Chapter 22 Vanished
Vanished
Liam’s POV
The lady kept walking towards us with her claws shining under the street light. The other people on the pavement were watching. It was more like the lady had more power and he was the one controlling them.
I didn’t waste time, I carried Dylan off his feet and used my speed ability to get us out of there. The cold air hit us and Dylan made a sharp sound against my shoulder, his hands grabbing at my jacket. I kept running and cutting through gaps between buildings, doubling back through an alley I had known the parts very well for over the decades that I existed.
I stopped at an old building. Work on it was stopped by the government insurance company and it has been forgotten for years. I shouldered through the loose board at the side entrance and we were inside, the darkness thick and dusty, the sounds of the street dropping away behind us.
I put Dylan down on the stairs near the far wall and turned back to the entrance immediately. I kept quiet and closed my eyes, opening every sense I had outward into the night beyond the boards.
“What just happened?” Dylan’s voice came from behind me, low and tightly weak. “Why did you carry me at that speed? Where are we?”
I raised up one hand without turning around, gesturing that he should be silent.
I walked towards the window, checking every single thing… The air, dust, old wood, damp concrete and the cold coming inside the room. I couldn’t afford to risk Dylan’s life. I walked further and stepped out of the building, I heard just the normal street sounds of cars moving through the alley and distant voices of passersby. I didn’t see traces of anyone following us here. I checked twice to be sure and I didn’t see anybody.
When I turned around Dylan was sitting on the third step with his grazed hand pressed against his jacket and his eyes adjusted enough to the dark to be looking directly at me.
“There were other vampires on the streets,” I said. “They were about four, your blood must have triggered them.” I moved closer and kept my voice low out of habit. “We aren’t safe anymore”
He was quiet for a moment. “Vampires? I get you people survive on human blood but it’s just a graze… I mean, why did something so little trigger them so much?”
“Your blood triggered them but they were already watching before you got injured… I feel like you getting injured was also part of their plan.” I crouched in front of him. “It’s like they are working for someone and it might be the same person that sent those pictures to us.”
“Are you saying there is another vampire in the academy?” He asked me with curiosity all over his face.
“It might not be someone from the academy, oh! God!” I said and rubbed my palm on my face. “What exactly do they want from us?”
Dylan looked at his hand. Fear moved across his face that he didn’t try to hide from me.
“I’m scared, Liam,” he said.
“You don’t have to, not when you have me by your side,” I said while holding his hands. “Come, let’s go.” I said and he stood up without arguing.
We reached my apartment without any problems. I didn’t see it as a good thing because the person might be watching. They might have triggered us initially.
Dylan showered while I checked every window and the door and ran a scan of the building’s entrance through the narrow gap in the curtains. Nothing presented itself as suspicious.
We lay on the bed, cuddling each other and not saying much. We were both tired from practice and the incident we experienced this evening. Dylan slept off while I caressed his hair and I stayed awake, making sure that nothing unusual happened.
It was early morning because the room was still dark and I didn’t sleep a wink. My eyes were closed but my mind was active. The apartment was quiet and I noticed something off. I looked at the time and it was 5:10am.
A shadow was moving up and down the window, it seemed off. I looked closely and I noticed it was just the wind swinging a cloth sideways.
“Dylan,” I called and that was when I realized that Dylan wasn’t in bed or in the room.
The duvet was pushed back, not thrown off in a hurry, just moved aside, like he purposely got off the bed. His jacket was gone from the chair. I didn’t even get to sleep, how did he leave my arms and I didn’t notice?
I just got out of bed immediately. I rushed to the bathroom and he wasn’t there. I checked the kitchen and he wasn’t there as well. The front door was unlocked but closed, which meant he had left carefully. At least, the thought made me calm down. If it was his choice to leave, then I’m okay with it.
I checked every room again because the alternative was standing still and that wasn’t available to me, but the whole room was empty.
I went to the window to look down at the street for any sign of which direction he had gone. That was when I saw someone outside the window.
I moved closely, ready to get whoever it was. The person was trying to look in through the glass.