Vampire Romance: My Heart has Lost Direction

Chapter 14 -- Car Ride

The next morning when I felt like I was on a ride where I was suspended upside down, my body immediately went rigid. I woke with a gasp of fright, and after a couple seconds of vertigo, I came to the awareness that someone was carrying me over their shoulder. Sudden panic fueled my system with adrenaline. I didn't have time to think about what was happening – my body just responded by preparing to thrash around. Before I could fight against the person holding me capture, I was promptly placed on my feet.

"Sam, calm down." A voice said from in front of me as the speaker stepped away from me. "It's just me."

Facial recognition told me I was looking at Quinn. Why then was I shaking so badly, and I felt like I couldn't get enough air in my lungs?

"You thought you were back in the Slave Trades didn't you?" Quinn worked through my reaction far quicker than I did. But it was the truth. Many times, I had been slung over shoulders as a form of transportation because I refused to walk. Quinn had done it once before, but at the time I was warned that he was going to do it and had time to prepare myself. This time he had done it while I was sleeping, and surprisingly got pretty far. We were already at the bottom of the staircase.

Taking a shaky breath, I tried to calm my nerves. I never thought that I could be forced into a panic attack by the mere thought of being back in the Slave Trades. Ever since I moved in with the vampire duo though, my emotions had been running their own show.

"I'm sorry that I scared you. I won't do it again without permission. Are you all right?" For a moment I felt angry that an Amaranthine would ask how I was doing, but I forced myself to nod.

He looked at me squarely for a moment, not trusting my nod, but with a sigh he said, "Come on, I made pancakes."

After he passed me, I gave myself a second to put myself together. For a moment I almost felt angry that I had allowed such vulnerability. Stealing my nerves, I followed Quinn into the kitchen where I found a plate filled with two buttermilk pancakes sitting in front of one of the stools at the island. Needing the distraction, I sat down.

"Yes, those are yours." Quinn said as if sensing I wanted his permission. It took me a moment to not take that offensively. It was his food and he did cook it after all. Forgoing syrup, I stuck my fork into the treat.

I forgot how much I loved pancakes, and because I hadn't had them for so long, I couldn't help but devour them. It was a reminder that I was not in the Slave Trades, and soon my mood lightened.

"So, why are you giving me pancakes anyway?" I asked, before shoving some more of the buttery goodness into my mouth.

"I don't know. I just felt like cooking this morning. But guess what? We're going out to get your hair done!" He said with a smile on his face.

It was another example of a kind act, and it almost made me feel sick to my stomach – or maybe that was because of the attack I had earlier. Still, I felt like I was getting slapped in the face with all the kindness. I knew I needed to get my hair fixed, but it was still too much to think that Quinn was going to do yet another nice thing for me. I almost wanted to bail, but I knew that eventually he would get his way; so instead, I asked him another question on my mind.

"Kaylyn isn't coming, is he?"

My back froze. The only warning I had to Kaylyn's presence was the slight flicker of Quinn's eyes before he added Kaylyn to the conversation. "Kaylyn doesn't like going to things like salons, do you?"

I was so lost in my inner turmoil about getting my hair done that I didn't pay attention to the prickling of the hairs dusting my arms. Fear wasn't something I associated with Kaylyn, but yet my back stiffened and my heart beat spiked as if a predator was coming up behind me. Turning around, I tried to calm my nerves for the second time that day, fearing that the vampires around me would hear the pounding of my heart.