Craving Charlotte

Chapter 11

           

Charlotte pov.

"Charlotte, we have to go now!" Ethan bellows as he stumbles towards me. How did he get here? More importantly what have I done? I stare back at him blankly, the rumble of pounding feet against the stairs grow louder. I look from the massacred body and back to Ethan again. My hands begin to shake as I zoom away from the deadly trance. Realisation hits me as I realise that I lost complete control of all my sense, my stomach sloshes full of blood and a sickening feeling lingers over me.
What have I done?

Tears well up in my eyes as I stare down at my hands, then I hear a woman sobbing quietly in fear. I cast my eyes over to her, she stares at me wide eyes and fearful... fearful of me.
"I'm... I'm sorry," I mumble in a hushed voice.

"Charlotte! Come on the window!" Ethan puts his elbow through the glass of the window startling me which draws my attention back to him as he creates an exit for us to escape through. I stand silently by the window next to him. He wants me to jump? Leaning through the open hole I see two men in uniform by the front door he takes in a deep breath as his weapon points out to the road and then up to us. Horrified I shake my head at Ethan.

"H.. H... how?" I stammer, Ethan says nothing, he knocks away the remaining glass and takes my hand with a firm grip. Before I know it, he drags me through the window. We hurtle towards the ground and land in a messy heap at the men's feet. They jump back startled unsure what to think or do.

"What the fuck!" The younger man stares at me as he fumbles with his weapon, the older man recovers quickly and points his weapon at us. Their eyes grow wide as they watch us anticipating our next move. They know we aren't victims, they study me and then Ethan. Both eyes fall on me with disgusted looks sweeping across their twisted faces.

"I'm sorry," Ethan mumbles hoisting me to my feet.

"Don't move!" The older man orders, my feet stay firmly on the ground with shock. He seems more of the confident one out the two possibly been in his job a long time whereas the other only looks as though he just came out of training and isn't prepared for this.

"Hands where I can see them," the younger man contains himself and points his weapon at us. I can't help but notice the terrified tremble of his hands which gives him less chance of aiming correctly.

Charlotte?

I stare at Ethan. Did he just speak in my head? His eyes shift to look at me as he holds his hands up. My mind suddenly seems exposed and no longer private, it is as though he can see all my thoughts and feelings in one long slide.

Charlotte I need you to take the younger one out and be quick on your feet; I will deal with the older one. Then we run back to the woods, maybe not the woods. If we are to survive this, we must be quick. We just need to run! I will figure something out.

I gulp turning my gaze back to the uniformed men. The older man says something in his radio.
"Now, no sudden movements ok," The older man eyes us both, "I just want you both to lay on the ground and nobody has to get hurt."

One...

I take a deep breath taking in the scent. Another two lives to be lost.
"I don't like repeating myself. Did you two hear what I said?" His anger builds as he steps one foot towards Ethan.

Two...

I take a steady stance. It occurs to me that these men may have families waiting for them at home, but they will never get to see them again.
"Right! No more warnings!"

Three!

I leap in the air, both men stumble back in shock. I hear their hearts thumping hard and fast with fear as I come down on the younger man. I take hold of his weapon pushing it away from me as his finger slips on the trigger; he shoots aimlessly into mid-air. The shot echo's, the sound bouncing off the brick houses.

Suddenly a rumble of boots hit the landing up the stairs of the house. I don't hesitate as I sink my blooded nails into the man's throat. He chokes under my grasp and with one quick move I rip out his throat. Blood spurts from his jugular vein, spraying over my already stained clothes. Ethan takes my hand quickly and swiftly we run from the scene.

Our feet pound the floor hard leaving a noisy trail of our existence. If my heart beat I would feel the burst of adrenaline running through my veins however all I feel is an electrifying buzz, filled with pure guilt from all the lives I carelessly took.

"I killed people Ethan!" I speak feeling breathless.

"Don't worry about that right now Charlotte," his tone is blunt which makes my guilt feel rawer.

"Ethan, I shouldn't run," I attempt to tug on his hand but his grip tightens.

"You don't get it Charlotte, the world doesn't even know we exist. The feds will have a very hard job trying to cover this up. They don't take too kindly to this sort of thing. If the caught us they would torture us in unimaginable way before killing us in the most painful way. It wouldn't hit the news that vampires decided to slaughter a whole village of civilians. Nope they would just say a serial killer had a mental break down and targeted a small village," Ethan breathes tugging me along. I fall into silence allowing my thoughts to drown out the reality. How can I live with this? People have seen my face now? I will forever be on the run...