Kidnapped by Vampires ✔ (The Broken Trilogy Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Two

When I went into the station to give the rest of my statement, I had Gabby wait in the car. I didn't want it to take too long and with her and the police asking me questions it could've taken forever.

I simply finished up by telling the police how I did escape with only a few things taken out. Like how I killed Kayla with a weird lightning knife. But I didn't think it was that important.

When we were done, Gabby and I stopped at the pet store on the way home to pick up some stuff for Kevin.

"So, do you think Kevin would like feather toys?" Gabby asked, holding up a tiny stuffed bird. "Or dragging toys?" In her other hand was one of those sticks that has a long string attached to it and a little poof ball at the end.

"I'm not sure. Let's come back in a minute. We still need to go pick out a little box." We went back down the isles and heard the front door chime open as a women with a large dog walked in.

I looked at the selection of litter boxes and wasn't exactly sure what to get. There were trays, and covered ones, and ones that your cat jumps into, and ones where there was some sort of secret entrance.

"I'm going to go see if we can get some help," I said and turned around to look for someone when I felt something brush against my leg. I looked down and saw... Kevin?

I bent down to pick him up. "How did he follow me here? I left him inside the house."

"Were all the windows closed?" Gabby asked.

"Yeah, or maybe. I thought they were." I looked down at his little eyes and he looked into mine. I could feel his heart racing like he ran the whole way here. "Let's go get a bed so we can set him down in the cart."

The rest of the shopping was easy once Kevin got there. We could test out toys on him to see if he liked them and one of the employees helped us pick out a good litterbox and litter to use for him. And as we drove back to my house, I set up a spot for Kevin in the backseat, but he climbed up to the front to sit in my lap.

There was something very strange about this cat, but I wasn't complaining. He probably just really liked me.

***

When we got back to the house, my dad was waiting for us in the living room.

"So, Mia, there is someone here to see you."

I set Kevin's food on the kitchen table. "Who?"

"He said his name was Vince. He's waiting for you on the back porch."

"Who's Vince?" Gabby asked.

There was only one Vince I know, and unfortunately, he was also one of the last people I wanted to speak to. But I knew I couldn't make a scene with dad or Gabby here because they wouldn't understand.

"Just somebody I know from school." I laughed it off like it was nothing and made my way through the kitchen to get to the back porch.

He was sitting on the bench staring out into our backyard. Even in the dead of winter, he still was wearing just a simple long-sleeved t-shirt. Even though it was warm out today with the sun, it was still weird.

I closed the door behind me and stayed on the other side of the porch from him. "What do you want?"

"I'm just here to talk to you about a few things." His voice was calm, had he had a weird look on his face like he cared. It was freaking me out.

"What few things?"

He shook his head and laughed as he stood up. "Just things that you saw at the Rutherford mansion while you were there. Anything to help us know what Ellis is planning and where he is hiding."

"You didn't catch him?" After seeing what happened at the mansion when I escaped, I found it hard to believe anyone could've gotten away from that.

"No, he managed to slip away. My boss wanted me to come over here and talk to you."

"Your boss?" My heart was pounding. I didn't like where this was going. "I don't know anything. They kept me in a cage and I only had contact with two people. Kayla, the vampire I-" I stopped. He knew what happened. He saw it. I didn't need to say it out loud. "And Jay, he used to be the one they keep in the cage until he tried to take his own life and they turned him into one of them. He doesn't know anything either."

Vince nodded and took a few steps toward me. I pressed myself against the house but there was nowhere for me to run.

"There was another thing I wanted to talk to you about. It has to do with you using one of our weapons."

"Look, if you want it back you're out of luck. I ditched it, I don't know where it is."

"Well, that's unfortunate, but not why I came here." He took another step forward and I started looking out the corner of my eye for things I could use to defend myself if he tried anything. "There was only one way you could've used that knife. And it's if you're one of us."

"One of you? What does that mean?"

"It's a long and complicated story, but basically we are the only thing on earth that can use crystals. If anyone else tried to work it, it would simply do nothing.

"Now, we are legally required to bring anyone in who we find that is a hunter. But I managed to convince Ethan, the other guy who saw you, to allow me to handle this."

"So, you're taking me in?" I was not, under any circumstances being kidnapped again.

"No," he said. It didn't make me feel any better, but I was curious. "I'm simply here to tell you who you are. To tell you that it might be possible for you to live a normal life, if that's what you want. But also to give you my number, in case you find yourself wanting to do something more." He handed me a crumpled up post-it.

He started to walk away when I called after him. "Wait. What do you mean it might be possible for me to live a normal life?"

He turned around. "Well, it's not just that we can harness crystals. We also have special abilities of our own."

"Like what?" I asked.

He looked around to see if anyone was watching, but we had a large fence surrounding my yard and the curtains were closed inside my house so it appeared pretty private.

He held out his hand and for a second nothing happened. Then the air got a little colder a second before a tiny little flame appeared in his palm.

"Holy shit," I said. He closed his hand and the flame went away.

"It's likely, you won't have anything too powerful. A lot of people only have small abilities and that's if they even have them at all. So it's possible for you to forget all of this if you don't pick up a crystal again. But if you ever need any help-" he nodded down at the post-it in my hand, "just call me."

He walked off the porch and the air was suddenly much colder.