Bound (Dark Reflections Volume 1)

Chapter 13

Alec Graves
East Dixon Lane
Hereford, Arizona

Oblivion led me through the darkness until we were back at our SUV. Jess gave me a worried look as we got close enough for her to see us, but I gave her my best reassuring smile and then turned to Oblivion to see what he wanted us to do next.

Still using nothing but gestures, he had me help Jessica unload Alison out of the vehicle and then he climbed into the driver's seat and I sat down in the passenger seat next to him.

We passed the drive into the center of town in silence and I was left wondering why I was even along for the ride. The werewolves were dead, so Oblivion didn't need protection from them, and Oblivion didn't seem to have any reason to fear the Tucson pack, not given the sheer power of his ability.

Oblivion had punched an address into the GPS before leaving the industrial park, and following the device's directions led us to a quiet little neighborhood that wouldn't have looked out of place anywhere in the Southeastern United States. Oblivion parked us on the street and then after double-checking the address one last time, he motioned for me to follow him as he left the SUV.

Oblivion knocked on the door to a white-brick house and then waited until a tired, middle-aged Caucasian man answered it.

"What do you guys want…?"

The homeowner trailed off as he got a chance to take in the tattered, bloody state of my ha'bit. He stepped back and made as if to slam the door in our faces, but his human reflexes were no match for Oblivion's moonborn speed.

Oblivion grabbed ahold of the man's arm with one hand as he pushed his way inside of the house and then put his other hand over the man's mouth to make sure that he couldn't cry out. Feeling more like a villain than I ever had at any time before in my life, I followed Oblivion into the house and watched as the man in Oblivion's arms started shaking.

At first I thought it was the natural result of being terrified for his safety and that of his family, but then I noticed that his eyes had rolled back up inside of his head. After a few moments Oblivion took his hand off of the man's mouth and moved it up to the man's forehead.

The convulsions gradually died down until the man was motionless, at which point Oblivion gently lowered the man to the ground and then turned and looked at me. I got a frown as though Oblivion was noticing my appearance for the first time. Oblivion ordered me back to the SUV to put street clothes back on over my ha'bit, which I did and then I returned to find that neither Oblivion nor the man had moved while I was gone.

"Who is he?"

Oblivion looked around and then pointed at a frame on the wall. I got close enough to read it and found that it was a medical diploma.

"The coroner?"

Oblivion nodded and then gestured for me to pick the coroner up and follow him. The house was surprisingly big and I initially marveled at the sure way that Oblivion led me upstairs and directly to the man's bedroom. It shouldn't have been a surprise, not in someone who could pull memories out of a person's head, but it seemed wrong for Oblivion to be so comfortable inside of someone else's home, a home he'd never set foot in before tonight.

The coroner's wife was apparently a sound sleeper because she didn't even stir until I set her husband down into the bed next to her. Oblivion was already on her side of the bed by the time I put her husband down, but he didn't touch her until after her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him.

The process of draining her was eerily similar to what had happened to her husband and after only a short time Oblivion released her and motioned for me to follow him once again.