In the week following our disastrous double date, several things happened.
1) I decided to break up with Ethan.
2.) Three more attack victims ended up in the hospital.
3.) The first victim who was attacked on Halloween night, though still exhibiting signs of “rabies” after several treatments involving blood products, grew strong enough that he overpowered the nurses, orderlies, and security guards and escaped from the hospital. And is currently still at large.
Awesome.
So not only do I have to deal with figuring out how to break up with my apparent lunatic boyfriend, but the longer I hold my tongue about the existence of vampires in this town, the more people are getting hurt/bitten/infected. I can’t keep those people’s deaths on my conscience. And now there are at least two of them on the loose, so who knows how many MORE people will get hurt. So I need to figure out a way to prove they’re real. If I can convince even one person (preferably some high ranking town official, but at this point I’d settle for just Jude), then at least I’ll have some help.
One thing at a time.
After the restaurant incident, I avoided Ethan at all costs until I could decide for sure what to do about him. I still didn’t fully understand how after almost an entire month of dating, I hadn’t seen this side of him before. And I don’t just mean sex. We had actual, romantic dates as well. How had he hidden it so well?
But he had seriously fucked Jude up, completely unprovoked. If he had had a couple more minutes, Jude would be in the hospital. I didn’t care that he as gorgeous with an amazing accent and dressed like a British Invasion rock star. I couldn’t be with someone so psychotic they could be triggered like that. What if one day I said or did the wrong thing and next thing I know it’s my face he’s pounding? Uh uh. Fuck that. It’s over.
Jude had been hanging around more than usual after the incident. Trying to protect me, I suppose. To be honest, I think the only reason Ethan was able to fuck him up as much as he did was because Jude was completely unprepared and Ethan got the drop on him. Jude is very lean and muscled, without being too bulky. Ethan is thin and a bit scrawny. If they ever went at it again, I’m certain Jude would wipe the floor with him.
So I’d been trying to avoid Ethan and his incessant phone calls/texts/letters/etc. He sent me flowers, which I put down my garbage disposal. He sent me chocolate, which I let Jude eat. It was the night that I woke up at 2am to hear him screaming for me outside my window that I finally gave in and decided to talk to him. I’d been sleeping in panties and a tank top, but I was half-asleep and exhausted and didn’t feel like getting completely dressed, despite that I could hear rain pounding outside. So I threw on a hooded sweatshirt, grabbed my keys, and headed outside (because I sure as hell didn’t want him in my apartment).
The minute I felt the rain on my face, I became fully alert and wished I’d put on more clothes. I ignored the cold and put my hood up as I walked over to Ethan, who apparently didn’t see me.
“ANNABELLE!” He screamed in the general direction of my window.
“What do you want Ethan?” I said, hugging myself to try to stay warm.
He jumped, startled. “Bloody hell, Annabelle! You scared me half to death.”
I snorted. “I scared you? That’s a laugh.”
“What are you doing out here in your knickers?”
I rolled my eyes. “What do you want, Ethan?” I said again, exasperated.
“You haven’t returned my calls. I’ve been trying to talk to you for almost a week!”
I tapped my chin and pretended to think. “Hmm. Maybe it’s because you beat the shit out of my best friend for no reason a all and then gave me a black eye?” I pointed to my fading shiner.
“Annabelle,that was an accident. And that thing with Jude was… a mistake. I overreacted.”
I arched an eyebrow. “You think?”
“I’m so sorry. I just want things to go back to normal. I want us to be together again. I need you.”
“Did you not hear what I said?” I started, now furious. “You beat up my best friend, and you hit me. You hit me, Ethan. I’m sorry, but I can’t see you anymore. I don’t date guys that hit.”
I turned and started to walk back to the door when he grabbed my arm.
“Annabelle, please–”
“Get OFF me!” I shouted, prying free.
There was a moment of silence and stillness between us before his face contorted in rage. His palm connected with my cheek so hard that it sent me flying down to the pavement.
“Bitch,” he spat.
I tried to crawl away, but I was half-stunned and he was too fast. He had me pinned, and his fingers wrapped around my throat.
“You think you can just walk away from me?!” he screamed.
I’d never been more terrified in my life. The pressure around my neck was increasing and it was getting harder to breathe. I tried to fight, tried to scream, but he was too strong and there was no one around.
I felt myself getting lightheaded and knew I was going to pass out soon. I was about to give in to the overpowering blackness when something knocked Ethan off of me and I felt the air rush back into my lungs.
Ethan’s screams echoes in the night, but I could still hear the growls. His blood mixed with the rain on the pavement in red puddles, and suddenly I knew what was happening. My eyes widened in fear and I stifled a gasp, not wanting to draw the vampire’s attention to me. It was blocking the entrance to my building, so I got up and ran as quickly as I could to the next safest place I could think of: my car. Crying and shivering, I fumbled with the keys until I got the door open and crawled safely inside.
I sobbed the entire way to Jude’s apartment.
