What Lies Inside (A Blood Bound Novel, Book 1) (43 page)

I shoved the phone back into my pocket and plunged down the ladder, so fast I was almost free falling. When my feet touched the ground, striking pain shot up my hand and arm. A low curse blew from my lips. The jagged splinter of three inches that was jutting out from the wooden rail was fully embedded in my palm. I winced and slowly lifted my hand from the spike. It made a terrible flesh-tearing sound.

“Off so soon?”

The familiar, husky voice caused the hairs on my neck to stand. I spun, shoving the compulsion book onto the shelf behind me. I flexed my injured hand, watching the blood loss slow as the skin closed over. Marcus was perched atop our usual study desk.
How long had he been there? Had he been watching me?
I tried and failed to push my growing mistrust of him from my mind. There was so much fog surrounding the time I had spent with Marcus. Was I just being paranoid?

“Um,” I forced my mouth to speak. “I didn’t realize what time it was.” If my suspicions held any weight, I had to act as though everything was normal. I had to feel out any anomalies with a prepared and conscious mind. “So, what are you teaching me today?”

~

After spending the entire day with Marcus, I ventured back up to my room. My plan had been to figure out what, if anything, Marcus had been up to. But the entire day felt fresh in my mind, no haze, no memory lapses, and no confusion. I’d even told him of my decision to remain at the Armaya. The entire interaction left me feeling silly for my paranoia. Marcus was my friend, and in this new world that was now my home, I needed a friend. One who had time both to school and spend time with me. One who made me feel normal and accepted, no matter what. And the connection I felt to him, though inexplicable, had returned. All of this only further instilled my sense of belonging, making it clear that this
was
where I was meant to be.

As I reached my room, key in hand, I froze. The door was slightly ajar. Housekeeping? Frowning, I pushed the door open and peered into the shadows of my room. “Hello?”

No answer. My chest tightened with fresh paranoia.
Pull yourself together.
I flicked on the lanterns and scanned the room. My bed was made, and the towel I had flung across its foot this morning was gone, replaced by a fresh one. The air escaped my lungs with a sigh of relief. It was just housekeeping.

I dumped the compulsion book on the replacement coffee table before dropping onto the faded floral couch. I’d planned to look further into the book but my eyes warmed, fuzzing with tiredness. I glanced over my shoulder to the antique clock ticking by the bedside. 5.30
AM
. In vampire terms it was late, past dinner and time to go to bed.

But I’d left Marcus over an hour ago. I had asked him for the time, and had even glimpsed the hands of his silver-faced Rolex to confirm it.
Where have I been?

My body slumped, exhaustion catching up with me as I pushed into my memories. Suddenly my head felt heavy, unable to think coherently. Something else was bothering me too. After eating a light lunch with Marcus, I should’ve been starving by now. But my stomach felt full and content. When did I eat, and with who?

Too lethargic, my mind refused to search for an answer. I slumped further into the hard-cushioned couch.

Sleep was ready to claim me. There was no holding it back. My eyelids slowly dropped and my mind blanked, giving way to unconscious sleep.

An almost inaudible sound tore me back to waking: the sound of footsteps. My heart leaped beneath my ribs and I bolted upright. “Who’s there?”

Silence. A dim glow caught the corner of my eye. It was the amethyst pendant. When had I taken it off? I snatched the stone from coffee table, but my fingers instantly released. The pendant fell to the ground, and the smell of burned flesh reached my nostrils. The surface of the stone was boiling. It had literally singed my fingers.

Another sound drew my eyes to the bathroom. Darkness emanated from the partially open door. I clambered from the couch. “Hello?”

Within the blackness, I could almost detect the ominous outline of a figure, a person. My heart jumped into my throat. Adrenaline turned every one of my muscles taut. There was no turning back. I kicked the bathroom door in and launched. My body connected with the figure, and we crashed to the ground.

“Ouch!” it yelped as we skidded with a thump into the vanity.

The assailant’s voice was deep and unmistakable. “Kendrick?”

“Yeah, who’d you think it was?” He sounded a little annoyed. “Will you get off me?”

Warmth invaded my body. I was still lying on top of him, my chest pressed against his and our faces less than an inch apart. “Oh, sorry…” In an awkward movement I drew away, rising to my feet and turning on the fluorescents. I extended a hand to pull Kendrick up. “What are you doing in here, anyway?”

“I was coming to say goodnight to you.” Kendrick crossed his arms over his
Kutless
t-shirt. “What’s with the attack greeting?”

Relief cured my embarrassment and my fear. It was just Kendrick. “I thought I saw…” I shook my head. “Never mind…”

Kendrick smiled, a somewhat strained and forced expression. Then he turned to leave.

A memory rose to the surface of my mind. There was something I needed to ask him. “Wait!”

His shoulders tensed and he turned back to me. “What?”

“The d-damned,” I stammered, struck by his hard expression and tone. “What are the damned?”

Kendrick sucked in a breath, eyes narrowing. “Where did you hear that?”

I pulled my naked iPhone from my back pocket, and handed it over with the post-it note open. “I came across an old diary in the library. These words were pressed into the back cover.”

Kendrick pinched his chin in thought. “The diary, it was from the 1700’s, right?” I nodded. “Well, I don’t know too much. But I’ve learned some of the history, which tells of a war between our kind and the damned. In the end we triumphed, hunting them to extinction.”

“Extinct? So, they’re all gone?”

“Of course,” Kendrick insisted. “Now go to sleep. You look like crap.” He left without another word, switching the fluorescents off before disappearing into his room.

Standing in darkness I found the pendant on the floor and fastened it around my neck. Then I frowned. Something was wrong. Kendrick and I had a close friendship, one I thought we had completely repaired. But this morning and again just now he’d seemed different, somehow cold.
Am I imagining things?
I wasn’t sure. With the weight of my other concerns creeping to the surface, the lethargy I had felt before was quickly returning. In the morning, I thought to myself. I’ll figure it all out in the morning.

I relaxed across from my uncle, sipping from a blood-filled goblet. As usual his desk was askew with a messy pile of folders that sat beneath the diamond-cut paperweight. I began nibbling at my second mint biscuit. Caius had sourced them, knowing they were my favorites. Apparently tonight marked a special occasion.

For a second I wondered if he knew of my decision to stay. Then my thoughts returned to where they had been set most of the day. Kendrick. Despite his promise to hang out today, his distant behavior had increased. It had gotten so bad that I was questioning his constant excuses. It felt as though he was continually making an effort to avoid me. Had I done something?

“Marcus has informed me,” Caius’s voice pulled me from my troubling thoughts. “That you have decided to stay, to forge a new life within our walls.”

So that was the reason for the biscuits. A broad smile spread across my lips. “Yes. I hope that’s okay.” There were still so many things I was confused about, but one thing I knew with total clarity. I belong here.

“I would love nothing more.”

Uncle Caius was smiling, but something felt off.
Paranoid much?
I shook off the feeling and sipped from my goblet. The cold liquid coated my mouth, absorbing straight through my flesh. This time I savored the sensation. Caius had been right. My senses had become accustomed to the ancient blood, so much so that I barely felt the urge to cough.

“And if you become interested in a court appointed job,” Uncle Caius added. “I am sure I can put in a good word. There will be many important sub positions available once you mature.”

I was about to reply, thanking him for his generous offer, when my vision shattered. The amethyst pendant against my chest warmed. Then the ground beneath me seemed to open up, swallowing me in darkness.

My eyes rolled back in my head. Then without warning it was suddenly light again. Starbursts pierced my eyes and I blinked rapidly, clearing my vision. I was no longer within the comfort of my uncle’s office. Instead, I stood between two freestanding bookshelves in the library. My skin prickled, feeling alien and cold. How had I gotten here? Was I missing time again? Was this even real, or just another dream?

The sound of a wall-mounted clock above my head chimed with the repetitive signal of a new hour. I took no notice, my sight set on a gap created between musty books.

Pressure constricted my throat. Kendrick stood beyond the barricade. He wasn’t alone.

Marcus paced in front of him, dressed in all black with the sleeve of his collared shirt rolled up. “It’s happening tonight.” He stopped pacing to stand before Kendrick, placing both hands on my best friend’s shoulders. There was a deep gash across Marcus’s wrist with a smudge of blood drying around it. “Kendrick, you will not interfere.”

Kendrick’s eyes glazed over and his face became expressionless. He nodded almost robotically.

“Now, take this to Amelia,” Marcus directed, handing Kendrick a glass topped with blood.

Fear stole my pulse, my legs felt weak. Something within me clicked. All my confusion, missing time, lethargy and dizzy spells… It was Marcus all along. And now he was using my best friend through compulsion
.
Why? What was he planning? And what does it have to do with me?

My jaw dropped. I wanted to scream, needed to break Marcus’s hold on my best friend. But all that emerged was white noise, a high-pitched squealing sound that barely registered on an audible level.

Marcus drew back his shoulders, eyes darting about the dark and seemingly empty library, before regaining their hold on my best friend. “Make her drink all of it. Force it down her throat, if you must.” His silver-raging eyes, now entirely extinguished of teal flecks, bore into Kendrick’s. “And I need you to compel her to remember. Remember
everything
she has been made to forget.”

Kendrick’s voice emerged mechanical, emotionless. “I will make her drink the blood. I will compel her to remember.”

Barely a second later, the tension returned to his face. He shook his head, disorientated, the haze clearing from his eyes. “Sorry, what was I saying?”

With a last stitch of desperation, I went to dart around the bookshelves. But I couldn’t move. My mouth opened to scream. And it was like a living nightmare. Not a single sound came out.

Then the library melted. It pulsed right before my eyes like a hospital patient being shocked by high voltage. The jolt rippled through me with the force of being slammed against a brick wall. I gasped for air, lungs squeezing. I felt like I was being strangled.

“Amelia!” My uncle’s worry-struck voice reached my ears. “Are you okay?” It almost sounded like he was calling out from a distance. Only that couldn’t be the case. Because his broad hands were curled around my shoulders and shaking my body. “Amelia, answer me!”

The strength of his shaking caused my head to rattle. My brain felt waterlogged, not quite conscious yet. I forced my tongue and mouth to move through the numbness. “Yes. I’m okay. Just stop shaking me.”

Uncle Caius did as I asked and I opened my eyes to view his stricken face. His eyes widened for a split second, looking surprised. Then his chest rose and fell with a deep breath, calculated concern changing his expression. “Amelia, you scared me half to death. What happened?”

Shock vaulted through me as my brain finally caught up. I was back in my uncle’s office, able to smell the remaining mint biscuits on his desk. What I had just witnessed hadn’t been missing time, or even a dream. It had been real. What the hell?

Marcus.
My heart sank. Inside I felt hollow. The connection I’d experienced between us had been a warning. One I had foolishly ignored. It can’t be true. Yet something I had realized many times before, and somehow forgotten, dawned on me. A pressing weight against my stomach made me want to gag. My dreams come true. And now I knew the truth. Marcus was plotting against me and using my best friend like a stringed puppet to act out his plans. I ran over the time frame of my previous telling dreams. Other than the distortion of already played out events, I dreamed everything before it came to be.

Urgency struck me, an electric thunderbolt that seared from the inside out. What time had it been in my vision? When would this happen? I recalled the chiming clock, but knew I hadn’t seen the face of it. Then it hit me. The chimes, there had been six of them. 6
AM
, the perfect time with no one awake to overhear them. My eyes darted sideways to the ticking grandfather clock against the wall of Caius’s office. 5.55
AM
. If the time was correct, I didn’t have more than five minutes. But I had to try. I had to get to Kendrick before Marcus did.

“Amelia?” Caius tilted my head up with the palm of his hand.

He was still waiting on me to answer his question, but I couldn’t tell him. What was there even to tell? I had no proof, nothing to back up my fears. And I had no time. I shook my head. “I thought I had gotten used to the ancient blood,” I lied. “I guess I took too big a gulp. I was just so thirsty.” In truth the last part wasn’t a lie. A thirst, similar to the night I had learned monsters exited, gripped me. All moisture was stripped from my throat. “I’m really tired, though. Do you mind if I go to bed?”

Caius rose from his crouched position beside me looking wary. “You do look worse for wear. May I escort you?”

Taking my uncles outstretched hand for leverage, I rose to my feet. “No, thank you. I’ll be fine.”