First Bitten (25 page)

Hold Your Breath

The girl has stopped screaming. It petered out after a few minutes when she realised I wasn’t actually intending to kill her. She’s been quiet for a while now. I’m still sitting on the floor next to the door, knees up, arms wrapped around them, my nose and mouth buried between my knees as I try to hide from the smell of the girls’ blood.

I’m taking small clipped breaths when my lungs force me to, trying to inhale any other smell I can.

I can still smell Nathan on my clothes. He's filling the hollow places inside me. I’m trying to focus on him, on his face, on his dry laugh, on the way he looked right before he kissed me, on the way he kissed me.

But no matter how I try to block it out, the smell of her blood is everywhere and so overpowering I feel like I’ve showered in it. It’s like trying to breathe under water.

My hope for Nathan rescuing me is starting to dwindle. I could be anywhere and, with each ticking minute, the Originals' arrival edges closer, foreshadowing my inevitable fate.

My insides shrivel up at the thought.

“
Are you going to kill me?” Her tiny voice carries over from the other side of the room.

It takes all my strength to raise my head and shake it. I look at her from out of the corner of my eye. She doesn’t look good. She’s lost too much blood. The wound needs sealing and I’m going to have to help her. If I want to staunch the smell of her blood, this is going to be the only way to do it.

Taking a quick breath in, I sit up straight, take hold of the hem of my vest and rip it up the side. Then I tear it all the way around, exposing my stomach and my scar, leaving me with half a vest but freeing a decent piece of black fabric for her to use.

I throw it across the room. It lands on the floor beside her feet. She glances down at it and up at me, her eyes confused. “What do you want me to do with that?” And for the first time I register her accent. It’s Teesside. I must be there or somewhere near there.

Pressing my lips together, I motion a tying movement around my own forearm.

“
Ahh right.” She nods. Leaning forward, she picks the fabric up off the floor and tries to tie it around her arm over the cut, struggling to fasten it with one hand.

“
Can you help me?” she asks.

For fuck's sake.

She’s obviously past worrying I’m going to hurt her but she needs to be wary of me. I might not want to hurt her, and will do everything in my power to ensure I don’t, but soon it might be out of my control.

“
I can’t,” I say quickly.

“
Why?”

“
You want me to kill you?”

Her eyes widen. “No.” She shakes her head vehemently.

I take another quick breath. “If I come near you and your bleeding arm, that could be a big possibility.”

“
Oh,” she says. I see the understanding line her eyes.

She bends her knee up, lays the strip of my vest on it, rests her wounded arm on top, folds one piece over with her hand and slides the other under. She keeps hold of one end and leans forward, taking hold of the other end with her teeth. Then I hear her take a deep breath and count to three between her gritted teeth. She pulls the fabric as tightly as she can. I see her face redden and grimace as she lets out a cry of pain.

She brings her arm up to her chest, holding it with her other hand, breathing heavily. When her breathing finally slows, she simply says, “Thanks.”

Keeping my lips pressed tightly together, I force something resembling a smile.

But it hasn’t helped. The scent of her blood is still floating all around me. I cover my mouth with my hand again, pinching my nose with my thumb and forefinger, and start to pray for a miracle.

“
What’s your name?” she asks.

I close my eyes and picture Nathan’s face. “Alex,” I answer through my hand.

“
Mine’s Scarlett,” she offers when she realises I have no intention of asking.

I remain silent, but I can almost feel the questions she wants to ask me hanging in the air, so I’m not surprised when she asks in a tentative voice, “What ... are ... you?”

I open my eyes and move my hand away from my mouth, exhaling loudly. “You don’t want to know.”

I see her eyes flicker to the scar on my side, then back to my fangs. “Are you ... like ... a vampire, or something?”

Before I even get the chance to figure out how to answer that question, I hear a noise, a gunshot. I spin around, pressing my ear up to the door and let my hearing go wide.

“
Is someone out there?” Scarlett whispers, hearing it too. She gets to her feet and starts to move across the room toward me.

“
Don’t come near me!” I order in a quiet voice, holding my hand out to stop her.

“
Sorry,” she murmurs, backing up. She goes to sit down on the edge of the bed.

I can hear shouting. There’s a mixture of male voices and more gun shots. Are the Originals here? But why would they be shooting guns?

Guns. Nathan likes guns. Is he here? Has he found me?

I try to listen again for his voice in the mix, but my pulse is beating so loudly in my ears I can barely focus.

Well whoever it is, and whatever is happening out there, it’s not good, and if by a big chance it isn’t Nathan, then I need to get out of here, now, and I’m gonna have to take the girl with me.

But the only way out of this room is through this locked metal door.

My eyes start to scan the room looking for something to pry the door open with. The bed’s a metal frame. Maybe I could use something off it, one of the legs? I guess it’s worth a try.

As I’m about to get up, I hear movement down the end of hall, the sound of footsteps coming downstairs. I hold my breath and listen intently. It’s just one person, male, and they’re slowly making their way toward us.

Quietly I rise to my feet and start to step back away from the door. My heart is thrumming in my chest. Turning to Scarlett, I put my finger to my lips, indicating for her to be quiet, and motion for her to get up off the bed.

She gets up slowly, her eyes flickering in the direction of the door. “Is someone coming?” she mouths to me.

I nod.

“
Alex are you down here?”

My heart leaps up into my throat as I spin around on the spot. “Sol?”

“
Alex?”

“
I’M IN HERE!” I yell, running to the door, banging my fists against it.

The door rattles from the outside as Sol tries to open it. “NATE, SHE’S DOWN HERE!”

Nathan’s here. My heart nearly implodes.

“
NATHAN!” I cry.

“
He’s coming.” Sol’s warm voice echoes through the metal door. “We’re gonna get you out of here. Just try to stay calm. Are you okay?”

“
I’m fine ... I just … ”

“
Alex.” Hearing Nathan’s voice causes my throat to thicken with emotion.

“
Nathan,” I choke as tears of relief spill from my eyes.

“
Are you okay?” he asks, voice soft. I can almost envision his hand on the door, his nose touching the metal as he speaks to me through it.

“
I’m okay,” I wipe my runny nose on the back of my hand, “but I’m not alone, There’s a girl in here with me and he cut her. She’s bleeding, Nathan, and she needs help.” The words are tumbling out of my mouth. “He was trying to make me feed on her but I haven’t, I swear. But please, Nathan, you’ve got to get me out.”

“
It’s okay,” he soothes. I can feel his heat and strength, and silent power radiating through the door. “I’m gonna get you out. Sol, you got anything with you that I can use to pick this lock ‘cause I can’t see us getting through this door any other way, not unless you’ve got a stick of dynamite, that is?” I hear Nathan’s hand tap against the dense metal door and the almost-humour in his voice.

“
This do you?” Sol replies. I can practically hear his smile.

There’s an approving chuckle from Nathan. It coats my insides, warming them. The desire to be near him is overwhelming.

“
I don’t even wanna know why you’ve got one of these.” Nathan chuckles again, then says to me, “I’ll have you out in a sec.”

I step back away from the door as I hear Nathan start to fiddle with the lock.

“
Don’t worry,” I say, turning to Scarlett. “Nathan’s gonna get us out.”

“
Your boyfriend?” she asks, moving a touch closer to me.

I cast a surprised glance her way, feeling a lurch in my stomach.

I stare back at the door, wrapping my arms around myself, well aware that Nathan is on the other side listening, and just shrug a response. I can’t answer because Nathan and I haven’t got that far, yet.

Chapter 21

Who Knew?

The lock clicks open less than a minute later. Relief overwhelms me at the sight of Nathan.

He closes the distance between us in a few strides, and just when I think he’s going to pull me into his arms and take me away from all of this, his eyes flicker down to my torn vest, my dirty jeans, my bare feet, and to the blood that is laying in small pools all over the floor.

He stops, holding himself in check. His eyes come back to mine, afraid, and I see the grotesque image flicker through them.

“
Did they … ” his voice is rough, affected, “ … hurt you?” He’s deathly still except for the tremble of emotion I see rippling under his skin.

My eyes fill with tears. “He tried,” I wrap my arms around myself. Nathan’s face hardens with anger. “But I talked my way out of it,” I add, my voice quiet. “He didn’t. No one has.” I shake my head again as I rub away my salty tears and gulp down.

Nathan steps close to me, his boots flush with my bare toes. He lifts his hand slowly to my face and cups my chin. His touch so light, it’s like he’s afraid to touch me.

“
I’m so sorry,” he murmurs. Tilting his forehead against mine, he looks deep into my eyes.

I breathe him in. “You’ve nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who should be sor … ” He cuts me off with a kiss.

I crumble into him, wrapping my arms around his neck. The warmth of his body casts away any lingering chill I had. His arms go around me and he lifts me off my feet, holding me tight to him. But the kiss is far too brief and he rests me back down, moving his lips from mine. “You should feed,” he says, almost as if he can taste my hunger.

“
There’s no animal blood here. Only human.” I cast a glance back at Scarlett and see Sol is standing with her examining the wound on her arm. I was so caught up in Nathan momentarily, I forgot they were even here.

A smile lilts Nathan’s face like a tune as he slips his hand into the inside of his jacket and pulls out a small flask filled with blood.

I breathe a sigh of relief, feeling my quivering lips crack into a smile. I’m so torn between laughing and crying right now.

Taking the flask from his hands, I can’t drink its contents quickly enough. But I instantly know something’s wrong. It’s not working like it normally does. It hasn’t satisfied my hunger at all. I run my tongue around my mouth, trying to savour the taste, but it makes no difference.

What’s going on?

My mind whirs. Then a thought clicks. I’ve been exposed to human blood, I’m still exposed to it, and now it seems, animal blood isn’t quite enough to curb my appetite.

This is bad. I can’t let Nathan know.

Maybe once I’m away from here, away from Scarlett’s blood, I’ll feel better. It’s not like I’ve tasted any human blood, so I’ll be fine. I know I will.

“
How bad is the girl's cut?” Nathan asks Sol.

I hand the empty flask back to Nathan and turn around to them.

“
She’s gonna need stitches,” Sol answers.

I look at Sol, smiling appreciatively, glad that he’s here. But he meets my eyes with a hardness in his and it shocks me. I stare at him, confused, but now he won’t look at me. I want to ask him if he’s okay, ask him what’s wrong, but something stops me.

“
We can’t take you to the hospital,” Nathan tells Scarlett, his deep voice rumbling over me. “There’d be too many questions that we can’t answer. I’ll have to fix you up myself when we get back home.”

“
You’re taking me with you?” she sounds surprised. I’m not. I think Nathan’s set on turning the farm into a halfway house for Vârcolac refugees.

“
Well, we’re not gonna leave you here,” Nathan says stonily.

Taking hold of me by my hand, he leads me out of my prison, Sol and Scarlett following behind, into the darkened hallway.

The four of us move quickly down the hall and up the stairs. The door at the top is wide open, letting in a stream of light. Nathan goes through first, me behind, and I find myself in another hallway. This one is much nicer.

The marble floor is freezing cold beneath my feet, and for the first time I realise I’m in a house, a big house, a mansion if the length and swankiness of this hallway is anything to go by.

We all continue down the hallway in silence, passing by old looking paintings that look like they belong in a museum.