Chapter 26
Katelina had a terrible night, and a terrible day. Her emotions ranged from fury to sorrow and back again. Her mind refused to settle on a single topic or emotion. It was too much information in too short a time: Sarah was dead, Jorick had betrayed her, and she was surrounded by vampires. Vampires! What was next? Maybe she was really a fairy. Or perhaps they'd kill her mother and put her head on a spike in the front yard. At the moment nothing seemed impossible.
Even the golden sunlight that fell through the window couldn't stop the swirl of horrible thoughts. She tried to sleep, but every time her eyelids closed Sarah would appear behind them; sometimes as she'd last seen her, standing in the parking lot, and sometimes as a bloody, fanged monster with mangled skin. Finally, near sundown, Katelina managed to slip into an exhausted slumber, punctuated with dreams that left her blushing and even angrier at Jorick, as if it was his fault she'd had them. She wanted to beat him, not dream about kissing him!
Jorick woke her late in the evening, a box of microwave food in his hand and a look of penance on his face. She sat up too quickly, and then glanced down to notice the revealing nightgown. With a little gasp she pulled the blankets up to her chest.
"What time is it?" She demanded, not sure if she'd forgiven him or not.
"Ten o'clock," he answered quietly. "I'd have come sooner but I was detained." He handed her the cardboard tray of food. She looked at the rice and chicken mixture and felt like throwing up. It all tasted the same, only the shapes changed.
"I thought you might be hungry," he explained, nodding towards the carton in her hand.
She looked from the food to him, speculating. She wondered if this was his way of apologizing for his parting remark. If so, she'd have rather he apologized for lying, for keeping things from her, and most of all for spying on her..
Wordlessly, she ate the disgusting dish and tried not to let it linger on her taste buds any longer than she had to. When she'd finished she met his gaze. His dark eyes asked if he was absolved of his sins, and her blue ones refused to give an answer. He shifted from one foot to the other and then leaned against the canopy pole. His hands nervously wrapped around the smooth wood. "How was your night?"
She replied sharply, "How do you think it was?"
He studied her, his head cocked to the side.
"Yes?" she asked and clutched the blanket tighter to her chest.
"If you want to get dressed... unless of course you prefer to spend the night in that." The corners of his mouth turned up, the hint of a joke in his eyes.
She blinked at him, incredulous that he would try to be humorous. "No, I'll get dressed." She reluctantly threw the blankets off herself, and tossed the empty cardboard box into the trash can.
He watched her slide out of bed, her arms crossed over her chest. "You don't have to get dressed," he teased as she started across the room. "Really, I don't mind."
"Very funny," she threw over her shoulder. She shut herself in the bathroom and quickly changed into the white dress he'd brought her yesterday - or, she thought to herself, last night. Day or night, she was glad that it was over.
She gazed at her reflection in the small mirror above the sink. Her thoughts skipped to the dark haired vampire on the other side of the door. What did Jorick think he was doing? He woke her up and acted like everything was fine, like nothing had happened. It was as if he wanted her to believe that she'd dreamed it all and that he hadn't lied to her - or omitted facts- or whatever damn term he wanted to use! Did he really think she was just going to forget?
She used the hairbrush to take her anger out on her unruly hair, then she strode into the bedroom and found Jorick where she'd left him.
"You really need some chairs," he commented.
She ignored his attempt at friendly conversation and went straight to business. "Are we leaving today?"
"Tomorrow. I have the car, but there are some other arrangements - " he stopped suddenly, his hand held up to signal her to silence. He stiffened and stood perfectly still, like a statue.
"What?" She squinted and strained her ears, but heard nothing. Was this supposed to be another joke? "Look, this isn't - "
"Shhhhhhh," he hissed and motioned her to be still, listening intently. He sniffed the air and then growled low in his throat. "No! God damn it!" He hurried out the door and shouted back to her, "Stay here unless I come for you!"
The panic in his voice left her wide eyed and terrified. She held her breath, but she still couldn't hear anything except the buzz of blood in her ears and her heart beating. What was going on?
She paced the room, wringing her hands for something to do. Minutes passed like hours and silent fears assailed her. She peered through the window but saw only a wall of blackness outside, while inside she was alone; waiting and scared. Her fingers fluttered to her lips, but she stopped herself from actually biting her nails.
Her head snapped up as the door opened to a disheveled Jesslynn. She was desperately clutching the vampire baby in one arm and hanging on to Alexander's small hand with the other. Her dark hair had fallen from its dramatic up do, so that long, loose tendrils fell around her pale, scared face. Her dark eyes were wide and terror shimmered in their once mesmerizing depths.
"What's - " Katelina began, but Jesslynn cut her off.
"Come human." Her eyes lingered for only a moment before she glanced down the hallway. "We must hurry."
Katelina started to object, but again her sentence was left unfinished. "Jorick said - "
"If you don't come with me now, you'll die when they find you." Jesslynn looked back down the corridor impatiently, and then to Alexander.
Katelina only stared, opened mouthed. The sound of footsteps from somewhere else in the house reached her ears. "When who finds me? What's happening?"
"The Guild." As the words left Jesslynn's lips her whole frame shuddered in fear. "Come quickly," she added and disappeared into the gloomy hallway, tugging the frightened child after her.
Katelina decided she didn't need to see that performance twice to believe it. She plunged after the vampiress and tried to keep up with her as they raced down the corridors. They forsook the main staircase for a back set of stairs. Noises from the ground floor floated up to them and Katelina could see an occasional flash of light through the windows. As they ran down the stairs she tried to remember where she'd heard The Guild mentioned before. Who were they and why were they here? Did they have something to do with Claudius?
