Dark Realms (5 page)

Feed?

“Forget this one,” said Martin in a clipped
voice. “Let me have her.”

Marie snorted. “Oh, you’d like that,
wouldn’t you? Keep her as a pet?”

“What in the hell is going on?” I asked, my
eyes darting between the two of them.

“You know the rules,” said Marie, ignoring
me. “She’s mine.”

Realizing now that Marie wasn’t exactly who
she said she was, and obviously a bigger threat than Martin, I
moved closer to him.

Martin swore under his breath. “I’m sorry,
Emily. You’d better run. I wish there was something I could
do.”

I stared at him in confusion. “Do? About
what?”

“Martin,” warned Marie.

He clenched his jaw. “Please, get… out… of…
here. Now.”

Marie smiled broadly, her teeth glowing in
the darkness. “Yes, run away. I live for the hunt. It’s much more
fun.”

I stared at the fangs between her lips in
disbelief.

Fangs?

“Listen, I’ll give you a thirty-second head
start,” she said. “And there will be no help from Martin. I’m
telling my father, by the way. When he’s recovered fully.”

He rolled his eyes. “Your threats don’t
frighten me, Celeste.”

I looked at her. “Celeste?”

“Marie is my middle name.”
She wrinkled her nose. “By the way, why
are
you still here?”

I have to be
dreaming
, I thought.
It’s the only thing that made sense.

Not needing any more prodding, I turned and
began limping through the woods, away from the strange couple,
convinced that any minute I’d wake up in my bed. Obviously,
sleeping in a new place and a late-night snack of peanut butter had
corrupted my dreams, giving me nightmares.

I clenched my jaw as the pain in my knee
grew worse.

Strange, I never
remembered feeling pain in any of my other dreams.

As these thoughts ran through my head, I
noticed a structure up ahead, past the trees. With a renewed surge
of hope, I made a beeline towards it, certain that things had to
get start getting better. My hope was soon squashed, however, when
I realized where in the hell I was.

“No,” I gasped in disbelief.

I’d somehow backtracked and ended up at the
barn.

Trying not to panic,
I looked around the property, noticing the house
was lit up like a Christmas tree. I wondered if the others were
still alive, but I was too chicken to find out. Injured and
thirsty, I couldn’t be of much help to anyone at the
moment.

Wincing as another hot rush of pain seared
through my knee, I decided to hide in the barn before Martin and
Marie, or whatever her damn name was, found me. Obviously, they
were both nuts.

I peeked inside of the barn. It was dark and
appeared empty. As I limped inside, I heard a soft moan and
froze.

“Help me,” a girl’s voice pleaded.

I stared up towards the loft. “Tara?”

She didn’t answer.

Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the
ladder. “Don’t worry, I’m coming to help you.”

“Emily,” she moaned. “Help me.”

I started climbing the ladder, wondering
exactly what I was going to find above. Fairly certain that it was
still a dream and that nothing could really hurt me, I willed
myself up each step. When I reached the top and looked over the
edge, I saw her.

“Tara?”

She was lying down on her back, her head
facing the wall.

“Hey,” I whispered, crawling over the edge
and onto the wooden platform. “Are you okay?”

She didn’t answer.

Wondering if she’d fallen asleep, I crawled
over to her. “Tara,” I whispered, touching her shoulder.

She turned her face to me and I gasped in
horror.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to see
you,” she said, smiling broadly.

I stared down at her glowing red eyes and
sharp teeth that were definitely inhuman. “Ohmygod! Tara, what did
they do to you?”

Her hand snaked out and grabbed my throat.
“I’m so hungry, Emily,” she said, her eyes glowing even brighter.
“Please understand that this isn’t anything… personal.”

I tried prying her fingers away from my
neck, but I couldn’t.

She smiled. “I know, right? I’m so freaking
strong now. It’s amazing.”

Frightened and hysterical, I tried
scratching at her eyes, but she was fast, blocking all of my
attempts. We started rolling around and soon she was on top,
staring down at me with triumph. “Well, it’s been… real.”

I tried flipping her off of me, but she held
me in place with thighs that were incredibly powerful. “Please,” I
gasped.

“You shouldn’t have tried escaping without
me,” she said, baring her fangs. “Although, I’m not really
complaining much. I had an awesome time with Brandon. That guy
knows his way around a girl; you know what I’m saying?”

I didn’t have a clue.

Unable to move, I closed my eyes and prayed
that this was still just part of a nightmare. Mercifully, before
her teeth ripped into my neck, my prayers were answered.

Well, almost.

Her hands released me and I opened my eyes
to find Marie holding Tara by the throat over the edge of the loft.
Tara’s eyes were bulging as she tried unwrapping Marie’s fingers
from her throat as she hung helplessly.

“Nobody
steals from me,” growled Marie.

I scooted away on the ground, but something
grabbed me from behind.

“No!” I screamed, flailing my arms and
legs.

“This one’s a fighter to the bitter end,”
said the man holding me, his voice raspy. He tightened his grip and
pulled my hair away from my neck. “Oh, but the scent of her fear
is… delicious.”

Marie dropped Tara, who’d passed out, over
the edge and turned towards us. “Daddy, you’re awake.”

“Lucky for me. Tara fed from me while I
slept,” he growled angrily. “Good thing I woke up before she got
too far. I almost killed her, but this one walked into the barn
before I could finish the job.”

She scowled. “How did Tara change?”

He sighed. “Apparently, Brandon had his way
with her.”

“Brandon?” she fumed. “Are you sure it
wasn’t Martin?”

“Oh, it was Brandon. I heard her tell this
one,” he said, sniffing my neck.

I shuddered.

“Don’t worry – I’ll take care of him once I
feed. Nobody cheats on my daughter.”

“Please, let me go,” I begged.

“You’re still not fully
healed,” she replied, ignoring me. Her eyes softened. “Why
don’t
you
have
this one?

“Oh, I plan on it,” he said. “But don’t
worry, Celeste. We’ll get you fed before we reach Shore Lake.”

My eyes filled with tears. “Please, let me
go.”

Celeste, or whatever her name was, walked
over and kneeled next to me. “You should be honored,” she said,
wiping a tear from my cheek. “Your blood will help daddy regain the
rest of his strength.”

I glared at her. “You people are all
crazy.”

She tilted her head and smiled. “Poor thing…
you still don’t get it, do you?”

My eyes narrowed. “No. Why don’t you
enlighten me?”

Her eyes left mine and moved to her father.
“Daddy? Why don’t you show her?”

He released me and I scooted away. When I
turned around and finally had my first glimpse of the creature
holding me, I gasped in revulsion.

He smiled coldly. “How’s
this for
enlightenment
?”

Although he had dark hair and bright blue
eyes, it was the only thing humanly recognizable. With his lack of
skin and organs exposed, he reminded me of something I’d seen in a
science book – a body without skin.

I shuddered in revulsion.

“This is what happens when you’re doused
with gasoline and lit on fire,” he rasped. “Yes, people actually
did this to me on purpose.” His eyes narrowed. “Your father, being
one of them.”

I stared at him in
disbelief. “
My
father?”

Marie laughed coldly. “Your father, Tara’s
father, Amy’s uncle, and Anna’s husband. Oh, and Gloria’s husband.
You never got the chance to meet her. Daddy did, though, didn’t
you?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, she just wasn’t enough
to fix all of this damage,” he said, looking down at himself.
“Hopefully, your blood along with the others… will do the
trick.”

“I had nothing to do with this,” I
protested, wishing I’d just wake up soon. This dream was disturbing
and not getting any better.

“No, but your father’s platoon did and I had
to suffer being buried alive. If it wasn’t for my children finding
me…” He coughed several times.

“Daddy?” said Celeste.

He cleared his throat and
raised his hand. “I’m okay.” After several seconds, his eyes
drifted back to mine. “I had to endure
twenty
years of being trapped
underground. You have no idea how something like that can destroy a
man’s will to live.” He closed his eyes. “How many times a day, I
prayed for death and asked for God’s mercy. Well, my prayers were
ignored.” He opened his eyes. “The only other thing that kept me
sane was planning my revenge the last few years. Vengeance against
those who buried me alive.”

I swallowed. “Vengeance? You mean, killing
innocent people.”

“Unfortunately, yes. I agree… you’re all
innocent, but losing you will hurt your father more than his own
death.”

“There’s another way.”

We all turned to see Martin standing next to
the loft window.

“What do you mean?” asked the ghoulish
creature.

“He tried killing you because of what you
are. What if we make his daughter a Roamer too?” said Martin.

A Roamer?

“No!” hollered Celeste. “You just want her
for yourself, that’s why you’re coming up with this nonsense.”

His eyes flickered to me. “I won’t lie, I
fancy Emily. But, still… think about it. She will become what he
tried to destroy.” he smiled. “It’s poetic justice.”

He sighed. “Son…”

Martin moved closer. “Father, I’ve never
asked for much. You know that.”

“That’s because he hasn’t seen you in twenty
years,” muttered Celeste.

As they argued my fate, I
looked around the barn, wondering what I was going to do. There was
no way I’d allow them to make me a Roamer, whatever the hell
that
meant. And dying…
well obviously that had to be far worse and more
painful.

I thought about my overprotective father and
it was obvious how he figured into this dream. After everything I’d
seen, and now hearing this nonsense of how the creature before me
had been buried alive for twenty years, I was now fully convinced
that I was sleeping.

Well, it was time to wake up.

“Okay,” I said, standing up. “This is the
longest nightmare I’ve ever had and… well… I’m really sick of being
in it.”

They all stared at me.

I sighed. “Look, I have a
lot of things to do before school starts – unpacking, grocery
shopping, finding a part-time job. Anyway, it’s been
interesting
, but… I
really need to wake up, so,” I turned towards the edge of the loft.
“I’m waking up.”

“Emily!” hollered Martin.

Ignoring him, I stepped off the ledge and
dropped, expecting to wake up in my warm bed.

Instead I landed with a loud thud.

The pain was excruciating at first. And
then, there was nothing.

Martin flew down from the loft and kneeled
next to me. He touched my arm, but I couldn’t feel anything.

“Oh, Emily,” he sighed.

I tried to speak, but couldn’t.

“Is she alive?” asked Celeste, staring down
at me.

Yes, I am!

“She’s blinking,” said Martin, his eyes
softening.

“Look at the way she landed. She probably
shattered every bone in her body,” said Celeste.

I didn’t hear his answer because everything
went black.

Chapter Six

I opened my eyes and heaved a huge sigh of
relief.

“Thank God,” I said, sitting up in bed. I
chuckled and stood up. “No more peanut butter before bed. Never
again.”

Hell, the thought of peanut butter almost
made me nauseous.

My cell phone rang.

I walked over to my dresser and picked it
up.

My dad.

“Hi, dad.”

“Where in the hell have you been?” he
growled.

“In bed, sleeping?” I
replied, rolling my eyes. I looked at my alarm clock and it was
only nine-thirty in the morning. “I guess I slept
in
a little.”

“Don’t be a smartass,” he said. “Your mother
and I have been worried sick about you. Jesus, we almost took a
trip back out there to make sure you were okay. But we promised to
give you your space and… oh, hell, maybe this apartment was a
mistake.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Have you checked your phone lately?”

“No, I just woke up. I had a late
night.”

“I guess. Look, we’ve left you several
messages the last couple of days and heard nothing from you. Your
poor mother has been on the brink of a nervous breakdown not
hearing back from you.”

“Last couple of days?” I asked,
confused.

“Yeah, it’s Saturday.”

I paused.
Did he just really say
Saturday
?

“Emily.”

“Uh, yeah”

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You aren’t doing
drugs now, are you?”

“No!” I protested.

“Your mother wants to talk to you.”

She got on the phone. “What’s going on,
Emily?”

“Uh, nothing. I’m fine,” I lied.

“Do you want us to come and get you?”

“No,” I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose.
“Mom, I’m fine. Look, I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll call you
guys back in an hour or so.”