Malina's Revenge (6 page)

“What are you grinning at you big oaf?” I said. “You look like the cat thatswallowed the canary.”
“I feel like him,” he said with laughter dancing in his eyes. “Come with me please.”
“What the hell, Carlos. I thought you were going to tell me something,” I said as I stood up.
“Well, not exactly,” he grinned. “Actually I"m going to show you something,” he said as he led me out onto the porch. He stood behind me resting his chin on my shoulder, his left hand secured around my stomach, pulling me tight to him. I closed my eyes for a second. This feels nice, I thought. I felt my resolve to die weaken slightly. I pushed that away and remembered why I was here. It was storming outside, the sky was dark and raining with flashes of lightning breaking through.
“What? You woke me because it"s raining?”
He grinned on my shoulder. “No Sarah, I didn"t wake you to have sex with you, although that"s very tempting, because, God knows I"ve been going without it for longer than I ever have while I"ve been taking care of your ass twenty-four-seven. And, no, I didn"t wake you to show you that it"s raining. I woke you to show you that,” he said as his right arm rested on my shoulder and pointed towards the beach.
“Show me what?” I said, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
“That,” he said. “About two miles out, at your 1 o„clock.”
I followed his finger and looked out on the horizon. It took me a second, but I finally saw the small boat coming towards us.
“A boat,” I said sarcastically. “You woke me to show me a friggin" boat.”
He looked at me and his serious tone spooked me. “Sarah, it"s not just any boat. Keep watching. Trust me, you want to keep watching.”
I stared as the tiny speck grew larger and larger. It was coming toward us fast, riding up and down on the waves. Whoever it was definitely knew how to handle a boat, I thought. They pulled up to the dock and cut the motor. Wearing a rain slicker with the hood up, I stared as they jumped off and securely tied the boat. What happened next took my breath away
- at the very second that a huge bolt of lightning lit up the sky, the mystery person dropped their hood and looked at me. In one fell swoop, my eyes squinted, my head tilted to the side and my legs gave out. Carlos caught me and helped my down, then sat next to me on the porch. Anger flashed in my eyes as I turned to him. “It"s not him,” I spat. “It can"t be him, Carlos. We watched him die, Carlos, it can"t be him, it"s not him, it"s not him, it"s not him.” I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to look anymore.
Carlos whispered in my ear, “What we saw wasn"t him, Sarah. It was a trick.” The second he finished saying that, my body jerked on the porch as my scar sprang to life, sending a jolt through me. I looked from my hand, to Carlos, to the man walking up the dock, back to my hand, to Carlos and the man, still not able to believe what I was seeing.
“But how? Why?” I suddenly turned and punched Carlos" arm. “Why the hell didn"t you tell me?”
“I just found out myself a few days ago. And, would you have believed me if I had?” he said as he grinned and rubbed his arm.
I shook my head.
“No, you never would have. Now, why the hell are you still here? Go to him Sarah, go and grab hold of him and don"t ever let go.”
Knocking Carlos backward as I jumped up, I bypassed the stairs and jumped out onto the path, running full speed the second my feet touched the ground. I made it halfway down the beach before the overwhelming emotions I was feeling made my body give out. I sank to my knees in the sand, sobbing, as he ran toward me and scooped me into his beautiful, wonderful, loving arms. He spun me around then sank to his knees, as his emotions and weakness overtook him too. I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist as we kissed and sobbed. Breathing him in revived my dying lungs, it made my sputtering heart race, it made me whole again.

I have no idea how long we stayed like that, clinging so tightly to each other with our heads resting on each other"s shoulders. We were drenched to the bone as the rain cascaded down. Carlos" voice finally broke through the silence. “Uh, guys,” he said, “you really should come in out of the rain. Are you going to come inside or do I have to carry both of you? „Cause that"s really something I"d rather not have to do, ever.” I reached up, grabbed Carlos" arm and yanked him down on the sand next to us, wrapping my arm around him as Matt did the same. We held him with us, unable to move.

“Umm m,Sarah?” Carlos finally said.
“Mmmm?” I replied.
“If you guys don"t come inside right now, I"m

My eyes popped open as I remembered me standing there, naked, offering myself to him. My mind reached out to him instantly.
‘Please, no!’
I thought.

‘ Relax,’
he thought back.
Matthew mumbled. “Why? What did she do?” I untangled my legs and started to stand.

“Don" t, Carlos. He doesn"t want to hear about how stupid I am rightnow,” I tried to say without the panic in my voice. “Come on, let"s go inside.”

Matt stood, but didn "t move. “Tell me,” he whispered.
I looked to Carlos, begging, pleading with my eyes.
‘Not now,’
I thought.
‘I’ll tell him, but, please not now.’
“She told me she hated me,” Carlos said, as he winked at me.
Matt turned and looked at me.
“What?” I said as relief flooded through me. “I was mad. I didn"t mean it.” I turned to Carlos. “I"m so, so sorry I said that.”
“Hey, don"t sweat it, kiddo. I know you didn"t mean it. I mean, how could anyone possibly hate me, I"m just too lovable,” he grinned. “Now, can we please go inside?”
I put one arm firmly around Matt, the other around Carlos, and we slowly walked inside.
The two of us sat on the couch, while Carlos ran and got us towels and then heated up several pints of blood for us. He sat in the chair across from us and watched us. “You are two sorry-looking vampires,” he said. “I can see it"s going to take a lot of work on my part to get you two back into fighting shape.”
Confusion filled my head as I stared at him. I was still too out of it to remember what had brought us here in the first place. Carlos" face softened as he said, “Malina, Sarah. She"s still out there.”
My whole body tensed and my eyes darted around the room. I turned to Matt. “How? How did you get away?”
Matt slowly shook his head. “Not tonight. I"ll tell you both everything tomorrow, but right now I just want to hold you in my arms and sleep,” he leaned in and kissed me then, softly, tenderly, and I felt my heart swell. He stood up, pulled me into his arms and we turned to head upstairs.
Suddenly Carlos flashed past us and up the stairs. We walked into the room and saw him stocking the little fridge in the corner with pints then he reached down and plugged in the microwave. He turned around. “I"m gonna go sleep in the guest house. I"ll be back tomorrow at, ummm, let"s say noon, okay?”
“Carlos,” I said, “there"s no way I can sleep that late.”
“Oh, I don"t expect you to be sleeping,” he said as he started to walk out.
“I think we"re both too exhausted and weak for that right now,” I said.
Carlos grinned. “Yeah, you say that
NOW
, but I know you two too well, it won"t be long before you"re going at it like monkeys.” He grinned as he started to close the door and back out.
“Wait!” I said.
“What?” he said.
I hesitated as I started to walk over to him, realizing I"d have to drop Matt"s hand, not something I was capable of. Finally I pulled Matt with me as I walked over and hugged Carlos. “Thank you,” I whispered, “for everything.”
He wrapped his arms around me. “Don"t mention it,” he said into my neck, then he turned to Matt. “It"s good to have you back, man.”
“It"s good to be back,” he said. “Now, not to sound selfish, but Sarah, would you mind letting go of him? I"d like to hold you in my arms.”
I kissed Carlos on the cheek and couldn"t help but notice the look that passed between us. „No, Sarah. You"re just imagining it," I tried to tell myself. I turned and happily went into Matt"s open arms as Carlos quietly closed the door. Matt started slowly walking us toward the bed. His hands touched the bottom of my shirt but then stopped. I saw complete sadness in his eyes. “What"s wrong, honey?” I said.
“I"m so sorry, Sarah,” he whispered.
“Sorry? Matt, you don"t have anything to be sorry for. Don"t,” I said.
“No. You"re wrong. Sarah. There"s something I have to tell you.”
I put my hand to his lips. “No you don"t honey. I know. She filmed it. I saw it. It"s okay. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“You saw? Oh God, no. I didn"t want to do it. Please know that. She made me. I was starving. I feel like such a weak piece ofshit.”
“Sweetheart, stop it. When I saw how starved you were, I was begging you to do whatever she wanted in order to get that blood. Anything. You did what you had to do to survive and I"m so proud of you for that. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
Matt looked at me for a few seconds then he reached down, slowly pulled my wet shirt over my head and dropped it to the floor and I did the same for him. He leaned down and kissed my neck as he unbuttoned my pants and pushed them and my underwear down. I used my feet to work them down the lower half of my legs, undoing Matt"s pants while I did. And I felt the fire inside me flicker, then burn brightly. Hotter and stronger, I found his mouth with mine. He leaned back and looked at me, holding his hand up to me. I weaved my fingers through his, then pressed my scar onto his, moaning as he began kissing my neck again. “I think the goofball was right,” he groaned as he pressed me back onto the bed.
We stayed that way the rest of the night. Making love, then sleeping, still joined together, waking and making love again, then falling asleep in each other"s arms, still connected. Over and over, throughout the night and into the next morning. Neither of us able, or willing, to break the connection. He even carried me, with my legs wrapped around his waist, to the fridge when we needed to feed. I smiled when I woke again. I looked down and saw Matt sleeping on top of me, his head resting lightly on my chest. I ran my fingers through his hair then groaned as I looked at the clock. It was 11:45. “What?” Matt mumbled.
“He"s going to be here in fifteen minutes,” I said.
He leaned down and began kissing my neck. I felt both our bodies responding as he mumbled, “He"s just going to have to wait.”
We finally managed to stop and emerge from the bedroom at 1:30, but only because we were hungry and the little fridge in our room was empty. I saw Carlos" shadow through the front window, sitting on the porch swing. I hesitantly let go of Matt"s hand as he went into the kitchen to heat up blood, and went out to sit next to Carlos, resting my head on his shoulder. “I wouldn"t be here right now, with him, if it weren"t for you Carlos. enough for that.”
“You would"ve done know,” he said.
I can"t ever thank you

“I know,” I said then I lifted my head to look at him.
“What?” he said.
“Do you know how close I came to sleeping with you?” I whispered.
He grinned the huge goofball grin, pulling my head back onto his shoulder. “I would"ve rocked yourworld, you know.”
“I know,” I said.
“Epic, Sarah. It would have been epic, mind-blowing, earthshattering.”
“Let"s not go overboard there, stud.”
His voice got very serious. “It would have been something special, Sarah, for both of us.”
“I know,” I whispered, fighting the longing feeling to find out that was stirring inside me.
Matt walked out onto the porch then, carrying eight pints. Three each for the two of us, and two for Carlos. My head changed shoulders as he sat down next to me. We fed and then sat there silently for a few minutes, staring at the ocean. Finally, Matt quietly said, “You two ready?” We turned our heads to look at him and both nodded. “She tried everything she could think of to break me. Everything,” he said as he looked down at his palm. “She beat me, she blocked me from connecting to anybody, she withheld food and sleep, she strapped me down so I couldn"t reach my scar. She was trying to turn me against you, to get me to join her.” He paused and took a deep breath. “She has cameras in our rooms,” he said, then watched our reactions.
I gasped slightly then said, “Ramon?”
He nodded. “I think so, but I"m not certain. She made me watch as you two slept in the same bed, trying to make me believe it was something more. She made me watch when you, Carlos, were holding Sarah on the bathroom floor, and she was barely covered with a towel.” I opened my mouth to say something, but he held up his hand and shook his head. “No, you don"t have to explain anything, Sarah. I understand. I know nothing happened and it"s what I told you to do in my letter, but that doesn"t mean it was easy to watch it. You were suffering Sarah, and it was killing me that I couldn"t be the one to help you feel better. She kept telling me that you didn"t need me anymore, that you didn"t care that I wasn"t there.”
“That bitch,” I hissed.
He smiled slightly at my reaction. “Easy tiger,” he said, “you"ll have your chance.” Then he grew somber as he continued, “She kept coming to me as you, Sarah, trying to make me want her that way. But every time she did, I told her to show me her palm. One day she was trying to copy my scar then all of a sudden she flew into a fury, screaming and yelling and nearly destroying everything in the room.”
“My scar started to bleed,” I said. “I figured out what she was trying to do. Luckily, Musetta was there and was able to whip up something quickly that made your scar invisible to her,” I smiled.
Matt continued,“She made me watch as she strapped poor Jason to the table, telling him she wasn"t going to hurt him. I had to watch his horror when he realized that the fire was real. She showed me the DVD, the one that had my head on Jason"s body, the one that she said you saw. She tried to tell me that you saw it and then you ran off with Carlos, like you were happy I was gone. But I kept telling her to prove it and she couldn"t, she doesn"t know about this place. She kept telling me that you two were gone, together. I tried not to show it, but as time went on it was getting harder and harder not to believe her. I mean, you thought I was dead, Sarah, and you"ve already suffered more loss in your life than anybody should. I would hope Carlos would do everything in his power to give you a reason to live, everything.” He stopped and looked down at his hand again. I walked over to him and lifted his chin, meeting his eyes with mine.
I shook my head, then turned looked back at Carlos, who shook his head too, then added, in typical Carlos style, “Not that I wouldn"t have wanted to, but, dude, she firmly stood her ground, she"s as stubborn as a mule.”
I looked back at Matt and saw the relief flood through him. He smiled as he nodded and looked into my eyes. “Yes,” he said. “Yes she is.”
Matt returned to his story, “So, Malina became more and more angry and frustrated that she couldn"t break me. She started disappearing for days at a time. I started to get through to Bobby, another one of Malina"s followers who was there to feed and watch me. It turns out that Jason was his cousin, and I finally convinced him that Malina was the reason for Jason"s „disappearance." Malina took off five days ago and Bobby released me. I tried to reach you, Sarah, but I couldn"t. I couldn"t find you and that scared the hell out of me. Next I tried Carlos and he told me where you two were and what was happening with you. I told him to try to find some way, any way, to wake you, to bring you back. Then I headed this way. Bobby and I stayed together until we got to Texas, then he went north and I continued east to Miami. I was completely panicked until this morning, when Carlos said he was finally able to get you to come around.”
I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his chest.
After a few moments of silence, I finally said, “So, does anybody have any idea what she"s up to now?”
“Not really,” Matt said, “but, whatever it is, it will be big. She"s all about drama. She"d want to make a huge statement.”
I stared at him for a minute, and an idea began building in my head. “Carlos, what"s the date?”
“What?” he said.
“The date,” I said. “What is today"s date?”
“Oh, July 25 I think, why?” he said.
“We have to get back to the compound right away,” I grinned at both of them.
“You gonna fill us in?” Matt said.
“Well,” I said, “I don"t know exactly what she"s going to do, but I think I know when she"s going to do it. September second. Our anniversary. She would love nothing better than to humiliate and defeat us on our anniversary.”
Their eyes went wide. “You"re right,” Matt said. “How the hell do you do that? Are you psychic or something?”
I shook my head. “No. I"m just good at reading people, I think.”
“A celebration,” Carlos said and we stared at him. “Plan a big celebration, a combination welcome back, anniversary celebration. Even if she has second thoughts, she won"t be able to resist.”
“Perfect,” I said.
Carlos walked off the porch. “I"m going to get the boats ready. You want to leave tomorrow morning?”
“Yes,” I said, looking at Matt. “But do we have to take both boats?”
“Are you kidding?” Carlos called from the sand. “Four days stuck on a small boat with you two, when you"ve been apart for a while and I have gone without longer than I ever have? Uh-uh, no way, not a chance.”
I grinned at Matt. “I think he knows us pretty well,” I said, then I noticed the odd look on Matt„s face.
He looked at me like he was going to eat me. “Let"s eat, now, a lot,” he growled as he pushed me into the house.
“Are you sure we"re both strong enough for that?” I panted as he began kissing me.
“We"re going to have to be, „cause it"s going to happen, now, and nothing"s going to stop it,” he groaned. My hands were shaking as I turned around to open the fridge. My knees threatened to give out as he pressed himself against me and kissed the back of my neck. I felt him groan as he felt the shivers he was sending down my spine. His fangs were already down and scraping along my neck. I grabbed as many pints as I could and spun around to throw them in the microwave, thinking„there"s no way we"re going to make it upstairs." Sure enough, I felt his hands on my thighs as he reached under my dress to pull down my panties.
In a brief panic, I quickly reached out to Carlos.
‘Don’t… come… in,’
I thought, then I quickly pulled my mind back as I felt Matt enter me from behind, my fangs sink into a pint, and his fangs sink into my neck.