CLUB NUMBER FIVE (Immortal Blood) (19 page)

I broke away from her arms. Kate's eyes were full of tears and she looked like someone had died. I swallowed and whispered quietly
,
“Know what?”

“Everything,” Kate sighed. “Alex told me everything.”

I fell next to her. “What did he say exactly?”

Sh
e glanced at me, but when I tried to
look into
her eyes she quickly turned
her head and looked elsewhere.
“He told me what happened at the ghost house and how you saved me,”
sh
e mumbled and touched my hand softly. “And he told me what they did to you.”

I swallowed, trying to stop the tears running
down
my face. “And?” I whispered.

“And he told me how you cursed every vampire in this house and raged you would destroy them. I think he said you used words like
‘
hunt
’
and
‘
burn
’
and that you wouldn't rest until you could dance on their ashes.”

Had I said that? Probably
,
yes. I had been so pissed that I hadn't been able to control the words coming out of my mouth and I knew there was no way I could take my words back. Some things you just couldn't say. I squeezed Kate's hand
,
and if she
had been
a human I probably would have crushed some bones with my squeeze. Kate squeezed me back. Tears were rolling from my eyes now and I did nothing to stop them. Stupid, stupid me! I thought I had screwed up but I never thought I had screwed up this big. Now I understood why Dane had acted the way he did. I was an embarrassment. A caricature of a vampire. He probably hated being responsible for my change.

I tried to calm down, but Kate sobbing next to me didn't help.
“Kate!” I snapped.

She
didn't answer. Okay, things were really, really bad if
she
was acting like that. I tried to make eye contact with her, but she still refused to look at me and practically slumped against my body, crying her eyes out. I felt lost. Kate was a newborn and I couldn't wait for her to rescue me, and obviously I was off Dane'
s VIP list and couldn't rely on
his help either. Shoot!

She
stumbled up and took a glass from the side table. She took a long gulp from it and then offered it to me. I emptied the glass with one gulp.

“Thanks
.
” I tried to smile.

Kate glared at me and nodded. She inhaled once shakily and then slapped her own cheeks, mumbling something like
,
“O
kay, okay, I can do this.
”

“Kate?” I asked
in
concern.

“I'm okay,”
she
huffed and stretched herself next to me. “What are you going to do now?”

“I think there's not much I can do,” I shrugged.

Sh
e stared at the ceiling and sighed desperately. I glanced at her and saw she knew something. Something she didn't want me to hear, but I had to.

“Shoot
.
” I punched her lightly.

Sh
e turned and shouted,
“How could you be so stupid! You made
it
perfectly clear you don't want anything to do with vampires. You practically announced you will do anything to destroy the other vampires and kill Dane. What did you expect them to do? Cheer happily and let you walk away? Samantha Green, this is truly the stupidest thing you've ever done!”

“I know,” I whispered and wiped my eyes.

“Do you hate yourself or are you just being self-destructive, 'cause they will destroy you and there's nothing we can do about it.”

“I don't hate myself,” I sobbed. “And I don't hate vampires
.
I was just, I don't know;
I was just so pissed at everything.”

“I know
,
” Kate sighed and put her arms around me tightly. “But you still shouldn't do it.”

I sighed, too, and stayed quiet. We lay there for a long time without saying a word. And finally I was able to accept the truth. My days as a vampire were numbered. They would never believe that I hadn't meant what I said. That everything was just me being cranky. No, I was a threat to their society and I hadn't done anything to prove myself worthy of their trust. So nothing I did or said would save me. They would kill me for defying their rules and I could only hope they would save my loved ones and punish only me.

I took a deep breath and sat up. Kate put her head on my lap and I stroked her hair. “You're beautiful, you know?”

“I know
,
”
s
he
nodded and smiled brilliantly. “I only wish...”

“S
h
h
.
Let's talk about happier things. Tell me about your change.”

“Well
.
” Kate grinned. “First
,
when I woke up I was so hungry I could've eaten a whole cow, but then Alex gave me some blood, okay maybe more than some, and after that I felt brand new.”

“Really?” I asked, amazed. “You didn't feel weird or anything?”

“Nope.
”
Sh
e shook her head. “Why would I? I knew exactly what I was
,
and if drinking blood is my only price for immortality, I will gladly do it.”

“And Alex?”

“What about him?”
she
asked slyly.

“You didn't feel the urge to jump all over him after you fed?”

“And if I did?”

“Kate!” I
hit
her with a pillow. “You didn't?”

Kate nodded slowly and we both blushed. Okay, at least there was one happy vampire around me. I didn't want to ruin the moment but I didn't know how much time I had
,
and Kate deserved to know everything. Even if it broke her euphoric illusion that being a vampire was all posh looks and high heels.

“Kate,” I said gently and she looked at me.
I showed her my arm.

“Wow! That is the coolest tattoo I've ever seen,” she sighed and grabbed my wrist. “Alex has the same, you know.”

“I know,” I said bitterly and shook myself free.

“When I'm not a newbie anymore, I will take the exact same tattoo, you know, as an honor to my creator,”
she
whispered dreamily.

“No, Kate! Open your eyes! This is not a game and I have this tattoo for a reason,” I snapped. “I hope you will never have it.”

“But I thought...”
Her
lower lip trembled.

“Don't think,” I hissed and cursed as she started to cry. “This is a mark of a murderer. You hear me? Everyone who has it has murdered enough people to earn it. So believe me, you do not want one.”

“I hear you,” Kate said quietly. “But I would gladly murder someone to save you.”

I stared at her, horrified. The last thing I needed for my already heavy conscience was Kate's death. And she would be dead if she started her little revenge journey against the other vamps. I was sure of it. I grabbed her arms and shook her harshly.
“Listen, Kate. Whatever happens to me, let it be, okay?”

Sh
e nodded and was about to say something when the door flew open. A man I hadn't seen before entered and unlocked my chains. He grabbed my elbow and pulled me up. I knew better than to even try to fight, so I let him lead me to the door. He pushed me out heavy-handedly and I glanced at Kate. She looked so small and lonely on the bed that I wanted to turn and run to her. To take her in my arms and squeeze
her
real hard. She was as close to a sister to me as my real sister and I didn't want to leave her alone. That you should've thought of before your stupid
out
burst in front of the others, my inner voice mocked
,
and I sniffed.

“Katie,” I said desperately
,
“
e
verything will be all right, I promise.”

The look on her face told me she didn't believe a word, but still she smiled at me shakily. The man tugged
at
my chains and almost made me fall. I glanced at Kate once more and formed
‘
I love you
’
with my lips.
‘
I love you, too,
’
she whispered silently
,
and slumped on
to
the bed, sobbing like the world was ending.

The man dragged me through the house and
,
to my surprise
,
I didn't see any other vampires. I thought maybe Jonathan or even Dane would've tried to stop him. But no, the house was empty and he could freely drag me anywhere he wanted to. I tried to slow my steps when I saw him heading to the front door, but that only made me fall. He pulled me up roughly and growled. I gulped and made sure I didn't fall again. I followed him outside and flinched as I saw the black van with darkened windows. Wasn't that just the kind of car that hitmen used in the movies? I struggled and begged him to let me go, but with an iron grip he threw me in and slammed the door closed.

I crawled to the far corner and curled up. The man sat in the driver's seat and started the engine. I shivered
with
fear. Where were we going and what would he do to me when the van stopped? I started to count in my mind
,
and when I reached eighty-nine
,
the car stopped. Okay, so wherever we were wasn't far from the house. The man opened the door and I saw a familiar alley.

“No!” I cried instinctively.
My brain was screaming with fear and every cell in me commanded me to run. Somehow I knew that if I walked through the
C
lub's door there would be no turning back. Something would change irreversibly
,
and if I ever managed to get out of there I would either be a different person or a pile of ash.

The man ignored my scream and grabbed my arm.
“Out,” he growled, but I wasn't going to give in so easily.

I dug my fingernails into the car seat and glued my legs around the seatbelt. The man rev
ealed his teeth and laughed. Oh
my
G
od! He enjoyed
watching me
struggle! I stared at him as he placed his harsh hands on me and grinned like an animal. Slowly, I let go of the seat and the seatbelt and slapped his hands away. He glanced at me, surprised, but I refused to look back at him. I was so scared that I was afraid I might crash, but I knew that whatever was about to come
,
I couldn't show my fear or things would only get worse, so I walked out of the car like the
Q
ueen of S
he
ba and lifted my chin. He shook his head and I saw some disappointment in his eyes. He had surely wished he could've dragged me into the Club by my hair and throw the screaming, struggling me to the floor. I felt satisfied that I had managed to spoil his fun. He pushed me from behind and I almost fell. I
look
ed at him
angrily
.

“Ladies first,” he gestured, grinning, and opened the Club's door.

I took a few steps forward but then I had to stop. From the door I could easily see inside and I didn't like what I saw. The man pushed me again and I moved my legs involuntarily and went inside. The whole scene in front of me looked surreal. The tables had been removed and in the middle of the room was one chair, nothing more. I swallowed. I gazed suspiciously around and my eyes caught
sight of
a huge barrel. Okay, this was bad. I backed away a little and bumped against a hard chest. The man who had brought me there blocked the door and made it absolutely clear I had no hope of escaping.

He pushed me forward and I stumbled. I saw that something was burning in the barrel and my survival instinct took over. Screw him if he thought I was a coward
,
but I was not going to get burned today. I turned and pushed the man as hard as I could, but it was no use. He stood like a rock and looked at me
in
amuse
ment
.

“Please,” I begged.

He shook his head slowly and tightened my chain. Without effort
,
he pushed me to the chair and chained me
to
it.

“No!” I cried. “No!”But besides me and the man
,
the room was empty.
“Please,” I cried
,
“
p
lease, help me.”

I saw a
shadow
leave
the wall and an elderly woman materialized in front of me.