Frostbitten: The Complete Series (23 page)

CHAPTER FORTY
THE TRUTH

Kane stood nervously in front of Brittany.

“I don’t want you to think I’m a lunatic, Brittany—because I’m not.”

“Why would I think that? What’s in the bedroom?”

Kane looked at his feet. “This isn’t going to be easy to understand, so I don’t blame you if you run away.”

“Kane...”

“There’s a reason I’m in Snowbrooke—And it’s going to sound… Ridiculous. But it’s serious. Please just let me explain everything before you make any decisions.”

Kane took a breath and looked down at his feet. He couldn’t push the words off of the tip of his tongue.

“Kane—Just tell me!” Brittany demanded.

“You’ve obviously heard of the murders that have been happening in Snowbrooke over the past few months...”

“Oh my God…” Brittany muttered, assuming the worst. She took a step back, out of Kane’s embrace.

“No, no—That’s not it. I’m not the murderer.”

Brittany took a breath of relief, but remained tense—apprehensive of the whole situation. Kane opened his lips to say it—but again, he was overcome by a sheepish resistance.

“What is it?”

“There are things in the world—you won’t believe me, so please don’t overreact.”

“Just tell me!” Brittany demanded.

Kane closed his eyes. “I hunt vampires.”

Brittany froze as her eyes became wide. Her heart suddenly stopped in her chest, and her head became hot. Suddenly, she was the one who couldn’t speak.

“I know—I know that it sounds absurd. I know that—believe me. But you’ve heard the news reports—of the vampire-like string of murders. It’s not a coincidence, Brittany. They’re real. I’ve killed dozens of them. I’ve been all over the country—I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe.

“The reports are always the same—they suck human blood. They can’t go out during the day—their skin burns as if they fell into hot oil. You can only kill them with a wooden steak to the heart. They have no reflection, but they’re smart. They know to avoid mirrors and windows.” Kane looked Brittany in the eyes.

She hadn’t blinked since the reveal. She was completely speechless. A dreadfully cold shiver ran through her small body. “You—You do what?” she muttered.

“Look—I know this sounds crazy, but I can prove it—they have these teeth that come out before they feed. I have the teeth—I can show you. And I have all of the articles—the police reports, the autopsy reports, pictures, security camera footage—all the stuff the government doesn’t want you to see. Just let me show you. Please.”

Kane took the frozen Brittany by the hand and led her across his apartment to his bedroom. Completely spaced out, Brittany followed like a limp rag doll, stumbling in her tall heeled leather boots. Kane let go of her hand as he opened his bedroom door, revealing all of his weapons and ammunition. A series of garlic strands hung in the doorway.

Brittany winced in disgust as the pungent garlic smell wafted into her sensitive nose. She took a step back into the hallway, nearly vomiting from the sudden nausea.

Not noticing Brittany’s episode of disgust, Kane went into the bedroom. He started to dig through a large cardboard box. After a moment, he pulled out a handful of articles, and a little box. He turned back around and walked over to Brittany, handing her the articles. “Look—Everything is there. The reports are all the same—look where I’ve highlighted: Two puncture wounds to the neck—body drained of blood. And look here…” Kane said as he opened up the box, revealing a number of long, sharp teeth. “They look human—but they’re not. They’re as sharp as a scalpel. But they aren’t from an animal. They’re canines—See the long root? And the enamel has that yellow tinge—the vampire was a smoker.

“These teeth push out when they go to feed. See the little hole on the tip? Like a snake, they release this paralysing venom. Look—You’re a smart girl—look at it,” Kane said, looked up at Brittany and insisting she look at the tooth.

Brittany still hadn’t blinked since Kane’s reveal. Once again, she found her world crumbling beneath her feet. Her eyes were beginning to water and her knees were beginning to buckle and tremble.

Kane could see that she was visibly shaken up. He placed the box of teeth down on the nearby counter and took a step towards Brittany. Gently, he placed his hand on the side of her head. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Brittany’s body turned tense as the vampire hunter’s hands touched her skin. A cold shiver shot up her spine.

“Huh?” Brittany said, looking up at Kane. Her head was spinning out of control with uncontrollable rapid-fire thoughts. She wanted to run away.

She wanted to cry.

She wanted to kill Kane.

She wanted to kiss Kane.

Her stirring emotions were tugging her heart in different directions, and she didn’t know which way to fall.

“I know this is a shock, and I don’t want you to be freaked out. I like you, Brittany—I don’t want this to ruin that,” Kane said as he ran his fingers down the side of Brittany’s face, towards her neck.

Brittany looked back into Kane’s dark mysterious eyes. She forced a smile. “I’m fine.” She remained tense as little goose bumps formed down her arms and neck.

“Really? You believe me?” Kane waited nervously for a response.

Brittany tried her best to remain composed. “I don’t know what I believe. I like you, Kane. And—And I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I’m good at what I do. I can keep you safe—I’ll never hurt you. I promise.”

A tear fell from Brittany’s eye, trickling down her soft cheek. “You promise?”

“I promise.”

Brittany smiled, desperately wanting to believe Kane. Perhaps he would look the other way on her being a vampire.

“Explain one thing to me,” Brittany said.

“What?”

“Why spend your nights going to night-school? Why go out to the bar with everyone for drinks?”

“I think its Hanna. I’ve been here for a month, following the reports—researching the victims. Vampires tend to have feeding grounds. All of the victims are tied to the university. They’ve all been teachers and students that happen to be around the university at night.

“But vampires aren’t stupid. They aren’t just mindless animals. They try to blend in. They’re usually the ones with the best alibis. After the first few murders, Hanna enrolled in the night class—conveniently the only class still running. A perfect alibi, right? Promise me you’ll stay away from Hanna.”

“H—Hanna?” Brittany asked.

“I haven’t been able to confirm anything yet. I needed a cover too, so I signed up for the class.”

Brittany took another deep breath.

“It’s a lot to take in—I know. All you need to know is that I’m going to keep you safe, okay?”

Brittany smiled. “Okay.”

Brittany smiled as Kane leaned back in for another kiss. Brittany’s spiralling feelings were quickly becoming blurred together. She was completely overwhelmed.

Kane began to lead her into the bedroom. She scowled as she passed the hanging garlic—nearly gagging from a sudden fit of nausea.

“Maybe—Maybe the bedroom isn’t the best idea,” Brittany said, staying outside of the doorway.

Kane stopped. He looked around his room and laughed. “Right—I guess it’s not the most romantic spot.”

“Does the couch pull out?” Brittany asked.

“I think it does. It’s supposed to—I haven’t tried it out.”

Kane walked past Brittany and began to lead her back towards the couch, away from the horrible garlic odour.

Kane stepped up to the couch and fumbled with it for a moment. Suddenly, a creaky metallic bed frame sprung free, with an old limp mattress on it.

“Ta-da!” Kane said, turning back to Brittany.

Brittany giggled and she began to relax again. Kane pressed his muscular body back against the dark-skinned beauty’s softness.

With her gentle fingers, Brittany pushed Kane’s pea coat over his shoulders, and watched as it dropped to the floor.

Brittany’s hands suddenly had a mind of their own as they began to pull Kane’s shirt gently over his body, slowly revealing the deep ridges of his hard abs and the deep pelvic lines that sunk below the waistline of his pants. As Brittany dropped Kane’s shirt onto the ground, she noticed all of his harsh battle scars—permanent reminders of his hardened past.

“Oh my God,” Brittany muttered, looking down at the countless abrasions. Her hair fell down onto her face as her head tilted downwards.

Kane pushed Brittany’s hair back behind her ear, and tilted her head back up gently with his fingers. Carefully, he pushed Brittany’s furry shawl onto the floor, and then unzipped Brittany’s fitted black leather coat. Gently, he slid it down off of her arms, and onto the ground. Underneath, she was wearing a black low-cut racerback spaghetti strap top. The top edge of her lacy red bra was visible above the deep cut of the thin top.

Kane ran his masculine hands up the dark-skinned beauty’s soft bare arms, starting from her wrists. As he reached her shoulders, he gently pushed the thin straps of Brittany’s shirt off. The garment began to fall down, but was barely caught by the bust of Brittany’s pushed-up chest.

Kane’s heart rate began to accelerate. His body was becoming overwhelmed with an insatiable lust as he looked down at Brittany’s perfect body.

Kane slowly pulled Brittany’s scantily clad body in tight to his muscular torso, and the two continued to kiss.

Brittany let her body melt into the strong man, but she wasn’t able to fully release her tension.

The elephant was bigger than the small apartment.

Kane’s problematic identity never left the front of Brittany’s mind—reminders were all around her. She could still smell the nauseating garlic on the other side of the apartment. She couldn’t ignore the bedroom door, which hung open just slightly.

But the passionate force between the two star-crossed lovers overwhelmed Brittany’s strong desire to run away. Kane began to spin Brittany around, leading her towards the creaky sofa-bed. He lowered her down onto the lumpy mattress and then gently fell down onto her with his hard body.

He felt warm against Brittany’s smooth skin as his thick muscles flexed against her soft body. Kane’s skilled hands pulled Brittany’s shirt down over her red bra, and down to her waist. As he began to caress up and down her soft bare skin, Brittany’s hands sunk low and began to fidget with the buckle of Kane’s belt.

After a moment, she successfully pulled the leather band away from his waistline.

Both of the young lovers were sinking deeper into a blurred euphoria. Their inhibitions and sensibilities were quickly fleeing their bodies in the dark bedroom.

Brittany carefully pulled Kane’s pants down to his rigid thighs. She looked down below his waist, letting her hair fall down onto Kane’s chest. Kane placed his hand under Brittany’s chin and led her back up—resuming their wistful kiss.

Brittany’s tongue penetrated Kane’s lips gently and her fingers dug hard into his skin as a jolt of elation buzzed through her spine. Kane’s warm, strong body was eliciting powerful and uncontrollable euphoria inside of Brittany.

Pleasure wasn’t the only thing growing inside of Brittany.

Brittany’s thirst was beginning to overwhelm her body. Her razor-sharp fangs began to push out of her gums, in front of her canines. As her lust became more intense, so did her thirst. She could smell Kane’s sweet blood pumping through his body.

She could see his veins throbbing over and through his big stiff muscles.

Brittany’s reached down and her hands began to slide her pants down her thighs. She lifted her soft toned butt slightly off of the mattress to allow the bottoms to pass.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
SENSIBILITIES, UNARMED OF SENSE AND LIBERTY

Kane pulled his head back. He looked down at Brittany’s face, which was shrouded by his own shadow in the dark empty room..

He couldn’t see her sharp fangs poking down below her top lip, or her irises as they turned a dark red colour.

“Is everything alright?” Kane asked.

“Yeah,” Brittany said as she desperately fought back both the desire to jump Kane’s bones, and the desire to suck his blood.

“You’re tense,” Kane commented.

“Am I?” Brittany awkwardly replied.

“You’re really tense.”

Brittany thought for a moment. The veins in Kane’s body were glowing brighter and brighter with each passing moment. Watching the blood flowing through his body was almost hypnotising.

“Brittany?”

“Uh—Do you have a sheet for this mattress? I think this one is chafing against my back.”

“Oh,” Kane said, smiling. “I can grab the one from my bed. Hold on just one send, okay?”

“Okay,” Brittany said.

Kane jumped to his feet and left the room, leaving Brittany with her lust and her thirst on the sofa-bed. She looked around the room again.

“Do you have any Advil or Tylenol?” Brittany called out.

“I think so—Let me look,” Kane called back.

Kane pushed the bedroom door open wider, giving Brittany a clearer view of Kane’s deadly arsenal.

There was a particularly deadly looking metallic crossbow perched on the small bedside table. Kane kept the lethal weapon loaded in case of any “home invasions”.

Brittany ran the tip of her tongue along her sharp fang. Her gums began to pulse as she started to surrender to her desires.

“What am I doing?” she thought to herself. As her sensibilities came rushing back to her, she could hear Kane fumbling with the bed sheet on his mattress. Her thirst had grown so strong that she could smell Kane’s blood from the other room. She could even see a reddish glow through the wall, where Kane stood.

When Brittany’s thirst became strong enough, certain abilities that were otherwise remain dormant came out. In that moment, the red glow around Kane was his blood—visible only to Brittany. The more she thought about the sweet taste of his delicious plasma, the more vibrant and clear the glowing colour became.

Her thirst was intensifying so much so that she could see other warm blooded mammals nearby—the sleeping man in the building next door, the bird perched on the roof outside and the deer prancing through the nearby woods.

She couldn’t possibly hide her secret any longer. Heart racing, Brittany quietly brought herself to her feet. She quickly picked up her clothes and her jacket and she hurried towards the front door—the apartment’s only exit. Topless—in nothing but a tutu, see-through nylons and tall leather heels, Brittany looked back. She could see Kane’s shadow in the bedroom as he dug through his bedroom drawers for Brittany’s requested Advil.

“Just one more second!” Kane called out, oblivious to his fleeing date. “I know there is some Advil here somewhere.”

Fangs still erect, and eyes blood red, Brittany carefully pulled the apartment door open, and slipped out. Gently, she closed the door quietly behind her. Once in the hallway, she quickly began to replace her shirt.

Her thirst for blood was overwhelming. It took all of her willpower to resist running back inside the apartment and sucking Kane dry. Brittany took a long stable breath—an attempt to recompose herself. She closed her eyes and told herself to “calm down”. As she opened her eyes, she noticed him—

Tarun, the young Indian immigrant, had walked up the stairs. He stopped when he noticed the nearly nude dark-skinned beauty. His eyes went wide and he froze.

Brittany froze.

“I—I’m…” Tarun started.

“Shh!” Brittany said, putting her finger to her mouth. She quickly pulled her shirt over her red lacy bra, and picked up her leather coat.

Tarun curiously noticed her dark red eyes and her long sharp fangs.

Once Brittany had her coat over her shoulders, she turned to leave, but she stopped when she noticed Tarun’s expression.

“Are—Are you okay?” Tarun whispered.

Brittany realized her fangs were out, and her eyes were red. She tried to think of something to say—some sort of out.

“Um,” Brittany thought.

As her mind shuffled through her limited options, her eyes began to hone in on Tarun’s neck. His jugular was filled with some of the purest, warmest blood she’d ever seem. It smelled incredible—irresistible.

“Miss?” Tarun said.

Brittany bit down hard on her tongue, suppressing her urges.

“I—We—It’s a game,” Brittany whispered.

“A game?” Tarun asked.

“That’s right—It’s a—a sex game,” Brittany whispered.

“A s—sex game?”

“Don’t tell Kane you saw me—He would be really embarrassed.”

“You’re his girlfriend?” Tarun whispered.

“Um—Yeah. Kane’s my boyfriend,” Brittany lied.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Tarun,” Tarun said, stepping towards Brittany. As Tarun stuck out his hand, Brittany noticed the throbbing vein in his wrist—filled with that delicious, juicy blood.

Brittany took Tarun’s hand gently and shook it, trying her best not to drain him.

“This is like—Role playing?” Tarun asked.

“Yeah. I’m the vampire and he’s the hunter.”

Tarun looked down at his feet and blushed.

“I need to go and hide. He’s probably almost done his count down by now,” Brittany lied.

“Brittany?” Kane’s voice called out from within the apartment.

“Nice meeting you,” Tarun whispered.

Brittany quickly made her way down the stairs and out of the building. Without looking back, she started to run back home.

Kane walked over to the bathroom looking for his missing date. He looked around the apartment.

“Hello?” he called out.

He quickly scanned the apartment for any sign of Brittany, but she was gone—vanished. “Brittany?” he called out again.

He put the bed sheet and Advil down on the counter and went out in the hallway, dressed in only his underwear.

Tarun was walking back down the stairs when he noticed Kane. Kane.

“I’m sorry,” Tarun said as he averted his eyes.

Kane’s face turned red. “Tarun—You didn’t see a girl come through here, did you?”

“Me? No—I didn’t see anyone,” Tarun lied. He tried his best to hold back his shy smile.

Kane pushed his hair back with his hand. “Okay—sorry to bother you,” Kane said as he awkwardly turned and went back into his apartment. He closed the door behind him, and then ran back the bedroom. He picked up his pea coat and started to dig through his pockets for his cell phone. He pulled it out and located Brittany’s phone number in his address book. He dialled, and then he waited for her to pick up.

Brittany didn’t answer. Her phone continued to ring as she made her way home and into her house. It stopped ringing for a brief moment, and then started again, as Kane tried again to get through to her. Brittany ran up the walkway of her little cookie-cutter home and quickly pushed her front door open.

Once the door was securely closed and locked behind her, she sat down on the floor and started to cry.

Cursed to never find love—destined to suffer through a loveless eternity.

Nothing had changed.

As she sat and cried, her powerful thirst began to subside. Her fangs retracted back into her gums and the redness slowly flushed out of her eyes.

It is no secret that vampires struggle to control their thirst. Brittany’s thirst was especially uncontrollable. She had never learned to control it properly.

She had never learned how to deal with her powerful cravings.