Chapter 35: 35

Lee scowled, her arms half folded while a hand navigated the map on her phone. Lexi had said it would be quick. That had been four hours ago and now her frustration had turned over to anxiety and worry. And that fueled a rage in her chest she was still wrestling with.

Sierra made a final clickety-clack on the keyboard and triumphantly turned the laptop to face the rest of them.

Lee ignored the hubbub as Christian and Elias leaned in to admire their profiles, neatly lined up on the website.

Instead she frowned even more intently, seeing the last ping from Lexi’s phone, two hours ago, in the old asylum.

It was strange, to say the least. And concerning. When it had pinged, it was at forty-percent battery so it hadn’t died. Lexi had either turned it off or it had lost signal. Maybe she’d wandered into the basement. But the burning question of why in the fuck remained.

Whatever, she decided, finally pulling her attention back to the group and looked over the website. She was trying not to worry, but Lexi had been through a lot. And when she saw that photo of her and Scarlet together, seeing how uncomfortable she’d been under the scrutiny of a camera. A horrible thought occurred to her and she tried to hush it up.

But it wouldn’t leave her be the entire night. Worse, without Lexi, they didn’t have Scarlet either so they couldn’t get quality practice in. And they had no way of contacting either of them at this point. If they didn’t see them by the time morning rolled around, Lee would bring them all up to the asylum and search it from top to bottom. They’d either find her or… or…….

Lee didn’t even know.

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I was very uncomfortable. Something about the way I’d fallen asleep was unpleasant. I was twisted into some unnatural position and for some reason my limbs wouldn’t respond to my commands to unravel and relax.

And then a sudden gag forced me to open my eyes, just to feel that overwhelming dizziness come crashing back and heave before vomiting onto the concrete beneath me.

I coughed several times, feeling my throat and sinuses clear after that. Drool dripped down from my mouth but I couldn’t wipe it away. I blinked. My eyes were adjusting to the sudden light. My feet were tightly pressed against the legs of the chair beneath me.

I blinked again.

There was duct tape around my ankles…holding them there.

Some amount of my memory came back.

“Scarlet,” I gasped and looked up.

I was still in the asylum, but I was upstairs. My hands were stuck behind me, probably also duct taped into their position.

My heart started to race again.

How did this happen? When— where— no. Who was the important question right now.

“She’s awake,” a voice said behind me.

I made an attempt to twist around but I was pretty securely tied down. The best I could do was basically turn my head and I just didn’t have the neck flexibility of an owl.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

There was silence as a response but I heard movement behind me before the man appeared.

“The real question is, who are you?” he countered. “Why would you come to a place like this?”

“What about you?” I demanded. A sinking feeling in my chest came anyway. He reeked of garlic. It was like he washed his clothes in its juices and a thick scarf was wrapped around and around his neck, hiding all of the blood vessels there.

I was suddenly very aware that I had teeth marks and a hickey on my neck, but could do nothing to hide it.

The man examined me for a long moment.

“Do you know who we’re looking for?” he asked me. He was calm. His clothes covered as much of his skin as possible. Even my gothic tendencies looked pathetic next to his dedication. He wore all black but I could tell from the way he moved, there was something unnatural about it.

A tiny strip between the waistband of his pants and the bottom of his shirt was a dark grey-green and looked almost militaristic.

Was it maybe that… he was a hunter?

I went quiet. Somehow, I knew exactly what was going on.

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“We heard that she fled here,” he explained. “Is it possible you know her?”

He was quite calm despite how tense this situation felt. I could see outside, the sun was rapidly setting. I sincerely hoped that Scarlet would flee once it was beneath the horizon. I didn’t want her hurt. I had a feeling she’d be coming for me, though. If she knew what was happening.

“Answer me,” the man demanded. For the first time, I sensed anger in his voice.

I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut. There was still nausea, but I’d emptied my stomach so it wasn’t too bad. Surely, he’d give up if I just stayed silent. But I feared what would happen regardless. 

If he murdered me… would he know how to dispose of my body?

There was a noise behind me and suddenly my chair was elevated. I tensed but had nothing to hold onto  as it moved up, to the side and back down again before a young man, surely not even into his twenties started to wipe up the former contents of my stomach with an entire roll of paper towels clutched in his free hand.

So there was at least two of them. Maybe I had a chance when there was only one. But me taking on two men wasn’t likely to happen. Even if my father had taught me how to defend myself. But there wasn’t even anything within reach I could use as a weapon.

Then again, this was the same room we’d left the rusty pipe in. I could see it from my seat here, across the room.

The man followed my gaze and he sighed. “I know you’re afraid. Understandably so, but we’re just doing our job.”

I shook my head.

“So tell me,” he continued. “Who is the vamp holing herself up in here?”

I shook my head again.

“Her name? Was it Scarlet you said?”

I didn’t even warrant that with a response and instead glued my eyes to the floor.

“Scarlet Bludge….” his voice said.

I felt my facial expression shift but refused to look up.

“Hm. Blacke and Scarlet then… fitting for some vampires.”

“...black?” I asked. 

“Someone she knows well, I’m sure. Vampires don’t tend to hunt together unless they’re related somehow.”

I shook my head. “It’s just her. Just us… no one else knows…” I swallowed.

“Vampires are slippery creatures,” he said. “Their lifetime is so expansive I wouldn’t be surprised if they had no interaction for over a decade but still feel like best friends. Maybe they’re even lovers, I don’t know. And to be frank, I wouldn’t care, but if they’re lovey dovey I might be able to lure the other Bludges out.”

I kept my mouth shut from then on. I didn’t want to know what kind of horrors these men would subject Scarlet to if they got their hands on her. Instead I did my best to tune the man out. He continued to ask questions. He wasn’t as forceful as the police were about interrogating me but he just didn’t stop.

It took all of my will-power to keep my eyes locked on the horizon as the sky went from pale blue to orange to darkness.

How long that took, I wasn’t sure but—

I remembered Mike wasn’t expecting me home. And Lee would probably assume I was having a moment  where I just needed to be alone. 

Nobody would notice my absence until it was too late.

I took a deep breath. I just had to take this one moment at a time. It was that simple.

For a brief moment, I thought maybe I saw the pink glint of Scarlet’s eyes out in the trees out there but it was gone with a blink and I thought surely she ran away by now. I sincerely wished she had.

 

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