Chapter 18

Chapter 18

History Repeating

Nera

I parked in the back of the lot and watched. The mall wasn't very busy, and I knew they closed in just a couple of hours. Still, Dillard's was slightly busier than the rest of the mall, so I just sat and observed.

What was my game plan here? Just walk up to the bastards and let them take me?

I had my witch powers. I knew how to give a vampire a brain sting—when I wasn't drugged up, that was. I remembered thinking when the bastards had me, I wish I could scramble this vampire's brains while he was violating me, kick him off me…

I redirected my thoughts, not wanting to think about that.

The black van I recognized pulled up to the Dillard's parking lot and my heart sped up and my stomach turned over. It had to be them. I had the wherewithal to snap a picture of their license plate, knowing when I reported to Psycho and Wizard what I'd done, I'd be yelled at and cursed out, but I'd at least have something to offer them to soften the blow. And Poppy could go home.

They were Mississippi plates, so it made me wonder if they were locals. Snatching girls out of clubs to be sold to someone who probably wasn't local at all.

What was wrong with these assholes?

They parked the black van and I watched as two of them got out. They looked around, paranoid of course, and stood outside the vehicle.

Guessed I needed a distraction.

I tried to think of what I could do. I wished I had one of those grenades I'd seen on Menace's belt. Those would come in mighty handy.

The advantage I had was that they didn't know I was a witch.

One of them looked around, opened the back door to the van, and pulled Poppy out. My breath caught at the sight of her. Even thinner, if that were possible, her red curls dull, dirty, and lifeless. Just like the look in her eyes.

I looked at my witch supplies and wondered which one I could use. I pulled out the sleeping powder and wondered if it would work on a vampire. I knew my time was limited but I slid out my phone and called Agatha from the witch shop.

"Psychic Shop," she answered.

"Hey, Agatha, it's Nera. I was just in there earlier?"

"Oh, hi. What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Does the sleeping powder work on vampires?"

She paused for a moment. "It should, but it won't knock them out for as long as it would a human. You'll have maybe thirty seconds?"

"Okay, great. Thanks!"

"Be careful," she warned.

I ended the call, put the car in drive, and headed toward the bastards. I wanted to throw up. Could this really work? I didn't see any needles in their hands, but that didn't mean they didn't have them in a pocket, ready to use their damn super speed to jab me. I had to be careful and stay a good distance away.

I parked the Audi about twenty feet away. I looked in the van and even though the windows were dark, I didn't see any other bastards in the front seats. I'd really only seen four of them during my time in captivity, and I figured the fourth was probably at their new place, babysitting.

The main bastard narrowed his eyes at me. I got out of the car with my hands up in surrender. Poppy's eyes widened. I stared into her blue eyes and nodded slightly that everything was okay.

As soon as I saw one vampire make a slight move, I issued the three of them a brain sting. "Dolor!" Their eyes widened and then they yelled, falling to their knees. Then I pulled the powder from my pocket, rushed over, and dusted it in their faces. "Somnum!"

They gripped their heads, then two of them dropped unconscious while the third had his hands braced on his head, as the powder had missed him. He let go of Poppy and she rushed toward me. I dragged her by the hand as we ran toward the car. I put her in the passenger seat and rushed around to the driver's side when I heard her scream.

One of the bastards who hadn't been outside the van grabbed me by the waist and dragged me back toward it.

"Dolor!" I yelled, and he let go of me and dropped to his feet. I kicked him for good measure, wishing I had more powder, and opened the driver's side door.

I was stopped by the main bastard, a cruel look in his eyes. "Where do you think you're going, little girl?"

I kicked out at him to get him to move but he didn't budge. "Dolor!"

"Fuck!" he yelled but he didn't fall this time. He dragged me out by the arm as I kicked and screamed.

Then, he jabbed me in the neck with a needle as I continued to fight.

"Go!" I screamed at Poppy. "Take the car and…"

Then, there was nothing but blackness.

My mouth was dry and my throat even drier. I groaned at the pounding in my head and looked around. I was in the same bed as before, different room. I sat up too quickly, fearing the asshole would come in and violate me, and moaned at the pain.

But, I couldn't go through that.

Not again.

I have to get the hell out of here.

I wasn't tied up. I tried the door but it of course was locked. I kicked at it, but I was weak. I racked my brain for a spell I could use—any spell. I'd spent a couple of hours studying that book Agatha sold me. The first thing I looked up was how to counteract pharmaceutical drugs that affected cognitive ability. I knew enough about drugs from being a nurse that they were probably injecting me with propofol, a powerful drug used to keep patients asleep during surgery. It could sometimes last days, patients complaining of feeling loopy, memory loss, and just a general fatigue. That was exactly how I felt now and would feel for a couple of days until the bastards would inject us again.

I'm not getting injected again. I refuse.

Just then, the door opened and the blond one walked in with a water bottle. He tossed it at me. "I see someone's awake." He grinned, and it was creepy.

I opened the bottle and downed the contents. I was so thirsty.

"Where's Poppy?" I slurred.

"She got away, but we'll get her back. Like we got you back, bitch. We're tracing the license plate now on that fancy SUV you showed up in."

I instantly panicked. Obviously it would show it belonged to Shep.

Though, I could only imagine what would happen to them if they tried to enter the compound. I almost smiled at the thought. Almost.

I wondered where Poppy drove off to. If she was smart, she'd use my phone's GPS and go straight to the nearest police station. If she called her parents or someone, there was going to be a whole-ass media blowup.

Fuck. Human cops against vampires?

"Get up, we're moving. Again. Thanks to you and that redhaired bitch."

I did as I was told. Moving was good, it meant we'd be out of the house. Wherever that was. I couldn't believe the audacity of these vampires not even tying us up, too confident we were too weak and they were much stronger and faster than us to try to escape.

I also knew Shep and his guys would be looking for me. But that could take hours. I knew when I didn't show up later with their car, they'd get concerned. But how would they find me? Even if they got their car back, and Poppy directed them to the house—which, who knew if she knew the location—I wouldn't be here.

I was wrangled out to the living room where three of the four girls I'd left behind, along with three new ones I'd never seen, were waiting. They stared at me, and the ones I recognized, their eyes widened. They were smart enough to figure out I'd traded myself for Poppy.

As scared as I was, I didn't regret it. She was just a scared 18-year-old kid, and hopefully she could move on from this and live a happy life. I was a witch and could get myself out of this. All of the "should haves" after I was rescued swirled in my mind for days—for weeks—of things I could have tried while I was locked up with these bastards. I couldn't think of them at the time because of the drugs, but they were in my memory now, and I planned to use some of them. What I wasn't going to put up with was the assault. If that bastard tried that again, he'd be very sorry.

We were all put into the van, and I recognized that it was very early morning—the sun wasn't quite up. I'd slept all night but of course did not feel refreshed. They shackled us to handcuffs that were secured to the walls of the van, each of us having one hand free but unable to move.

Two of them sat up front and I wondered if they were concerned about the upcoming sun. Maybe it was a short drive? The other two sat with us in the back. There were no seats, so they kneeled behind the driver and passenger seats, watching us menacingly. But they didn't scare me.

I tried to watch where we were going but there were no windows in the back and the bastards' heads were blocking the front window.

All I knew was that it was going to be nowhere good. But I would be ready.