AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Edmund gives him an evil look, one that would scorch the earth and not make anything grow there for at least fifty years.
“Last time I checked, I was the leader,” Edmund snarled.
I thought he would surely go and punch that guy in the face for questioning him like that, but his reaction surprised me. Instead of punching him, Edmund takes a deep breath, and his voice calms down instantly.
“You know why we came here,” he tells them. “Everyone back home is counting on us. We need to bring them something. Anything. Any kind of hope. Otherwise… if we don’t have hope, we don’t have anything.” He pauses, staring down each and every one of us, then he continues. “If any one of you doesn’t want to follow me, you are free to go back. I won’t say anything. No one will say anything. But I need to have someone by my side who knows why we are here and who trusts me completely. Do you trust me completely?”
The smartass immediately starts feeling anxious. He knows that all eyes are on him. Little droplets of sweat start to appear on his forehead. He isn’t so cocky or self-confident any longer. I’m sure he also knows that no one will follow him if he decides to go back. His big mouth put him in this situation and now, his big mouth needs to get him out of it.
“I trust you,” the smartass nods, looking down at his feet.
“I don’t force anyone to follow me,” Edmund points out. “I don’t want to be that kind of a leader. We are here for the benefit of us all. If you don’t believe that is so, then you don’t belong here, by my side and I shouldn’t be your leader.” He pauses again, allowing someone who might have something to say to speak up, but there’s nothing. Only silence.
All eyes are on him now. But in a different way. I can see how they look up to him, how they hope that he will take them to the well, which will prove to be their salvation.
I have never seen this side of him. Come to think of it, I wish I had never seen it at all, because this has only made him more handsome, more confident, more charming and more of everything that I ever wanted in a partner.
I remind myself that I can’t think like that. I just can’t. I will get hurt and I will never heal from this heartache.
“If no one has anything else to say, then you two should go and fetch the others,” Edmund instructs two vampires who are standing to his right. “We’re only missing four. Once we are all here, Bianca will take us to the factory.”
The smartass and I lock gazes by accident. I shudder at the way he is looking at me, and I don’t know why. He probably doesn’t trust me. I guess no one here, apart from Edmund, trusts me.
Why would they? In their eyes, I am just like any other shifter, although I am neither a shifter nor a vampire. Worst of all, I’m not even a proper human being, because I’ve never lived amongst them. I belong to no one, and no one wants to claim me as their own. The thought makes me want to run away and hide, but I can’t allow this feeling of powerlessness to wash over me. I have to stay strong.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I need to stay alert. I need to be there to see it arrive and I need to look to the future, whatever it may be.
The two vampires immediately do as Edmund tells them, while the others start quickly disassembling the tents. Edmund stands by my side. He seems to sense my fear.
“You are safe here,” he tells me, as if he knows that I needed to hear it again.
“I know,” I say, because I don’t want to delve too deeply into this topic.
“It bears repeating,” he tells me as he leans closer to me and pats me on the shoulder.
I watch him walk over to the smartass and another guy, and without a word start helping them with the tents. I can’t take my eyes off of them, wondering if this can truly end the way he wants it to.
I’ve heard stories of the well, but they are just legends. At least, I always thought they were. Now, Edmund wants me to help him find it. I truly want to help, but… how do you help someone find something which may not even exist?
Chapter Fourteen
Edmund
The journey back to town was uneventful. The best thing that could have happened. Despite the fact that we went there during the day, there seemed to be no one around there for miles. Bianca led us through a torn wire fence, which was once electric, but not any more. Then, she showed us the way through the dilapidated building, all the way to the cellar.
“Is there only one entrance?” I ask, as we descend down dark stairs.
“I think there should be another one,” she informs me, following closely behind.
“That’s good,” I murmur to myself, thinking that we can’t stay here if there is only one entrance.
One entrance means that there is only one exit, and one exit means that we can be trapped in there by the shifters, if something unplanned happens.
“I need you to show it to me,” I tell her. She nods.
We keep walking through the damp cellar, armed with flashlights that provide enough light so we can see where we are going. This is the last place where I would want to stay. Moldy, smelly. Even a minute down here feels like a whole hour, but this is the best option we’ve got.
