Thanks to Rebecca, Jennifer, Meghan, Diana, SM Roffey, Kristen and R Pelham Hern for all your feedback.
******
The four-poster bed was broken and fragments of iron shackles were left on the bed. The chill of an enemy nearby slipped up my spine.
My partner, Andy, had just rescued his ex-girlfriend, Katherine. She was emaciated?a week without blood was an eternity for a vampire. I stared into the empty room. Connor, my ex-boyfriend, must have escaped their captivity.
I turned to Andy and said, "You get her out of here. I'll go up to the roof and send up the signal. If I'm lucky, I might sense Connor. Meet me back here once Katherine is safe."
While Andy and Katherine took the elevator to the ground floor, I took the stairs up to the roof. Once I got there, I walked up to the edge, feeling like a superhero, with my jacket fluttering like a cape in the wind. I held onto a broken antenna and lit a signal flare. The police cruiser nearby signaled back with its lights and horn. I dropped the flare.
As I walked back to the door, the back of my neck burned.
A shadowy figure approached me, hands clenched into fists.
"You interfering little commoner!" Desdemona?Connor and Katherine's captor and sire?"There is no way you are going to take my Connor away from me!"
I sighed as I walked towards the door, keeping my distance. "If you want to continue your undead existence, it's best you leave town. But if you attack me, you will meet your end. I already signaled for backup, anyway. They?ll take Katherine to safety and as soon as I find Connor, I'll get him out of here!"
Desdemona tried to grab my arm, but I stepped out of the way. I grabbed one of my garlic salt powder bombs, threw it at her, and rushed to the door.
As soon as I got in the stairway, I slammed the door behind me and locked it. But it won't hold for long, so I hurried down the stairs
Finally, I made my way to the ground floor of the hotel and found Andy in the hotel's kitchen. It was completely empty except for all the alcohol and kitchen utensils.
"I was able to sneak Katherine out through the exit over there," he said, pointing to the back door. "But what about Connor and Desdemona?"
"Desdemona found me when I sent the signal," I said. Just as I was about to head back into the lobby, I felt a sharp sting in the back of my neck. "Connor's close by!"
Connor came in from the door marked "Dining Room."
"I was looking for you," I said. The initial rush of sorrow and regret faded as I tightened fists.
"I didn't want to be found," he said.
He went into a fighting stance, showing off the broken shackles on his wrists. He was in full vampire mode, eyes gleaming red and fangs bared, ready to kill. He struck out first, swinging at me like a boxer. I jumped back to dodge his attack. Then Connor turned his attention to Andy, who had his lighter ready. Connor gritted his teeth and tried to kick the lighter out of Andy?s hand, but Andy dodged the attack. That gave me the opportunity to throw a garlic powder bomb at Connor. He started coughing and backed away from the smoke.
"Do you have the cure?" Andy asked.
I reached into my pocket and took out a small vial. This will turn Connor back into a human. If he accepted it.
"Connor," I said, keeping the cure safe in my hand, "do you want to take the cure?"
He coughed as he shook his head. "There is no way I?m going back to the life I once had."
I stepped closer to him. "Your family misses you. Your friends miss you. I miss you."
He leaned against the wall. "None of them miss me. And you never loved me."
Desdemona barged into the room. Connor gazed at her with awe and reverence. To him, she was the goddess who gave
him life. My heart sank into my stomach. I didn't love him anymore, but he had to take the cure. Otherwise, he would be dust and ashes.
Desdemona growled as she ran towards me, with her nails bared like claws.
As I backed away from her, Andy grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the alcohol stash and took a handkerchief from his pocket. He poured some of the contents of the bottle onto his handkerchief, stuffed it into the bottle, and lit the cloth. He threw the bottle at Desdemona, but Connor jumped in front of her and absorbed the blast.
Connor was going to choose oblivion over life. Did he really hate everyone that much? Did he hate me that much?
Desdemona screamed her fury as she ran towards me, but Connor clung to her, spreading the fire towards her. She turned her gaze to him with sorrowful eyes and cringed as she started burning. Then she went silent, resigned to her fate.
Andy touched my shoulder, jerking me from the gut-wrenching pain in my chest. "We should go."
I swallowed back the agony that threatened to overtake me and nodded. The fire was gonna spread. And I couldn't watch Connor burn to oblivion. I watched way too many people perish in the past. "Yeah, okay." Tears streamed down my face as Andy and I escaped out the back door.
An explosion behind us blistered our backs, or slammed us to the concrete of the back lot. I covered my ears. The fire must have hit the gas from the stove.
I curled up into a ball and sobbed into my hands.
He was gone.
Topic: Found and Lost: Final Draft (Read 2171 times)