Obsessed (Book #12 in the Vampire Journals) (3 page)

“Clever,” Kyle
said with a laugh. “You’ll all make excellent additions to my family.”

“Jojo!” someone
cried as Vivian’s friend was thrown into the gym.

Kyle looked
around and licked his lips.

“Let the fun
begin,” he said to himself.

Police officer
Sadie Marlow peered through the small glass window into the room. In the
otherwise bare room, she saw that there was a bed against one wall. Sitting
upon it was the girl she’d been sent here to speak to.

The psychologist
standing on one side of her pulled a swipe card from his pocket. But just
before he swiped it against the door lock to allow the officers entry, he
paused and turned to face them both.

“You know we
haven’t been able to get an intelligible word out of her yet,” the psychologist
said. “All she says is ‘Scarlet. Scarlet. I have to find Scarlet.’”

It was police officer
Brent Waywood’s turn to speak up.

“That’s why
we’re here, sir,” he said, pointing to his open notebook. “Scarlet Paine. That
name keeps cropping up in our investigation.”

The psychologist
pursed his lips.

“I understand
why you’re here,” he replied. “I just don’t take kindly to the police
interrogating my patients.”

Brent flipped
his notebook shut abruptly, making a smacking noise. He glared at the
psychologist.

“We have dead
cops,” he said in a clipped tone. “Good men and women who won’t be going home
to their families tonight because of some psycho who will kill anyone and
everyone in his path. What does he want? Scarlet Paine. That’s all we have to
go on. So you can see why questioning your patient is a priority for us.”

Officer Marlow
shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, frustrated by the way her partner
seemed to find conflict in every situation. She couldn’t help think that her
job would be much simpler if she could do these interviews by herself. Unlike
Brent, she had a calm demeanor__ and a way with witnesses, particularly the
mentally vulnerable ones like the girl they were here to see. That’s why the police
chief had sent her to the secure the mental facility in the first place. She
just wished he’d picked a better officer to accompany her. She realized then,
with a sinking feeling in her stomach, that the police chief hadn’t exactly had
many cops to choose from. Other than the ones guarding the high school, the
rest in the precinct were dead or injured.

She stepped
forward.

“We understand
the witness is in a fragile state,” she said, diplomatically. “We’ll keep our
tone civil. No demanding questions. No raised voices. Trust me, sir, I’ve got
years of experience talking to kids like her.”

They all glanced
back through the window at the girl. She was rocking back and forth, her knees
pulled up to her chest.

The psychologist
finally seemed satisfied to allow the officers entry. He swiped the card
against the door lock. A green light flicked on, accompanied by a bleep.

He led the two
officers into the room toward the hunched girl. It was then that Officer Marlow
noticed the cuffs on her ankles and hands. Restraints. The hospital didn’t
issue restraints unless the patient was a harm to themselves or others.
Whatever this girl had gone through, it had been horrific. How else would a
sixteen-year-old high school kid without so much as a blemish on her permanent
record be suddenly deemed dangerous?

The psychologist
spoke first.

“There are some
officers here to see you,” he said, calmly to the girl. “It’s about Scarlet.”

The girl’s head
darted up. Her eyes were wild and roved across the faces of the three people
before her. Officer Marlow could see the anguish in her expression and the
desperation.

“Scarlet,” the
girl cried, pulling on her restraints. “I need to find Scarlet.”

The psychologist
looked at the two officers as he left the room.

*

Maria looked up
at the officers. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the sane part of her was
still working, still lucid and awake. But the part that Lore had messed with
was in control, and it felt like a dark storm cloud fogging up her mind. She
had to get out of this place and she had to find Scarlet. Scarlet would be with
Sage, and Sage, she was certain, would be able to help her. He’d be able to undo
what his cousin had done to her.

But no matter
how hard she tried, she couldn’t explain to anyone that she wasn’t crazy, that
she didn’t belong here, shackled like a convict. Even when her friends came to
see her, even when her mother held her hand and cried, Maria couldn’t get the
words out. Whatever Lore had put inside of her brain was impenetrable. And it
was getting stronger. With every passing moment, she felt her strength seeping
away. Her ability to fight Lore’s mind control was diminishing and the sane
part of her was becoming weaker and weaker. Maria was certain that if she
didn’t get help it would eventually disappear altogether, leaving her an empty
shell.

The male officer
stood with his gaze tipped down to Maria. The female officer perched on the
side of her bed.

“Maria, we need
to ask you some questions,” she said, softly.

Maria tried to
nod but nothing happened. Her body felt heavy. She was exhausted. Fighting
whatever Lore had done to her brain was tiring work.

“Your friend,
Scarlet,” the woman continued in the same gentle way. “Do you know where she
is?”

“Scarlet,” Maria
said.

She wanted to
say more but the words just wouldn’t come out. She watched in frustration as
the male officer rolled his eyes.

“This is
useless,” he said to his partner.

“Officer
Waywood, you need to be patient,” the woman snapped at him.

“Patient?”
Officer Waywood cried. “My friends are dead! Our colleagues are in danger! We
have no time to be patient!”

Trapped inside
her own mind, Maria felt her own frustration grow. She understood Officer
Waywood’s concern. She wanted to help, she really did. But thanks to Lore, she
could hardly utter a word. Getting the words out of her mouth felt like running
on a treadmill—all that effort and she never got anywhere.

The female
officer ignored Officer Waywood’s outburst and turned back to Maria.

“The man looking
for your friend, his name is Kyle. Have you ever seen him before? Heard her
mention his name at all?”

Maria tried to
shake her head but couldn’t. The female officer chewed her lip and fiddled with
the notebook in her hands. Maria could tell by her gestures that she was
weighing something in her mind, trying to decide whether to tell her more.

Finally, the
female officer reached out and squeezed Maria’s hand. She looked deep into her
eyes.

“Kyle… he’s a
vampire, isn’t he?”

From his
standing position, Officer Waywood threw his arms in the air and scoffed.
“Sadie, you’ve gone crazy! That vampire stuff is just crap!”

The female
officer stood quickly, bringing her face up to the man’s.

“Don’t you dare
say that,” she said. “I’m a police officer. It’s my duty to question this
witness. How can I question her properly without telling her what we know?”
Before Officer Waywood had a chance to respond, Sadie added, “And it’s Officer
Marlow, thank you very much.”

Officer Waywood
gave her a displeased look.

“Officer
Marlow,” he said, enunciating it through his teeth, “in my professional
opinion, introducing the idea of vampires to a mentally unstable witness is a
bad idea.”

From her place
on the bed, Maria began to rock. She could feel the sane part of her, buried so
deeply beneath whatever Lore had done to her, starting to surface. Somehow, the
fact that Officer Marlow believed in vampires was helping the trapped parts of
her mind break free. She tried to speak and at last a noise came from her
throat.

“War.”

The two officers
stopped arguing and looked back at Maria.

“What did she
say?” said Officer Waywood, a frown across his face.

Officer Marlow
rushed to the bed and sat beside her.

“Maria?” she
said. “Say that again.”

“W…” Maria
tried. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Her lucidity was returning to
her. Her mind was becoming her own again. Finally she got the word out. “War.”

Officer Marlow
looked up at her colleague. “I think she’s saying ‘war.’”

He nodded, a
worried expression on his face.

Maria took
another deep breath, willing the lucid part of her to take control, to tell
them what she so desperately needed to.

“Vampire,” she
said through her gritted teeth. “Vampire. War.”

Officer Marlow’s
face paled.

“Go on,” she
urged Maria.

Maria licked her
lips. It took every ounce of effort she had to stay present.

“Kyle,” she said
through a grimace. “Leader.”

Officer Marlow
squeezed Maria’s hand. “Kyle will lead a vampire war?”

Maria squeezed
back and nodded.

“Scarlet,” she
added. “Only. Hope.”

Officer Marlow
exhaled and sat up straighter. “Do you know where Scarlet is?”

Maria gritted
her teeth and spoke as carefully as she could. “With Sage…the castle.”

Suddenly, a deep
pain started inside Maria’s brain. She screamed out and clutched her head,
pulling her hair into her tight fists. Instantly she knew that the sane part of
her was being overpowered once again by whatever damage Lore had done to her.
She was slipping away.

“Help me!” she
screamed.

She began
pulling against her shackles and thrashing wildly.

Panicking,
Officer Marlow stood. She looked over her shoulder at her partner.

“Call it in,”
she commanded him.

She tried to
calm Maria but the girl had lost it. She was screaming over and over. The door
bleeped and the psychologist rushed in.

“What happened?”
he cried.

“Nothing,”
Officer Marlow said, backing away. “She just flipped.”

She paced away
as the psychologist tried to calm Maria and stood beside her partner.

“Did you call it
in?” she said, panting from anguish.

“No,” he replied
tersely.

Officer Marlow
frowned at him and reached for her walkie-talkie. But Officer Waywood leaned
forward and grabbed it from her hands.

“Don’t,” he
snapped. “The Chief doesn’t want to hear this crap. He’s got his whole squad to
look out for and you want to bother him because some crazy kid thinks there’s a
vampire war!”

Over the sound
of Maria’s screams, Sadie Marlow spoke in a hurried, insistent voice.

“The Chief sent
us here for a reason. Why would he want to question a so-called ‘crazy kid’ if
he didn’t think she could help? Kyle wants Scarlet Paine. That girl,” she
pointed at Maria, “is the closest we’re going to get to finding her and maybe
ending this thing. If she knows something then I’m pretty sure the Chief will
want to know.”

Officer Waywood
shook his head.

“Fine,” he said,
shoving the walkie-talkie back at her. “It’s your career on the line, not mine.
Let the Chief think you’re a lunatic.”

Officer Marlow
snatched the device from her partner and clicked the button.

“Chief? It’s
Marlow. I’m down at the institute with the witness.”

The
walkie-talkie crackled.

Officer Marlow
paused, weighing her words. “She says there’s going to be a vampire war. Led by
Kyle. And the only person who can stop it is Scarlet Paine.”

She looked up at
her partner’s raised eyebrows, feeling like a fool. Then the walkie-talkie
buzzed again and the police chief’s voice rang out.

“I’m coming.”

Scarlet coughed
and wiped dust from her eyes. Her mind swirled as she tried to make sense of
what was happening around her. One moment the Immortalists had been advancing
on her and Sage, the next moment there’d been a tremendous explosion that
rocked the castle. Then the ceiling had caved in, bringing with it brick, wood,
and heavy slate tiles.

Scarlet looked
around and found that she was in a cocoon of rubble. It was so dark she could
hardly see. Thick dust clogged her lungs, make it difficult to breathe.

“Sage?” Scarlet
cried into the darkness.

Something
stirred beside her.

“Scarlet?” came
Sage’s voice. “Is that you?”

Scarlet’s heart
leapt as she realized her beloved was still alive. She scrambled over boulders
and debris toward the hunched shape of Sage. Once she reached him, she pressed
her lips against his.

“I’ve got you,”
she whispered.

“Scarlet, it’s
too late,” he countered.

But Scarlet
wasn’t listening. She slipped her arms around his naked torso and pulled him to
sitting. He slumped, weak, barely able to hold his body up.

“What happened?”
he said, surveying the damage, his voice little more than a croak.

“I have no
idea,” Scarlet replied.

She looked
around again and this time started to notice the tangle of Immortalists
sprawled across the floor, or trapped beneath ceiling beams and clumps of brick
and stone. Flames rose from several different areas like strange orange
shrubbery.

Octal lay
motionless on the floor. His staff lay beside him, snapped clean in half, and the
cross on the tip that had been used to pierce Sage was aflame. Scarlet couldn’t
tell whether Octal was dead or not but he certainly looked like he wasn’t going
to be doing any harm for the time being.

Then Scarlet
recognized the twisted metal fuselage of a military plane amongst the rubble.
She gasped.

“It was a
plane,” she said. “A military plane crashed into the castle.”

Sage shook his
head, confusion across his brow.

“There’d be no
reason for a plane to be here,” he replied. “The castle is in the middle of
nowhere.”

“Unless they
were looking for it,” Scarlet finished for him, as it dawned on her. “Unless
they were looking for
me
.”

Just then, a
mound of brick shifted and Sage winced as it slammed into his leg.

“We have to
move,” Scarlet replied.

It wasn’t just
danger from the damaged building she was worried about—it was the Immortalists.
They had to escape before anyone came to their senses.

She turned to
Sage.

“Can you run?”

He looked up at
her with weary eyes. “Scarlet. It’s too late. I’m dying.”

She gritted her
teeth. “It’s not too late.”

He grabbed her
hands in his and stared deeply into her eyes. “Listen to me. I love you. But
you have to let me die. It’s over.”

Scarlet turned
her face away from him and wiped away the single tear that fell from her eye.
When she turned back she reached out and hauled Sage’s arm across her shoulder,
wrenching him to a standing position. He cried out in pain and sunk into her.
As she began to lead him across the rubble and through the plumes of acrid
smoke, she said:

“It’s not over
until I say it is.”

*

The castle was
in disarray. Though the plane that had crashed into it had been small, the
damage to the ancient building had been colossal___.

Scarlet weaved
through the corridors as the walls crumbled around her. She held Sage tightly
to her side and he slumped into her, groaning with pain. He was so weak and
feeble it made Scarlet’s heart ache. All she wanted was to get him to safety.

Just then, she
heard shouting coming from behind.

“They’re getting
away!”

Scarlet realized
with a sinking sensation that they were coming back to their senses, that
despite their castle being destroyed and many of their brethren lying hurt and
dying around them, their desire for vengeance was going to drive them on.

“Sage,” Scarlet
said, “they’re coming for us. We need to go faster.”

Sage gulped and
grimaced.

“I’m going as
fast as I can.”

Scarlet tried to
hasten her pace but Sage’s weakness was slowing them down. He had to stop
running. She had to find somewhere safe to hide him so that they could at the
very least say their goodbyes.

She looked over
her shoulder to see several Immortalists advancing. There, at the back, half
concealed by shadows, she saw Octal. So he wasn’t dead.

As the group
gained on them, Scarlet saw that half of Octal’s face was badly burned. He must
have been in significant pain and yet he still wanted to harm her and Sage. It
made Scarlet so sad to think that the love between her and Sage outraged the
Immortalists so much.

Suddenly, an
almighty crash made Scarlet leap, and a sudden spray of icy water soaked her.
She looked over her left shoulder to find that the whole side of the castle had
crumbled into the sea, causing a mighty wave to crash over them.

She heard
screaming and looked back to see the Immortalists tumbling into the sea. They
fell so quickly they didn’t even have time to fly to safety, and as soon as
they hit the waves, the angry ocean swallowed them up.

As the tiles
began to give way beneath her feet, Scarlet slammed her back against the wall
of the corridor and pushed Sage back with her arm. The black water churned
several feet below them. Scarlet suddenly felt as though she were balancing
precariously on the ledge of a mountain.

The only person
left standing, on the other side of a wide chasm, was Octal. Scarlet knew that
it would take him no more than a few seconds to fly across the gap between them.
But instead, he decided to watch.

He thinks it’s
hopeless
.
He thinks we’re going to die.

“Quick,” she
said to Sage. “Before we fall into the sea.”

Cold ocean spray
hit her face as she led him across the ledge. With every step, more of the
flooring broke off and tumbled into the ocean. Scarlet’s heart raced with
anguish. She prayed that they would make it out of the castle and to safety.

“There,” she
said to Sage. “Just a few more steps.”

But no sooner
had the words left her lips than the tiles beneath Sage’s feet cracked. He just
had time to look up into her eyes before the floor gave way and he plummeted
down into the blackness.

“Sage!” Scarlet
screamed, her hand outstretched, reaching for him.

But he was gone.

Scarlet glanced
up at the other side of the chasm and saw a smile spread across Octal’s
horrifically disfigured face.

Without a second
of hesitation, Scarlet leapt off the ledge like a diver from a diving board,
and soared downward toward Sage’s falling figure. Seconds before he hit the
ocean she swept him up into her arms.

“I’ve got you,”
she whispered, holding him to her chest.

Sage was heavy.
Scarlet was only able to hover. They were barely inches above the treacherous
water. She knew she couldn’t fly up because that would reveal to Octal that
they had survived and he would launch an attack on them right away.

It was then that
she saw caves to her right. They were naturally made, eroded into the solid
rock by the ocean over centuries. The castle must have been built on top of
them.

Scarlet wasted
no time. She flew into the cave, Sage in her arms, and set him down on the
floor. He flopped back and groaned.

“We’re okay,”
Scarlet said to him. “We made it.”

But she was
soaking wet and shivering. Her teeth chattered as she spoke. When she held Sage’s
hand, she realized he was trembling too.

“We didn’t make
it,” he finally said. “I’ve been telling you all along, I am going to die.
Tonight.”

Scarlet shook
her head, making her tears fly from her cheeks.

“No,” she said.

But she realized
then it was no use. Sage was dying. It was really true.

She held him in
her arms and let the tears fall freely. They rolled down her cheeks and onto
her neck. She didn’t bother to wipe them away.

Scarlet was
about to utter her goodbyes when she noticed a strange glow coming from beneath
her T-shirt, just where her heart was. She shook her head, thinking at first
she must be hallucinating. But the glow got stronger.

She looked down
and realized it was her necklace that was aglow, white light spilling through
the hinges. She reached inside her top and pulled it out. She had never before
been able to open the necklace but something told her this time would be
different. As she slid a fingernail into the latch, she realized that her tears
had been dripping onto it. Perhaps they had somehow unlocked the pendant.

The two halves
folded open and white light burst into the cave, illuminating Scarlet’s and
Sage’s figures. In the middle of the glowing light was an image. Scarlet
studied it. It was a castle in the middle of the sea, but not Boldt Castle.
This one was taller and thinner, more like an elaborate tower than an actual
castle.

Scarlet shook
Sage by the shoulder.

“Look,” she
instructed him.

Sage managed to
half open a weary eye.

Scarlet heard
him take a sharp intake of breath.

“You know where
it is?” she asked.

Sage nodded. “I
do.”

Then he slumped
his head back into her lap, exhausted.

Something inside
Scarlet told her that wherever this place was, it was important. And if Sage
knew of it, then it was significant to the Immortalists. Why would her necklace
show her such a place? And why would it only open when her tears fell on it?
Surely it was a clue.

Scarlet snapped
the necklace shut and the white glow disappeared, taking with it the image of a
crooked castle in the middle of a raging ocean. Somehow she knew deep inside of
her that if she got Sage to this castle, he would live. But she was running out
of time.

She heaved the
unconscious Sage onto her back. He was heavy, but this time Scarlet was more
determined than ever, and more certain that there was hope. She took to the
sky.

She would save
him. No matter what it took.