Chapter 20 Izzy
It had been days since my abduction. My memory was foggy, but I could still see Jason's face that night at the dance—his shocked, helpless expression when he realized what was happening. Even that memory was difficult to hang onto, but I fought the thirst for human blood with all my strength. I had to hold onto that part of myself even though I thirsted for his blood so desperately. Since my initial transformation to a vampire, I'd never craved human blood like this. I tugged pointlessly at my chains. I was so weak.
"Thirsty?" My captor's gravel voice asked from behind me.
I rolled my head toward the right. He was his normal size now, not the monster that had abducted me. He changed, although I wasn't sure how, or how often. I'd tried to keep track, but I was merely bait in his trap and he only checked the trap now and then to make sure his bait still held some value. I lunged against my restraints when he appeared next to me. It was a meager effort, but all the energy I had.
"Oh, poor creature," he mocked. "Well, I guess you can have a little, I don't want you to expire on me. A trap needs lively bait to be effective."
He held a ladle to my lips and I sucked down the human blood. It was like liquid ice as it flowed down my burning throat. Even just the one ladle of blood caused a surge of energy through my body—tingling in my toes and fingers.
"More." I pleaded.
He held another full ladle up to my face, but out of reach, to taunt me.
Early on in my captivity, he had forced human blood in me. I fought it—fought hard, but it was in our nature, and I could only fight it for so long. Once he realized I wanted it, he drastically cutback how much he was giving me. I think he was partly afraid I might gain the strength of a newborn—he was being cautious, but his caution turned to sadistic taunting. He would feed in front of me, place bowls of human blood just out of my reach and the worst, splash it on me without giving me any.
The ladle touched my lips and I sucked down the human blood. As the cool sensation faded and the burn returned, I detected a slight aftertaste. It wasn't the first time. He was lacing the blood with something—it probably explained why I couldn't free myself. I was young to this existence and most of that time I'd spent trying to end it, and the rest—Jason's beautiful face filled my memory. The point was, I didn't know much and this was out of my realm of knowledge.
"Perhaps your friends will return tonight." he said. "You gave them quite a show last time."
"They're going to destroy you."
He laughed. "That's rich." He laughed again, but the corners of his eyes tightened.
"Jason will destroy you."
"The human! Oh now that's funny. All I have to do is release you and you would kill him yourself."
"But you won't. You're not as sure as you pretend."
"It sickens me. You sicken me, the way you two carry on like there is no difference between the two of you. Besides, the human is inconsequential, it's the others I want."
"Because you're responsible for their existence."
He grit his teeth, his arms trembling. "I will vanquish the evil I have wrought! I will finish this!"
"But you didn't transform the women, why destroy them—and me, the Faulkners had nothing to do with my transformation."
"Why do you think I haven't destroyed you yet?" He bent down, reappearing with another ladle of blood, but this time he threw it in my face.
The monster inside me went wild, contorting my body trying to get every drop of blood within reach of my tongue.
"When I'm finished with the others, I'm going to enjoy tormenting you until you turn to stone."
"Not the saint you pretend to be!" I screamed.
He bent down again and this time came up with the entire bucket of blood. He poured some on my chest. Waited, then poured more on my forehead. Waited again, and then splashed the rest over me. My monster took control.
It was dark when I was able to regain some semblance of myself. My captor was gone again.
"Jason." I moaned, crying out for help, but his name brought back the fire in my throat. I tugged at the chains. I loved him so much. I hated what this must be doing to him, but I was more dangerous to him now than I had ever been, and it seemed impossible not to feed on him then. What now? I wouldn't hesitate. The light breeze calmed and I was enveloped in the smell of human blood—stale as it might be. I closed my eyes and fought with all I had left to not lose myself to the monster.
"Benjamin, Elizabeth, Tink, Melanie, Nathan," I mumbled. They had consumed human blood before and made the choice not to. It was possible. I had to hang on to that thought—that hope.
In the distance, above the rim of the quarry I heard a sound. It was faint, but not in keeping with the rhythm of the natural surroundings. I rolled my head to the right and glanced into the cave. If he was here, he hadn't heard it. The breeze picked up again, taking with it the stench of stale blood—my stench. I sniffed the air and listened intensely, but I didn't hear or smell anything out of the ordinary. I locked my eyes on the rim of the quarry.
Time passed with no change, but then, I saw a branch move in a different direction than the prevailing breeze. They were back! I wanted to call out to them, but I knew I couldn't. I remained motionless, but still staring at the location where the branch had moved. If this was my recue it would come quickly, it was the only way. I hated that my family was risking their very existence for me. In my weakened state, I would be of little help even if they freed me. I only hoped that they had managed to keep Jason away—it wouldn't have been easy, he would want to be here, for me, for them, but it was too dangerous, and if they failed, at least there was a chance he would be left alone. He must survive.
There was another sound, this time to my right and left—faint, very faint. Then, a noise from inside the cave. My captor was aware. He appeared at the opening of the deeper portion of the cave in his human form, but he had a glass syringe of greenish-yellow liquid in his hand. When I looked back out into the darkness two figures jumped into the quarry. I think it was Nathan and maybe Melanie. The sounds from either side of me grew louder, less careful, more direct. This was the attack—my rescue.
My captor sprung to the lip of our cave, to my right. As he lifted the syringe a bottle, and two smaller objects came hurling toward us from across the quarry. They came with such speed, there was time for recognition, but not reaction. As they came into focus, he started the syringe toward his arm. The bottle—followed by at least three more—smashed into his face, the shards of glass shattering his syringe. Jason's blood splattered all over us. He turned toward me as one of the smaller objects stuck in his side. The second one plunged into the lower part of my chest. I gasped as two more bottles of Jason's blood shattered against the upper rim of our cave, spraying more blood onto us. My gaze found the syringe sticking out of my chest as a strange paralysis began to spread through my body.
He turned back to the opening as another bottle of blood hit him square in the face. His roar was deafening. He drew his arm to his mouth and tried to suck the remnants of the greenish-yellow solution that had spilled out of the syringe into his mouth, but in doing so, drew in Jason's blood too. His chest heaved upward, his arms back, down to his sides and he bellowed toward the sky. Was he changing? There wasn't much time.
I started to scream at the overwhelming fire that flared in my throat from Jason's blood, but the paralysis cut it off. I flopped back against the stone and hung motionless, but the fiery thirst burned relentlessly. While I was unable to move, my senses were still completely aware of what was going on around me.
The historian turned toward me, defeat in his eyes. "At least I can destroy you!"
Suddenly a figure dropped from above us—Benjamin. He grabbed the historian and they both plunged over the edge of the cave into the quarry.
Paralysis had left me facing upwards, toward the rim of the cave. Unable to close my eyes I watched Jason's blood drip all around me. There was so much. Was he dead?
In
the quarry, sounds of feet from all directions raced toward where Benjamin and the historian had fallen, turning quickly to sounds of battle. It was lasting too long, he must have changed. I wanted to cry out—to help—but I couldn't. Would one that I loved be lost? Please, not that, not on my account. The battle suddenly stopped and at the edge of my vision a faint purple glow flickered off the opposite quarry wall.
There was the sound of two landings on the lip of the cave and then Elizabeth and Melanie peered into my eyes.
"Quickly." Elizabeth said.
I felt my arms move as they wrestled with my chains.
"I can't." Melanie cried. "The blood, the blood." She choked.
"Go."
There was another thud and then Tink stared into my eyes. My left wrist moved and then my arm fell against the side of the stone slab. The chain drug across my body until it was gone.
"Go." Tink said. "I've got her."
"I'm sorry." Elizabeth replied.
My other wrist was freed and then Tink appeared in front of me.
"You're safe now. Elizabeth and Melanie are going to bathe you, but you're safe. You don't have to worry." He scooped me up in his arms and leapt from the cave into the quarry. The purple pyre flashed across my vision. Tink immediately began to run with me across the rocks. Suddenly, we were air born and then splashed into a deep pool of water. Tink spun and I could see the wisps of blood floating away from us against the moon lit sky and purple glow. Tink jumped out of the pool and again ran across the boulders with me in his arms.
"We're over here." Melanie's voice called.
"Are you decent?"
"Just bring her, quickly. We don't know how long the sedative will last."
If only it were a sedative, but I was completely aware of my senses, mostly the burning thirst for Jason's blood. I could only hope they had a plan to contain me, because my thirst was beyond my control. Suddenly, I was air born again, but without Tink. I landed with a splash in another pool.
"Are you sure the plastic is enough to contain her?" Tink called from a distance.
"Jason said with enough wraps it was stronger than the chains and it worked when we tested it." Elizabeth yelled back.
"Okay. We'll surround you, alert us if you're losing her."
I was pushed under the water and feverishly scrubbed. This time, I could see what little blood was left floating off in the current. This must be a stream.
"Faster." Elizabeth ordered.
"Her hair will take hours." Melanie replied. "Even for me."
"Cut it, we don't have time. It will grow back quickly."
Finally they stopped, but my arm suddenly flinched.
"Get dressed. Hurry!" Elizabeth ordered.
Seconds later, "I've got her." Melanie said.
Then, there were two sets of hands pulling clothes over me while I was still under the water. Once dressed, they yanked me up, out of the water. While Elizabeth held me upright—arms at my sides, Melanie spun around me wrapping me in clear plastic wrap, not the kitchen brand, this was industrial grade stuff. Two, three, four rolls of plastic wrap went around me from my shoulders to my ankles. I blinked.
"Stay calm, Izzy, you are safe now." Elizabeth said.
I turned slightly to the sound of her voice.
"The restraint is only for your safety—and Jason's."
I didn't want to take a breath to speak so I just nodded.
"He's gone—destroyed—we are safe now—you are safe." Elizabeth turned her attention to Melanie. "Are you in control?"
"Yes, but it is still difficult. You?"
"Yes." Elizabeth's voice lacked her usual certainty.
They gently leaned me against a small crevice in the rocks to prop me up.
"You may join us." Elizabeth called into the darkness as the moon slipped behind the clouds.
Benjamin, Nathan, Tink and Hayley emerged from behind the rocks and gathered near me.
"Is she still sedated?" Benjamin asked.
"Her arm moved," Elizabeth replied, "I think she's coming out of it."
"Any reaction to Jason's blood?" Tink asked.
"No, I think the sedative spared her that as we hoped it would." Elizabeth said.
The concern in Benjamin's eyes eased a little. I couldn't let them know otherwise, but what happened to Jason.
"Is Jason okay?" I mumbled.
"Izzy," Elizabeth's voice rang with relief. "How are you feeling?"
"Weak, very weak."
"We should move on to the next phase of the plan." Benjamin said.
Nathan stepped forward and addressed me. "I want you to try and free yourself. Give it your best effort. We need to be sure we can keep you safe."
I pressed my arms outward, but could not budge the plastic cocoon. I shook my head.
"Okay, sir," Nathan said to Benjamin, "she's ready."
Tink helped Nathan lay me on the ground and then each one tied a loop of rope around me. They secured the loop on their end around their neck and together began to climb the quarry wall. The other's followed. Halfway up there was a strong scent of Jason's blood from the cave, but the boys accelerated and it faded behind us. Once at the top of the quarry, Tink and Nathan rearranged the rope and Tink carried me on his back like I was in a papoose. We moved quickly, deliberately through the woods.
Once inside Melanie and Nathan's cabin, Elizabeth approached with a glass of blood.
"I know this will be difficult, dear, but I know you can do this."
"I'll try."
"No!" Benjamin said. "You will succeed."
"Yes, sir."
Elizabeth lifted the glass of blood to my lips. It smelled repulsive, not at all what I thirsted for. "This is deer blood, you remember. It takes a little getting used to."
I took a small sip into my mouth. It tasted worse than it smelled, but I forced it down.
"That's it, slowly." Elizabeth said.
I managed a few more sips, but finally turned my head away from the glass. "I can't. No more."
"She did well for the first time." Elizabeth said to Benjamin and then turned back to me. "We will keep this up until your eyes change, a little at a time. We don't want you to stay thirsty, we just want a slow, controlled recovery. I'm sorry this is so difficult."
They gathered at the other end of the room presumably to assess my condition. It seemed I'd exchanged one prison for another.
"You want me to drink deer blood?"
They all turned toward me.
"I need to hunt—to kill!" I screamed.
They huddled, like Jason's football team, with their backs to me. I couldn't hear much of what they were saying, but I distinctly heard Hayley say, 'I don't think she can do it.' Tink followed with, 'if we could—if you could, then Izzy can.' Hayley got mad and stormed out. Tink followed after her.
"We'll take shifts," Nathan said as they stepped back, "but we all need to stay alert.
"I hate you!" I screamed. "You can't do this to me! It's my choice—mine!"
Tink and Hayley came back in from outside at my outburst.
"I think we should go ahead with phase three." Tink said.
Nathan shook his head.
"It's too soon." Elizabeth replied.
Benjamin put his arm around her to comfort her. "He's weak."
"His blood is thin, nowhere near as intoxicating as back at the quarry and maybe seeing him—" Tink said.
I liked the sound of this, a weak human—a weak Jason? I twisted my hand a little and began quietly picking at the plastic.
"It's too soon." Elizabeth repeated.
"I agree with Elizabeth." Melanie added. "Jason is weak like you say—even frail—and we still don't know how strong she is. Even if we can contain her, this could be devastating to Jason in his current state."
Benjamin stroked his chin in thought. "True, the boy is weak, but not their relationship, I believe it could do more good than harm." He looked at Elizabeth. "Remember the affect his presence had at the quarry, it calmed her." r />
"I'll fetch him." Tink said. He gave Hayley a kiss on the cheek and left.
While the conversation was going on, I'd continued to scrape at the plastic with my finger nail. Suddenly, there was pressure on the other side of the plastic from my finger. I looked over at Nathan.
"Don't even think about it." He turned toward Elizabeth. "Bring more blood."
I managed one more sip than my first attempt, but the taste was still disgusting and did nothing to quench the fire in my throat.
Benjamin startled me when he stepped in front of me and grasped my head between his hands. "Think back to what you were, Izzy. Remember, remember."
There was a blur of images, kids at school, Cathy and then Jason. A different kind of fire began to spread through me. I shook my head violently. "Stop! Stop it! Stop it!"
Benjamin stepped back. Elizabeth looked up at him expectedly but her sense of hope was not reflected in Benjamin's face.
"You stay away from me!" I screamed at Benjamin. "Stay away."
They both retreated a few feet. Nathan slapped my hand as I started to pick at the plastic again.
"She can do this?" Elizabeth said, looking up into Benjamin's eyes.
"Perhaps the boy will help."
"I can hear you." I said.