Hyde (18 page)

She put a hand into the huge walk in shower. The
water was searing hot. She stepped in dropping the sheet and
letting the water burn her.

She looked back at his naked body as he stepped
into the hot water.

He was perfect.

"Jesus this is hot." He pulled back.

She burst out laughing, "You can't take the
heat?"

He lifted her up holding her against the tiled
wall, "I can take anything you dish out."

She laughed kissing him as the hot water poured
down over them.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Blood debt

Aleksander

Aimee had sat in the same spot for hours.

Aleks had tried to stay and be of any help he
could but he soon realized he was out of his league. He was still
angry with her but he knew she was right.

Shane smirked at him, "Want to watch the
game?"

Aleks nodded, "Sure. I probably know less about
sports than I do about chemistry and biology but it's got to be
more entertaining."

Shane laughed. They had tried to make a
friendship, which had been hard in the beginning but as Aleks grew
less fond of Aimee it had become possible.

Knowing it was entirely his fault she had
changed in so many ways didn’t make it less annoying.

The only time he saw the old Aimee return was in
the arms of her boyfriend.

As painful as it had been in the beginning he
knew it was the right choice.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. You guys look at this."
Aimee called to them.

They both walked back into the room looking at
the sheets of paper she had scribbled on, covering the small table.
She looked like Old Aimee, her hair was messily in a bun and she
wore lose fitting dark clothes. He would have laughed at it but her
face was panicked.

"Aimes what's wrong?"

"They're using her blood to make a weapon. If
you look here first, it was like they were trying to reverse
something but then here it changes. Then it looks like they're
taking their findings and using it to make something."

"What is it?"

She shook her head, "I don’t know. It doesn’t
say what they're using it on. If they gave it to one of us it might
make us like her. Make a beast but maybe a vampire beast or demon
beast."

Aleks felt ill, "Oh come on. Seriously. I sent
her back to him and he's using her blood?"

Aimee nodded looking at him, her eyes full of
emotions.

Shane frowned, "So they're taking blood from
her, lying and telling her they're trying to fix her but really
they just want to make something with it? Then what?"

Aimee shrugged, "Not sure. The piece of paper
wasn’t specific."

Aleks felt his hands clench into fists.

He pulled his phone out and dialed, trying
desperately not to crush it in his hand.

"Aleksander, why my favorite Viking. What could
you possibly want beyond my blood?"

He inhaled slowly to calm himself, "I want your
end of the bargain. Now."

"Tsk Tsk Tsk Aleksander. Demanding anything from
me will never get you anywhere, you of all people should know
that."

"I will tell her what you're doing. I will tell
her what her blood is being used for by the Dark Ones."

"You will leave Hanna alone."

"Did you like how she smelled when she got back?
I can give you the details if you like. How her sweet lips tasted.
How she moaned for me." He squeezed his eyes shut. He hated
speaking of her that way, especially in front of Aimee.

Marcus growled into the phone, "You meet me
tonight. I will save your little friend and you will forget you
ever met Hanna."

He bit his lip, "Deal. At the Bridge."

The phone beeped from signal loss.

He would never stick with the deal he made, but
Marcus didn’t need to know that.

He walked back into the room seeing Aimee
texting.

"Who are you texting?" He knew instantly seeing
the glare coming off Aimee.

Chapter Twenty-Six: I'd like to shake your
hand

Hanna

The winds had picked up bringing winter to the
west coast. She shivered walking through the garden.

She looked back at the house seeing Marcus on
the phone. He looked angry. She wondered what was wrong. He saw her
watching and waved. She waved back concerned. He was covering up by
waving at her. He never waved.

She turned around and pulled out her phone
feeling the vibrations.

'RUN!!!!!!'

'MARCUS IS USING YOUR BLOOD TO MAKE A MONSTER
FOR THE DARK ONES. RUN NOW.'

Hanna looked at it frowning, 'Who is this?'

'Aimee.'

It was weird Aimee not only had her number but
texted her.

She texted back, 'My father made up that formula
not Marcus. Marcus has only been working on it for my father.'

'NO. Your father only wrote the first part.
Marcus changed it mid way and turned it into something else. This
will never save you. It's to change something using your blood. To
make a weapon.'

Hanna looked back up at the window and knew what
the phone call had been. Something to do with his business with
her. He had waved to make sure she didn’t suspect anything. She
recalled the steamy nights, sex in the shower, random acts in
hallways when Henry wasn’t around. She felt dirty.

Her skin started to tingle.

She felt the change building inside of her. She
started to walk taking deep breaths. She wanted to run out into the
woods and change into the beast and never feel anything again, but
she needed to know. She paced in the cold back yard.

She walked up to the window he stood at, writing
something down.

She dialed his phone number.

"Hi. What are you doing?"

She watched his face as he spoke, "I can see you
Hanna, come inside I want to show you something." His voice was
sexy.

She wanted to throw up.

"Have you been giving samples of my blood to the
Dark Ones to make a weapon?"

His face dropped as he stammered, "Hanna, love
come inside the house."

She took a step back, seeing his face grow
angry, "I have my answer Marcus."

The cell phone crushed in her fingers as her
skin stretched. It felt like it was ripping apart. She felt herself
stay with the beast. For the first time she felt the beast take
over but she was there, along for the ride.

Marcus jumped through the window, landing on the
ground in front of her as she changed.

"Hanna don’t do this. Let me explain. Stay calm
Hanna."

He put a hand up.

She screamed as the transformation occurred. She
saw him through the hazy eyes of the beast. She heard the ragged
breathing as the beast panicked.

Marcus's face darkened, as his forehead grew
distorted and his fangs dropped from his teeth. He screamed at her,
"HANNA DON’T DO THIS!"

The beast turned and ran into the woods.

The beast knew him, the beast felt her feelings
for him mixed with her anger. It ran away laughing menacingly to
itself, as she struggled to gain control.

It laughed, tearing through the woods ignoring
her pleas or thoughts.

She woke next to a dumpster. She looked around
feeling the paranoia set in. She didn’t know where she was.

She could smell garbage and something else, rank
and filthy. She glanced down, seeing a hand next to her leg. She
reached for it but stopped seeing it wasn’t attached to anything.
She screamed a muffled cry.

She wanted someone to find her. She wanted Sam.
She wanted him to hold her and tell her everything was going to be
okay.

She got to her feet by gripping the side of the
disgusting dark green dumpster. Her fingers touching things she
ignored. She looked down at her ripped pants and torn shirt. Her
feet were bare again. Her right toe was bleeding heavily. It didn’t
sting until she acknowledged the blood was hers. She looked down
seeing a shard of broken glass sticking out of it. She pulled it
out, gagging at the blood pouring from the large gash.

She felt her bra for her cell phone. It wasn’t
there. She recalled it crumbling in her fingers in the courtyard as
she changed.

She looked down again at the hand. It was a
man's hand. It had a ring on it, a platinum band. It was his left
hand. She trembled imagining what kind of horrors she had inflicted
on the poor stranger.

She didn’t deserve to live. She didn’t deserve
to be saved.

She walked, limping and hobbling down the greasy
alley until she came to a park at the end of the street. She knew
where she was, she knew how to get home.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Nærøyfjord

Aleksander

Shane gripped his throat, both of them
raging.

Aimee sobbed, "I'm sorry. I didn’t know." She
trembled.

Aleks let go of Shane and put his hands in the
air.

He struggled to find his calm, "She will die now
Aimee." He looked down at the ground.

"Aleks that’s not Aimee's fault. Marcus is evil.
Dude, you made a deal with the devil. What did you think was going
to happen?"

Aleks nodded leaving them. He felt the warm air
as he walked into Giselle's room. He picked her up from the bed.
She was barely awake.

She weighed nothing in his arms. He remembered
how ill Aimee had been when she had felt like a bag of bones in his
arms, as Giselle did.

"Where are we going?" She asked weakly.

"Shhhh. Just rest against me."

She laid her head against his chest, letting him
carry her away.

He stood outside the castle. He knew Marcus
would never help him but he had to try.

He rang the ancient buzzer and waited.

Henry didn’t answer the door, instead it was
Marcus. He looked rough.

"You have some nerve."

"I never told her. I never said a word. Aimee's
been working on the paper. She figured it out and told Hanna before
I could stop her."

"You think I CARE HOW SHE FOUND OUT?" He
screamed.

Aleks shook his head, "I will help you get her
back again. I know you love her. I just don’t know why you would do
that to her."

"Because I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t figure it
out." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "The only way to save
her was to trick those fuckers into believing I would give them
what they wanted if they helped me. Jesus Christ." He bit his wrist
letting the blood pour from it and grabbed Giselle's face. He
shoved the wrist in her mouth.

She started to choke, but he held it there not
looking at Aleks. Aleks tensed, feeling her struggle against the
blood filling her mouth.

He felt her swallow.

Marcus bent to her throat, sinking his teeth
into her tiny fragile neck.

Aleks cringed, feeling her body stiffen against
the pain.

Marcus drank until Giselle went limp in Aleks's
arms.

"Get off my property." He turned covered in
blood and walked back into the house, slamming the door.

Aleks was gone before Marcus could realize he'd
helped him for nothing. He would kill Giselle out of spite.

Instantly he was home. The frozen ground beneath
his shoes crunched softly as he walked. He carried her up the hill
to the graveyard he'd buried his family in. It was older than any
graveyard he'd ever seen. It overlooked the Nærøyfjord.

He dug the hole with his bare hands.

He lay her in the shallow grave, her soft skin
still held a tiny amount of color. He knew the blood would keep her
heart beating, even if it were weak. Vampire blood was like
blowfish poison, the heart seemed to be stopped. The person
appeared dead but in reality they were alive.

He covered her with the dirt, just enough to
complete the transformation. He wouldn’t leave until it was
completed.

Three days would go by slowly, waiting to be
able to see her smile again. He thought about the random crazy
things he found amusing and annoying about her. Like how she never
stopped talking and how she abbreviated everything she said. Tmi,
ftw, omg, ttyl, omfg, cya, lol, rofl, T.A.B.B.Y and many others he
had to Google.

He watched the mound of dirt lie still, knowing
it would be interesting when she woke. He wondered why he felt such
guilt over her death, why he couldn’t just let her be? He realized
he was getting peace and joy from saving her. Saving Giselle had
replaced helping the families his father had hurt. He looked at the
mound of dirt gratefully.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Out Damn Spot!!

Hanna

The Tudor never looked so good. She hobbled
along the gravel driveway, remembering climbing out of the trunk
and hobbling the same path only months before.

"My dear girl, come inside immediately." Roland
rushed out onto the gravel and scooped her up.

He smelled clean like Old English.

"Roland." She sobbed.

"We will talk about this but right now you need
a shower. You stink and you're filthy."

She nodded. She owed him a huge apology, "I'm
sorry I lied to you about going to Lydia's."

"It's nothing Hanna."

"I really will go there."

"You should stay here and get better first."

He placed her inside the bathroom off the
garage. She had never even seen inside but knew what it was
immediately. It was her father decontamination chamber. He had
built a bathroom in case the beast had ever gotten out.

"Towels are below the sink. Throw out your
clothes and everything else."

She nodded, turning on the shower as Roland
closed the door.

The shower had a seat in it thankfully. She sat
letting her feet rest. Everything felt out of control.

She wanted Marcus. She wanted him to touch her
and make her feel good. She wanted to feel pretty, regardless of
the grotesque monster she turned into. She shivered seeing his face
in her mind, his face screaming at her as her beast ran off into
the woods. Why had he not chased after her?

Tears slipped down her face as she realized he
had only ever been after her blood. She wondered what he was
getting out of it all? What had he received as payment for her
blood?