“Why?” Georgie whispered.
“Why?” Sarah answered, with a bleak twist of her face. “Really, you need to ask, Georgie? I thought you were much smarter than that. Then again, Karson did wipe your mind so I guess you can’t be blamed for your stupidity!”
“What? Sarah . . .” Georgie stammered, a sob hitching her words. “I don’t . . . you’re not making any sense.”
“Let me explain it as easily as I can so you can both keep up.” When she spoke, her voice held such bitterness the sound tore icicles into my bones. “Your boyfriend, Amelia, killed my brother. He took a sword and sliced through his neck and threw his body off a cliff like he was nothing but a piece of garbage.”
Karson had killed Nathan. It drove like a stake into my heart.
Bob’s voice echoed through my head,‘He died in a car accident, he was only twenty-five.’
“Then he tried to wipe my mind like I was some weak fucking fragile. It worked for a while but in my dreams I’d see Nathan fall over the cliff and Karson’s face. It wasn’t long before I knew the bastard had killed him and tried to cover his tracks. Who does he think he is? Changing people’s memories to cover up what he’s done, to get what he wants. He screws with lives and walks around like a fucking king.”
I angled myself so I could see both Sarah and Georgie. Georgie’s quivering legs buckled and her feet fell flat. The noose tightened around her neck. She gasped. Her eyes ballooned. She pulled herself back up onto her toes and drew a gasping breath. My eyes locked with hers, they were curtained by fear and desperation and pleading with me to do something. She was not the fittest of people, I didn’t know how long she could stand on her toes for. I knew crying wouldn’t help.
“Georgie,” I said as calmly as I could manage. “I know it’s hard, but you need to take a few deep breaths,. Calm yourself and stop crying.”
I turned to Sarah. Behind her on the wall sat a clock stuck on twelve.
One second you are human, one second you are not. One second is the difference between life and death. It is a reminder . . .
It hit me like a bucket of cold water. Bob knew what Sarah was.
“Sarah, why? She’s your friend, let her go. This has nothing to do with her, you have me, do whatever you like with me, just let Georgie go, please.” Dismay pitched my voice.
She stopped pacing. She let out a high-pitched manic laugh that trembled my bones.
“Friends, Amy? What is friendship? Good times, shared adventures, drinking yourself stupid together. Being there for each other when life gets hard. But what about things like honesty and loyalty? Are they important for friendship, Amy?”
I didn’t answer, I was too afraid the wrong answer might set her off.
Her eyes narrowed and her voice was poison. “Amy, do I need to hurt you to get a response?”
“They’re important.”
She looked pleased, as if I was a student who had correctly answered her class lessons. “Yes they are, aren’t they? So, tell me, Amy, given you talk about honesty. Have you told yourfriendwhat your boyfriend is and what he does to you behind closed doors?”
I swallowed heavily.
“You did just say honesty is important to friendship, didn’t you? Isn’t withholding the truth the same as a sugar-coated lie?” She stepped into my space. “Tell her what he is and what he does to you.”
When I didn’t answer. Her nails became claws and she held the sharp point on my throat. The pressure of her nail satprecariously balanced on the beat of my artery, it would take little movement and my neck would be split opened like a watermelon. I didn’t dare move. I didn’t even breath.
“Tell her or I will show her.”
Visions of blood and death invaded my mind. People screaming. Her teeth tearing into a girl’s throat. A man begging for his life. Sarah smirking as she stabbed him in the chest.
My legs shook and threatened to drop out like a rug from under me. My heart thundered in my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the hideous visions away. I imagined a curtain dropping down and blocking them off.
“He is a vampire,” I rasped.
Georgie’s eyes bolted wide open and her bottom lip trembled, fresh tears seeped down her face.
Sarah watch Georgie and grinned. She stroked her finger down the side of my face. “Now, tell her what he does to you.”
It was obvious Sarah thought he drank from me. I didn’t know if I told her otherwise what that would do, what it meant. All I knew was that she enjoyed playing with us and the longer it continued the more my strength could return. I had to play along.
“He drinks my blood,” I whispered.
