Forsaken (11 page)

“It shines, though,” she said gently. “Sometimes, I’ve seen yours absolutely radiate in the light.”

“That’s when you should have stayed away. We’re most dangerous, then.”

“Tell me,” she pressed. “Tell me why you say that.”

“We’re stronger than humans. More agile, too. Our bones are nearly unbreakable, but they’re unbelievably light. It gives us a certain…grace. Our balance is better because of it. I’m what, nearly a foot taller than you? And yet I can guarantee that I weigh less than you do.

“Our vision is also better. When I look at your face, I can see every imperfection that makes you so unique. Every flaw that makes you so beautiful.”

“You…find me beautiful?” she stumbled, amazed.

“Of course I do, Nora. Of course I do.”

Her heart fluttered. Maybe she was
developing feelings for him. It was the only thing that would explain her sitting there. If she were sane, if she had any shred of common sense, she would be clawing at the door, desperate to escape. She would be calling the police, telling them she’d been abducted, and fifteen cruisers would be chasing them down the highway already.

Instead, she just sat there in silence.

“We’re here,” Hunter announced.

She looked across at him. He still looked straight ahead, and despite having parked the car, kept his hands on the wheel. His shoulder slumped. He looked tired.

Maybe he was as tired as
she
felt.

But she knew it wasn’t a physical weariness that touched him. It was an emotional one.

She studied his face. His skin looked so smooth, so delicate. So white. His dark eyes made a perfect contrast, as did his pitch-black hair. She realized for the first time that he had near-perfect cheekbones, not too high and not too low, and that his nose and jaw were both strong and handsome.
He
was handsome. But he was also something else.

“You’re a
vampire
,” she whispered.

He cringed. “I hate that name. Hate that title. Vampire. That’s what human folklore would call me. A bloodsucker, a monster, a predator, a
killer
. But it’s not who I am.”

He paused, but her eagerness wouldn’t allow her to wait him out. “Who are you then?” Her hushed whisper barely traveled across the small space, but she knew he heard her.

“I am from a race known as the Vassiz. An ancient race, who have sometimes been confused with vampires throughout the centuries. Though, I assure you, I am no vampire.”

“You feed on human blood?” She should be terrified, saying that. She should be terrified, sitting so close to him. She should be terrified, except…she wasn’t.

All she felt was a cool, dark calm.

“Yes,” he admitted. “Every time, I try to fight it, but…I can’t. Morals and ethics mean nothing when you’re starving. We battle depression between feedings. The longer we go without blood, the less confident we get, the less graceful we become, the less power we have. We become shells of our former selves, and we become obsessive about finding food. My only solace is how infrequently I need to feed.”

“How often
do
you do it?” she asked.

“Twice a year, only.”

“And…” she gulped, “…when was the last time you fed?”

Despite himself, Hunter smiled. “Less than a week ago.”

All of a sudden, everything clicked into place for Nora. All of a sudden, everything made sense.

His arrival here.

The unusual murder.

The animal warning.

And his transformation…after.

“
You’re
the animal,” she breathed. And for the first time in his presence, a shiver ran down her spine.

He nodded. “I am, aren’t I? And you’re the only one who knows. Usually I don’t leave my prey for people to find, but I got careless.”

“The hitman,” Nora continued. “You’re the one who killed him!”

“Yes. I try to balance things out in choosing my targets. The man had a body list at least twenty long on him. A contract killer, he would have struck soon had I not acted. And then some time again. It’s a small solace I can take in thinking I might have prevented some deaths.”

“Hunter?” She looked over at him. “Are your kind born that way, or can they be transformed?”

“Both,” he answered.

“And you?”

“I was born a human.”

Everything clicked again. She understood his struggle, understood his morals. Understood why he tried to fight something that came so naturally.

She had one last question, though.

“How old are you?”

Hunter smiled sadly and turned his head. For the first time in what seemed like eons, their eyes met. “Do you want to know my age, or how long ago I was born?”

“What’s the difference?”

“We stop aging once we’re transformed.”

“Tell me both.”

“My
human
age,” he said, “is eighteen years old.”

“And how long ago were you born?”

“I was brought into this world four hundred and twenty-nine years ago.”

Too much blood rushed to Nora’s head, and everything swam for an instant before going black.

Chapter Fourteen

~Confrontations~

“Nora? Nora, wake up.”

Nora opened her eyes to find Hunter standing over her. She was lying down on a hard, damp surface. She blinked. She was indoors, and the interior reminded her of a wooden cabin.

She pushed herself up and looked around. She was in a small room. A single window let in the outside light. The walls and ceiling were both made of wooden planks, but they were heavy with age. The room was barren. Mildew grew thick on the walls, and the floor she was lying on was dirty. Heavy dust filled the air, causing her to cough.

“Where are we?” she managed eventually.

“An old grain mill,” Hunter said. Nora noticed a closed door in one of the walls. “Nobody comes here anymore. I thought it’d be a good place to regroup.”

Nora struggled to her feet, eyeing Hunter warily. “How come you didn’t tell me we were coming here?”

“You passed out before I had the chance. I carried you from the car.”

“You carried me? How far in the woods are we?”

“An hour from the road. Nobody should bother us here for some time. We should have tonight, at least, before we need to move on.”

The heavy clunk of machinery came from the adjacent room. She went to the door, cautiously edged it open, and felt as if she’d stepped into the past. In a vast, largely empty room, huge spinning pulleys and belts worked overhead while metal poles, positioned horizontally, rotated quickly. Gears and levers dotted the floor of the room, providing control over the machinery. Much of the metal was red with rust, but it still moved, clanging and groaning along.

“It’s still running,” she marveled.

“It never stopped,” Hunter shrugged. “The river runs year-round, and as long as it spins the waterwheel, the mechanisms in here keep going.”

“The river?”

“Yes. You can hear it, can’t you?”

Nora strained her ears and realized she could make out the sound of rushing water nearby. Hunter walked to another door, right by a window, and motioned her over. When she approached, he pushed it open, revealing the outdoors.

Beautiful vegetation surrounded them. They stood at the bottom of a narrow gorge, with a rocky slope to one side and thick forested trees on the other. Under her feet, right beneath the building, a river roared with life. The sun shone through the leaves of the forest, making shadows dance along the ground. It felt like they were hundreds of miles from civilization.

“So,” Hunter said, once Nora turned back inside.

“So,” Nora echoed.

“We need to get rid of your belongings.”

“Why?”

“The men tracking us. They’re like me, and once they have your scent, they can track you forever. Getting rid of your belongings might make it harder for them to do it.”

“Is that how they knew we left the school?”

“Yes, I think. The man you saw – he knew your scent from the dream. Thankfully, amidst all the other students, you were hard to pick out. Otherwise he would have come for you right in the classroom.”

“Even with all of the other students and teachers around?”

A sad, knowing smile briefly crossed his face. “It wouldn’t have mattered.”

Nora shivered. She didn’t want to imagine what would have happened then.

“We have to change you out of those clothes as soon as possible. It might help us get a lead on them. But you have to understand, Nora, they’re like hounds. No matter where we go, they’ll only be a single step behind. If we ever stop, if we ever rest for longer than is absolutely necessary, they’ll catch us.”

“Let’s go to the police,” she said suddenly. “They can help us.”

Hunter laughed bitterly. “The police? They can’t do anything.”

“Why not?”

“The men after us are
Vassiz
,” Hunter emphasized. “Nothing will stop them. If we go to the police, they’ll just tear right through them before getting to us. The only thing to do is run and never look back.”

“And then what?” Nora turned away and watched the shadows waver across the wall. “Do you expect to just run forever?”

“You haven’t seen what they can do,” he said quietly. “You have no idea what they’re capable of. If we run, we have a chance to get away. If we’re smart, we might be able to lose them before they reach us. But it won’t be easy.”

“You can fight them!” she blurted out, turning back to him quickly. “I saw you fight four guys at once like it was nothing!”

He laughed again, cruelly this time. “Nora, you have no idea what they’re capable of. I fought when there was little at stake, against four
children
. The two men behind us – they’re bounty hunters. They’re my kind. And when they fight, they fight to kill.”

Nora had to get her head straight. She had to think. They were both in danger, and the least she could do was try to understand what she was facing.

“You mentioned weaknesses earlier. Of your race. Maybe we can use that to our advantage. What are you bad at, compared to humans?”

Hunter sighed. “Not much that would be helpful in this case. Our vision in the sun is the main thing. Things become hazy in direct sunlight. Glare, when the light reflects off glass, nearly blinds us. And these woods might give us a slight advantage, as well. The air is dense here, and your scent is harder to pick out. It might make it—” Hunter cut off with a strangled sound, and in an instant, he was at the door. “They’re coming,” he hissed back over his shoulder.

“What? Already? You said we’d have until nightfall!”

“I was wrong.” He shut the door quickly and rushed to the opposite wall. “You need to hide.” He pulled back a board to reveal a small cubby in the wall. “Quickly!”

Nora ran over without arguing.

“Get in,” he told her, “and don’t make a sound.” Nora nodded. Her pulse raced, and a jolt of adrenaline kicked through her. A mixture of fear and dread came over her as she pushed herself into the wall. There wasn’t much space, and splinters and rough pieces of wood pierced her skin and got caught on her clothing. She wedged herself farther in, and Hunter replaced the board.

Light scattered in from cracks along the wall. Nora pressed an eye to one of them to peer out. She could see the entire space between her and the entrance door. Hunter stood with his back to her, facing the door. His feet were wide in a predatory stance.

Anxious minutes passed. Only Nora’s ragged breaths broke the silence, and they sounded loud as hammers to her ears.

Slowly, the door started to move. Hunter tensed. It creaked all the way open, and a tall figure stepped into the entrance. Nora’s breath caught. It was the same man from the dream, the same one she saw at the school.

“Where’s your friend?” the man asked Hunter crudely. He spoke with a harsh accent.

If it were possible, Hunter tensed even more. The man took a step forward. He wore the same long coat from before, the same dark hat. He and Hunter were approximately the same height. Leisurely, he started to take off his coat. Hunter still hadn’t moved.

The man dropped his coat in a pile at his side, and Nora saw that he was much thicker than Hunter. Bigger, more developed.

Stronger?

“Don’t try to hide her. I can smell her stench from here. I know she is with you.”

“You will not have her.” Hunter’s voice held a steely edge.

The man laughed in reply. “Oh? Is that so? Or what, you’re going to stop me?” He laughed again. “You are a youngling, only a child, and you have broken the ancient creed by bringing her into our world. You will answer for your crime, as will she.”

“You will not have her,” Hunter repeated, his voice filled with the same deathly calm as when he’d confronted Brady.