Catherine Kos – Author

Helloooo! Hope you all had a great week!

Last weekend, we saw that Bianca was seeing the ghost of her dead mother, and having a little trouble welcoming Hayden into the fold. What do yo think is going to happen next? Does Bianca really want to fight Hayden? And how do you think she is going to handle seeing her mother? Let me know what you think!

Happy Hunting!

Chapter Seven

Chase

I can’t believe it. She almost fought Hayden. Actually fought her. Not in a ‘let’s see how well she can fight’ sort of way. No, like Rose actually wanted to cause her pain. I have no doubt that she could considering the amount that she has been working out the past few months, but still, this was something different. Rose has never been… hateful before. And that’s what I saw in her just now. I mean, sure, she hates vampires no doubt but fighting the undead is different, isn’t it? I mean, Hayden’s a living being who hasn’t done anything wrong. And, I know she’s probably still mad at me about this morning, but even when this happened before, it didn’t spark this type of reaction before. 

Months ago, before the night where she… lost her powers, Rose and I had a rocky start. She had abandonment issues among other things, and my sister had been kidnapped… let’s just say we didn’t start out like a normal couple. I’m not proud, but because I had a hard time getting her to admit her feelings, I did use a girl to try and make Rose jealous. That plan backfired and made Rose pull farther away. And I know better now than to do something dumb like that again. Also, I know how Rose feels about me. There’s no doubt in my mind on that. 

This morning she said that she wasn’t mad, that she was fine, but then she avoids me all day. Not to mention this morning when we were in our first class, she looks… scared. Scared and Rose don’t go together. So now she’s scared and angry? There’s something going on with her. And I don’t think it’s just jealousy. 

Duke slams on the breaks pulling me from my thoughts. I look out the windshield to see a group of people probably around twenty years old crossing a side street, all looking down at their phones.

Duke honks, making them all jump. They scatter out of the way, and we continue onward. 

The ride has been quiet with Duke and I in the front seats and Hayden in the back. After Deklan announced the groups that we would be going in tonight, I pulled him aside and asked him why. He’s got three supernatural’s in one group, and the other is completely human. Not to say that Alec and Rose can’t handle themselves, cause they totally can but still, it didn’t make a lot of sense. Until he explained it. Duke and Remi, and Rose and I needed to be separated because they’re dating – that’s understandable. Given the almost fight that happened between Rose and Hayden, it was best that they be separated as well. It made me roll my eyes at the fact that we all needed to be separated from each other. 

“We’ve got to be getting close,” I say. “This populated of an area, they’ve got to be nearby.”

Duke nods, and we all start looking for a parking spot. 

I’m not surprised that Duke isn’t talking to me. He and I are best friends, but over the past six months he has gotten very protective of Rose. They’re cousins but she is very much like a little sister to him. If Duke thinks that she is hurt or angry, he is there to defend her no matter who the person is. Right now, it seems like that is me. 

Once we’re parked, we climb out and survey the area.

“Either of you feel anything?” Duke asks.

I shake my head. I don’t feel anything meaning that there aren’t any vampires nearby. One of the benefits of having supernatural powers – being able to sense other supernatural beings. 

Duke takes a strong inhale of air, and then his head snaps north.

“This way,” he says, already turning and moving in that direction. Hayden and I share a look and then we both follow.

Duke isn’t just Rose’s cousin. He’s a werewolf. He shifts on the full moon, and turns into a furry creature. He can also shift anytime he wants too outside of the full moon, but he tries not to. It’s kind of hard to keep it a secret. When he’s in human form, he can smell, and hear better than any of us can. Right now, he can probably smell the rotting corpses of the vampires.

As a group, with Duke as the leader, we wander down streets, through alleyways, and crowded corners. 

Before the Aldinn left six months ago, he had opened up a club around here. It was a place for vampires to hang and feed off of willing and unwilling humans. Yes there are willing humans believe it or not. The club was shut down and closed the same night that the Aldinn left. He was keeping his promise to leave and not come back.

But… the direction that we are heading in… seems a lot like the direction of the club if I remember correctly. Whenever we go hunting, we make sure to check this area out, just to be sure that it is closed and there is no one trying to bring it back. We were here last weekend, and it was completely emptied. The windows had been boarded up, the whole thing abandoned.

It’s open now. It’s completely different than what it was a week ago. The boards have been removed from the windows. They’re tinted but we can still see lights on inside. Music is thumping through the walls, and people stand outside waiting to get in.

“I can’t go in,” Duke says, looking to me. 

My skin at the back of my neck is now tingling, telling me that vampires are nearby.

“They’ll turn the other way if they smell me. You both are going to have to go in and see what you can find.”

I nod, because there is not much else I can do.

Turning to Hayden, I ask, “Ready?” 

She nods, and walks ahead going straight for the bouncer. He’s a beefy guy dressed in all black with tattoos up and down his arms. He looks Hayden up and down, and nods to let her pass. When I try to follow, he stops me with a hand. 

“He’s with me,” Hayden barks, and the bouncer looks at her again. His eyes flare as if he knows who she is. He nods, and lets me in. 

New lights have been hooked up in the corner of the building sending off flashing lights as the crowd dances to the loud music inside. People hang in the corners pressed against one another, kissing, and doing god knows what else. 

I look around the room, searching for any sign of vampires, but for some reason I can’t sense any. As I turn around, I catch a glimpse of cropped blonde hair, and suddenly the girl in front of me is all I can see. Hayden lifts her eyes to meet mine, and for some reason I can’t look away. I know that I should, hell, I want too, but I can’t. Something is keeping me in this place, keeping me here. I take a step closer to her, as she does the same, and it is like two magnets being pulled together. 

“Chase!” A voice yells, and it feels like I’m listing through a pillow. 

“Chase!” the voice yells again, and I take a step back, feeling like I have been doused in cold water, and look around to see Duke right next to me. He yells again, and this time I can hear and see him clearly. A haunting look crosses his face. No.

“What happened?” 

“We have to go,” is all he says in a rushed voice, and turns, pushing people to get out of the building. I follow him, and I don’t turn to see if Hayden is, too. I don’t even care at this point. There is a feeling of dread in my gut that something is wrong with Rose. I can’t help but feel worried. We make it out of the club, and Duke takes off running to his car, and I am hot on his heels, I can hear Hayden running behind me. 

We make it to the car, and Duke unlocks it, climbing into the drivers seat. I speed to the passenger door, flinging it open and climbing in before he can drive away without me. He puts the car in reverse before Hayden even has he door closed, and pulls out of the spot. He speeds down the street, honking at the people to get out of the way, and curves around the corner without even pressing on the break. 

We are all breathless and panting, and Hayden asks, “What the hell is going on?” 

I look at Duke waiting for an explanation. He doesn’t look at either of us as he avoids a car and turns the wrong way down a one way street.

“She’s hurt. That’s all I know.”

I take a deep breath. She’s fine. She’s going to be fine.

Duke turns down another street and then the highway comes into view. He speeds up the on ramp, instantly going up to eighty miles an hour. My foot taps the floor, my knee bouncing up and down, counting the minutes until we get to Deklan’s building. That is how I know it is not serious, if it were serious we would be going to the hospital. 

I send up a silent ‘thank you’ to the universe when Deklan’s building finally comes into view. Duke pops the car onto the curb, and I am out of the car like a bullet, not remembering or caring if I closed the door. I hear Duke behind me as I run into the building and find Deklan waiting for us outside the office on the first floor. Remi leans against the way near him, her head in her hands, and Duke goes over to her first. I move to go past Deklan into the office, but he holds up a hand stopping me. 

“ Deklan, come on. Let me go to her.”

“Wait. We need to talk.” 

He moves us over the entrance of the building, I’m assuming so that she can’t hear us. 

“What happened? Is she okay?” I ask, fearing the worst at this point. 

“She was fighting,” Remi says quietly from where she stands with Duke’s arms around her. “We turned down an alley and there were this two guys, they were going after a girl. Bianca takes off after them, fighting them. Alec followed, he was fighting one and Bianca was fighting the other, and all of a sudden, she just… stopped. There were this glass windows leaning against a dumpster. When she stopped, the guy she was fighting threw her into them.”

Just as Remi finishes her words, the door to the office opens, and Alec steps into the room wiping dark liquid off of his hands onto a towel. Blood.

At the sight of Alec, I am filled with anger. Not being able to contain, I rush him, grabbing him by his shoulders, throwing him against the wall. My hands making a path from this shoulders to his neck. His arms come up knocking my hands away, and then pushes me with two solid hands to the chest, sending me back a few feet. I know that he isn’t to blame. I know that he didn’t do anything wrong. That he cares for Rose and would have done what he could to protect her, but still I am so angry. At him not being able to protector, at him being there when it should have been me there with her. 

“Chase, knock it off,” Alec says, obvious to what I am feeling. 

I shake my head, and run my fingers through my hair. I take a deep breath, drop my hands, and then without looking at any of them, I walk to the office door, open it and step inside, closing it behind me. 

The room is a small office, with a window on the far wall opposite the door. It has a small closet to the left, and an old painting hung up on the right. In the far corner is a black folded up chair, and in the center of the room is a large oak desk with Rose splayed out on top of her. She faces the window, with a pillow under her head, and her left arm bent under the pillow. Her long blonde hair is no longer in a bun. Now, it falls over the pillow, over the edge of the desk. At the edge of the table buy her feet is a stack of towels. 

She looks at me, a small smile on her lips, as I walk around the desk to face her. 

“Hey,” I say, pulling up the folded chair. 

“Hi,” she says. 

“How are you feeling?” 

“Fine,” she says, giving me a smile that I know is probably fake.

The door opens to the office and Deklan steps in. “She has a few cuts from the glass. There was one that did penetrate the skin but it was shallow. Alec was able to patch her up but there is no way of us knowing if she has internal bleeding. We may have to take her to the emergency room to get her checked out.”

“What are we waiting for?”

“Her powers are gone, but I don’t know if she can heal like she did before. I don’t want to risk them taking care of her, and then watching her heal before their eyes. We are going to watch over her. If she gets worse, we will take her in.”

It’s a gamble, one I don’t want to play, but there is nothing else that we can do. 

Rose smiles up at me. “I’ll be okay, don’t worry.”

Deklan steps back out of the room, closing the door behind him, and I sit down in the seat next to Rose, and gently grab her hand.

“What happened out there?” I ask, quietly. This mixed with what was going on this morning, I can’t even fathom what is going on inside her head. She needs to talk about it, whatever it is. 

Rose, who was looking up at me, looks away to stare at the wall.

“Nothing, I just froze is all.”

I just stare at her, until she looks back at me. 

“What?” She asks, annoyed. 

“You froze? You have never in the time that I have known you, froze. Until recently. So, I am going to ask again. What happened? What has been happening?”

“Nothing. Happened,” she says between clenched teeth. 

“Then did you do this on purpose?” 

Her jaw drops. “Excuse me?” 

“Did you do this on purpose? To try and get your powers back? Or to make sure that they are actually gone.”

“You have a lot of never. You… you actually think this is what I wanted? You actually think that I wanted glass inside my body?”

“Okay, maybe you didn’t mean for this to happen, but maybe you were trying to get hurt to see if you would heal. I mean, why else are you still doing this? You lost your powers, Bianca. Go and be normal for a change. Go and have a life where you don’t have to risk your life.”

“I never wanted any of this! You should know that better than anyone. This, all of this, was planned out for me. I never got to decide that I was going to be the girl who hunted the undead, instead of worrying about grades, and school dances. But, it was me. I was chosen, and I have accepted it. And now, without my powers you expect me just to be someone different? I know what lurks outside in the dark. Without me there is no one left to fight them.”

“But there are, Bianca. There are a whole team of them. Damen’s biker gang isn’t just for fun.”

“It’s not the same.”

I stand up from my seat, running my fingers through my hair again. I go to the window and look outside. 

“This was supposed to be different,” I say, quietly. 

Turning around, I look over at her, my stomach dropping. Her face is white as she stares at a spot to her left, and her hands are over her stomach as blood starts to pool. 

“Bianca!” I yell. “Deklan!”

The desperation is clear in my voice as I grab from the stack of towels and place them on her abdomen, applying pressure. 

The door bursts open with Deklan and Duke rushing into the room. Deklan takes one look at us, and calls for Alec. 

“Get the car,” Deklan tells him. “Can you lift her?” He asks me, and I nod. Like I am going to let anyone else touch her. 

I remove my hands from her stomach, replacing them with hers, telling her to ‘apply pressure’, and then I lift her with one hand at her shoulders and one hand under her knees. Carefully, I pass through the doorway of the office, and then the doorway to the building. Alec pulled his car on the sidewalk so it is in front of the building. Duke is in front of me, pulling open the side door, and then sliding in. He holds his arms out so that I can pass Rose over, and then I am climbing in with him. Dekaln closes the door behind me, and then Alec is speeding off. 

Rose rests in Duke arms, his hands covering hers on his stomach. Her head falls into my lap, and I gently wipe some hair off of her forehead. Her eyes are closed and I try not to think about how her breathing is shallow or what might happen if we don’t make it to the hospital. 

Chapter Eight 

Bianca 

            “Bianca,” a soft voice calls out to me. I groan and try to block it out. I just want to sleep. I feel so exhausted.

            “Bianca, wake up,” the voice coaxes. 

            There is something about the voice that I recognize but I can’t think of who it is. Finding out still doesn’t make me want to open my eyes. I try to roll over but there is a sharp tug in right forearm. My eyebrows come together. What is going on?

            “Bianca! Wake up!” The voice yells out, clearly annoyed. 

            My eyes snap open, and I look around the room. I am in a hospital room with light green walls, and a sliding glass door. And, my mother sits at the foot of my bed. She wears a casual t-shirt and jeans, her hair straight and down around her face. It is odd seeing her in jeans – she was never a t-shirt and jeans kind of person. She was always in dresses, even when it was cold out. 

            “Good. You’re awake. We need to talk. I’m sorry for what happened the last time you saw me. I didn’t mean to distract you.”

            Visions flash through my mind of when I was out hunting with Alec and Remi. We were walking down an alley and these two guys were attacking a girl. Alec and I started fighting them, and then suddenly I look up, and there is my mother just watching me. I was distracted and the guy I was fighting through me against a dumpster that had glass windows leaning against it. 

I don’t respond, because… I don’t know how. She sounds… exactly like she did when she was alive. It sounds so much like my mom. My actual mom. And jeez, do I miss her. Am I going crazy? I mean I must be absolutely insane because not only am I seeing my mother, but now she is talking to me. Trying to have an actual conversation with me. 

            “What do you want?” I finally bring myself to ask.

            There has to be a reason that I am seeing her. Maybe I have a tumor or I am dying and that is why I am seeing her because she is here to show me to the light. God, those are morbid thoughts.

            “Well, right now I am here to see if you are okay. How are you feeling?” She asks, and she reaches out a hand to touch my leg, but I move my body as far as I can on the bed. I don’t… I don’t want her to touch me. I don’t even want her to be here. 

            “Now, Bianca, is that any way to treat your mother?” She asks, her gaze darkening as she looks at me. I almost give into her. I almost reach out and grab her, pulling her into a hug. She sounds, looks, so much like the women who raised me. The women who loved me, but some rational part of me know better, because my mother is dead. And, there is no way this is my mother. Because of that thought, I am able to find my voice. 

            “You are not my mother,” I say, my voice steady. 

            Her face turns neutral, showing no emotion. “But honey, of course I am.”

            “No. She’s dead. She’s dead.”

            “True. I am dead, but I am here now. Here to help you.”

            I almost roll my eyes.

            “Soon, you are going to need my help, and I will be here. You’re the only one that can see me, and I think it would be best if you don’t tell anyone about me.”

            “And why do you think that?” I ask, intrigued at the idea that she thinks I need her.

            “Because, dear, they’ll think your crazy.”

No shit. I think I’m crazy.

I try to sit up and wrap my arms around myself, but something tugs in my arm, and when I look down, I see an IV in my arm. Oh, right. 

Looking back at the spot at the foot of the bed, I see that the thing that looks like my mother is gone. 

And Chase is outside my room. He opens the door, and steps in.

“You’re awake,” he says, smiling brightly, instantly coming to my side and grabbing my hand in his. “I was talking to a nurse in the hall. Were you just talking to someone?” He asks, looking around the room. 

Shaking my head, I say, “Of course not.”

“You scared the crap out of me, you know that?” He asks as he steps around the bed, and sits in the chair next to it. “You’ve been out for almost two days.”

“What happened?” I ask.

“You don’t remember it?” When I shake my head, he continues. “You started bleeding out, so we took you to the ER. You were taken into surgery. The doctors said you were bleeding internally, and it is a miracle that you made it. You made it through surgery and you have been resting for the past few days. We’ve all been pacing the hall waiting for you to wake up. I finally convinced Damen, and Sarah to go get some food. They should be back soon.”

“Damen’s here?” 

Chase nods. “Of course. He came once he heard.”

The door to the room opens again and Damen and Sarah walk through. Damen has a serious look on his face, and Sarah has tears in her eyes. 

“Sarah, I’m okay,” I say to her, and she just nods in response. 

“Don’t mind her, she’s just being dramatic,” Damen says, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She hits him in the shoulder, but still smiles. 

Sarah and I had a rocky start to begin with. We didn’t get along. At all. She blamed me for her sister, my mothers, death. And, I was angry at her for leaving me alone all these years. Sarah knew about me, but they lived across the country in hiding just like my mother. When my parents died, she heard about it and knew they were going to have to come here to Illinois. She was weary, because she didn’t want to put her son at risk, but in the end she came up with Duke. I was still hurt because I was left alone for all those years thinking I didn’t have a family, just to find out that I did, and they knew about me all this time. In December, after the attack of the Aldinn, Sarah petitioned the courts that she be my legal guardian, and be moved out of my foster families home. Everyone was surprised when I went along with it and didn’t put up a fight. But, I didn’t want to risk them with the dangers of my newfound life. For the past six months, Sarah and I have been growing, becoming more accepting of each other. I still find it hard to look at each other sometimes because she is my mothers identical twin, but every day it gets a little easier. 

Chase moves from his seat, standing to let Sarah sit down, and she takes my hand. 

“The police are going to come and ask you questions about what happened. Tell them the truth. Try to describe the men for them. Alec, and Remi have already been spoken too, but they just want to cooberate your stories. And then doctor will come in and talk to you. You are going to need to stay here for a few more nights so that they can observe and make sure that everything is healing inside of you.”

I nod, but a part of me wants to scream in frustration. This wouldn’t be happening to me if I hand’t lost my powers all those months ago. I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this. I would have been healed already and ready to fight another day. But now, I have to lie in bed, instead of doing what I was meant to do – protect others. The sitting around and waiting is the worst part. Waiting for me to get better before I can do anything else. 

“Did you guys find where the celebration is being held?” I ask, looking at Chase. 

A look of something like guilt crosses his face, but it is gone in the next instant. He nods. “Yeah, we found it. They were holding at his closed club in downtown Chicago.”

“Really?”

Chase nods. The lights are still out, but someone put new ones up. It looks run down, but Damen’s guys took care of it.”

I look to Damen who nods in response. “They found around fifty vamps mixed with humans. They were able to get all the humans out, and take out all the vamps. They tried to interrogate some, but they were uncooperative.”

“Good. That’s good that we found them.”

“You don’t need to worry about it, Bianca. We’ve got it taken care of,” Damen says. 

There is a knock on the door and we all look to see two police officers open the door, and step into the room. 

“Good afternoon, Miss Monroe. We would like to ask you some questions if that is okay?” 

I nod. “Whatever I can do, officer.”

After the police officers and the doctors have come and gone, the sun has gone down and it is dark out. Chase sits on the bed next to me, an arm around my shoulders, and Sarah and Damen sit next to each other in uncomfortable looking hospital chairs. 

Standing up, Damen stretches, and then says, “You should get some rest. I’m going to take Sarah home and then I will come back and stay with you for the night, okay?”

“You guys don’t have to come back. Really I’m fine. I can stay here alone.”

Damen gives me a look. “Yeah, not happening. I’ll be back.” 

He gives me a kiss on the head, and Sarah gives me one on the cheek, and then they are walking out of the room, leaving Chase and I alone. He pulls me away, leaving me cold, and occupies Sarah’s now vacant chair. He lifts up my left hand and presses it against his forehead, letting out a deep sigh.

“I’m okay,” I say to him, knowing that he must have been worried. 

He looks up, pain filling his eyes. “But you’re not. They are so many things going on with you, and I know that it is hard, and I know that it is hard for you to talk about, but i’m here for you. When you are ready to talk about whatever it is, I’ll be here. I’m not going anywhere, and I am not letting you go anywhere. We are in this together. I would follow you anywhere.”

There is not much left to say because he has said it all. He knows that I have a hard time talking about things, and that once I am ready, I will spill my guts out to him. And, I don’t know just yet what is going on with me, but once I do, once I know how to stop it, I will tell him all of it. Thankfully, he has a patience that I’ve never known. 

“I love you,” I say.

A warm smile appears on his face. “And, I love you.”

I disentangle my hand from his, and run it through the hair on the side of his head. He turns his head into my palm, placing a kiss on it. He turns to look back at me. “I really want us to have normal lives. Normal teenage lives. So, wanna do something really boring with me?”

Giving him a sly smile, I say, “That depends on what it is?”

“Well, there is there really lame dance. Also, known as Prom. Wanna be my date?” 

I pull my hand away, and cross my arms, pretending to be thinking really hard. 

“I don’t know… the last time I went to a dance, my date kind of left me for another girl. Maybe this time I should just go by myself.” 

Jeez, it is weird to think about how occurrences in our lives feel like lifetimes ago. Our Homecoming dance last year, I went with a football player, name James Lancaster. He was really just using me to annoy Chase, and to help Jennifer Rossy humiliate me. Jen. Everyone needs an enemy, and she is mine. She tried to date Chase because she hates me for some unseen reason, but he just used her to make me jealous. In the end, at the dance, I ended up with Chase and Jen ended up with my date. Really it was a win win cause I couldn’t care less about what happened to the two of them. 

“Please don’t compare me to Lancaster,” Chase says, standing up and leaning over the bed so his lips are just a few inches from mine. “Plus, we both know whatever you decide, we will end up together anyways. You just can’t seem to stay away from me.”

He grins and I scoff. 

“Yeah, that’s what it is.”

“So, is that a yes?” 

“I’ll think about it,” I reply making him chuckle.

“You’re funny.”

“I’m dead serious.”

“Well, then I will just have to convince you,” he says just as his lips meet mine. It’s gentle at first but then he deepens it, and I let out a small moan as I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer. After a few seconds, he pulls away leaving me breathless as he rests his forehead against mine. 

“Well, if you keep doing that, I’m sure you can convince me.” I say in a low voice. 

The grin on Chase’s face deepens, and he leans in to kiss me again.

Once more the door opens, and this time a voice speaks as we both turn to see who is interrupting us. 

Damen stands in the doorway with a slightly disapproving look on his face.

“Chase, I think it is time to go,” he says, looking pointedly at the boy beside me.

Chase nods. “You’re right.” He looks down at me. “I’ll be back tomorrow after class, okay?” 

“Yeah, see you.”

He lifts my hand, and give me a kiss on my palm before giving me one last look and walking out the door. 

“So, what Duke was too good to come see me?” I ask Damen, noticing my cousins absence. 

Damen chuckles, and plops into the empty seat and puts his feet up on the bed. 

“He wanted to be here, but he couldn’t.”

At my curious glance, he lets out a deep sigh. “He went into the club along with my crew,” he explains. “He’s fine. Don’t worry, but he shifted. He’s just a little worn out, so he is at home resting.”

I roll my eyes exaggeratingly. “Wimp,” I say, making Damen chuckle. 

He settles deeper into his seat. “So, where’s the remote? Let’s see if we can find something good to watch.” 

the end: for now.

What did you think?
What do you think is going to happen next?

as always, stay rad!

-Catherine Kos