Things had changed so much since those earlydays, but she sometimes imagined what her life would have been likeif her mother never died. It wasn’t a journey she often let hermind take; it was pointless to wonder about the what-ifs that couldnever be, but sometimes, she couldn’t help it.
And tonight was one of those times. If avampire didn’t kill her mother, she would have lived a normal life.She’d have grown up in a loving family, gone to school, had friendsand sleepovers and a prom. Her life would have been completelydifferent, and so wouldshe.
That realization unnerved her. Despiteeverything she’d been through, she liked who she was. She wasstrong, tough, and though she’d bent more than a few times, shewouldnotbreak. She’d lost her mom and wished she couldhave known her better, but she’d gained Kyle and Lucy.
She was going to change the radio stationwhen a tap sounded on the back window. Her hand froze halfway tothe radio, and she glanced at the rearview mirror. She didn’t seeanyone there, but she was certain she heard something.
Her head turned toward the driver’s sidewindow when the passenger side one shattered. Melanie spun towardthe window and lifted the gun as a face materialized there. Sherecognized the man as a guard from the facility.
She squeezed off a shot as the window behindher broke and safety glass spilled onto her. Melanie cried out, andher ears rang as the bullet hit the car door. She pointed the gunat the passenger window again, but as she was preparing to fireonce more, something hit her in the shoulder. Her body jerked andspasmed as the gun slipped from her fingers.
When her feet danced against the floor andher body convulsed, she realized they’d tasered her.
“Hurry,” someone said.
She bit down on her tongue as the driver’sdoor swung open and hands grasped her arms. They jerked her out ofthe vehicle, and her feet hit the ground. Unable to do anythingmore than spasm against the hands holding her, she didn’t put upmuch of a fight. Her toes dragged across the pavement as theypulled her toward a black SUV.
Her eyes rolled in her head, and blood pooledin her mouth when she bit her tongue.No!
The scream rebounded in her head as doorsopened and they manhandled her into the back of an SUV. She wasstarting to regain control of her fingers when they pushed her downon the seat.
Her face pressed into the cloth material asthey yanked her hands behind her back. Zip ties slid around herwrists and cinched there. Regaining more control of her body, shekicked out but didn’t connect with anything.
They jerked an ankle down while someonegrasped the other one and pinned her feet to the floor. They boundher ankles with another zip tie.
Once her restraints were in place, someoneseized her hair and yanked her up. They shoved her into the middleof the seat. The guard she’d recognized slid in beside her as thedoor on the other side opened and another guard climbed inside. Heplaced a shotgun on the floor between his knees, the barrel aimedat the ceiling.
Eyeing the weapon, she tried to decide if shecould get her hands on it, but she’d never pull it away or maneuverit with her hands bound like they were. It was so temptingly closeand useless to her.
Her eyes rolled toward the front of thevehicle where her father sat in the driver’s seat; Delilah wasbeside him.
“Where is the vampire?” Delilah demanded.
Even if she could form words, Melanie wouldnever answer her, but speaking was impossible. Her body stillquaked from the aftereffects of the taser, and blood pooled in hermouth from where she bit her tongue.
“Should we wait for them to return?” one ofthe guards asked.
“We can’t,” her father said and nodded outthe front windshield.
The young mother had stopped walking and wasgawking at the SUV. Then, the woman turned and, ushering herchildren ahead of her, ran for the store. When her father pulledout of the parking spot, Melanie’s heart galloped, and a screamechoed in her head.
“I want that vampire and my daughter,Arthur,” Delilah said.
“So do I, but we can’t stay here. We’ll keeptracking them, and we’ll find them.”
As they exited the parking lot, two vanspulled out of a nearby gas station and fell in behind them. Therewere far more of them here, and they were somehow tracking them.She didn’t know how, but it was only a matter of time before theyfound Kyle and Lucy.
Traveling down the street leading away fromthe grocery store, Melanie’s panic turned to sorrow. They had her,but Lucy and Kyle had to remain free. She couldn’t stand the ideaof them being trapped in there again too.
“What if the cops come after us?” the otherguard asked.
“I think we’ll be okay. That woman wasn’tclose enough to see our license plate, but if they come after us,we’ll do what we have to do. They won’t expect the vans and morepeople to be with us.”
“She’s been bitten,” one of the men said.
Melanie jerked away from him when his fingerssettled on the bite marks on her neck. She glowered at him as herbody continued to twitch from the aftereffects of the taser.
“Is she one of them?” the other manasked.
