Page 97 of Awakened
"For you. I have to find food for you."
She inhaled harshly as her hand fluttered to her throat. "Oh," she said dully as realization sank in. "I see."
"When I come back..." he grated.
Sera bit into her bottom lip. "I know."
"Good." He turned and walked from the room. He had to get away from her, now.
"Liam." He froze in the doorway as her voice drifted over him. "Please be careful."
"I will be."
"I love you."
He closed his eyes, clenched his jaw, and forced himself to leave before he couldn't.
***
Sera gazed out the window as dusk descended. She had long ago retired to her room, unable to face Kathleen's enthusiasm, Danielle's cheerful laughter, and Mike, Doug, and Jack's pitying glances. Her own thoughts were in such turmoil that she could barely understand what they were saying to her, let alone try to function.
She turned away from the window and woodenly moved toward the bed. These were her last hours as a human, her last hours as a person. Despair filled her as she slumped to the mattress. She wondered if it would hurt. It was a little uncomfortable when Liam bit her, but he hadn't taken it all before. He would now. When he changed her, when she died, would it hurt? It had too; dying couldn't be easy.
She shuddered as she wrapped her arms around herself. She was sitting here, waiting for death to come, for her death. She should run, she should flee into the night, and never look back. But she couldn't move. She had nowhere to run too, and even if she did, she knew that she would return to him.
It was the waiting that was killing her. The creeping by of minutes that was making her so edgy and frightened. She wondered where he was. She knew that he was safe, she could feel that, but she still wondered where he was, and when he would return for her.
She bit into her bottom lip as she clasped her hands together. She could leave. If she left now, then she would be able to put some distance between herself and the cabin. There was another snowmobile, she could take that and go. No one would even know until it was too late.
A muffled knock at the door caused her to jump. "Sera, are you okay?" Mike asked.
"Yes," she called back.
"Let me know if you need anything."
"I will."
He had come down at least twenty times since she had locked herself in over two hours ago. She knew that he was just worried, but he was driving her insane. Her nerves were frayed enough without being startled every ten minutes by his incessant need to check on her. She should have gotten used to expecting him, but her thoughts were too discombobulated to even try to remember that Mike would be coming by every few minutes.
She stood back up and began to pace the room. Suddenly she stopped, her head tilted to the side as she looked at the night beyond the window. Liam was back. She knew it, felt it. She walked over and closed the blinds. Her hand trembled as she stepped back. A steel cord of resolve strengthened her spine. She knew what she had to do.
***
Liam and David stomped the snow off their shoes as they entered the back porch. He quickly shed his wet winter clothes. It had taken hours, and miles of snow, but they had eventually found an open rest area. It had taken almost as long to wait for enough people to stop there but eventually they had. He'd fed until he couldn't feed anymore, and then fed again.
He needed to make sure that he had enough for Sera; that she would get enough blood for everything to go smoothly. He had seen the things that got stuck in between human and vampire, and they were horrendous monstrosities. He would die before he allowed that to happen to her.
"You going to be okay?" David asked worriedly.
"Yeah."
Now that he had fed, and the moment was nearly upon him, he was much calmer and more relaxed. He had nearly gone insane on the ride to the rest area, and had driven like a bat out of hell all the way back with the monster clawing at his insides. But now, here, he actually felt somewhat in control of himself again. For the first time since yesterday afternoon, he actually had a firm grip upon himself.
His heart contracted when he saw that Sera wasn't in the living room. "You're back!" Kathleen greeted happily.
"Where's Sera?" he demanded.
"In her room," Kathleen replied. "Taking a nap."
