A Time To Kill (Elemental Rage Book 1) (12 page)

Chapter 10

~~ Jade ~~

Jade was hungry. Her
head ached.  Even her eyes hurt. She felt feverish.

Although she was
awake, she closed her eyes and let Raven do pretty much whatever she wanted
with the van. Mom would have a fit…if they ever rescued her. Jade was too tired
to think about how to get Mom back. 

The brakes
squealed and the van swerved back and forth as Raven attempted to swerve
without going off the road. Jade opened her eyes to see a shadow in the road,
what looked like a tall man in a trench coat.  She screamed.

Jade squeezed her
eyes shut, dreading the thump.

It never came.

Raven gasped as
they screeched to a halt, “What the…?”

Opening her eyes,
Jade saw blacktop and the headlights pointing into the trees. There was no one
there.  Mindy started to scream, her voice rising as she struggled to get out
of her seatbelt.

Jade unhooked her
belt, “It’s okay Mindy. We just…”

But it wasn’t
okay. 

Because there was
a man standing in the van, right next to Mindy. He was semi-transparent, as if
the van had gone over him and stopped just where he was standing. Jade felt
like screaming when she looked at his face.  It was a mass of scars, as if it
had melted.

He reached for
Mindy. Jade thought she heard him whisper, “You’re in danger.”  

Jade climbed over
the seat and threw herself between the man and her sister. She yelled to Raven,
“Go. Get us out of here.”

Once she had seen the
weird ghostly thing in the van, Raven froze. Now she started the van up again,
put it into reverse to get straight on the road, and squealing the tires, drove
off.  Jade fell, hitting her chin against the arm of the seat.

Claire reached out
a hand to steady her sister. Her voice was barely above a whisper when she
said, “Sit down.”

Jade looked
around, “Is it gone?”

Mindy said, “No.
He’s here with us.”

As Raven accelerated,
Jade yelled into the darkness, “What do you want?  Show yourself.”

Claire grabbed
Jade’s hand, “Jade, stop.”

“What?”

“I don’t think we
want to know what he wants. Mindy’s afraid of him,” Claire covered her eyes
when they screeched around a corner halfway into the other lane. Raven was a
terrible driver.

Mindy shook her
head, “Not scared.”

Muttering under
her breath, Claire said, “Well, that’s a first.”

Jade held up her
hands, “Okay, guys. That’s enough.” 

As the sun sank
below the horizon, she felt a burning sensation work its way from her neck,
spreading out to hands.  Jade swallowed hard. 

“Raven, pull
over,” Jade watched in horror as her fingernails grew in an instant, sharpening
into claws.

Raven snorted, “In
case you haven’t noticed we’re in the middle of nowhere and there aren’t any
turn-offs.”

In a quiet voice,
Claire said, “Raven, you need to find a place to stop.”

When Jade saw the
fear in Claire’s eyes, she felt guilty.  She reached out her hand to touch
Claire’s arm.  Claire flinched and pulled away.  Jade pulled her hand back,
holding it as if she were injured.

Jade said, “I’m
sorry, Claire.”

Claire shrank away
from Jade, unable to reconcile the fangs and teeth with the sister she knew.
She said, “Me, too. Are you going to kill us?”

Jade’s first
impulse was to be insulted, to say,
no, of course not.
But she realized
that changes were happening to her, things that she might not have control
over. She said, “I’ll try not to.  I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

Her gums hurt,
aching as if she’d gotten a piece of popcorn wedged up between her teeth. She
ran her tongue along the edge. She was growing fangs.

Mindy said,
“Vampire.”

Claire tucked a
strand of dark hair behind her ear. Sometimes she just couldn’t help being a
smart aleck. Without realizing how bossy she sounded, she said, “Even Mindy
knows what’s happening to you.”

Raven caught
Jade’s latest change in the rear view mirror.  She accelerated for a few
seconds and then realized she’d have to actually drive slower if she was going
to find a place to turn off in the dark.

When no one spoke
for several minutes, Raven said, “Well, this is awkward.”

“What should I
do?” Jade rarely asked her sisters for advice, especially Raven whose behavior
wasn’t always something Jade agreed with or would emulate.

Raven said, “For
starters, keep your teeth to yourself.”  It was one of those honest jests, on the
border between offensive and completely spot-on.

Licking a fang
with her tongue, Jade’s mind made the leap from disbelief to belief. She was a
vampire.  She sat back, shocked.  “Raven?”

“Uh-huh?” Raven
asked as she turned down a gravel road lined on either side with trees. She
found a nice wide space for parking next to a creek that fishermen used and
parked there. 

“Is this
permanent?” Jade felt sick to her stomach. The churning worry that she had
become a monster ate at her from the inside out. She could actually see the
blood pumping through her sister’s bodies, as if she had some weird infrared
goggles that could image blood instead of heat. The worst was that the blood
smelled like food, like a cheeseburger or maybe more like a blackberry pie.  It
smelled sweet.

Raven didn’t have
an answer.  She didn’t even have a guess. With her sister looking like she
swapped mouths with a snake, Raven figured the more pertinent question was
whether her sister would want to bite them all in the meantime. 

She took the
coward’s way out.  Raven said, “We’ll call Bertha tomorrow.  She will know. 
You’re not hungry or anything, are you?  I mean, we’ll all survive the night?”

“No.” Mindy said
from her seat in the window.

They were sitting
in the dark in the middle of nowhere.  Jade had to admit that Mindy might be
right.  Although, she hoped that somehow she could fight this strange assault
on her body, the hunger built in her stomach and on the back of her tongue like
a slow burn. She heard her sisters’ hearts beating, felt their blood as if it
were her own.

It wasn’t fair. 
She felt betrayed.  Her fingers shouldn’t look like they belonged on Cat Woman.
She didn’t even enjoy manicures. Why would she need such long fingernails?

It was at that
moment that the shadow reappeared.  This time with the van stopped, Claire who
was nearest to the van door, unbuckled her seatbelt and dove to get out,
pushing the door open as fast and as hard as she could. 

The shadow seemed
to grab Claire’s arm…or at least it wanted to, but its hand went right through
her arm.

“No, don’t leave,”
it said.

Claire popped off
Mindy’s seatbelt. “Come on Min Min. We need to get out.”

Mindy shook her
head.

Jade closed her
eyes. The shadow somehow hurt them. It felt familiar, like she should know it
somehow. Her sisters couldn’t see how bright he was. Jade hoped her eyes would
adjust and opened them again with a squint.

The shadow said,
“Un-invite her. Hurry.”

Raven and Claire
exchanged a glance.  Jade could see the debate sparking in silence between the
two sisters.  They knew exactly what the shadowy figure wanted.  Jade wondered
what would happen when Raven said the words.  It would be Raven.  She was the
sister most likely to run wild.  She wouldn’t think twice about throwing Jade
out into the cold.

No one was more
surprised than Jade when Mindy said the words, “Jade uninvited.”

She felt a
pressure in the depths of her being, like a terrified hysteria that threatened
to unravel her whole body.  Jade fought against the feeling, trying her best to
stay in the van, to block the stranger from Mindy. 

When she glanced
at Mindy, Jade lost the battle.  Mindy’s lower lip quivered, her eyes locked on
Jade in terror.  Jade fought the intense need to leave the van.  This was all a
huge mistake.  She said, “Mindy, are you afraid of me?”

Mindy nodded.

That was all Jade
needed to hear.  The fight lost, she scrambled for the van door, wrenching it
open as she fell onto the gravel.  The night was cold and clear. The sound of
the water from the creek chuckled in the distance, laughing its way down the
mountainside while Jade stood outside the van, feeling alone. 

Mindy’s face was
pressed to the window.  She was watching Jade.  Jade raised her hand.  Mindy
didn’t wave back. 

Another wave of
changes hit and Jade collapsed with a cry.  She felt as if someone had electrocuted
her.  Her body convulsed. Jade opened her eyes and found that she was watching
herself from a distance. She could see the shadow standing in the middle of the
van, a strange flickering light, and she knew it to be a disembodied soul, just
like herself. 

From her vantage
point, she could see her own body.  It was hers, but something had taken it
from her, another being controlled it now, and she watched while the beast in
her body circled the van, trying to find a way in.  As she floated in the
trees, Jade knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that if her sisters opened that
van door, that creature who took her place would rip them out of the car and
devour them.

Jade had never
found her place among the elements.  She searched for Air, Water, Earth, and Fire,
but none answered. 

She cried out,
“Please help me!  Tell me what to do.”

No one answered.

~~ Raven ~~

Raven hardly knew
what to think when Jade pushed her way outside, fangs bared with a low growl in
her throat.  Raven didn’t think Jade even knew she was making a sound.  What
bothered her the most was the sad look in Jade’s eyes, at odds with the animal
sounds she made as she thrust the door open.

Claire was in the
back seat, shrinking away from the shadow still standing in the center of the
van.  Oddly enough, Mindy was the only sister not frightened by the ghastly
figure.

Raven sat in the
driver’s seat and wondered what to do next.  The engine was still running and
the headlights on.  Raven turned off the van. She couldn’t very well leave Jade
alone in the woods, vampire or not. 

A banging on the
driver’s side door startled Raven. From the back, Claire screamed. Raven shot
out of her seat, but she was still wearing her seatbelt.  She scrambled to take
it off.  A dark face pressed against the window.  Raven could hardly see in the
dark, but she knew it was Jade.

Jade’s voice was a
howl, “Let me in.”

Mindy started
crying.  She said, “Raven, don’t.”

The van was dark. 
Raven listened to Mindy’s whimpers, and Claire’s fearful moan.  Raven was in
charge now. She said, “They say that vampires have to be invited.  Whatever
happens, don’t invite Jade in.”

The banging on the
driver’s seat door didn’t let up. Neither did Mindy’s crying.  Raven couldn’t
see Jade clearly, only her shadow.  She fought with her seatbelt.  When it came
clear, she grabbed the keys out of the ignition and shoved them in her jacket
pocket.

She climbed over
the console.  Somehow sitting in that seat while Jade was on the other side of
the door was just too scary. Raven released Mindy’s seatbelt, “Climb into the
back seat with Claire.”

There was a time
in the not-so-distant past when such an invitation would have triggered a
series of complaints and snide remarks from Claire.  She held her arms open and
Mindy nestled in next to her. Claire said, “It’s okay, Mindy.  It’ll be okay.”

Raven leaned over
the seat to the suitcases and duffel bags in the back.  She started pulling
things out.  There were three full-sized fleece blankets in the back. Mom was
big on emergency kits.  Now Raven understood why.  She wondered if her parents
had known about monsters.  All those years and no one thought to mention that
vampires were real. 

“Raven?”

Mindy’s voice was small. 
Raven hated the sudden weight of responsibility.

“Yes, Mindy?”
Raven tried to be calm, to speak without the frantic fear she felt.

“Jade.” Mindy’s
finger pointed to the window.  Raven couldn’t see anything outside.  The
windows outside the van were so dark.

Claire turned on
the flashlight and pointed it to the window right next to her head.  She
screeched when Jade’s face appeared, her bloodshot eyes and lips peeled back
over inch-long fangs. She was scarier than any vampire they had fought against
at the house, maybe because she wore Jade’s face. Mindy grabbed Claire’s arm,
yelling, “Off. Off. Off.”

Claire flipped the
flashlight off her whole body shaking, “I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s off.”

Raven pulled out
the blankets, dragging them into the seat.  Now Claire and Mindy were hunched
together in the middle of the backseat, not wanting to get too close to the
window.

Raven’s heart
rapped against her ribs in a staccato tempo that said, “Run. Hurry. Run.” She
forced herself to close her eyes.  There wasn’t much difference between the
darkness with her eyes open and the darkness with her eyes closed, but she
needed to calm down.  Her first impulse was to flee.  Take the van and leave
Jade behind.

Drawing in a deep
breath, she said, “If I remember vampire lore right, Jade can’t come in.  We’re
in essence living in the car for now, which makes it a dwelling place. We’re
safe.  Let’s change into our pajamas and sleep.  We’ll look for Jade in the
morning.”

Claire took a
shuddering breath, “I’m not sure I can sleep.  I think I’ll be afraid of Jade
for the rest of my life.”

Mindy, her body
pressed up against Claire’s arm and her own arms wrapped tightly around her
sister said, “Jade gone.”

Claire kept one
arm wrapped around her sister’s shoulders while she turned the flashlight back
on, “I’m actually relieved.”