Thirst (17 page)

CHAPTER SEVENTY

IN COLD BLOOD

It was becoming increasingly more obvious to Kane that Andrew was the killer behind all of the vampiric murders—his seemingly nocturnal lifestyle and his enrolment in the night class both supported the theory. Not to mention the death of the young British boy, Thomas, just a few nights prior, after Andrew had gotten into a fight with him.

As much as Kane did not want to believe it, he had little choice. As much as Kane did not want to kill Andrew, he knew it had to be done.

He was not going to make the move until he was sure.

He continued to follow Andrew down the cold, windy streets from a safe distance. It was late. There were no shops open, and no one in Snowbrooke was still awake. What reason could he possibly have for braving the cold at that hour?

Andrew turned around a corner. Kane waited a minute before slowly creeping around the corner himself. He had found himself in a familiar area of town—the street where he had found himself that very morning...

Brittany’s street.

A cold feeling crossed Kane’s body. Kane pulled his car over quietly, and idled while he watched Andrew.

Andrew, with his hood up and his hands stuffed into his pockets, turned up Brittany’s driveway, and walked up to her door. He was carrying a lot of nervous tension in his body. His shoulders were raised and stiff, and he seemed to be struggling to stand still. He knocked on Brittany’s door and waited.

The thick snow made it difficult to see Andrew from the safe distance Kane stood and watched. A strong gust of wind picked up the freshest layer of snow and created a white wall between Kane and his suspect. As it died down, Kane saw Andrew suspiciously looking around and walking around the side of the house towards the back door.

Kane had to act. Over the years, he had gotten a lot of blood on his hands, and he carried a lot of guilt. Nevertheless, he knew that if Brittany died because of Kane’s reluctance, he would not be able to live with himself.

Kane stepped out of his car and made his way around to his trunk. He quickly stuffed a couple of wooden stakes into his coat, and he picked up his crossbow-rifle. He closed the trunk and began to walk over to Brittany’s house.

As Andrew vanished around the back of the house, Kane began to run. The difference between Brittany living and dying could be mere seconds. As he ran, he pulled back the cocking mechanism of his handmade weapon, loading a sharp wooden stake into the open-faced barrel.

He cut across the deep snow on Brittany’s front lawn. The sharp icy breeze stung his exposed face as it whistled through the dark silent town.

Kane turned around the corner of Brittany’s house, into her back yard. Her window paned back door was open and Andrew was nowhere to be seen. A swift sense of dread fluttered through Kane’s trembling heart. He did not stop—He continued to run towards the door.

Then suddenly, Andrew stepped out. He was looking down at his hand, in which was Brittany’s glowing red sunstone—a stone that Kane was all too familiar with, having seen them on many vampires before Andrew.

Andrew looked up at Kane, whose gun was drawn and readied.

“Kane?” Andrew said after a silent moment of shock.

Kane fired—sending the sharp wooden stake directly into Andrew’s heart. Andrew gasped sharply as all of the muscles in his body tensed up.

Slowly, he looked down at the center of his chest. The long stake had entered in through his chest plate, travelled directly through his heart and had just penetrated his back. After a moment of stillness, blood began to pump out from the center of Andrew’s chest, directly from Andrew’s heart.

Andrew fell to his knees. “W—Why?” he asked as he placed his hands on his chest. He looked down at his hands, which were covered in his own blood. “Why—Why did you do that?”

The cool breeze blew Brittany’s back door, making it squeak. As the window paned door came to a stop, Kane could see his own reflection in it—and Andrew’s.

Andrew was not a vampire. He had a reflection.

Kane’s heart suddenly stopped as he realized what he had done. He had killed an innocent man—he had killed his friend.

Andrew fell over into the cold snow, blood still gushing out of his body.

Kane quickly rushed over and fell down to his knees. “Andrew—I—I thought you…” he started.

Andrew could barely keep his dying eyes opened. He looked up at Kane.

“Why?” Andrew asked again.

“I’m sorry,” Kane said. Tears were beginning to well up in Kane’s eyes. “I thought—I thought you were something else.” Kane tried to move Andrew’s jacket away to inspect the damage—clinging on to the imaginary hope that Andrew’s life was still salvageable.

Andrew stared up at Kane for another short moment. “I love her,” Andrew said.

“You—You what?” Kane asked in his state of shock.

“I love her. Please tell her that I love her.”

“Who?”

“Brittany.”

“You do?” Kane asked.

“Please don’t hurt her,” Andrew said.

“Andrew—I’m sorry. Please—you need to know that I’m sorry.” Kane lifted Andrew’s bloody body up off the cold snow and held his in his arms. His skin had turned completely white and the vibrancy in his eyes suddenly washed away, becoming lifeless.

Andrew was dead.

“Andrew—please,” Kane said, shaking Andrew. “Don’t die. It was a mistake. Please!” Kane cried.

A nearby dog began to bark, eliciting another neighborhood dog to begin barking.

“Andrew—c’mon buddy. You’re stronger than this. Wake up, man. Wake up for fuck sakes—Wake up!” Kane shouted.

The upstairs light in the house next-door suddenly turned on. Kane stood up swiftly. All the neighborhood dogs were barking, and lights were beginning to turn on.

Kane was covered in Andrew’s blood.

Reality blew over Kane’s shocked body in the form of a frigid breeze. He needed to leave before he got himself arrested.

Quickly, he began to trudge through the deep snow, back to his car. He picked up his crossbow-rifle. There was nothing he could do about the trail of bloody footprints he was leaving behind, his fingerprints that were all over Andrew, or the stake in his friend's heart.

Kane had committed cold-blooded murder.

He quickly jumped into his car and fired up his engine. The police walkie on his passenger seat was going off. “…Multiple reports of an armed attack. All units report to the scene immediately.”

Kane’s hands were shaking as he turned the wheel of his car. Andrew’s blood was trickling down his steering wheel as the sounds of oncoming sirens became louder and louder.

Kane’s trembling foot pounded down on the gas pedal—desperate to get out of town. He could not go back to prison—not after everything he had been through in juvy.

His old Mustang swerved dangerously on the icy streets as he made his way onto one of the small highways that headed north, out of town.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

UNJUST REVENGE

The snowy town of Snowbrooke had become dark and silent. Only the high-pitched wind was audible over the stark night silence.

Patiently, Brittany was still waiting for that perfect moment to strike.

Aside from the faint glowing streetlights, Wade’s living room window was the only source of light on that starless winter night.

Wade paced back and forth in his pajamas, waiting for Michael to return with his daughter.

Laura was fast asleep, completely oblivious to Wade’s parental nerves, and the possibility that her daughter may be in danger.

Wade walked over to his jacket, which hung next to the door. In his coat’s pocket, he retrieved a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He quickly put the jacket on his body, opened the back door gently, and stepped outside. He walked all the way down to the alley before lighting his cigarette, to keep his bad habit a secret from his sleeping wife.

Brittany watched closely and quietly, her eyes a dark red color and her sharp fangs ready to bite. She looked around the neighborhood from her spot in the tree. There was not a soul nearby.

She gently slipped down from the tree and flipped up her hood. Quietly, she began to walk towards the oblivious, smoking Wade Fenner.

“Does your wife know that you do that?” Brittany asked as she stopped a few feet away from Wade.

Startled, Wade swiftly spun around. He placed his hand on the center of his chest. “Jesus—What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood.”

“It’s nearly two in the morning.”

“So?”

“So—It’s thirty below. You should be at home in bed. Your family is probably worried sick.”

Brittany laughed. “Is that why you’re up? Worried sick about your kid?”

Wade looked at Brittany for a moment suspiciously. “Are you spying on my family?” he asked.

“Can you please tell me why do you think I’m such an idiot?”

“Brittany—This isn’t the time or the place for that conversation. We can talk about it tomorrow at class,” Wade said.

“So you agree that you think I’m an idiot?”

“No—You’re far from an idiot. Although, right now, you’re being an idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“Brittany—please. Let’s have this conversation another day.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay, you’re not. I need to get back inside—and you should go home,” Wade said as he turned back towards his house.

Suddenly, Brittany grabbed Wade tightly by the neck. She squeezed so hard; her nails pierced Wade’s skin, drawing blood.

In Brittany’s eyes, the red blood glowed brightly.

“What are you doing?” Wade yelled in his deep, booming voice.

“Let’s face it, Mr. Fenner. Your life ended with your precious hockey career.”

“Let go of me!” Wade said.

Then, without warning, Brittany leaned forward swiftly and stuck her fangs into Wade’s neck. She began to suck his sweet, fatty blood.

Wade tried to scream but his body was quickly consumed by shock. His eyes became wide and his mouth dropped open. Quickly, as the blood was draining from his veins, his skin was becoming white.

He gasped and gurgled as his muscles went numb and his body went limp. Brittany slowly lowered the dying teacher to the ground as she continued to suck his blood.

“W—Why?” Wade asked as he drifted out of consciousness.

Brittany’s petty revenge was strangely satisfying. She was not just sucking the blood of Wade Fenner, but also the blood of every person who had ever assumed she was an idiot. In a way, it was an amazing moment.

But the moment was short lived.

As if on cue, Wade’s newborn baby, Lily began to cry. After a moment, the light to Lily’s bedroom turned on, and Laura walked in to comfort the crying child.

Brittany looked up at the window. She did not know that Wade had a newborn baby. She had assumed that Wade only had Michael.

Reality stung as it sunk in quickly. Brittany had just killed a father and a husband.

“Wade?” Laura called out as she began to realize her husband was not home. “Wade, honey?” she called again.

Lily continued to emotionally cry, as if she knew that her father was no more.

Brittany’s fangs receded back into her gums, and the red flushed quickly out of her eyes. She had to leave before she was caught. She stood up swiftly and looked around.

With Lily in her arms, Laura was exploring the house, looking for her husband. Her eyes were wide and she was carrying a lot of tension, knowing something was amiss.

Brittany’s eyes began to well up with tears as she looked back down at the deceased teacher, and the blood stained snow.

Brittany was a murderer, a villain, and a monster.

She began to run—her vision blurred by her cloudy tears.

She ran home faster than she had ever run in her life. Once she was home, she pulled out her cellphone. She noticed an unheard message.

“One unheard message,” her phone said.

“Uh—Hey, Brittany. This is Andrew from class. What’s up? Hope you’re doing all right. I hope that I’m not waking you up, or anything. I was just wondering if maybe—if maybe you wanted to meet up sometime. You can—I don’t know—vent some more, and I’ll listen nonjudgmentally. Or, you know, we could maybe grab a drink or something. But—uh—not like a date. Just as friends.

“No—Like a date. I’d like to go out on a date with you. So, um—call me back and let me know. I really like you, Brittany.”

Brittany’s mind was being overloaded. She could not process everything that was happening. She liked Andrew—she really liked Andrew, but she was ignorant to the fact that he was interested in her.

She had never even considered the idea of dating him.

In that moment, more than anything, she needed a shoulder to cry on. She needed someone who could listen to her “non-judgmentally.”

She dialed Andrew’s number and waited for a response. After a few rings, Andrew’s phone went to voicemail. But Brittany was desperate. She called again—and again and again.

She was completely unaware that Andrew was dead.

“Pick up!” she cried in frustration.

After she had lost count of her attempts to get a hold of Andrew, she dropped her phone onto the ground and began to cry. She put her face into her hands and sunk down to the ground.

“What did I do?” she asked herself.

She looked back down at her silent little phone. Then, she had another idea.

She picked up the phone and dialed another number. She waited.

“Hello?” a familiar voice said.

“Kane? It’s Brittany.”

“Hey. Right now isn’t a great time.”

“I—I need to talk to someone,” Brittany said into her phone.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Kane asked.

“I just can’t be alone right now. Can you please meet me?”

“I—I don’t know if I can, Brittany.”

“Please—I need someone to just be with me right now.”

Kane sighed.

“Meet me at the café across from the library, okay? It’s open twenty-four hours.”

“Brittany—I don’t know…”

“Please. I’m begging you.”

Kane sighed again. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll see you there.”

Brittany wiped the tears away from her eyes as she hung up the phone.

Kane was already twenty minutes out of town. Another hour of driving and he would have been in the next town, safe from the police.

But he could not just leave Brittany when she was so desperate.

Kane pulled his Mustang over to the side of the road and thought for a moment. Angry with himself, he slammed his car dashboard with the palm of his hand.

The glow of Snowbrooke’s city lights was still faintly visible through the heavy falling snow.