The Chase

The Chase Ch. 30

Ginger’s P.O.V

            Craning my neck, I glanced over Thad’s shoulder to see what he supposedly “found”. He pointed to a few choice words that freaked me out.

“What does this all mean?” I asked, not wanting to figure it out before him.

He looked up at me. “We have two options.” He paused, not sure how to proceed. “Option one: I have to turn you.”

“Turn me? Into a vampire?”

“Yes. This may be stupid of me but I’ve just realized that I’ve been taking your blood and you’ve in no way been gaining it back. I’ll suck you dry eventually and you’ll die. If I turn you, I won’t kill you.” I could see the silent “but” in his eyes. When I prodded him for more information he said, “But there’s a chance I won’t feel the same about you once I turn you. It may seem selfish but I don’t like the taste of vampire blood. It’s…unsatisfying.”

“You’re worried about your tastes right now?” I asked incredulously.

“I did say it would seem selfish,” he retorted.

“Ok well this may seem selfish but I don’t want to be one of you. I have too much at stake right now.”

Thad lowered his eyes back to the book. “My second option is to kill myself. That’s the easiest way to break a bond like ours.”

“I thought you said it was nearly impossible to kill yourself.”

“There are ways,” he said ominously.

            I gripped my temples in frustration. So either he changes me or he kills himself? Can I have a third option please?

“Is there another way?”

“We can get married,” he offered. “But that just goes back to me changing you.”

A thought occurred to me and before I could think better, it popped out of my insubordinate mouth. “What if I cheat on you?”

            Thad’s eyes flashed with anger. Regretting my question I attempted to redeem myself but I couldn’t find the words. He stared me down as if daring me to continue with my stupid suggestion.

“Do you even want to break our bond?” I asked.

“No,” Thad whispered truthfully. “Do you?”

“No.”

“You know you’ll die right?”

“You don’t have to kill me. We can find a way. That book is wrong.”

“Enoch is never wrong. He could’ve written this for all I know,” said Thad, throwing his hands into the air. “We have to go back.”

            He grabbed my hand and yanked me down the stairs. He ignored Luke and Emma in the kitchen and rushed us out into the night.

“Are you insane?” I asked, swatting my brown hair out of my eyes. The wind was harsh against my exposed skin as he ran towards downtown with me in tow.

“Just come on,” he said, throwing me onto his back.

            I dared not scream. I knew that making a scene would attract attention. Dying young was not on my list of things to do so I allowed Thad to take me wherever he was going. He threw open the doors of the library with such a force that they smacked the walls and bounced back. The sound of drywall crumbling echoed though the library. Enoch emerged as if expecting us. He waved us inside and Thad marched in, brushing by his elder. We entered that office I was in last time and Thad finally put me down.

“Back I see,” said Enoch, shutting the door behind him.

“I don’t want to change her and I don’t want kill myself…anymore,” Thad announced.

Enoch nodded. “And what am I supposed to do?”

“Help us!”

Enoch crossed over to a shelf and retrieved a dagger with an ancient looking blade. He handed it over to Thad who looked at it blankly. “There you are Thaddeus. My first suggestion to you.”

“It’ll kill her,” Thad breathed between gritted teeth.

“We can always save her.”

“What if we don’t?”

Enoch shrugged. “You are free of your bond.”

“And what if I don’t want to be free?”

“Then you risk killing her in the near future. I was not born yesterday and frankly I do not look like I was. You’ve been drinking from her.”

“And?” asked Thad uncomfortably.

“You cannot take from the bank without putting it back later,” said Enoch cryptically.

“What about a blood transfusion?” asked Thad.

“I suppose it’ll work but how long do you intend to keep her hooked up to an I.V. to satisfy your own needs?”

            Thad glanced at me and I looked at my feet. I felt like I was in the middle of a conversation that shouldn’t involve me. Thad had a “aha!” moment and grinned devilishly.

“Where do the humans live?”

“The humans?”

“The ones you said were left!”

“All over the world Thaddeus. Mostly in countries like Brazil and France.”

“We’re moving to Brazil then!”

“Brazil is also swarming with vampires that have heavy ammunition.”

“We’re moving to France then.”

            Thad grabbed my hand and marched us out of the office before Enoch could protest. France? Is he serious?