PANDORA - Book 1 (NWC's 2nd place winner)

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT

            Dawn comes trudging with the sound of screaming vampires. They are scurrying away to escape the sun. Hemophagia also seemed to have taken away their sense of time. I wonder if they still have common sense at all. They don’t even know when to hide until the light shows up from the east.

            I’m up first and though I don’t want to leave Rohan’s side, the urge to watch the sunrise is stronger. As much as I can help it, I don’t want to miss any sunrise. From the glass window at the landing on the staircase, I watch the sun go up in magnificent hues of orange, gold, and white fight through the thick cluster of dark clouds.

            Thunder clouds. Looks like we’re in for a storm. My smile fades at the realization of a possible twist. I hurry back to the pharmacy.

            “Hey, what’s up?” Rohan is already awake. I try ignoring the nagging feeling of wanting to feel the security of his arms around me again.

            “There’s a huge cloud activity,” I say. Rohan understands what I mean. He runs out of the room to the glass door at the entrance. I follow him but I stay on the doorway.

            “A what?” Vaughn asks me. He and Jillian are also up.

            “A storm is coming,” I answer him. “So it’ll be dangerous to go out because the sun will be blocked and hemophages will take that advantage.”

            “We can stay here until the storm passes, right?” he asks again.

            I shake my head. “A vampire was trying to break in last night. We’re exposed here.”

            “So, we can’t stay but we cannot leave either. What a predicament.”

            “Not necessarily,” Rohan says. He’s back from the front door. “We can reach the next province in two hours before the rain falls. We’ll find another cover there but we have to stay ahead of the storm which means we have to leave now.”

            I notice how Rohan uses the word ‘we.’ It could mean just the two of us but I can feel he means all of us. The four of us.

            Vaughn tells Jillian to get ready in five minutes. I offer to help her clean up in the bathroom. Honestly, I just want to make up to her. I still feel guilty about putting a gun on her head and it’s obvious, she’s still edgy around me.

            When we’re done, Vaughn goes outside to check their car. I feed Jillian while Rohan ensures the contents of both of our bags. As he goes through his bag, something falls out a pocket and lands on my feet. It’s Rohan’s prom photo. Great. I almost forgot about the girl.

            Acting nonchalant, I pick it up before Rohan can. One thing I’m good at, I can act convincingly if I’m not caught off guard. I fake a surprised smile.

            “Whoa. Gnarly get-up, dude,” I say grinning at him.

            “Give it back,” he says as he tries to snatch the photo away from me. I move out of his way fast enough. I see him purse his lips.

            “’Your girlfriend?” I tease him. My heart is breaking into million pieces but I keep smiling at him like I’m the happiest person alive. Is this what they call masochism? If it is, well, congratulations, Hope. You’re a prodigy.

            “Ex-girlfriend,” he corrects me and finally seizes the photo. He puts it gingerly inside his bag and proceeds to the door. “Hurry up there. I’ll wait outside.”