Bloodbond

Chapter 4

Even though I was far from my apartment and the residual effects of those creatures, I still couldn't fall asleep. I kept tossing and turning, my thoughts refusing to settle down for the night. This wasn't fair. I hadn't slept properly for the past two nights and I really couldn't deal with it for much longer. People seriously needed their sleep.

Turning to lay on my back, I sat there, staring at the celing. I didn't want to deal with anymore intruders that looked more beast than human and I didn't want anymore nightmares that felt more real than I'd care to admit. At this point, I simply craved the boring existence that I had so desperately wanted to escape from. I guess beggars can be choosers.

This was ridiculous. I couldn't keep hiding from things that may well be simple figments of my imagination, albeit extremely realistic ones. I abruptly threw off the blankets and jumped up out of bed. That was my apartment dammit, and I wasn't about to let my overactive imagination scare me out of staying there. I grabbed my bag that I'd set by the bed and put the few things I'd taken out back into it. Before walking out of the room, I checked the clock and saw that it was midnight. Well, who cares? It wasn't like I hadn't driven home this late a thousand times before.

As I was walking down the hall to the front door, I started to lose my nerve. What if they were there now, just waiting for me to return? What if they had been planning to kidnap me this whole time? What if...

Enough! I screamed in me head. You need to stop being so absurd. None of that sounds the least bit reasonable, so let it go already! I knew the rational part of my brain was right. They were stupid ideas and I needed to stop entertaining them. Oh, god. Leave it to me to carry on a conversation with myself in my own head. Sigh.

I set my shoulders and opened the door to step outside into the chilly night air. After locking the door, I turned and headed down the driveway to where my car was parked across the street. Before I had the chance to cross, I heard my named whispered from my left. I whipped me head around but saw no one. Stop it, stop it, stop it!. Just keep walking.

As I went to take another step towards my car, I heard my name again, but this time it was louder and much more clear.

When I turned to look again, I saw a shadow standing about ten feet in front of me. It was so dark, that I couldn't clearly make out who it was. Thankfully, this shadow looked blessedly human.

"Who's there?" I asked tentatively. Whoever it was stayed silent. I waited a moment longer before trying again.

"Who are you?" This time, I got a response.

"You don't have to be afraid, Cassia. I promise I mean you no harm." It was a girl's voice. I guessed she was young but that was about all I knew. What reasonated most with me was that she knew my name. I thought hard but I wasn't really sure I recognized her voice.

"How do you know my name?" I questioned her, noticing that my voice trembled slightly. After the way the last day or so had gone for me, my tolerance for freaky encounters was at an all time low.

"Do you really want to know?" Even though I couldn't see her face, I could tell by her voice that she was smiling. Why she thought this was funny was beyond me, but I didn't appreciate it one bit. And with that, I could feel my patience break.

"Look, I don't know who you are or what you want, but I'm in no mood to deal with your stupid shit so I suggest you back off and leave me the hell alone!" I put every ounce of fear and frustration that I had been feeling since I'd first heard that thump in my apartment into my outburst. I turned and headed towards my car, not even bothering to stick around to see her reaction to what I'd said.