Innocence - Chapter 21

"I'm not ready?”

“No. You need to want them; you need to need them.”

The door opened and a man stepped inside. “Marissa is leaving—she needs you to come with.”

Don’t tell her! I thought. Don’t bring her to my home!

She nodded once then left with the man.

I stood up and strode over to the window. It seemed to be about midnight, maybe an hour or so off. I sat on the floor under the window and examined the shack. I was sure I could just walk out of here, but there must be people watching, making sure that I didn’t leave. I didn’t want to take that chance.

The shack was made for horses. There was a medium sized bucket in the corner and a few hooks to hang some tack or saddle on. It was a really old barn, but it was a barn.

I didn’t know how long we were there. I assumed an hour or so because the sky didn’t really change much. It was still dark, and I could still see the full moon through the small window.
Mike hadn’t moved since I put him on the hay. I checked him every few minutes to make sure he was okay.

I stood up, going to check on Mike again when in a split second two vampires were standing in front of me.

I jumped in surprise, almost falling on Mike. They were Marissa and Addison. Marissa looked furious and Addison looked scared. My heart was going so fast it was like a humming bird’s wings. My breathing almost stopped altogether.

Marissa stormed over to me and pushed me to the stone ground. I fell on my wrist which crumpled under me and I hit my head on the cold stone. Blood started to drip down my face onto my shirt. It wasn’t that much so I didn’t worry about it.

“What is it going to take for you to tell me? Will I have to take your friend’s life?” She walked over and played with a lock of his hair. “Or will it have to be more?”

She looked at Addison, then back at me. Addison left the room, not looking back at me.

“You are going to tell me the truth.” She took one of her long nails and traced it across my lips.

“So—we have a dilemma. I need to know where the book is and you know exactly where I can find it.” She walked over to Mike and pushed her nails into his skin, scraping them all along his arm, making a small stream of blood rush out of each.

“Don’t!” I yelled at her back.

She stopped and slowly turned around. “Are you going to tell me where you have the book?”

I flinched.

I wasn’t going to tell her anything, I wasn’t going to kill Mike either.

“I don’t have a book! I don’t know what book you are talking about!” This time she slapped me, hard. I was knocked onto the ground again. My face felt like it was hit with a very heavy brick. Her nail slashed a cut into my cheek.

I quickly got to my feet, not wanting to be too vulnerable.

“So, we have a visitor coming soon. We need to get you ready.” She started to dig around her pocket for something. “Now where is it?” When she found what she was looking for she pulled out Mike’s silver knife. “Here it is!”

She grabbed my right forearm and pulled up the sleeve of my shirt. I knew she was going to cut me, but I didn’t know how badly. I inched away from her, but it didn’t do any good because she had my arm in a tight grip.

“Don’t worry it won’t hurt that bad.”

She touched the blade to my forearm and pressed down, at first it wasn’t that bad but then she went deeper and deeper as she dragged the knife across my forearm. I tried to wiggle away but she was holding my already broken wrist, so her just touching it lightly caused me pain.

Blood was coming rapidly, making a small pool on the floor. I brought my arm to chest and pressed it hard against my shirt, trying to stop the bleeding.

The door suddenly opened. Addison was the first in followed by five others. Only one I recognized, Maryana. She was struggling against the men’s grips. As soon as she smelt the blood, her head shot toward me, totally forgetting anything else.

“Thank you for joining us today—“ Marissa said. “Doesn’t that smell delicious?”

Maryana glanced at Marissa for a second then quickly back at me, not wanting to lose her prey.

“Don’t worry Maryana; you will get your chance. You just need to be patient.” Marissa looked at Mike’s unconscious form the back at Maryana. “You can have him too if you want.”

“No!” I screamed.

Maryana’s face changed, hearing my voice. Her now angel like face, softened.

“Maryana, don’t do this! You know who you really are!”

“I don’t feel the same.” She said hardly moving her lips.

“That’s enough!” Marissa screamed. “Don’t you listen to a word your food says. You never play with your food.”

Marissa went over to Mike and picked up one of his arms.

“Don’t!” I screamed at her, breathless. “Don’t hurt him, he didn’t do anything!”

She half smiled at me then as if his arm was a tooth pick, she broke his forearm. There was a crack, the same sound there had been with his leg, only louder.

Mike woke up from the pain. He screamed and gasped for breath. He sat up and looked at the scene, then froze. Even though he was in pain, he could tell it was worse than the last time. He cradled his arm to his chest.

He saw that I was covered in blood. “Candace!”

“Good, now we have you both awake you can help me out. Someone needs to tell me.”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about!” Mike yelled at her. He really didn’t, but I did.

“Then why did she tell me it was at Aden’s house?” she asked slyly.

Mike looked at me stunned. He had no idea how much I knew about their world.

I looked at Mike then back at Marissa.

“I only told you that so you wouldn’t hurt Mike.” I squeaked.

“Well that was stupid of you. Didn’t you think I wouldn’t find it there and come back for you?”

I just stared at her with worried eyes.

Maryana was starting to crouch. She couldn’t handle all of the blood. The men were trying to restrain her, but she was a newborn. Newborns were stronger than two regular sized vampires so it was easier for her than it was for Aden.

I looked at my arm. The blood was still flowing freely. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop it. The pool on the floor was getting larger.

Mike scooted a few inches toward me without Marissa noticing.

“Restrain her!” she yelled at the four men.

She turned back to me and smiled. “You don’t look so good—“

I was losing too much blood to fast. I was feeling woozy.

She came at me so quickly I couldn’t react. She came up to me and hit me in the chest. The cracking told me she broke some of my ribs. I crumpled to the ground. The wind got knocked out of me so I laid there, waiting to breathe again.

“Stop that!” Mike yelled.

It was to keep my eyes open. My brain was telling my body there was enough blood to keep me going. I watched from the floor as Maryana struggled to get to me before all the blood was gone from my body.

“She knows—“ Addison whispered. It was just loud enough for me to hear. I looked at her and she was staring at me.

What are you doing?

She didn’t take her gaze off me. “I can see a clear picture in her mind. I haven’t seen it before. She needs to tell us where it is or we will never find it.”

I looked back at Marissa. She walked over to me and bent down beside me. “Now we know the truth. You just need to tell us where exactly it is.”

I wasn’t even thinking of the book. Why was Addison lying to Marissa?

I tried to close my eyes, but Marissa’s stare held them open. “Tell me or you die.” She seethed.

“If we kill her, we will never know where it is. Aden told her to hide it. He doesn’t know where it is. Neither does he.” she nodded at Mike. "He has no idea what is going on.”

I looked at Mike for a second. He was still on the hay, clutching his arm. His gaze never left me. I couldn’t imagine how confused he was.

“Why would he trust a human?”

“He has feelings for her.” Addison said simply.

“Well we will just have to force the truth out.”

My eyes closed and I couldn’t open them again. I didn’t really want to either. My breathing became raspy. I couldn’t think anymore. I needed to let the darkness take over me. All I heard was voices.

“Candace!” Mike yelled, from somewhere in the distance. Everything seemed so far away.

“We need to keep her alive.” Addison said calmly.

“Well if she dies, she dies. Aden knows her enough to find where she hid it.”

They were all becoming quieter and quieter as every second past. They were all whispers floating through very thin air.

“Candace! Please Candace! NO!” Mike screamed.

I couldn’t fight the heavy blackness anymore; I had to let it take over.