In Vendetta House (The Vendetta Series #1)

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

All I hear is the pounding.

I can't tell if it's the lack of sleep setting into my head. I can't tell if it's my pulse erratically beating as I run through this maze. I can't tell if it's my footsteps. I can't tell if it's the set of footsteps following me. All my ears hear are pounding beats. I don't want to know who is following me, it could be the man in coat. If I turn my head, it would only confirm an identity. Better to just keep going and not look back.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

I am gaining a lead.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

They are falling behind.

Thump. Thump.

I swerve suddenly and hide in the nearest room.

Thump.

I lost them.

I gasp, trying to control my breathing. Adrenaline is pumping like wildfire in my veins and my fear is going to send me into hysterics. How? How did I end up kidnapped into the same location as the psychotic murderer?

He ended a life. A life of a little girl. A little girl. Just a little girl. There is no way I could stay here. I'm not safe. I'm not safe here. I'm not safe anywhere in this House.

I close my hands tightly over my mouth, trying to control my breathing. My eyes have widened to the point I can feel the skin on my eyelids stretching. I try to relax them but I can't, I just can't.

A wave of pain washes over my head. For a second, I think I am having another strange vision shoved in my head. But no... this feels different. A buzzing. It's almost as if there's... white noise inside my head. I bite my lip to keep from screaming out. After a few seconds, the pain subsides. Then another wave passes over, this time much stronger, louder.

The pain makes thinking impossible, like a rocket taking off inside my eardrums. Thousands of cats screeching in my ear. Millions of pieces of broken chalk, scratched against the boards. Before I can stop myself, I cry out. And as soon as I do, the pain suddenly cuts off. I topple dizzily, not expecting the sudden change. I hear a scuffle of footsteps a few corridors away.

I frantically scout the bedroom-sized supply closet for something to defend myself with. I spy a wooden mop and pick it up. Normally, I'd be confident in taking down anyone without any weapons. But I am in a different territory. This isn't my world. I couldn't fight like a human if a Cambion is tracking me down. Would the violet-eyed man be a Cambion though? He did have strange colored eyes... right? Probably.

My muscles go tense as the knob slowly turns. Since the light is shining inwards and the closet is dark, all I see is a silhouette of a male; and that's enough for me to strike.

I raise the mop and swing but before I come even close to hitting the silhouette, an explosion of white noise goes off in my head. I drop the weapon and use my hands to cover my ears, as if it would help. I open my mouth to scream, in pain or for help: I don't know. But the pain stops immediately once I am disarmed. I am curled in a fetal position, completely vulnerable without defense. Two hands grip the sides of my arms and try to help me up. I feel incredibly hazy from the on again, off again pain. My brain couldn't take this.

"Ariel? You, you okay? I was trying to find you and...and... you caught me off guard!"

I almost cry in relief. I recognize the voice. It's just Jesse. He pronounces my name strangely: Air-ree-ya-ul, but faster.

"What do you mean, it's just Jesse," he asks feigning hurt.

Despite my muddled state, I began to realize everytime he supposedly 'read my mind', a tickling would surface at the base of my neck, violating my thoughts. I glare up at him. "Would you stop doing that?