Old Soul

Chapter Twenty-Six: Kidnapping, But Make it Supernatural

TW: Blood, violence, y'know, the usual when you've been kidnapped by a vampire

            The chill of the vampire's skin that's whisking me away seeps so deeply into my bones I feel as though I'll never be fully warm again. I've grown accustomed to the chill of the Cullens' skin, especially Emmett's, and I find that chill comforting, like a breeze on a summer day.

Vampirism doesn't suit him. The soulless pale, pale blue eyes he once had are replaced with soulless, vibrant red ones. If I had any freedom of movement, I'd shiver at what the color of his irises mean. The venom's transformative powers are evident in other realms, the planes of his face are sharper, more angled, and of course, there's the little difference of supernatural strength and speed.

Think, Raquel. You gotta get away before he gets you to his final destination. I twist around, trying to find something, anything to help me. I manage to wiggle a hand free, and stretch towards a branch, grabbing hold of a small, flimsy one. It bends and snaps, breaking into an oversized splinter. It cuts into my hand, and I hiss. Nathan's eyes dart to the warm, red liquid, desire reflecting his matching irises. I shake out my hand, praying that vampire senses are as strong as I hope they are. I keep reaching out, grabbing fistfuls of leaves and brush, but nothing strong enough to give me any sort of leverage to kick at Nathan, but enough to smear my blood on the foliage. I hear a loud crash a distance away in the underbrush, and my heart soars for a moment before Nathan lets out a guttural sound, deep in his throat and speeds up. Everything blurs even more than when Emmett ran with me. My head, which has been upside down this entire time, begins to feel hot. I can feel the blood rushing to it, when I breathe it burns, like I'm drowning. I make a few more attempts at freedom before my hand falls limp, and my world dims before getting extinguished.

Damn, my head hurts. The same thought ricochets around my brain unwarranted. My hands are tied behind my back, and I'm in a wooden chair with no armrests. I try to take stock of my injuries, but I can't seem to feel any damage. I snap my head up, pulling on the restraints. Cold manacles wrap around my hand, and I freeze in response. Nathan chuckles and pulls up a chair to sit across from me.

In the darkness, I can't make out much, but with the little sliver of moonlight, I can tell we're in an old, abandoned cabin with minimal furniture, all wooden. I'm in the center of the room, and I can see some wooden countertops under the window letting in the light of the moon.

"Y'know, if you're going to kill me, could you at least do it somewhere with a three-star rating at the minimum?" I start out, the gears in my mind turning while I stall. "First it's a dinky motel room, and now this? Come on, Nathan, where's the pizzazz? The flair for the dramatic?"

Nathan doesn't say anything, just looks at me, a calculating expression on his inhumanely perfect face. Realizing I should be surprised that he's a vampire, I quickly shift gears into playing dumb.

"What's up with your eyes? Did you get contacts? Not your style, pal, I don't know who told you otherwise, the Hot Topic employees are not paid enough to actually give you good advice, you know." The extreme danger of the situation makes me reckless with my words. "And that speed? Anabolic steroids much? And most importantly, shouldn't you be in jail? For, you know, trying to murder me? And stalking me? I'm still not over that, by the way. No moonlight escapade is going to fix that situation at all. And while we're at it—"

"Oh my God, would you shut the fuck up? You're insufferable!" His voice is still reedy, but now it has a melody to it that would be pretty if it wasn't coming from a disgusting human—er, vampire.

"No. I told you before, and I'll tell you again, I don't care what you do to me. I won't ever like you. You're really vying for the number one spot on my shit list, aren't you?"