Take Courage, My Heart

Chapter Eighteen

Kei was right. This place did look haunted.

Most of the windows were broken and boarded up. The ones that were not, were painted black or blocked by rotten furniture. The front porch had cobwebs and so much dirt on it that it was no longer a porch but more of a spider garden. The walls used to have white paneling on, but years had not been kind to those either. Even from a distance, I got disgusted by it.

We left the car a few streets away and went to the house on foot so as to not get detected. After a few moments of examining it from the front, Leander led us to the side of the building and into the yard of its neighboring abandoned house. We were very light on our feet, careful not to make too much noise and attract attention. Humans lived in this neighborhood as well and they wouldn't care that we were not nest dwellers, they'd see vampires and freak out. We could hear them; the electricity running in their houses, televisions still on this late at night. Nobody was outside though. Just us and the throbbing and flickering lamp posts.

Leander pointed to one of the broken windows that were free of boards and furniture. Jagged pieces of glass were still hanging off it, but there was enough space for us to go from. I wondered why we could not just go in through the front door like civilized vampires, but said nothing about it. They knew better than I did and right now was not a good time to speak up.

He signaled for me and Annerose to go inside first and that he would follow but from a different entry point. Annerose nodded and sneaked closer to the window, with me close behind her. I watched her as she placed two hands on the window where no glass shards were protruding and jumped up and through it. Her legs went in first and once she was inside I followed her lead, careful not to cut my skin. I would heal fast even if I cut myself, but I didn't want to have to deal with bleeding while in a vampire nest. I knew how much attention that would garner even before I became a vampire myself.

I could hear twelve heartbeats in the house. Three were more lethargic than the rest. Those were the pets, high on vampire venom and low on blood supply. While we were in the car, Leander had said that there was a high chance we would find humans in there. The three heartbeats as well as two other healthier ones were coming from upstairs, while the rest were all down here, on the ground floor with Annerose and me.

The room we had entered used to be a nursery. There was a broken-down crib right next to a changing table. The entirety of one of the walls as well as the majority of the ceiling were covered in glow-in-the-dark stars; that were no longer glowing. The door was closed and when we got to it, Annerose touched and twisted the knob with purpose.

I braced myself. She opened the door and moved to the side with it, so when the first vampire came running inside they came straight at me. A shiver ran through me. I was ready for this. I was not alone.

Bloodshot eyes and enlarged fangs. I dodged the initial attack and did my absolute best to avoid their fangs and grips. Somewhere in the room, Annerose was also fighting a vampire. I could hear grunts from the front of the room, but couldn't check at the moment. More heartbeats echoed closer, and I allowed myself to get thrown on the ground by that first vampire. We struggled for a few moments until I ended up with my hands around their throat as they hissed and pressed closer to me.

I kept the pressure with my left hand and moved my right until my fingers tangled in the hair on the back of their head. Then with all my strength, I twisted their head to the side. With a grunt, I turned their head around, the snap of their neck chilling in the night. Their entire body weight fell on top of me and I froze. They would not stay down for long, I knew. I had tried this move on Ezra and Leander –had seen how their bodies reacted to a broken neck. They died, but it was not permanent. Venom could heal that shit. The best way to kill a vampire was to burn them. And if that was not an option the next best way was to cut off their head. That way stopped venom from traveling in their body and healing whatever was keeping them dead. Which was exactly what Annerose was doing.