Frostbitten: The Complete Series (42 page)

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
MISTAKES

Brittany sat anxiously in the corner of a little café at the centre of town. The little establishment was completely desolate, except for Brittany and the young barista who was in the back, cleaning old coffee pots to make time go by quicker.

Brittany nervously tapped her foot as she stared out the window, praying that Kane would pull up at any moment. The image of Wade’s dying body wouldn’t leave her mind. The sound of Lily’s cries continuously reverberated through her brain. She tried her best to think of anything else, but she simply could not.

Wheeeoooo!

Flashing red and blue lights sped past the café window, making the whole street glow momentarily as the thick falling snowflakes illuminated against the pitch black sky.

Brittany clenched her hand tight and began to tap her foot faster. The police were almost certainly on the hunt for Wade’s killer.

Ring! Ring!

Brittany quickly pulled out her phone and checked the Caller id. Her heart froze in her chest as she had to read the id a second time.

‘Snowbrooke Police Department’

Brittany took a deep staggered breath as she ignored the call and placed her phone back into her pocket. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to collect herself.

Slowly, Kane’s black Mustang rolled up against the curb outside of the café. Kane stepped out of the car and then looked towards the café, scanning the windows for Brittany. After a short moment, Kane and Brittany made eye contact, and Kane entered.

“Hey,” Kane said as he approached Brittany’s table.

Brittany stood up from her chair and walked towards Kane. Without warning, she opened her arms and embraced the vampire hunter.

Kane stood confused for a moment before reciprocating. He wrapped his arms around Brittany.

“What’s going on?” Kane asked.

“I just don’t want to be alone tonight,” Brittany replied.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s—I don’t know. I just can’t be alone right now.”

“It’s okay,” Kane said, moving one of his hands up to the top of Brittany’s head. Gently, he ran his fingertips through her hair.

Brittany released her tight hug and returned to her seat. Kane pulled a chair up to her little window-side table.

“You know that you can trust me with anything, right?”

“I know—It’s just complicated.”

“You aren’t in danger, are you? Did somebody do something to you?”

“No—It’s nothing like that.”

Kane stared into Brittany’s watering eyes.

“I just want to help,” Kane said.

“I know you do—and I appreciate it.”

“It’s hard to help when I don’t know anything.”

“I know it is. Just by being here you’re already helping.”

Kane smiled. “This town is no good. You should move down to the city—somewhere warm. Somewhere that isn’t Snowbrooke.”

Brittany chuckled as she wiped away her tears. “That would be nice.”

“Why don’t you?”

“It isn’t that easy.”

“It never seems easy until you do it.”

“Maybe one day,” Brittany said.

“You would love it in the city. There’s an endless number of things to do and the beaches are amazing in the summers.”

“Trust me when I say that I don’t need any convincing. I would love to leave this place behind forever.”

“Why don’t you? Your family wants you to stay?”

“No.”

Kane thought for a moment. “Don’t want to leave behind friends?”

“No—nothing like that.”

“Well, it’s not school. The city has a thousand different upgrading options. Best of all, none of them are taught by Mr. Fenner,” Kane laughed.

The image of Wade’s bleeding throat flashed through her mind once again.

“Are you okay?” Kane asked.

“Huh?” Brittany said, looking up at her long-haired classmate.

“You seem spacey. Are you sure you don’t want to tell me what’s going on? I’m a great secret keeper.”

Brittany stared at Kane for a moment, trying to build up the courage to just tell him her secret. She gently opened her lips and took a breath in. Kane waited anxiously for the words to come out of Brittany’s mouth.

But Brittany remained silent—unable to speak.

“Brittany?” Kane asked.

Wheeeoooo!

A series of cop cars whizzed past, eliciting a sharp glance from both Kane and Brittany.

“Can we get out of here?” Brittany asked nervously.

“Sure,” Kane said as he stood up from his seat. “You can sleep at my place tonight—I’ll make you a bed on the couch.”

“You don’t mind?” Brittany asked.

“Not at all,” Kane replied. “C’mon.”

Brittany bundled her coat tightly against her body and then followed Kane out to his Mustang.

Kane laid the blanket from his bed down on the couch in his cold living room. He carefully straightened it and placed his pillow on the head of the couch.

“It isn’t much,” Kane said. “But it should be comfortable.”

“It’s more than enough,” Brittany replied as she removed her coat and hung it up on the old coat rack at the front door. “What are you going to sleep on?”

“My bed,” Kane said.

“But with what pillow and blanket?”

“I don’t need a pillow—I usually end up pushing it aside anyway. And I can just sleep with my coat on. It’s warmer than a blanket.”

“Are you sure?”

“Seriously—I don’t mind one bit. Are you sure this is enough for you?”

Brittany smiled. “Hopefully by tomorrow morning, I’ll have pulled myself together and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Take your time. You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”

“Thanks, Kane.”

“No worries.”

“I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t show up.”

“Well—I’m here whenever you need me.”

Kane smiled at Brittany.

“But you won’t be once you leave,” Brittany pointed out.

“No—Not unless you want to come with me,” Kane replied. “The offer is still on the table.”

Brittany smiled. The two stood in silence for a moment as the old wooden apartment building moaned and groaned in the cold winter air.

“Well—Good night,” Kane said, turning and walking towards his bedroom.

“Good night,” Brittany replied.

Brittany sat down on her temporary bed, and looked out of Kane’s living room window. The snow was beginning to die down to a light flurry. The wind had stopped almost completely, and the falling snowflakes appeared to float motionlessly in the cold early-morning air.

Brittany checked her phone to see if Andrew had gotten any of her messages. Still, her inbox was blank.

She tried again to message Andrew.

“Hey—Give me a call as soon as you get this. I need to talk to you,” she wrote.

Brittany felt that Andrew would be able to understand her problem. She genuinely believed him when he said that he would be a non-judgemental shoulder to cry on.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
BLOOD LUST

Brittany ignorantly watched the minutes pass on her silent phone while she waited to hear from Andrew.

Red and blue flashing lights lit up the living room for a moment as a patrolling cop car slowly drove past the apartment building.

On her phone’s call history, there were a number of missed calls from the police department. There was no doubt in Brittany’s ignorant mind that the police were on to her.

To make matters more complicated, she still had no idea that Andrew was dead—killed in her own backyard.

Brittany sighed, placing her phone down on the small living room table.

“What did I do to deserve this life?” Brittany thought to herself as she prepared to lie her body down.

The door to Kane’s bedroom down the hallway opened, and Kane walked out. He began to walk towards the kitchenette when he noticed Brittany sitting up—still awake.

“Sorry,” Kane said. “I was just getting a water.”

“It’s okay,” Brittany said.

“Can’t sleep?”

“I’m okay.”

Kane took a glass out from his cupboard. He hesitated before filling it. Brittany watched him closely. He seemed peculiarly calm—a master of keeping his emotions hidden. But despite his controlled temperament, he seemed distant, lost in his own busy mind.

“You okay?” Brittany asked.

“Yeah,” Kane said. He was struggling to maintain any kind of extended eye contact. He took a breath and looked towards Brittany. “Hey—Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure. What is it?” Brittany asked.

“This whole vampire hunter thing—I know that you think it’s crazy, and I don’t blame you.”

“I don’t.”

“Well, I know that it’s hard to believe, and I know that it seems totally ridiculous. Trust me, I know.”

“I believe you, Kane.”

Kane looked at Brittany for a moment, and then started to walk over to her. “Really?” he asked.

“It just scares me, Kane. I’m scared.”

“They won’t hurt you as long as I’m here.”

“I’m scared about you, Kane.”

Kane sighed. “To be honest with you, I think I’m done. I don’t know if I can do it anymore.”

“Really?” Brittany asked.

Kane sighed. “Sometimes it just feels like I’m pushing a boulder up an endless hill. Every time I stop to do something for myself, the boulder rolls back to the bottom. I want to help people, but it just seems like a losing battle right now.”

“I know how you feel.”

“I wish you did,” Kane said.

“I do—Trust me.”

Kane forced a smile. “You’ve got big things that you aren’t telling me.”

Brittany’s face went blank and her gut turned. “What do you mean?”

“My dad only ever gave me one piece of good advice as a kid: You can always tell more about someone from what they don’t tell you than what they do.”

Brittany stared at Kane for a moment. “So what does that tell you about me?”

Kane thought for a moment. “That you’re one of the most complex people I’ve ever met.”

“And why do you think that?” Brittany laughed.

“I know nothing about you, but at the same time I feel like I know everything.”

Brittany smiled. “I wish I could be an open book like you.”

Kane laughed. “An open book?” he repeated. “Why would you say that?”

“You had no problem telling me your secrets. No matter how badly I want to, I can’t even begin.”

“Believe me when I say that I have worse secrets than being a vampire hunter. Much worse…”

“Like what?” Brittany asked. “What are you hiding?

“I don’t think story time is a great idea right now if I’m going to be honest.”

“Maybe knowing what you think is so bad about yourself would make me feel better about my own life.”

“You would never look at me again, and that would be horrible. Besides, I’m sure whatever is hiding in your basement isn’t as bad as you think.”

Brittany blushed and looked down at her feet.

“Once you leave town, I’ll never have the chance to look at you again.”

“And it’s going to be horrible,” Kane said with a smile.

Brittany looked out the window as yet another set of blue and red lights sped passed the apartment building. A powerful gust of snow rattled the thin apartment window. Snowflakes clung to the cold glass for a moment before parting again for their final destination.

Kane had been to a lot of towns, but none were as harsh as Snowbrooke. With such an innocent name as Snowbrooke, one wouldn’t expect violently cold blizzards and grizzly serial killers. “You really need to get out of this town,” Kane said. “This is no place for a girl like you.”

“One day...”

As Brittany looked back up at Kane, his lips connected with hers. Her body was suddenly lifted up off of the ground as a warm energy flowed inside of her. One of Kane’s muscular hands slid gently around the back of her head; his fingers nestling into her soft hair. The firm ridges of Kane’s teeth glistened across Brittany’s fragile lips.

The sharp howl of the cold winter wind silenced as the two lovers lowered down onto the soft couch. The flashing red, blue and white lights outside began to dissipate as the emergency vehicles disappeared into the storm. The room blushed with the warm glowing streetlights and the radiant glimmer from the town’s clock tower, visible over the quaint Snowbrooke rooftops. There was a particular magic about that frigid winter morning. Sometimes it takes the nastiest conditions to join two destined souls.

Kane’s gentle hand slid down Brittany’s back, eliciting a surge of warmth through her body. The long strands of Kane’s hair fell down from behind his ear, next to Brittany’s face—a perfect excuse for Brittany’s hand to slide up the rugged stumble of Kane’s cheek.

“I don’t want you to go,” Brittany whispered gently into Kane’s ear.

“I don’t want to leave you,” Kane replied softly with his naturally hoarse voice.

Brittany gently pushed Kane’s hair back behind his ear and then pulled him carefully back down to resume their passionate kiss.

Their breath joined into a seemingly perfect unison as their weightless bodies lifted and fell in a harmonious rhythm. As their skin brushed together, an exciting ecstasy elated their bodies, purging them deeper into their passionate lust.

Kane could feel Brittany’s soft tongue penetrate his lips as his fingers pushed up the soft skin on her sides, under her shirt. As Kane’s rugged fingertips slid up onto the side of Brittany’s young breast, Brittany moaned.

Her eyes closed and her head corked back, giving Kane perfect access to her neck. Sliding his hand towards the top of Brittany’s head to hold her head back, Kane began to kiss the soft skin on Brittany’s neck.

Brittany gently bit her lip as a grin unavoidable swept across her face. Her legs began to tremble as she took a long, elated breath inwards. Her heart raced as it pumped warm adrenaline through her veins. 

Kane sunk down lower, carefully pulling Brittany’s top down with him. His muscular thighs began to push Brittany’s trembling legs up.

Her thoughts were scattered and her anxieties were quickly becoming a hazy blur. She dug her nails into Kane’s sides suddenly as Kane’s lips wrapped around her exposed nipple.

Eyes glowing, the couple was quickly becoming lost in a swirling euphoria of lust. Tension drained from their muscles as they melted together.

As a sudden surge of warm elation fluttered through her spine, Brittany felt a sharp pain in her gums. Her razor-sharp vampire teeth were surfacing.

Kane leaned back and looked up into Brittany’s eyes.

Brittany’s heart froze as the small apartment walls suddenly closed around her. She was speechless—caught.

“Brittany?” Kane said gently.

Brittany didn’t respond. Her hands trembled at her side, feeling unusually cold as the blood rushed away from her extremities.

“K—Kane?” Brittany replied, unsure of what else to say.

“I love you,” Kane said.

Brittany’s heart tingled as it skipped a beat. Her head started to spin and become light, unable to process what Kane had said.

“I—I love you too,” Brittany replied.

A smile swept across Kane’s face for a moment before he sunk back down for another passionate kiss.