Chapter 4

We drove to the mall in the next city over. The drive was almost an hour long, and Quinten was silent for the first half. In an effort to brighten Quinten's mood, I let him pick the music, direct the conversation, and pick where we ate breakfast before starting our shopping trip. So, we listened to rap music that I hated, talked about the latest football game, which I hated, and we ate McDonald's in the parking lot across the road from the mall.

It helped his mood a little, but I knew him well enough to know how unhappy he still was at the moment. I didn't want his mood to get any worse and thought because he shook his head. "You wanna go to the mall. It's alright, Alanna."

I felt bad that he was so obviously uncomfortable. I felt even worse that he was comfortable putting my own wants before his needs. I promised to stay by his side the entire time we were in the mall. It would hopefully make his anxiety levels go down a little to know that I was always near.

Trying to be as quick as possible, I headed straight for the nearest electronics store, keeping a close eye on Quinten to make sure he didn't have a panic attack. I asked his opinion on music, ignored his suggestion when he finally gave it, and picked something else. He rolled his eyes and I couldn't help but laugh.

He held my bag for me while I tried on a few bathing suits. After I found one that I didn't look absolutely atrocious in, I grabbed it and we left to the next shop. We'd only been in the mall for forty-five minutes and I knew that Quinten had reached his limit.

He was starting to twitch at every little sound and his hands kept clenching and unclenching. I looked over at him. "I can skip the new shoes. These ones are holding up just fine. Do you wanna head home?"

He sighed and shook his head. "You said you needed new shoes. It won't take that much longer."

"Its fine, Quinten. These ones still work," I said, looking down at my sneakers. "Let's just go."

He nodded gratefully and I grabbed his hand and led him through the crowds of people. When we finally arrived back at the car, he looked so happy it made me upset to think how much he must have been suffering inside the crowded noisy mall.

"You know, you could have waited in the car. I wouldn't have minded any."

He shrugged. "I like spending time with you, Alanna. It's not your fault that that pretty much involves being in crowded noisy places. There aren't a lot of things we can do around here that are nice and quiet."

"We could go for a walk through the park. I bet that would be quiet. Not a lot of people, either."

He nodded once. "Whatever you want," he said, but I could tell he enjoyed the idea.

**

The park was small and peaceful, much better for Quinten than the crowded mall. A line of swings stood near the road, and a giant slide twisted down from a platform. A few children swung their way across a line of monkey bars, and some younger kids played in the sandbox.

I pulled up in one of the many empty parking spaces and, when Quinten got out of the car, he had a smile on his face. He took a deep breath and laughed. "Nice and quiet. Come on, I'll race you to the swings."

He sprinted toward the swings with deadly accuracy. Quinten and I had played together at this park a thousand times when we were younger, even after he'd lost his eyesight. Over the years since his accident, he'd become an expert at mapping out his surroundings.

Give him an hour or two in a new place and he'd get the basics down enough so that he could move around comfortably. In this park, he knew where every piece of equipment, every tree, and every flower was placed, and he knew how to weave in between them without tripping over anything.

I raced after him and, as usual, won. Quinten was fast and agile on his feet, but he wasn't a werewolf. Quinten tackled me from behind and we toppled over into the unoccupied sandbox. With the element of surprise and his extra weight, he had me pinned in less than a minute.

I hooked my leg around him and twisted. Rolling over, I straddled his waist, pinning him to the ground. "You are not stronger than me," I said, ignoring the strange looks some of the mothers were giving us.

He smiled. "I know, I just-"

The breeze blew through the park, scattering the scent of wildflowers, nearby apple trees, and something else. Something cold. Something evil. Something dead.

Quinten must have felt me stiffen, and he sat up worriedly. "Alanna, what's wrong?" he whispered.

I shushed him, and listened to the sounds of the park, trying to sort out the sounds of the cars on the nearby road and the screaming children. There was a choked cry that ended in a wet gurgle, and I was on my feet in an instant. "Stay here!" I ordered.

A new scent hit me then: coppery, salty, and fresh. It was blood, and it was coming from the nearby bathroom. I made a mad dash across the emptier side of the park, hoping that whoever was inside the bathroom was still alive. As I ran, a million things began whirling through my mind.

Vampires didn't attack during the daytime, did they? Were they more than the nocturnal hunters of legend? Was it possible that they were actually unharmed by the sunlight?

Right now I wished that I'd paid more attention to Ray's lectures about the evils of vampires. Normally I just tuned him out. Perhaps I wouldn't be so blind heading into this situation now if I'd just listened. What was I supposed to do? Did I call Ray and wait for him to help me? Or did I take my chances in a fight and hope that I could save its victim?

The bathroom finally came into sight, and I had a moment of hesitation. If it came to a fight, would I have the room and time required to shift? I couldn't win this fight as a human. That was for sure. And if I lost, what would happen to Quinten? Would he find his way to the bathroom to check on me? Would he end up as the vampire's next victim?

What did I do?

A weak, muffled cry from the bathroom made up my mind, and I yanked open the bathroom door. I ran in and slid in a pile of blood, going down hard on one elbow. My jaw hit the floor with a loud crack. Looking up through a curtain of sticky hair, I saw a pale figure looking up at me from a young woman's body. She twitched and a quiet moan escaped her bloody lips.

The man kneeling over her appeared to be in his early to mid thirties. His hair was a greasy red color and his eyes were black, sunken and expressionless. His cheekbones were high and sharp, and there were dark purple circles under his eyes. He looked like a walking corpse.

The red that stained his lips looked out of place against the whiteness of the rest of his face. Bloody spit dribbled down his chin and onto the collar of his shirt. He stood and wiped his face with the back of his hand. It looked like the woman beneath him had stopped breathing, but I couldn't be sure. If she was still alive...

I picked myself up off the ground, trying to keep eye contact with him. He took a step forward and I caught a flash of red in his eyes. He bared his fangs in a snarl, and crouched down into a defensive position. I looked around me as quickly as possible, and came up with a grim conclusion.

With the line of stalls, the row of sinks, the position of the vampire and the woman, this room wasn't large enough for me to shift, without putting myself directly in front of the vampire. I'd be exposed to an attack. I'd have to make do with what I had.

I knew I should have shifted first.

The vampire seemed to reach the same conclusion I had. He smirked arrogantly, and left his defensive crouch. He sauntered forward slowly, believing that I'd just sit back and die easily.

He was in for a big surprise.

I launched myself forward and slammed into his rock-hard body, knocking him back against the tiled wall. His head smacked against it, denting the plaster, but it didn't seem to faze him the slightest bit. His hand quickly shot forward, connecting solidly with my already sore jaw. There was a loud crack, and I spun away from him, tripping over the body on the floor, landing in a heap beneath the sink.

He grabbed my arms and hauled me up, pinning them behind my back. He pulled painfully on them as hard as he possibly could. Oh, my god. He's trying to rip my arms off!

I thrashed wildly against his grip, trying to free myself. He only pulled harder and I whimpered in pain. The vampire was breathing down the back of my neck, making the little hairs there stand up on end. His breath held a hint of decay and old blood, and I tried not to gag at the overwhelming stench.

He kissed the back of my neck, before nibbling gently. I tried not to flinch away from him. "If you're going to kill me, please just do it and get it over with already."

"I may have other plans for you," he hissed.

"Get your hands off of her!"

Quinten stood in the doorway to the bathroom, looking more furious than I'd ever seen him. His hands clenched either side of the doorway so hard his knuckles were white. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. It was amazing how menacing he looked, lurking there in the doorway.

The vampire, feeling my new hope, chuckled. "What does one little human hope to change? Your fate is sealed," he hissed.

He threw me against the wall, where I slumped, unable to get to my feet. He advanced on Quinten, who stood there, oblivious to the danger he was in. "Quinten, run!" I screamed.

He refused to move and the vampire laughed. "A mere boy, a blind boy, hopes to best me, a century's old being?"

That was a lie, and I knew it. The tremor in his voice gave him away. He'd probably been a vampire for little more than a week or two. He was still weak compared to a full-grown vampire and, for a minute, my pride was hurt that he'd bested me.

But I had hope that Quinten might manage to get away. If only he'd actually leave!

"I may be blind, but that doesn't make me easy prey. Be careful who you insult."

The vampire snorted in disbelief. "Boy, you'll wish for your death before I'm through with you."

The vampire reached out for Quinten, who grabbed the arm and twisted as hard as he could. There was a loud pop, and the vampire howled in pain as his shoulder flopped uselessly out of its socket.

Quinten ducked behind the vampire, wrapped one arm around the vampire's throat, and using his position as leverage, swept the vampire's legs out from under him. They crashed to the ground and Quinten kneeled on his chest.

The vampire wasn't finished though.

With a snarl of rage, he reached up, grabbed Quinten around the shoulders, and kicked him up over the vampire's head. Quinten hit the wall near me with a thud, and he slid to the floor. He groaned once, and I shakily got to my feet.

This wasn't about the poor woman he'd fed on or even about me anymore. This was about protecting Quinten. He'd risked his life to come and save me, and I owed him the same thing.

The vampire popped his shoulder back into its place, and he advanced on me.

I met him head-on, and ducked under his first wild swing. I sidestepped the second and dodged the third. When the fourth punch came, I grabbed his wrist and, like Quinten had done, I snapped it with all my might.

Instead of releasing his arm though, I pulled him closer and kneed him in the stomach. He doubled over, wheezing for air. I slammed my knee up into his face, satisfied when I heard the crunch of his nose, and slammed my cupped hands into his face, knocking him onto his back.

Quinten got up slowly, unsteady on his feet for a minute, before running out the bathroom door.

The vampire used my second long lapse of attention to attack again. He brought one leg up and kicked me savagely in the chest. I flew back and slid across the hard blood floor, skidding to a stop near the body of the woman he'd been feeding on.

The vampire dove over to where I sat, in a puddle of quickly cooling blood, and knocked me back over. He grabbed my head with his hands and slammed it down hard onto the concrete once...twice...three times. My vision started to fade around the edges, and with each crack, the quiet hum in my ears turned louder and louder until lit was a dull roar.

I felt myself begin to fade away.

The vampire grinned down at me, preparing my head for the fourth and final crack that would end my life.

That crack never came.