Shadows of My Heart

Chapter 2

Leo’s POV I watched Faith drive away from the shadows and slowly expelled a breath. She was so young. I shouldn’t… Pushing off from the large oak tree I was hiding behind, I ran a hand through my hair and looked up at Emma’s bedroom window. It was dark but she wasn’t asleep. I detected the faint smell of whiskey and could hear her heartbeat. It was still pounding from her encounter with Faith. She was more terrified than she let on.

Everything inside me had wanted to compel Faith to let me in her car. To take us somewhere private, outside of town, where we could be alone for an hour or two. Where I could lean in and inhale her scent, feel the pulse at her neck. Then slide my fangs ever so gently…

No! I’m here for Emma, not to feed! My conscience shouted at me from inside and I shook myself. It had been a month since I’d fed. In fact, I’d been in the middle of doing that very thing when my friend Jasper had come to tell me about my family. A succulent redhead had given herself to me willingly and I was in a fever haze. A younger vampire would have killed her, but I’d managed to perfect my self-control.

Sometimes, like tonight with Faith, it was hard. To say the least. 

It wasn’t that she was pretty, though she was. Her hair was long and the color of embers, my weakness. Not a bright orange color, but a dark red-auburn with more red than brown. Her legs were amazing and I got more than an eyeful of them since she was barely wearing anything. I still found it amazing that women could just walk around half-naked and it was completely acceptable.

No, it wasn’t her hair or her pretty face and or her beautiful long legs. It was her smell. That was what was driving my sudden craving. Her pheromones. They’d shot sky high when I’d walked over to her. It would be flattering if I were human, but as a vampire, I’d gotten used to it. It sounds conceited but it’s true. Even as a human, I knew I was attractive. Before I’d met my wife I’d been something of a rake, as the English had put it.

My wife.

The pain of her death still haunted me. And the knowledge that it had all been my fault. As a human, I had been wealthy and spoiled. When my father died, he left me everything and I wielded that power as one wields a sword. I crossed the wrong man, or should I say vampire. I had no idea what he was when he came to me and I regretted it for the rest of my life. 

Some vampires have a special bond with their makers. Like a parental figure or lover. Some, like me, do not. They are carelessly turned during a feeding or cruelly tortured and turned for sport. My maker drained me of most of my blood, leaving me too weak to do anything while he ripped apart my wife in front of my eyes. Bloody and naked and bleeding everywhere, she could only reach out to me with her final breath before she was gone forever. 

Then the blood of the vampire was forced into my mouth, eventually making me like him. But the cruelest torture of all was what he did before he left my house. He held my two-year-old daughter in his arms, covered with her mother’s blood, and placed her ever so gently in front of me. I had no idea why he smiled when he did so, nor what he was doing when he spoke to her, eyes boring deep, but I quickly found out.

The burning thirst and hunger for blood were all I could think about as I turned, writhing on the floor next to my wife and daughter. I fought as hard as I could until suddenly I felt my heart just stop. For a few moments after, I was still aware of everything. Then the darkness. 

I don’t know how long I was dead before I awakened to my new life as an undead monster, but it was long enough that Ava, my wife, had begun to rot. And little Emma, for that was her name as well, was still sitting there, quiet as a mouse but with a pained expression on her face, like just sitting there hurt.

I begged for little Emma to run away and get help. Shouted at her even. Pleaded and cried tears of blood, even as I crawled toward her fresh blood that I craved so badly. She wouldn’t leave. Later on, I realized that she couldn’t leave. My maker had compelled her to stay and not cry. It had been like putting a glass of water in front of a dying man.

No!

I snapped back to reality and dug my fists into my eyes in a weak attempt to gouge the memories out. My poor Emma. I looked up again at this new Emma’s window again and wondered if it was a blessing or a curse that my son had been at his aunt's house at the time of the attack. My line had continued and I protected him from the shadows, as I did for his sons and their sons, and so on. Eventually, though time took its toll and I realized I was irrelevant. I ran to the middle of nowhere and dug myself a grave and just slept and slept for decades. I believe it was WWII that woke me up.

A light flicked on just then, drawing my attention upwards. Emma was moving around inside her house as she did most nights at this hour. Sleep did not come easy for her. I stood up and watched as she went over to the window and opened it. Her expression showed relief as she inhaled the crisp night air and upon exhaling gave a little sob.

Strange. She hadn’t done this before.

“I just want to leave.”

It was barely a whisper, but I picked it up. Something was wrong. She was acting as though she couldn’t…

The barest inkling of my worst nightmare seeped into my mind. No. It couldn’t be. The chances of another vampire targeting my family were slim to none. And a man confessed. In fact, I’d already set up his punishment in prison once he was sentenced. 

But what if…

I had to know. 

Speeding to her front door, I rang the doorbell. Patiently as I could, I waited while my great-great-something granddaughter came down the stairs and peeked through the window. Her eyes widened and she opened the door.

“Emma, I’m not here to hurt you,” I began, but she cut me off.

“You’re him. You’re the guy.”

I c****d my head confused. “I… what?” This was not what I had expected.

Emma’s lower lip trembled. “He said I couldn’t leave. Not until a boy with blonde hair like mine with eyes like ice showed up at my door. He killed them all. He killed them all,” she sobbed, “and then he trapped me inside here.”

The horror of what she was saying slowly dawned. “He? What did he look like? Did he tell you his name?”

She was shaking now and lurched forward, collapsing on the front porch. I bent down, realizing she was only in her underwear and probably freezing, and helped her back up. “Can I help you inside so we can talk?”

She shook her head. 

“Listen, you’re free now. You can leave at any time, I promise. But we have to go back inside and at least talk about this. I need to know what he looked like.” It couldn’t be him. It couldn’t be. Not again.

She was stubborn and though I didn’t want to, I compelled her to let me inside. I helped her over to a sofa and sat her down. “Do you want some tea?”

She shook her head. “Who are you? Why did this happen? Why couldn’t I leave the house?” Her eyes strayed over to a spot on the living room floor and she squeezed her eyes. “He forced me to watch it all. I couldn't do anything. I just sat there, frozen.”

Now her teeth were chattering and I was afraid she was going to go into a hysterical frenzy. “There was nothing you could do. He had power over your mind. Like magic. No one could’ve resisted it.”

“But why?” she cried, turning her enormous blue eyes on me and making me wonder if this is what my little Emma would’ve grown up to be. “Why trap me here until you came? Who are you?” she repeated.

I sighed. She deserved the truth but vampires seldom tell humans what it is because of their inability to believe, even if it’s right before their eyes. But Emma was on the verge of losing her mind. She deserved to know.

So I told her. Everything.

And she fainted.

Faith’s POV I chewed on my bottom lip, anxious about going back to Emma’s house. It wasn’t just that the b***h almost kicked me in the face last night, but there was a … darkness there or something. It sounded stupid even in my head, but I couldn't help it. 

Still, Leo’s words resonated with me, and I felt guilty about going on with my life when Emma’s had basically ended. Not even she deserved what had happened to her. No one did.

So here I was, parked in front of her house again, staring at it like it would swallow me whole. Maybe it would.

I groaned and got out, slowly trudging up the steps until I stood in front of her door. I pressed the doorbell, bracing myself for another nasty encounter. I waited. And waited.

“Emma, I know you’re in there. Just answer the door. It’s me, Faith.” I heard a shuffling from inside and peeked through the curtains in the window. It was definitely Emma. “I’m not leaving until you answer. You don’t have to let me in. I just wanted to talk.”

This time I heard the lock click open and the door swung wide. Emma stood there hand on hip looking remarkably better than last night. Did my coming here really make a difference? 

“What do you want now?” she asked, every fiber of her being oozing irritation and dislike.

Guess not. “I--I just wanted to check on you. You look better.”

One eyebrow raised. “Yeah? So I looked ugly before?”

Jesus, she was difficult. “No. You just looked like you haven't been eating or sleeping. I brought you something.”

Her irritation turned into suspicion and she peered down at me as I rummaged through my bag. 

“It’s not really much but my mom’s into this whole holistic and essential oils thing.” I held out a very nicely decorated basket with four vials of oil and my favorite bath bomb. “It might be nice for a bath or for sleeping. One of those, uh, the one on the end is good for sleeping.”

Finally, Emma took the damn basket. “Thanks. See you later.”

I stuck a foot in the door. “Wait. I wanted to talk to you.”

“What do you want now?”

Patience is a virtue, Faith. “I wanted to take you to a coffee shop. Not here in town,” I hurried to say, “but maybe in Greenville. Or we could skip the state and go to Connecticut. I know you probably don't want to see anyone here yet.” The last part was a joke, but I was prepared to do it. Connecticut was only two hours away.

For once in her life, Emma didn’t immediately make a snide comment. She just stood there, studying me. Then to my complete shock, she said, “Okay.”

I didn’t even bother to hide my surprise. “What? Really?”

“You didn’t mean it?”

“No, I did, I did.” I cracked a smile. “I just didn’t think you would actually say yes. Okay, well do you want to go now? Or later? Or…?” I drifted off.

She glanced over her shoulder for a quick second and frowned. “Not today. I can’t today. But I’ll text you tomorrow.”

Before I could tell her that tomorrow wasn’t good for me, the door was shut and she was gone. I sighed and turned to go back to my car. My spirits lifted when I rounded the corner and saw Leo leaning against the ivy wall right next to it. He was in the same clothes as last night, I noticed, but this time he had a baseball hat on and sunglasses. Really must not like the sun.

“Hi,” I said, smiling noticeably brighter than I had before. 

“Hello.” He pushed off the wall and came closer. “I see you took my advice and came back. How did it go?”

“Well, my head’s still attached and I’ve got a coffee date for tomorrow.” Still wasn’t sure about the location. Was I really going to have to drive to Connecticut for coffee?

“Ah, coffee. I’ve never tried it.”

“What? Like, never?”

He smiled briefly and shook his head. “Never had the chance. But it sounds delicious.”

The way he said delicious had me suddenly in a very different state of mind. “Well, maybe sometime I can take you to go try some,” I suggested.

He c****d his head at me. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

Was I? Was that bad? “Um… only if that’s a good thing. If it’s a bad thing, then no. I’m just suggesting I educate you on your taste in beverages.” I smiled and hoped I looked cute and not totally stupid.

“I would think a girl as pretty as you already had a boyfriend.”

“Nope. I mean, I did but that was months ago. He was a jerk.” Ugh. Cody Brandt. Football star, cutest guy in school, and so cliched. “Yeah, Emma actually hooked up with him at a party during Christmas break.”

His eyes widened. 

I nodded. “Yeah. So…” Suddenly I felt a prickling on the back of my neck as if someone was watching me. I turned and scanned the street and hedge lines but there was nothing.

“What is it?”

I shrugged. “It felt like someone was watching me. Probably just--oh! Okay.”

Leo was suddenly on alert, scanning behind me like he had heat vision or something. His hand clamped down on my shoulder as if he was afraid I’d suddenly disappear. It was cold. Not ice-cold, but like he didn’t get good circulation or something. I was enjoying every second of the attention and then he was suddenly back to normal.

“You should go.”

Wow. Not the words I was hoping for. Not even close. Did I do something wrong? “What?”

“I mean, if you’re going to have a big day tomorrow with coffee you should probably rest up.”

I made a face. “It’s like four o’clock. What am I? Fifty?”

He ever so carefully put his fingertips on my back and guided me to my car. “There was just a murder here, you know. Can’t be too careful.”

Before I knew it, I was behind the wheel, buckled up, and the door was shut. “What in the--?”

He waved me off and then disappeared again.

He was so hot, but obviously a complete weirdo. It was too bad. I sighed and started the car. Just my luck.