Limerence (14 page)

It’s dark down here, despite the flames on either side of the wall. The shadows cast by the glow look like puppets dancing and cajoling, moving me forward. I shiver and look away from them, I’m spooking myself now.

My brain is screaming,
run,
but I continue onwards regardless. My boots scrape on the last step and I look back up to the way I came. Back up into the light, the fresh air, and the warmth, the way I should be going.

I don’t go back though; I continue through the damp, musty maze of corridors, my hands clenched tightly by my sides until finally, I reach a dark corridor with a heavy wooden door. I try it, twisting the handle under my now sweaty palm, but it’s locked.

I walk on further and see a second door. I try the handle, but it’s locked like the previous one. I move on and then stop, looking back hesitantly.

I heard a noise.

I go back to the door and try the handle again, and when it still refuses to open, I knock gently on it. I could have sworn I heard something from behind the door.

My heart is racing, and sweat is slick along my back, trickling down between my shoulder blades. A chill slithers down my spine when I hear movement from inside again.

“Hello?” my voice is barely a whisper. Time stands still while I wait for a reply. There are no sounds apart from the hammering in my chest, thumping manically against my ribs. The blood rushing around my body sounds like an ocean in my ears.
Please don’t answer back, please,
I beg, but then horrifyingly…

“Hello?” a voice from within. So soft, I barely hear it. I’m unsure if I even imagined it until I hear it for a second time. “Hello?” The voice is louder now, followed by a sob. It’s a woman? A girl?
Jesus, what’s going on?

“Hello?” My throat is suddenly too dry, my breathing too shallow. “Are you okay?” I look up and down the corridor; I’m still alone with just the woman behind the locked door.

“Help me. Please help me!” Fear and desperation, that’s all I hear when she speaks.

Time restarts for me. “Who are you?” I ask, looking around for something to help me pry the door open with.

Another sob. “Hayley…my name’s, Hayley. Please get me out of here, I want to go home.”

I try the handle again, giving it a firm jiggle. I pull it, twist it, and heave myself against it, But it doesn’t budge. There is nothing down here to help me open the door. I check along the floor and walls, searching for a key.

Then I notice them. The other doors.

They line each side of the hallway; there must be twenty on either side, at least. I feel dizzy; my head spins with the horror of what could be in each room. I need to get out of here.

I put my face close up to the door with the woman inside—the one I know for sure has a woman in. A woman who is frightened and wants to get out.

“Hello, Hayley, I’m going to get help. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I whisper.

“No, no, please don’t go. Don’t leave me here, please,” she begs. She’s desperate, but if I don’t leave, I can’t get help. I check my phone but there’s no signal.

I lean my forehead on the door. “I promise I’ll come back, I’ll come straight back. I’m going to get help, the police, anyone.” My throat is tight with fear.

Fear for her.

Fear for me.

Fear for whatever is behind the other locked doors.

What if this isn’t what I’m thinking? What if there is an explanation for this? But what explanation could there be for keeping someone locked up?

She’s shouting now, banging on the door and sobbing. “No, don’t go, please don’t go, don’t leave me!”

“Shhhhhhhh,” I hush. Fear tickles along my neck. She’s making too much noise. She’s going to get me caught, and then what? “I won’t be long; you’re going to be okay. Be quiet, please,” I try to calm her down.

But she’s manic now with the terror that I’ll leave her, throwing her body against the door and screaming at me, crazy with fear.

“No, no, no! Don’t go,” she’s begging me again.

Tears break free from my eyes, pouring down my face in twin streams as I try to calm her, to hush her…for both of our safety. But it’s pointless: she’s gone. Lost in her panic.

“Hush, hush, please, please.” I beg.

Fear like this can only happen for one reason
.
This is a bad, bad place and shamefully I turn to run, but stop abruptly.

Behind me is a young woman. Her body is tall and statuesque, her face angelic. She’s expressionless when she looks at me. Time has stopped again, the woman suddenly silent behind her door as if sensing something evil is close by.

The woman in front of me takes a deep breath in, her nose rising higher, and she closes her eyes. I want to run, but my feet refuse to move. Satisfied, she opens her eyes back up.

She smiles widely, two bright white fangs slipping down from her gums, and then she moves towards me. “Hello.”

I smell her, taking in her scent, licking gently along her neck, finding the exact point of the vein where her blood will flow the quickest. My hands curl into her hair and I pull her face to mine, kissing her forehead tenderly. She is so much smaller than I am. My physique is built and heavy against her delicate frame. She looks into my face and my fangs slip from their sheaths, making her eyes widen in terror.

She is screaming behind her gag, pulling away from me, shaking her head from side to side. She looks pleadingly to Chris, who sits by the door. He is licking his lips and leering at her as if he is already one of us, just waiting for his turn to drink from her. I should throw him out of the room, find something awful for him to do, but I don’t have the time or the energy right now. My body yearns for blood and I look away from him, focusing my attention on her.

I hold her head to the side, keeping it in place while I stroke her hair out of the way. She—this girl—does not smell like Mia. I frown at her smell. She smells dirty and musky.

Mia smells of…she smells of? I don’t know. What does she smell of? It is unidentifiable. Unique and beautiful. Just like her.

I picture Mia’s face when I bury my fangs into the girl’s neck. Her blood rushes into my mouth in a flurry of heat and iron. I swallow, gulping down every drop of it, drawing her body closer to me as I suck harder. She is soft where I am hard. She is warm where I am cold. But we are both dead now. I drop her empty body to the floor like a rag doll.

The buzz hits me hard, nearly knocking me off my feet. My equilibrium takes a second to right itself; I feel my skin and hair thickening and plumping back out.

Aaaah, yes. That’s better, much better.
I look around me and take everything in, every detail. Every sense is heightened and in tune to my body once more.

I smile and take to my desk to begin my preparations. The Pledge drags the body out of the room and shuts the door behind him, the smell of death leaving with the girl.

I wonder what Mia will taste like?

“So, Oliver. It seems you have found the basement.” Mr Breckt laughs, but I must be missing the joke because I’m failing to see what’s so funny. I stand with my arms across my chest, a frown set deep within my forehead. He stops laughing abruptly, walks over to a desk, and pours himself a drink. Scotch, I presume from the amber colour.

The freakish woman hasn’t left my side, but she isn’t holding onto me anymore. She stares at me, her dark brown eyes—almost black—stare into the side of my face.

“So, what are we going to do with you now, eh, boy?” He eyes me over the rim of his glass, his look suddenly serious. Fear tickles the back of my neck.

I straighten my shoulders up. “I’m not your boy! And you ain’t going to do anything with me. People know that I’m here.” Why do I feel so afraid? He’s just a man. But the woman, what the hell is she? I chance a glance to the side of me. She’s still there, staring at me. I look back at Mr Breckt, who takes a long swallow of his drink and sits down behind the desk, unperturbed by my outburst.

“I don’t know what you have going on down there, and I don’t want to know, but I’m going to leave here in a minute, and when I do I’m going straight to the police.” My heart is hammering in my chest, and I swallow the bile that is rising.

Mr Breckt swishes his drink around in the glass, watching it slosh up the sides. He seems entranced for the moment, and I can’t help but wonder if he even heard me, until he answers.

“Oliver…” He hesitates on his words before continuing. “Oliver. You have something that I want.” He looks at me, his eyes narrowing. “Let’s not play around anymore. I want her, Mia.” The air feels like it has stilled around us. I can’t find the words to reply to him, what do I say to that?

“So, in light of our current situation, I’m going to make a deal with you.” Mr Breckt stands back up, turning his back to me and looking out of the window. “This isn’t something that I normally do; I hope that you understand that. I don’t have to do this, but I quite like the chase and I feel I haven’t had a fair chance at…her.”

My hair bristles at the thought of him near Mia. My teeth grind, but I keep my mouth shut while he continues.

“…so I recommend a game.” He turns to look at me, a smile on his face, but it’s empty of happiness and full to the brim of hate. “How about we have a little wager?” He raises an eyebrow at me. My voice is stuck in my throat. It’s pulsing and burning for release, but I can’t speak. If I do, I don’t think that I will control myself.

“A wager with something important, not money… I have plenty of that. How about with her life?”

My arms fall to my sides, my hands balling into fists.

“Careful now, boy.” He looks to the freak next to me. She’s smiling intently and licking her lips and I flinch away from her.

“Yes, a wager with both your lives. If she chooses me, then I get to kill you, painfully, and she becomes one of us,” he laughs dryly. “If she chooses you, I’ll let you both live.” His laugh stops abruptly. “Let’s be honest with one another, it’s not like you have a choice.”

I swallow repeatedly as bile rises up from my throat. I can’t catch my breath. I’m dizzy and hot, and panic rips through me. I bend at the knees and try to slow my breathing down. This can’t be happening.

I look up at the freak. Her mouth is open in a wide grin, two sharp teeth hanging down. I retch again loudly. Footsteps come towards me and I stand upright, meeting Mr Breckt’s stare.

“What do you say then? Is it a deal?”

What do I say? What
can
I say? I have to protect her.

“What if I just say no?” My voice doesn’t sound like my own. It’s hollow, tinny almost, echoing in my head. “What if I just say I’ll go to the police and get your arse thrown in jail?”

The arrogant bastard tips the drink into the back of his mouth, and throws the glass to the floor. “I’ll just kill you both for fun.” His words are far too threatening not to believe.

But if I do believe him then that makes the freak next to me…

“You’re vampires?”

“It does not matter what we are, Oliver. It only matters what you decide to do. Stay away from Mia and let me win her heart and she lives, but you die. If she chooses you over me, you both live. It’s simple enough to understand.”

“But she will be dead…if she’s one of you.”

He waves his hand in the air. “A technicality, boy. She will still live, just forever instead of growing old.”

“But…” What can I say to that? This has to be a nightmare I’m going to wake up any minute.

He walks back to his desk and takes a seat again, casually looking through some papers as if he hasn’t just asked me to give up the most important person in my life. As if vampires don’t exist. I look at
her
again…but they do.

“What you have to consider, Oliver, is do you love her enough to give her up.” He continues to flip through the papers on his desk, and without looking up, adds, “I’ll give you the weekend to say your goodbyes, but remember, come Monday morning,”

A blur, and a stir of the air, and a hand is around my throat. I close my eyes in confusion, opening them up to see the greens of his.

“And she is mine, boy!” Two sharp, bright white fangs shoot down from his mouth, and I nod weakly.

There is no choice. I’ve lost her.

Day three…dun dun duuuuu…So, he’s been gone for a few days. What’s the big deal? Why am I stressing so much? It’s just work.

Then why do I have this ominous and foreboding feeling?

He’s fine. It’s fine, we’re fine. I repeat this mantra over and over again as I drive home, the tears blurring my vision, and I continuously wipe at them. So what if he hasn’t phoned me? He only said he would try.

I look ahead to the dark road stretched out in front of me like the long black tail of a cat. It curls around a bend far up ahead as the trees bear down on me from either side. I hate driving home through the forest when the days grow shorter. You never get a signal on your phone, and the roads are long and dark. The smallest slit of a moon shines overhead, casting an eerie glow on the unlit road. I turn my headlights up to full beam, clearing the path of darkness from my way.

I wonder where Oliver is now, what he’s doing, and again I question his motives for leaving. Tears begin to roll down my cheeks. I’ve had to take this heartache all on my own since Rachael has been no help to me. She’s so wrapped up in Chris, all the other people in her life seem to be nonexistent. They are constantly together, cuddling on the sofa, cooking in the kitchen. He barely leaves the apartment from what I can tell. Even when Rachael goes to work, he stays behind. It dawns on me that I haven’t seen him at work yet, but then my head hasn’t been with it for a couple of days now.

My Toyota shudders under my hands and I look down to the petrol line, puzzled; I have more than half a tank left. It shudders again and I check my mirrors and groan as I realise there is no one else out here but me.

The engine splutters once more as the car lurches forward, giving yet another shudder. I stare at the dashboard hoping that all the dials and lights will give me some clue as to what is happening, or at least what to do, but my knowledge of car repairs adds up to zero. I speed up, hoping to get into town before the car quits on me completely, but the car stutters in response to my eagerness and cuts out. I curse under my breath and cruise silently to side of the road.

I hit the steering wheel in temper, tears still trailing down my cheeks. All I want to do is go home and curl up in bed. Instead, I’m stuck on this stupid road, in the middle of nowhere. I shove my things into my bag and climb out, slamming the door behind me in temper and frustration.

I look around; the night seems darker now I am out in it. Despite being alone, it’s noisy: the wind in the trees, the call of an owl. I shudder and walk round to the boot of the car, my footsteps seeming out of place in the night. I fumble around for the torch I know is in here—somewhere. Oliver made me put it in here a while back.

I find it and try the switch, but it flicks uselessly back and forth under my thumb. I huff and slam the boot shut and lean against it, weighing up my options. I could walk, but it’s a couple of miles and these woods are rife with wolves and god knows what else.

The breeze stirs in the trees above me, and I look up to watch the leaves rustling around. My skirt shimmies around my legs and I sigh out my frustrations and look back towards the road.

A car pulls around a bend, its headlights growing brighter as the gap between us closes. My heart leaps at the thought of getting a lift into town and ringing for a tow truck.

A black car pulls up behind mine and I groan when the recognition hits me. The car looks expensive and sleek. There’s only one person I know that could afford such a luxury: Mr Breckt.

His headlights shine across my face, and I lift a hand to shield my eyes. He makes no move to get out, and I wonder if he is going to drive off. Perhaps that would be better. I must look a mess right now. I mentally kick myself for being concerned what I look like. It’s happening again; I can feel him under my skin already and he’s not even out of the car yet. The engine continues to purr seductively at me and my stomach does a little flip.

I push away from the boot of my car and step out from the glare of his lights just as the driver’s door opens and Mr Breckt steps out, pushing his hair from his forehead. I groan, and a shadow spreads across his handsome face. He peers at me through his long lashes and grins.

“Having car problems or are you just enjoying the view?” he chuckles, moving towards me with a confidence.

“Ha ha,” I sound the words out sarcastically and glower at my car. “It’s this stupid thing.” I kick the tyre.

“Well, I can give you a lift to wherever you want to go, if you’d like.”

I look at his car and then at him. He’s dressed in loose fitting jeans and a long-sleeved white top instead of his usual sharp suit and tie. He’s watching me, waiting for me to make my mind up. I want to get in his car, I know I do, but I think of Oliver and know he would hate me for going with Mr Breckt.

I reluctantly shake my head, knowing it is the right thing to do.

“No, thank you. I, erm, I’m just going to walk into town. Thank you anyway.” I smile.

He frowns and looks down at me. “No?” he asks, looking puzzled and unsure of himself for a second.

I blush and look away. He must know why I won’t go with him. “No, thank you.”

He is abruptly in front of me, my breath catching in my throat at the suddenness of his movements. Nervous, I shift from foot to foot and take a step back, bumping into the side of my car. He closes the gap between us once more, and looks into my eyes. He’s close—too close, I realise, too late.

“Would you like to come in my car, Mia?” his words are like silk. They pour from his mouth, snaking over my body.

Heat creeps through me and my stomach does a somersault. Here is a guy who as a rule I can’t stand to be around, but for some reason my body hasn’t received that memo and is now raging. Begging for his touch.

Breathe, Mia.
“Umm, no, it’s fine. I can walk, it’s not far.” I say the words but the force isn’t behind them. My heart is galloping at a hundred miles an hour in my chest and my skin screams for him to touch me.

I grope blindly behind me, finding only the cool metal of my car for support. I need to get away from him, and now. I knew that this moment would come sooner or later. My body has been waiting for it since I first met him, but I know that it is make-or-break time with me and Oliver. This is make-or-break time. I am about to destroy everything I hold dear, and forever, if I do this.

“It is not a problem, Mia; I’m going that way anyway.” He gives me his crooked smile and moves closer still, his sweet breath washing over my face. A haze is looming in my peripheral vision, and I take deep breaths to clear my head. The action has the opposite effect and seems to pull the haze further in around me, making my body tingle all over.

I laugh nervously. “You don’t even know where I’m going.” His gaze holds me in place; his eyes are so beautiful, so green and vivid. My thoughts begin to mush together, confusing me more. I see green eyes, then brown eyes. Oliver, then
him.

“Where are you going?” he asks, although it seems more of a statement than a question. His body is practically pressed against mine now, making my thoughts swim at his proximity. I groan when he reaches out to brush the hair back from my shoulders, sending cool shivers down my spine and raising goose bumps on my arms.

“I’m err . . .” I laugh. “I don’t know.” I feel so confused. I want to go, need to go. I need him to move, but the words won’t process for me to say them out loud. Heat pours across my chest where he lays his hands on each of my shoulders. My eyes blur and I blink furiously against it.

He leans his face closer; his lips kissing my neck, his tongue licking on the soft lobe of my ear. I murmur something even I don’t understand, trying to regain some control of myself. A thick cloud is enveloping me and I can’t hear anything but the rush of my own blood in my ears and my heart beating.

He looks up from my neck, looking into my eyes again and I am lost.

There is nothing.

Just this road, this car, these trees, and us. I can’t concentrate on anything. I am completely blinded by his stare. I relinquish control of myself, the pressure of fighting it all too much. Clouds cover me, blocking everything out. He whispers things to me that are gone the second he has spoken them, stolen into the wind, poisoned words to silence my protests as my mind fights against him. My breasts heave whilst I try to steady my breathing, and yet I remain breathless.

He grabs my thigh and lifts it up to his waist, the hem of my dress sliding away. He strokes the outside of it, gripping it hard, his nails digging into my soft flesh. I cry out in feeble protest and hear a rumble from his chest. It grows louder as my own breaths come in quick succession until I am practically panting.

He continues to stare deep into my eyes. His presence and the dark night sky press down upon me. A groan escapes me when he crushes his body against me, his cool, hard chest pressed against my own heated body. He finally releases me from his stare and my head lolls back on my shoulders and looks up to the trees.

I watch the rustling branches and the heavy moon, which peeps through the leaves and glints at me. The clouds that surround me are pushing down all my thoughts; I can barely swallow, feeling as though my mouth is full of cotton candy. His face is busy against my neck, licking and biting, one hand still holding my thigh up to his waist, the other cupping my breast and squeezing it roughly as our bodies twine together. I hear another rumble as I watch the trees above and then a
swoosh
of tyres and a horn blare as a car speeds past. The occupants shout out hoots and cheers as they pass.

The fog in my head lifts and I catch my breath. Like a cold glass of water after brushing your teeth, it stings when it goes down. I suck in another deep lungful of air and then another, each one clearing my head more and more until I am choking on them, thoughts of Oliver coming back to me and dragging me to the present.

Mr Breckt pushes harder against me and I think I hear him growl.

“I . . . I . . .” My words stumble out of my mouth, but the force of his body on mine is overwhelming. He grips my face in his hands and attempts to catch my gaze, pressing his forehead to mine, his eyes boring into me until I close my lids and block him out. His warm breath fills my nose, the smell overpowering and sickly, making me gag. His hand moves from my thigh and tries to pull my underwear to one side. His cool fingers brush against me, and I shudder against the wanted intrusion. My ears are ringing as if an electric current is running through them.

His hands grip me by the shoulders and shake me. “Mia, open your eyes. Look at me.” His voice is angry, and I’m frightened. I don’t want to open my eyes. I don’t want to see his face.

My eyes roll in my head whilst I gather my thoughts. Questions flash ahead of me and I steady myself and open my eyes, coming face to face with his beautiful green eyes once more. He smiles, his teeth flashing purposefully, and then he snaps at me, a hunger in his eyes I can’t seem to comprehend. I shudder and push against him weakly, fear running wicked currents through me. He laughs quietly when I take in another lungful of air, and all I taste is him.

I tear my eyes from his, the power burning through them so much that I let out a sharp squeal of pain. He pushes his mouth to mine, trying to force his tongue inside, but I push back against him, snatching my leg from his grip.

Mr Breckt snarls at me fiercely and rips the front of my dress in a movement so quick that I don’t see, but feel and terror grips me. I submit to him when he lifts my leg again, rubbing his soft palm up my leg and moving my dress out of the way. My heart continues to thunder, galloping ahead of me as a hot tear slides down my cheek. He smiles, wiping it away with his thumb.

“My Mia,” he says huskily in my ear.

He nuzzles into me, his hands rough on my skin, my body moulding to his touch. The car behind me feels like fire on my back, burning the rest of my dress away from me, scorching into my skin, until I am his. My body reacts to him, wanting him to touch me, to make me his. Sweat trickles down my brow as I try and fight against whatever is happening. Just when I think I might faint with the confliction within me, I hear another rumble in the distance. My head makes the connection of another car coming closer.

His hands paw at me, pushing my dress up around my waist. My chest heaves when he lifts my body up to meet his, the car rounding the bend at the same time. I think he knows what is going to happen before it does.

He knows that he has lost me.

He rumbles a long, deep growl in sexual protest before I have even tried to move away from him. The car pulls around the bend and slows, the people inside looking out of their windows, gawping at us with big smiles on their faces. Then their smiles fade and vanish as I look to them pleadingly.

The haze in my eyes instantly clears. The fog holding me in place releases me. I shudder and clutch my arms about myself and fall to the ground with a thud. The girl in the passenger side of the car jumps out and hurries over to me.

“Hey, you okay?”

I curl into a foetal position on the ground, cutting my knees on the rough asphalt as I sob relentlessly. Her arms circle me, trying to pull me to my feet. “Hey, hey, calm down. Oh God, don’t cry, it’s okay. How long have you been out here?”

Another door opens and footsteps run towards me. I flinch when another set of hands touch me, finally dragging me to my feet. My sobs stop and I look into the girl’s concerned face.