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Chapter 13

Lover. When she'd asked what Patrick and Michael had stolen, she'd expected money, gold, some kind of heirloom, but-but a person?

Katelina almost dropped the remainder of her cigarette. "They kidnapped someone?" she cried and then lowered her voice quickly. "Seriously?"

"Yes. They took Arowenia and have her hidden away. Claudius will kill anyone he has to in order to get her back."

Katelina didn't know what to say or how to feel. Patrick and Michael had kidnapped someone, someone this Claudius cared for deeply. The 'girl' part of her could even appreciate the situation and see the romance in it. Arowenia was kidnapped and her desperate lover Claudius would do anything to return her to his side. Still, the selfish part of her wanted them both to disappear.

She stared at her feet and wondered how Patrick could have agreed to such a thing. He hated commitment as much as she did, but at his core he was a romantic. Surely he'd have seen how wrong it was, or at least know that Claudius would hunt them down. Her whole vision of Claudius had changed; instead of the grinning mobster who killed men for fun, she imagined a broken, mourning man, desperate to save the only woman that mattered to him.

"Why would they do that, knowing he loved her that much?"

"Love?" Jorick chuckled, but the levity faded quickly. "No. She belongs to him and has for a long, long time. She's one of his possessions, and he doesn't like it when people steal his things."

"Oh." Katelina didn't understand that either, but then nothing in the situation seemed to make any sense.

She decided then that food came first and fished a Twinkie out of the bag. Once she'd eaten she'd worry about the things that hid under her bed waiting to frighten her.

"So, we have a ride coming?" she asked around a mouth full of golden cake.

Jorick cringed and looked away from her. "Yes." He climbed to his feet smoothly, his eyes on the ground. "I'll walk you back to the motel. He's going to meet us there."

She started to nod but noticed he still looked unnaturally pale, like he had in the bathtub. "Okay." She stood up, and held her paper sack of goodies out to him. "Don't you want something?"

"No, not right now." He waved the offer away and then gave her a small, tight smile. "Thank you, anyway."

"You should probably eat something..." she trailed off and bit her lip, not sure why she cared. She supposed it must be because she needed him until she could get moved and get things rearranged with her life. If Jorick was right, then she couldn't count on her mother and Sarah until this was over. She couldn't put them in danger from the vampires.

"I'm fine," he assured her quietly. "I'll eat later, all right?"

She nodded, embarrassed for her concern. He turned silently and she followed him back across the parking lot, her mind repeating the question it had asked so often: maybe she should just call the police? But she knew it was useless; they'd just lock her up for being crazy!

When they reached the motel, Jorick unlocked the door and hurriedly stuffed her into the room. He promised he'd be back soon and took off, leaving her alone.

She flopped onto the bed and flipped through the TV channels. She ran the gamut of the basic cable's offerings without finding anything to hold her interest. In desperation, she settled on the local news. She was just ready to change the channel again, when a report came on about an abandoned farmhouse that had burned to the ground. Authorities weren't certain yet what had happened, but there were human remains among the wreckage and they suspected that they'd been having a party when calamity struck.

Katelina's mouth dropped open like a cartoon character. It was Jorick's house - or the house he'd been in. The blonde anchorwoman, shiny nailed hands folded on the desk in front of her, said that they were still trying to contact the owner and ID the bodies at this time. So far they had no idea who anyone inside had been. A stripped, abandoned car had been found nearby and the police were using the VIN numbers to find the owner, but so far the name had not been released to the media.

Katelina felt dizzy and strange. Seeing the skeletal remains of the house on television and listening to the reporter's neatly clipped voice made the whole thing real. It made it an event. It made it an inescapable truth that she didn't want to face.

A terrible voice in her head told her that the "stripped and abandoned car" was her car; her happy, shiny red car that she'd paid on for three years. She groaned silently, thinking about how much it was going to cost to repair the damage.

Despite her shock, she found one thing amusing: she could imagine the look on the coroner's face when they brought him a bag full of skulls with pointy teeth. How long would it take them to figure that out?

The news gave way to a sitcom, but the segment left her feeing unsettled. She found herself glancing at the door and wishing that Jorick would hurry up.

Another sitcom followed, just as ridiculous as the first. Katelina made it halfway through the second one before she gave up on it. She pressed the button on the remote and, in the second of silence as the television flipped from one channel to another, she heard a noise outside the door.

"At last," she muttered, grateful for company. She switched off the TV and started towards the door when it suddenly burst open.

The pale man who came striding into the room - teeth bared and hair cropped short - was obviously not Jorick. His shining fangs made the word "vampire" scream through her brain. There, before her, was a nasty reminder of last night and the truth the news had echoed.

"Where is he?" His eyes made quick, jerky movements as he surveyed the room.

"Wha- who?" she stuttered as another man came in the door behind him. His eyes were dark and a snarling smirk was pasted on his cruel, pointy face.

The shorthaired vampire drew closer to her. "You know who I mean; that conceited ass, Jorick."

Panic surged in her and she stammered, "I - I don't know where he is."

"Sure you don't. Perhaps some persuasion will jog your memory?" He took a step towards her. His long pale fingers stretched through the empty space between them, reaching for her.

She jerked away and tried to run for the door, but the second vampire blocked her path. She realized that she wasn't going to make it outside; not with the pair of them in the way. Her heart pounded through her body. Her hands were slick and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. What in the hell was she going to do?

Her eyes shot around the room wildly and landed on the bathroom door. It was the only hope she had. Maybe, if she could wedge herself against the door, she could keep them out long enough for Jorick to return - if he was going to return. Faced with these two, she seriously doubted he would.

She tried not to look in the direction she was planning to move. She said a quick prayer, threw herself on the bed, and rolled across it. Her feet had barely hit the carpet before she scrambled around the corner, flung herself into the tiled bathroom, and slammed the door behind her.

There was no lock, so she pressed her back against the door. She braced one foot on the pipes under the sink and the other foot on the baseboard. Deep down she knew she couldn't hold it for very long, but her instincts refused to surrender and let her die. Especially in a situation she couldn't even understand.

Maybe the bathroom was a bad idea.

Knuckles rapped against the door, followed by laughter. The first vampire's voice was sing-song, as though this was a game to him, "Open the door, little girl, and we might let you live,"

The one who kept their cool always won, she reminded herself, and tried to ignore the staccato beats of her heart throbbing in her ears. She tried to sound calm and brave. "Go away!"

They laughed again, throaty and harsh. "Did you hear that? She wants us to go away." The voice changed from amused to menacing. "Open the door or we'll come in anyway! It's your choice."

She pressed with all her might against the door, her legs taut with the effort. She wanted to cry and scream and demand that God to explain to her what she'd done to deserve this, but that felt weak. So she just shouted to the vampires, "I told you I don't know where he is!"

"And I told you that we'll extract the information from you!" The volume dropped as he spoke to his companion, "Forget it, we'll drag her out."

The doorknob turned against her side and made soft clicking noises. They pushed on the door. She pressed back. Beads of perspiration popped up all over her as she strained, using every ounce of strength she had. Where in the hell was Jorick?

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