Victim
Two
As I'm in Barnes and Noble sipping on my warm cup of Starbucks Hot Chocolate, my fingers skim along the spines of various adult romance novels. While I do enjoy a good and racy read, I find that I have become picky in my selections of said genre.
Now a days there are so many novels that involve vampires. Ever since the whole "Twilight," or the "Vampire Diaries," thing came out it seems that's all anyone writes about these days. I've found myself having to rummage through hundreds of those types of books just to find "normal" romance novels.
I know what you're thinking, What's a girl of twenty two doing in a bookstore on a Friday night scanning the sex story aisle? Well I'll tell you why. I'm not very good with men or getting dates, plain and simple. It's not that I haven't tried. Lord knows that I have, but it seems every time I try to find a guy to date, something always prevents it from working out or most of the time even happening at all.
My best friend, Nicole, has tried countless times to fix me up with some of her guy friends and has even set me up a few blind dates once or twice. I did manage to go out with a few guys, but the rest would always come up with a reason why they couldn't make it. Half of the men that had turned me down at the last minute sounded nervous or down right frightened when they would give me their explanations as to why they couldn't make it.
I've never thought that I was an extremely beautiful girl, but I also never thought that I was hideous enough to scare guys away either. I admit I can be a bit nerdy at times, but the majority of men I have managed to meet always told me I had that cute, girl next door look.
Sometimes the thought crosses my mind that maybe there's some kind of invisible force trying to prevent me from having a relationship, but then I think that's just silly. Being the free thinker I am, I'm always coming up with wild scenarios and thoughts in my head. Some people would say that I'm just plain weird, but I like who I am and my personality sure keeps things interesting.
Skipping back to the present state, I'm kicked back in a big, cushy chair just reading a book at my leisure. I settled on a novel where the male character is a handsome fireman. His character crosses paths with a fiery red head who he used to know long ago. Her sister has come up missing while away on a hike in the mountains with some friends.
The fireman knows the mountains well because in his spare time, he likes to trek through the wilderness. Needless to say, he offers to go with the red head to help look for her sister and I'm sure it will somehow lead to them having steamy, passionate sex. I know the story sounds a bit corny and predictable, but hey, at least it's not about cheesy modern day vampires right?
I'm just getting to the naughty parts of the book when I hear the store announce that they will be closing in ten minutes. I dismiss the announcement and continue to get lost in my reading. Minutes go by and the store alerts the remaining customers to make their selections and head to the registers.
I ignore it once again as I am too caught up in the steaminess of the chapter I'm on. Suddenly a figure stands behind me and blocks my light. I lean back slightly in my chair and look up to find one of the familiar male clerks gleaming at me. With a slight grin, he says to me, "Hey Keri. I hate to be a bother, but you know we're closing."
I giggle inwardly at the sound of his voice. It's really high pitched and there's a slight whistling sound that only hangs on the ending of his words. Even though I've been coming here for months, his voice always seems to make me laugh a little. Back when he first starting working here, I thought that he was rather attractive. That was until I found out he only likes the company of males. Surprise, surprise. The one time a guy is nice to me for more than a few days, he turns out to be gay and off limits.
I close my book and sigh as I then reply, "Okay, I'm leaving."
He gives me a smile while nodding as he walks off to finish cleaning up the store for the night. Gathering my bag, I take the book I was reading and head up to the register. The cashier was just about to pull her drawer, but I caught her in time. I paid for my book and made my way to the double exit doors. Even though it's wintertime and I'm well aware of that, it seems that nothing can prepare you for that first gust of freezing wind that crashes into your body when you step into the chilly, night air.
My fingers instantly grasp the soft, furry material of my coat in a desperate attempt to shield my body from the cold. I tread along the parking lot cautiously, being careful not to fall or slip. There are patches of ice and frozen clusters of snow everywhere. I've never been a clumsy girl, but even the most coordinated fall prey to the unstable and slick ways of ice. As I near my car, I groan lightly as I wish I was already at home in bed, wearing my cozy pajamas and watching the latest episode of Supernatural. Shew, that Dean Winchester is one sexy guy, I'll tell you that much.
As I continue to walk through the practically empty parking lot, I suddenly get the distinct feeling that I am not alone. It's strong enough to make me stop in my tracks. I look around vigorously, but don't spot anything other than the few cars of the employees. I give a quick shrug of my shoulders and start walking at a slightly more quickened pace.
Making it to my car, I click the unlock button on my remote and then quickly get in. I lock the doors instantly just to be safe. I start the engine and shudder as I go to turn on the heat. I'm not looking forward to the frosty air it's going to blow out until it warms up. I pull out of the parking lot slowly, being careful not to be too reckless as I drive over the icy spots. It's nearly impossible to avoid them in this type of weather so you just learn to be good at driving roads that have tricky conditions.
It's just a few minutes past eleven, but the road home seems to be deserted. It's only about a ten minute drive to my house, but it feels like it takes even longer to get there since I have to drive slow because of the now heavily falling snow and the dangerous state of the roadways. I lightly smile in satisfaction at how quickly the heat in my car has kicked in. Even though I've lived in this town my entire life, I still never favored the cold weather very much. Aside from the fact that I dislike freezing temperatures, I also dislike how it gets dark so early. It makes the nights twice as long and depressing.
I get lost in thought about how maybe my life is just depressing in general as I continue to drive towards my house. I get so wrapped up in absent minded thought that I suddenly don't realize how fast I'm driving. It's tough enough driving through such heavy snow to begin with and the street lights barely help at all.
Suddenly out of nowhere I see something tall and black jump into the road a few feet ahead of me. I can't tell what it is, but it stands firm right in the direction I'm headed. Even though I wasn't sure, I figure it might be a person and my instant reflexes kick in, causing me to slam on the breaks in a panicked state. There went all rationality and memory of when I learned to slowly pump the breaks instead while driving on bad roads.
With my foot pushing the break pedal to the floor, I hear nothing but loud squealing sounds as I feel my car sliding sideways across the ice. I didn't have time to think or even scream before my vehicle slips to the far right of the road and crashes roughly into a guard rail. After the impact is when everything went black.
Shadow's POV
As I stand in the middle of the forest, my heart pounds furiously in my chest as I suddenly feel an overwhelming sense of dread. Something has happened to Keri. I just know it and can sense it with an intensity. I don't give another thought as I begin running at rapid speeds through the trees. I'm not far from her. I can smell her sweet scent in the air. That same scent that has intoxicated me for what seems like decades.
I jump over fallen trees and brush effortlessly as I make my way to see what has happened. Suddenly, I stop dead in my tracks as my nostrils pick up a foul scent that makes my blood boil. My lips curl up instantly as my teeth snarl on their own accord. I know Syn is near. The very thought of that loathsome, vile creature makes me go insane with rage. I take off running again into Keri's direction all the while gritting my teeth in anger. If Syn had something to do with this, he'll pay with not only his life, but with the lives of anyone he's ever cared about. Of course that is, if there are any left these days.
That heartless bastard only gives a damn about himself and himself only. Maybe that's my fault, but I'm not going into that right now either. I glide swiftly up the snow covered ravine and step out onto the road. The sight before my eyes nearly makes me collapse on the ground and makes what's left of my heart want to explode in my chest. Keri is laying face down on the frozen asphalt with a combination of blood and glass all around her. As I rush over to her, I glance at her vehicle.
The entire front end is smashed into a guard rail and my heart sinks even lower inside myself at the horrific sight of the wind shield. I can tell immediately that she was ejected from the vehicle through the wind shield. I drop to my knees beside her with a quickness as I look for any sign of life. I already knew before I got to her that she was still alive because I can hear her blood pumping through her veins, but the flow keeps getting weaker and more faint.
I carefully roll her over and then into my arms. A part of me dies a little more at the tremendously gruesome look of her face and upper body. There are thick shards of glass sticking in her cheeks and there is blood everywhere. The skin on one side of her face looks entirely scraped away from what I assume was from the landing and sliding roughly against the road's surface before her body finally came to a stop.
I call her name several times just trying to get a response. Her eyes are closed and blood is dripping from her mouth. My main focus is her well being and survival. I place my hand to her chest to feel her heartbeat. It's still beating, but very weakly. I know I need to get her out of the cold and somewhere safe so that I can tend to her serious injuries. I take my hand and brush a fallen strand of her black hair out of her face.
As I remove my hand, I notice some of her blood has smeared on my palm. I blink several times as I know what's coming. It suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks. The blood lust is rising to the surface to try and take it's control of me once again. I've already been struggling this entire time just being next to Keri and the scent of her freshly, escaped blood. Now her blood has come into contact with my skin and that always sends me into a frenzy. I think to myself, stupid fucking Shadows, as the pressure builds inside of me.
My fangs protrude naturally against my own will and drip with longing to taste that sweet, crimson liquid. My mouth waters in a hungry rage as my sight has locked on the warm, delicate flesh of Keri's neck. I can't give into my carnal, animal-like nature. Not with Keri. I fight the strong urges inside myself with all I have and I know that if I don't get moving soon, I'll lose my battle against them.
I lift Keri into my arms bridal style and take off running at top speeds. Nothing else matters right now other than me getting Keri back to my house before she dies due to the injuries she has sustained or before she dies by me sucking her fragile body completely dry.
Now a days there are so many novels that involve vampires. Ever since the whole "Twilight," or the "Vampire Diaries," thing came out it seems that's all anyone writes about these days. I've found myself having to rummage through hundreds of those types of books just to find "normal" romance novels.
I know what you're thinking, What's a girl of twenty two doing in a bookstore on a Friday night scanning the sex story aisle? Well I'll tell you why. I'm not very good with men or getting dates, plain and simple. It's not that I haven't tried. Lord knows that I have, but it seems every time I try to find a guy to date, something always prevents it from working out or most of the time even happening at all.
My best friend, Nicole, has tried countless times to fix me up with some of her guy friends and has even set me up a few blind dates once or twice. I did manage to go out with a few guys, but the rest would always come up with a reason why they couldn't make it. Half of the men that had turned me down at the last minute sounded nervous or down right frightened when they would give me their explanations as to why they couldn't make it.
I've never thought that I was an extremely beautiful girl, but I also never thought that I was hideous enough to scare guys away either. I admit I can be a bit nerdy at times, but the majority of men I have managed to meet always told me I had that cute, girl next door look.
Sometimes the thought crosses my mind that maybe there's some kind of invisible force trying to prevent me from having a relationship, but then I think that's just silly. Being the free thinker I am, I'm always coming up with wild scenarios and thoughts in my head. Some people would say that I'm just plain weird, but I like who I am and my personality sure keeps things interesting.
Skipping back to the present state, I'm kicked back in a big, cushy chair just reading a book at my leisure. I settled on a novel where the male character is a handsome fireman. His character crosses paths with a fiery red head who he used to know long ago. Her sister has come up missing while away on a hike in the mountains with some friends.
The fireman knows the mountains well because in his spare time, he likes to trek through the wilderness. Needless to say, he offers to go with the red head to help look for her sister and I'm sure it will somehow lead to them having steamy, passionate sex. I know the story sounds a bit corny and predictable, but hey, at least it's not about cheesy modern day vampires right?
I'm just getting to the naughty parts of the book when I hear the store announce that they will be closing in ten minutes. I dismiss the announcement and continue to get lost in my reading. Minutes go by and the store alerts the remaining customers to make their selections and head to the registers.
I ignore it once again as I am too caught up in the steaminess of the chapter I'm on. Suddenly a figure stands behind me and blocks my light. I lean back slightly in my chair and look up to find one of the familiar male clerks gleaming at me. With a slight grin, he says to me, "Hey Keri. I hate to be a bother, but you know we're closing."
I giggle inwardly at the sound of his voice. It's really high pitched and there's a slight whistling sound that only hangs on the ending of his words. Even though I've been coming here for months, his voice always seems to make me laugh a little. Back when he first starting working here, I thought that he was rather attractive. That was until I found out he only likes the company of males. Surprise, surprise. The one time a guy is nice to me for more than a few days, he turns out to be gay and off limits.
I close my book and sigh as I then reply, "Okay, I'm leaving."
He gives me a smile while nodding as he walks off to finish cleaning up the store for the night. Gathering my bag, I take the book I was reading and head up to the register. The cashier was just about to pull her drawer, but I caught her in time. I paid for my book and made my way to the double exit doors. Even though it's wintertime and I'm well aware of that, it seems that nothing can prepare you for that first gust of freezing wind that crashes into your body when you step into the chilly, night air.
My fingers instantly grasp the soft, furry material of my coat in a desperate attempt to shield my body from the cold. I tread along the parking lot cautiously, being careful not to fall or slip. There are patches of ice and frozen clusters of snow everywhere. I've never been a clumsy girl, but even the most coordinated fall prey to the unstable and slick ways of ice. As I near my car, I groan lightly as I wish I was already at home in bed, wearing my cozy pajamas and watching the latest episode of Supernatural. Shew, that Dean Winchester is one sexy guy, I'll tell you that much.
As I continue to walk through the practically empty parking lot, I suddenly get the distinct feeling that I am not alone. It's strong enough to make me stop in my tracks. I look around vigorously, but don't spot anything other than the few cars of the employees. I give a quick shrug of my shoulders and start walking at a slightly more quickened pace.
Making it to my car, I click the unlock button on my remote and then quickly get in. I lock the doors instantly just to be safe. I start the engine and shudder as I go to turn on the heat. I'm not looking forward to the frosty air it's going to blow out until it warms up. I pull out of the parking lot slowly, being careful not to be too reckless as I drive over the icy spots. It's nearly impossible to avoid them in this type of weather so you just learn to be good at driving roads that have tricky conditions.
It's just a few minutes past eleven, but the road home seems to be deserted. It's only about a ten minute drive to my house, but it feels like it takes even longer to get there since I have to drive slow because of the now heavily falling snow and the dangerous state of the roadways. I lightly smile in satisfaction at how quickly the heat in my car has kicked in. Even though I've lived in this town my entire life, I still never favored the cold weather very much. Aside from the fact that I dislike freezing temperatures, I also dislike how it gets dark so early. It makes the nights twice as long and depressing.
I get lost in thought about how maybe my life is just depressing in general as I continue to drive towards my house. I get so wrapped up in absent minded thought that I suddenly don't realize how fast I'm driving. It's tough enough driving through such heavy snow to begin with and the street lights barely help at all.
Suddenly out of nowhere I see something tall and black jump into the road a few feet ahead of me. I can't tell what it is, but it stands firm right in the direction I'm headed. Even though I wasn't sure, I figure it might be a person and my instant reflexes kick in, causing me to slam on the breaks in a panicked state. There went all rationality and memory of when I learned to slowly pump the breaks instead while driving on bad roads.
With my foot pushing the break pedal to the floor, I hear nothing but loud squealing sounds as I feel my car sliding sideways across the ice. I didn't have time to think or even scream before my vehicle slips to the far right of the road and crashes roughly into a guard rail. After the impact is when everything went black.
Shadow's POV
As I stand in the middle of the forest, my heart pounds furiously in my chest as I suddenly feel an overwhelming sense of dread. Something has happened to Keri. I just know it and can sense it with an intensity. I don't give another thought as I begin running at rapid speeds through the trees. I'm not far from her. I can smell her sweet scent in the air. That same scent that has intoxicated me for what seems like decades.
I jump over fallen trees and brush effortlessly as I make my way to see what has happened. Suddenly, I stop dead in my tracks as my nostrils pick up a foul scent that makes my blood boil. My lips curl up instantly as my teeth snarl on their own accord. I know Syn is near. The very thought of that loathsome, vile creature makes me go insane with rage. I take off running again into Keri's direction all the while gritting my teeth in anger. If Syn had something to do with this, he'll pay with not only his life, but with the lives of anyone he's ever cared about. Of course that is, if there are any left these days.
That heartless bastard only gives a damn about himself and himself only. Maybe that's my fault, but I'm not going into that right now either. I glide swiftly up the snow covered ravine and step out onto the road. The sight before my eyes nearly makes me collapse on the ground and makes what's left of my heart want to explode in my chest. Keri is laying face down on the frozen asphalt with a combination of blood and glass all around her. As I rush over to her, I glance at her vehicle.
The entire front end is smashed into a guard rail and my heart sinks even lower inside myself at the horrific sight of the wind shield. I can tell immediately that she was ejected from the vehicle through the wind shield. I drop to my knees beside her with a quickness as I look for any sign of life. I already knew before I got to her that she was still alive because I can hear her blood pumping through her veins, but the flow keeps getting weaker and more faint.
I carefully roll her over and then into my arms. A part of me dies a little more at the tremendously gruesome look of her face and upper body. There are thick shards of glass sticking in her cheeks and there is blood everywhere. The skin on one side of her face looks entirely scraped away from what I assume was from the landing and sliding roughly against the road's surface before her body finally came to a stop.
I call her name several times just trying to get a response. Her eyes are closed and blood is dripping from her mouth. My main focus is her well being and survival. I place my hand to her chest to feel her heartbeat. It's still beating, but very weakly. I know I need to get her out of the cold and somewhere safe so that I can tend to her serious injuries. I take my hand and brush a fallen strand of her black hair out of her face.
As I remove my hand, I notice some of her blood has smeared on my palm. I blink several times as I know what's coming. It suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks. The blood lust is rising to the surface to try and take it's control of me once again. I've already been struggling this entire time just being next to Keri and the scent of her freshly, escaped blood. Now her blood has come into contact with my skin and that always sends me into a frenzy. I think to myself, stupid fucking Shadows, as the pressure builds inside of me.
My fangs protrude naturally against my own will and drip with longing to taste that sweet, crimson liquid. My mouth waters in a hungry rage as my sight has locked on the warm, delicate flesh of Keri's neck. I can't give into my carnal, animal-like nature. Not with Keri. I fight the strong urges inside myself with all I have and I know that if I don't get moving soon, I'll lose my battle against them.
I lift Keri into my arms bridal style and take off running at top speeds. Nothing else matters right now other than me getting Keri back to my house before she dies due to the injuries she has sustained or before she dies by me sucking her fragile body completely dry.
Update soon!
2/20/14