Soul Keepers (Editing) #Wattys2020

05|

The library was empty and Millie snuck a look at the time. It was later than she would have liked. She no longer stayed out as late as she had before. It wasn't a fool proof plan, any vampire could easily get to her if they truly wanted to -especially a powerful one- but it gave her some piece of mind.

Hastily accumulating her things she stuffed them in her bag hurrying out of the library. Her booted steps echoed off the floors, each one sounding like a shotgun going off. For three days now she had been vigilant. Overly so, but there was no indication that she was being followed, by either Micah or her mysterious vampire. She didn’t want to think about him, but she couldn’t dispel the image of him from her mind.

He was the lingering thought before she fell asleep, and no matter how much she thought about it could she wipe away the puzzling feelings that he invoked in her.  It was disheartening but she couldn’t deny the facts, and that was she was very much attracted to him. She shook her head and directed her thoughts away from him. Where he was concerned she needed to be cautious not attracted.

The cold night’s air hit her with a burst and she shivered pulling her coat around her to fight the nip. She had stayed in crowds, never going into place where she was at risk of being alone. And when she was alone her mind stayed awake and alert but her tiredness was converging on her. She was on edge all the time. Even Mrs. Burge had noticed her anxiety and while she didn't say anything outright there was alway a comforting slightly sympathetic look on her face. The older woman was always there to offer her company and a cup of hot chocolate to Millie giving her silent support. It didn't solve any of her problems but it made her feel as if she weren't quite so alone.

Just one more day. That was all that she had to wait, and Kate would be here and together they would figure out what exactly was going on.

Her footsteps resonated in the quiet parking lot and she hastened her pace. It was quiet in town around this time, but now it was unusually so. The streetlights that always flooded the space flickered ominously.

One by one the lights shattered in rapid succession, shrouding the place in darkness. Millie’s heartbeat raced. She whirled around, ready to bolt in that direction but the lights behind her burst in just the same way. Glass rained to the ground and Millie threw her arms protectively over her head, warmth quickly draining away from her body. 

Millie stood remotely, bathed in a halo of orange light, her senses flaring. There was a tickling at the back of her mind. She wasn’t alone.

A shadowy figure slowly emerged from the darkness and towards her.  “My Lady Milliana,” he said and she cringed at the use of her full name and she knew immediately who had sent them. “My Lord Micah has sent for you. Come with me quietly and I won’t hurt you.”

Lady Milliana? Lord Micah? Was this guy serious?  “Really?” she answered confidently. “Is that why there are six of you?”

They all erupted from the darkness, surrounding her, caging her in; their hopes of an ambush gone.

They were Newbloods—she could still smell the mortality on them—but there was something unusual about them. Their skin was pale with a grayish tint; they had listless, flat eyes sunk into their heads; their hair fell in stringy clumps around hollowed cheeks. All she could think as she studied them was that they looked really, sick.

She had age on her side but they had the numbers. Still, it didn’t matter; she would never go quietly no matter what. She would never allow herself to be taken.

“We have no desire to hurt you, My Lady,” he said again and Millie crinkled her forehead.

What was wrong with these guys? They didn’t speak as if they came from this time although she knew that they were, there was something strange about the way that they acted. What exactly was Micah doing to them?