Fatal Attractions : The Masquerade

Chapter Ten

It wasn't long before Sam returned. Her arms were lined with plastic bags full of clothes from several retail and department stores.

"Let's get you changed, little miss!" she exclaimed, setting the bags down at Chloe's feet. Before I could say anything, Alex had appeared out of nowhere, gently grabbing my arm.

"I need to talk to you," he whispered, and I gave him a nod.

"Chloe, Sam's gonna' get you changed, is that alright?" I asked. She looked up at me and nodded her head.

"Okay, good. I'll be right back." I smiled at her and let Alex pull me into the kitchen. Nate was seated at the island, one hand holding a sandwich and the other messing with his laptop. He didn't seem to notice us walk in, but I knew he was alert and listening.

"What's up?" I asked. Alex let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I know who's behind this. I don't know why he's doing it, but I know who it is."

"Really?" My brows jutted up in surprise. "Who is it?"

"His name is Benjamin Miller. I don't know why I didn't think of him before."

"How do you know it's him?" I asked. His jaw went tight and he looked at me.

"Because he's done this before," he said. I felt a chill go through me.

"He's kidnapped children before?"

"Once. The news spread like wildfire, he admitted to doing it, he was proud of it. He thought there should be more vampire children. Everyone turned against him, shunned him. The idea of vampire children is an absurdity, it would be too cruel to keep a being in childhood their entire life, never knowing what it's like to grow up."

"So," I said. "He kidnapped Chloe to turn her?"

"Yes," he answered. "And no. It's more than that. That also explains why you were invited to the ball, but none of us were. He used Chloe as bait. For what, I don't know. But he knew once you found her, you couldn't resist getting her out of there."

"That explains why Vanessa led me to the room they were keeping her in. It was supposed to be the bathroom," I explained.

"That makes sense. I have more bad news, though," he said. I didn't want to know, but I had to ask.

"What?"

"We can't stay here. We have to go somewhere else."

"You've got to be kidding me," I said, sighing.

"Unfortunately, I'm not. Like I said, Benjamin used Chloe as bait for you, and you took the bait. You walked right into the trap. I have no idea what his next move is going to be, nor what any of his plans are. It'd be stupid to stay put, we're sitting ducks here, Lena."

"You're right... you're right." I closed my eyes for a moment and composed myself. "But where do we go? I mean, we're responsible for the life of a child now. What the hell are we going to do, Alex?"

I had completely forgotten about his presence, so when Nate loudly cleared his throat, it startled me. "If I learned one thing from our last hostage situation, it's that we not only need to leave, but keep moving," he said. "Jack had you in that shack, and we eventually found you, right? If he hadn't moved you to the barn, we would have gotten' you a lot sooner." The thought made me shiver, but Nate was right.

We couldn't just pack up and move everyone to a different location, and then stay there hoping that Benjamin wouldn't find us. We'd have to move and keep moving.

"Anyone up for a hiking, slash, camping trip?" Nate asked, a smile on his face.

* * *

"Is this really all necessary, though? I mean, why can't we just take the SUV's?" Sam asked. She was marching down the grand staircase, lugging two hot pink duffle bags. I stood at the bottom, Chloe's small hand in mine.