Tobias (A CURSED BOYS NOVEL Book 1) (10 page)

  “I don’t know.” Was all I could say. It was the truth. I had no idea how Willow had this calming effect over me when nothing has helped since the day I was cursed.

CHAPTER TEN

WILLOW

              We decided to order pizza instead of going out to eat tonight. It would be nice for the four of us to hang out without it being weird. Amelia and I picked the movie, much to the boy’s horror. We decided to watch New Moon, the second film in the twilight saga.

  Part of the reason we chose it was to irritate the guys since they seemed pretty touchy on the way vampires and werewolves were perceived in the story. We made it about half way through the movie before Tobias refused to watch anymore.

  “I’m done. You can watch it all you want but I’d rather pluck my eyes out with a spoon.”

  “Oh come on brother, it wasn’t that bad. I mean if you really think about it the way those wolves turn is pretty bad ass. Complete bullshit, but bad ass none the less.”

  Amelia and I laughed as even Tristan was taking our side.

  “I’ll sprinkle glitter all over your ass the next time there is a full moon. Let’s see how funny you think it is to be seen as a supernatural disco ball.”

  Amelia and I were dying. I couldn’t see because there were tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. Amelia couldn’t even get up from her spot because of how much she was laughing.

  Tobias rolled his eyes at us and left the room. Tristan smirked, and then took off after him. It took us a while, but Amelia and I finally sobered, and both our cheeks and sides were killing us.

  I lay back down on the couch using Amelia as my leg rest since the guys had left.  The movie would be over soon and if the boys didn’t return by then we’d go track them down. I figured they probably went to get some drinks.

  Tobias reminded me of a kid in a candy store when he found out he was able to drink alcohol again. Something so simple made him so happy, which made me ecstatic. He deserved some happiness.

  I never really asked Tobias how long ago they were all cursed but since they were all immortal he’s probably a lot older than twenty-six. I just realized that not only do I not know how old they were, but I didn’t even know when his birthday was.

  “Hey, Amelia. When is Tobias’s birthday?”

  “It was a few months ago. Why?”

  “Oh, I was just wondering. He had a whole day of surprises for me on my birthday. I guess I just wanted to do something for him on his.”

  “Honey, when you become as old as we are, you don’t really give a shit about your birthday. It becomes just another day not worth celebrating.”

  “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you all?”

  Amelia glanced at me from across the couch. For a minute I thought she was going to get mad that I even asked but she surprised me with an answer.

  “We have been cursed for three hundred and seventeen years. So I’m three hundred and forty. Tristan and Tobias are three hundred and forty three.”

  She seemed sad when she answered. I felt bad because I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to live that long. It seemed lonely to me.

  Everyone you ever knew or met would grow up and get old, and eventually die while you remain unchanging. I didn’t want to think about how hard it would be watching my little sister die of old age while I was still me. It broke my heart.

  I wanted to say something to her to let her know I wished things could have been different for all of them but the words just wouldn’t come to me. Anything I could think of in my head would sound pretty stupid out loud.

  I let out a sign and tried to focus back on the movie which wasn’t easy. I gave up when we heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Both of us sprang from our seats and rushed out of the room.

  When we reached the kitchen we found Tristan lying on the ground. His body was in a very awkward position. Tristan showed up with arms full of chains and padlocks.

  “What the fuck?” I asked in complete dismay.

  “He’s changing.” Amelia and Tobias answered at the same time.

  I was frozen in my place but Amelia rushed over to Tobias to help him try to hook the chains around Tristan’s arms.

  I had to cover my ears at the sound of bones breaking and Tristan’s screaming. It sounding like someone was being tortured, and it wasn’t pretty.

  His eyes, from what I could see, seemed to be a glowing orange color. I wasn’t sure whose eyes were freakier when they lost control, his or Tobias.

  My eyes stung from tears that fought their way to the surface. My heart broke for him. I know Tobias told me that he was a werewolf and that the transformation was a long and painful process but I never in my wildest dreams expected this.

  Tristan’s entire body was covered in sweat and his hands were balled up into fists. I watched him smash his fists against the tiled floor, leaving them completely shattered. I felt like I was going to be sick.

  “Amelia, get her upstairs. I got this.”

  I barely registered Tobias’s words when Amelia wrapped her arms around me and lead be out of the room. We finally made it upstairs to my bedroom and all I could do was cry. Amelia’s tears were falling too as we sat on the bed in each other’s arms.

  “How do you do it? How do you watch him go through this every full moon?” I asked.

  “I don’t.” She confessed. “Tobias and I chain him before the moon comes up. Tobias stays with him through the whole thing but I wait up in our room. I cry every time. It doesn’t get any easier.”

  I wrapped my arms around her and ran my fingers through her hair to comfort her. I used to do the same thing for my little sister after our mom died. It seemed to comfort her when I never knew what to say.

  “I thought there was already a full moon this month.” I said, trying to think back to when the last full moon was.

  “There was. This is a blue moon, when there is a second full moon in one month. Usually Tristan knows when these things are going to happen so we’re prepared, but tonight it caught us by surprise.”

  That was for sure. I thought the only wolf transformation I was going to see tonight was on the movie, this was the last thing I expected.

  Tobias came crashing through the door which made both of us jump. I wanted to slap the hell out of him for that.

  “Tristan is gone.”

  His words held me in place.

  “What the hell do you mean he’s gone?” Amelia jumped up off the bed and rounded on Tobias.

  “I mean he’s gone. We didn’t get the chains on in time and he took off. He’s out there somewhere and I’m going after him. I need you to keep her safe.”

  Tobias handed Amelia a gun. I was completely horrified. If he thought I was going to let her shoot the man she’s in love with all because he wanted me safe, he had another thing coming.

  “Relax cupcake. It’s a tranquilizer gun.” He said as if he knew what I was thinking.

  “I thought you weren’t a mind reader.”

  “I don’t have to read your mind. I can see it all over your face.”

  He kissed me quickly then took off like a bat out of hell. The room was eerily quiet. I could tell Amelia was stressed but she was trying her best to hide it.

  I walked over to her and wiped a tear off her face. Today started out so amazing but tonight ended up sucking major balls.

  “He will be fine, don’t worry. Tobias will find him and bring him home.”

  I tried to reassure her that everything would be fine but none of it seemed to matter. I opened my mouth to ask her a question to distract her but I didn’t get the chance. There was a smashing sound coming from downstairs, like someone had broken a window.

  “What the hell was that?” I asked as I grabbed onto her arm.

  Amelia grabbed the tranquilizer gun Tobias had given her and she headed for the door. I pulled her to a stop.

  “What the hell are you doing? You don’t know what it is!”

  “What if it’s Tristan?”

  “What if it’s not?”

  “I can’t die, remember?” she said so matter of factly that I felt like an idiot.

  “Oh, right.” I said and released her arm.

  She might not be able to die, but I sure could and I don’t particularly think dying from being mauled by a wolf sounded like much fun.

  I locked the door when Amelia left. I’m not sure what good it would do considering Tristan was a werewolf with super human strength. I considered locking myself in the bathroom when I heard a crash behind me and screamed. Someone had broken my bedroom window.

  As far as I could tell the room was empty but there was a weird hissing sound like someone was letting air out of a tire. I walked towards my bed to see if I could find the source but as I walked the room began to feel like it was spinning.

  “What the hell?”

  I was barely able to get the words out. I was dizzy and couldn’t stay on my feet. I feel to my knees and started to crawl the rest of the way to the bed.

  The way everything seemed to be moving around me reminded me of a fun house I went to when I was a kid. At the end there was a tunnel where you walk across a platform but the room spun in a circle around you. It was a total mind trip.

  I heard Amelia screaming and things breaking downstairs. I wanted to rush to her side and help her. I had a feeling that it wasn’t Tristan we were dealing with.

  I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness.  My eyelids felt heavy and I couldn’t focus on anything. The room still felt like it was spinning around me.

  I collapsed to the ground with my phone in my hand. I could barely make out the screen in front of me but I pressed the call button. The last person I called was Tobias, so I hoped to God that the call went through.

  The phone fell from my hand and I could see the shadow of boots on the floor outside my door before someone kicked it in. At first I thought it was Tobias, but when multiple people flooded into the room I realized it was just wishful thinking.

  “No one is coming, sweetheart.” He said.

  I watched a boot come down and smash my phone in front of my face.

  I didn’t recognize the voice but it made my blood run cold. I could face Tobias at his worst when he was a cold blooded murderer without even blinking, but right now I was terrified.

  The man grabbed my arms and used cable ties to secure them behind my back. Tears fell freely as I came to a disturbing realization. I was going to die.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

TOBIAS

              It was a lot harder to follow Tristan’s trail than I had expected. The full moon was high in the sky but the tree tops blocked out most of the light. Being a vampire allowed me to see better in the dark than regular humans could, but not quite as well as a wolf, or a real vampire.

  I had taken off in the direction I last saw Tristan go. Luckily there were broken branches on bushes and turned up dirt from his claws as he ran.

  Tristan had managed to get loose once or twice before and it usually ended up in a blood bath that haunted him every day of his life. I still remember the first night he had turned after the curse. I wasn’t in the right state of mind to help him through it; I was consumed by my hunger and still pissed at him over Amelia.

  He had torn through an entire village. He thought he had lost all his humanity, but I spent years reminding him that even though he slaughtered almost every person in the village, he didn’t harm a single child. Many women lost their lives, but none who had young children to care for.

  The guilt would have killed Tristan if he wasn’t immortal. Even now he still has nightmares sometimes. He won’t admit it and Amelia won’t talk about it, but I can hear him all the way from my room.

  I ended up losing his trail in a small clearing. There were no more tracks to follow and Tristan seemed to have completely disappeared. I groaned in frustration. There was no way that I could go back to the house without ever hearing the end of it from the girls, so instead I headed towards town.

  We were far enough away that he wouldn’t be drawn to town; but, even if there was a small possibility that he had made it there, I needed to make sure he didn’t do too much damage.

  It didn’t take me long to make it into town. Everything seemed pretty quiet. The streets were empty and even Micky had the Village Pub closed down. As far as I could tell Tristan wasn’t in town so I decided to stop in to check in on Micky.

  The place was locked up pretty tight but I knew where the spare key was hidden out back. I found Micky sitting at the bar table with a bottle of Jack in his hands.

  “Everything alright?”

  Micky took another drink from the bottle without saying anything. I started walking closer to him but stopped at the smell of blood.

  “Micky??”

  Again there was no answer. I came around the bar and found three men on the ground, dead.

  “Jesus Christ, what the hell happened?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  Something told me we both knew that wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to push it. I walked over to the first guy and turned him over. His face looked like it was mauled by an animal.

  “Shit!” I hissed under my breath and dropped him back to the floor.

  “I’ll call the sheriff, just don’t touch anything. I'll be back.”

  Micky just shrugged his shoulders and continued drinking like there weren’t three dead guys lying on the floor of his bar.

  I called it in, but the station refused to operate a murder after dark. Sheriff said they would be by in the morning to collect the bodies.

  The law was pretty useless in this town; if someone ever actually needed help after dark they were screwed.

  I took a walk around town but as far as I could tell the only evidence of Tristan being anywhere near this place was the slaughter in Micky’s bar. I don’t know if Micky found them like that, or if Tristan spared his life, but Micky was definitely lucky to be alive.

  My phone rang a few times before I actually managed to dig it out of my pocket; the I.D said ‘Cupcake’. With any luck Tristan returned to the house and Amelia had him knocked out with a tranquilizer.

  “Hello?”

  There was nothing but silence on the other end.

  “Cupcake, you there?”

  Again, silence. I was about to hang up and call her back when I heard a smash on the other end. My heart began to race. Maybe Tristan was there after all and Willow dropped her phone while running to hide from him.

 
“No one is coming, sweetheart.”

  I froze at the sound of a voice I hadn’t heard in a very long time; Alexander’s. The line went dead immediately afterward. I didn’t have time to keep looking for Tristan; I needed to get back to the house.

  I ran as fast as I possibly could. I felt each and every cut and scrape from the branches of bushes as I crashed through them. I didn’t even bother detouring.

  When I reached the house everything was quiet. The movie from earlier was sitting at the menu screen but the house was silent. There was broken glass everywhere and blood all over the floor like someone had been dragged through the house. It was like a scene from a horror movie.

  A surge of panic hit me as I realized it could have been Willow’s. I searched the entire first floor but found nothing but glass, broken furniture, and blood. There was no sign of Willow or Amelia.

  I ran up the stairs and began kicking in doors to find her.  Each of the rooms were empty, but on her bedroom floor I found the smashed remains of her cellphone.

  “Fuck!” I screamed and punched the wall.

  My hand left a decent hole which cracked all the way up the wall to the ceiling. I ran a fist through my hair in horror, and then began throwing things across the room.

  The side table smashed against the far wall, and her dresser broke into pieces when I kicked it into the wall.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  I was screaming obscenities and losing control. The hunger inside of me was beginning to surface. I wanted to kill someone; Alexander! I clenched my teeth, seeing only red and his face in my mind.

  “Looking for something?” a woman’s voice came from the doorway.

  I spun around to see Calliope standing there with a smug look on her face. She was still breathtakingly beautiful but nothing compared to Willow.

  “Where is she!” I demanded.

  “Tsk Tsk, Tobias, where are your manners? Not even going to say hi?”

  “Where the fuck is she!”

  “Hmm. Well that won’t do at all. I think I’m going to have to train you to be the good little pet you once were.”

  I waited for her to come at me. I’d have loved nothing more than to kill her and get her back for all the pain she had caused my family. Calliope didn’t move and before I knew it someone had me from behind. Their arm was around my throat and a syringe was jabbed into my arm. I could feel my body going limp.

  “What did you do to her?” I barked before I lost the ability to move my tongue and speak.

  “Nothing, yet. But trust me darling, we will!”

  I wanted to launch myself at her and tear her throat out. If they so much as hurt one hair on my cupcake’s head they were all going to die.

  I couldn’t fight it though. The tranquilizer was taking over and my mind was slipping away from me. I tried to hold on as long as I could but it was no use. Everything went dark.

  I could hear the faint sound of voices but I couldn’t make out who was talking. My wrists were hurting like a bitch and any movement I made coated my forearms in a sticky substance. I looked up to see metal cuffs biting into my skin. The room didn’t have a lot of light, but there was enough to make out the blood that soaked my arms.

  It took a minute to pull myself onto my feet, but once I was standing the pressure was off my wrists and I was able to adjust them a little. I clenched my teeth as I pulled the metal out of my skin. It had managed to cut pretty deep and would take a few days or so to heal but at least it wouldn’t kill me.

  I had no idea where I was and the voices I had heard in the distance earlier were gone. I was alone, and there was no way out.

  I wrapped the chain that connected to my cuffs around my hands and tried to pull it free from the ceiling it was bolted too. My wrists hurt like a bitch but I pulled as hard as I could. My jaw hurt from clenching it shut and my arms felt like they were going to snap.

  I cried out as I gave it one last pull before releasing the chain and doubling over at the waist trying to catch my breath. I felt like I was going to be sick and I was weak from the loss of blood. Not to mention I haven’t fed since the night of Willow’s party and right now I didn’t even know how long ago that was.

 
Willow
. My heart started racing at the thought of her. Calliope and Alexander had her and Amelia captive somewhere here, and God only knows what they are doing to her right now. The thought made me furious and I cried out with rage as I tugged on the chains frantically trying to get free.

  I stopped at the sound of a key in the door. The creak echoed through the room as the door was pulled open and Alexander came into the room.

  “Look who’s awake.” He said with a devious grin on his face.

  “Where the fuck is Willow!” I demanded as I lunged at him.

  The cuffs bit into my wrists again which snapped my arms back and the force of my efforts popped my shoulder out of place. I groaned in pain as my arm hung awkwardly from the chains.

  “Well that doesn’t look like fun.”

  “Where is she!”

  “She’s around. Don’t worry; you will be seeing her very soon.”

  Something about the way he laughed told me it wasn’t going to be a happy reunion. I wanted to kill him. I launched myself at him again to no avail.

  Alexander watched me struggle against my chains before he left me there in the dark and closed the door behind him.

  “I’m going to fucking kill you! I’ll kill you and your bitch of a sister!” I screamed after him.

  There was nothing but my own echo to answer me. I was going to get out of here one way or another; and when I did, I would make sure that both of them paid for this, with their lives.