The Runaway

Chapter 17

A new image of Phoebe and Colton emerged into play. "This is your apartment?" Colton eyed the strange decor in the lady's home. They were currently in Texas, a place he was unfamiliar to. It was crazy, really. He was blackmailed into leaving and only had a day left to say goodbye to all of his loved ones. It happened way too fast and now he was actually gone from it all.

"This is where we'll be staying for a while. My friend is out of town and she let me borrow her place for a bit. Please, make yourself at home," Phoebe said. She was acting way too calm and it was scaring him. "By the way, I'm Phoebe. You?"

"Colton." He didn't feel comfortable in this place at all. There were exotic, ancient-looking objects covering the walls and not one spot was left empty. He shuddered at the unwelcoming feeling.

"Let's see if you're what I expect." She disappeared and came back with a bottle of scarlet liquid. Colton's eyes were immediately drawn to it.

"This has to be a prank. No way is that human blood."

She chuckled and put the bottle on the counter nearby. "You don't think so?" She walked into the kitchen, got a sharp knife and then made a small cut on the palm her hand. The scent of it caught him off guard and he looked at the blood with desire. Before he got any closer, Phoebe opened the bottle of blood. The aroma intensified and it was similar to the scent of blood bag he devoured earlier. Colton snapped out of his daze when he realized that fangs were poking his tongue.

"Why am I like this? What did you do to me?" He backed away from the blood and tried to avert his gaze off it. "Why me?"

"We'll just deal with this tomorrow," Phoebe said. She grabbed the bottle and handed it to him. "Drink up and go to sleep. Your room's at the end of the hall." She brushed past him and whispered, "Try and escape and you'll never get any help. People will think you're crazy, even the police."

Fast forward the next day, Colton was on his knees. "I need more. I need the blood." It was the only thing on his mind, almost like a drug.

"I guess it's time for the challenge then," Phoebe told him. She smirked as she handed him a knife. "Let's get going." His face grew dark as he held the weapon. Was he really going to do what he thought he would?

To his surprise, they ended up in the woods where there were a few trailer homes. "Nobody will catch you easily if you're in small populated areas," she explained. She nodded at one of the smaller homes to the right. "There. Get her."

Colton eyed the stranger who was reading a book quietly. She looked so peaceful with nothing to worry about. He gulped. "I can't."

Phoebe sighed and decided to do the work herself. She approached the girl quietly before chanting one of her spells as the girl jumped at the strange words. Colton gaped when the girl dropped her book and followed Phoebe back to him. "Now, let's go somewhere where no one can see." The girl was still following them by the time they found a spot behind a tree.

"I made her mute and obedient but it'll wear off soon so do it now." Phoebe eyed the knife in his hands. "Hurry."

Colton's heart was pounding out of his chest. He didn't want to kill anyone. Did he actually turn into a monster? Even though it was only blood, it was basically cannibalism. The girl stood still with no emotion. She looked to be a teenager like him and probably had a whole life ahead of her.

"Do it," Phoebe repeated once more, this time more urgently. After a few seconds, he still hadn't moved and she lost her patience. "I guess you'd rather play this the hard way." Snatching the knife from him, she stabbed the girl in the arm. "There."

The scent of the blood triggered something in him and before he knew it, he was walking towards the girl. It didn't taste like iron or anything nasty like it did before when he was normal. Instead, what he was tasting was something rich, refreshing. He kept drinking and didn't want to stop until every single drop was gone. When he finished, he felt at ease. The lust was gone and it was relieving....except for the fact that he had just killed someone. Colton dropped the body and stepped back in alarm at his actions. "N-no, no," he stuttered. The girl was dead. He wanted to scream in that very moment. He wanted to travel back in time and change her death but the damage was already done. Soon enough, Phoebe realized how he felt and put her hand over his mouth.

"Look closely. This is going to be normal from now on. You'll be doing this everyday until you're used to it." Phoebe chanted some more and the body before them burst into flames. "Job done." She patted him on the back and dragged him back to the car, but all he could think about was what they just did. How was she not the least bit disturbed? Why did she need him in the first place?

"Get away from me!" he yelled, surprising her. This was his chance. He could run away. He immediately turned the opposite direction and moved his feet like lightning. Right when he was about go further, his own body stopped obeying him and something was forcing his legs to walk back into the car. Phoebe was chanting another spell.

"Sit down and stay," she commanded. Colton did exactly that but it wasn't willingly. He couldn't move or speak at all, for his entire body felt numb.

"You're lucky I got you back before you had the chance to leave. Next time you try that, I'm not stopping you." Was she serious? Phoebe sped up the car and they were going way over the speed limit. "Stupid cops are already here." Although he couldn't move, his mind was still swarming with dark thoughts. The police was going to find a bloody girl who was on fire and it would all be because of him.

"If you ran off, you would have nowhere to go. The hunger will only grow stronger and you'll slaughter a whole entire town," Phoebe stated.

"What makes you think I should stay here with you? I could kill you." Colton shouted. He gasped when he realized whatever was holding him back was finally wearing off.

She chuckled. "First of all, you don't even know what you're capable of right now. I'm the only one who can help you figure things out." She paused. "Besides, I'm the one that turned you. I can always turn you back. Kill me and you'll be stuck like this forever."

"What? Really? You can do that?" he asked with hope.

"Only on one condition."

Of course, there was a catch. He wasn't surprised. "What do you want?" Whatever it was, he was going to do it. He'd do anything for freedom.

"Soon, six more people will join you and I'll need you all to kill a group of people for me. Do that and I'll turn all seven of you back to normal."

Colton couldn't believe his ears. "You want me and six others to kill for you? Can't you do that yourself?"

"If I could, I would've done that years ago, but I'm not strong enough. There's more than one group we're facing here and I want all of them dead," she explained.

"Why?"

"They took something from me and I can't forgive them." For a second, her tone was strange.

Those nights he couldn't sleep and it wasn't because the mattress was uncomfortable, it was because he was going insane. He didn't want to kill anymore. Though the need for blood was overwhelming and he couldn't prevent it from controlling him. He had already killed more than six people that week, but the more he killed, the more he grieved. Adapting to his new life was a struggle.

The scene changed and an image of a boy who looked oddly familiar to Violet appeared. "This is Aiden. He's the second person to be turned," Phoebe told Colton. "You guys are the same age." He stared at the boy who seemed tired and upset.

"I'm Colton. It's nice to meet you," he said. Aiden didn't respond but gave a quick nod. To Colton, he appeared vulnerable. The stranger reminded him of how he was a month ago. With that, he realized he was going to try his best to help the other members. No one deserved the hell they were in, especially not alone.