Astrophile (Paul Lahote)

fifty

࿔*:･fifty ࿔*:･

°. *࿐ ༻༺ ࿐°. *

It felt like Carter forgot to breathe, her entire body went rigid as the realisation of what was happening finally hit her. It felt like she was drowning in a bucket of ice water—her breath stolen by the shock, the freezing grip of fear dragging her down. The cold seeped into her bones, numbing her senses, while panic thrashed inside her, desperate for air, warmth, and escape. But there was none—only the deep, freezing void. It did not matter that she was standing outside under the open night sky, suddenly the oxygen in her lungs felt less. 

Her mind returned to that room where she had lost a part of herself she knew she would never get back. She blinked, and everything around her began to dissolve, the old scar on her face throbbing as though it had just been made. Her body tensed, muscles recoiling in anticipation of Nate’s continuous blows that were no longer coming, but her mind refused to let go.

She staggered back, her eyes travelling up to meet his red ones again. Red eyes. He had red eyes and Carter felt another wave of dread wash over her. Her eyes snapped back sharply as Nate shifted his weight, a sick smile on his face. She took a step back, “wha- how did you find me?” she asked, her voice not above a whisper. The sheer terror she felt was difficult to explain, she desperately wanted to call out for Paul or Jasper, anyone really who could help her right now. 

Anyone willing to rip Nate’s throat out. 

He sighed loudly, “You know when I got out of jail, I originally went back to Wisconsin because I missed you so much,” his smile twisted into an ugly sneer, “but imagine my surprise when I found out that little Carter had tucked her tail in between her legs and ran away like a scared little wimp.” he finished. 

Carter stared at him, not saying anything in return because she was too busy focusing on his actions, she had to be aware and on guard. But he continued, a sly grin curling at the edges of his mouth. “So, naturally, I went around asking, tried to talk to your friends, but oh—" he chuckled, shaking his head—"that little redhead, what was her name? Vera, right?" He whistled low, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “She’s got a mean right hook. Caught me right in the face!”

He laughed, the sound light and easy, but something was unsettling about the way he said it. As if the memory of her punch was a joke to him, just another game.

He continued, as though he had all the time in the world and Carter figured he did, “but eventually I found out, that you had found your way to this little dump of a town. So I came here, but I ran into a few… complications on my way, one of them named Victoria, you might know her. She found me in Seattle, and her little puppet bit into my neck,” he pulled the collar of his shirt aside to show a bite mark on his neck, and he chuckled, “I have to say that was a little rude of them,” he smiled. 

Carter wanted to cry, she wanted to cry like a little child who had been refused ice cream. She wanted to shout at whatever god was out there. Why her? WHY HER? 

 Nate seemed to be on a roll, “then I discovered they were also heading here, so I stuck with them because now I needed to survive as well,” he shrugged, “I ditched them last minute when I realised there was no way they were gonna win that battle… I figured I’d find you again, all be myself.” 

Suddenly, he clapped his hands together, causing Carter to flinch, “I almost forgot!” he exclaimed, walking away as Carter straightened up, her eyes shuffling around in confusion as he walked into the trees, “I mean,” he chuckled, “this was kind of unhinged even for a guy like me but I thought, ‘hey what the heck, right? I'm a vamp now, I can do whatever I want!’” he cackled and Carter thought he might actually have gone crazy.