Leticia (30 page)

“Were they human?” I asked
.

“I don’t know, I think so, they didn’t have that supernatural or fantastical aura about them
.
”

“How can human
s
take a vamp and a shifter? What else do you remember about them?”

“They looked ill, sweating, shaking, they
smelled
... strange... sickly sweet. They looked like the others we’ve met, thin and frail, tattered clothes. How can people like that be so strong?”

“None of the others looked ill
,
” Jackson pointed out
.
“Well, not to the same extent as these, none of them have been sweating or shaking...”

“Something about this doesn’t feel right, something is obviously happening or being done to them
,
” I debated
.

“That’s how I got away
,
” Nancy continued
.
“
They
threw us into the back of a van
;
they looked surprised when Tristan didn’t burst into flames in the sun.
I think that’s what they were hoping for. Anyway
,
t
here w
ere two of them riding up front
and six of them in the back with us. One minute they were fighting with us and restraining us, t
he next they started being sick
and holding their heads, screaming in pain. Tristan kicked the van doors
open;
he pushed me out
while
the van was still moving. Just before he jumped... one of th
em... of them...” she struggled.

“It’s
alright
, take your time
.
”

“Tish
,
they staked him
.
”

I didn’t know what to say
.
I felt sick to my stomach, my hands started shaking and tears rolled down my cheeks. Jackson walked out of the room. We heard him swearing and shouting at the top of his voice, then
the
sounds of pots and furniture breaking. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do
!”
she
cried.

“What happened after that? You must tell me
.
”

“I watched him fall back onto the floor of the
van, it was swerving everywhere
and it
disappeared up the
road, heading back towards Holmfirth
.
”

So they may have done one of two things, either dumped him somewhere on the Moors or took his body with them. You see, contrary to popular belief, vampires don’t just disappear if they are killed, there’s still a body. Oh yeah, and of course they can walk around in the sun, why would they be condemned to darkness?
This was where the world of fiction got it all wrong.

“What do I do Tish?” she cried
.

“We’ll find them, and we’ll find Tristan, but first you need to get cleaned up and
have
something to eat
.
”

“I couldn’t eat anything
.
”

“You
have
to, if Tristan were here... he’d say the same, you need to keep your strength up
.
”

She didn't say anything after that, she just nodded and made her way into the bathroom. I shouted to her to let her know I was going to find Jackson and left the room. I took several deep breaths before
throwing some different clothes on, and
making my way towards the noises downstairs. It was going to be hard to calm Jackson down, if not impossible. I walked in the second living room, it was absolutely trashed. It looked as though a small bomb had exploded in there. He stood by the window, looking out into the back
garden;
I could see he was shaking.

“Nancy is getting cleaned up, then she needs to eat, can you make sure she does?” I asked
.

“Why
?
What
are
you
doing?”

“Just answer the question
.
”

“Yes, I think I can look after my own sister
.
”

“
Good.
” I didn't rise to his off tone, he was upset
.
I understood that.

I ran upstairs into the room where Jackson stored a lot of his weapons. After picking up several guns, and loading every pocket with ammunition, I ran out of the house, grabbing my car keys on the way.
I’d just started to pull out of the drive when Jackson appeared in front of me, blocking my path.

“What the hell are you doing?” he
scolded
.

“Get out of the way
.
”

“Where are you going?”

I didn’t respond. The look on my face said it all.

“Leticia, sweetheart, N
O
!
You
promised!”

I didn't reply, I put my foot down on the accelerator
and h
e jumped out of the way quickly. I could hear him shouting my name as I drove, begging me to come back. But I couldn’t, enough was enough. Something inside me had snapped and somebody was going to pay...

I drove into Holmfirth
center
at
a very
high speed
and
headed in the direction of the Moors. I wound the windo
w down. Tristan had been staked
which meant he would have bled out a little
.
I was hoping
to
be able to pick up on
his
scent
.
If
I
could
it
would lead me straight to him.
Or at least that’s what I was hoping.
I’d got
ten
as far as The Ford, the large public house just at the foot of the Moors
,
when
the
smell of vampire blood filled my nose. I swerved to the left
following the smell and down the thin
winding road
that led
deeper into the hills and eventually into Holme. The annoying thing about this road was that I
couldn’t go
as fast as I’d like, the bends were so sharp
.

The smell was getting stronger and stronger
. I stopped just before reaching
Digley Reservoir, pulling the car onto the grass verge. I took one of the guns out of my jacket pocket, making sure
it was fully loaded and
the safety was off,
then
headed closer to the water holding it tightly with both hands.
I moved slowly and silent
ly
.
The
last thing I wanted was for them to hear me coming. Then again,
they
might not be here, they could have just dumpe
d Tristan’s
body and ran.
I looked around me, it was eerily quiet, no cars on the road, which was actually a
G
od send
.
C
an you imagine what peo
ple would have thought if they’
d seen me
?
There
was no sign of life
anywhere, and yet the smell of Tristan’s blood was almost overpowering, he
had
to be here somewhere.

I walked along the road that acted like a dam for the reservoir. I was complete
ly
exposed,
anyone could
have shot
me
and I honestly didn't care.
To the right of me was the water, I knew he couldn’t be in
there;
he wouldn’t smell so strong
if he was. On my left was more grassland, with what looked like a small run down barn around two-hundred feet away from me. He had to be there. I ran as fast as I could, faster than any human, and kicked the door through.
The copper-like smell of blood hi
t
me like a ten ton brick. My mouth
started watering
and I had to fight hard to stop myself vomiting.
There was blood all over the floor, up the cracked and decaying walls
, and
syringes
scattered around
. My stomach
and heart
sank, what had gone
on
here?
Other than those atrocities, the barn was completely empty.

There was no sign o
f Tristan
, but
it dawned on me,
with the amount of blood that was in the barn the chances of him being alive were slim at best. I walked out and screamed his name
over and over
. Don
’
t ask me why, I don’t know what I was expecting in reply, but what I got was good enough.

“Leticia
,
” I thought I heard someone say
.
“Leticia
.
” the voice was extremely quiet
. Muffled
.

I stood still and closed my eyes allowing my wolf senses to come through. I waited and waited, and eventually heard my name called again
.
This
time I knew which direction it had come from
. I ran around the back of the barn and through the field, until I noticed some freshly disturbed earth. I slid down on my knees and started digging frantically in the dirt, throwing it and dragging it behind me.

I could see his arm
now;
I grabbed it, stood up and dragged him slowly o
ut of the hole. I was thanking G
od constantly for my wolf-strength.
I lay him flat on the grass, kneeling beside him, trying to get all the dirt and soil off his face. His lips were blue,
his
skin was pale to start with
,
but now it was almost completely white. He tried to spea
k but no sound would come out,
he tried to tell me something, speaking with breath
;
I already knew what he was saying, he needed blood
and
if he didn't get it
soon,
he would die.

“Now you listen to me
,
” I said, pulling him into a sitting position and supporting him
.
“You heal fast, and so do I, so you take my blood
and the healing effect should be twice as fast.
B
ut if you kill me I swear I will come back and haunt you. Blink, if you understand me
.
”

He managed to blink a few times before showing his fangs. I moved my hair off my neck before moving closer to him. My heart was
racing;
I never thought I’d be doing this. I took a deep breath just before his teeth pierced my skin. I thought it would have hurt, but it didn't. I gasped
as his fangs first entered me
, but after that there was no pain, the only thing I felt was an adrenalin rush
, a really intense one
. The more he drank the stronger he
got;
he gripped me and pulled me closer. I could feel myself getting tired, weak...

“Tristan stop
,
” I
gasped
.
“
Stop
... you’re killing me
.
”

I wasn’t strong enough to push him away. I went cold, everything was spinning and then...

Jackson’s Story

I watched as Leticia drove away from me, powerless to stop her. If I chased her I would have to leave Nancy and I couldn’t do that after
everything
she
’
d just been through. My heart sank as her car disappeared out of view. I had to get
Nancy;
we had to go after her. I ran back inside and up to her room, she was still in the shower. I stood in the hallway listening for her coming out,
shouting her over and over again, but she couldn’t hear me. I was
fidgeting like crazy,
every minute that passed fel
t
like hours.
After about fifteen minutes I heard her rummaging around. I knocked on her door before walking in again. She looked a lot better now, clean for starters, and
her
eyes didn't look as sore from crying.