“Don’t try to outrun me, Jo-Jo. I’m faster than you.”
“You’re not a vampire, yet—and stop calling me Jo-Jo.”
“I could always outrun you. I’ve always been faster—and stronger. We found that out on the bridge, didn’t we, Jo-Jo?”
Jo mashed her lips together and drew in an angry breath. She clenched her moist hands and glared at Red through the dusty orange air. The fire threw shifting patterns of light and shadow on Red’s scowling face. Jo drew her gaze out of Red’s hateful eyes and took in the whole of her. All at once, she saw her for what she was: a victim. The anger in her heart began to melt away. Her hands relaxed. “I’m sorry about the river.” She spoke heartfelt words.
Red’s sulfurous eyes cooled to a pale green, like old plastic. She sniffed and turned her head. “Shut up.”
“They were looking for us, but they found you first, right? They used you to get in; they’re using me to pull the rest of them out. But our friends are smarter than that, Red. They’ve got a cross and dogwood and fire and…their faith. We can help them—and then we’ll all help you.”
Red shook her head slowly.
“Come on, Red. All we have to do is get down this hill. I don’t know how we’ll find that cabin—”
“It’s not far.” Red’s eyes were on the fire. She sounded like her normal self. “Just across the river, a little to the west.” She looked up at Jo. “We had to take the long way, because Morgan couldn’t cross…”
Jo’s heart beat with hope. “Then let’s go!”
Red sighed. “Oh, Jo-Jo.” She put her lips together in a pout. “You just don’t get it. They’re going to die. And so are you.” She spoke without a trace of sympathy.
Jo’s hope deflated. She played another card. “And Mike?”
Red grinned with haughty eyes. “Mike and I are going to be together, forever.”
“Like this?” Jo scanned the gloomy cave.
“Eternal life, baby.” Red’s hands planted on her hips and she lifted her chin arrogantly.
“Eternal damnation,” Jo said bluntly. “Red, this is not living. All you guys’ll do is hunt for blood and live in darkness. And eventually someone will kill you—so it’s not eternal life, not like what God promises.”
“Don’t give me your Christian crap!”
Jo bristled. “Don’t you want to feel the sun on your face again?”
“The sun’s bad for your skin. Haven’t you heard?” She smirked.
“You know what I mean. No family, no kids, no future.”
“I don’t care, Jo-Jo. Mike and I will have plenty to do—if you get my drift.” She grinned salaciously.
“Red—”
“Don’t be jealous, honey. You didn’t think you had a chance with him, did you? The way you mooned over him, looking like a pathetic little puppy. Sickening. It was obvious he wanted me.”
“Then let’s save him. We can stop this from happening to you, and then you guys can be together.”
“We will be together.”
“Against his will.”
“He won’t be complaining. This hunger you heard about, it’s not just for blood.” She ran the tip of her tongue along her upper lip.
“Red, please. They’re your friends. Don’t you even care about Dove?” Her last card.
Red’s wolfish expression faded. Her gaze moved from Jo to the shadows dancing on the cave wall and she watched them for a moment. “You let go of me.”
Jo took a small step toward her. “I didn’t mean to.”
Red looked at her. “You let go of that tree.”
“You pulled me off of it.”
Red’s face contorted. Her eyes darted back and forth. She closed them and her breaths became full and heavy. She shook her head. “All I need is Mike’s love.”
“What you’re talking about isn’t love. But that’s why you want to turn him, isn’t it? You know he’d never—”
Red’s eyes sprang open and flashed with firelight. “Shut up! I’m sick of hearing your whiny voice. You’re jealous ‘cause you have no one. No one loves you!”
“You’re wrong, Red,” Jo said calmly. She looked straight into the seething eyes. “God loves me.”
Red’s eyes broiled with revulsion. She snarled and charged at Jo. Jo snatched up a stick poking out of the fire and held it up like flaming sword. The wood, flame and all, was jammed into Red’s hair. The frizzed ruby locks ignited and burst into flames. Red shrieked and batted frantically at her burning scalp, spinning and stamping her feet.
Jo dashed down the tunnel, using the stick as a torch. She burst out of the cave’s opening and skidded to a halt on the ledge. Her eyes panned the land and night sky. She instantly knew this place—the cave they had passed on their hike that morning.
The hill dropped before her at a severe angle, but Jo had no choice. She flung the torch back into the cave and dropped her to bottom, sliding from the ledge onto the slant of the mountain. She struggled to stay upright on her rear end while gravity propelled her downward, skidding on dirt and bouncing over stones and shrubs. Limbs tore at her legs. She kept her hands in front of her face as twigs and brush smacked her. She grabbed whatever she could to slow her descent, tearing fingernails and scraping away the flesh on her palms. Red crashed through the branches behind her, growling and cursing, coming closer and closer.
At the bottom of the hill, Jo grabbed at an aspen branch. The branch snapped from its trunk. She tumbled, head over heels, and landed on her stomach. Screeching pierced her ears. She scrambled to her feet, but the beast bore down on her.
She tried to run, but fell and flipped onto her back, the branch in her hands sticking straight up. Red flung herself down on top of Jo. She was immediately impaled on the branch. It pierced Red’s shoulder, plunging through her flesh, all the way to Jo’s hands. Cold blood spilled over her fingers as she shoved the branch farther into the shoulder until it disappeared. The seared flesh of Red’s burned head was pungent; her screams painful to Jo’s ears.
Red convulsed. Her body arched. She staggered backwards from Jo and fell down, flopping back against the trunk of a tree. Her face twisted in agony. Red clawed the air behind her, trying to reach the shaft sticking out through her shoulder. In a few seconds, her arms weakened and dropped limply at her sides. Her body was still. Her glowing yellow eyes faded to dirty brown. Her fanged teeth retracted. She sat slumped against the tree, leaning over to one side, saliva trailing out of her mouth. She tried to slurp it back up.
Jo got to her feet, panting and shaking from her shredded nerves and torn flesh. She stood on the slant of the hill and looked upwards at Red.
Red tilted her head and peered at Jo, like a wild animal ensnarled in a trap, but gradually her brutish gaze softened. “Help me.” She pleaded with an outstretched hand.
Jo stepped up the slope towards the hand. Through the obscure dark under the tree, she could see the evil gleam in Red’s muddy eyes.
“Help me, Jo-Jo,” Red whined, her demeanor turning meek and pathetic.
Jo walked up close to her. Red’s mouth twitched and her eyes glinted with animosity.
Jo curled in the fingers of her right hand. “Red,” she pulled her arm back. It sprang forward and she punched Red square in the jaw. The burned head flew back, smacked the tree and dangled from her neck. Jo opened her fist and shook out her stinging hand. “It’s just Jo.”
Chapter 28