Chapter 16

The road is empty all except for me and this stupid van that won’t go faster than 70mph. It is practically hoping that I'll get caught, and i am praying that the vamps are still fighting, and Mihai hasn’t even noticed that I've disappeared. That's the hope anyway.

I should know by now that it is stupid to make wishes and give yourself a chance to hope, but my hands are shaking so bad that i can barely hold the wheel and right now i need all the hope i can get.

I notice smoke coming from somewhere under the hood and frown, this stupid vehicle isn’t going to make it to the nearest town. I have to think of something else.

I pull over to the side of the road and search the van, I’m not entirely sure what I am looking for, just anything that’ll help me get back home in one piece.

I find a small mobile phone stuffed under one of the seats and laugh in disbelief, my fingers fumbling over the numbers as I dial the only person who can help me get away from all of this. My father.

He picks up on the second ring, “who is this?” He shouts down the line, “how did you get this number?”

“Dad.” I sob, I never thought I’d miss the sound of his voice. But I have.

All I want is for my father to rescue me and take me home.

“Mae?” He asks, a ruffling sound distorting the speaker and he moves on the other end of the line, “is that you? Where are you?”

“Father I was kidnapped by the vampire I was supposed to kill.” I say, my tone sharp and bitter, “he caught me, and attacked the hospital, I’ve managed to get away but the vehicle I used has broken down.” I look around the darkness, heart racing, “please you have to help me.”

I cannot keep doing this alone, I need help, and I need it now.

“Where are you?“ my father asks, “I’ll get your brother in the car immediately.”

“I don’t know.” I say, my shoulders dropping, “it’s dark and there are mountains. I’m surrounded by them.”

I look around, there are no signs, nothing that would tell me where I am.

“Keep the phone on, Jake will track it.” He says, and he has never sounded as disappointed in me.

He thinks I am a failure, being captured by a Nati is the highest of fuck ups, he’s mad at me and he doesn’t even know that I have been branded yet. I wonder how he’ll react to that.

I look around the van again, but there are no weapons, nothing that i can use to defend myself. If Mihai finds me, I'll be completely fucked.

I guess i can hope and pray he was killed back at the mansion, but i know that is highly unlikely. He's really fucking strong, strong enough to take me down as easily as he did when i have been training to fight creatures like him my whole life.

I was the best of my age group, and my father said once that i was destined to go far. How wrong he was.

I'm just another fucking blood bag for a Nati to feed on, a branded blood bag.

Someone moves to my left, my eyes widening as i hold the phone tighter, “Dad?” i call.

“What is it Mae? We are trying to locate you.” he says, sounding far away from the phone.

“I just want to say thanks for always believing in me.” i say, a figure appearing on the road a few steps away. “It would have been nice to be saved, but just know that i did my best to get back to you, ok?”

It was pitch black outside the van, but i knew exactly who it was. Mihai had found me, and he has come to take me back.

Tears spring to my eyes as the phone crackles, “Mae, what’s happening? Talk to me.” my father shouts, and I'm almost certain the Nati hears him.

Mihai indicates with his hands that i should put the phone down, but i cling onto it as though it is a lifeline.

“You did your best for me, i know that.” I say, my voice broken with sobs, “Tell my brother’s i love them, even if they do piss me off and take my shampoo.”

“Mae-” My father begins, but the door beside me is torn open and the phone is ripped from my hands before i can hear the rest of what he was about to say.

I look at Mihai who crushes the phone with his bare hands, my body shaking and trembling, “I’m sorry...” I begin, but stop as soon as i see the anger in his eyes.

He does not want to hear my apologies, he wants my blood.

The Nati vampire’s hand wraps around my throat, and he pulls me from the black van, throwing me into the tarmacked road. My arms scape along the sharp surface, my leg twisting beneath me as i cry out, i feel so broken. My entire life has been destroyed and i can’t do anything to change it. He's too strong.

I try to push myself onto my knees, but before i can i am ripped from the ground by my neck and slammed into a tree as i struggle to take a breath. My lungs burn, but i don’t beg, what is the point in asking to be spared? My life is nothing now, i am nothing.

“How dare you run from me?!” Mihai shouts, pressing my back into the razor-like bark of the tree, tearing the skin on my back.

I say nothing, not that i could, i can barely breathe, let alone speak.

“Because of you we have to move locations.” he growls so close to my face that i can smell the fresh blood dripping from his fangs. “You have jeopardised my entire community by making that phone call.”

I wonder which of the hunters he fed from.