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Chapter Eighteen
Anna woke up starving. Her whole body was shouting for food, and for a moment the shout was so loud she couldn’t think beyond it. She slowly focused her eyes and realized she was curled up under a stairwell, the musty smell of mildew and stagnant water clogging her nose.
Images accosted her, glimpses from a horror show… Panic gripped her as the memories flooded into her mind in vivid detail. She strained her ears for the sound of voices, but aside from the dripping of a pipe it was silent. Silence was good. The intensity of her fear receded just enough to unlock her frozen body, and she forced herself to crawl out of the space, then carefully stood up. Peeking through the doorway she found the place was indeed deserted and her relief was immense. But on the heels of that relief were two distinct desires....to eat and to flee.
There was a delicious smell coming from deeper inside the large room and as she struggled to place it she found her body moving towards it. She had the sense that it was dark, but her eyes seemed to make their own light as she walked. Her addled brain refused to explore that further.
Stopping in the middle of the room, she located the scent on the floor at her feet. Her brain went numb with horror as her mind registered just exactly what had drawn her. She turned and fled.
She raced up the stairs, down one corridor after another, until she found a door with light seeping through the cracks. She yanked it open and leaped out onto the sidewalk, the sun momentarily blinding her.
The sun. She stood frozen in place, half expecting to go up in flames. When nothing happened she nearly collapsed, the spikes of adrenaline followed quickly by crashes of relief was too much. She managed to stay on her feet, barely, and forced herself to take stock of her surroundings. The street was deserted and she had no idea where she was. The hunger was nearly unbearable and it really fucking hurt. What she was hungry for....she shut her mind down on for the time being.
Okay, just take it one step at a time Anna. You have to get back to your hotel.
She focused on that thought and started walking towards the nearest street sign, straining for the sound of cars. She could hear traffic to the north and though she was incredibly weak she began jogging in that direction, needing to put as much distance between herself and That Place as possible. She turned down several empty streets before she spied an intersection. She sprinted towards it, startling a woman waiting to cross.
The woman wrinkled her nose and moved a few steps away making her aware of her haggard appearance and an unpleasant smell emanating from her clothing. Nothing in the world sounded as good to her right then as a hot steamy shower to wash away all of the filth, both physically and emotionally. She spotted a taxi headed her way, then realized she didn't have any money. The driver won't know that, she thought. And she could hopefully take care of him once she got to the hotel. She mentally praised herself for having stowed away her credit card and passport since her purse was long gone, along with her phone. She flagged down the cab hoping he wouldn't demand to see money first considering her appearance.
"Where you headed?" he asked as she climbed in, eyeing her in the mirror.
"The Regency Hotel in London Square."
He looked surprised. "You're American," he stated.
She nodded.
"Looks like you had a rough night."
She nodded again and breathed an inner sigh of relief as he pulled away from the curb. She settled back against the seat and became aware of a drumming sound. The more she concentrated, the louder it became. Her eyes landed on the man's neck where a vein was pulsing and the air was sucked from her lungs. The drumming sound was the beating of the man's heart. Oh shit, she thought, oh fucking hell. Her hunger intensified and her mouth began to feel strange, fuller. She clapped a hand over it and squeezed her eyes shut.
"You going to be sick miss? I'll pull over, I don't want no regurgitation in my cab."
She shook her head and spoke through her hand, "Not going to puke. I have…a toothache." A strangled laugh erupted from her and she expected him to pull over, but he mercifully kept going.
She kept her eyes shut tightly and tried to gain control by conjuring up an image of her mom. Her voice, her smell, her laugh. The way she always had of seeing the bright side of everything. It’s all a matter of perception, she coaxed herself. I perceive that I am Anna Preston. I still love my mom and my dad, and my friends…no matter what has changed, those things haven’t. I am still Anna Preston. She repeated these words in her head until her...teeth returned to normal.
Twenty of the longest minutes of her life later they pulled in front of the hotel.
“That’ll be thirty-two euros,” the driver told her.
She bit her lip, "Look, I'm really sorry, but I have to go inside to get money. My purse was stolen, but I have a credit card in my room and I can get money from the ATM."
He frowned slightly, "Fine, but I'll have to charge you for the wait."
"No problem."
She entered the building wishing she had her hotel key. She really didn't want to approach the desk, but without a key there wasn't a choice.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but I'm in room 305 and I’ve misplaced my key."
The lady at the desk looked startled. "Miss Preston?"
Anna's expression mirrored the woman's, "Um, yes..."
"Oh my, the police have been looking for you. You are a missing person, did you know that?"
She shook her head slowly and realized she didn't know what day it was. She asked.
The woman's expression morphed to concern. "It's Thursday hon, they've been looking since Monday. Why don't you have a seat...
"No," she said quickly, "I have to go to my room, the cab driver's waiting to be paid and my credit card is in there...
The woman was shaking her head. "There's nothing in that room, the police searched it. It appeared as if you checked out without letting us know."
Anna stared at her. "Nothing? My clothes are gone?"
"I'm afraid so," she said sympathetically.
Someone had taken her things? Who? Jake...? She shook her head, it didn’t matter. "Well I actually hid my passport and card, so they might still be there. Could I please look?"
"Well, okay."
The woman called a bellhop over and he took her up. Once inside the suite she mentally crossed her fingers as she went into the bedroom and reached down inside the frame. She pulled out her things and smiled for the first time that day. Now to take out some money and get the hell out of here. She really wanted a shower, but there was a high probability the lady at the desk had called the cops and she was not dealing with that.
She mumbled a thanks to the waiting bellhop and hurried out into the hall, jogging down and around the corner to the ATM. She extracted some cash then went back to the elevator and took it to a side exit. She hurried around the building and got back in the cab.
The driver told her the fee and she handed it to him along with a large tip. “Could you take me to the nearest airport?” She asked.
"Oh, I thought you were...he stopped at her shaking head. "Okay then."
The hunger was like a beating drum in the back of her head, it took most of her focus to ignore it. She really needed to get home. Luckily the airport wasn't far and she thanked the driver generously.
Once inside the terminal she made a beeline for the nearest clothing shop. One very nice thing about large airports, they were equipped like mini malls. She bought an outfit then found a drugstore and bought some toiletries. She made a final stop at a burger joint hoping like hell the food would help. She took a bite half expecting it to taste bad, but it still tasted like a hamburger. She gulped down the ice water which felt really good going down her throat, and when she finished the meal she did feel a bit better.
She found a handicapped restroom and locked the door, leaning against it for a moment as a bout of dizziness struck her.
Got to get home, she thought again.
She gave herself a thorough sponge bath at the sink and when she put her head under the faucet she nearly moaned in pleasure as the grime poured down the drain. When she was finished she pulled on the khaki shorts and light blue t-shirt she'd purchased and apprised herself in the mirror. Better. Much better.
At the ticket counter she managed to find a flight that still had seats left in first class and departed for the states in one hour.
She flopped down on a bench and was struck by a thought that managed to break through the ever increasing need in her body-she was a missing person. Which meant Austin or Jenna or both had filed a report. Oh God they must be out of their minds, she thought. And what about her father, had they contacted him too? She stood up shakily and headed for the pay phones.
When she reached them she just stared for a moment. Who first? Dad, she decided. There was at least some chance he wasn't aware of her disappearance since no one knew how to get a hold of him. She dialed the number and held her breath.
"Hello?"
"Dad..." she said carefully.
"Hi honey. Where are you calling from?"
No alarm or concern, he didn't know, Thank God. “I'm at the airport in London, on my way home."
"Really? Oh I thought you were leaving last weekend."
"My plans changed and I lost my phone. I didn't want you to worry if you couldn't get a hold of me."
"Oh, okay. Listen honey, I'm going to Haiti next week, I'll probably be there for a while, unless you needed me to come home for anything...
"No. No, that's okay, I'm fine." Fine? God she was so Not Fine.
"All right then. I'll call you when I’m settled. My battery's dying, but I love you, and hope everything is well."
"Yeah, good, fine. I love you too."
She hung up the phone and felt tears stinging the back of her lids. A part of her wanted to call him back and cry, “Daddy please come home, I'm scared!” But she couldn't do that, she couldn’t….God she couldn’t think that way right now, she had to pretend everything was normal or she’d fall apart. She dialed Austin's number and got his voice mail.
"It's me. I'm...I'm coming home. My flight gets in at 9:30. I..." she trailed off and hung up. What else could she say? She would need to be in person for this conversation and even then....”I'm sorry, I lied to you, the guy was a vampire and he turned me into one too, so how do you feel about dating me now? And by the way, your vein looks really good tonight.” A slightly hysterical laugh bubbled up and she pressed her lips together tightly to contain it.
It was the first time she'd fully acknowledged her situation, and as the thought of his vein stuck in her head, the crippling hunger hit her again. She sank down on the floor and willed her mind in a different direction. It took longer to push the feeling back this time, and she was beginning to fear she would end up attacking someone. She managed to stand back up and make her way over to a bench. She sat down wearily, waiting to board what was guaranteed to be the longest flight of her life.
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