Reckless

Reckless - Chapter Thirty-Three

Reckless reached 20,000 reads this week which is incredibly awesome. Thank you so, so much to everyone who's read this - it seriously means so much to me. 

R E C K L E S S . . .

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“You took your time,” Chris said calmly as he turned to face me, stepping out of the shadows. “I thought you’d have tried to catch me up way before this. You’re losing your touch, Anne. You’re less…” he paused, cocking his head to one side and observing me through those pitch black eyes as he searched for the word, “…rash.”

The dead body was still weighing down his hands, free of the sheet that had enclosed it earlier. Now I could see every detail of Mr Veritas’ body from the tips of his worn down, brown leather shoes to his head, which was lolling down at an unnatural angle. The sight of it made me sick to the core and I had to look away despite my resolution to look brave and unfazed in front of Chris. Looking scared would do me no favours now, a voice inside my head told me.

I was now suddenly not only facing the disgust and fear at the sight of the body, but the building, overwhelming impulse to stick something very wooden and pointy straight through Chris’s heart.

He seemed to know which direction my thoughts were taking, or at least read the fear on my face, because his lips curved up in a smile. “Are you actually scared, Annie? Or are you just too much of a chicken to fight back anymore?”

I started to edge away from him, hoping that I could perhaps reach the door to the school building in time and find myself in a crowded room where Chris couldn’t hurt me. “I’m not scared,” I said slowly. “I’m just not as stupid as I was back then.”

“There’s a fine line between the two.”

“A line that I’m hopefully never going to cross,” I countered.

Suddenly he was in front of me, the form of the dead teacher pressed between us. I flinched. “What about now? Are you scared now?”

“Of course I’m not.”

Chris stepped even closer and now the body was trapped even tighter between us, pressing against my chest as an ever constant reminder of its presence. When I glanced down I could see every little detail of it, despite every inch of my being wanting to pretend it didn’t exist.

Icy breath, colder even than the wind and the steady fall of rain, blew straight onto my face and I shuddered despite myself.

 “Yes you are.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.” His fangs slowly extended as he broke into a smile, razor sharp and deadly. He was enjoying himself, I could tell that. I couldn’t take my eyes off those pointed, lethal fangs – I knew all too well what they were capable of.

I took a step back. “I’m not.” I was aware that anyone who looked out of the window hard enough would be able to see us in the shadows, Chris holding a limp body. I glanced around worriedly, wondering how I could escape before that happened. But where would Chris put the body afterwards? Would he put it somewhere which could frame me or would he simply hide it? I didn’t think that the latter was very likely. Chris was nothing without the drama he created.

“So why are you stepping away if you’re not scared?”

“I’m not going to go through this with you again. Just put the body down, Chris,” I said in as steady voice as I could muster. I wanted my phone. How could I have been so stupid as to throw it away in the first place?  If anyone could help me right now it would be Blake and the other vampire hunters. Wistfully, I imagined them appearing outside the school and killing Chris on the spot. Then they’d sort everything out perfectly and I could go back to living my life as if nothing had ever happened.