Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance Page 7

  worried.”

  I quickly tossed my phone into the passenger’s

  seat, then jumped in and started the engine. The

  tires squealed loudly as I tore out of the parking

  lot and off toward the drive-in.

  My phone rang, and I picked it up and glanced

  at the caller ID. It was the same number Kai had

  called from. I ignored it. I didn’t have the time to

  deal with Kai. My stomach was a twisted,

  writhing mess.

  I pulled into the drive-in parking lot and

  quickly turned the ringer off on my phone. I

  shoved it into my pocket. At break neck speed, I

  rushed across the parking lot and bounded over a

  chain to duck behind the decrepit old movie

  screen. I stumbled down the embankment, and

  then followed the creek to the clearing in the

  woods – to the meadow where Max and I had

  shared a very special moment together.

  When I entered the meadow, I stopped.

  Frantically, my eyes scanned the area, but Max

  was nowhere in sight. I was panicking. Where

  could he be? I thought. Then, out of the corner

  of my eye, I thought I saw something glinting in

  the distance – off in the trees behind the moss

  covered rocks were Max and I had kissed.

  As fast as my feet would carry me – which is

  quite fast for a vampire – I flew to the spot. As I

  neared it, a dark figure stepped out of the

  shadows, holding a prisoner. The prisoner was

  Max.

  The dark figure was taller than Max, at least

  six and a half feet tall. He wore a long, black

  cloak, and a few strands of long white hair

  fluttered out of the hood. His face was mostly

  obscured by his cloak, but I could clearly see

  pearly white teeth glinting behind a maniacal

  grin. He held a shining silver dagger to Max’s

  throat.

  “Max…” I whispered weakly.

  “Run, Alice!” he shouted, and the shrouded

  figure pressed the dagger more tightly against his

  throat. Max winced as the dagger sliced into the

  tender skin of his neck.

  “Let him go!” I shouted.

  “You must be Alice,” the figure said slowly.

  He had a sharp, thick accent, but one I didn’t

  recognize. Romanian, perhaps, I thought. “I am

  Alexi. I’ve heard so much about you.”

  “I said let him go!” I repeated, this time more

  forcefully.

  “Now, now,” Alexi growled. “You aren’t in

  the position to be making any demands.”

  I noticed a tiny trickle of blood dripping down

  Max’s throat, and I gulped. One wrong move and

  Alexi might sever Max’s carotid artery. He

  would bleed out in seconds, and there would be

  nothing I could do.

  “You wanted me, right?” I snarled, my fists

  and jaw clenching in an attempt to control my

  raging emotions. “I’m here. Let him go.”

  Max shook his head weakly, his eyes pleaded

  with me to run.

  “You would give your life for a hunter who

  set you up?” Alexi mused.

  “That’s not true!” Max shouted.

  Alexi stuck the sharp point of the silver

  dagger into the skin of Max’s neck I heard Max

  suck in air through clenched teeth, fighting the

  pain. A very quiet grunt escaped his lips, and I

  began to tremble.

  “Stop it!” I screamed. “You can do what you

  want with me! Just let him go!”

  “So quick to protect him,” Alexi chided.

  “Can’t you see it was he who led you here? Like

  the good hunter, he pretended to be on the run,

  made you fear for him, and called you out of

  hiding. You felt right into his trap.”

  Alexi chuckled darkly.

  “I don’t believe you!” I snarled. “And even if

  it did, it wouldn’t change the fact that I… that I

  care about him.”

  “Oh, you care about him,” Alexi mocked. “I

  see. But you don’t love him. Is that because of

  your Kai?”

  I faltered. How did he know about Kai? Did

  Max tell him? That couldn’t be it. Max wouldn’t

  betray me like that. Would he? No. No, I was

  sure he wouldn’t. He loved me.

  I saw more blood trickling down Max’s neck

  from the spot where the tip of the blade pierced

  his skin. I had to get him away from Alexi, but

  how? What exactly did Alexi want?

  “Look, what do you want?” I asked directly.

  “I want your whole family,” he said smoothly.

  “All of them. Your mother, your brother, and

  your beloved Kai. Bring them to me and I will

  allow Max to live.”

  “What?” I gasped. “You want… you…”

  I shook my head slowly, squeezing my eyes

  shut. This can’t be happening , I thought. This is

  not happening.

  I gritted my teeth, and my fists were clenched

  so tightly I could feel the warm wetness of blood

  dripping between my fingertips as my fingernails

  dug into my palms. By entire body was shaking,

  and my hearing became dulled. I feared I might

  faint, but as I opened my eyes, I noticed the entire

  world was shrouded in a bloody red haze.

  Everything appeared blurry, but somehow I could

  perceive everything more clearly than before.

  Without thinking, I demanded very slowly,

  “Let… him… go…”

  Alexi cocked his head slightly to the side, his

  teeth glinting from behind his hood. With his

  grin, he was accepting my challenge. I saw him

  start to press the dagger into Max’s throat, and in

  a flash, it seemed as though everything was

  moving in super-slow motion.

  I, on the other hand, moved like lightning. I

  streaked across the distance between Max and

  myself, and I instinctively placed my hand against

  Alexi’s forehead. His body stiffened, and his

  grasp on the dagger loosened. The dagger slowly

  began to fall to the ground, and Alexi began to

  slump in the same direction.

  I grabbed Max’s hand and began to run. In a

  split second, we had crossed the entire distance

  of the meadow. Just as we reached the edge of

  the clearing, where the creek began to wind its

  way into the woods, my knees began to buckle. I

  heard a deep whooshing sound, and everything

  returned to its normal speed. I turned to watch

  Alexi fall to the ground in the distance, and

  blackness overtook me.

  *****

  Chapter Six – Haze

  When I regained consciousness, I was vaguely

  aware of movement. I felt the hum of an engine,

  and I realized I was in a car. I looked around, and

  as my vision cleared, I could tell I was in the

  backseat of Kai’s car. Very slow, I sat up.

  “Max?” I mumbled, noticing him in the

  driver’s seat.

  “Alice! You’re okay!” he gasped.

  “Sure,” I said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “You’ve been passed out for about two

 
; hours,” he answered.

  “Two hours?” I verified. “What happened?”

  “I really couldn’t say,” he answered truthfully.

  “We’re almost to the airport. We’ll talk about it

  on the plane.”

  “Plane? Where are we going?”

  “Back to your family, of course.”

  “Oh, my God. Kai…” I muttered.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out my

  phone. I had forgotten I turned the ringer off. I

  flipped it open, and I saw I had thirty missed calls

  and ten new messages. I immediately dialed the

  number Kai had called from. He answered on the

  first ring.

  “Alice?” he asked, his voice frantic with

  worry.

  “It’s me,” I answered.

  “Where have you been? I’ve been calling and

  calling! I was so freaked out that Jamie had to

  blindfold your mother and brother and bring

  them over to our room to keep me from leaving

  to find you! What is going on?”

  “I’m with Max,” I said quietly.

  It was completely silent on the other end of

  the line.

  “Kai?” I asked, wondering if our call was

  disconnected.

  “Max,” Kai growled.

  “Kai, I…”

  “I don’t want to hear it, Alice,” Kai snarled.

  “I’ve had it with you. I’m done!”

  “Kai!” I shouted. “Wait!”

  But it was too late. He’d hung up.

  I immediately dialed the phone, and Jamie

  picked it up.

  “Alice, what did you say to him?” Jamie

  asked.

  “Why? What’s going on?” I replied anxiously.

  “He just threw your brother against the wall

  and stormed out! He’s gone!” Jamie shouted.

  “What?” I yelled. “He’s gone?”

  “No one had time to stop him. Will tried, but

  he threw him and just flew out the door. What

  did you say to him?”

  “I’m with Max,” I explained.

  “Oh,” she said. “That would do it.”

  “I’m about to board a plane to come back.

  Someone has to go find Kai,” I pleaded. “Tell

  Will to go look for him.”

  “You want me to send Will out?” she

  verified. “What if a Viewer…”

  “Just do it!” I screamed.

  “No!” Jamie screamed at me. “I’m not putting

  Will’s life in danger!”

  “Will!” I screamed as loudly as I could. “Get

  Kai!”

  I prayed he had heard me. Vampires have

  better hearing than humans, but not by as much

  as a lot of people seem to think.

  “Will, stop,” Jamie pleaded. “Please don’t go.

  Will, please!”

  I heard a door slam.

  “Now look what you’ve done!” Jamie

  shouted. “He’s gone, too!”

  I heard the receiver slam down as Jamie hung

  up on me.

  “Dear God, why is this happening?” I moaned.

  “What’s going on?” Max asked.

  “Drama,” I groaned. “Kai’s pissed, and he ran

  out. My brother went to find him. Jamie hates

  me. Just another day in the life of Alice Wright.”

  We arrived at the airport a few minutes later,

  and within an hour, we were on a flight headed to

  Chicago. I hadn’t realized where we were when I

  was with Kai at the motel, but when I reached the

  airport there to fly back to Georgia, I’d made a

  note of it. I was pretty sure I could get Max and

  me to the motel.

  On the flight, Max decided to fill me in on

  what had transpired in the clearing.

  In a nearly inaudible whisper, Max said, “I’ve

  never seen anything like it, Alice. One second I

  felt Alexi pressing the dagger against my neck,

  and the next second I was standing beside you on

  the other side of the clearing. You touched his

  forehead and… he just froze.”

  “I don’t understand,” I whispered. “Did I do

  all that?”

  “I don’t know how else to explain it,” Max

  admitted. “I didn’t see anything except you

  touching Alexi’s forehead. I don’t even know

  how you got to us so quickly. You must have

  been at least twenty or thirty feet away. I just

  blinked and you were there.”

  “Then how did we get all the way across the

  clearing?” I asked.

  “I couldn’t tell you,” he shrugged. “I felt you

  take my hand, and suddenly we were just there. It

  was like we teleported or something.”

  “I’m so confused,” I moaned.

  “There’s something else,” he added. “Just

  before it happened, you started shaking all over

  and your eyes turned red.”

  “My eyes?” I questioned.

  “Not just your irises,” he explained. “It looked

  like your eyes were bleeding. It was like a curtain

  of blood was flowing over your eyes, and right

  after that, I ended up on the other side of the

  clearing.”

  I shook my head. It sounded impossible.

  “I’m a vampire, Max,” I whispered. “We don’t

  have super powers.”

  “Some do,” he corrected me.

  “Okay,” I agreed. “Some do have abilities. I’ve

  heard of a rare few who do. But nothing like

  this!”

  “That’s true,” Max agreed. “I told you I’ve

  never seen anything like it, or even heard of it.”

  “There must be more to this,” I said. “It

  couldn’t have been me. I’m not special.”

  “You’re more special than you know,” Max

  whispered, holding my chin and staring deep into

  my eyes.

  When he looked at me that way, it made me

  weak. Kai was my world. He was so gentle and

  so beautiful. I loved him as much as I could ever

  imagine loving anyone. Yet, somehow when Max

  looked at me with those dark eyes – those coffee

  colored eyes, nearly black and brooding – all of

  my resolve melted away.

  I felt his lips, warm and moist, close over

  mine. My eyes were closed, but I didn’t

  remember closing them. He took my face in his

  hands, and my hands closed over his wrists. His

  kiss was gentler than it had ever been.

  “Wait…” I whispered.

  He pulled away and looked at me. “What is

  it?”

  “Kai,” I said softly.

  Max’s face hardened. I saw the muscles in his

  jaw tense and relax several times.

  “Kai,” Max repeated with scorn.

  Max’s hands dropped to his lap, and he leaned

  back against his seat. He closed his eyes, and I

  saw his hands clench and unclench.

  “Max…” I whispered, touching his arm.

  He jerked away. “Don’t,” he said, shaking his

  head, his eyes still closed.

  I sighed, and leaned back in my own seat. How

  could I screw my life up so badly? I had not one,

  but two incredible guys in love with me, and

  somehow I managed to alienate both of them.

  How could this happen?

  Beyond that,
what had happened in that

  clearing? I remembered everything turning red

  and hazy, and I remembered the shocking clarity I

  could perceive through that haze.

  Then I suddenly remembered another moment

  when I’d seen that same haze. It was only a brief

  flash, but it was real. The night I met Kai and his

  mother had hit him and burned his hand on the

  stove... I’d seen it. It was gone in a flash – so

  quickly I’d barely realized it had happened – but I

  remembered it now.

  That night I’d felt much the same as I had felt

  in the clearing. I had watched in horror as Kai’s

  mother hurt him, and I felt so much rage that I

  wanted to hurt her. In the clearing, it was Max

  being hurt, and I wanted to hurt his attacker. It

  was me.

  “Max,” I gasped. “It was me!”

  “What was you?” Max asked, confused.

  “In the clearing!” I shouted. “It was me!”

  I noticed several passengers turning to stare at

  me, and I lowered my voice. “I remember it,

  Max. It was me. When it happened, I saw a red

  haze in front of my eyes. It was like blood. That

  must have been what you saw in my eyes.”

  “Wow,” Max breathed.

  “I saw it once before,” I said. “The haze. It

  happened a few months ago, but it only lasted a

  second.”

  “This

  has

  happened before?” he asked

  incredulously.

  “The haze, yes,” I admitted. “But not the…

  other stuff.”

  “What do you remember from the clearing?”

  he wanted to know.

  “I remember seeing the haze,” I said. “I

  remember it seemed like time slowed down so

  much it almost stopped, and I ran over to Alexi

  and touched him on the forehead. I don’t even

  know why I did it, I just felt this overwhelming

  compulsion to do it. I saw him relax his grip on

  the dagger, and it started to fall so slowly it was

  almost imperceptible. Then I grabbed your hand

  and ran as fast as I could. When we were on the

  other side of the clearing, I felt an overwhelming

  weakness. I heard this weird low-pitched

  whooshing sound, and everything sped up again.

  I turned and saw Alexi fall to the ground, and

  then everything went black.”

  Max nodded. “That’s sort of what I remember,

  except it all happened in a flash. I saw you touch

  him, then we were on the other side of the

  clearing and you fainted. I picked you up and ran

  back to the parking lot with you.”

  “Is Alexi… dead?” I asked.