Just then, a loud booming began to shake the ground. From the back of the outer circle, a stream of percussionists started to pour out of one of the tents. They began to dance their way down the worn dirt path, banging methodically on their instruments, winding their way around the perimeter of the circle. There were other musicians within the parade as well, but it was the deep vibration of the bass drums that carried the reptilian line along.
Most of them wore costumes, almost all in shades of red. It was difficult to see anyone’s full face. Either a half mask, paint, outlandish makeup, or an instrument hid most of their faces from view. Cadence was standing directly beside the route, and she soon felt Drew’s arm slip through hers as she bounced up to get a better view.
As the procession began to wind down, the crowds along the route started to cheer. Tailing the parade was a small group of individuals who seemed to be of some significance. They slowly came into view, and as they did so, Cadence felt a chill the length of her spine. She knew she had seen those eyes before. The pale white skin, bright red hair, blood red lips. She recognized her instantly. This was the woman from her dream, the one she had been running from.
Beside her, Drew was gasping as well, but not at the woman. Once Cadence collected herself, she glanced at her friend to see she was blushing, staring incessantly at the man walking next to the redheaded woman. He had a light complexion with jet black hair and steely eyes just as piercing as his companion. And, much to Cadence’s dismay, those piercing eyes were firmly planted right on Drew.
It happened rather quickly, and Cadence wasn’t exactly sure what was transpiring until it was far too late. Just as the party approached where she was standing, the man reached out to Drew, taking her by the arm and pulling her into the parade. Kash was too far separated from her to get there in time, and the rest of their group was on the other side of the parade, so Cadence knew she had to act on her own. She reached after Drew, stepping into the parade route herself. Just then, the woman with the red hair bumped into her. Cadence shuddered when she felt the coolness of her body against her arm. She looked up into penetrating gray eyes, suddenly frozen with fear.
Her voice like the hiss of a snake, the woman opened her ruby red lips and snarled, “You should be very careful to watch where you are going!”
Cadence said nothing, only stared into those mesmerizing eyes.
“Otherwise, you might get hurt!” she continued, pushing Cadence backward into the crowd and away from where Drew was disappearing. Cadence caught herself before she fell. Something about the woman’s tone caused her fear to morph into anger, and no longer petrified, she fought her way back to the front of the crowd.
The tail end of the parade was just passing, and she was back together with the rest of her friends. She could still see Drew giggling as she rounded the corner, dancing along with the dark man.
“We have to follow her!” Cadence yelled to the rest of the party.
Those who had been standing on the other side looked confused. They had not seen Drew become swept up into the parade. “What are you talking about?” Jon asked, his arms now around both of the other girls.
“Drew!” Cadence exclaimed. They began to glance around, just realizing that she wasn’t there.
“Why bother?” Kash asked, a look of defeat on his face.
“This is no time for pity parties,” Cadence said as she began to step forward down the path where Drew had disappeared. “If we don’t find her, something awful is going to happen.”
“That’s what happens when you go off with strange men at parties,” Kash said nonchalantly.
Cadence spun on her heels. “Listen, you may have come here with the idea that you and Drew were going to hook up, but this situation has just escalated beyond what may or may not hurt your feelings.” Then, turning to Jack and Jon she said, “I’m telling you, if we don’t find her, something bad—very, very bad—is going to happen to Drew. I just know it.”
Regardless of how Kash felt about the present situation, it was evident to all of them that they needed to find her immediately and get the hell out of there. Taylor burst into tears, and Sydney dropped Jon’s arm so that she could comfort her. Cadence sighed; they were wasting time. “Look, Jon, why don’t you take the girls back to the Suburban, and we’ll find Drew and meet you there?”
Jon hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t want me to help find Drew?”
Cadence nodded. “I think we can find her faster without the three of you, and I don’t want to lose anyone else.”
He nodded and began to usher Taylor and Sydney away. “No, wait!” Sydney yelled, spinning back around. “I want to help!”
“No,” Cadence, declared. “You’ll be more helpful in the car, praying, where we know you’re safe.”
As if she had been given a command, Sydney nodded her head in understanding and turned to go. The little party walked quickly, and Cadence would not have been surprised to see them break into a sprint. What she was surprised to see was that they were clearly being followed by two figures dressed all in black. This time, she could easily see they were a man and a woman. They followed at a distance, never speaking to each other or anyone else, and although she had no idea who they were or why they might be following her friends, her instincts told her this was all right, and she needed to concentrate on finding Drew.
By the time the others left and Cadence continued down the path the parade had followed, she couldn’t even see the end of the chain anymore. In fact, the crowd had filled in the trail so completely she had to push her way through just to continue her search.Upon reaching the tent at the back of the outer circle, where the parade had begun, she realized Jack and Kash were now far behind her, several groups of people separating them. She sighed in despair, running her hands through her long brown hair and stomping her booted foot on the ground. There, in the dirt, she saw a Guy Fawkes mas
There had been plenty of chatter on the Intelligence Assistance Communicator, or IAC, recently, so it was no surprise to Aaron McReynolds to see Cadence and her friends arrive at the Eidolon Festival. He believed he had brought enough of his team with him to sufficiently cover anything that might arise, although he was hopeful that Holland and her clan would be particularly careful considering who Cadence was and how obligated he was to provide her with unconditional protection. He was, however, extremely surprised to see Carter pull such a bold move and whisk one of Cadence’s friends away like that. The Vampire should have known that would not be permitted. Nevertheless, he took her, and that livened things up beyond a typical peacekeeping operation.
Jack was terrified. He almost could not fathom what was happening around him, not to mention that he was holding the body of a dear friend. He could see what appeared to be vampires swooping in on them from all directions. He thought that, if he left Drew behind, perhaps they would have a better chance of escaping, but he couldn’t consider leaving her, especially not when he knew how much she meant to Kash and Cadence.As they were exiting the fairgrounds, the bike hesitated just a second. Jack felt an icy cold flick on his shoulder. He glanced down to see that the fabric of his jacket w
The trip back to Shenandoah would have typically taken about forty minutes, but the man steering the bike was flying, and Cadence found herself winding through her own neighborhood in just under twenty minutes. Though she was happy to have the speed of the bike, at this point, she really wished she had been in a car with this person so that she could ask him some questions. The more she thought about all that had just happened, the more surreal it became. By the time she reached her house, she was quite certain she had lost her mind entirely.And yet she knew she had not. As he pulled the bike
With a sigh, Cadence grabbed the last few items she thought she might need and shoved them into her bag, mumbling under her breath the whole time. Who were these people? Were they people? What did they want from her? What kind of ramifications might killing a vampire bring upon her, and where the hell was her lip balm?Eventually, she decided she had everything she needed, and with another glance around her room, she flipped off the lights and cautiously opened her bedroom door, afraid another black clad figure--or worse--might be lurking in the hallway. She saw nothing unusual, so she headed
Jack Cook stumbled through the front door, careful not to wake his parents, who probably wouldn’t be up for another hour or two, and headed for his bedroom. He was exhausted, but thoughts of what had transpired that night flooded his mind.It was quite evident as he carried Drew’s body into the emergency room that there was nothing the doctors could do for her. When the hospital staff began asking questions about what had happened, Jack didn’t know exactly how to respond, nor did any of the rest of Drew's friends. Luckily, their good friend Elliott showed up shortly after the
Cadence’s grandmother had lived in this house for as long as she could remember. Her parents tried to make the trip from Shenandoah to Des Moines at least once or twice a month. It took about twice as long in the family car as it had this time since she was certain Eliza had topped speeds well over one hundred miles per hour. The trip generally took her dad at least two-and-a-half hours while Eliza managed to cover it in about half that time.Grandma Janette was up and seemed to be expecting them when they pulled in. Cadence wasn’t sure if she should introduce Eliza and Jamie or if
“Cadence, darling, do you know what the word clandestine means?” Grandma Janette asked.Nodding her head, Cadence said, “Yes, it means secret.”“That’s right,” Janette concurred. “What about the word ternion?”