“Speak of the devil,” muttered Duncan. “Where in the fuck did he come from?”
Ethan jumped off the hood and swaggered towards the passenger door with purpose.
He was coming for me!
I was so frightened, I could barely breathe. “Leave,” I managed to blurt out. “Go, get us out of here!”
“Already ahead of you,” replied Duncan, slamming the truck into gear. Soon we were flying through the bumpy yard and towards the dirt road leading to the freeway.
“See,” I yelled, turning to look back. “I told you! He came from out of the sky! He’s a fucking vampire!”
Duncan didn’t say anything; he just kept glancing through his rearview mirror as we sped away towards the main road.
Not seeing anything but darkness, I turned back to the front and gasped. A lone figure, who had to be Ethan, was about fifty yards ahead of us, standing directly in our path.
“Hold on,” ordered Duncan, noticing it as well.
“Oh, my God!” I yelled, holding onto the dashboard as Duncan pulled hard to the right, trying to avoid hitting Ethan. Before I knew what was happening, something slammed into the side of the truck and we began to roll.
“Duncan!” I screamed, my body slamming into his. The last thing I remembered before the darkness swallowed me up was the sound of glass shattering and Duncan’s groans.
Chapter Six
“Nikki.”
My eyes fluttered open against the brightness of a strange hospital room. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I noticed an I.V. sticking out of my arm. The other was bandaged and sore.
“Good, you’re awake.”
I turned towards the sound of my mother’s voice. I was still groggy and it took me a few seconds to respond. “Mom,” I whispered.
She cleared her throat. “The doctor said you’ll be fine, honey. You sprained your wrist, have a few bruised ribs, and a concussion, but other than that, we can take you home as soon as you feel up to it.”
I licked my dry lips. “Duncan?”
She gave me a puzzled look. “What about Duncan?”
“We…we were in his truck. It flipped…”
She shook her head in confusion. “No. Nathan found you near the bottom of that large oak tree just outside of your bedroom window. He thought you might have tried climbing it and fell or something.”
My eyes widened in shock. “What?”
“Yes. Early this morning, he heard some kind of loud noise and found you unconscious, just lying there. Thank God Nathan found you when he did. You could have gotten hypothermia or something. It was pretty cold last night.”
I shook my head. “No…no… no… Duncan stopped by late last night. We were talking in his truck and then…Ethan…”
She raised her eyebrows. “Ethan?”
I nodded. “He was there, mom. First he jumped on Duncan’s truck, and then tried blocking our path. We tipped over…and that’s the last thing I remember.”
Her cell phone began to ring. She looked at the caller I.D.
“Oh, it’s Nathan,” she murmured and then answered. I heard her relaying everything I’d told her and then she stared at me with deep worry lines etched across her forehead while he responded. “Okay,” she murmured into the phone. “I’ll let her know. We’ll be home soon.”
“What did he say?” I asked the moment she hung up.
She touched my hand, softly. “Um…Duncan’s… missing. I guess Sonny hasn’t seen him since Sunday afternoon. He didn’t show up for work this morning, either.”
“Oh, my God,” I whispered in horror.
“I guess Sonny is really concerned about him.”
“Mom,” I said, trying to sit up. “Ethan must have done something to him. In fact, Duncan said someone was stalking him. That’s why he stopped over. He wanted to talk to me about it.”
She closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead.
“Mom?”
She opened her eyes and I saw tears. “There’s another possibility,” she said. “I think your father may have found us.”
Chapter Seven
I stared at my mother with alarm. “What do you mean?”
She walked over to the window and looked outside. “Someone’s been following me, too. I’ve noticed a dark SUV tailing me a few times and yesterday, I could have sworn someone followed me through the mall.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I just have this feeling it’s Galen.”
My father, Galen, went A.W.O.L. after attacking my mother back in June. Although they’d been separated for over two years prior, he’d flipped out when she’d finally started dating other men, leaving her mentally and physically abused. He was the whole reason we’d left California for Montana. She was terrified he’d hurt her again, especially after pressing charges.
“Well, how do you think he found us?”
She turned around and sighed. “Honey, he’s a cop. I’m sure he has friends who could have helped.”
I wasn’t personally afraid of my father, he’d never hurt me or my brother in the past, but now I was terrified for her. “Does Nathan know?”
“I told him this morning. He’s quite upset, obviously.”