the crap out of me just because I asked –”

“Shoes!” she ordered again as she moved to stand near the center of the mat she had laid out.
I have no intention of abusing you
, she fumed silently,
much less try to take out my frustrations on you. You’re my charge, after all.

He sighed, slipped off his sneakers and socks, and joined her at the center of the mat. When he was in place, she stood with her feet slightly apart and her arms relaxed to her side and instructed him calmly, “Now, just touch me.”

“What do you mean, ‘touch’?” he asked warily.

She sighed with exasperation
. I forgot how much patience it takes with new students in the realm of combat techniques.
“Just try to touch me anywhere,” she clarified. “Use your finger, a hand, a foot…”

He shrugged and whipped his hand out to swipe at her arm. But she was no longer standing there and instead was just inches out of his reach. He groaned.

“Again,” she prompted.

He focused on relaxing his body so that he wasn’t tensing. He moved close enough to her to be able to reach her without extending himself. And he repeatedly tried lashing out to his left, his right, straight ahead, and even stomping at her toes or foot with his own. But each and every time, she either moved backwards or to one side.

She remained very calm as he worked himself into a sweat. After nearly ten minutes, he felt like he’d gone through an aerobic workout, while she appeared completely relaxed, almost bored.

“That’s all?” she asked incredulously.

He bent over at the waist and grabbed his knees with both hands to stretch his back and catch his breath. “That’s ridiculous,” he panted with frustration.

“Hm,” she replied in a displeased tone. She was hoping to impart firsthand just how fast vampires could move, but it seemed like he wasn’t getting the picture.

“You don’t have very good long-term memory, Caleb,” she admonished. “Remember the night at the park, the attack at the college parking lot, and Maddox in the elevator? Didn’t any of those events impact you somehow?”

“Yeah, they scared the hell out of me. So, show me what to do so I’m better at this,” he insisted irritably.

She shook her head and growled in frustration.
Patience and practice is what you need
, she thought. “I can’t teach you to be faster,” she explained. “You have to practice that yourself.”

“Fine,” he retorted. “You try touching me this time.”

She shrugged as he put his arms out to his sides and adopted a balanced stance like he would in baseball, allowing quick movement in either direction.
Just like stealing bases
, he silently affirmed. He nodded and relaxed his muscles to react faster. His eyes concentrated on her center mass so that he might have some warning to telegraph her movements easier.