Chapter Eleven
Bold Italic- Telepathy
Italic- Dream
The cave was quiet, except for the sounds of slumbering. David and Dwayne were the only vampires in the subcave. Terra and Eli were sharing a bed in David's room. Marko and Kayla, and Paul and Jade in their respective rooms. Michael and Star are sound asleep on her bed. Laddie lightly snored, cuddling his teddy bear. Even Marko's pigeons were napping.
The sun was on the verge of setting when Paul felt Jade start to squirm against him. Biting his lip to hold in the groan because of the way she was squirming, he became more aware of Jade. She was whining and shivering in her sleep. He slightly sat up and leaned over her, watching her eyes move back and forth under her eyelids. Paul recognized the signs of a nightmare. Jade's squirming turned more into thrashing like she was trying to escape something.
Paul could hear his brothers and Kayla in his head, "Wake her up dude," Marko's voice rang in the back of his mind. "Paul, wake her," David tried his best not to sound too concerned. Dwayne quietly but firmly stated, "She needs to wake up." Kayla was the last voice he heard, "Please wake her up."
Paul leaned closer to Jade's ear, "Babe, wake up." His arms were wrapped around her with one of his legs between hers. He tightened his hold on her, bringing her body even closer to his, "Baby. You need to wake up." It wasn't working, each time he spoke to Jade, his voice would get louder and more worried. Paul kissed her temple, hoping to bring her out of her mind. David practically screamed, "Dammit Paul, wake her up!"
He didn't want to do this, but it may be the only way. He nuzzled his face into the side of her neck, and let his fangs elongate. He bit down harder than he meant to. He wasn't going to drink from her, he just wanted to wake her up. The bite caused Jade to gasp from the pain momentarily but she did not wake. Instead, Paul's eyes glazed over as he was dragged into her head.
Jade's head felt like she was swimming through a heavy fog. Her body is stiff from laying on a cold, hard surface. Jade slowly opens her eyes. She looks to the concrete ceiling and then the walls, all made of concrete with a steel door on the furthest wall. She also notices several open holes in the ceiling and sealed vents in the floor.
An unknown female voice coming over a PA system cuts through her thoughts, "Ah, Ms. Emerson. I see you're awake." "Where am I?" Jade asked while sitting up. She moves her legs to stand but the sound of a clinking chain stops her. She has a shackle attached to her left ankle over her jeans. Jade tries to pry it off with her bare hands with no such luck. Scanning the room she could see a small hook with a key dangling from it next to the door out of her reach. "What's going on?" Jade is trying not to panic.
"Welcome to the first session of immersion therapy," The unknown female says through the speakers. "Immersion therapy? For what?" Jade stands and tries to reach the key but the chain keeps it a few inches out of reach. She could just 'jump' out of there but doesn't have full control of it yet. And they're still trying to keep the Company from learning about their abilities. "Why, to get rid of your fear of course." The unknown female says and then Jade could hear the sound of heels walking away from the PA system.
All that could be heard in this cold, concrete room is Jade's heavy breathing and grunting while she's trying to stretch and reach the key. She barely grazes it when the sound of dripping fills the room. Jade looks up to the ceiling. Water is slowly trickling down from the holes, small puddles start to form all over the floor. One of which is near her shackled foot. The floor is becoming slippery. Jade tries again to reach for the key in a more panicked state of mind.
The water has a small steady flow now. The trickling is more of a stream until the pipes connected to the openings make a sputtering noise. Then the water forcefully starts to pour in. The room is filling up with very cold water. One such opening was close to Jade's head. She is doused with cold water. She gasps at the sudden change in her body temperature causing her to choke on the water. Her efforts to reach the key have doubled.
"Come on, dammit. Almost there," Her fingertips graze the key once again. She loses her footing and falls to the floor. The water is knee-deep by now and steadily rising. Jade sits in the water and grabs the chain of her shackle. She tries to yank it out of the floor only the chain has become slippery and she loses her grip. She moves her hands to the shackle on her ankle. Thinking if she pulls her jeans out of the shackle it would give her room to maneuver it over her foot. Removing her jeans just made it so the shackle was rubbing her skin raw. Jade was losing hope as the water came up to her neck as she sat on the floor.
"Stop! Please stop! I don't want to die like this!" Jade is screaming at the top of her lungs praying that someone will hear her. She stood up and screamed even louder, "Don't leave me like this! Let me out!" The water has reached her shoulders, she could feel her body wanting to float. Her breathing has surpassed the point of panicking and has become erratic. It seems all her screaming has done is speed up the water flow. Her feet have left the floor and she is treading to keep her head above the water. Occasionally the water would flow into her mouth and she would have to spit it out. She was going to drown and nobody would know. She is oblivious to the ghost-like figure watching in horror as his mate drowns.
Paul could only stand by and watch as Jade struggled to get out of her shackle. He tried to move closer to her but it was like he was glued to the spot. Paul tries to reach for her but his hand just goes through her like he was a ghost. "Jade! Babe, come on! You need to wake up!" This whole ordeal just became much more real for Paul as he can feel himself getting soaked to the bone. He was actually starting to shiver, "Jade, wake up! Please wake up!" Paul continues to reach for her, each time his hand goes right through her. He can still hear his brothers screaming at him, "I can't get to her. She's drowning and I can't stop it!"
One known fact about vampires is they don't need to breathe. Something Paul is grateful for right now as his head is now underwater. Since Jade was also a vampire, she should not be drowning, but she is. Only her nose is above the water now, but soon she is fully submerged as the room fills to the top. Jade took one last, big breath before it was too late.
Jade was starting to lose consciousness as her lungs burn from holding her breath. She couldn't take it anymore. Jade let the air out of her lungs only for them to fill what water. Her body starts to go limp. Paul is screaming into the water for Jade to wake up.
"First session of immersion therapy complete." The unknown female's voice came through the speakers. Several vents in the floor open to drain the water. It was then that Jade woke from her nightmare.
Jade woke up and rolled out of Paul's grip and onto the floor. "Jade? Baby?" Paul followed to the floor. She was on her hands and knees as she started to vomit up all the water in her lungs. Paul sat next to her and held her hair. He thought she was emptying her stomach and not her lungs. So seeing her spew up water threw him off, "What the hell?"
The door opened and David rushed in with everyone else behind him. He stood next to the pair on the floor, careful not to step in the puddle of water. "Can you explain what the hell is going on?" David asked nobody in particular. Kayla sat on the bed as close as she could to her sister, "She was reliving one session of immersion therapy. It's what the Company used to try and toughen us up. Immersion therapy is a way to alleviate someone of their fears by making them face those fears. Terra and Eli only had one session each. I went through two separate sessions and Jade had three."
Terra sighed from her spot leaning against the doorframe, "Unfortunately, it didn't work for Jade. If anything, her fears got worse. Then the nightmares started. Sometimes she would get out without drowning. Other times she woke up like this." Terra nodded her head towards Jade's ankle, "Check her ankle." Paul had shifted them both to sit on the floor with Jade between his legs as he held her. She was still coughing and trying to catch her breath. David bent down and pulled up her soaked jeans. Her right ankle was fine, but the left one was raw from the shackle. Kayla spoke up again, "At least her foot isn't broken this time."
It took some time for everyone to calm down. Jade took even longer than the rest. Paul didn't want her out of his sight. It was only when she took a shower that he left her side but didn't leave the room just in case. Since the vampires don't have reflections, Jade didn't see the bite mark on her neck. It had already healed, leaving two small marks that will eventually fade. Her ankle was healing quickly as well. It was still a little raw but the skin wasn't broken or bleeding anymore. Jade got dressed and left the bathroom only to bump into Paul. He didn't say anything to her, just pulled her in for a hug. He swayed them to a beat only he could hear in his head. Jade wrapped her arms around him and let him hold her. "The nightmares don't come as often anymore. They're still just as intense though," Jade told him.
Paul had changed out of his favorite white pants and into some black jeans with holes in the knees, and a band tee shirt. He had taken his coat off before falling asleep. His hair was a little flatter than his normal lion's mane. He'll work on it in a moment, for now, he just wanted to be close to his mate. "We're going to go to the boardwalk for a bit. Scope out our next meal and then do whatever," Paul loosened his hold so they could walk out of the room. Jade nodded her head and grabbed her shoes.
The Boardwalk
The girls opted to ride with their mates. The boys could not be happier with their mates riding with them. They still drove just as crazy as usual. The girls loved every minute of it, hollering and laughing along with them. It was like Jade's nightmare never happened. When they reached the Boardwalk and parked their bikes, David had insisted they stay together. Terra had argued that she and Eli wanted to get something to eat, but David put his foot down after mentioning they were being hunted. So the group made their way to a pizza joint nearest them. It was one of the few pizza places that didn't add garlic as a seasoning.
Kayla perked up, "Oh that's awesome. I haven't had pizza in forever." "Why is that?" Marko asked, his arm draped over her shoulder. "I'm allergic to garlic," she shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal. "Technically, so are we," Marko told her. The group of eleven took up three tables. Paul and Dwayne scooted two tables against a booth. David and Marko went and ordered four large pizzas with a variety of toppings. Michael and Star were getting Laddie seated before taking their own seats.
The wait staff and owners looked at the massive group and shuddered, knowing the Lost Boys usually cause a lot of trouble and make a massive mess when they dine. They were mildly surprised when the group of rambunctious teenagers kept the messing around to a minimum. The boys still goofed off but didn't try to see if they could get the pepperoni to stick to the ceiling this time. Which the staff was grateful for. After eating all four pizzas, the group paid and left. Michael, Star, and Laddie left to do their own thing. David had warned Star to keep an eye on Laddie or else. The cold expression told her David was going to rip her apart if she lost Laddie again.
The rest of the group walked around the boardwalk. Half the group went on rides while the other half waited for them. Once they regrouped they headed for the carousel. The girls were not as shocked as they should be when David and his boys just jumped onto the ride. The vampires were looking for their next meal. David watched as some Surf Nazis leered at their mates. "Surf Nazis. Keep staring at the girls," David broadcasted. The rest of the vampires looked to see who they were. There were five guys and one girl. The Surfette was giving the group dirty looks. The whole group just laughed at her, knowing she was also on the menu. After memorizing the Surf Nazis' scent they exited the ride and went back to hang out by their bikes.
Terra was leaning against the railing behind the group of bikes, she was watching everyone either talk in Marko and Paul's case or smoking in David's. The beach was to her right, she could see the orange glow of bonfires out of the corner of her eyes. With a switch motion of her right hand, she caught the arrow aimed for her head mere inches from impact. The whistling sound of an arrow was heard by the rest of the group. They stopped what they were doing and turned to Terra. She examined the arrow before facing the beach, "I see The Company has scraped the bottom of the barrel!"
The archer made herself known, she stood on top of a sand dune and readied another arrow. Terra called to her, "Beau with her bow. Tell me what did the Company offer you?" Beau spoke, "Time served." She released the arrow only for David to catch this one. Jade looked around the area to make sure nobody was paying attention before she jumped behind Beau and sunk her fangs into the girl's neck draining her quickly. Paul sped over to her and showed her how to dispose of the body in the ocean.
Terra was watching the couple return, Jade had some blood on her shirt but was otherwise clean. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, we are officially at war with The Company." Jade gave a bloody smile and muttered only one word, "Tally."