Reckless

Reckless - Chapter Thirty-Four

R E C K L E S S . . .

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

The only good thing that could be said of the rain that night was that it gave me cover. It was impossible for even a vampire like Chris to detect the thump of a human footstep when the rain pounded down and flooded the streets, filling the night with loud splashing sounds and the sound of running water as it streamed down the drains and over the roads. Even if the loudness of it wasn’t enough, the dampness masked my scent perfectly. I was sure that even Chris wouldn’t be able to follow my trail tonight.

So as I ran down the slippery streets that led towards the hotel, keeping to the shadows and pausing at every unnatural sound, I silently thanked the heavy grey clouds above me for choosing this night to open up.

I didn’t know when the supernaturals finally realised that I had left Craig’s house, but it must’ve taken a while because there was no sign of them following me for a long time. I kept on hoping that Chris and his friends would notice my disappearance before they broke Craig’s door down and stormed inside; otherwise I would almost certainly have another two lives to add to the list of people I’d caused the death of – I was convinced that Chris wouldn’t let Craig and his mum go once he saw that I wasn’t there.

It wasn’t long, though, till I heard the yells and sounds of footsteps behind me that told me that the chase had started.

I pushed myself to run faster, cursing myself for leaving the bike outside with Chris and the others. If I’d had that bike I would’ve been at the hotel in a matter of minutes – instead I’d resorted to running in the shadows, scared of every noise and making slow progress compared to the speed I could’ve been travelling at.

Reaching the street that the hotel lay on was a relief. The fact that I’d got that far was a miracle in itself.

I was panting at that point, my heart thumping from both fear and exhaustion. When I looked back I could see the faint shapes of Chris and his friends speeding down the street behind me. I wished that I possessed their speed, that way we would at least be kind of even – right now I was grievously disadvantaged. 

Then I saw Ant bound out of the hotel, stake in hand. Alex followed a few seconds after, brandishing a bokken. For the first time that night since I’d seen Chris I felt hopeful, a faint grin stretching across my face despite of myself.

“Quick!” Ant shouted, running forwards. He was focussed on the vampires behind me.

I skidded to a halt as we reached each other and he turned to speak to me quickly. “You’ll be safe in the hotel as long as me and Alex keep the supers out here.”

“I’m staying with you,” I protested. “Give me a stake and I’ll fight.”

“We have no more weapons left,” Ant said through gritted teeth. His usual calm demeanour was failing him. “The others took them all with them. We didn’t expect any trouble tonight.”

“You can’t expect me to sit back and watch!”

“I don’t expect you to be able to fight vampires without any weapons. It would be better if you were out of the way.”

Too late. The vampires had reached us and Chris lunged forwards, fangs extended. Ant dodged out of the way, pulling me by the arm with him, and swiped at Chris with a stake. I quickly stepped out of Ant’s grip and kept on going backwards, away from the fight, till my back hit the wall of the hotel.

Alexis had gone for Alex, and the two were circling round each other. Alex stretched his sword out, a warning for her to step no further. She hissed and darted round him, but he retaliated with a swing that opened a deep cut in her shoulder.