Chapter Seventeen

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After talking for an hour or two at the bar, we decided to leave after our conversation died off.

"We should probably find a hotel or someplace to stay for the night, then tomorrow we can get ahold of Shanaya and Dane and ask for their help," Jacob said, breaking the awkward silence between the three of us.

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea," Erebus said. Jacob pulled out his phone and looked up the nearest hotel in the area. He looked for a minute of two before he found something.

"There's a small Holiday Inn hotel just a few blocks away, we could go there," Jacob said.

"I don't care where it is, just find us a freaking hotel," I grumbled and crossed my arms over my chest. I looked at Jacob's phone and saw that the hotel was on 6th street. "I'm going to the hotel, if you guys find a better place to stay, give me a call," I mumbled and walked off towards the hotel.

"What's wrong with her?" Erebus whispered to Jacob. I heard Jacob smack Erebus upside the head and before my tears could break me, I ran off.

"Anna wait!" Jacob yelled starting to go after me, but stopped. I flitted off feeling somewhat happy to be a vampire again, but that still didn't hide the fact that I still missed Liam.

I got to the hotel a second later and went inside. Inside, I looked around and found the front desk to my left. A young brunette man in his late twenties sat at the desk on the phone. I walked up and patiently waited for the man to finish the phone call.

When he was done, he put the phone back down in the phone cradle and looked up at me and smiled.

"Good evening miss, how can I help you?" he asked.

"Hi um, I would like a hotel room," I said wiping at my watery eyes.

"Alright, and how long will you be staying?" the man asked.

"Um...just for a night," I answered.

"Alright, any room in particular you want? We've got rooms with king size beds, queen size beds..." he said listing them off.

"I don't care, just give me something nice," I said quickly, wrapping my arms around myself.

"Ok, I'll give you the master suite, with a single queen size bed, flat screen tv-" he started.

"That'll be perfect, thank you," I said.

"Ok, your total will be $75," he said. I handed him a $100 bill and he gave me back $25.

"Thank you...Josh," I said as I snuck a peek at his name tag.

"Yep, anytime," Josh said, handing me my room key with a smile. I took it and turned towards the stairs. I looked down at my room key to see what room I was in.

"Room 415..." I whispered softly to myself. I figured it would be faster to take the elevator so I did. I got in and pressed the number four button for the fourth floor. I waited quietly, wondering why I hadn't seen Jacob and Erebus yet. Possibly they had found a different hotel to stay at. The elevator door opened to the fourth floor hallway and I stepped out as the elevator doors closed behind me.

I walked down the hallway counting the room numbers on the doors, 403, 404, 405. I kept walking until I got to the end of the hall. I got to room 415 and unlocked the door, entering and then shutting the door and deadbolt locking it behind me.

I walked over to the queen size bed and fell onto it. I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling, my mind wandering back to Liam. I was alone. No Liam, no Jacob, nobody. Being like this reminded me of a part in one of Abba's songs called One of Us.

"One of us is cryin', one of us is lyin', in her lonely bed. Staring at the ceiling, wishing she was somewhere else instead." Thinking of that song only reminded me of Liam. I bit my lower lip that was now quivering. It didn't help as I rolled over and buried my face into the pillows and sobbed. "I wished I'd never left at all" I thought as my sobs were muffled against the pillows. I felt so stupid, and I felt small. I hated myself for taking off my wedding ring and deciding to break the bond Liam and I had.

I remembered that after Erebus's death, I'd become a total mess and I needed help, so Liam had taken me to the witch Selene who did somewhat help me, but what made my heart want Jacob instead of Liam?

I thought a bit, trying to remember, but Selene erased almost all of my memories of Erebus so I could forget all the guilt that I had been feeling. I went back to the day when I got married to Liam.

A man had been there and wanted to talk with me alone. He'd taken me upstairs to a balcony area and was pestering me with useless questions.

I remembered the man had asked me if I was happy being married to Liam and I told him that I couldn't have been happier.

He had asked me about my feelings for Jacob and I told him that I liked him, but it wasn't the same.

The man said that possibly my feelings for Liam had changed since I was a vampire, everything for me was heightened.

I realized something then. It wasn't my fault my feelings for Liam had changed. My feelings had been changed for me.

Selene was supposed to erase my memories of Erebus, but I felt she had seen that memory and changed it so I would've agreed with the man about loving Jacob instead of Liam.

So all along, I really did have feelings for Liam, Selene just covered it up! Also Erebus was part of it for telling me that maybe my feelings had changed for Liam.

Something suddenly didn't feel right. Why did Erebus's feelings change for me so suddenly after he came back from the dead? Why did he want to actually help me?

It didn't make any sense, but Kristillier wanted me to rule the world with him and the only way to do that was to get Liam and Jacob out of the way. Kristillier wanted to hurt me by making me watch Liam become the darker side of himself, but didn't want to do anything with Jacob so he could have more fun with me. Then later he'd pull the rug right out from under my feet by taking Jacob by surprise. It was like Erebus told me, "I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but me."

I realized yet again, that I had made the one wrong choice I had dreaded, trusting Erebus. I should've known that there wouldn't be a way to fix him.

He'd already darkened his heart too much. I had yet fallen for another one of Kristillier's little tricks and now I was paying for it by losing the two closest people I loved. I didn't know how far Erebus had taken Jacob by now, but I was guessing far from where I was which was back at Kristilliers.

Now I really hated myself for being all worried about Liam that I never thought I would lose Jacob in the process. Another wave of tears came and I was falling apart.

That's all I had ever been from the beginning. A shy girl that could break so easily, even as a vampire I was still that stupid broken little girl. I sniffled, getting a pounding headache from all the crying that I'd been doing.

I had been alone alone may times without Liam and Jacob, but in the end, I always got them back somehow. I saved them from Anya, Erebus and now I could save them from Kristillier. I would just have to use my head.

I could go to Shay and Dane and ask for their help to get Liam and Jacob out or I could go back to Kristillier, surrender, let his Original vampires take over the world and never be with Liam and Jacob again.

I knew the right choice would be to go save Liam and Jacob and this time, the choice would begin to turn the tables.


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