Beauty and Beasts Read online

  Goodbye, cruel world. Goodbye, Mom. Sorry to leave you this way. Sorry for all the heartache I have caused.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I bumbled through the trees, crushing every bush beneath me, going faster than I believe this thing was intended to. I was following the screams, the terrifying sound of the tortured humans. And so far, I had found nothing but dead bodies. At least five so far, all drained of blood, and it was simply devastating. Still, I decided to continue. As long as there were screams, there were still live people out there and maybe, just maybe there was one who hadn't met his or her fate yet.

  A girl could hope, couldn't she?

  It wasn't easy steering this small garden tractor thingy through the forest. It was quite bumpy and impassable terrain for most of the way, especially since I tried to stay away from the trails, as I believed the hunting vampires probably used them when waiting for humans to come running. Humans, trying desperately to find their way out.

  The screams were getting fewer, and it was even more terrifying than when there were many because it meant most of them were already dead. It meant I was too late.

  I heard a scream not far from me and turned the tractor toward it, then sped up, rushing through the bushes, the tractor roaring loudly, crashing through the landscape.

  I spotted the girl who had screamed in the distance and realized there were two of them. But one had already been attacked by some female vampire while the other girl started to run. I rushed after her and had almost caught up to her when three vampires spotted her from the air. One descended while the others continued and disappeared, probably finding other victims of their own. Now, he stood in front of her. I stopped the tractor for a few seconds when I realized the vampire standing in front of her, about to attack her, was Duncan.

  Then, faster than I could think about what to do, I saw him grab her and sink his teeth into her throat.

  Holy…what do I do? He's gonna kill her!

  My heart was pounding in my chest so hard I feared it would simply jump out. What did a person do when seeing something like this? Was there anything I could do?

  I had to try at least.

  I turned the gas handle and the tractor roared. The sound made Duncan look up and in my direction. I then pointed my pitchfork at him and accelerated with a loud scream worthy of an Amazon warrior.

  Duncan let go of the girl and she fell to the ground.

  "R-Robyn?" he said.

  I was still screaming as I rushed toward him, the pitchfork pointing at him. The girl was moaning on the ground.

  As I came closer, Duncan stared at me, mouth agape, fangs poking out, blood still dripping from them.

  Then, he moved so fast I couldn't see where he went. I realized he was right next to me, reaching over and stopping the tractor. The engine died down and I stared at him. His eyes were wide.

  "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

  My nostrils were flaring. I wanted to slap him, but I knew he was a lot stronger than me. He probably wouldn't even feel it.

  "No. Duncan. The question isn't what I’m doing, but what the heck you think you're doing…to this poor girl?"

  Duncan looked embarrassed. "Robyn…I…"

  "I can't believe you were about to kill that poor girl. She's my age, Duncan. She's just like me. Look at her."

  The girl was squirming on the ground, groaning, and seemed to drift in and out of consciousness.

  Duncan then let out a hiss followed by a growl. "I have to finish her," he said.

  "No!" I said. "I won't let you do it."

  "But…" he reached out his claws toward me, and I could tell he was fighting within. He then grabbed me with a loud groan and pulled me close. I couldn't move. He was hurting me, holding me this tight. Next, he bent over and placed his fangs on my skin. I felt terrified. I was sure he was going to bite me, and I tried to fight him when he suddenly stopped. He shook his head and pulled back.

  "I…I am… I don't…I have to go."

  And just like that, he took off into the air and disappeared.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I grabbed the girl and put her in my lap. She wasn't fully conscious, so I had to lean her against my shoulder and hold her close to me while I drove her out of the forest, following the trail to where the trees ended and a road appeared. I rode the garden tractor into town, then stopped a car.

  The woman behind the wheel looked flustered as she rolled down the window.

  "She needs to go to the hospital," I said. "Can you help us?"

  The woman nodded and helped me get the girl into the back of the car. Then we drove off. The hospital wasn't far, luckily, and I called ahead, so the paramedics knew we were coming. They rushed the girl into the ER and disappeared with her while I stared at the closed door that had swung shut, not knowing what to do next.

  I grabbed my phone and called Jayden, not caring if my mother found out. She was going to kill me for what I had done anyway. I explained everything to him, and he listened, carefully.

  "What should I do next?" I asked, my voice breaking. I wiped a tear from my eye.

  "The girl is in good hands. She'll be taken good care of, and they'll get her to her family. You should probably get back. Before dawn comes and your family comes back."

  I nodded. I knew he was right. "But…Duncan saw me. He might tell on me to them."

  Jayden thought for a while. "You still need to go back."

  I found a taxi outside the hospital and asked it to take me to the estate. When I arrived, the sun was about to rise behind the trees. I barely made it back inside, going back in through the stables, then back up into my room, when the sun rose. I crawled into bed and closed my eyes and got maybe a second or two of sleep before the door was pushed open and Duncan rushed inside, looking like himself again.

  "What were you thinking?"

  I sat up, blinking my eyes. "Excuse me?"

  "Do you have any idea what you’ve done?"

  I shook my head. "I'm sorry. Are we talking about the same thing? ‘Cause as far as I know, all I did was save a girl's life. While you, on the other hand…were about to kill her."

  He shook his head. His eyes were blazing with anger. "You could at least have told me you knew. How did you know anyway? Argh. I can't believe you did that. I knew I should never have brought you here. It's all over the news now," he growled.

  "What is?"

  "The girl is telling everyone that she was attacked by vampires."

  Okay, maybe I had slept a little more than just a few seconds. I looked at my watch. It was eight-thirty in the morning.

  "I can't believe you would do that," he said. "To your own family? To your own kind?"

  "My own kind? I am nothing like you. I would never kill anyone."

  "Oh, you won't, huh? But you don't mind killing an animal and eating it," he said, grunting in anger. "Even though you claim to love them."

  "That's not the same. At all."

  "Why is it not the same? We need the humans in order to survive. We need their blood, just like you need the meat of the animals."

  "But…but…" I stopped and exhaled deeply. "Is that how you see humans? Is that how you see me? As an…animal?"

  He paused. "Not you, of course not. Only them. They're not anything like us, that's for sure."

  "Wow. And here I had actually started to like you. Is that really all it takes? A few months and you forget completely that you were once just like me. You were human just a short while ago, a human with compassion and love."

  "You don't think I’m capable of love?" he asked, his nostrils flaring.

  I shook my head in disbelief. "I don't know what you're capable of. I don't know what you are anymore. But I do know that whatever we had or didn't have, it's over. Now."

  Chapter Seventeen

  I was still so mad I could explode when we arrived at the memorial service for Jazmine's father a couple of hours later. Jayden spotted me, and I approached him. He looked sad. He was standing next to
Amy, who was wearing a big puffy sweater, even though it was nice spring weather.

  I walked up to them, even though my mother wanted me to be with the family as she had instructed me.

  They didn't know I was to blame for the girl and the news stories that were now all over. For some reason, Duncan hadn't told anyone that it was my fault, and everyone assumed it was just an accident that she survived and made it out of the forest. I guess Duncan didn't want me to get into trouble or maybe he was just covering for himself; I didn't know. But my parents didn't know anything, and I appreciated that greatly.

  "Are you okay?" Jayden whispered.

  I nodded.

  By the front of the church, I saw Jazmine and her mother sitting by the coffin in the middle, placed in front of a big picture of Jazmine's dad.

  The new pastor, who had only been here a short while since the other one was killed by Melanie, said a few words and then they started to sing. I could hear my mother's pitchy singing behind me and curled my toes.

  "What's going on? Amy asked.

  "I may have done something stupid," I said.

  "I like stupid," she said. "Like what?"

  "The girl on the news?"

  Amy nodded. "I had a feeling that had something to do with you. The one that was attacked by a vampire out on that estate?"

  "Duncan's estate," I said.

  "Ah, that makes sense," she said. "She says there was more than one?"

  "It was a hunt," I whispered.

  "Yak."

  "You said it."

  The song ended, and my mom finally stopped singing. Adrian was staring at Jazmine, and I wondered if he was capable of feeling empathy enough to be worried about her. He had been over there after it happened, but I had no idea if he had been able to comfort Jazmine in any way. If he was anything like Duncan, then he would probably not be very comforting.

  Gosh, I am so angry with him.

  Jayden's shoulder rubbed against mine, and I looked up at him. Our eyes locked for a few seconds and I wanted to kiss him so badly it almost hurt, but I couldn't. Oh, how I hated my life right now.

  "How's Jazmine?" I asked Amy as a new song started.

  Amy shook her head. "Not good. She hasn't been in school all week. I’ve been over there and so has Jayden but she doesn’t really talk about what happened. I think she's still in shock."

  "We all are," I said.

  "It feels like she’s almost pretending like nothing happened," Jayden said. "Like she's just trying to forget."

  I nodded when I felt a cold breeze emerge from behind and turned to look. I spotted Duncan enter the church and stand in the back.

  "What's he doing here?" I asked, my blood starting to boil. "If he thinks I am going to talk to him, then he is wrong."

  Chapter Eighteen

  Jazmine stared at the sea of faces. Who were all these people anyway? Had they even known her dad? She wasn't sure.

  She felt so indifferent. Wasn't she supposed to be crying? Wasn’t she supposed to feel like breaking down by now? Why wasn't she crying more? Was she that cold and heartless?

  Jazmine hated this memorial. She hated everything about it. But most of all, she hated the fact that everyone who came up to say something about her dad—including the pastor—all talked about her dad like he had just suffered a heart attack, calling it a tragedy and stating that it was too early and—Jazmine's favorite—that God always takes the good ones first.

  Why didn't anyone tell it the way it was? Why were they all pretending? And, worst of all, why was her mother? Why was she such a phony? When she took the pulpit and spoke about her beloved husband, who had been hers through thick and thin, she told the crowd that it had been a heart attack, that no one saw it coming, and no one could be prepared for such a thing.

  Jazmine couldn't stand listening to all this. All the neighbors saw what happened, why didn't they speak up? Why were they all such hypocrites? She wanted them to tell the truth. It was the least you could do when burying a man, tell the truth, for crying out loud.

  My dad was killed, and it was all my fault.

  It was true, wasn't it? If she hadn't pushed Jayden aside to be missed by the car, it wouldn't have come to this. Heck, if she had never walked outside to talk to Jayden, it wouldn't have happened. Maybe it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't taken so long saying goodbye when she believed her dad was just leaving them. Maybe he could have gotten away if she hadn't held him back.

  Any way she thought of it, it always came up as being her fault.

  She spotted Adrian in the crowd. He was staring at her and their eyes locked. Seeing him there made her feel better, or at least something. He had been the only one she could stand being with while this went on. Because he didn't look at her with pity. He didn't change the way he treated her. He was there. He had come to her house every day, and they had sat in her room watching Netflix or kissing like they always had. And when she was with him, she could forget. When she was with him, everything was back to normal. As close to normal as it could get.

  Now, as she stared at the crowd, she wanted them all to go away. She wished she could just make them all disappear. She wondered if there was such a spell in her mother's book. To make people vanish. Maybe there was even one to make her vanish.

  But none of them would bring her father back.

  "Do you want to say anything, Jazmine?" her mother asked.

  Jazmine stared at the crowd, then shook her head. She felt like all eyes were on her, she felt like everyone was asking why isn't she crying more? Why is she so calm when it was all her fault? Why isn't she sadder?

  Truth was, Jazmine didn't know why. She didn't understand herself. All she felt right now was numb.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When the service was over, we walked toward the exit. I couldn't stop crying as they carried Jazmine's dad out of the church. I hated funerals more than anything, but then again, who didn't?

  My eyes landed on Mr. Aran, who was standing in the back, looking like he was observing all of us carefully, and I thought to myself: Well, maybe him. I sensed my mom freeze as she spotted him too. She lifted her nose toward the ceiling, then passed him without as much as glancing toward him. None of the neighbors looked at him as they passed him. Not even Jayden's parents. Amy's weren't there, as usual, so she had come alone.

  Duncan was waiting for me outside and approached me as I came out. I was flanked by Amy and Jayden, who stayed a few steps behind so none of our parents would suspect anything.

  "Robyn…I…" Duncan said and stepped forward.

  "I am not talking to you."

  "I have to talk to you. I need your help…"

  "Find someone else. I’m sure you know someone."

  Duncan reached out and grabbed my arm. I tried to pull it out of his grip, but he was holding it too tight, forcing me to look at him. He was wearing black sunglasses, so I couldn't see his eyes.

  "No," he said, almost hissing when he spoke. "It's important."

  "You're hurting my arm," I said.

  Jayden immediately walked up behind me and let out a deep growl from the back of his throat.

  Duncan snarled, "I need to find the girl."

  "Why? So you can kill her?" I asked.

  Duncan leaned closer and spoke with a low voice. "Because she was bitten. She'll be turned soon. It's important."

  "I am not helping you find her so you can kill her, now get away from me," I said and started to walk away.

  "Robyn," he said.

  "You heard her," Jayden said and stepped forward, so he stood in front of me, protecting me.

  Duncan puffed himself up to seem bigger and approached him. "And just who might you be?"

  "Someone far more important to her than you," Jayden said, also puffing himself up to match Duncan. It was a ridiculous display and, frankly, made me feel more embarrassed than anything else.

  "Do you know who I am?" Duncan said.

  Oh, no! Not the I-have-more-money-than-you-card!
/>   Jayden answered with a loud growl and pushed Duncan backward. Duncan returned by pushing him as well, this time a little more forcefully, revealing that he was a lot stronger than Jayden.

  "Duncan," I said. "Leave. Now!"

  Duncan put his hat back on, then turned around and disappeared, leaving nothing but the cold breeze behind.

  Amy came up to me. She had little droplets of sweat on her upper lip, and she seemed strained, squirming underneath her sweater.

  "He makes me so mad," I said with a groan.

  "He's right, though," she said.

  "About what?"

  "About the girl. We should have a talk with her."

  Chapter Twenty

  The worst part about pain, Amy thought to herself, is the time you're waiting for it to go away when it hits you, wondering if this time it won't, worrying—almost panicking—if this time it is here to stay and it simply will never go away again.

  And so it was again as she returned to her house from the funeral. The pain had been there since the morning and refused to leave. It was the longest she had experienced it without any breaks, and it was just about to kill her. But as if that wasn't enough, she still had to deal with the screaming fear inside of her that it wasn't going to stop, ever. It was here to stay.

  Amy grabbed a bottle of painkillers from the cabinet and swallowed two pills with water. She laid down on the couch, careful to lie on her side so no part of the couch would touch her back or shoulder blades. Amy let out a deep moan and closed her eyes for a few seconds while her body finally relaxed a little. She couldn't believe how bad it had been at the funeral; it was worse than ever. She had done her best to hide it from her friends, but it was getting harder and harder. How was she supposed to go to school tomorrow? She had hardly even been able to cook most of the weekend. How would she sit on a chair in class, sit still and concentrate on what the teacher said when she was this deep in pain? There was no way.