AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But as Tina came into view with a shopping bag in hand, followed by Oliver, I realized it couldn’t have been a dream. I wouldn’t have dreamt up something so dull.
My eyes panned the area in search of Dustin, and when I looked down at the sides of the car, I came to find him crouched. His knees tucked in his chest as he sat outside, back pressed against the green paint of Tina’s Toyota.
His eyes shifted up to me once he noticed I was awake. And in that simple moment, I evaporated. Those eyes reminded me of last night. It reminded me of images I had briefly forgotten and wished I still could.
He stood up, lifting the door handle to slide back into the seat with me as Tina unlocked the car and crawled in herself.
“Looks like sleeping beauty is finally awake.” She teased, tossing the grocery bag she held in her hands over to Oliver. The two were riddled with smiles as if they had just committed a crime together.
My brows scrunched, taking in their strange body chemistry. “How long was I asleep for? What time is it?” My eyes flashed to the clock that read 7:00, even though I knew she never kept that accurate.
“It’s two in the afternoon. You slept in pretty late.” Tina winced almost, looking back at me through her rearview mirror as she started the car and pulled it out of the empty parking garage.
Looking to my left, I saw Dustin’s blank face searching mine. I still hadn’t realized how to function around him after last night. And even though he had shredded my heart to pieces, I still couldn’t help but want to be around him. Want to smell him, oddly enough.
But he was right. I was the reason everyone was dying. I was the cause of so much pain. The images of Stephan and Sasha played agonizingly slow in my mind, every detail so vivid that I relived it repeatedly. The blood splattered on the floor. The smell of it stained my nose almost.
And even worse, my mind taunted me with memories of him fucking that stripper. It was like it was being forcefully replayed, reminding me that I was just a toy to be played with when it came to him. I was just a fascination to him that he probably nowloathed.
“Are you okay?” Tina seemed to pull me from my thoughts as if she could tell I was folding into them pretty heavily. She always knew how to read me.
“I’m fine. Just feel a little off today.” I said, my eyes flashingback and forth from Tina to Dustin.
I sunk back into my seat, peering out the window as we continued to drive to New Orleans, it would seem. Apparently, Dustin and Oliver knew an old vampire who might know more about the deathwalkers. It was a stretch, but it felt like our only hope. Or, at least, the only idea we could come up with. We couldn’t exactly google deathwalker and find out more.
Supposedly, this vampire was a friend of their family that they had visited a decade or two ago. Somehow, that didn’t faze me as much as it probably should have. I was becoming numb to the idea of time passing differently for all of us.
The day blended into night, and while the ride was mostly silent, there were some conversations.
Oliver had talked to Tina mostly, the two of them laughing about which had slept with the worst person. Of course, I couldn’t exactly compete with them, given I had only slept with two people in my entire life. Both were insignificant compared to the stories I heard from them. And Dustin rarely spoke, mostly just sat there watching me. It was unnerving. I felt like we had regraded back to that first night we met, only nowhehatedme. I doubt he even wanted to talk to me. He probably was all but envisioning what my death would taste like. But as he said last night, if I died, then his family would have been killed for nothing.
So, I suppose I was safe for now.
It was when I slipped into sleep once more and awoke sometime in the middle of the night that I realized the three of them probably never slept. I had always known that Tina was a bit of a night owl and ran on hardly any sleep, but now that things were slowly coming together, I couldn’t rememberwhen I ever caught her sleeping. Not really, anyway.
I laid there with my eyes closed and ears open. My head wedged into the seat and window, listening to them talk.
“So, she’s really part angel?” I heard Tina say.
“That’s what our parents believed anyway.” Dustin’s voice was quieter than I remembered. Sadder almost. “We thought the deathwalker was after her to heal itself. But now, I think there’s more going on. Something to do with the ancients.”
My muscles stiffened. They thought I was an angel? They can’t be serious. I’m hardly angelic…
“The ancients?” Tina rebuffed. “Who are they? Or what are they?”
“Fallen angels. The first of the demons.” Dustin breathed heavily, air expelling out of him onto my back. “You know, I heard of the first deathwalker. I was always so intrigued by their lore. By the particular curse that caused them to turn from angels into demons, and now thinking about it, I realize he might have been just that. It’s said the first deathwalker wasn’t like the ones that walk this earth now. He was stronger, the angel blood fueling him. The book I read once mentioned ‘a grin that stretched’, oddly familiar, is it not?”
“And you think that man the other night was him? The ancient?” Tina gasped in shock.
“I don’t know what to think. He killed Sasha like it was a walk in the park. Hell, he was able to find a way to defend himself against succubus charms! And our father was alive for more than a thousand years, and now he’s nothing but bones and blood.”
It was hard listening. Hearing the sadness in Dustin’s voice when he talked about his family. I knew that soul-crushing feeling. I remember the day my parents died, forcing meinto an orphanage. And as a child, I wasn’t even able to comprehend the kind of feelings that you might have after a lifetime on this earth.
“Why would the ancients need an angel? What is so special about them?” Tina continued. Thankfully, she was almost as lost as I was in the situation. It was almost relieving to know that I wasn’t the only clueless one of the bunch.
“I’m not sure why they would need an angel specifically. But I’d imagine it can’t be for anything good. Angels are repellent to our abilities, maybe even of theirs, though I’ve never met one until now, so my knowledge is about as good as yours at this point.”
“If they’re after Freya, then why would they also kidnap our mother?” Oliver finally interjected.
