The Reaping (31 page)

Darting off in the direction I’d seen Leah run in my “vision”, I ran at the fastest speed that I could safely travel without getting myself hurt and being of no use to Leah.

When it seemed that I had traveled far enough to have already encountered her, I stopped to listen again.  It was quiet but for the occasional drop of moisture that fell from the wet branches onto the forest floor; it had already stopped raining.

Looking as deeply into the shadow as I could, I scanned the ground for signs of flailing limbs, but saw none.  Something moved to my right and I whipped my head around. 

Derek stood in the shadow of a tree, staring at me blankly.  A kaleidoscope of emotions played through me until he raised his arm and pointed into the woods to my left.  I looked that direction and caught a glimpse of something pale.  It had to be Leah.

I looked back to Derek.  He said nothing, just kept pointing. 

Denying my urge to go to him, I bolted through the trees in the direction Derek had pointed.  As my feet plodded through the wet leaves, I prayed that Derek had had nothing to do with the rain.  When I saw Leah up ahead, lying on the ground, all thoughts fled my mind except her.

She wasn’t alone. 

Drops of rain sparkled in red hair when the girl turned toward me and smiled.  “Just in time, Sis,” she shouted, confirming my suspicion.  As she dropped to her knees beside Leah, her tinkling laughter drifted to my ears, curdling my blood.

“No!”  I ran faster, my heart hammering against my ribs.

When I reached them, Leah was lying limp in my sister’s arms, Grey’s lips at her neck.  Ghostly forms hovered just behind them, teeth gnashing, fingers grasping, their pale faces ravenous.  Rage washed over me and, without another thought, I hurled myself at Grey.

When I hit, the impact dislodged her from Leah and sent us both flying through the air.  We landed several feet behind where Leah lay.  In an instant we were both on our feet, facing one another.

Grey’s hair glinted crimson in the tiny bits of light that peeked through the branches.  The black, hollow pits of her eyes were murderous and her pale face was marred only by the ring of blood that encircled her mouth.

Then her red lips lifted in a ghoulish smile.  “Mmm,” she moaned.  “That was sweeter than I expected.  Want a taste?” 

My throat stung and my jaws burned as saliva poured into my mouth.  I was appalled.  And she must’ve known it.

Grey’s laugh was a sarcastic bark.  The cold, empty sound sent chills racing down my arms.   “Of course not.  You’re the
good girl
,” she sneered.  “You’d never do something so vile, would you? Not yet anyway,” she teased.

I was so taken aback I couldn’t speak, a thousand gruesome thoughts swirling in my head.

“Thought you’d come and save the day.  Is that it?  Well, you might’ve saved her for the moment, but you’ve just sealed an even worse fate for her.  Now when she goes, she’ll go straight to hell, like the rest of the murderers.”

“What?”  I snapped. 

“Oh, didn’t you know that if a human is bitten by a reaper, they’re cursed with our thirst?  Only she won’t have the dying to feast on.  She’ll kill the living, all for the bliss of one sip,” she said darkly.  “And then something else will come for her, something worse than me,” she taunted.

“What have you done to her?”  I didn’t give Grey time to answer.  Instead, I turned and raced back to Leah. 

I knelt beside her and pulled her head over into my lap.  I bent to listen and could just barely make out the rattle of her breath in her throat. 

“It’s not what I’ve done, it’s what
you’ve
done.” 

Grey’s voice came from behind me, but when I turned my head to tear into her, she was gone.   Only the faces of the dead remained, but they were subdued.  Apparently there’d be no body for them to feed on this night.

Just then Leah moaned. 

“Leah, it’s Carson.  Can you hear me?”

“Carson?”  I watched her eyelids flutter as she tried to open her eyes.

“It’s me.  I’m here.”

“Carson, it hurts so bad.”  Her voice broke on a sob that tore at my heart.

“I’m so sorry, Leah,” I whispered, leaning my forehead against hers.  She was burning up.  I lifted my hand to her cheek and it was on fire.

“I’ve got to get you home, Leah.  Can you get up?”

I knew that was asking a lot from someone who had just been through a near-drowning and a partial feeding, but we had to move and I couldn’t carry her all the way back.

“I think I can, but I’m so thirsty, Carson.  You have to get me something to drink,” she whined.

“In a minute.  We’ve got to get you home first.”

“My parents, are they worried about me?”  Her voice cracked.  “I didn’t expect to be gone this long, but Ryan,” she sobbed.  “Ryan broke up with me and I just- I just had to get out of the house.”

“I know, Leah, but right now we have to get you out of here, alright?  Can you stand up?”

Leah nodded her head weakly, still sobbing quietly.  I helped push her into a sitting position then I went around in front of her and grabbed her hands.   “Now on the count of three, I’m going to pull and you’re going to stand up, ok?”

Leah nodded again.  I hoisted her into a standing position then put my arm around her waist and urged her to walk with me.  She stumbled quite a bit, but eventually we made it back to the Camaro.  By that time, she was spent and her fever was raging even hotter, if that was possible.

“Carson, please help me.  I can’t stand this. I’m so hot and my stomach hurts so bad.  And my throat,” she croaked, clenching and unclenching her fists.  “It’s so dry.”  She attempted to clear it, but it only made an arid, rasping sound. 

“In a few minutes.  Right now we need to get in the car so I can take you home.”

I opened the passenger side door and helped Leah into the seat.  I grabbed the lap belt and bent across her to click it into place.  I felt Leah brush the wet hair back from my face and as I started to back out, she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me to her.

“Oh, Carson,” she cried. 

I whispered soothing reassurances to her as she cried.  I felt Leah turn her head and nuzzle my neck.  Then I felt her soft lips brush my skin with a feather-light kiss.  And then I felt her tongue. 

“Leah, what are you doing?”  I asked, trying to keep my calm.

A little hum sounded in the back of her throat and she began to lick and suck at my neck.  Her arms tightened around me, holding me to her with a surprising amount of strength.  And then I felt the nip of her teeth.  They were blunt, but still, I knew what she was trying to do.

“Leah!  Stop!”  I reached behind my neck and grabbed her wrists and pulled as hard as I could to dislodge them from around me.  When I pulled away from her, she leaned forward, following me, biting and licking.

“But I need it, Carson.  I’m so thirsty,” she whimpered.

When I got away from her, I looked down into her face and it was like she’d been taken over by someone else.  Without her glasses, which she must’ve lost in the woods, I could see that her lids were heavy and a sensuous smile played upon her lips.  She squirmed like she couldn’t sit still, almost writhing in her seat.

I slapped her lightly, which only made her smile deepen and a lusty look come into her eyes.  “Snap out of this, Leah.  You have to fight it!”  She laughed huskily.  “This is important,” I spat, shaking her shoulders.  “Leah!”

With that, she seemed to sober somewhat and I took advantage of the moment.  “I can’t take you home like this.  You’ll have to stay at my house until I can figure out what to do.”

And that did the rest.  “But what about my parents?  And what if Ryan calls?”

“Tough.  He’ll just have to wait,” I said coldly, slamming the door for emphasis.

I went around to the driver side and climbed in.  Leah had begun to cry again.  “Leah,” I snapped.  “Enough!”

Her sobs dribbled off to the occasional sniffle, but at least I could hear myself think. 

I drove to my house and parked in the driveway.  Once Leah was in my room in the bed, I went to the living room and called the Kirbys.  I told them that I’d checked one of my favorite spots on the way home and found her and that she was safe and was going to stay the night with me. 

When Mr. Kirby asked to talk to her, I whispered conspiratorially, “That’s probably not a good idea right now.  She’s pretty torn up about all this.  Can she just stay here tonight and call you tomorrow?”

“But, it’s Christmas Eve and my daughter—”

I heard Mrs. Kirby’s voice interrupt him in the background just before Mr. Kirby covered the phone.  When he came back on the line, he was more amenable.  And though I could tell he wasn’t pleased about it, Mr. Kirby agreed to my suggestion.

I had completely forgotten that it was Christmas Eve, but unfortunately, that didn’t change anything.  Right now, the main thing was that everyone was safe for the night and that I had a little time to figure out what to do next.

When I went back in to check on Leah, she was asleep.  Her face was beet red and she was laying spread eagle with the covers thrown off, like she was hot.  She muttered and tossed, but didn’t wake up so I closed the door behind me and went to get a pillow and blanket for the couch.

Of course Derek was the first thing to pop into my head when I pulled the pillow down from the top of the linen closet.  His scent assailed me, that dark, woodsy smell.  He was the last one who used the pillow and blanket.  I felt a stab of pain as the gash in my heart started bleeding again.

Purposely, I began thinking about Leah and my sister and what to do about my current dilemma.  I made up the couch and then went into the kitchen for a soda.  Lying on the bar was the sweater that Derek had bought me and a piece of paper was sticking out beneath it.

It read:

Carson,

I’m so sorry that I brought Fahl into your life.  Maybe he would’ve found you anyway.  I don’t know.  I did it for my brother, but now I know some deals aren’t worth the sacrifice.

I didn’t want you to find out this way, but my betrayal was not what you think.  It didn’t take me long to figure out that you were special.  Very special.  I was hoping that by stringing Fahl along, together we could find a way to beat him, a way to free us all.  I know how it must look, but I thought that you knew how I felt about you, that I could never hurt you.  Not again.

It doesn’t matter now anyway.  There’s only one thing I have left to bargain with, one thing I can give away to make things right. 

I hope one day you’ll forgive me.

Love,

Derek

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

If I’d thought the pain I’d felt earlier was devastating, it was nothing compared to the excruciating heartbreak that I felt now after reading his words. 

Although I knew very little about Fahl and his mysterious deals, I knew that they were extremely expensive.  And when Derek said he only had one thing to bargain with, I knew what that one thing was. 

An image of him standing in the woods, pointing the way to Leah filled my mind.  Now I knew why he was there.  He’d given his life to Fahl.  For me.  Derek was one of the dead.