***
I awoke sluggishly, my entire body aching. I turned my head carefully, pain tearing through my throat. I tried to use my hands to check for broken skin, but the jangle of chains and an abrupt stopping of any movement I made assured me that I wasn’t going anywhere quickly. My eyes fluttered open, slowly getting used to the darkness of the room. The heavy curtains blocked out any sunlight, so I didn’t have a clue how long I had been lying there. I felt something wet dripping down my neck and shoulder, and I knew with certainty that it was my own blood.
It was a small room, and I wondered if it was the one Base had taken a photo of. No furniture, and lying across from me was a blonde in matching chains. Aoife.
“Aoife,” I whispered as loud as I dared. “Aoife, wake up.”
She moaned a little, stirring slightly, but her eyes didn’t open. I couldn’t see any obvious wounds on her, but it was hard to tell in the dark. I jerked my hands forward, but there was no give on the chains. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. I hadn’t thought this through. In my panic to keep Base away from Sully, I had given the vampire exactly what he wanted. Would he kill both of us? Go after Base? My mother? Everyone at school?
Or would he kill Aoife and me and run? He said he was going to leave that night. Would he sneak away after he had fed? Stupid Dracula-Twilight wannabe. I got mad. That was better than fear. Way better. My stomach still cramped up, but it helped clear my head, helped me think this through. He wasn’t likely to set me free to feed on me. Or was he? Did he like the chase at all? Would he hunt me down? Or would he take my life as I lay chained up against a wall in a grotty room with no furniture and blackout curtains.
The not knowing was worst of all.
“Sully!” I screamed as loud as I could. “You coward!”
He opened the door, letting precious light in, and sauntered into the room as if he had been waiting outside. I wanted to vomit when I saw blood had run down his chin.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve just been having a snack with my new toy. I’ve overdone it with Aoife lately. She’s been tired a lot.” He grinned. “You really did a number on your mother this morning, Devlin O’Mara. The force of her sorrow was so enticing that I just had to take her home with me.”
I swallowed hard. “You’re lying.”
“Am I? What was it you said to her that had her lying on the floor, crying hysterically? It must have been something truly awful. What a way to end your life. To be treated like dirt by your only family, and then find yourself taken for dinner by a vampire.” He laughed at himself.
“Mam!” I roared, struggling against the chains. “Mam!”
Hearing her call back was probably the worst moment of my life.
“No,” I whispered, my heart dropping like stone. “Mam!” I called out. “I didn’t mean it, not any of it! I love you!”
I realised Sully was gone, and a heart-wrenching scream was my only reply. Had he killed her? Had he really killed my mother because of me? He came back in, his t-shirt soaking with blood, and I curled my legs up to my chest, barely able to breathe.
“Now that wasn’t fair,” he scolded. “Poisoning my food with hope like that. But I’ve always thought you were toxic.”
He gripped my throat, forcing me to look at his face. “There’s only ever been one bitch as annoying as you, and I made her slaughter her entire family before I ripped out her heart. You’re getting off lightly, all things considered. If I had the time, oh, how I would enjoy tormenting you some more.” He let go of my throat and stroked my cheek. “Tell me, Devlin. Did you believe you were finally descending into madness? Were you afraid to tell a soul what you suspected?” He pulled back and pouted. “But you did tell one soul, didn’t you? A boy almost as pathetic as yourself.”
“Says the vampire who goes to school over and over again so he can talk to girls,” I snapped back as vehemently as I could manage.
“It’s my hunting ground,” he said with a sneer. “I find the most damaged girl, and I don’t leave until her mind is mine. Until she’s ready for the final stage.”
“Oh, and I’m the damaged one this time? Look around. You have me. So why can’t you leave everyone else alone?”
“Because you want me to,” he said in a harsher tone of voice. “Do you know how much trouble you’ve been? This is easy for me. Easy. Yet you had to complicate every step of the way and truly mar my enjoyment. Do you know how many people I’ve had to enthral? How tiring it is? It doesn’t last indefinitely, you know. It takes energy. Luckily, I’ve had Aoife and your lovely mother to keep me going.”
The doorbell rang, startling both of us, but Sully’s face soon smoothed over. “Of course, that would be Base. Here to save the day. But who shall he choose? I’ll be honest; I’m hoping he picks Aoife.” With a terrifying grin, he left the room, and I immediately started calling Aoife.
“Aoife, wake up. Wake up! We have to get out of here, Aoife!”
She stirred, glancing around with blank eyes. She would be no help at all.
I heard the door open. A house with no furniture was surprisingly echoing. I didn’t hear Base’s voice though.
I heard Tom’s.
I screamed as loud as I could. “Run! Run, Tom! Run!”
The door slammed shut, and I heard a struggle, but I was powerless to help.
“No,” I moaned. “Not another one. Please, no.”
A bellow made me shiver. He was hurting Tom. He had to be. Tom wouldn’t have believed me about the vampire bit, but he probably heard me and tried to run inside. Why did I open my mouth?
I knew the answer. Because Sully would have taken him no matter what. Tom wouldn’t have left when faced with the blood on my stalker’s shirt.
“Devlin,” my mother’s voice called out weakly. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes, savouring the sound. She had to be in the next room.
“Yes,” I answered. “I thought you were dead.”
“Not yet,” she said. “We’ll get out of this, Dev. Don’t worry. Someone will come. We’ll get out of here in one piece.”
“Mam, I don’t think—”
“I love you, Devlin. No matter what happens, I want you to know how grateful I am to have you. I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time, wish I could make you see I wanted to change. It’s been so hard. So hard to fix what I’ve done, what I let happen to you, but I swear to you that when we get out of here, everything is going to change.”
“I’m so sorry for what I said to you. I was mad at somebody else, and I took it out on you.”
“No,” she called back. “You were right, baby. Everything you said was the truth. I just didn’t want to hear it. I couldn’t face up to any of it, and I can never apologise enough for that. I don’t know how I managed to have a child as beautiful as you. I’m so sorry I gave up for so long.”
Her voice was steadier than usual, clearer than ever. She might not be falling apart, but I was about to.
“I’m sorry,” I tried to say, but a strange thumping sound covered my words. Slowly, I realised Sully was dragging Tom’s body up the stairs.
“Quite the reunion,” Sully called out from the landing. “What a lot of bodies I’ll have to cover up before I leave.” Tom moaned like a kitten mewling for its mother, and all hope was lost. I only prayed Base stayed away. I wouldn’t have been able to bear that, too.
I stopped hearing Sully, but Tom’s movements grew closer, and a heavy scratching sound alerted me to the fact he was trying to crawl away. My heart thumped loudly in my chest as Sully entered the room I was in, humming to himself.
“Chains, chains,” he muttered. “Should have brought more.”
I glanced at the doorway, seeing Tom’s bloody hand reach behind the wall to drag himself in. I smothered my squeal, but Sully took two steps and stamped on Tom’s hand, leaving bent, misshapen fingers in his wake.
Without pausing, he reached behind Aoife, untying a line of rope around her waist. I didn’t even want to know what that had been used
for.
“He won’t last long enough for chains,” Sully explained as if I had asked a question. He dragged Tom into the room so I could see his bloody appearance. His eyes were wide and searching. Horror spread across his face when he caught sight of me. His face was purple and swollen, one of his eyes slowly closing shut because of the lump swelling his cheek. Tom had tried to help me. And now Tom would die for it.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, reaching for him in vain. “So, so sorry.”
Sully deftly wrapped the rope around Tom’s wrists, pulling so tight that I flinched.
“Leave them alone,” I said. “You’ve done it. You’ve broken me. Aren’t you happy yet?”
Sully flashed his fangs, his eyes redder than ever. “Not until you’re all dead, Devlin O’Mara. Not until you’re all dead.”
He dragged Tom out of the room after him easily, leaving a trail of blood behind them. It washed the floor, and my sight, and my mind bright red, and I grew cold inside. We were all going to die.
All of us.