Fallen (5 page)

My head tilted to the side as my eyes slid closed, my fingers brushing the pendant. “I’ll never take it off.”

Chapter Eight

Friday, January 15th

Potomac Ridge, VA

EMILY

Wiping down the foggy bathroom mirror, the hollow shell of my former self stared back at me. My bony fingers clutched the fluffy white towel wrapped around me, the tendons in my hand standing out under my pale, paper-thin skin. My eyes wandered to Thomas’s necklace, draped around my neck. The delicate silver chain dipped into the hollows of my jutting clavicles. 

I used to be pretty. Now I resembled something out of a horror movie. 

Dark, purplish circles rimmed my bloodshot eyes. My once flawless skin was blotchy, dry, and ghostly pale. It seemed to stretch over my gaunt face like a drum. I was skin and bones—a living, breathing corpse. 

With shaky hands, I removed the towel atop my head, letting my wet hair cascade down my back. I combed out my long, dark tresses. The clumps of hair coming out with every brushstroke didn’t freak me out anymore. 

I was way past the point of freaking out.

I dropped some Visine into my eyes and grabbed my concealer, swiping some under my eyes and blending it into my skin. Just like I kept telling myself over and over, I was fine. I just needed a little help looking like it.

As I got dressed into some sweats, my phone rang on Thomas’s bed. It was Gabriel. I let it go to voicemail, as I had every other call I’d gotten from him. Texts from him went unanswered, too, though I did read them.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Thomas called from downstairs. The patio door slid closed as the house fell silent. He must’ve gone back outside. 

Tonight he was making us steak and, as a courtesy to me, since I couldn’t stand the smell, he was grilling it outside, despite the freezing temperature.

I used the opportunity to listen to Gabriel’s voicemail:

“Emily, please. Call me, text me…
something
. I need to know you’re okay. I need to know he hasn’t—” He sighed. “I just need to hear your voice.”

I left my mailbox and opened his last text message:

Meet me somewhere, please. The coffee shop, your dorm, I don’t care. I won’t try anything, I swear. I just want to talk to you…

Just in case you change your mind, my address is 225 Cedar Spring Ave

I turned my phone off and went downstairs, preparing to eat yet another meal I couldn’t stomach.

“Broccoli?”

I stared at the bowl of little green treetops in the middle of the dining table and shook my head vehemently. I’d somehow been able to keep the steak down, and I wasn’t about to push my luck with sides. 

Thomas’s phone rang in the living room, but he made no effort to get up and answer it. “It’s probably Mel.” He leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his weary, stubble-laden face with his hand. “We can’t avoid her forever, you know.”

“I know.” I didn’t want Mel to see me like this. I didn’t want
anyone
to see me like this, especially not Thomas. But that ship had kind of sailed, now hadn’t it? 

I had to tell myself to look on the bright side: he’d seen me at my worst, and he hadn’t run for the hills. Then again, it wasn’t news that Thomas was a stand-up guy.

For two weeks, we’d been holed up at his house, safely tucked away from the rest of the world. Things had deteriorated quickly, and I’d refused visitors. No Beth, no Mel, no Matt…no anybody.

Thomas stood from the table and grabbed our plates. “I have to make a run into town. You want to come?”

“Depends on where you’re going.”

Thomas paused as his eyes met mine. This was the first time in two weeks I hadn’t outright said “no” when he asked me to go somewhere. “We need some stuff from the store,” he said slowly, like I might get spooked.

“I’ll go, but I’m not getting out of the car.”

“That’s fine,” he said, continuing his path to the kitchen sink.

It would do me good to get out of the house for a while, even if it was just for a car ride.

Thomas eyed me carefully as he put the car in park, concern creasing his face. “You sure you’re okay? You look kinda…” His words lingered, but I knew what he was too nice to say.

Horrible.
I looked horrible. 

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat, feeling like I’d just eaten a bag-full of cotton balls. “I’m fine,” I lied, scrubbing my hands over my face in an effort to discretely wipe away the beads of sweat along my forehead and upper lip, though I knew with his acute vision he’d already seen them. “I’m just a little hot, that’s all.”

“I can always drop you off at home and come back later.”

Grabbing the bottle of water next to me, I took a drink and shook my head. “That’s stupid,” I said as I wiped off an errant droplet of water from my chin. “We’re already here.” I screwed the cap back on, noting the water did nothing for my epic case of dry mouth. 

He sighed in defeat and turned off the car, leaving the keys in the ignition for me. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

A wave of hunger clenched my stomach, twisting it into a knot of pain. I gripped the edge of my seat, struggling to keep my breathing even and my face calm. I didn’t want Thomas to know how much worse the hunger pains had gotten. I had this under control; I didn’t need any help. Besides, the pain faded eventually. 

I clenched my jaw, breathing through my nose, and nodded to him.

He gave me one more wary look before he got out, letting some of the freezing January air into the car as he left. It felt good against my hot skin and made me feel a tiny bit better. His car door shut behind him, and I watched him walk across the darkened parking lot, his feet crunching on the snow and ice as he made his way to the brightly lit entrance of the grocery store. 

My body relaxed a little as the pain slowly ebbed. I leaned my head back on the headrest and closed my eyes as my breathing evened out.  

Fuck me, that
sucked
.

I lifted my head and opened my car door, letting the cold air in. It felt so good that I climbed out, feeling the cold wrap around me and dip into my sweatshirt. My hair sat atop my head in a messy bun. The few wisps hanging down blew in the breeze. 

My respite didn’t last long. 

A deep rumble sounded in my belly as my stomach knotted, the hunger pains so intense, I fell to my knees. One hand went to clutch my abdomen, the other went to break my fall, splaying out in the snow. Heaving and coughing, I spit out dark liquid. 

The edges of my vision grew hazy. The last thing I remember clearly were the red droplets against the pristine white background. Then it was lights out.

Chapter Nine

THOMAS

Two percent, or whole?

I stood in front of the dairy section, debating between them. I preferred whole, but Emily liked two percent. At least she
had
, back when she could actually drink the—

A scream broke out in the store. I jerked my head around, my body quickly following suit, and started running in its direction, cart and groceries forgotten.

Running down the bread aisle, I rounded the corner to the produce section, skidding to a halt when the grisly scene came into view.

My words left me on a breath: “
Jesus Christ
.”

Time seemed to slow as an apple rolled towards me, leaving a bloody trail on the white linoleum in its wake. It hit my foot as another bounded past me. They were scattered across the floor, I saw, the display having been knocked over at some point during the commotion.

Wet, slopping sounds redirected my attention to Emily, who had an old lady in her grip. The woman hung limply in Emily’s arms, her head lolled back, her eyes open and vacant as Emily fed from her neck. Em’s shoulders hunched over her victim protectively, like she was afraid someone might try to steal her meal right out from under her. 

It was all wrong. This wasn’t the Sahara, and that wasn’t a gazelle.

My body kicked into gear at the sight, and I flew at Emily, tackling her to the ground. Forced to let go of the body, she turned and snapped at me, her bloodied teeth clicking as she narrowly missed my jugular. We wrestled on the floor before I finally got a hold of her, wrapping my hands around her shoulders as I shook her. 

“Em, look at me! Em!”

Her eyes were wild as she thrashed underneath me, trying to claw and bite at my hands. There was no recognition, no understanding. She might as well have been a wild animal.

Gasps sounded around me as people arrived on the scene. I heard one of them mutter, “Call nine-one-one,” as somebody hunched over the old woman’s body, applying pressure to her neck.

I listened closely, hearing the woman’s faint heartbeat. Faint was good. It at least meant she wasn’t dead.

Emily kicked under me, still flailing about. We had to get out of here.
Now.
But there’d be no reasoning with her, not in the state she was in.

I moved one hand to her chest, pinning her down as I winced. “Sorry, babe.” My free hand cocked back and I hit her, knocking her out cold.

My head rocked back and forth as my cheek pressed into something hard and cold. I opened my eyes, seeing a dark stretch of road in front of us, illuminated by our headlights. I lifted my head from up against the window, and winced. It felt like I’d taken a baseball bat to the cranium.

I took a deep breath through my nose, noticing the taste in my mouth was weird. It was coppery. And metallic. With a hint of salt. 

Like I’d sucked on a penny, or something.

I smacked my lips and moved my tongue, trying to get the taste out, when I noticed something else odd: the skin around my mouth felt tight and dry. I wiped my chin, feeling stuff flake off. 

I must’ve been drooling in my sleep. Lovely.

I stretched and shifted, feeling the front of my sweatshirt cling to my skin. Glancing down, I saw the gray cotton marred by dark splotches. I frowned and touched the material, pulling my hand away to see red on my fingertips. 

Was that…?

My eyes darted to Thomas. Brows pulled tight over steely eyes, he remained focused on the road. His shirt, however, was an open book. 

Dark splotches similar to mine were splattered across his torn shirt.

“What happened?” I breathed.

Thomas’s hand slammed against the steering wheel, making me jump. “You promised me! You fucking
promised
me, Em!”

Like a fish out of water, my mouth opened and closed, opened and closed. “Thomas, I—” 

“You said if it got to be too much, you’d let me know. You said we could…
try
.”

“I know what I said,” I snapped. Like I could
forget
agreeing to potentially eat my boyfriend. 

“So why didn’t you tell me it was this bad?”

“It’s
not
, I’ve got it under—”

He slammed on the brakes, the Jeep skidding as he abruptly pulled onto the shoulder. His eyes were hard as he faced me. “Tonight I had to pry you off an old lady as you fed from her in public. So don’t you
dare
sit there and tell me you’ve got this under control.”

My breath left me in a quick rush. “I did what?”

Thomas’s face softened and he looked away. “It’s like you weren’t even there. Your eyes, they were so…” His brows drew together over eyes that appeared lost in memory. He shook his head. “There was no recognition in them, no…
you
. It was pure instinct.”

No. I
didn’t,
I couldn’t have…

My mind raced as horror settled over me, turning my stomach into a heavy pit. It felt like I’d eaten a brick. 

No,
not
a brick. I’d eaten—

“I’m gonna be sick.” I covered my mouth and flung the door open, retching all over the dirt shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the sight of whatever came up.

A few moments later, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and closed the door, leaning my head back against the headrest. Thomas handed me a bottle of water and some tissue, and after I rinsed out my mouth, I wiped it again for good measure. 

I racked my brain for any memory of what happened, but came up with a big blank. Last thing I remembered, I was in Thomas’s car, waiting for him to finish in the—

No, wait. I got out of the car. It was hot, and the cold air felt amazing, so I got out…

But then what?

I pushed my fuzzy memory, and came up empty-handed. 

What the
 hell 
happened tonight?

I looked over to Thomas, who’d been unusually quiet. “Tell me what happened.”

He rubbed his face. “I’m still not sure… I heard a scream, and I came running. You were…hunched over her. Feeding from her neck.”

I closed my eyes as a shiver ran up my spine.
Thank God
I didn’t remember that part. I didn’t want to know what she looked like, I didn’t want to know what she tasted like, I didn’t want to know—

Wait… Thomas never said if I— if she—

Oh, God.