Burned

Chapter 1

Trent

Ichoked back a sob at the dead weight in my arms. This wasn’t Kiara. It couldn't be. She was not dead. She was not dead. She astral projected, she must have. She was playing some cruel trick on me for all the times I’d been a jackass to her. But as I felt the warm, sticky liquid on my hands I knew that I was wrong even as I intensely wished it was all a nightmare .

My cheek stung as the jagged edge of a rock sliced my skin. I felt it hitting me, but only just, as if from far away. As if I was looking on at the scene from outside my body. I shifted Kiara’s weight in my arms and tugged her closer to me. I said that I wouldn’t let this happen to her. I said I wouldn’t let that demon hurt her, and that is exactly what I did.

The wind howled around us as a third voice called out to me. Trent! Kaleib. I shut my eyes. I forgot he was with us. I shook my head and opened my eyes to Kiara’s lifeless form in my arms. Something wet ran down my cheeks. Tears. When was the last time I cried?

I smoothed her golden hair back from her face. I wanted to see those dark blue eyes again. Hear her angelic voice. I wanted to hear her sing, hear her talk. Hell, her hear snap at me. I didn’t even know if she would come back. Or what she would come back as. Human or vampire?

Trent! Kaleib yelled again, his hoarse voice barely audible over the wind. Debris flew around us, kicked up by the wind. He touched my shoulder. Then he reached for Kiara. I spun towards him and my lips pulled back over my teeth, an animalistic growl escaping. He stood upright.

Trent, we have to get Kiara out of here. His voice cracked on her name. I wasn’t looking at him. I refused to. He would probably blame me for Kiara’s death, too. And I couldn't say I would blame him if he did. A small, jagged rock flew at Kiara’s face, a long cut appearing across her pale cheek. I wiped away the blood with my hand.

Trent, you can stay here if you want, but I’m taking Kiara away from here. His voice trembled.

I turned to him then. His face looked worn with emotion. He couldn’t have been older than his mid-twenties when he turned. But right then his face looked worn with age. The hidden age and sorrow that our faces rarely showed. I nodded. Okay, I spoke around the boulder-sized lump in my throat.

I closed my eyes, still holding Kiara tight to me and breathed in and out for just a minute. I swallowed down the lump. I had to pull myself together. For Kiara.

I opened my eyes and forced myself to look up at Kaleib. Instead, I found him kneeling next to me.Where are we going to take her? I asked him.

Kaleib’s mouth popped open but nothing came out, like the words got stuck in his throat.

We need to take her away from here. You said so yourself. But what about her godparents? What if they’re home? How are we going to explain this to them? I think we should take her somewhere else.

My place, he blurted. I thought on it for half a second then shook my head. His brow furrowed.

Abigail and Robert know where you live. What if they come looking for us? For Kiara.

He gave a tense nod and then looked around the forest. We need to decide. Now.

Kiara’s blood was smeared on my hands. The scent was overwhelming. How many times had I fantasized about what her blood would taste like? I was covered in it. I grit my teeth and shook with the conflicting desires to save her and to ravenously lap her blood up off my hands.

My place, I said finally. I shifted Kiara in my hold.

He hesitated. Any better ideas? We didn’t have time for this.

I scooped Kiara up in my arms and rose heavily to my feet. Where are your keys?

Excuse me? His hand hovered over his pocket.

Where are your damn keys? Nothing.

Kaleib, I’ll either break your car door or run all the way to my place with her myself. Or you could get out your keys and drive us there. What will it be?

His jaw locked, and I heard his teeth ground together. He yanked his keys from the back pocket of his jeans and flipped them into his grip. He stalked away towards his car, and I bolted away from the horrific scene. Away from the place where my promise to myself and my unspoken promise to Kiara had been broken.

The trees blurred around me. I was at Kaleib’s car before him. A second later he walked out from the tree line.

Someone could have seen you do that, he hissed as he shoved the key into the driver’s side door. I looked away from him to the row of trees and then down to the concrete beneath my feet. I knew he was right. I wasn’t thinking. How was I expected to think straight? I was barely able to form the thought that we should take Kiara to my place. He may have been right, but I wasn’t going to let him know that.

Are we sure that taking her to your place is the best idea? He opened the door behind his side of the car. I lingered outside with Kiara in my arms. Just as the desires to save her and lap up her blood warred within me, the desire to not look at her lifeless face was warring with something else. With that magnetic pull. The same one I’d felt since the second I met her. Sitting in that tree outside her window. I let my mind pull me back to that night. I felt it the second that I saw her. A little tug. And when she sat next to me on that tree branch, the tug grew stronger. Like there was some invisible string between the two of us. In our hearts. Tugging us together. Whether we wanted it to or not. I wasn’t a huge believer in destiny or any of that shit, but I couldn’t deny that there was something between us (whatever it was) the second we met. We were tethered together.

That tug won out, and I looked down at her face. Her head was slumped over on my shoulder, her hands hanging down at her sides. Her hair sprawled out over her face. My breath caught in my throat.

Trent.

My head snapped up to look back at Kaleib. Oh. Yes, I think it’s the best idea. We’re not taking her back home. They don’t know where my place is. We’ve been through this already.

His brow furrowed and a frown took over his lips. What about-

I cut him off. "What about what? A hotel? How exactly are we going to explain this to them? I gestured down at Kiara. Certainly not a hospital. Technically, Kaleib, she’s dead." She was for the moment. Until she woke up. As a human or a vampire.

He hissed and winced like I’d slapped him in the face. The words came out harsher than I meant, but it was true. She was dead. I was holding Kiara, dead, in my arms. Kiara was dead. It took everything in me to not vomit onto the asphalt.

Just get in the car. His voice was hardly a whisper. A choked sound from his throat.

I looked down at the gray leather seats. It seemed impossible that the woman in my arms had been alive only an hour ago. I gulped as I leaned down and lay her carefully over the seats before I slid in next to her. Kaleib took his spot in the driver’s seat.

I looked over at Kiara. She was still in there. She had to be. I couldn't just leave her laying there. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, my right hand cradling her head, and I pulled her back up into my arms. I tucked her in close to me and placed her head on my shoulder. I kept an arm around her waist and then closed my eyes. This wasn't the way that I wanted to hold her.

I caught Kaleib’s eye in the rearview mirror. He stared at us. At Kiara and me. Was it jealousy that I saw in his eyes? No, it wasn’t that. Anger? Sadness? I couldn’t place it. His green eyes were bright and dim all at once. He looked away first, down to the steering wheel. I held Kiara tighter as the car went into reverse.

Don’t you need to know where we’re going? I asked him after a few minutes.

I still don’t know about taking her to your place…

My hands curled into fists. I felt the fingers of my right hand digging into Kiara’s flesh and promptly unfurled them. I didn't want to hurt her…I knew she couldn't feel anything but I didn’t want to hurt her.

Stop arguing with me and just go there. It’s not like I’m taking her there, just her and me. Alone. You’re going to be there, for God’s sake, Kaleib. His jaw locked. Just go. I’ll give you directions.

What did you do to the owner? Kaleib shut the door behind him. I still held Kiara’s lifeless form in my arms.

Nothing, I snapped. I did nothing to the owner. Bastard’s always thinking the worst of me.

Nothing?

I heaved a heavy sigh. "I may have…suggested that they take a long vacation."

Suggested, of course you did.

I don’t have the energy for this shit right now, Kaleib. He shot me a glare but as soon as his eyes landed on Kiara it fell away. He looked more broken than he did when he saw Charity fall to the floor at my feet.

Kiara’s small hands hung limply at her sides. Only hours before, I held her hand. I couldn’t get the scene to stop playing in my mind. In Kaleib’s green car. Him swerving into the other lane. Looking down and seeing her hand in mine. Rubbing my thumb back and forth over her soft skin.

And her pulling away.

And only minutes before that, I was kissing her. I was kissing her soft, full lips and she was kissing me back. Her small hands were tangled in my hair, tugging softly. She actually kissed me back. She had to feel something for me then, didn’t she? I could still feel her lips on mine, still taste her lips, feel her hips in my hands. My eyes burned with tears again as I forced myself to look down at her.

My usually agile feet were like lead moving over the hardwood floors, slow and clunky. The modest one-story guest house had one bedroom in the back. That’s where I carried Kiara. Nowhere in my mind did I think that would be the way I carried her to my bedroom. I gingerly placed her on my comforter, careful to keep from jostling her in the slightest even though I knew she couldn’t feel anything. She lay on the bed, paler than normal, her golden hair sprawled across the pillow like a beacon of light.

But I saw no light. I had no idea if she would ever awake, or what she would awake as if she did. I smoothed stray strands of hair back from her face and ran my hand through her hair, letting it gently caress her cheek. A vice gripped my heart, and again, I thought back. My lips had been on hers only hours before. Our mouths moving together as if we were made for one another. Before her best friend died, before I let her die. I peered down at her. That wasn’t how I wanted things to end between us. That wasn’t how I wanted things to end for her. She deserved so much more.

It had been a long time since I'd experienced true pain. Charity’s death was the greatest pain I’d experienced until that point. And a stab of guilt hit me. I’d truly loved Charity, but as I looked down at Kiara, I wondered what those feelings toward her were. Should I feel guilty for them? It had been over a hundred years. The pain I felt at this instant, it was excruciating. I could swear it was worse than when I’d lost Charity. Maybe it was because it had been so long but, I didn't remember it feeling like it did. It was like a hand shoved down my throat, latched onto my heart, ripping it through my mouth, pulling the rest of my insides with it. Then took my intestines and choked me with them.

Trent. A hand came down on my shoulder and squeezed in an almost brotherly manner. Kaleib. I knew for certain that he felt nothing brotherly toward me anymore. I had one hundred seventy-five years of proof to back up that theory. I must look as deflated as I feel.

What, Kaleib? My voice came out softly. Brotherly gesture or not, he did not irk me any less in that moment.

His eyes were on Kiara. I could feel the despair radiating off of him as he walked past me to the bed.

That same peak of jealously that spiked up my throat like bile not so long ago was there again. It vanished quickly, however, when Kaleib whispered, "I promised your mother that I would take care of you, protect you. I broke that promise, and I am so sorry, Kiara. I am so sorry." The shine of a tear transferred from Kaleib’s olive-skinned cheek to Kiara’s near pure white one.

I could not feel jealously or hatred toward him in that moment. If there was one person on Earth who understood my pain, it was Kaleib.

Feeling a connection with Kaleib…the world has turned upside down.

My eyes drifted to the window, lightening striking the ground only a few feet away. The entire darkened room was suddenly awash with bright light. Lights…I’d forgotten light. What if she wakes up as a vampire? It always hurts the eyes at first. Maybe she wouldn’t want light.

As I stared at her, willing her to wake up, willing just one eye to open, I felt something warm and wet drip down my hand. I glanced down but dismissed it as her blood still on my skin until I felt a pang in my palms. I tore my eyes away from Kiara and glanced down at my hands again with disinterest. My nails dug into my skin. I watched more blood gush out as they dug in deeper but hardly felt a thing. My blood pooled on the bedroom carpet, forever staining it with my anger, uncertainty, and sorrow.

If she came back as a vampire, could I handle that? Could she handle it? My gut told me she could handle anything. If she woke up as a vampire, it wouldn't change what I felt about her. The knowledge that I turned her into a vampire? Now that, I didn’t know if I could handle.

I was in exactly the same position I was when I sat next to Kiara’s bed nearly twelve hours earlier. Elbows on my knees, fingers interlocked, chin resting on my interlocked fingers. I stared at Kiara for those twelve hours straight. Waiting for a move, a whisper, something. But there was nothing. Nothing. Not one damn thing.

Kaleib sat across from me on the other side of the bed, thumbing through one of my old books. I didn’t understand how he could focus on such a thing. How could he even look away from Kiara? I had a hard enough time glancing at him in that second.

My eyes moved back to Kiara. Still nothing. Our window of time was running out. If she didn’t wake up soon, she was gone. Really gone. For good. And she would be another soul to put on my conscience.

And then I heard a whisper. A croak. Just one word. Sarah.

Chapter 2

Kiara

S arah. My throat felt scratchy, the word was hard to get out. My eyes wouldn’t open. The only thing that I had in that moment were my thoughts. Thoughts that blurred together. A movie that someone chopped into pieces and threw back at me for me to piece it together .

A cave. Sharp rocks. Damp. Dark. That cloaked figure. Those hands; gray, shriveled, skin was pulled taught over the bones. A flick of a hand. A snap. Sarah. She fell. Hit the ground. Was she gone? Was she dead? She was dead. Sarah was dead. Why? Why? My brain sped to keep up with my thoughts. It tried to kill me. Someone pushed me out of the way. Kaleib? No. Trent.

Trent. That was who it was, Trent. He saved me. And Sarah was dead because of it. Because of him… It was his fault. Why then couldn’t I stop my mind from trying to recall if he was okay?

There was something I was missing, I knew it. Something I couldn’t remember. My brain wasn’t letting me process it all. Not yet. But those two names came to the forefront of my mind. Sarah. and, Trent.

Kiara? A hand soft but calloused touched mine. My smaller hand wrapped around it without a thought. I recognized the feel of that hand on mine; it held mine only hours before everything happened. No. It was his fault Sarah was dead. It was his fault. I pulled my hand out of his grip and heard a sad sigh.

I pried my eyes open. And winced at the light shining through my window. Damn it, I cursed as I turned my face into the pillow.

Close the blinds. Trent. That was Trent. The light disappeared from the room, and I peeked out from my pillow. Trent was sitting to my right side, his hand was still held out like he was expecting me to slip my hand back into his. Kaleib peered at me from in front of the window, his shadow soft against the curtains.

Trent, he started slowly. Trent turned on him sharply, his black hair flicking into his eyes. Kaleib bit his lip, letting the words die in his throat. Odd, Kaleib never listened to Trent. And vice versa. What the hell happened? What was I forgetting?

Kaleib? I pushed myself up to a sitting position on the bed. Trent’s hand slipped behind the small of my back and I instantly hated myself for the warmth that spread through me at his touch. Fury burned in my veins and yet I still felt a measure of comfort from him. It made my fury burn hotter.

Kaleib? I repeated. A million questions flooded my mind but as I looked around one came to the forefront. Where am I? I looked around the unfamiliar room.

My bed, Trent’s deep voice came from next to me.

Excuse me? I stuttered. Something in my stomach fluttered uncooperatively. Even in all the chaos and anger, Trent still affected me. I hated it. I hated him. I hated myself. My head fell forward onto my right hand. I massaged my temple and forehead hard. My fingers digging into my skin would have hurt if my head wasn't already pounding. And what was that burning in my throat? We could get to the questions about his bed later.

"What