Chapter 19 - On The Run
Somehow, I'd managed to stagger up to my hotel room without Adrian being hot on my trail.
When I flopped down onto the bed I was a mess and decided then and there that tomorrow I would find somewhere else to live - regardless of the job I'd just been given.
To put it simply, I refused to think about what had happened with Adrian in the park - the kiss still burned at the back of my mind and nothing I did would make it go away. I also refused to think about what could happen if I stayed here.
My head pounded and I clutched it tightly.
Avoiding Adrian was impossible seeing as he knew I was lurking somewhere within the city, and I was running out of clever ideas on how to keep him at bay.
Suddenly, an image of my older cousin Lily, came into mind and I just knew what I had to do.
Shakily, I picked up my phone and dialed her number.
It rung twice. 'Hello?'
I breathed a sigh of relief. 'Lily, it's me. I need your help.'
There was shuffling on the other end followed by the sound of muffled voices. 'What's wrong?' Knowing her, she'd want to know everything.
I quickly explained.
When I'd finished she swore softly. 'Oh, god Indigo. What a mess.'
I rubbed a hand raggedly over my face. 'I know. I just-- I need your help getting away from here, I don't know what else to do.'
She kept silent for a moment. 'Are you sure this is what you want?'
I could hear her hesitation.
I quickly spoke up. 'Yes.'
My heart gave another painful thump as a reminder of the earlier encounter I'd had with Adrian. 'Please... just come and get me.' I said.
I refused to go home where Adrian could so easily find me. Not that for him to do so would be an easy task with Roland at hand, but it was still possible.
She heavily exhaled. 'Where are you?'
Hurriedly, I told her the name of the hotel I was staying in and gave her rough directions towards the city.
She shuffled around some more and it sounded like she was picking up some keys. 'Stay where you are,' she told me. 'And pack everything you've got with you. I'm coming to get you - I'll be there in a few hours.'
Looking at my phone, I realised that it was nearing nine o'clock in the evening. 'Thank you.'
We disconnected.
Wasting no time, I pulled out my suitcase and repacked everything that had been taken out thus far. After an hour of repacking, I consumed another bag of blood and sat on the bed gazing at the wall ahead.
At 11:20, I got up and began to pace the room and look out of the window, feeling restless.
The sound of cars driving outside was almost soothing; the headlights reflected on the wall created shadows as they passed.
Peering down at the roads, I looked beyond them towards a grassy area which was concealed by a heavy tree-line and made sure that there was no one stood watching the hotel.
No one was.
I pulled back the curtain and paced the room again until a text appeared on my screen.
I'll be about twenty minutes, it read. It was from Lily.
To pass the time I decided to take a shower to relax myself and bathed under the fresh warm water, repeatedly lathering myself with the complimentary soap.
After getting out, I towel dried my hair and let it hang loose over my shoulders so that it could dry naturally.
When it was 11:32, I became restless again and took another peak out of the window. Lily would be here soon.
As I leaned back on the bed, I thought back to everything that had happened earlier with Adrian. I remembered hitting him hard enough to have taken him by surprise, which had ultimately given me an advantage - but something still felt wrong.
He'd so easily tracked me down when I'd fled so far away from the shopping centre, yet somehow I'd managed to escape him this time round.
What if this was part of his plan?
I hoped against hope that this wasn't a trap and that Adrian had indeed lost my scent. Scouring the tree line again I saw nothing at first, but froze when I did notice a lone figure standing in the shadows.
Oh no.
I just knew I wouldn't have seen them at a passing glance, and a human wouldn't have ever spotted them at all.
Whoever they were, they were trying to stay hidden and were standing so still that it seemed unnatural.
My first thought: They weren't human.
My heart plummeted.
When they looked my way I ducked behind the curtain, heart pounding in my chest.
It couldn't have been.
Adrian couldn't have found me already, could he?
Maybe he had.
I couldn't determine if it had been Adrian or not, and when I peeked my head around the curtain they'd already disappeared.
Yikes.
Swallowing loudly, I sat down on the bed again to calm myself and made sure to keep a good distance away from the windows. The last thing I needed was for Adrian to find me.
I sincerely hoped Lily would get here, and soon.
At 11:57 there was a knock on the door. I was jolted awake.
Trudging over to it, I yawned widely and pulled it open to reveal a scared-looking boy no older than 16 shaking violently.
When I saw him I was instantly on guard. 'Can I help you?' I asked. I didn't recognise him.
The boy opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't over his chattering teeth.
'H-he m-m-made me.' He finally managed. Specks of dried blood were covering his shirt.
I frowned at him. 'What? Who made you?'
I was relieved to find both sides of the corridor empty. I was quickly becoming impatient. 'Who m--'
I didn't have time to even finish my sentence. Something hard collided into me and threw me back against the wall with such force that my skull almost cracked.
The boy screamed in terror before he was abruptly cut off by something and thrown down the hotel corridor. I looked up to see the door being slammed shut.
I was trapped.
'Please...' Grabbing the back of my throbbing skull, I scrambled back against the wall and stared up in horror at the intruder.
'Who...'
I froze when Adrian stood looking down at me, dried blood on his face. His fangs were extended and he held a murderous expression.
'Adrian--'
He pulled me up by the collar of my shirt, leaving my feet to dangle helplessly several feet off the ground.
I struggled for air.
'Let me go!' I rasped out as I tried to pry his fingers from my shirt to no avail.
His eyes turned a deep pitch black and he snarled loudly, his fangs covered in blood.
'Adrian!' I choked out. 'Let me go!' His vampire side was in control so getting through to him would be near impossible.
Before he could respond however, the hotel door was smashed open my cousin stood in the doorway, snarling at Adrian. She was radiating anger. 'Let her go!' She screamed before charging towards him.
I fell from Adrian's grip as he was thrown across the room with force.
Before I could even register what was happening, Lily hauled me to my feet - grabbing my suitcase and phone, before hustling me out of the room.
From there on we ran into the lobby and kept on going until she pointed towards a sleek car. She yelled at me to climb in.
I did as I was told and collapsed into the back seat, making sure to lock the door.
Silently, I thanked the heavens for allowing us to escape unscathed as she drove off - tires screeching - down the busy road.
Twenty minutes later we were stuck in traffic several miles away from the city. Lily looked at me through the rear view mirror.
'Did he hurt you?' She asked me, cutting through the thick silence.
I shook my head, feeling for the moment unable to talk.
She continued to check me for any sign of injury until the lights changed and she sped off once more.
When I thought I could open my mouth again to speak I asked her, 'Where are we going?'
Her lips quirked. 'My close friend has agreed to let you stay with him for a while until things have calmed down. I told him that you'd had a tiff with your parents and you needed some space. He offered to take you in on one condition.'
I raised my eyebrow. 'What's the condition?'
She grinned. 'You have to cook him his meals.'
My mouth fell open. 'Seriously?'
She nodded. I thought about it.
'Does he want me to pay for rent?' I asked.
She shook her head. 'His parents bought him the apartment -- it's got two bedrooms, so you don't have to pay him anything.'
'And that's all he wants?' I found it hard to believe that her friend, whoever they were, had asked for so little in return -- especially if I was going to be staying with him potentially for a few weeks.
She grinned again. 'Well in his words: "he'd be honoured to have the female company because it could do him some good to have something nice to look at." '
I snorted. 'Pig. He's not going to come onto me is he?' I was momentarily horrified by the idea.
Lily seemed to be enjoying my reaction immensely as she laughed out loud. 'No. But I can't guarantee he won't try to look.' She grinned at me again through the mirror.
'Well if there's no other place to go...'
She shook her head again. 'There isn't enough room for you to live with me, and I made him promise that he wouldn't try anything.'
I smiled at the small courtesy before nodding. 'I'll stay with him.'
'I thought as much.'
We drove in silence until we'd passed through another town and then another. We crossed through the latter until we drove into the nicer side of the neighbourhood.
The houses looked huge and well-kept and as we drove on, those houses turned into sleek apartments which held elegant looking balconies overlooking the streets.
Eventually we parked outside a particularly nice block of apartments. I unclipped my seat belt.
Lily being Lily, hopped out and dragged my suitcase from the boot before slamming it shut all before I'd had the time to get out.
'Which floor does he live on?' I asked her as we entered the large fancy block of apartments and stood by the elevator.
She grinned at me. 'He lives in the studio on the top floor.'
I said nothing as we rode to the top.
When the lift opened I looked around in disbelief. 'You have got to be kidding me.' I continued to stare. 'He has the entire top floor to himself?'
My cousin knocked on the door and waited. 'Yep.'
When the door swung open a cute blonde haired boy, no older than twenty answered it. 'You must be Indigo.' He said as he looked me up and down. His smile was adorable.
I nodded.
Lily sighed. 'Can you at least wait until we're inside before you hit on my cousin, Liam?'
The handsome boy grinned. 'Of course.' He stepped aside. 'Come on in, ladies.' My cousin scoffed.
I did so and stared in awe at the apartment which surrounded me.
'Whoa...'
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