The Child Out For Revenge

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Josh’s POV

Chase and I stood on the sidewalk in front of a five storey block of rather new looking apartments. My adrenaline had been pumping all the way over here in the anticipation of finding Jezebel, but I could feel that and my hopes deflating quickly. Any chances of finding her had decreased tenfold.

“There are at least 500 apartments here, how the hell are we meant to find the right one?” Chase asks just as bewildered as me.

Any possible answer escapes me as my stomach grows sick with worry. Who knows what Ryder could be doing to her with all the time we’re wasting. Where do we even start? Then something occurred to me. What if she’s actually not here and only her phone is? Then what are we going to do. Panic starts to set in and all I can think about is how I could lose Jezebel. Dark thoughts rush in as I try to imagine a life without her. But I can’t, because there is no life for me without her. I can’t lose her.

Out of nowhere Chase says, “Perfume.”

“What?” I reply shaking my head in confusion.

His eyes are wide, hopeful, “Perfume. Does she wear perfume? Because if she’s wearing perfume and she’s here we might be able to find her car and follow the scent.”

I shake my head again, but this time in disagreement, “We’re vampires idiot, not werewolves. We don’t have that good a sense of smell.”

“Well we don’t have much more to go on do we?”  Chase snaps back.

I sigh and run a hand through my hair, “Let’s find her car then.”

We set off quickly for the sign pointing to an underground car park for residents. In all honesty I didn’t really think about how difficult it was going to be to find a specific car in a massive car park. Obviously neither did Chase according to his string of swear words. Frustration set in quickly and I had the urge to punch a wall. I pushed aside that feeling saving it for my second round with Ryder.

“Have you ever seen Ryder drive to school?” Chase once more comes out randomly.

“No. Why?” I ask back a little exasperated.

“Because all these parking spaces are allocated to a specific unit number. We just have to find her car and we know which apartment she’s in,” Chase explains with new hope.

“Ok, that would have to be the best news I’ve heard all day except we still have to find her car first,” I remind him.

“Yeah, so let’s not stand here any longer. You take the next isle and I’ll do this one. Let’s do this bro. The sooner we find her car the sooner we get to kick some ass!” Chase calls out cheerfully as I head towards the second row of cars.

I smile a little to myself, thankful that Chase had come. I’d be losing it if it weren’t for him. I think of all the good times Chase and I have had together as I look form side to side looking for Jezebel’s car. I remember the first day I met him. We were 7 and it was the first day at school for that year. I was so engrossed in my memory of meeting Chase that I almost walked straight passed Jezebel’s car in the 4th isle of the car park.

“Hey Chase, I got it!” I yell loudly so he’ll hear.

He lets out a whoop before running around with his heightened vampire speed. We fist bump quickly and then look around the car. Nothing appeared any different so we walked back around the front to find the apartment number.

“268, I’m guessing that’s the second floor,” I speculate.

Chase says nothing and just heads off for the stairs at the end of the car park. We basically scale the few flights of stairs and look for a sign to direct us which way apartment 268 would be. We find no sign so we just look at the number of the apartment to the left and right of the stairwell. On our left is apartment 250 and then on the right 249. We glance at each other before dashing off tho the left. Finally we skid to a stop outside the apartment we’re looking for and suddenly I’m apprehensive. What if we got it wrong and she’s not here?

“How are we gonna play this?” Chase asks me in a whisper.

I look up and down the hallway to make sure no is there to see us breaking in. I quietly twist the front door handle to apartment 268. Locked. We could kick it down but it would make so much noise and might alert other residents. I wanted to get in quietly with the element of surprise and kicking down the door would ruin any hope of surprise. If I’d really thought about this contingency plan I would have thought about getting a lock pick. But that’s not really an option now.

Sighing again I confess, “I don’t know. I really don't know.”

In the moment of truth I don’t know what to do. When it really counts I’m stuck. I don’t know what the best option is. Jezebel would be able to just unlock the door with magic. Magic. If Jezebel hasn’t escaped already by using her magic that means something is even more wrong than I first realised. I breathe in deeply, take step back and stand a little straighter.

Calmly I turn to Chase and say, “Kick it down. We’re going to kick down the door.”

He nods and stands back in line with me. Without need of a countdown we both burst forth in pure synchronised force. The door, however, moves before we even strike it with our feet. With no time to compensate for the lack of a door both Chase and I topple through where the door was a second before and into apartment 268. Stunned and winded a little I forget momentarily whose apartment we just fell into. But I’m quickly reminded as I hear the door slam and lock behind us.

Chilling laughter makes me snap back to the present and I try to get up but I’m met with a well-aimed kick to the stomach and instead end up on my back wheezing.

“Looks like the rescue party arrived Jezebel,” Ryder stares scornfully down at me. “Too bad they’re not going be of much help to you.”

I have no time to react or wonder what happened to Chase before Ryder kicks me again. This time my head snapped back as his shoe connected with my chin. Black spots dances all over my vision as I hear Jezebel scream out my name.

Through what little vision I have left, I turn to see Jezebel struggle mercilessly against the ropes tying her to a metal beam. Ryder crouches over me smirking with hatred. I strike out at him weakly. I barely connect with his cheek bone in my disorientated state. But I get no further hits in before Ryder grabs my head with both hands, lifts it a few centimetres and then slams it back down to the ground.

For a few seconds all I feel is pain and the throbbing of my own pulse. Then as my vision goes completely black and I pass out, the only thing I am aware of is Jezebel’s screams ringing in my ears.