Freak of Nature (The Lost Witch Trilogy #1) (8 page)

Sarah groaned and lowered her head to touch Lash’s arm. “I’m so sorry Lash. I’m so sorry.”

Lash bent his head and leaned it against hers.
“I’m okay now. I’m better than okay now Sarah. When I move out this summer, I’ll never have to see my father again. Ever. I hope he dies.”

Sarah raised her head at the hatred she heard in Lash’s voice.
She leaned back from him and raised her hand to touch his cheek. “Lash, it breaks my heart what your father did to you. But what you’ve done to those girls in the city and what you’re doing to Jill now is just as bad. Can’t you see that you’re just repeating the cycle?”

Lash looked taken aback and blinked a few times.
“You don’t understand Sarah. I
have
to take the blood now. I need to get stronger. The more blood I take, the better I get. At first, I thought it was disgusting. I had to force myself to do it. I’d get the girl I was with drunk and then I’d make a small slit on the back of her neck, where she wouldn’t notice and the first time I did it, I threw up. But I forced myself to keep going. The next day I felt almost human for the first time since I was a kid. I knew then I had to keep doing it. I hated it Sarah. I hated it, but now . . . now, it’s almost like I have to have it. It’s like a drug now. I guess that’s why they call it blood lust,” he said sounding strange and far away.

Sarah swallowed and leaned forward turning Lash’s face towards her.
“You have to stop Lash. You’re going to end up killing Jill if you don’t. She’s so weak now she can barely sit up in her chair. I won’t let you take any more blood from her.”

Lash looked angry at first but then stared into her eyes for a few silent moments.
He finally lowered his head and sighed. “I’ve wanted to stop. I just can’t. I say I will. I know what I’m doing to Jill. When I look at her sometimes, I can see myself when I was a kid trying to go to school after what my father did to me and I feel sick to death. I feel like I’ve tainted myself. Almost like I’m unclean now.”

Sarah breathed in deep and let it out slowly.
“If you’re unclean now, then there’s a way to become clean again. I know it. The first step is to stop though. I’ll help you. The way you’re talking is like an addict. There is a ton of help for addicts these days. In health class last year, I did a paper on the 12 step program for drug and alcohol addicts. It’s the one thing that seems to work. It’ll work for you too.”

Lash smiled for the first time and looked at her with what she couldn’t deny was love in his eyes.
“You’re so good to me. You’ve always been so good to me. I’ll do it Sarah. Whatever you say, I’ll do. If it means I can be with you someday and be clean and whole, I‘ll do twenty-four steps. I don’t even care.”

Sarah winced.
“Lash, you have to do this for yourself and for all the people you don’t want to hurt, like your father hurt you and like you’ve been hurting Jill. Doing this doesn’t mean that you and I will be together.”

Lash frowned and rubbed his thumb across her hand.
“But that’s what I want. That’s what I’ve always wanted. On days when I was too weak to even move because of my dad, I would lay in bed and day dream about one day being able to escape. And you were always there with me. The hope of being with you has kept me alive Sarah. I can’t do this without you.”

Sarah grasped his arm in her hand.
“You won’t have to do this alone. I promise I’ll be your friend. I can’t promise you anything else.”

Lash swallowed and nodded his head.
“I’ll win you over. I’m going to be clean again and you’ll want to be with me then. I promise.”

Sarah looked away, not knowing what to say.
“Lash, is there somewhere you can live, where you won’t have to be with your dad? I don’t think you should have to live with a man who would use his own son. He’s abused you Lash. He’s evil.”

Lash nodded.
“I know. That’s what’s so scary. I can see him when I look in the mirror sometimes. I hate that. But it’s okay. Now that he knows I’ll fight him if he tries to take my blood now, he’s never home. He works in the city, so he’s been staying there. I haven’t seen him in a couple months now. I have a housekeeper that keeps the house clean and meals in the fridge. I know she sends reports to my dad about what I’m doing but I don’t care. As long as he stays out of my way, I’m fine. If he comes back? What can he do? I’m stronger now. I’ll kill him if he ever touches me again.”

Sarah felt her heart sicken at the thought, but knew Lash was serious.
She didn’t know if she blamed him either.

“So this whole blood lust thing.
Is that where all the stories of vampires come from?”

Lash stood up, and held her hand, pulling her up to stand beside him. He gave her a half smile and nodded.
“You should see my dad’s library. It’s full of old dusty books about the subject. Not vampires, but Blutrausch . It’s been around since the beginning of time. Small groups of men and women who prey on others. When you start drinking blood, it’s addicting not because of what it tastes like, but because of what it does to your body. You’re stronger, you stay young and you’re smarter. Everything you are becomes more. It’s like the fountain of youth and steroids without the side effects. The whole myth about the undead and living forever? Bull. But it does sustain your life past the normal range. My dad is in his fifties but he could pass for his early thirties.”

Sarah shook her head in wonder.
“That is so crazy.”

Lash held her hand and looked at her sadly. “Sarah, do you think
I’m, . . . gross, or evil now?”

Sarah looked away frowning, not wanting to meet his eyes.
Within her was the desire to help and heal and she knew Lash needed healing. From his father’s abuse and from his new addiction to blood. But she was still disgusted too.

“Lash, you’re not gross.
What you’ve done is gross. You’re not evil. What you’re doing is and what’s been done to you is. But if you keep going down the path you’re on. You’ll be just like your dad. I would hate that. And I know you would too.”

Lash nodded his head, looking determined.
“I refuse to be like my dad. I won’t be. I was freaked out that you found out. But you’ve given me hope that there’s a way out. I didn’t know there was one.”

Sarah smiled and patted his back.
“I’ll go to the library during the next period and get you the information on the 12 steps. Will you start today?”

Lash nodded his head and smiled.
“I already have.”

Sarah smiled and grabbed Lash’s arm.
“Come on; let’s get back to school before someone thinks we’re out here making out or something,” she said with a laugh.

Lash frowned.
“I wouldn’t have a problem with that.”

“I would,” said a low, angry
voice.

Sarah and Lash turned around and stared at Zane.
Sarah’s eyes widened at the expression on his face. He looked seriously ticked. She remembered what Zane had done to Drake yesterday and stood in front of Lash just in case.

“Zane, we were just talking,” she said, holding a hand up defensively as his expression darkened and he looked over her shoulder at Lash.

“Well, I did kiss her,” Lash said cockily.

Sarah groaned and reached back and elbowed Lash in the stomach.
“Shut up you idiot before Zane rips you in half.”

Lash snorted. “You’re assuming he could. There’s no way.”

Zane started forward. “Why don’t we find out,” he said, his voice sounding as violent as his eyes looked.

Sarah threw herself in front of Zane, pushing against him with all her might. “No Zane.
You don’t understand what just happened. Lash, take off. I’ll talk to you later.”

Lash looked like he wanted to stay and fight with Zane, but she shook her head at him pleadingly and he nodded.
He turned and walked away without saying another word.

She turned and looked up into Zane’s wary eyes and felt tired all of a sudden.

“Please don’t look at me like that. I don’t deserve it.”

Zane turned away from her, crossing his arms across his chest. “Did he kiss you?” he demanded, sounding horribly disappointed.

Sarah walked up behind Zane and wrapped her arms around him from behind, sending her energy out and around him. She felt him relax slightly. “He did kiss me, but I hurt him for it. He still doesn’t have feeling in three of his toes and the power slap I gave him was strong enough to fry a few brain cells.”

Zane’s shoulder’s relaxed and he turned around, looking down at her.
“He sounded way too happy about that kiss. He didn’t sound like he was in pain at all.”

Sarah groaned and lifted her face to the sky.
“That’s because he was having too much fun torturing you over it.”

Zane rested his hand on his hip
and looked down at his feet. “I could feel you across town. Every day, I can feel you more and more. I can feel your emotions. I can feel your energy. You’re embedded in me somehow. I could tell you were upset and mad. And I could feel this anguish coming from you. It was tearing my soul out. I grabbed your stuff, threw it in the jeep and rushed back. I thought something horrible was happening to you. But then I felt this pity and compassion. Like you wanted to wrap yourself around something or someone and protect them from harm. It was so sharp it was painful. It hurt me. Like it was stripping me from the inside out. I jumped out of my jeep and just ran. I came right to you and I found you here with Lash. I didn’t know what to think. I know I didn’t like it.”

Sarah walked up to Zane and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck. The tears she had tried so hard not to show
Lash, ran down her cheeks now. She started sobbing and shaking and immediately felt Zane’s energy pulse around her, sending warmth through every nerve ending she had.

“It’s okay now.
It’s okay,” Zane soothed her. “What happened Sarah? Tell me what’s going on.”

Sarah sniffed and waited a few moments to get her tears under control.
Without letting Zane go, she told him everything that had happened since she entered her last class. When she finished, she stepped back, to look up into his face.

Zane stared down at her shaking his head.
“
Poor kid
. No wonder you’ve been trying to help him. I feel like finding his dad and tearing him apart,” he said lethally.

Sarah let out a shaky breath and nodded her head in complete agreement.
“I’m with you on that.”

Zane pulled her back toward his chest, rubbing circles on her back.
“We’ll help him together. I promise I’ll do what I can for him, but on one condition. No more kissing.
Ever
.”

Sarah looked up at Zane with a soft look in her eyes. “Do you want to know when my first kiss was?”

Zane looked irritated but shrugged. “Sure, when was your first kiss? And who was it?” he asked menacingly

Sarah smiled.
“Yesterday. You were my first kiss.”

Zane’s face lighted up and he ran his hands down her hair.
“Now that is just as it should be.”

Sarah grinned.
“You know how when I kiss you, my power kind of wraps around you and flows into you?”

Zane nodded, still smiling.
“
Mmm hmmm
,” he said, leaning down toward her mouth. She pushed back, shaking her head. “Let me finish please. Well, when Lash kissed me, and trust me, I didn’t have any warning, my energy whipped up and would have seriously hurt him, if I hadn’t tried as hard as I could to hold it back.”

Zane’s eyes widened and he looked up, over her head as he pondered what she had said.
“So what you’re saying is, you’re meant to be my girlfriend and anyone else who tries to make a move on you will suffer bodily harm if not certain death.”

Sarah laughed and pulled away from him as she heard the bell ring for lunch.
“Well, that’s one way to put it. Another way to look at it would be that my energy instinctively see’s Lash as a threat because it can sense the bad in the things he’s been doing. Maybe when Lash is free from his addiction, he’ll be able to kiss me.”

Zane frowned and slung his arm across her shoulders.
“And maybe not. There’s no sense in putting him in harm’s way just to test out a theory Sarah. That would be inhumane.”

Sarah laughed, feeling the warmth from Zane wrap around her.
“Something to consider.”

Sarah pretended not to notice when Zane held her hand as they walked into the cafeteria, but the heat pulsing through her arm kept her senses popping.
She looked up at him and smiled when she saw the cocky grin. She wouldn’t be surprised if she saw the same grin on her face.

They got in the pizza line and found a table quickly. Zane moved their chairs so they could sit side by side.
They had a perfect view of the whole cafeteria together.

“So have you ever heard of this blood lust thing?” Sarah asked Zane quietly in case anyone passing by overheard.

Zane finished chewing his bite and shook his head. “Nah, never. I can see how the stories of vampires came from it though. It seriously grosses me out, but hearing about Lash’s life and seeing what’s happened to him, I sort of get it.”

Sarah frowned, shivering at the memory of Lash’s neck.
“Zane, he showed me his neck. He lifted the hair at the back of his neck and there were hundreds and hundreds of scars. I felt like part of me died with that little boy every time he was abused. I would love to find his dad and make him pay,” she said quietly.

Zane looked up at her considering.
“I wouldn’t say no to that. But I don’t want you hurt. Lash’s dad sounds like a psychopath. Besides, what could we do? Killing him would be the best thing for everybody, but if we did, then we’d be just as dark as he is.”

Sarah nodded her head.
“You’re right. We need to focus on Lash now. I’m going to print off the 12 step program for him today and help him get started. He’s an addict. We just have to get him sober.”

Zane stared at a girl across the room and frowned.
“Yeah, for Jill’s sake at the very least.”

Sarah turned and saw Jill standing in a corner, looking pale, weak and miserable.
“Why would a girl give so much of herself to a boy? Even to the point that she’d give up everything.”

Zane looked at Sarah closely
and grabbed her hand, sending comforting warmth streaming into her. She scooted toward Zane and leaned in closer to his side.

“Sarah, some girls are like that.
All a boy has to do is say they love her and they give him anything he wants. It’s usually not blood, but it’s the same thing. They give important pieces of themselves to guys who are just using them. Some of the girls back in Denver were just like Jill except they were able to hide it better. But it was sad to walk through the hallways at school and see empty, miserable shells, just wanting someone to fill that emptiness and looking to the people who were using them for warmth and light that was never coming. They just kept getting emptier and emptier until by the end of the year sometimes, there was just nothing left of them.”

Sarah sighed sadly, still staring at Jill and felt her heart break for her.
“Maybe there’s a 12 step program for that too.”

Zane leaned over and kissed the top of her head and then straightened up in surprise.
“Lash wouldn’t break up with a girl during lunch would he? Please tell me he’s not that big of an idiot.”

Sarah sat up and winced as she saw Lash standing next to Jill at a careful distance.
He had his hands in his front pocket and a guilty expression on his face. She couldn’t hear anything he was saying, but by Jill’s horrified expression, he was definitely breaking up with her. Jill started crying and reached out for Lash, but he stepped back, letting her hand fall on empty air. Lash shook his head almost angrily at her and started to look agitated. He turned his head and looked around the lunch room for a minute until he found Sarah’s face. He stared at her for a moment and looked more resolved as he turned back to Jill. He talked to her for another moment and then turned and walked out of the lunchroom.

Sarah and Zane exchanged pained expressions.
“Maybe I should go talk to her,” Sarah said, standing up slowly.

Zane held on to her hand.
“Too late,” he said as they both watched Jill crumple to the floor. A teacher and three students rushed to her side and carried her out of the room quickly and with little drama.

“She’ll be okay,” Zane reassured her.
“They’ll call her parents and she’ll go home. After a few days of Lash not taking her blood, her strength will return and hopefully her sanity too.”

Sarah frowned, doubting it would be that easy, but at the same time hoping it would be.
“I hate seeing her like this. She wants Lash so badly, but losing him is the best thing for her. Why do people want what’s bad for them?”

Zane rested his hands on her shoulders and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Sometimes though, people get exactly what they want and it’s amazing.”

Sarah felt her heart ease and she turned to smile up at Zane. “I hope so.”

Zane leaned down and kissed her quickly, sending sparks along her nerve endings.
“You better believe it.”