Cutthroat Carmine (Book 1)(COMPLETE) (Wattpad Featured Novel)

39: [res-kyoo]

When Carmine wakes up again, she finds herself lying face first on the cement. With a groan, she tries to push herself up but she still feels sluggish from the after effects of the tranquilizer. A sharp breeze cuts her cheek like a shard of glass and she winces.

With her head spinning and her eyes so dry they hurt, Carmine musters up the strength to roll over onto her back. The ground is hard against her tender spine and her pelvis feels dislocated. She looks up at the pitch black night. Thick clouds obscure the moonlight and there isn't a single star in the grim sky.

Just darkness.

Squinting and looking from side to side, Carmine realizes she's still in the parking lot. The air reeks of cigarettes and the dumpster nearby. She's lying near the very back of the lot, her body obscured behind a navy blue pick up truck.

"H-Help..." she moans, her dry lips on the verge of cracking. Her throat is parched and achy and her tongue feels foreign in her mouth. "Someone...please." What the hell happened?

Carmine shuts her eyes again, taking in a slow deep breath. She's still alive and Liam is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps someone rescued her?

Nyla?

Carmine slowly wiggles her painful wrists. She's no longer bound by the silver handcuffs. At least that's a plus.

After a minute or two, Carmine finds her strength slowly returning to her body. Her muscles are still a little stiff but she manages to push off the ground and stand up. Wobbling down to the fenced area behind her, she starts hissing, "Nyla? Are you there?"

No answer.

The parking lot is mostly deserted at this hour. There are only two cars parked there: the truck and Liam's sports car. There are bound to be some staff still inside the hotel but the hotel entrance is almost a hundred feet away and no one can see or hear her.

"Nyla?" Carmine tries again. She tries to stay as silent as possible, in case Liam is hiding just around the corner, prepared to ambush her. "Nyla, are you there?"

Silence.

A motorcycle vrooms loudly as it zips down the highway. Carmine jumps at the loud sound, the distant rumble still tearing through her ear drums.

What happened while she was passed out?

Carmine decides to stand still and perk up her ears, listening for any irregular sounds: erratic breathing, shuffling, a moan or a sigh.

Then she hears it: gentle female moans coming from behind a grove of bushes nearby.

Carmine silently draws near, her breath hitching in her throat. She doesn't really want to see who or what's behind the bush but her curiosity is just too overwhelming.

When Carmine finally pulls back the straggly branches, she wishes she had listened to her gut instincts.

Nyla is straddling Liam's body. His clothes are ripped into shreds all around him. His unseeing eyes stare up at the sky; his mouth frozen in a permanent gape. Nyla bares her fangs and sinks them into Liam's chest, carving a long bloody groove into his muscular torso. Then she presses her blood-soaked mouth into the wide gash and starts noisily slurping up his life essence. Flecks of blood paint her pale white cheeks but she doesn't seem to notice.

Horrified, Carmine stumbles backwards, tripping on a stray tree root. She crashes to the ground with an oomph, hitting the back of her head on something hard. Carmine flips around and tries to crawl away from the scene when she hears Nyla's voice cry out loud and clear, "Aren't you going to thank me for saving your life?"