Quinn's Undying Rose

“The idea is to get you used to bottled blood so that you won’t resort to biting humans unless it’s an emergency.”

Oliver pushed his lips forward in a stubborn gesture. “But if I always drink bottled blood, how am I going to control myself when I do have to bite a human? I mean if I never really practice it on a live human, how would I know when to stop?”

Quinn shook his head. “They’re not guinea pigs. We don’t practice on them. And that’s an order.”

“But—”

Oliver’s protest was interrupted by an angry shout coming from upstairs.

“Fuck!” Zane cursed. “Wesley! Nina! Blake’s outside! Go get him!”

“Shit!” Quinn echoed and immediately ran into the hallway.

Wesley and Nina already came running from the living area.

“Back or front?” Nina asked.

“Back of the house!” Zane yelled as he shot down the stairs. “He’s running toward the neighbor’s fence.”

***

Blake tossed his bag over the fence and followed.

Vampires! Fuck, he couldn’t believe what he’d gotten into. At any other time he would have liked the idea of meeting a bunch of vampires, hanging out with them, finding out how they lived, what it was like to be immortal. All that shit. The idea was way cool. But to be bitten by one? That went too far for his liking! Maybe if one of the women had bitten him, he wouldn’t have panicked like that, but to feel the fangs of a guy in his neck, that was just too creepy. He wasn’t swinging that way.

Grabbing his bag, he ran through the garden, heading for the street, not caring that he was trampling through flowerbeds. He had to get out of here.

“Blake!”

Shock coursed through him when he heard Wesley’s voice. Tossing a quick look over his shoulder without slowing his pace, he saw him vaulting over the fence.

What the fuck? Why wasn’t he turning into dust under the rays of the sun? What kind of vampires were they? Could they go out in the sun after all? Shit, that meant they could hunt him down even during the day.

Next to Wesley, Nina appeared too, jumping over the fence just as gracefully. Knowing he had no time to lose, he ran faster.

“Wait, Blake!” Nina called out now. “You’re safe with us! Come back!”

Her voice came closer, but he didn’t dare waste any time looking over his shoulder again. He needed to put some distance between him and those vampires. The extra 20 pounds of his bag were slowing him down. No wonder they were gaining ground on him.

Shit! It was either getting caught by them or parting with the designer clothes that he’d packed. The decision was easy. He dropped his bag when he hit the street corner. Without the added weight, he instantly ran faster, crossing the street like a bullet.

Panting for air, he felt his lungs burn from the exertion, but he didn’t stop. He had to try to lose his pursuers.

“Stop, Blake!” Wesley shouted after him, and Blake could hear that he too was exhausted from the chase.

Maybe vampires weren’t that much stronger than humans after all. Maybe he had a chance. Blake chanced a look over his shoulder and saw that both Nina and Wesley were about a half a block behind him, not giving up.

Odd, he wondered as he crossed the next quiet street without checking for traffic, Oliver had moved so much faster when he’d stormed into the kitchen. His movements had been a blur, so fast, Blake had barely seen them. Why didn’t Nina and Wesley employ that same speed? And why were they the only ones chasing him?

Could it be that Nina and Wesley weren’t vampires after all? Was that why they were the ones running after him and not Quinn or Rose who’d claimed to be his third or fourth great-grandparents?

There was no time to wonder about this now and waste any energy on thinking about it. He could contemplate what all this meant later when he was safe. For an instant, he wondered where to run to. He couldn’t go home; they knew where he lived. He would have to find another place to hide for now.

Blake was about to cross another intersection when a dark van cut him off, nearly knocking him over. Before he could even give the driver the finger, the door slid open and gloved hands grabbed him. He tried to fight his attacker, but the bastard was stronger and pulled him into the van.

“Nooooo!” Nina screamed from half a block away.

Her scream died as the door of the van slammed back shut, shrouding the inside in darkness.

“Let me go!” Blake yelled.

An evil chuckle was the answer.

Slowly his eyes adjusted to the dark, and he was able to make out three figures. Large men. They wore heavy clothing and gloves. Their faces were covered with large ski masks, the exposed skin around their eyes covered with zinc oxide. When they removed their masks, their faces reminded Blake of raccoons.