Page 49 of Midnight Whispers
A gust of air flows through the trunk when it opens, stealing my breath. I try to breathe in deeply, but with my mouth restricted I’m unable to fill my lungs completely. My arms begin to tremble, and I know the fear that is filling my body is becoming evident.
“Who’s this?” Someone I don’t recognize.
“Finn’s mortal bitch.”
“And why do you have her inyourtrunk, Cedar.”
“Revenge.”
“Jesus. You can’t be serious.”
“Markus, hekilledmy mate.”
“She was not your mate, and you know it, my friend.” Someone unties my feet and removes the blindfold.
“Hello. I’m Markus. I’m going to remove your tape, please don’t scream.” I nod and a friendly smile appears on his face, exposing elongated teeth.Shit.“You will not be hurt while I’m here, you have my word.” Cedar scoffs as Markus helps me sit on the edge of the trunk before unbinding my ankles. I recognize the area I’m in as a garage, it’s massive, but a garage, nonetheless.
“Get her inside.” Cedar hisses.
“I don’t take orders fromyou.”Markus spits back. “Are you hungry, dear?”
“I am.” Cedar grins.
I shake my head, there’s something in my gut warning me not to eat or drink anything while I’m here. Markus walks me through the threshold and through the main living space. There’s nowhere that I could even begin to try to run to, but even if I did attempt to run, I knew they would catch me. The house remains void of any light and is decorated very minimally with only a plant here or there. He begins to lead me down a long hallway lined with closed doors, stopping at one of the ones in the middle.
“You can stay here until Cedar takes you to your next location.” Markus opens the door and guides me into the room. The room is plain, minimally decorated and so monotone. It makes me miss the eclectic decorations of my cottage.
“Do you know when that will be? Or where?” My voice is panicked, but the tightness in my chest makes it difficult to speak.
“I don’t. I’m so sorry.” His brows crease and in a split second he's out the door and I hear it lock behind him.
I stifle the sob that builds in my throat, my dad’s voice repeatingdon’t give up.There’s a small bedside lamp that is on, the light coming from it is dull but enough for me to see around the room. There’s no window, just a bed and table to its left.
Every muscle throughout my body is sore. Bruises are scattered across my skin, along with the caked-on blood and dirt. I’ve never felt so gross in my life, and I know if I lay down on that bed, I will be able to feel every inch of grime. But it’s calling my name. It looks so comfortable and I’m so tired.
I’m. So. Tired.
As much as I want to fight against the urge to rest, I drag my feet over to the bed. The comforter is soft and cool againstthe palm of my hand as I lightly run my hand over it. I don’t both pull it back as my body falls on top of it. Needing some sort of comfort. I pull my legs to my chest and wrap myself in an embrace. The sob that’s been building releases, I force myself to be quiet and to not allow any noises to escape from my mouth.
I can’t let them know about the hollowness in my chest.
I can’t let them know how broken I feel.
22
I leavethe manor on foot, running at my full speed toward Lillia’s cottage. The lights and trees blur as I weave in and out of the trees. My vision is scarlet as I near the front door. I crash through the entrance and immediately cross the living room and go into the laundry room, inhaling Lillia’s blood deeply.
I’m able to smell that she was taken by a large man, his stench lingers behind the cottage. There is a faint remnant of gasoline mixed with Lillia’s blood, so I lock onto that and follow it to the main street. I find a set of tire tracks and follow that until there is a quick turn off onto a dirt road lined with trees. This road seems to go on forever and is void of any streetlights, suddenly the scent vanishes. I look around where I’m standing, nothing but forest surrounds me. In the distance there appears to be what looks like a flickering light from an abandoned house of some sort.
My instincts are screaming to go to the house, so I do. The light I saw from the distance was that of the broken porch light. The dirt around this house is vast, the fence line just on the inside of the forest. This must have been a farm of some sort inthe early times of Emolyn Cove, but it is obvious that it has long since been deserted. I approach the front door with caution, not knowing what to expect, and I push it open slightly. The scent of the blood from two male, large males, rushes out through the crack. Naturally, the scent of the blood distracts me and causes venom to flow out onto my tongue. But the desire to drink their blood is not there in the slightest and I can tell by the staleness, they’ve been bleeding out for a few hours. Besides their limp corpses, the floor is littered with debris from years of being vandalized. The walls are decorated with graffiti and holes from people kicking and punching into them. I’m angry thatthisvile place is where Lillia had been, but I can tell by the atmosphere she’s already gone.
The silence throughout the house is deafening.
I walk toward the room in the back right corner, passing the kitchen that is torn to shreds. Once I open the door, the familiar scent of Lillia’s blood slams into me. I rush to the side of the bed where I find a small puddle. There’s not enough for me to believe this injury is life threatening, but it’s her blood, nonetheless.
But she’s not here.
Consumed by rage, I grab onto the withered frame of the bed and throw it up against the wall. The decrepit wood breaks upon the impact, falling to the floor in chunks. I run my fingers through my hair to try to steady my anger while I pace the room. I rummage through the kitchen, finding a book of matches before I go back outside. There’s a small shed in the back that’s just as run down as the house, so I go to that.