Broken Wings (SAMPLE)

Chapter Six

After my initial escape, there was a split second where I couldn't believe that it had been so easy. To escape someone who was set on killing me was hard enough but to escape a vampire that was set on killing I thought to be an impossibility. Yet here I was, running through the streets of London with no destination in mind. I just needed to get as far from Shadow as I possibly could before the shock wore off and he chased after me.

Not knowing whether vampires had tracking abilities or not, I went to a Starbucks - an entirely different from the one we'd been in earlier. Luck must have been on my side, for I had forgotten about the money I had stuffed into my pockets on the day I was kicked out of the only home I'd ever known. Buying myself a drink, I went to sit at the back of the cafe, where there was one empty table. Now, if Shadow were to come and find me, he wouldn't spot me at the back, not if I slouched down anyway.

Thinking of what to do next had me wondering what had happened to my belongings. With no phone - assuming Shadow had broken my Samsung A5 - I couldn't call Rose and tell her what happened. I knew her number, I had memorised it months ago, so all I had to do was get to a phone. If I didn't have social anxiety, I may have been able to walk up to a total stranger and ask to borrow theirs but because that wasn't going to happen, I had no choice but to go to a payphone. That was a risk in itself considering Shadow could have Leah after me too.

That made me wonder just how many people he knew and just how many of them were vampires like him. It was hard for me to believe that vampires existed though the proof was right in front of me but the bite to my neck was the thing that convinced me most. I had pulled up the hood of the jacket I was wearing so that the blood wouldn't be noticeable to anyone that walked by as I didn't have time to wipe it clean. Cleanliness was the last thing on my mind.

Where vampires were concerned, I only knew what I had seen from the books I'd read and the films I'd seen. So to put it lightly, nothing that I could believe. Dark romance novels were all well and good but they didn't tell me exactly what a vampire is like. They all differed from one book to the next. Some had red eyes, some didn't. Some had 'extra' abilities, some didn't. Some sparkled for god sake so I knew I couldn't rely solely on fiction.

As it had only been a couple of days since that night, I knew that Rose must be wondering where I was. I had promised her to call her to make sure she was okay but obviously, I hadn't had the chance. It felt like weeks had passed since I was taken captive rather than a couple of days at most, unless my sense of time had messed up somehow. That blow to the head, literally, could have done all sorts of damage really.

Shadow being a vampire opened a lot of doors to my imagination but it also made things a whole lot clearer. He had told me the night he'd taken me that he could heal me. The next day, the only pain I felt was from when he'd bashed my skull against a concrete wall. So he clearly could heal, to some extent. Though if he knew about the bruises, would he have been able to heal them to? What was his healing ability limited to? I wasn't sure.

While I was sat pondering all of this, causing myself to be driven into almost insanity, I had drank the contents of the plastic cup I held. Leaving it on the table, I got up and left. I had to get to a payphone to call Rose. If I could tell her then she would be able to help, somehow. I wasn't sure whether I could rely on the police because Shadow could have plenty more abilities and to be honest, I wasn't certain that he wouldn't kill them too if they got in his way. A death was definitely not something I needed on my conscience.

Upon reaching the nearest payphone, I froze, eyes on the familiar figure not far from me. She was stood talking to an old couple. Although they weren't in earshot, I knew instantly that she was asking if they'd seen me.

Please don't see me, I thought desperately, please don't see me.

She didn't.

The old couple, however, did.