Chapter Six
It happened so fast that I didn't have time to think. Instinctively I dropped to the ground, using the car door as a shield. Another bullet fired, putting a huge dent in the hood of the car. Chase's body was on top of mine, acting as a human shield. I knew I should have pushed him away--I couldn't very well let him get shot because of me--but my body wasn't responding to what my brain was telling it. All I could think about was the fact that I was getting shot at. Shot at by a human, because vampires or other creepy-crawlies wouldn't bother with guns. They'd attack me head-on.
It didn't help that I was holding my gun. I was too much in shock for it to be of any use. I might as well be brandishing a stick at my shooter, for all the good it would have done. Another shot fired, shattering the car window right above our heads. Chase looked at me, and then at the gun, and then back to me again. He must have seen my shock on my face, because he muttered, "For Christ's sake," and then reached over me, pulling the gun from my hand. He raised up and aimed the gun through the now non-existent car window, then fired off three rounds into the darkness. Great; was he going to have to save me every time I got myself into a little scrape?
I think the person shooting at me hadn't expected to get shot at themselves, because there was a momentary ceasefire. I thought it was as good a time as any to run, and apparently Chase had the same idea. He grabbed my arm roughly and hauled me to my feet. "Run!" he shouted. We took off in the opposite direction, which of course was the smart thing to do, because hopefully we would eventually be too far away for our shooter to hit us. Also, Chase's car was in that direction. Hoorah.
In under three minutes we had securely gotten ourselves into the vehicle, and Chase had veered us out of the parking lot as fast as he possibly could. When we were well down the road from the club, he turned to me and asked: "Mind telling me why the hell you have people shooting at you?" He sounded stressed.
"Hey, I didn't ask you to hang around," I said. "You chose to come back all on your own, so it's your fault you got caught in the crossfire."
"Uh-huh," he said. "And if I hadn't have come back, you would have been killed."
"Well, at least you wouldn't have had people shooting at you, now, would you?"
He directed his gaze back to the road and sighed. "You're impossible."
"I'm impossible?" I snapped. "You've known me for like, ten minutes!"
"And already you've almost been killed, I've been shot at, and we've had a fight. Sounds like impossible to me."
I so did not have time for him. I just didn't. I mean, sure, the guy had saved me twice. Big whoop. Never mind the fact that I, Kayla Atrelic, have never needed saving by a civilian before in my life. "Whatever," I said, my voice the epitome of the Bitch attitude. "Just take me home, will you?"
"I don't think so," he scoffed. When I looked at him, he shook his head. "With a wound like that? I'm taking you home with me. You're going to eventually bleed to death if you don't get that thing stitched up."
Well, I couldn't argue with him there. And I would really like to stay alive, so... "Fine. Just tell me something."
He shrugged, not taking his eyes off the road. "Anything."
Hmm...anything, eh? Well, several inappropriate things went through my mind, but I finally settled on one that I figured he wouldn't be offended by. "Why are you being so nice to me, a complete stranger?"
He snuck a quick glance away from the road to look at me, a crooked grin on his face. "Because I think you're cute."
I laughed, I couldn't help it. The moment I did, a pain shot up my side, and then everything went black.
xXxXxXxXxXx
When I woke up we were still in the car, away from the bright lights of the city. We seemed to be driving in a suburban area, with lots of cute little houses and white picket fences. It looked like some place he might live if he had a wife, and a family. I would have thought that, except he wasn't wearing a ring. And besides, he didn't seem like the type to settle down and be married. I turned my head to look at him, and even that small movement hurt. He was concentrating on the road, but there was a determination in his expression that I couldn't explain. It took me two tries to ask, "Where are we?"
"I'm taking you someplace where you can get medical attention," he said.
I didn't have enough strength to shake my head, so I settled for just saying, "No hospitals."
"Did I say anything about a hospital?" he asked. "You need help, or you're probably going to bleed to death right there. And besides," he paused to look at me, "you're starting to turn blue."
For the first time I realized just how fast we were going through this small neighborhood. We could very well have little old ladies calling the cops on us. I also realized that the determination that I saw on Chase's face was due to the fact that I could very well die in his passenger seat. My eyes were already starting to flutter, so heavy that I could hardly keep them open. And I was cold. Never a good sign.
Chase pulled the car, which was actually a Jeep, into the driveway of a small brick house with no picket fence, but lots of trees. Trees were nice, I could live with trees. Chase stopped the vehicle and got out. I tried to do the same, but I couldn't move to get enough leverage to open the damn door. I almost fell out as the door was opened from the outside. Chase caught me before I could fall and smash my face on the pavement below. He adjusted me in his arms so that he was carrying me "bridal style." I was too tired to feel bad that I was bleeding all over him.
He got to the door and even though the keys were in his hand he couldn't get me in a comfortable enough position to unlock the door. Sighing, he peered down at me through the darkness. "Can you reach up and ring the doorbell?" he asked quietly. Was he kidding? If it wasn't for the moonlight reflecting off the metal panel, I wouldn't have even been able to tell where the damn doorbell was. But I did it anyway. I reached up towards that gleaming metal panel and pushed with my fingers until I found the damn button, and then I rang the damn doorbell for him.
I heard voices from inside the house, quiet and concerned. Then I heard the unmistakable click that said someone had just loaded a gun. Dear God, I hoped I wasn't going to get shot at. Again. The door opened and light from inside the house poured outside, washing over Chase and I. We must have been a sight--a girl, bleeding to death, being carried by a guy who was covered in blood. We probably looked like a walking double homicide. Whomever had opened the door dropped their gun to the floor--it was a miracle it didn't go off--and a woman's voice said: "Chase, what the hell are you doing?!"
"Can I come in?" Chase snapped. "It's kind of an emergency." At this point I was slumped in his arms, my eyes closed, terribly exhausted. I could only assume the woman moved, because he carried me into the light. He hurried me into the living room where he gently put me on a couch. I hoped whoever lived here didn't mind getting blood on their sofa, 'cause it was going to happen.
"Help me get her pants off, Chase." In a normal situation I might have had to protest, but I was willing to let it slide, just this once. I felt my jeans--now slick with most of my blood--being peeled away from my body. Someone pulled off my boots and socks, and then slid my pants all the way off. I was conscious enough to worry because I couldn't remember what underwear I was wearing. Strong hands rolled me so that I was laying on my side, the deep wound just above my hip exposed for all the world to see. Thankfully, it had already started to go numb.
"Can you please explain what happened?" the strange woman asked after ordering someone else in the room to go fetch her medical kit.
"She picked a fight with some vampires," Chase said.
My eyes fluttered open, and I managed to say in a weak voice, "Picked a fight? Honey, I saved your ass."
I looked up at him, and there was raw worry on his face. I briefly wondered how someone who had never met me before in their life could feel such worry for me, a complete stranger. He gave me a grim smile. "Let's hope I was in time to save yours."
