Running Wild (Sequal to I'm Not A Vampire)

Searching Blind

**ASHLYN'S POV**

The next month and a half were absolute hell for me. Not only was it hard not having my brother here, but knowing he was locked up somewhere, possibly pregnant, going through all kinds of torture at the hands of some psychopathic vampires, was nearly unbearable. Who knew what kind of pain he was in? But not dead, no, I didn't believe they had killed him. If they had, I would know. If I closed my eyes and really concentrated, I could feel exactly what he was feeling. Part of being twins, I guess. But there were times when I didn't need to concentrate to know what he felt. Sometimes it just hit me, like a dozen speeding semis. A wrench of pain in my gut here, inexplicable vomiting there. And, occasionally, an overwhelming depression that weighed my body down like a ton of bricks, pinning me to whatever surface I was on at the time. Yes, Blade was still alive, and he was on an emotional roller-coaster.

Andy, Ashley and Matt spent every waking hour trying to track down Blade's captors. Fortunately, Ashley had gotten a good shot of the cars' license plates when they drove off at the hotel, and had committed them to memory. Using this information, and Andy's laptop, they began to track the movement of the vigilante group that had taken my brother.

While they did this, Drake and I tried mostly to stay out of the way, apart from giving the adults information if needed. We got along well enough. Sometimes we'd have long conversations about random things, even making each other laugh at rare points. Other times it was quite obvious he was in his own little world, locked inside himself as he stared blankly at nothing. I knew this look. It was the same one Blade had had for that week after Andy and Ashley had said they couldn't see each other anymore. I assumed it was a mate thing, this lost, hopeless feeling when the one you love is apart from you.

After two months, we still had nothing on the whereabouts of Blade or his kidnappers. More time passed, and Drake and I both grew steadily more and more restless. The vomiting was occurring more frequently, which I took as a sign that Blade was getting worse. None of us had any idea when they might finally decide to kill him. We were completely blind, and scared out of our wits. With each passing day, I lost a little more hope that we would ever find my brother.

**BLADE'S POV**

They days all blurred together, an incomprehensible mass of hours spent in pain, hunger, and depression. I didn't know how much more of this I could take, how much longer I could live. But, for some frustrating reason, my captors refused to let me die. If I went to sleep without eating or drinking anything, I'd wake up with my stomach feeling fuller and my throat no longer scalding with thirst. They were force-feeding me in my sleep, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I couldn't help but wonder why they were doing this. Why were they so intent on keeping me alive, when they must realize that all I really wanted to do was die? It was driving me crazy. Worse yet, it was making me sick.

I was throwing up frequently now, waking up from one of my long, nightmare-filled sleeps to the feeling of my gut wrenching. After that, I had only a few seconds on average to sit up before everything that I had eaten and drank, creating a mass of half-digested bread, blood, and stomach acid. My life was past unbearable. All I could ever think about was Drake, and the few times I opened my mouth, tried to call for help, somehow all that I ever choked out was his name.

By some miracle, though my kidnappers fed me very little, and most of it I barfed up anyway, I seemed to only get fatter during my imprisonment. This upset me, for some petty reason. Who did I have to impress? Nobody, now that Drake was gone. Yet I still hated myself for being fat.

One night, as a sweet break from the nightmares that had haunted me for the past three months, I finally got a pleasant dream.

I blinked as my eyes were blinded with light after so long in the darkness. after a few minutes, my vision adjusted. I looked around, and gasped.

I was laying on the bank of a lake. But not just any lake, MY lake. The lake I'd first met Drake at. The sun was setting, casting a brilliant orange glow on the scene around me. It reminded exactly of that afternoon, and immediately I felt tears spring to my eyes at the memory. A hollow longing filled my chest at the thought of him, and I wished more than anything that he was here with me.

A small noise to my right made me turn my head, and I gasped. Drake was lying on the grass beside me, stirring as if he had been asleep. Slowly he sat up, rubbing his head and opening his gorgeous blue eyes. "Drake?" I breathed, barely daring to believe it.

"Blade," Drake's eyes lit up when he saw me. In a flash, he had thrown his arms around me in a tight embrace. "Oh god, I thought I'd never see you again!"

I was crying now, warmth rushing through my veins as his lips found mine. My body immediately relaxed as he pulled me onto his lap. "I thought you were dead," I whispered, kissing him back forcefully. I ran my hands over every inch of him-his thick black hair, his perfect face, his strong arms, his solid chest-memorizing the feel of his body beneath my hands.

"I'm not," he murmured softly, his arms snaking around my waist as he pulled me closer.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice told me that this wasn't real, that it was all a dream. I ignored it, choosing to believe for the time being that it was real, that I was finally back in Drake's arms, where I belonged. That he was alive and here with me. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," he pulled back and looked me right in the eye, suddenly dead serious. "Blade, you have to tell me where you are."

I blinked, a bit taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Baby, you know exactly what I mean," he replied. "Where'd those people take you?"

I was suddenly reminded of the dreams I had about Ashlyn, how she'd asked me questions that I wouldn't dream her asking me, as if I were really talking to her. But it couldn't be possible...I couldn't be communicating with Drake through my dreams, could I? No, of course not. He was dead. Still, I felt compelled to tell him. I'd seen the street that the abandoned building they'd locked me in was on, and I told him the name of it obediently. "I don't know how much longer I can last without you, though," I muttered, looking down.

"We're coming for you, Blade," Drake said softly, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand. "Just hold on for a little bit longer, okay? For me?"

I bit my lip, but nodded. What was the harm, anyway, making a promise in a dream? It wasn't real. "I love you, Drake," I murmured.

"I love you, too," he replied softly, kissing me again. I felt his hands sliding down my chest, coming to rest on my slightly inflated stomach, and suddenly they froze. "Blade, your...your stomach...."

I felt a blush work its way onto my cheeks. "I know, I'm fat," I said defensively. "So what?"

Drake shook his head. "It's not that-"

He said something else, but suddenly I couldn't hear him anymore. He was fading from view, like a ghost that had never really been there at all. "Drake?!" I gasped, panicked, but I was too late. He was gone.