Sinful Capture (On Hold)

Chapter 6

I have never thought I will ever be doing any of the things I'm doing now. Yet I'm surely doing all that, and more.

And what exactly happens when you do something you never thought you would?

You fuck up. Big time.

I plonk my tired ass down on the muddy ground, sighing the entire breath out of me, not giving a shit to the squelchy sound as I do. Any other time I would have jumped thirty feet into the air and run to the nearest bathroom first, and then to the laundry. But now is no other time.

I lean back against the tree, closing my eyes for the first time in seven hours. Enos's death seems like just a fact to me. My mind still can't process the weight of it. Yet. Only intense anger courses through me when I remember his lifeless eyes. Almost like the time I wanted to kill the kids who used him as a prop for the knife throwing board all those years ago. But he was hurt then. My mind is still thinking he is hurt, not dead. As long as adrenaline runs through me, I am going to be numb. And I want to be over and done with this shit when the actual breakdown hits. So that I can wallow in peace.

You can never understand how long the night is unless you actually try to stay awake the entire time. Akos, his own blood, seems to accept the fact that his little kid brother is gone. I have no doubt that a major part of him blames me for it. I'm grateful he hid it for my sake. I don't think I could have handled him belittling me more than me belittling myself. My thoughts wander off to the time my family bid me goodbye.

Only the Winnebago and my Phoenix remain in the large empty space now.

I squeeze my eyes together, trying to block out the hopeless distraught expressions of my family that seem to be engraved in the darkness. It wasn't easy saying goodbye. Everyone was being more clingy than a fucking leech. I had to go all vampire on them to make them fear me. Even then many people had to be tossed into their trailers.

One and a half hours since then, I am still searching for Vanessa and Elyss. I am literally searching the undergrowth for anything that might lead me to them. It doesn't help that ten minutes ago it started raining. Sheets of water that turn into muddy streams on reaching the ground are the only thing I can see. And the roar of splashing water is the only thing I can hear. Many times I have only just managed to stop five feet away from impaling myself on a branch.

"Never thought of ever being visually impaired, eh?" I grumble. "Motherfucking weather bent on pissing me off."

I groan and rub my hands down my face. Talking to my own self, the ultimate level of lunacy. 

I have searched every inch of the place I last saw them, only finding Elyss's silver stake at the foot of a tree. No sign of struggle, no footsteps, no directions. They seem to have vanished into thin air.

I sigh again, rubbing my hands down my face harshly. I am running out of clues. And energy. A good twenty four hours has passed since the last feed. The tell-tale signs of thirst are prominent in the form of my ever present fangs and burning of my throat. The effects of intense first day are feeling too obvious now. Extra shows always take too much of a toll on me. Yes, I can last long enough without feeding. But why would I willingly be so weak?

"Where are you shits?" I shout out one last time, straightening up to listen. Over the hours, the hope of them ever answering me has well left me. But still, that annoying, nagging feeling that tells me to try again. The wind howls louder. Branches shake. Leaves rustle more.

Of course, no reply. 

I slump down against my tree, bringing out the stake to examine it. It is foolishness to search in this weather. I have to wait for it to clear. Tropical showers don't usually last long. But I can't help feeling my sisters going out further away from my reach the longer I wait.