The station attendant is holding his hands up when I see the man stalk toward the entry and grab the woman by her hair. The little kid looks on helplessly as he drags her mother away toward the register, pointing the gun at her head.
I blink, only to open my eyes and find myself next to the child in the store. My reaction shocks me; why did I do that? The little girl is sobbing, pulling me out of my tumultuous thoughts. My eyes go to her crouched behind the shelf sobbing, and I look toward the startled gas station attendant. He looks at me with alarm as the man turns, pointing the gun at me. He looks dirty; tattoos and piercings litter his face. He has a ratty, torn leather jacket on, looking every bit the piece of scum he is.
“Stay back, or I’ll shoot the woman,” he yells, pointing the gun back at her head. She has her hands clutching his as he yanks her hair. She might be in her thirties, maybe.
“Mommy!” the little girl calls, making my eyes dart down to her angelic little face.
“Close your eyes, princess,” I tell her. The words leave my lips before I can stop them. What the hell is wrong with me? The little girl does what I say and I turn to look at the man, holding the woman hostage.
“I said stay back, man, I will fucking shoot her,” he screams, and I can see the desperation on his face. He doesn’t know what to think of me, but his instincts are telling him I am all kinds of wrong; his fear is thick in the air, and I feel my eyes bleed black.
I stalk towards him. His hands shake as he holds the gun and points it at me. He pulls the trigger.
The bang rings loudly through the shop and the bullet hits me in the shoulder.
“What are you?” he stammers, taking a step back.
I smile, digging my fingers into the hole and pulling the bullet out, examining it before dropping it on the floor. “Your executioner,” I tell him, not giving him a chance to pull the trigger again. I snap his neck. The man’s body falls to the floor at my feet. The woman screams, causing my ears to ring, and I feel a strong urge to kill her and drain her blood when I hear the little girl’s voice.
“Mommy,” her soft, unsure voice makes me turn around. The little girl runs to her mother, but I stop her by stepping in her path.
“Please, please, don’t hurt my baby!” the woman cries, trying to reach for her.
Grabbing the little girl’s face, I hold her chubby cheeks. My eyes focus on the vein that pulsates in her neck beneath her delicate skin. Hunger hits me and then, she touches my hand. Her tiny fingers tremble as she pulls me out of my bloodlust.
“You will not remember this man or what happened here once you leave the store. You came to the store with your mommy to get candy and left,” I tell her. I watch her eyes glaze over, and she repeats my words. I let her go, handing her a chocolate bar from off the shelf.
“Please, I won’t tell anyone; I know who you are. I swear I won’t say anything,” the girl’s mother pleads.
“I am not going to hurt you. I just didn’t want her to remember this day,” I answer her mother, facing her. “Take her home; it is too cold for her to be out in this weather.” She nods, scooping up her daughter. The attendant calls after her, but I wave her off. “I’ll pay for it.”
She nods, running back to her car. As I turn around to the attendant, he takes a step back. The blood drains from his face, and he puts his hands up in surrender. “You’re the man from the news, the Dark One,” he stutters.
“Can I get a pack of Marlboro blue 25’s?” I ask, ignoring his question.
“You want smokes?” he asks, like he can’t understand what I just asked for. I say nothing, staring at the idiot serving me. He grabs the packet and tosses them on the counter.
“The lady’s fuel,” I tell him, pointing to the register. God, do I have to do this shit for him? He hesitantly uses the register, and I give him the cash.
As I turn around and walk out, he speaks again. “What about the body?” he asks.
“Keep it, it’s no good to me,” I tell him, chuckling to myself and walking out the door. I shake my head, take a breath, and run back back to the hotel.
Evelyn
I am suddenly woken by arguing. As I sit up, I register that I am in bed. The last thing I remember is being in the car. As I look around, I see Thaddeus is arguing with Orion while Ryland is in between, trying to break it up.
“I told you not to fucking leave, and you still went. Why did you? We can’t keep moving her around like this.”
“It doesn’t matter, Orion; we have to go before the police get called and come here,” Thaddeus says. I can feel through the bond his darkness is seeping out of him though he seems pretty under control for how sickly twisted it feels through the bond.
“What’s going on?” I ask. All their heads snap to me on the bed.
“Nothing, babe, we just need to leave,” Thaddeus says, scooping me off the bed.
“I need to pee,” I tell him. The baby feels like it is sitting on my bladder. He places my feet on the floor and my legs buckle under me from not having moved for so long. Thaddeus grabs my hand and holds me steady, but I push his hand away. “I’m fine,” I tell him, and he lets go.
I’m not fine. I feel exhausted, ridiculously exhausted. My muscles are aching, even my bones are aching with every step I take. This baby has zapped the energy right out of me. My belly is so hard and round I can no longer see my feet. Just bending or moving slightly makes my lungs wheeze.