Soulless (Book #2 of Hunted)

Thief

He launched himself away from the wall and clawed at the open air a few feet from us roaring at earsplitting volume, his mouth opening so wide it looked like his jaw was coming unhinged.

I suddenly no longer felt Phoebe's hand on my arm and I turned to look for her but she was no longer there. I glanced all around the basement trying not to set my eyes on Zane's writhing form. He was growling feral trying to pry the titanium cuffs from his wrists. I reluctantly turned my eyes to him to make sure the metal wasn't giving out. He screamed furiously and I couldn't resist the urge to cover my ears. I clapped my hands over my ears and watched as he pulled on the chains, the muscles in his bare arms tensing and rippling powerfully. He was leaning so far forward trying to reach me I'm pretty sure the only thing keeping him upright were the manacles.

I took my hands away from my ears. "Pheebs?" I shouted looking at the ceiling. Zane screamed again as if the very sound of my voice hurt him.

"I'm up here." I heard Phoebe call from upstairs, she still sounded scared out of her mind. I started up the staircase and about halfway up I turned to look at Zane over my shoulder. He was pacing back and forth as far as the restraints would allow pulling futilely at the cuffs like an animal trapped in a cage. As if he felt my eyes on him he looked up and snarled at me, baring his teeth, his eyes reflecting the light of the small bulb at the top of the stairs. I felt a tear leak from the corner of my eye and I continued up the stairs.

Phoebe was sitting at the kitchen counter with her face in her hands. I walked past her, through the kitchen and the living room and was almost to the front door when Phoebe said, "Where are you going?" I took my keys off the hook by the door and stared at the floor.

"I'll be back in a bit," I mumbled. She looked at me with concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine," I said forcing a smile onto my face. Another of Zane's agonized howls traveled through the house and Phoebe cringed. I looked down at the floor and squeezed my car keys as hard as I could. "Keep an eye on him please and make sure no one hears him or gets in the house," I said in the commanding voice I hated having. Phoebe nodded.

"Of course, but where are you going?" she asked desperately. She had that tone in her voice; the tone that said she thought I was going to do something reckless. I opened the door and finally looked up at her.

"I can't let him starve, can I?" I said as I walked through the door to my car.

***
I couldn't believe I was doing this. I sat in my parked car and stared out the windshield at the white and blue building about twenty yards away from my parking spot. This wouldn't be like the movies where you casually slip into a locked room because someone coincidentally left it open. I was nowhere near stealthy enough to jack someone's key card. Sure Jasper Lake Memorial doesn't have wicked security but I was a sucky thief. I groaned and kicked open the car door. I rounded to the back of my car and popped open the trunk. I grabbed the empty duffle bag I've had in there since the road trip Phoebe and I tried to take during spring break but we barely got out of town before Phoebe said she was bored.

I still hadn't formed a plan about how I was going to make this work. I took a deep breath, slung the duffle bag strap over my shoulder and made my way to the back of the hospital where the emergency room was. I had to do this. I had to! I remembered the cooler where the hospital kept the blood for transfusions. I saw it on a field trip during freshman year when I was in the Hospitality program convinced I wanted to be a doctor of some sort.

I slipped through the doors and strode right past the receptionist. People were bustling about and there were patients waiting coughing and crying, no one noticed me. I walked down the hallway trailing my fingers along the blue plaster wall. That was one thing I really liked about this hospital. Everything wasn't that dreadful sterile white color doctors loved so much.

I came to a crossroads where there was a hall to my left, right and straight ahead. I thought for a moment trying to remember which way to turn. I saw a woman in light blue scrubs coming my way holding a clipboard and chewing furiously on a pen cap. I quickly darted down the hall to my right. I sped down the hall my shoes tapping annoyingly against the tile floor. I abruptly stopped and looked through the door on the left side of the hallway. It was illuminated with a cold blue light and I saw a male nurse digging in a large refrigeration unit. I nearly jumped for joy. How lucky was I?

I walked slowly towards the door my hand almost brushing the slide for the key cards when my phone started buzzing in my back pocket and Kurt Cobain began yelling lyrics at me. I jumped about three feet in the air and pulled my phone out. I slid it open and put it to my ear. I backed up against the wall and slid down until I was sitting right by the doors opening.

"What?" I hissed into the receiver.

"You need to come home now!" Phoebe shouted at me so loud I had to pull the phone away from my face. The door beside me suddenly opened and the nurse came out with two bags of blood in his hands. He glanced down at me and I gave him a weak smile. He smiled back in a typical nurse manner and moved on down the hall.

"What's going on, Pheebs?" I asked watching the nurse's shrinking form.

"Well I tried to stay upstairs. I made some tea and tried to calm down but Zane just kept screaming and howling like there was something down there torturing him. Then it all stopped so I went down to the basement to check on him and he—" she suddenly cut off her little rant and I took this opportunity to stick my foot in between the door and the wall. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I looked both ways down the hall and then crawled into the frigid room.

"'And he' what, Pheebs? What happened?" I asked in a whisper. I crept towards the large refrigerator and lifted the lid with one hand while keeping my phone to my ear with the other. I could hear Phoebe whimpering on the other end.

"What was it?" I asked completely serious. I unzipped the duffle bag and looked into the freezer. There were seven dividers and eight piles of blood bags separated into different types.

"Lori, he—" she breathed in deeply. "He was trying to chew off his own hand." My eyes widened and I gripped the edge of the giant cooler to keep from falling over.

"He was—oh my God! Did you stop him?" I whispered urgently.

"Of course I stopped him but I don't think my spell will last more than an hour or so. Lori you really need to hurry," she cried.

"I will." I hung up without her reply and stuck my phone back into my pocket.