Breathe Under Water - Shadows of the Night 1

Chapter 39

Hi!

Sorry for the long wait. I just finished editing this one. The kid gloves are off. Crossing fingers that you like it. Please let me know! Thank you guys for all your support! This is so crazy and amazing!!!

Lara

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Chapter 39

I approached the old truck, one foot in front of the other, pretending the hand holding my gun wasn't shaking. I was ready to shoot who- or whatever was going to attack me. For something or someone was. They always did.

My pulse fluttered, throbbing underneath cold skin. I stopped and hid behind the tail of the car, back flush against the freezing metal. Sounds that made me think of something wet and slick penetrated, making the hair on my back stand on end. Holy witch, I didn't want them to know I was there, but ... curiosity and the sick urge to know whatever the hell was going on won this one.

I let my head inch forward: I took a peek, not knowing what kind of view would unfold before my eyes. Once I saw, it was too late. The image burned itself into my retinas and way deeper. It would stay there for a long time.

Alexander was in a half-kneeling position. He was in the middle of drawing his hand out of Raphael Medici's shoulder. My heart stopped beating. My eyes froze and stared. My brain tried to process the visual information it had received. And failed.

No. This can't be real.

I blinked once, trying to make sure I was not fantasizing, but there it was again: the image of Alexander finally drawing out his blood-soaked fingers fully. Bare skin, torn flesh, and the disturbingly strong smell of blood; it was all real. Bile rose inside my throat, nausea threatening to take over my whole system.

Refusing to let my mind make sense of what was happening, I shook my head, averting and finally closing my eyes. No chance. The picture was still there. It reminded me of the night. That one night that ran through my whole life like a painful scar. Something so terrible that I was still in its grip, even after all these damned years. I buried my nails into my lower arm, trying to fight black, sick terror. If the pain was strong enough, I could chase away the ghosts of the past.

This time it didn't work. I couldn't forget what happened as much as I couldn't stop myself from looking again. Blood was splattered over Alexander's shirt and his arms. The vampire started licking the blood off his fingers.

The bitter taste of bile grew stronger once more. I swallowed, trying to distract myself by concentrating on breathing steadily. Fresh, cool night air entered my lungs, the oxygen coursing through my body a welcome passenger of my blood-circulation.

I felt better. I was confident that I wouldn't be sick. Good.

What next? I found that I didn't want to know what was going on anymore. There was only one thing in my mind, the command sharp and clear. Yeah, I would do exactly what a voice of mine had been screaming in my head for what felt like eons: Leave, for witch's sake, and run as fast as you can!

I inched back in slow motion, hardly daring to breathe. I had set about two feet in the direction of the street outside, when a familiar voice made me stop dead in my tracks. Adrenaline rushed through my system like a drug, pushing awareness into vibrating nerve endings.

"You might as well stay, little witch. Or did you believe I would not notice your presence?"

My head turned around involuntarily. Alexander's eyes never left the witch's body, circling around Raphael's wounded shoulder where blood was oozing out slowly. The vampire's tongue flickered across his own blood-stained fingers repeatedly.