Chapter 27

Book:BLUE MOON (Book One) Published:2024-5-28

THE ECLIPSE
They were undecided, not sure whether to go into the house or not. Although she could hear them she wasn’t sure exactly what they wanted. She took her phone out of her pocket and dialed Solara’s number. She might be a vampire but she wasn’t idiotic enough to face four guys by herself. She hoped that they hadn’t gotten so far. In the meantime, she was going to protect Scarlet the best way she could.
***
At the diner Marcie was alone. It was her turn to lock up. She was busy at the back and didn’t notice the man who had walked in. He stood at the center of the room looking around at everything and nothing in particular.
“Hello, may I help you?” Marcie was always kind and courteous with everyone, even with strangers. 
She walked to the front where the man was and stretched out her hand to greet her. He didn’t take it immediately. He stared at it and her before he offered her his greeting.
She immediately noticed the devilish grin he had on his face and smiled back.
“The kitchen’s closed so I can’t offer you any food. And the bar is closed too. I’m sorry I can’t give you anything.”
He didn’t answer her, he continued smiling at her. He sat down in the booth next to him, her hand still in his. He rotated it side to side as if inspecting it. Then he brought it to his lips.
The simple gesture made her giggle. She always thought the best of everyone. It was in her nature to trust easily. She pulled a chair and sat next to him.
“How do you sit so close to a person you don’t know?” He was still smiling at her and stroking her fingers. Her actions only seemed to make him more confident.
“I have a sense about people and you seem like a kind man.” She leaned closer to him.
“Isn’t that a bit I of you? To rely on this sense to judge people?” he leaned closer to her ear. He sniffed her hair and took a deep breath. “What if you are wrong?”
His cold breath on her neck sent chills running through her body. She pulled back and tried to pull her hand out of his. He only tightened his fingers around her wrist.
“I thought you trusted me or your sense at least. Why are you trying to pull away from me?” He put his hand under her seat and pulled the chair closer to him.
The screeching noise the metal made against the stone floor startled her. She was beginning to panic, cursing her naivety over and over again.
“What do you want?” she could barely get the words out of her mouth. Her hand had relocated to her throat and she could barely catch her breath.
“Listen to that.” He placed his head on her chest. “Do you hear that? The human heart is a remarkable thing, don’t you think?”
Marcie tried to pull away as she felt his cold nose move from her chest to her neck. She couldn’t help but wince when he licked her throat. 
“Your pulse is racing. I can hear your blood rush through your veins. Don’t be afraid of me, I won’t kill you just yet. I just need to know something.”
He wrapped her hair around his fingers and pulled her hair back. Giant tears rolled down her cheeks and down her neck. He licked them and sucked on his tongue for a while.
“What… what do you want from me?” she was shaking all over. Her free hand gripped the chair and she tried to free the other. Her hand was going numb. She couldn’t feel the discomfort that was there before.
“I want to know where Stephan is.” His head was now laid on her shoulder and his fingers loosened in her hair. Instead, he was twirling a strand of her hair around her little finger.
“A little rat whispered in my ear. Do you want to know what he told me?” he enjoyed taunting people. Their weakness only made him stronger. 
“He told me that Stephan comes here. That he practically lives here. I can tell that others have been here but I am not sure who. And since I don’t know who they are I won’t follow the scent.” He raised his head to look into her eyes.
“Do you know why? Because unlike you I am more cautious.” He released her hair and hand. Marcie rubbed her wrist trying to get some feeling in it.
He raised his hands and placed them on his chest. “Don’t get me wrong I think your trusting nature is admirable. But I know the creatures that lurk in the dark so I am more careful.”
He stood and walked around the room. Marcie sat up straight and watched him. Her eyes went from him to the front door, she was thinking of how to escape. The distance wasn’t too far, but she had to wait for the right moment. She had to wait for him to get further from her, or to be distracted by the sound of his voice and his thoughts.
Inch by inch she moved to the edge of her chair. She didn’t want to risk missing her opportunity.
“For the life of me, I don’t know why he would choose this life as opposed to the one he had before. Must have been that mate of his.” He tapped his finger on his chin as if mussing over a thought.
“I wonder if he found someone new.” He watched her from the corner of his eye. He decided to taunt her a bit more and moved behind the counter that separated the two rooms.
As soon as he was in the kitchen, Marcie shot from her chair and ran to the door. Her hand was on the knob when he pulled her from behind. He used enough force to send her flying across the room but not to cause her any harm.
“How rude of you. Were you going to leave me here all alone?” He moved towards her.
Marcie used her arms to push herself behind. She tried to get as big a distance between them as she could.
“Were you leaving me here all alone? I hate it when people are so rude. You have hurt my feelings you know.” He continued after her a feigned expression of distraught on his face.
Marcie shook her head as she continued to move. Giant tears fell when she hit the wall behind her. There was nowhere else to go.
“Seems like, you have reached the end of the line. I could always kick a hole in the wall. Make room for you to continued sliding on the floor.” He crouched next to her and took her chin in his hand. “I could, but you hurt my feelings. So I won’t!”
“Please, please don’t hurt me.” She was sobbing uncontrollably. She didn’t see a way out and part of her had given into her end.
“Stephan, where is he?” the games were over and now he wanted what brought him here.
“I don’t know where he is….” he wrapped his fingers around her neck choking her mid-sentence.
“I think I know who does.” She was battling for air, and then he released her. Air rushed into her lungs as she coughed.
“Now we are getting somewhere.” He held her at the top of her arms and pulled her to her feet.
***
“What is it, Kayla.” Solara had picked up the phone on the first ring. “Is something wrong?”
“Not yet, but I have a feeling it’s going to be.” 
“What do you mean by that?” The urgency in his voice made Stephan and Vincent stopped. They ran back to where they had left him and tried to listen to the other side of the conversation.
“Solara?” it was Stephan who spoke first, panic lining his voice.
“There are four people at the front of the house. Not human or vampire so I’m guessing they are beasts. They don’t seem to know whether or not to enter the house. You guys need to get back now!” Kayla was panicking now because their thoughts had become more organized. It was only a matter of time before they came in.
“Where is Scarlet?” Solara could hear how frightened she was. He tried to keep his composure. He didn’t want to frighten her even more.
“We are in her room and she is still asleep.” She took a glance back at the bed to confirm it.
“That’s good. Make sure she doesn’t wake up. Don’t draw any unnecessary attention to yourselves. I think they are hesitant because they can smell you and aren’t sure of what to do.” He looked at the two men with him, they also looked nervous.
“There are beasts at the house. They haven’t gotten in yet. Scarlet is asleep and Kayla is watching over her.”
“We need to go now!” Stephan had already started running towards home when Vincent blew past him. He was relieved that Vincent would be able to get there twice as fast as he could. Kayla needed someone with her until they got there.
 “SHIT!”
“What’s wrong Kayla?” Solara was talking at the other end of the line. 
***
“What is it K? Why are you standing at the window? And why in the name of all that is holy would you be cursing at this un….” her sentence was cut short when Kayla covered her mouth with her hands.
You need to be quiet. I am going to tell you something but don’t panic, ok?
Ok.
Kayla said a silent thank you for her gift. It was a silent method of communication.
There are four beasts in the house…
Kayla felt Scarlet’s body stiffen and could sense her panic.
You need to calm down. They are in the house but the guys are on their way back. I’m assuming Vincent is already halfway here. So I need you to chill.
Ok. Chill. I can do that. Stephan!
Kayla couldn’t help but giggle at Scarlet’s attempt to call out to her boyfriend silently.
He can’t hear you, dummy. Slowly get into the bathroom and you can talk to him.
She waved her phone in front of her eyes.
Ok. Bathroom. Silently.
She tried to move but couldn’t. Her whole body was frozen in fear.
Are you kidding me?