Samuel pulled away from Sarah’s neck, his mouth stained with the innocent blood he’d shed. The colour in his eyes began to ripple, changing from chocolate brown to a striking red. The man snarled at Demetrius, a warning for him to keep his distance. Without backup and a girl he needed to protect the boy was inclined to do just that.That said, Samuel Hansley had been wanted for over three decades. Having him slip away again would be a blow to the guardians and there was no telling where he would go or whose problem he would become.There was a smaller, more carnal part of him that considered the reinstated honour he would receive for bringing in such a prize after having his last big case taken from him. In fact, if he spun it well enough, he could insist it had been his plan all along and the reason he’d gone against every order he had received along the way. Escape wouldn’t be an option for the man; there was too much at stake.Sarah we
The darkness began to encroach from the corners of his eyes, a slow march that increasingly robbed him of his vision. The sounds of the outside world were stifled by his laboured breathing and the loud pounding in his chest. He was bleeding faster than he was healing and he could feel things within himself rupturing.Demetrius struggled to his feet but the action sent a horrendous pain through him that forced him back to his knees.“Jamie.” His lips were heavy, requiring tremendous effort to get even the shortest words out. “Run. You…you have to get out—” A groan bubbled up the back of his throat but he stifled it so it was barely a grunt. “Don’t let…they can’t find you…go.”“Demetrius!” In the distance, he heard Scarlet’s voice calling to him. Demetrius would’ve thought it to be hallucinations due to his slipping consciousness but with his diminishing sight, he watched six of his fellow guardians dart into the room.Scarlet appeared at his side, fussing over him. Her words were too m
“What was that?” Scarlet’s ears popped out, twitching as they tried to catch the sound.Cassidy crept to the edge of the wall and peered around it to view the front door. “Lui,” she whispered. “Dad must’ve told him Mom won’t let you go on duty tonight.”“Guy doesn’t know when to quit. Quick, back up the wall. No doubt he’s here to see you. Guess he couldn’t wait for that little talk.”A glance back up the wall brought with it a sudden bout of fatigue. Demetrius could think of nothing he wanted less in the moment than to have to pull himself back up the wall and get himself back to bed before the man could make his way up the stairs. His sisters could see the weariness on his face.“I can throw you,” Cassidy said. “Might make a thud but you’ll be in your room so it shouldn’t matter.”Demetrius thought to protest knowing his sister&
Morning couldn’t come soon enough. Without guard duty, Demetrius had been left to pace the floor of his room waiting for the first rays of sunlight to enter the sky. He had to get back to school, had to see her…how she was doing…what—if anything—she remembered. Until then, his mind wouldn’t allow him to rest.The moment he stepped into the hall, he began a subtle scan of the students, hoping to see her and the state the Monday morning had found her in.It was her voice that he heard first. It rang out from the other side of the hallway, boisterous, uninhibited laughter with the power to disrupt the beats of his heart. Demetrius followed it, seamlessly moving through the sea of students like oil passing through water. He found her leaned against her locker with eyes that still danced from the laughter moments earlier.“Mom went nuts!” Megan said, using exaggerated gestures as she told her story. “I’m standing there with the letter and Ms. Pierson’s on the phone. Mom doesn’t know who t
Still awake?Yeah, couldn’t sleep so I’m finishing up some English homework. You?Demetrius stared at his phone’s screen, reading the message over and over while he considered his next move. It was already 3AM. If Jamie hadn’t gone to bed yet, chances were slim she would sleep at all. Yet another interesting thing. Her sleeping problems had only begun after the initial scare. Without memory of the event, there shouldn’t have been anything keeping her awake.His thumb remained frozen above the ‘send’ button, suspended by a hesitation he wasn’t sure he should ignore. The boy hadn’t been told to avoid her but his superiors had suggested a healthy distance.Demetrius thought to erase the words and wish her a happy study session before calling it a night but the continued lack of sleep was something he couldn’t ignore—not when he’d seen its effects in the past. Left to continue, it would worsen. She'd eventually hurt herself and there wouldn’t be anyone to stop her.His thumb went down on
In the absence of screaming children and blinding sunlight, the playground took on an eerie sombreness. The solemnity of the swings softly creaking as they swung in the light breeze could be heard as he stepped through the gates. His sister was at his heels with her tail high and her ears alert. She was there for unrequested backup but had no intention of being otherwise involved.The boy sat on a bench by the monkey bars, allowing Cassidy into his lap without protest when she invited herself up.Minutes later, Jamie entered through the iron gate.“Over here,” he said.The girl crossed the lawn quickly, wanting to avoid the sprinklers that were set to their busy work. She sank next to him on the bench and reached a hand out to pet his sister but stopped suddenly, seeming uncertain about the action as her eyes grew distant. Demetrius watched her force the thought from her mind before fully committing to the act of giving the white cat scratches by her cheek—the way Cassidy liked it. Hi
“Ready?”“Go for it.”“We went dancing on the moon.” It was an innocuous start, one meant to stir her mind into seeing the interaction as harmless. When he’d first asked, Demetrius hadn’t expected the reaction she’d given and while he was curious for the blush alone, the boy saw it as an opportunity to further verify whether she had truly retained some of her memories.“No.”“I beat you in those finals you’re so worried about.”Jamie side-eyed him. “Not a chance with study habits like yours. You’re more interested in my freckles than the past perfect usage of the avoir verb.”“You gotta admit, one’s far more stimulating.”Her cheeks began to gain colour again. “Next guess.”“Alright, lemme see… It’s got nothing to do with academics—you’d have told me already. It can’t be anything silly…you’d admit that. Embarrassing…involves us both and…no cats?”“No, no cats.”“Narrows it down to only about a million options.” Demetrius scratched at his chin, feigning contemplation. “Most things don’
Demetrius waited through the week, expecting a visit from Carlton to inform him about whatever would be taking place in another week. He never came. The man focused on teaching while at school and all but ignored the boy around the guard tower on the nights he was there. It was hard to take it for anything other than wilful avoidance. He was freezing him out, forcefully creating the distance he demanded. Each time Demetrius walked through the guard tower, he got the distinct feeling that he was the only one in the dark about what would apparently be a massive undertaking of an operation. It was his greatest irritant. No one would’ve known there was anything to be looked into without his careful research. None of them would’ve been any wiser to the vampire, unregistered and living in plain sight with at least one questionable child. It was his chance discovery that set things in motion and now they sought to separate him from his work. Were it no