Chapter 17
Ya Tebya Lyublyu
I’m officially not a fan of being knocked out. In fact, I’m a little sick of it. Not being real big on the whole mind-nerve connection that is pain, I didn’t want to be hit again in this life – ever. Of course, as I opened my eyes with a squint and a pale, hazy light blinded my irises, it occurred to me that my life wasn’t exactly going to be a long and prosperous one anyway.
I groaned and placed a hand on the side of my head that had been clocked twice now…not to mention slapped, oh, and shoved against a wall. I was fairly certain, by the sharp inhale my body instinctively took as my fingers barely brushed my eye socket, that not only was I puffy, I was bruised as well. Great.
“Emma?” A soft, pain-filled voice brought me out of my pity party and I lifted my head from the dirt floor, a layer of the red soot probably staying along the side of me.
With a slow exhale, I carefully sat up on an elbow. A hand gently touched my shoulder and I slowly turned my head to see Teren’s light eyes inspecting me. I’d never seen such a look of worry and fear on his face. It made worry and fear surge through mine.
“Are you okay?” we both asked each other at the same time.
He bit his lip and nodded as a twinge of discomfort seemed to pass through him and I forcefully made myself only look at his upper half. Seeing as how we seemed to be alone in our dungeon now (Buffy must have retreated upstairs to sharpen his stakes), I was sure that one glance at Teren’s injuries would have me curled into a weeping, blubbery ball of worthlessness. And I couldn’t do that. I needed to be strong.
I nodded back to him that I was fine as well and then I scooted my body close to his, careful that I only touched his upper half. I slung my arm across his chest and laid my head on his shoulder. His shirt was lightly damp, like he’d run a marathon, and his face was still a horrid gray color. I hoped he wasn’t bleeding too badly…
His hand came around my shoulder and he clutched me tight with it, his other hand gently holding my head against him.
“Do you know what he gave you?” I asked quietly into the fabric of his shirt.
“No,” he replied, having heard me just fine, even through his fog of pain. He let out a ragged sigh. “Of course, I thought we were the only ones like us.” His voice was low and broke a couple times as a tremor of anguish made his body stiffen beneath me. “I had no idea there were others…”
I looked up and cupped his cheek with one hand, making him look at me. His eyes regarded my bruising face and his jaw tightened beneath my fingertips. “Are you in a lot of pain, Teren?” I knew it was a stupid question. I could see quite clearly in his rigidness and in the way his eyes focused and unfocused, that he was in a horrendous amount of pain. But sometimes, in bad situations, the stupid questions are the only ones you’re left with.
“It’s not so bad…if I don’t move,” he said in a breaking, restrained voice that made my eyes water. I blinked back the tears.
“Will you really heal from this?” My hand indicated his legs but I couldn’t look at them again.
He knew what I meant, and his eyes also avoided looking down at his bloody extremities. He nodded once. “Yes…I think so.”
His hand that had moved to my shoulder when I looked up at him, grasped my cheek and his face took on a seriousness that only comes when someone is about to utter something that will change your life forever. My stomach clenched at the intenseness of his eyes and I knew exactly what he was going to say.
“You have to run, Emma. You have to try and escape before…” His voice lost all its intense power and he swallowed a couple times before trying again. “Promise me you won’t try and save me. I need-”
My eyes watered beyond anything I could blink away and tears streamed down my face as I cut him off. “I can’t promise that…you know I can’t.” My voice had an awful pleading quality to it and I desperately wanted to give him an empty lie again, desperately wanted to convince him that, of course, I would run and leave him, when I had no intention of doing such a thing. I couldn’t though. I was too scared and overwhelmed to lie at the moment.
His other hand cupped my other cheek and gritting his teeth, he shook his head. “You have to, Emma. You have to find a way to get out of here, before I can hurt you.” His eyes filled with tears as well. “I don’t want to hurt you…please.” Those tears ran down his cheeks, taking all my hope of staying strong for him with them. “I can’t live if I kill you.” His voice broke in emotion instead of pain, and he laid his head on my shoulder. “I can’t take it if I kill you. Please, run…from me…” He started to sob on my shoulder.
I clutched him tight. Hearing him doubt his ability to not kill me, something he usually unwaveringly assured me of, was scaring me worse than being locked in this dank room. I swallowed and forced myself to answer him. “Okay, Teren…I’ll run. I won’t let you hurt me, baby.” I had no idea how I was getting out of an iron bar locked room that I was handcuffed to the wall in, but my vampire needed a lie, and I found some small well of resolve in my body to give him one. After that, I turned into that weeping, blubbery ball of worthlessness on his shoulder and together we set a new world record for the most amount of tears dropped, in the shortest amount of time.
Eventually we regained control of ourselves and Teren laid his head in my lap. I ran my fingers back through his hair as his body started shaking. I huddled as much of my warmth over him as I could and he relaxed, just the tiniest amount, as my heat seeped into him.
“I’m so sorry, Emma,” he muttered into my legs.
I stroked his back and ran a hand through his hair repeatedly, trying to calm him and myself. “What? Why?” I didn’t see anything about this that was his fault.
He sighed and a heavy shudder passed through him. “I never should have stopped. We’d be at my parents’ place by now…”
I squeezed him tight. “Don’t…don’t you dare do that.” He shifted slightly beneath me and I felt him squeeze my thigh. I wasn’t sure if he did that out of reassurance…or pain. “Don’t you apologize for being a decent human being.”
He laughed once, a mirthless sound that echoed through his chest hollowly. “If I were human…we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
I sighed and pressed my head against his back, listening to the steady thump of his still-beating heart. “Sometimes, Teren…being human has nothing to do with genetics.”
He turned his head and carefully shifted his body to look up at me. His hand reached out to stroke my cheek. “I love you, Emma.”
I clenched my jaw and blinked repeatedly. “Don’t do that to me.” He blinked in momentary confusion. “Don’t you say ‘I love you’, like you’re saying goodbye.” I shook my head as renewed tears stung my eyes. I was a little surprised my body was still capable of making them. “There are no goodbyes here…we’re both getting out of this.” My voice broke on the end and I had to repeat my seemingly improbable statement.
He nodded and I could plainly see that he didn’t really believe my line either. He smiled a weak, fake smile and pulled my lips down to his. I kissed him softly before pulling back and losing myself in his calming blue eyes. “It goes without saying, but…I love you too.”
********************
Fifty seven…fifty eight…fifty nine…
I was counting to five hundred. I was counting slowly and silently, biding my time to come up with a genius plan of escape that would get both Teren and I safely away from this mess. When I reached five hundred, I was going to act on that plan and be the superhero of my own life.
Ninety…ninety one…ninety two…
Now, I just needed that plan…
I ran a hand gently through Teren’s hair. He was still lying on my lap, his body angled out away from me, so I couldn’t see his face. I wasn’t sure if he was just being quiet or if he’d passed out again from the agony. He’d been in and out of consciousness for most of our time down here.
I wasn’t sure how much of that time was passing. It must have only been a few hours, but neither Teren nor I had a watch and there were no windows down here to judge time by the sunlight; just one bare bulb that illuminated the center of each of the four walls. The center, but not the corners. And I was sure that in those dark recesses, rodents and other unpleasant creatures that I didn’t want to think about were scurrying around. Of course, I couldn’t stop the thought that those creatures would probably take a nibble or two off of me, once Teren had sucked me dry…
No. That wasn’t going to happen. I’d get us out of here.
One hundred and twenty one…one hundred and twenty two…one hundred and twenty three…
Somehow.
The room itself was lending me no bursts of inspiration. It was mostly empty. A few broken chairs, a few empty bottles and a couple bags of what looked like fertilizer. No helpful items, like a shovel, or a shotgun, or a key to these damn cuffs. My arm was numb from being suspended in the air while I sat on the floor with Teren, attached to this stupid waist high bar. I was beyond the tingly ‘it’s fallen asleep’ stage and into full-on ‘my appendage is gone’ stage. I was actually grateful for that. Maybe I’d simply gnaw my arm off, and if said arm was completely numb…maybe I wouldn’t feel it. My stomach churned at the thought though.
One hundred ninety…one hundred and ninety one…one hundred and ninety two…
Teren twitched beneath me. He’d been doing that periodically, once his body had stopped shaking. I had no idea if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. Sometimes the twitch would elicit a quiet groan, sometimes they were silent. With that last one, he clutched my thigh. I flinched and bit my lip. He’d squeezed really hard and I was bruised for sure. I could take it though. His pain was so much worse. I ran my hand down his back until his body relaxed. He twitched again and released his death grip on my thigh.
I’d thought about offering him some blood. I honestly didn’t know if that would help him at this point or not though. And a part of me was worried that he wouldn’t be able to sense when to stop, what with his brain on sensory overload. Plus, I needed all of my strength for when my brilliant escape plan went into effect.
Two hundred thirty…Two hundred and thirty one…Two hundred and thirty two…
Still blank. Apparently, I hadn’t watched enough horror movies. I had no idea what to do about this little situation, and I’m sure there had to be a movie out there somewhere with an ending similar to the predicament I was in now. Of course, the woman in that film probably had a bobby pin tucked up in her hair and would know how to use one to unclasp her cuffs. I neither had one, nor knew how to use one like that.
I exhaled heavily and watched the barred door at the top of the wooden steps. He hadn’t come back. I suppose he wouldn’t, until Teren changed over. No point in watching it really. We were securely locked in here and I was handcuffed to a wall for God’s sake. Once Teren changed, and my demise was pretty much guaranteed, he’d drive a stake through Teren’s beautiful, silent heart, before my blood had a chance to partially revive him. Then we’d both be dead and gone. Well, at least Teren didn’t have to worry about a lifetime without me…just a few minutes really.
No…no more Negative Nancy. I was getting us out of here.
Three hundred and twenty one…Three hundred and twenty two…Three hundred and twenty three…
Teren gasped on my lap as a large jolt through his body stirred him. He made a strangled cry and I soothed his back again. Once the wave of pain seemed to ebb, he twisted his head to look at me. His eyes had a dreamy faraway look.
“Hi,” he said quietly.
I smiled down at him on my lap. “Hey, baby. Close your eyes…rest.”
He half-smiled crookedly, in that charming way of his. “Since you gave up all your coffee for my shirt…maybe I could buy you another?”
I bit my lip and forced back the tears. He was slipping. The pain was making his mind look for ways around it, and he’d found a pleasant memory to linger in. Well, I’d play along. Delusion was better than screaming.
“I’d love that.”
He smiled widely and then sudden panic filled his eyes and for a moment, I thought his illusion had slipped and he was cognizant again. But when he spoke, he was still in the past. “Please don’t leave, if you find out what I am. Please don’t hate me. Please don’t run, like the others. Please don’t think I’m a monster…”
A not-stoppable tear rolled down my cheek and I sniffled as I ran a hand down his face. “I won’t leave, baby.” I shook my head. “You’re not a monster, Teren…you never were.” My eyes flashed back to the door. There was only one monster in this house and he was upstairs. And he would pay…somehow.
Teren’s eyes fluttered closed with a contented sigh, and I rubbed his cheek softly while his face relaxed beneath my touch.
Somehow.
Four hundred…Four hundred and one…Four hundred and two…
Teren jerked on my legs and his eyes flew open. He clenched his jaw and looked around the room, like he didn’t know where he was.
“Baby…it’s okay,” I said in a soothing tone of voice.
His eyes found mine and he exhaled brokenly. “Where are…” His thought fell off his tongue as his eyes closed briefly in remembrance. When they reopened, he met mine again. “We’re still here?”
I nodded weakly and rubbed his cheek again. He clasped his hand over mine.
I wondered how long we had. I wondered if it was close to dark. The man said Teren would die by nightfall. Either way, our life was completely different than it had been this morning. I flicked a glance at Teren’s legs. I hoped he was right about them. I hoped he healed. They looked such a bloody, un-repairable mess; broken at the least, shattered at the most. I still wasn’t about to take a glance under his jeans to find out. That sight would surely unhinge me, and I needed to stay somewhat focused on getting us out of here. I was pretty sure that if I did get Teren safely away (if he hadn’t been about to change), his legs would probably have to be removed for him to remain alive, they looked that bad. I’d take him that way too, of course. I’d take Teren Adams any way I could get him.
Teren noticed my glance at his legs. “It’s not so bad anymore. It’s almost like they’re gone…I can barely feel them.” He smiled when he said that, like that was a good thing.
I feebly smiled back. A thought struck me as I remembered nightfall. “Will your family look for us?”
He was shaking his head as soon as the words left me. “No, I don’t think so. Not tonight anyway.” He shrugged and stroked my fingers with his thumb. “They’ll only know we turned away from the ranch…they won’t know why.” He sighed a little, as he stated, “We can’t sense intentions.” He shrugged again, as he searched my eyes. “Not even when we want to.”
My head dropped as I considered that. I wasn’t sure if I wanted those women anywhere near this madman, but it would improve our odds dramatically if they were here. Teren finished his thought in a soft voice, momentarily free from pain, “They won’t worry until tomorrow, when they can’t reach me on my cell. Then they’ll probably wait until dark, so Great-Gran can go with them - she’s the strongest of us. By the time they track me here…”
“We’ll be dead,” I finished quietly.
He shook his head on my lap and smiled warmly, looking over my shoulder, like he could see right through it to the outside world. “No…I’ll be dead. You’ll be free.” His eyes seemed to glow with that prospect, the hope of my freedom. For a moment, I thought that was the only thing that was keeping him going.
“Teren…”
His happy eyes shifted to fully take me in. “You’ll be free. You’ll run…you promised.”
While technically I didn’t promise that, now wasn’t really the time to argue semantics…or the fact that I was still handcuffed to a wall. “Right, baby…I’ll be free,” I whispered instead, and his grin widened. His eyes fluttered closed again as he slung an arm around my waist.
I mentally commanded myself not to cry.
Four hundred and ninety seven…four hundred and ninety eight…four hundred and ninety nine…
Teren jerked below me and his eyes flew open again, but this time, it was different. I watched his face contort in pain and wondered if I’d jarred his legs somehow. I was being exceedingly careful to not move him. His mouth fell open in a silent gasp and I could see fresh pain cloud his pale eyes - a lot of fresh pain. He jerked on my legs a couple of times, like he was struggling against some unseen force.
I tried to still his body, so he wouldn’t cause himself extra pain by banging his legs against the ground. “Teren…what is it?”
He couldn’t answer me. He could only open and close his mouth and make horrid gasping noises, like he was struggling for air. Then his hand went to his chest. Then I understood.
Time’s up…my vamp was dying. And this time he absolutely wasn’t joking.
“No…stop it,” I croaked out unintentionally. I knew it wasn’t possible to stop this, but I wasn’t ready. Aside from the not having a plan part yet, and the fact that within an hour I was about to be a snack, I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Teren’s humanity. It was such a selfish thought to have at the moment that I hated myself a little for it, but the fact was, I would miss that side of him that was like me: his fierce thumping heart, his warm probing hands, our long leisurely dinners on his patio with a glass of wine…
But that reality had ended the moment that bar had struck his shins. This would actually help him now. He’d heal and he’d be strong enough to get away from the lunatic upstairs…once he ate me, of course.
I pushed aside my selfish thoughts and focused on the dying, and most likely terrified, man before me. He clutched my free hand with his free hand and still gasping in pain, sought my eyes.
I stared into his pale orbs, willing him strength. The whites of his eyes had been glowing faintly in the pale light of the bulb and seemed to intensify in that glow, as his body struggled to remain alive. I imagined that I heard his irregular, wet, thumping heart, pulsing unsteadily and uncertainly. Fighting for every last beat, before the weakness of its humanity claimed it, and the tired organ surrendered completely to the foreignness of his vampire blood.
“I’m here, Teren…I’m here. You’re not alone.” I had no other words, not ever having to have comforted a dying person before.
While his body jerked in painful spasms, his eyes stayed locked onto mine, refusing to leave them. I knew he was soaking me in, trying to force himself to remember what I meant to him…to outsmart the thirst. I was pretty sure that was a losing battle.
A second later, he seemed to realize that too. His face hardened into stone concentration. He forcibly ripped his eyes from mine and lifted himself off my lap. With one hand still clutching at his chest, like it’s very presence was keeping that organ beating, he reached out with his other hand, took a deep breath, and letting out a scream of pain and frustration, ripped the iron bar that anchored me to the wall off it’s heavy support brackets. It clanked onto the floor a few feet away from us, and my arm burned with fire as the blood suddenly rushed back into it.
Teren, his strength gone, collapsed back to my lap. I clutched him with both arms now, the empty manacle dangling from my wrist uselessly.
“Baby…?”
His hand reached up to stroke my face and a calm peace swept over him. Terror filled me as that peaceful look spread from his face to his body. His shaking stopped. His gasping stopped. He looked up to my eyes and with an expression so full of love, I thought my heart would burst, he whispered, “Ya tebya lyublyu.”
After the air from saying those words passed his lips, I waited for the reciprocating inhale. It didn’t come. His hand dropped from my cheek to land by his side with a non-resistant thud.
My vision obscured and I blinked the tears down my cheeks, so I could watch his eyes, still locked onto mine, slowly lose their focus. The glow that painted the whites of his eyes vanished and his head drifted down fractionally, finally breaking our eye contact.
“Teren…?”
I shook his shoulder in a hopeless attempt to revive him. It was a joke…all of this was some elaborate practical joke, and any minute he’d jerk awake and say “got-ya” and I’d smack the shit out of him for scaring me. But he wasn’t moving and he wasn’t breathing. I shook him again, in the near panicked way of someone trying to force a reality they want into existence. It still wasn’t working, he still wasn’t moving.
“No…please, no…”
I gave up trying to force my will into being. I gave up trying to pretend the man I loved was only joking. I gave up trying to hold back the racking wails of sobs that my body demanded. I closed his eyes, so I wouldn’t have to endure the lifelessness any longer, hunched myself over his limp body, and gave myself completely over into grief.
Teren Adams was dead.
***********************
I don’t know how much time I spent huddled over Teren’s lifeless body. I knew it was pointless. I knew I couldn’t bring him back and I knew that he would come back to me shortly, but it’s not every day that you watch the light of consciousness fade from someone you love immensely. It affected me. I’d darn near say it wrecked me.
I even tried CPR. How ridiculous is that? I knew it was pointless the moment I started the compressions on his chest. This was no sixty year old man with coronary failure. This was a vampire, whose human heart could no longer handle the strain of his mixed blood. There was no artificial stimulation that could be done on his organ that would overcome that fact. It was simply…done. I still tried it though…for a longer time than I care to admit, I tried.
When that failed, or more appropriately, when my arms couldn’t handle another forceful push, I slumped across his silent chest and cried some more of those useless tears. I knew he wanted me to run far away from him before he woke, and I knew I was running out of time…but Teren had only freed me from the wall, I was still padlocked down here behind an iron barred door.
All I could do was wait for Teren to wake and eat me. Then the man would hear that and open the damn door. I sat bolt upright as my mouth dropped open. Oh crap…did I just finally have an idea on how to get out of this hellhole? My mind tumbled over the details and I had to stop thinking for a second, exhaling slowly for ten long counts before trying again, to think in a more organized way.
The man was waiting for Teren to kill me. After that happened, he’d have a very short window of opportunity, before Teren became too strong for him to easily stake. So he’d be listening closely after nightfall. Since Teren was lying dead before me, I’m going to assume it’s nighttime.
So the man was listening…he’d probably heard my heart wrenching sobs (I hadn’t exactly been quiet) and now he was probably right on the other side of that door, perched in a dirty little chair with his sharpened stake in his hand, waiting for a bloodcurdling scream. Once he heard that scream, he’d open the door and…
That was it…
Nervous butterflies swarmed my stomach by the hundreds as I considered everything I was going to have to do for this to work. I didn’t know if I had the skill or strength to pull this off, but I knew it was my only chance. Once Teren woke up…well, I really didn’t want to be anywhere near him when that happened. And my only chance at freedom resided in that fanatic lunatic on the other side of the door.
Great. When did my life take such a drastic turn? Just months ago, I was plugging along at my tedious job, wishing something would break up the monotony of endless days of copying and faxing, and endless nights of watching eighties sitcom reruns on the television. In truth, I’d been hoping for Clarice to retire, so I could have her more appealing job, and then one of the firm’s more interesting clients would surely take an interest in me, sweeping me off in his private jet to Paris, for an authentic meal and a romantic stroll down the Seine.
But instead, I’d crashed into a vampire.
I smiled, and my nerves settled somewhat as I thought over that day. The look of surprise and pain on his face as my drink had spilled down the front of him. His hands brushing mine as he’d taken my card and shoved it in his pocket. And now that terror was clearing my brain cells, I could clearly remember the slight crooked grin he’d given me, as I’d embarrassedly hurried away from him. I’d been awaiting an irate phone call that day, and he’d never been angry at me. Even back then, he’d been more amused by me than anything else.
I smiled wider as I looked back down at Teren’s still body and stroked his hair. No, no bigwig sweeping me to a foreign Country could have measured up to the man that fate had forcibly led me too. My life with Teren was exactly what I wanted it to be, what I always hoped it would be…once I got past this little speed bump, of course.
I kissed Teren’s forehead and scooted around his broken body as I stood up, leaving him slightly turned toward the wall and facing away from me. I silently grabbed the iron rod that Teren had pulled from the wall. It was contorted on one end, where the metal had twisted from the strain of wanting to stay attached to the stone wall, and Teren’s pure vampiric strength had disagreed with it, ripping it brutally from its home. That noise hadn’t attracted the vampire hunter upstairs; he’d either discounted it or Teren’s loud yell had masked it.
Either way, now I was free and now I had a weapon.
My nerves came back a bit, and I inhaled and exhaled slowly and smoothly. One shot…no chance at a redo. Either the man or Teren, would kill me if this didn’t work. Nope, no pressure at all. Silencing the fear and doubt in my mind, I focused on the tiny things that I could control - my grip on the twisted end of the rod, my feet soundlessly crossing the dirt floor, stepping back into the shadows under the stairs, and lastly…screaming.
“No, Teren…please…don’t…please…no…”
Then I let loose all the terror and fear I’d been struggling to rein in for the last several hours, and I let out the loudest scream my body was capable of making. I was sure I was making every horror movie vixen very proud, as the scream rang throughout even my own ears. At the very highest point, I clamped a hand over my own mouth and shut off my vocals.
I was no actress, but I was appropriately terrified, and letting out that scream had been astonishingly easy and a little cathartic. Glancing at Teren’s form, bathed in soft light from the bulb, I took in his stillness as I stared at his back. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t reacted to my voice. Loud sounds didn’t bother the dead. I tried to not reflect on how his skin had looked paler, sallower and how when I’d kissed his forehead, he’d felt cooler than usual. Now was not the time.
I grasped my iron rod firmly in both hands as I waited for the sounds of movement upstairs. There’s no way the man hadn’t heard that. He’d give Teren a few moments to finish his meal, and then saunter down to stake my honey.
I went over everything Lita and Hot Ben had ever taught me in kickboxing class. True, it wasn’t exactly the same as what I was about to do, but similar logics could be applied. Power comes from the hips - twist them, use the strength of your lower body. Aim for the soft spot of the temple. Commit to the hit and follow through. Abandon all fear. Breathe…
I heard the sound of metal scraping against wood and knew the man was lifting the bar away from the door. Moments later, I heard the pop of the door unlocking. I closed my eyes and forced peace throughout my body. I stepped further back into the shadows under the stairs, ignoring my childhood fear of what monsters typically lurk there. The monster this time was walking down the stairs, and this was one monster that I was going to deal with head on.
Heavy boots clomped down the long steps and I briefly considered just tripping him down the stairs. I discounted it through. That may only mildly hurt him and I needed to massively hurt him. I only had one shot and surprise was on my side, since he assumed I was dead and hanging against a wall.
His hoarse voice broke the stillness, “So, you finished her off, huh? Knew you would…they all do. Are you crying? Sometimes the bloodsuckers actually cry afterwards.” His boot stepped off the last stair and his body turned towards Teren’s curled form. “Sometimes they beg me to stake them. Don’t worry…you won’t cry long.”
The man was too intently focused on the supposed threat of the hungry vampire lying on the ground, and hadn’t noticed that my body was nowhere to be seen. He was about to see me. Stealthily, I stepped away from the staircase and close to his side.
“Neither will you,” I hissed.
The man startled and looked at me, his eyes widening in shock at seeing me alive, and right next to him. He never even had time to realize I was armed. As soon as his head was facing me, giving me an ideal target, I focused all my pain, fear and rage at the maniac before me. I brought my arms around, twisting my hips and reinforcing the strike. Surprise and adrenaline gave me speed, and he never even moved to defend himself, he didn’t have time. My hit was true, and the rod connected to his temple with a sickening thud that reverberated all the way up my arms.
The man’s head snapped to the side and just as I feared that I didn’t have the strength to knock him out, his knees buckled and he dropped like a ton of bricks. The wooden stake in his now relaxed hand fell away from his fingertips to roll to the dirt beside him. I kicked the vile, symbolic thing under the stairs. I dropped the iron rod to my side, not wanting the metal, that now felt red hot, touching my skin any longer. It thudded heavily to the ground and rested near my feet.
My vision swam a bit as the adrenaline rushed from my body and the realization of what I’d done, swept in. The man was very still and I really didn’t know if he was alive or not. My stomach rose into my throat and I pressed on it to make it stop. Now wasn’t the time to stare at the downed man like an idiot, or lose my last meal. Now was the time to do what I’d told Teren I’d do…now was the time to run.
Just as I was mentally preparing myself for the flight away from this rickety farmhouse, and wondering how I’d get a hold of Teren’s family in time so they could come help him, I heard it. A low growl was coming from one side of the room; an impossibly deep growl that sent shivers up my spine and dotted my skin with goose bumps. A growl that I’d heard a few times before, but never once directed towards me. An inhuman growl that made me afraid I’d lose control of my bladder.
My eyes tracked the sound and I turned to stare over at the piece of ground where I’d left Teren’s broken body lying. Only, he was no longer how I’d left him, only our ripped apart belts were lying on the ground. He was standing in a low crouch, his body shaking lightly as he wobbled a bit on his feet. That wasn’t what sent ice cold fear throughout my veins though. It was his face.
His skin was still ashen, his face had the sunken look of someone very ill, and his eyes glowed faintly again in the dim light. His pale, light blue irises were locked onto mine and danced with a near frenzied excitement. His mouth was open in a vicious looking snarl and his teeth were extended to sharp points; his fangs were longer than I’d ever seen them.
He looked like a pure animal, nothing left of my Teren at all. And for a split-second sadness swept through me at the thought that maybe he wasn’t my Teren anymore, and maybe that man really had died today. My sadness shifted right back to fear when the starving creature before me, growled menacingly again and took a step forward.