Scorned (4 page)

I shook my head. “Nope,” I answered. “Just
out of it.” He handed me his beer. “That’s not going to help.”

Pierce shrugged and took it back, took a
large gulp and set it back on the floor. We watched TV the rest of
the evening. I napped off and on and he flipped channels until it
was time for me to leave if I wanted to make it home by curfew.
Suddenly, I hated my life all over again.

“Baby, I have to go.”

“I know.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t raining anymore so
Pierce and I stood shivering against my car for a moment as he held
me.

“Can I get a goodbye kiss?” I asked,
expecting his normal chicken peck goodbye. He surprised me by
tipping my head up with his finger under my chin and slowly closing
the space between our lips. He gazed lovingly into my eyes before
he sealed with a kiss the unspoken promise that I would be okay.
His lips were warm, even in the cold of early January, and they
sent shafts of desire through my body, an emotion that couldn’t yet
be realized. He kissed me with a fervor that I hadn’t felt in a
long time. It was nothing like the kiss in my dream. Where that
kiss had been mostly lust, what I got from Pierce was how much he
loved me.

My heart raced and I could no longer tell
that I was cold. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him
closer until his weight had me pinned against the car.

If this keeps up, I won’t make it home on
time.

I laughed softly, and Pierce mistook it for
being turned on. I didn’t care. He had one hand cupping the side of
my face and the other pressed against the car window.

My skin began to crawl and the hairs on the
back of my neck stood on end.

No! Not now!

The intensity of those ghostly eyes overtook
me within seconds, stronger and heavier than they had ever been.
I’d been mistaken before. I didn’t pass out. I wanted to, but I
couldn’t. Whoever it was, they were inside my head and they
wouldn’t let me. I gasped in pain, grasping my head in both my
hands and effectively breaking the kiss.

“LeKrista?”

I sank to the ground and Pierce followed me,
his hands on my head, his voice in my ears, trying to calm me. But
I couldn’t be calmed, because suddenly there were gruesome images
flashing in front of my eyes and I guess I finally did pass
out.

A man smiled down at me, and as his lips
parted I saw the sharp fangs of a vampire, slightly curved inward.
Deadly. He came toward me, and as he did, his mouth opened wider
until I could see his throat. I felt his lips close over my neck
and his fangs, warm and smooth against my flesh just before they
bit into my neck, puncturing the artery. My blood flowed as his
lips pulled it from my body.

I panicked, suddenly coming awake, the taste
of that blood on the back of my tongue once again.

“No!” I shrieked. “Get it off me!”

And just like that, the images and
sensations were all gone, but my mind and body as one couldn’t
handle it. I felt my body go slack and Pierce’s arms were there to
catch me.

When I came to, I’d thrown up. His jacket
and jeans were covered and my mouth tasted like gross. I sat up,
leaned over and threw up once more.

“Get her some water.” Pierce’s deep voice
washed over me and I suddenly realized how cold I was. I spat on
the ground, trying to rid my mouth of the gross. I almost threw up
again. Perhaps my willpower is that strong, or maybe my stomach was
finally empty. Either way, nothing came up when I gagged. Finally,
there was a glass in my hand. I tipped it up, filled my mouth,
swished, and spit it out. I rinsed and repeated until the glass was
empty, then handed it back to Pierce.

That was when I realized how many people
were around - Petrice, Gable, and the neighbors on the right - and
that there were tears on my face. I didn’t bother with the tears.
My hand went straight to my neck feeling for blood and puncture
marks. No marks, and my hand came away clean. I still wasn’t
convinced.

“Is she okay?” Petrice asked in a shaky
voice.

“What happened?” The neighbor man demanded
to know.

“Oh, my god,” I whispered. “Oh, my god.” It
was all I could think to say as the panic set in once again.

“Staci, are you okay?” I looked up into
Pierce’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Someone’s watching me, Pierce. Someone’s
following me. I can feel their eyes on me all the time. They’re
coming for me, Pierce!” I was talking way too fast and my voice
kept rising. Pierce grabbed my face and made me look him in the
eye.

“Calm down, Staci. Take a breath and calm
down.”

I breathed in and out and looked into his
comforting amber eyes until I felt my heart settle. This was my
Pierce, the embodiment of peace and calm. He'd always had that
effect on me. My heart rate returned to normal.

“You’re okay,” Pierce said. “Come on.” He
pulled me to my feet and helped me brush the mud from my jeans.
“I’ll drive you home.”

“What about my car?” I asked.

“Gable can follow us.”

I nodded. “I threw up on you.”

“A couple times. Are you okay?” He bent a
little to look into my eyes.

I nodded, mentally ticking off a check list
to make sure there was nothing wrong with me. I came up with
nothing, except that I was being stalked by a vampire.

That’s ridiculous. Isn’t it?

I felt myself beginning to panic once more,
and closed my eyes against it, taking deep breaths to tamp it back
down. I squeezed Pierce's hand until his calm washed over me. I
felt dirty, like I’d done something wrong.

“Staci?”

“I just want to get home,” I assured Pierce.
“I’m sorry I threw up on you.”

That sexy smile finally made a comeback,
even if it was only a few watts. “Any time, love.”

I smiled back, but I knew it was lackluster.
Pierce brushed a tear from my cheek and kissed the top of my head.
“Bet you won’t kiss my mouth,” I joked. I got a stern look for that
then a firm kiss on the lips. Dang it, if I didn’t love this man! I
waited for Pierce to change clothes, and we climbed into his
rattling Suburban. We rode half the way in silence and I stared out
the window, trying to keep my mind off those dangerous fangs.

“How long has this been going on?” Pierce
finally asked when we were about ten minutes from my home.

“I don’t know,” I answered softly. “A couple
months I guess.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I looked at
Pierce and he didn’t look hurt. Confused maybe.

“I don’t know.”

“Do we need to call the police?”

I laughed. “And say what? ‘Excuse me
officer, but I think someone is following me. No, I haven’t seen
anyone, but I can feel their eyes watching me.' Are you kidding?
They’d give me a one way trip to the crazy house. No, thank you. I
may be a lot of things, but mentally disturbed isn’t one of
them.”

“Are you okay now?” His voice rang with
concern. I reached out and grabbed his hand, fully aware that I was
once again gripping it a little harder than necessary.

“I will be.”

I was relieved when we pulled up to my home.
Gable parked my car beside the house and handed me the keys as we
switched places. Pierce gave me one more kiss before I climbed out
of the truck and he waited until I was inside before he left. All I
could think about was getting a shower. I felt filthy, sleazy, and
violated and just wanted to get clean. I chose not to tell my aunt
and uncle I was home and went straight to my room and locked the
doors. I avoided the mirror as I let the water run in the shower. I
stripped out of my muddy, wet clothes and turned to the mirror with
my eyes closed.

One, two, do it now or you never will.

I popped my eyes open and tilted my head to
the side to get a good look at my neck. I half expected there to be
fang marks marring the flesh, but there was nothing but smooth, tan
skin and the faint blue outline of the vein that had been violated
in my...

What was I supposed to call what had
happened? A vision? God, I hoped not. A flashback? No, because it
had never actually happened, and I knew it wasn’t a dream. Somehow,
I knew that. I decided to stick with panic attack, because it was
the only thing that sounded remotely close.

I let my hair down and stepped into the
steaming shower. I didn’t even care that the water was too hot. So
I would come out the color of a tanned tomato. At least I would
feel clean.

My phone rang thirty minutes later. I dried
my hand and my face and stuck my head out of shower to answer.
“Hello?”

“Hey, Stace,” Pierce replied and his voice
sent shivers of calm through me.

“You made it home?” I asked, even though I
knew the answer.

There was an edge of worry in his voice when
he said, “Yeah, I’m home. You doing alright?”

I smiled so he would hear it in my voice and
answered, “Yeah. I’m in the shower. I’ll call you back when I’m
done.”

“Alright.” He didn’t mention the extra
shower. “I’m going to get another shower too. If I don’t answer,
I’ll call you back.”

I’d developed a migraine in the shower now
that the adrenaline had worn off, and my throat was sore and raw.
No wonder everyone had come running.

It took a while to get dressed. I was sleepy
and lethargic, but I still needed to call Pierce back. I was laying
in the bed when I finally called him. I had the lights out and my
dog Bermides sleeping next to me. He had too much fur to sleep in
the bed, but I didn’t want to be alone.

“Feel better?” Pierce asked when he answered
the phone.

“No,” I answered honestly. “Not really.”

“What happened, love? You said ‘get it off
me’.”

“Please. Can we talk about it in the
morning? In the daylight?”

“Of course, Staci. I won’t keep you up. Get
some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

We hung up and I curled up and went to
sleep, hugging my dog for comfort.

The eyes glowed red, bright enough to light
the room, and the fangs were at least three inches long. His face
was twisted and distorted with anger and hunger, and it was coming
dangerously close to my own. The smile plastered across his face
held no humor, only hatred.

And he was calling my name.

“
LeKrista.”

I shook my head and tried to run, but my
body just wouldn’t obey.

“
LeKrista, come to me.”

I couldn’t find my voice to deny him, but it
wouldn’t have done any good. He was on top of me, his mouth already
at my throat. He kissed along my throat to my neck, to the vein
he’d already claimed as his own. I whimpered because I couldn’t beg
and felt his breath on my neck. He caressed my skin with his
porcelain white fangs before he plunged them into my neck.

But he didn’t plunge them. He took his time.
I felt the fangs penetrate the vein and keep going. I thought they
would never stop digging through my neck until he’d skewered me
completely.

I felt the pull of his lips, felt my blood
drain, and my head spin. At some point, I lost consciousness. All
the better. If I was going to die, I didn’t want to be awake for
it. But I didn’t die. When I woke up the next morning, after having
my blood drained, I wasn’t dead. I was one of them.

I came awake with a start. My heart beat a
rhythm against my rib cage and my head felt like it would split
open. I pressed my hands to both sides of my neck. I was whole, no
punctures, but I was terrified.

I reached down to turn on the bedside lamp
and looked around frantically, squinting against the pain that the
light caused. The room was empty except for me and Bermides, but
there was no way I was going to get to sleep now without pain
killers, so I got up gingerly and went to the kitchen using walls
and doorknobs to help steady myself.

I turned the lights on as I went. I popped
three Tylenol and swallowed them with a glass of water.

“Hey, Kris.” My little brother Dante walked
in.

I hate that name but my family has no regard
for my feelings and insists it’s a fine nickname. I have no desire
to be referred to by a boy's name.

“Hey.” His not-quite-six-foot-three frame
towered over me when he gave me his characteristic sideways hug,
not quite touching me with anything but his hand and his side, like
he was afraid to catch something.

“Headache?” he asked, his way of
sympathizing.

I nodded and wished I hadn’t. My brain felt
like it was rattling around in my skull. I pressed the heels of my
hands to my eyes and rested my elbows on the counter until the
throbbing felt less like my brain would explode.

“You alright?” Dante asked. I wasn’t sure if
he was uncertain of what to do or ready to run for the phone in
case I needed an ambulance.

“No,” I answered him, and he waited. “I’ll
be fine.” I picked my head up and offered something that was
supposed to be a smile, but his concerned frown proved that I
hadn’t quite made it.

I waved a dismissive hand at him and crossed
to my favorite spot at the breakfast table. Then I realized the
blinds were open. The extra effort of standing actually made my
head begin to throb again, but I closed the blinds anyway,
explaining to my brother, “I had a panic attack today. Don’t know
why. Don’t think I’ve ever actually had one before, either. It had
a bad effect on my brain.” I purposefully left out the crazy vision
thing. He would be way too interested in that for his own good. I
finally took a seat and lowered my head back into my hands.

“You want me to rub your shoulders?” he
asked.

“Sure,” I agreed. The massage felt good, but
it only seemed to aggravate an already painful situation, and I had
to make him stop. “Thanks for trying. I’m just going to try to go
back to bed,” but that was honestly the last thing I wanted. I went
back to my room anyway, but I left the lamp on, lying down in the
bed next to my dog and curling up on my side.