Voices come from downstairs, followed by easy laughter. The rich scent of a homemade meal makes my mouth water.
Right. Food.
Folding my arms over my stomach, I walk down. Guilt shadows me. I’m still not sure if I’m allowed out of the room, but Red said I could come down. Did he mean it? Do the others know?
At the bottom of the stairs, I hold my breath and peer around the corner. A large group of people occupy almost every chair at a long wooden table. I recognize Sage and Red immediately, and Rowen is sitting near the end next to a woman with long dark hair.
The woman notices me and smiles. “Oh, hello.”
I freeze when they all turn. The instinct to run back to my room is almost too much.
I can’t breathe as I count them. One, two, three. My heart seizes on the fourth, and I take an involuntary step back. The man looks human, with his shoulder-length dark hair and emerald eyes, but I know he’s hiding deadly fangs behind his lip. I can spot them so easily now.
Vampire.
“Tobias, come sit down,” Rowen says. “There’s plenty of food.”
I can’t look at him. I can barely even hear him over the sudden pounding in my ears.
They said the vampires weren’t here! They said…
They lied!
Turning, I run back up the stairs and slam the door as I reach my room.
I shouldn’t be here. I can’t. I need to go. Dammit, why didn’t I run for the door? I look around, hoping to find a pair of shoes, but of course there are none.
Dumping the contents of the basket, I take both the razor and the metal canister of shaving cream in each hand. They won’t do much against a vampire, but maybe I can blind him to get away.
Footsteps echo in the hall, making me jump out of my skin. Without thinking, I duck into the closet and close the door, moving to the furthest corner. I sink to the floor as I hold the items, my entire body trembling.
Someone knocks on the bedroom door, and the sound echoes softly in the quiet space. I shake my head.Go away.
“Tobias?” The voice is too muffled to know who it is.
The bedroom door squeaks as someone enters my room. I clutch the razor with white knuckles. If they come in, I’ll lunge for their throat.
It’s unnaturally quiet as whoever is in the room looks around, and I can almost sense when they are on the other side of the closet door. I hold my breath and will my heart to slow down.
Don’t come in here. Please don’t.
The door moves slowly, and suddenly, I am too terrified to move. My mind screams at me to attack, but I can’t. Frozen in place by useless fear.
Rowen leans in, face hidden in shadow as he looks around. When he finally sees me, he pauses, noting the razor and the metal canister in my hands. “You okay?”
I don’t answer. I can’t. I can’t fucking do anything.
Slowly, he crouches to be at eye level, but stays several feet away. Too far away to swipe at.
Like it would do anything, anyway. He’ll definitely have better reflexes than I do and would stop me before I ever touched him.
Defeated, I drop the items and pull my knees up, hiding my face in my arms.
I hear Rowen move, but he never touches me.
“We should’ve told you Jericho is back,” Rowen says softly. “I’m so sorry, Tobias. They just got back about half an hour ago.”
I curl deeper into myself, wishing I could slip through a black hole and come out the other side. Anything to get me away from the vampire in the house.
