Escaped the Night (47 page)

My mind wandered back
to
memories of Jayce and
I reminisced about all
the time we
spent together
.
I wasn’t ready for our time to end.
I managed to pull mys
elf out of the icy embrace
only to find it
wasn’t
Daray embracing me.
It was
the stranger from
the night in the gardens.
He flashed
his long sharp fangs
and
the sight of him overwhelmed me
.
Fresh
red blood dripped
off his fangs and trickled
down his terrifying pale face. It wasn’t until I’d broken free that I felt the pain and understood the full extent of my weakness. He’d bitten me
and
what I
was seeing
was
my own blood.
My
frail
body dropped to the ground
, craving
more of the
foreign taste that
had eased my pain earlier. It was too late,
I was
too weak and
couldn’t find the
strength needed to get up and find
some
more.

The real Daray
arrived
and held onto me as I jerked around
,
losing
the
last bits of life
from
my dying body. “Protecting you is all I’ve ever tried to do. Once I
found out
you were alive
,
but lost and cursed by the nightwalk
ers, I only wanted you safe. I
tried everything
to k
eep you in the
daylight where you belong
ed
. You’
re b
righter than any sunshine; you’
re the light
leading
out of this darkness.
You’r
e the one
with
the ability to heal this
immortal worl
d. You can
remove th
e divide that’s been placed between
us.
You weren’t s
upposed to share this fate. It
was
mine and I’m sorry
it absorb
ed
you.
I know t
his wasn’t meant fo
r you.” He leaned down and
pressed
his cool
lips on my forehead.
He hugged me tightly
. “I apologize for not being able to protect you. I
promise you,
I’
ll
make this right.”

I was
n’t
able to spe
ak
. I couldn’t tell him
I
forgave
him. I was
n’t
ab
le to beg
him not to leave my side because I was afraid to die
. I didn’t want to disappear
from this life
alone.
He never knew the words I wanted to say and h
e
released me from
his protective embrace and gently
laid
my dying body on the ground.

A raging growl ca
me from his mouth as he revealed his fangs.
There was
a look of sheer
hatred in his eyes. He clenched his fists and
I watched as he
leaped
up
and smashed
mid-air into the strange
r
. My body
remained motionless
as I lay on the
ground
watching the two of them struggle
. They hit with such force
,
every blow sent the other flying across the room.
I found it
har
d
to focus on the
ir
collisions
. They moved so
rapidly,
back and forth,
hit after hit, soon
I wasn’t able to keep
up. I was fading fast and
hoped with
the last of
my might
,
Da
ray was strong enough to take out
the stranger
and finish this once and for all
.

I strained my eyes
as
I look
ed around for the
rest of Daray’s nightwalkers.
They were nowhere to be seen and he
was alone with t
he
stranger
and his
unimaginable strength. I wasn’t sur
e how
the stranger had
become so strong or
if
Daray
could
beat him.
Blackness
consumed
my eyes
and
silence filled my ears.
I
was sure
I
’d just
died because t
here was nothing left, except my mind.
I had no senses, no feeling and
I
decided to accept
the fact th
is was my
end
. Everything went quiet
,
and
then,
I
heard
a voice. One name came to me and
it
was as clear as anything I’d ever heard before. “Donovan.”
The stranger had finally been named.

I fought with everything
left in me an
d managed to open my eyes
. They
strained
as
I
focused
. Disappointment and sadness
came over me
.
The first
clear
thing I saw
was
Daray’s slain body
nearby, his
dark blood sprawling
across the g
r
ound
.

I
heard a howl of protest only to realize it was coming from somewhere deep inside
me
. My arm was stretched out, but useless and flailing. Sputtering and sobbing, I cried out, “Why? WHY?”

The victorious vampire picked
my limp body
up
from the ground.
I had no strength
, just
a rush of
anger and resentment. He placed his face
down
by my ear and
spoke clearly. “Donovan. That is my name. Don’t you
ever forget it
.”
He
bit down with such a
powerful
force
that
I jolted
awake
.

"J
ayce…
Jayce.” I fumbled around the
bed trying to find him.

“Yes
?”

I hesitated, waiting. Something about the reply wasn’t right. It wasn’t Jayce. I began to shiver from a chill that I couldn’t explain until it dawned on me. Unable to move out of fear, I squeaked, “Guys?” But no one came. I felt my heart pounding against my chest, the nightmare still vivid i
n my memory. At least I hoped this
was only a nightmare. Using all my strength, I screamed again. This time the bedroom door flung open. The overhead light flicked on. Jayce, Kaleb and Kael looked ready for battle.

“What’s
going on?” Jayce asked
.

“Can’t
you feel it?
” I said
,
frantically looking around my room for some sign of him. “I’m sure of it, yes, h
e was here
.”

“Daray was
here?” Kaleb
snarled.

“No, not
Daray. He isn’t
the one
we need to w
orry about. Trust me when I say
he means me no harm
.
It’s
Donovan
, he
’s
the one who killed my family and t
hat’s who’s after me.”

“Donovan? Who’s he? Where’d he come from
?” Kael asked.

“Oh, I know exactly who he is. He’s the stranger from that night in the gardens.
He’s the one that turned
Daray.
” I looked
down, my hands
shaking
.
I could still picture his pale face and
feel his icy touch.

I was about to explain
the details of
my dream to the others
when
suddenly
I
heard whispers
. They were
the same ones from earlier
, only
slightly
different
,
because
this time
,
I
hear
d
everything
perfectly. As the words came
to me,
I repeated them aloud.

“I don’t want you here
,
”
h
e hissed. “
Can
’t you see
y
ou don’t belong in
this world
? You’ve
disgraced me by eluding
my
gift of the night. The
offering
wasn’t
meant for you, yet
somehow,
here you are
with it.”
He let out an evil snicker. “
Foolish girl, y
ou
haven’t
even
figured out how
to reap any of the
many benefits.”

I paused;
g
rowls and hisses
filled my ears.

“You
choose to view this gift as a curse, but you…
you are
the curse
.
I
shall
make you
pay with your life
; it’ll be your punishment
for
continuing to walk
amongst
the daywalkers and mortals. Yes, t
he time has
finally come. Soon I
will be
rid of my curse
—
once and for all
.”

“Who
does this parasite think he is?”
Kael
clenched his jaw tightly
, punching
his fists together. Every muscle
rippled and
his
veins bulged.

Kaleb silently shifted his massive body closer to mine. He was no more than a few inches
away
and stood ready for anything.

“Guys, we
’ve got to
find Daray. He tried to help me and I think he’s dead.”

Not one of them budged.

“Guys
!
” I sna
pped
.
M
y dreams were becoming
more than just simple
imaginings
; t
hey were
starting to become
p
remonitions. I
had to listen when I
was being warned
because
my
dreams were the only thing
s
put
ting the missing pieces in place
.
“We’ve
had this all wrong
. Daray isn’t the threat here, h
e never has been.
Believe it or not, h
e’s on our side.”

Jayce rolled his eyes.

I
wanted
to explain
what I meant
, but
t
here was a weird
feel
ing in the pit of my stomach
. W
ithout a
nother
word
I got up out of bed
, walked past the guys and
went down the hallway. I
knocked once as I opened the door to
Uncle Dane and Auntie Steph’s room. Once
the d
oor
opened,
my blood
burned
with way
more intensity
. I flipped on the light
s and
saw
a speedy
shadow flash across the room and
head
out the window
,
leaving
t
he drapes
swinging
side to side.

Uncle Dane was closest.
I rushed
over to the bed and shook
him as hard as I could to make
sure he woke up
.

“I’m up, I’m up,” he said, half asleep.

The guys
had
followed me into the room and
Jayce
was
check
ing on Auntie Steph.
She too awoke with no trouble.
I was so relieved that
they
’d both remained asleep and we had
gotten into their room in the nick of time.
They were wide awake now and full of questions, but thankfully neither of them knew how close they’d just been to death.

Kael
’s massive body stood in the window as he
looked
past
the flowing curtains to see if anything
or anyone
was still close by. He shut the window and double-checked to make sure it was locked.
Kaleb
returned from checking
out the rest of the house
.
E
verything was sealed up tightly.

My
blood began warming. “He’s gone,
” I said solemnly.
I was angry that he’d
gotten away because t
his
was
way to
o
close
. Donovan had
stood in my room and
stayed for some time in the room next door
without us even knowing
. I
t wasn’t until now that I
realized why I
’d
hear
d
his voice
so
clearly.
Being so near allowed him to
simply
fe
e
d
me
the lines
. He
was right about
one thing. T
he time
was
coming,
but it wasn’t my time. I
t was his.

“Uncle Dane, why
exactly did you…
I mean
, why did my family
try so hard to keep Daray and the others away from m
e? You guys did it for all these years. Why
?”

T
he look
upon
his face
showed me
that
he didn’t want to answer
.

“
Uncle Dane, please,
” I begged.
“I need to know the whole story. I can’t live on bits and
pieces anymore. I need the
truth.”

“Oh kiddo.” He paused
be
for
e
saying,
“You were and
,
don’t get me wrong
,
still are a blessing
in my books
.
When e
veryone throughout the immortal world heard what happened
, sadly it
made
enemies everywhere
for you
. Enemies you couldn’t have
even
imagined
. You were so vulnerable,
meant to walk with the nightwalkers
, yet
somehow
you
managed to remain with the daywalkers. This
put the entire immortal world on edge. You had the blood of the monste
rs running through
your veins
, yet
basically remained yourself. Your
ability and
strength was completely
unheard of
. N
o one knew what
to expect
and
therefore
they
fe
ared you. Whenever Daray or
any
other nightwalker was around, you began
experiencing subtle changes. You
start
ed
taking on their characteristics and we didn’t want that. Shanntal, you
’re
stronger than any curse or
gift or whatever they
want to call it. You survived and best of all, y
ou’
re still you.”

“Is that everything?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Auntie Steph
rubbed
my shoulder
s
. Uncle Dane situated himself, sighed and continued.

“Unfortunately
not. T
he more time you spent around Daray, the harder it was for you to walk in the s
unlight or
act like yourself. H
e was
a newborn
vampire
and didn’t know how to guide or
help you find your way
because
he was too busy trying to find this out for himself
.
Due to the fact
that
he was a
full vampire
and you had the
ability to remain with the daywalkers,
there wasn’t any way to
return to the life you
once shared together. You
spent
some time with him
because
you both
thought
there was some way to overcome your differences.
We wanted you
to be
happy, but w
ithin a few days
of
living in the darkness
,
well,
you began turning more
into one of them. Your family tried their best to help you guys work it out
,
but once they realized how much
you were changing, they decided
the only way to save you was for them to take you
away
from him. Your parents came
in
during the day
light hours
and walked right out of the house with you.
No
ne
of
the nightwalkers
could follow because the sun was high.
That
was the last time you ever saw him, until now. You must understand
; they
were only trying
to
protect you. They loved you so much and
believed in
your great pot
ential
,
so,
they
did what
they
needed to do in order to make sure you didn’t
slip under the night curse
.”

“Did Daray know about
this
? D
id he
understand why I couldn’t be near him?” I lo
oked over at Jayce, his face
never
change
d
and his
features
remained neutral. He connected
and with
out so much as a word I knew
he
got
where I was coming from. I
felt
him all through me and
understood
his sympathy
and recognized
his support. Most
importantly
,
I felt reassured knowing
that
he was on my side and it was okay
that
I
wanted
to know
everything about my past.
Finding
out what happened
to me
all those years ago
would
be
the only way I’d ever be
able to
move forward with my lif
e. Perhaps
,
it would also help us
to
understand exactly
what
we were up against.