Haunted by Time

Chapter 3

I hardly swallowed a sip before a hand next to mine caught my attention. I turned my gaze to the handsome face and smiled. Bingo. I took another big gulp from my drink and the man’s smile grew. He was staggeringly gorgeous and I understood how women died at his hands. His sharp jaw put all the attention on his plush pink lips framing straight white teeth. His eyes were swirling pools of blue that could make your knees buckle if you didn’t know any better. His body was relatively muscular and I felt a bit sad to see it rot away soon.

I smiled back at him and he leaned in. His cologne smelled delicious and I realized that this was his move to catch his prey. It was working, but not the way he was expecting. My heartbeat picked up and I realized that he heard it when he softly placed his hand on my hip. His lips grazed my ear and chills spread over my body.

“Hello there, Beautiful. Can I buy you another drink?” His rich voice spilled into my ear as if we were standing in a silent clearing.

The chills intensified and I had to fight to keep a grip on reality. This guy was good. I let my hand grip his bicep before giving him a subtle nod. He lifted two fingers towards the bartender who nodded at him. I gave the bartender another once over and my heart skipped a beat. The bartender was also quite the specimen. Two demons hunting together. This must be a whole coven of vampires. I needed to let Ash and Kim know as soon as possible. My eyes scanned the crowd and picked up on a few vampires. Relief flooded me when I found them dancing with each other on the dance floor. No vampires near them.

“Would you please hold on to my drink while I run to the restroom?” I asked sweetly and fluttered my lashes at him.

He smiled at me while nodding his head. I smiled at him sweetly before making my way to Ash and Kim. The restrooms were across the room with the dancefloor in between. I stopped in front of them and they lazily eyed me. I hoped they would play along and follow me to the restroom.

“Hey, do any of you have a spare tampon? I think I just started my period.” I said and a light blush crept onto my cheeks.

I could see them turning their heads to hear what we were talking about. They were aware of Hunters and being careful. Ash looked at Kim who sighed and nodded her head before motioning for us to follow her. I could kiss her right now! She walked steadily to the restroom and I could see a few vampires trying to scent the air. I felt a drop of sweat start to gather and slide down my back. We entered without interruption and found the cubicles empty. Ash let out a breath before turning to me. I held up my hand for her to be quiet and opened the faucet before whispering to them.

“It’s a whole damn coven!” I said and saw them exchanging looks before they came to the same conclusion.

They looked pissed. Before any of them could say something, the door to the bar opened and a beautiful woman walked in. I grabbed Kim’s hand and dragged her to a cubicle muttering something about her having to check if she can see the stain on my pants. Ash closed the faucet and dug through her purse for her lipstick. I closed the cubicle door behind us but kept an ear out for Ash. I heard the cubicle next to ours close and let my shoulders sag in relief that Ash was now alone. I motioned for Kim to give me her pocketknife and she frowned at me in confusion. I thrust my hand in her direction more forcefully to signal that she needed to hurry up.

I didn’t know if period blood smelled the same as normal blood to a vampire, but I had to risk it. I dropped my pants and Kim looked at me with wide eyes. She began to frantically shake her head when I unfolded the knife. I motioned for her keep quiet and relax. She looked at me like I was insane and to be completely honest, I felt a little insane. Drawing blood in the centre of a coven was a major risk, but I couldn’t blow our cover over a fake period. I positioned the knife as close to my underwear as possible and made a small incision. Blood instantly rushed to the opening and I had to grab some toilet paper to stop it from dripping into my pants. Kim opened her purse and took out a panty liner. I carefully pulled my pants up a bit before sticking the liner on the inside of my pants to catch the blood.

After checking that it didn’t show, we walked out of the cubicle and Kim flushed the toilet for good measure. Ash was watching the closed cubicle door with one hand resting on the hilt of a hidden knife. I shook my head at her and she let go of it, letting it slide back out of sight. I washed my hands and watched the girls’ rigid forms. Did they not train at all? I dried my hands on the paper towels and walked towards the door. Ash grabbed my wrist before I could open the door and it looked like she was about to tell me to be careful, but she let go and walked out as if nothing happened. Kim motioned that we needed to get our blades from the car and I nodded at her before we both walked out and onto the dancefloor.

Kim and Ash continued dancing together while I made my way back to the handsome demon at the bar. He was sitting exactly like I left him as if no time had passed since I left him here. He smiled at me and handed my drink over. I took a tentative sip to make sure he didn’t spike it while I was away. The alcohol stung as it travelled down my throat. He wanted to speed things up by getting me drunk. I saw the way his nostrils flared and noticed how his pupils dilated before shrinking back down again. He was getting a buzz from the smell of my blood.

I saw Kim subtly slip out the door to go get our weapons and started to think up excuses to get outside and gear up. I looked back at him and noticed that he wasn’t as smooth as he thought.

“Aren’t you going to have a drink?” I asked looking at his deserted drink on the bar.

His mesmerizing eyes dropped to his untouched drink before he smiled and picked it up. He took a hearty sip before slowly rolling the glass in his palm, his eyes following the golden liquid before snapping up to mine once more. I could tell that this was not the first time he got caught not drinking. I felt bad for those smart girls who still died at his hands. If I didn’t come up with a plan soon, I would be joining them soon. I took another small sip of my drink and looked to the door. The was still no sign of Kim and Ash was now dancing with a handsome man. They were moving in for the kill now.

“Want to get out of here?” The demon next to me asked suggestively.

“I don’t even know your name.” I said and smiled at him.

What I really wanted to do was run my fingers into his silky hair and smash his face on the bar. He smiled back and looked down at his drink before looking at me again as if introductions completely slipped his mind. They were probably irrelevant for him anyway. His victims never lived long enough to actually remember his name passed the night.

“It’s Kale.” He said and ran his fingers up my arm.

“Nice to meet you, Kale. Are you not interested in knowing my name?” I asked raising my brow but keeping a light smile on my face to not alert him or ruin the mood too much.

He seemed surprised by my words and played it off with a light chuckle. He took another big gulp from his drink, finishing it off. I felt my muscles tighten with anticipation. Did I just blow my cover? Does he know what I am?

“Of course I want to know your name. I would also like to hear you screaming mine.” He whispered huskily in my ear and I nearly sagged in relief.

His response was as direct as my question and he was trying very hard to move things along and get us out of here. An idea crossed my mind and I finally gave him what he wanted.

“It’s Kara. Let’s go.”

I grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the bar and towards the door. He willingly followed and tightened his grip on my hand when he matched my pace. He looked down at me and smiled while giving my hand a little squeeze. If I didn’t know any better, this would have set butterflies roaring through my stomach, but because I did, it only made me sick. The only thing stopping me from emptying my stomach, was the sight of Kim near our car. She gave me a subtle nod before crouching down between the cars.

“Hey, I think I left my phone in the car. Would you mind if I quickly grabbed it? Just want to let my friends know that they don’t have to wait here for me.” I said and grabbed his hand with both of mine, dragging him in the direction of Kim waiting with our weapons.

I added a sweet smile to disarm him and he nodded with a whispered sure before adjusting our course. I could tell that he was getting frustrated with me. This was not going according to his plan and he wanted to get control back. So, when he pushed me up against the car’s hood and started to heatedly kiss me, I didn’t put up a fight. He was actually a pretty skilled kisser. I might have enjoyed this more if Logan’s face didn’t flash through my mind along with the thought that this demon lived on drinking blood and I had his tongue in my mouth.

I opened my eyes to check where the hell Kim was and why she didn’t behead or stake him yet. My blood ran cold when my eyes stared into his blue eyes. The moment our gazes connected, I realized that he knew. He pulled away from me just as Kim launched herself at him with my blades gleaming in each hand. She was planning on beheading him and I wanted to scream at her. She was too inexperienced to attempt a beheading and to top it all off, he was expecting the attack. He knocked her into the car parked to our left like he was simply swatting a fly away. His eyes stayed locked with mine and my stomach twisted.

I brought my knee up into his groin and he grunted but didn’t so much as bend before he grabbed my neck. He started to squeeze and I felt my throat close up. I clawed at his hand and pushed my panic down. I changed tactics and went for his eye instead. My thumb pressed hard and quick, making a sickening wet pop sound out. He threw me to the side, not realizing his aim worked to my advantage. The impact knocked the breath out of me, but I didn’t have time to catch my breath. He would already be recovering from his injury so I needed to hurry. I crawled towards my blades near an unconscious Kim.

I could hear his footsteps approaching and knew that if he used an ounce of his demon speed, I would be dead within a second. I got to my knees and rolled forward, grabbing my blades as I went. His feet faltered and I locked eyes with him. His eye was still bleeding and the socket was sunken in. He looked pissed. I gave him my best cocky smile and hoped he bought it. I hoped that he didn’t see that I was pretending to be more experienced than I was. He bought it and disappeared into the thick forest lining the parking lot. I sagged down and properly caught my breath before checking on Kim.

She was luckily just unconscious and I had to drag her to our car. I laid her down on the back seat after much difficulty and locked the doors. My blades were strapped to my back when I started making my way across the parking lot to the bar. Ash and the male she was dancing with, came walking out and I ducked down just in time. I slowly reached for my blades and slipped them out from behind my back. Thunder started rolling above and a few patters of raindrops started to beat down.

I was grateful for the rain; it would mask any sounds I made as I started moving closer to them. I could hear Ash giggling at something he said and I felt like beheading her too. She was clearly drunk. My team was kind of useless. They stopped to start making out on the hood of a random car. He was on top of her and I caught sight of his fangs growing out of his gums while I was sneaking up from his right. I changed course to get him from behind. He would spot me if I continued to approach from his side. The rain started to really pound down as I stopped behind them.

He brought his head up, probably to jam his fangs deep into Ash’s neck, and I would not get this golden opportunity again. I crossed my blades and swung them out. They connected with flesh and it was not as glorious as I remember fantasizing about. They cut clean through his neck and I felt every bone crack and shatter away. The force made my forearms hurt and I stood in complete shock before looking at Ash. She was splattered from head to toe with his blood and looked like she wanted to scream and puke at the same time.

“Don’t you dare.” I warned sternly, not sure if I meant the screaming or puking, but she obeyed on both accounts.

I helped her slip off the hood and took my phone out to send death confirmation to Thomas. I slipped my phone back into my pocket and supported most of Ash’s weight on the way to the car. I opened the passenger’s door and shoved her into it, taking a water bottle from the cup holder and pushing it into her hand with strict orders to sober up and send an update to the Hunters. She mumbled an okay before I slammed the door shut and I heard the lock click into place.

I turned to the dark forest and wiped the pouring rain out of my eyes before taking my blades back into my hands and walking into the treeline