Escaped the Night (34 page)

Kaleb stood strong and didn’t
shed a tear. I on the other hand
was
completely
hysterical
.
Garrison
was my protector. He wasn’t suppose
d to be gone. I needed him
. I m
anaged to walk
over to Kaleb
,
who
remained
as hard as stone. I wrapped m
y arms around his large frame, leaving wet marks
on
his shirt as I cried.
“I’m so sorry.
I can’t believe this.
”

Ka
leb never made a sound. He
simply
placed
his arms around me and held me close. I
felt
the
pain
he was in
even though he never said
the
wor
d
s aloud
.
Feeling all eyes on us,
I
broke out of the embrace and
led him into another room where h
e’d be able to grieve
the loss of
his brother in peace
.
We entered the other room and
I
closed the door.
I sat
him
down in a chair and
looked into his
strong
eyes
. My heart broke
seeing
all
the pain
they held
.

“Kaleb
,
” I
explained
softly
. “It’s okay. He was your brother.”

H
e started to cry. It was
distressing
watching him. I’d thou
ght of these two as in
vincible;
after all
t
hey
were
my
protectors. Why couldn’t I
protect
them from this?
I hugged
him
tightly as he
mourned
the loss of his brother.

Jayce came
into the room a while later and
walked over to where we
sat
. “I’m so sorry. I
really
can’t believe this happened. I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s okay,” Kaleb said.

I rubbed his broad shoulders to comfort him.

Kaleb spoke
proudly, “He died protecting
because it’s what we do. We kne
w the risks
involved
and yet we
still made the
choice
to face it head on.” He paused for a minute. “My brother will always be remembered as a protector. He never gave up. A protector, forever.”
He was d
one being vulnerable and turned
back into stone right before our eyes.

All I could do was support him. “I agree. Protector forever. He’
ll always be known as my protector.”

Jayce
relaxed
his pose as he
came a bit closer
to us
. “Mer
iel’s back now
. She’s in
really
rough
shape. It’s a miracle Kael
got her back here in one piece. She’s
pretty
weak.”

Kaleb and I looked at each other,
wiped away our tears
,
and
got up so we could head into
the
front room
with Jayce
and
check in on our friend. Everyone
crowded
around Meriel. She was conscious and asking for Kaleb. Kaleb and I squeezed our way through the crowd to get near her.

“I’m sorry Kaleb.
Garrison
was protect
ing
me,
”
s
he gasped
as she tried
to breathe properly.
“
Lakylee
attacked when she saw
the others come. The guys moved in for the attack because they didn’t realize she was only talking. She panicked seeing them
closing in
.
Kael
fought
w
ith her, but she threw him back. He flew so far and
couldn’t get
over
to us in time.”

I looked at Kael, who
held
her hand,
blood covering
his clothes
.
Was it
hers? Maybe it was
Garrison
’s
? I felt sick to my stomach and couldn’t swallow down the lump
rising
in my throat. I couldn’t stand the sight of him
like this
, so I focused
back
on Meriel.

She
had
tears in her eyes. “
Garrison
was he
lping me, but she came
fr
om behind. She was
strong,
angry
,
he couldn’t fight her off.” Her voice
grew
quiet. The
severity of her
weak
ness was evident
as she spoke
.
Blood covered her
shredded
clothes.
Lakylee
had
gone unhinged, clawing
a g
ood portion of her. Poor Meriel
was in pretty bad shape.

“D
on’t worry
,
Shannta
l. I’ll heal,
I
just need time.” She
smiled weakly
and closed her eyes
.

Aiden, Makan and Terran began p
ushing everyone out of the room
to give Meriel some space.
“She nee
ds
to
r
est,
” Terran
said
.

I nodded
and
tightly held onto Kaleb’s arm as
we made our retreat out of the room.
Jayce
was the last one out
.
I overheard T
erran sp
eaking with
him before he got through the doorway. “Please
, you
will
need to keep guard tonight. We must
keep her safe. Sh
e’s too weak to fight
.”

Kaleb
also
overhe
ard and looked back nodding
.
He wanted to show Terran
that he
was ready.
He unclenched my arm and went into the group
to find Kael
.
The
two
spoke as they
stood by the big window
and stared
into the dark night, w
aiting to see what would happen next.

Decisions

~ Chapter Eight ~

The night felt as though it
would
go on
forever.
Kael and Kaleb never
strayed
an inch
from the window
, not
even for a
second. They were on guard and
nothing was
coming
past them tonight.

I
let out a yawn, quickly followed by another
. I felt bad
being tired after everything that had happened
earlier in the evening, but
it was getting
quite
late. I
got up off the couch,
walked over
t
o
Kaleb a
nd gave him a
hug. “Night Kaleb.
”

He
returned the hug and gave me a nod
. He d
idn’t have to say anything.
I knew
he was
still
in
pain
.

I made my way to
wards the stairs, Jayce
following
my lead as I retreat
ed
up
to his
bed
room.
I laid
my head down on the pillow
. I was so
tired, yet
I
couldn’t fall asleep. So many thoughts went through my mind. Jayce played with my hair and
grazed his fingers along my skin to try
to
help sooth
e m
e
.
I rolled over
, the room was dark; all I
could see
was
the outline o
f his face. I
felt along his ja
w
-
line until I found his lips
and
ran my fingers over them.

He moved
closer,
propping
himself up
as
his body pressed gently against mine.
He traced along my shoulders and down my arm with his fingertips. I squeezed
in closer
,
enjoying the shocks
from his touch
.
He continued
teasing
until I couldn’t stand it.

“Jayce, please
.”

H
e
obliged,
pr
essing his lips down intensely.
I wrapped my arms
around his neck, pu
lling him on top of me.
I could get lost in
him
. This is
the life I wanted to live
. Kissing him, tasting
the sweet sting of
our electrifying passion. I longed for it. I needed it.

A
light knock came upon the door, y
et
another interruption. I moaned
in protest a
s he
got up
to open
the door.
It was
Makan
. Th
e hallway was quite dark
,
but
I could see him clearly.

“Mer
iel is really weak, however
,
her condition
does seem
to be improving. Also, I checked in
earlier with
Kaleb and Kael and they
said tonight’
s
covered. So
, there’s no watch for anyone
else
tonight
.
”

Jayce nodded in agreement. “
Sounds good. Good night.
” He started closing
the door
but paused
. “
Makan,
l
et me know if there’
s any change with
Meriel
, okay?
”

“Will do
. Good night
,
Shanntal,
” Makan said
,
before retreating
back downstairs.

Jayce closed the door and came back to bed. He wrapped his arms around me
and we both drifted off
.

I saw
Garrison
,
only to watch
in horror as
Lakylee
attacked
. It felt like I was there, hiding in the
trees, seeing it all unfold. S
he
ca
me up without any warning
while
he was bent over
help
ing
Meriel
and
pounce
d
on him
. H
e s
wung
trying to
fight her off, but
lost h
is balance from the
un
expecte
d
blow.
Lakylee
seemed so
enraged
and out of control. I
n her fit of ange
r,
she clawed savagely at his throat.
Then
without warning,
she
turned and
disappeared back into the night
.
The way
she
attacked, he
never
stood a chance of
properly
defen
d
ing
himself. I continued
watching
as he lay still
on the
floor of the forest
bleeding to death.

The atmosphere changed.
Now
,
I
stood
down on the beach.
Garrison
was
in front
of me and
unharmed
. He looked
perfect
, just as he always did
.
I smiled
as h
e thanked me over and over for givin
g him such a fulfilling lif
e. He
finished
his thanks
by telling
me
he’d always be in my debt.

I
asked
what he meant. How was it so fulfilling? What had I done
that was so special
? He nev
er got
the chance
to answer my questions because a
bright flash lit up the area where
he stood
. I looked
around.
I couldn’t see him anymore.
Garrison
was gone
along with the light
.

I
was
alone on the beach when I
heard
my name being chanted over the
blowing wind.
I looked in the direction the sounds were coming from just as a
dense fog
rolled in
,
covering
everything. My blood
began
to run cold. I knew
he was near. I t
r
i
ed to make my escape
,
but m
y body didn’t co-operate. I
froze.

I
saw
him
clearly
. I wanted to get away
,
but something
pulled
me
in
closer. When I was within his reach
,
he touched
my
neck and began
sensually
ru
n
ning
his icy
fingers over
my throat. As much
as I wanted to
escape
, I wa
s no match against him. He effort
lessly tilted my head
to the side
. I fought to
straighten it
, but it wouldn’t move. I watched helplessly
as he
leaned in closer, his cold lips and
breath trickling along my neck. A moment later he
bit down. I felt the painful burning
as he spilled his venom
and drank my blood
.

“No Daray,
please
don’t!” I
yelled
at the top of my lungs. My voice
started
loud only to become weaker
the more I fought
. It was no use. I
went cold and limp as he sucked my life away.