Captivate

Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

            Blake took me down the hall to my room. I was a little surprised and still a little thrown off by what was happening between Blake and I, but something had changed and I ached for him. He walked over to the bed and set me down and stood up, turning and walking away. I sat there stunned.

            “Good night Kara,” he called as he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Wow, I was speechless. On one hand I was relieved that things hadn’t gone any farther between us and on the other I felt rejected.

All the emotional stress of the last couple weeks seemed to pile up at that moment and I felt weary. I lay down and pulled the blanket up to my chin, not bothering to change. Thoughts of  Landon and Blake both filled my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

I dreamt that I was in Blake’s arms again, but this time we were in the woods and the trees were whizzing by really fast. I squeezed my eyes shut before I became dizzy and let the gentle rocking motion calm me.

When I opened my eyes the sun was streaming in through the windows, causing me to squint. I sat up and my heart nearly stopped. I was sitting in my bed, at home!

“What the?” I said out loud.

Slowly I climbed out of bed and walked around my room. Was I dreaming? I pinched myself and it hurt so I definitely wasn’t dreaming. My first thought was Landon. I had to go see Landon.

Quickly I changed my clothes, putting on some of my favorite things, just realising how much I had taken advantage of the simple freedom to choose what I wanted to wear that day.

I ran out of the house, grabbing my dad’s car keys on the way. I knew they would kill me for taking the car without permission, but I didn’t care. I drove as fast as I could to Landon’s, leaving the car in the loop driveway in front of his building. I didn’t care if it got towed.

To impatient to wait for the elevator I took the stairs. The adrenaline that was pumping through my body fueled me on. When I finally got to Landon’s door and had to stop and catch my breath. Without knocking, I raced inside his apartment.

“Landon!” I called out, praying he was home.

Next thing I knew he was standing in front of me. He had moved so quickly that I didn’t even see him come down the hall.

“Kara!”

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. At that moment I had never been happier. After a few minutes, Landon held me out at arms length to inspect me. Suddenly he let go of me like I was on fire and stepped back, a shocked look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, stunned at his sudden change in behavior.

“He bit you!”

“What? What are you talking about Landon? Nobody bit me,” I retorted.

Landon grabbed me by the hand and dragged me down the hall to the bathroom and stopped me in front of the mirror. My hair was back in a ponytail and I hadn’t bothered to look in a mirror when I was at home. I stared at my reflection, specifically at my neck and was shocked to find to little healed puncture wounds on the side of my throat.

“I don’t remember getting bitten,” I squeaked.

Landon turned and left the bathroom. I followed him back out to the living room. I sat beside him on the couch and put my hand on his leg. I had missed him so much and now he was acting strange. Landon jumped up like my touch contained some kind of disease. I thought my heart might just break right there and then.

“What is wrong with you? First you hug me like you missed me as much as I missed you and now you can’t stand it when I touch you!” I choked out.

“I’m sorry Kara, but Blake has marked you.”

“What do you mean he has marked me?”

“When Blake bit you, he marked you as his property. Vampire law is if a vampire marks a human and lets it live, then that human belongs to that vampire and no other vampire can interfere with that human.” Landon paced back and forth. “He did this on purpose!” Landon yelled and slammed his fist through the wall.

I jumped. Landon had never shown any kind of aggression before.

“His property!”

I stood up, tears now blurring my vision. Right at that moment I knew Landon was the one I wanted, realising I had fallen in love with him. Anything that had happened with Blake was caused from loneliness and the fact that he reminded me so much of Landon. Now Landon was unable to be with me. Anguish consumed me and I fled the apartment, ignoring Landon’s calls behind me.

I raced out of his apartment building and down the street. I had no clue as to where I was going. All I knew was that I had to get away. My heart felt like it had shriveled into a tiny raisin. How could Blake have done this to me?

Finally I slowed to a walk, giving me a chance to look around. Somehow I had ended up in a seedy part of town. The buildings were run down, and the people on the street looked rough and used to the hard life.

My heart started to race with fear and I decided to turn around and head back in the direction I had come in. Just as I turned around a large shape blocked my path. I looked up into the face of a large man. That man that was covered in tattoos and wore a bandana, likely signalling his affiliation with a gang. I gulped and took a step back. He leered down at me, showing missing teeth.

“Um..excuse me please,” I said, trying to side step around him.

He matched my step, continuing to block my path. A low rumble started coming from his chest, which I realised was laughter.

            Fear froze me to the spot. This is it, I’m going to die.