Hey there, beautiful people!

Time for CHAPTER 6 of Crimson Days. 🙂

Keep in mind this story is being developed and written as I post it. It has not been edited or doctored up. Nevertheless, I hope it entertains you.

Comments are welcomed!

Enjoy!

Before reading CHAPTER 6, make sure to read the first 5 chapters. Links are below.

CHAPTER 1 ~ http://blog.yvonnenicolas.com/2014/10/01/crimson-days-ch-1/

CHAPTER 2 ~ http://blog.yvonnenicolas.com/2014/10/04/crimson-days-ch-2/

CHAPTER 3 ~ http://blog.yvonnenicolas.com/2014/10/08/crimson-days-ch-3/

CHAPTER 4 ~ http://blog.yvonnenicolas.com/2014/10/11/crimson-days-ch-4/

CHAPTER 5 ~ http://blog.yvonnenicolas.com/2014/10/15/crimson-days-ch-5/

**WARNING: Not suitable for the faint of heart, prudes or those easily bothered by strong and vulgar language, graphic descriptions, urban dialect, blood-lusting hotties, kickass female warriors, sword-wielding bad asses, dark smutty sex and extreme violence.**

CRIMSON DAYS

**dystopian sci-fi, paranormal, erotic and interracial romance**

Chapter 6

Fifteen minutes later, I sat in the tub filled with hot water and rose-scented bubbles. It was soothing, but it wasn’t nearly enough to stop my tears from falling. I had moved onto my second glass of wine and I wasn’t the least bit tipsy. I stared at the crimson liquid pooled at the bottom of the glass, wondering if I just should’ve brought the bottle into the bathroom with me.

Soft soulful music wafted through the air. It blocked out the sounds of the hovercrafts whirring above my building.

Slouched in the tub, I rested my head on the edge and closed my eyes. I tried to think of anything but the recent events. Despite my efforts, the last ten hours shuffled through my mind like broken film strips. There was no escaping it.

Tilting my head back, I quaffed the rest of the wine.

A chime sounded from the unseen speaker above, indicating a video call.

“Ignore,” I groaned.

The chiming stopped for a few seconds, then started up again.

“Ignore!”

Like before, it stopped, only to start up again. It almost sounded like it was getting louder.

I gritted out a scream. “For God’s sake, who is it?”

“Officer Steve Rial desires to speak with you,” the disembodied voice informed.

“Oh hell no.” After he betrayed me, he had the nerve to call? I didn’t want to speak to him, I didn’t even want to see his face, but I found myself taking the call anyway. “Answer,” I grumbled.

A large screen emerged from the back wall. Seconds later, I was staring at Steve’s grinning face.

“The fuck you want, Steve?” I sunk deeper into the water, making sure the bubbles covered my full breasts. Not that I needed to. I’m sure Steve wasn’t aroused by any of my womanly assets, being that he preferred to gawk at male anatomy.

He chuckled. “Come on, Alex. Don’t be like that.”

“Don’t be like that?” I cocked my head. “You sold me out to the council! I have every reason to be like that! I shouldn’t have even answered your call.”

Inner pain softened his eyes. “I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I was under oath…”

“Oh please bruh, don’t give me that crap. You always have a choice!”

“They know we’re friends, Alex. So they linked me to the Bellrum before they started questioning me. I couldn’t twist the truth even if I wanted to while hooked up to that thing.”

I fell silent. No one could beat the Bellrum. It wasn’t an average truth machine. It not only monitored your heart rate during questioning, but your brain waves as well. If you even tried to think of a lie, the machine would pick up on it.

“I’m sorry, Steve,” I breathed out. “This whole ordeal got me all fucked up and angry.”

Guilt spread across his face. “No, I’m the one who should be apologizing. Because of me, they issued you a droid. I know how you feel about those things. I wanted to warn the council about it, but I had already put my foot in my mouth more times than I care to mention, so I remained quiet on the issue. I knew as soon as you saw that thing, you were gonna freak out.”

Freak out was a huge understatement. “Don’t worry about it. None of this is your fault. I’m the one who went rogue without warning.”

“Oh, you gave warnings alright. We just weren’t paying attention to them until now.” His brow suddenly furrowed with worry.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need to ask you something. Earlier, on site, when you said you heard someone say your name and touch you…”

The mention of it made me stiffen. Why would he bring that up? “I’m pretty sure I was imaging things,” I offered nervously.

Steve shook his head. “I’m not so sure about that, Alex.”

I jerked upright in the tub, sloshing water onto the floor. My heartbeat quickened out of anxiousness. “Why do you say that?”

He opened his mouth to speak then shook his head. “Naw, don’t worry about it. It’s classified stuff.”

“No-no-noo, you don’t get to say classified to me after mentioning that. What’s going on?”

He heaved out a sigh as he settled back in his seat. “The drones picked up some odd readings on site. I thought maybe it was a malfunction because there were so many vampires congregated in one area. That happens sometimes, but the readings… I don’t know what to think of this.”

“Well you’re thinking something, and I need to know what that something is.”

“Have you heard it?”

“Heard what?”

“The voice again?”

I didn’t answer. I just stared at the screen, baffled and frightened at what Steve’s questions meant. “Are you asking this to report back to the council, or…?”

“I’m asking because I need to know. You know what though? You don’t have to say anything. The look on your face says it all.” He leaned in closer to the screen. “I have to come and see you. We need to talk.”

An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. “Now?”

Steve suddenly pulled back and looked to his right. “Hey, what’s up, Tony.”

“Who’re you talking to, honey?” Steve’s lover walked into the view of the screen. He crouched down and waved at me. “Oh heeey, Alex!” His light grey eyes shimmered in mannish appraisal. “Ooo girl, those tit-teys are looking YUMMY.”

Whereas Steve was not lured by womanly assets, his boyfriend on the other hand, ogled me every chance he got.

Heat soared to my face. I slapped my hands over my breasts and sunk back into the bubbly water. “Hey, Tony,” I murmured.

Steve shoved Tony out of the way and pinned him with a silent death glare.

Tony threw his hands up and laughed. “Don’t get mad at me. If the boobies are out, I’m gonna look.”

“Get out of here,” Steve grumbled. When the room was clear, he turned his attention back to me. “I can’t leave while Tony’s here, so look for me tomorrow. I’ll come by after your appointment with Dr. Chambers.”

The prickles running down my spine increased. “Wait, Steve. Are you going to at least give me a hint on what’s going on? I’ve never been this freaking nervous in my life.”

He slid his fingers across the screen. “I’m sending you some files on an incident that happened six years ago.” A document popped up on the screen’s right hand side. “Read them over carefully, then tomorrow we’ll talk.” He disconnected, and his face vanished leaving nothing but the file in view.

I made an attempt to read it, but I couldn’t focus on the words. I couldn’t focus on anything except the troubled expression Steve wore when he asked me had I heard the voice again.

What the hell does it all mean? Why is it happening to me? And why is he making me wait until tomorrow?

I settled against the tub’s back rest when a sound from my bedroom jolted me—a scraping noise, the sound of metal meeting metal.

Grabbing the stake-shooter I had resting at the foot of the tub, I lunged out of the water. I snatched my bathrobe from the side hook and quickly slipped it over my body. A wet trail was left in my wake as I crept into my bedroom.

I paused and listened.

Seconds later, the scraping noise sounded again. It came from my closet. It was the sound the hanger’s metal hook made when it was sliding across the metal rod. A deep masculine groan accompanied it.

What the hell…? Who’s hiding in my closet?

My mind raced. It couldn’t be Sanjay. I watched him walk out of here. Then suddenly I remembered a report I read earlier this week, about a group of male Cross knights sexually assaulting female soldiers.

Anger washed my panic away. I figured there wasn’t a knight stupid enough to try me like that. Maybe I was wrong. Nevertheless, he was about to get more than he bargained for.

Cocking my shooter upright, I moved closer to the closet door. I penned in the desired code for entrance, but the door wouldn’t budge. Dammit! Had the council restricted me access to my closet? Really? What’s the point in that?

Assholes!

A red light blinked at the top right corner of the door. I pressed it and the panel became transparent, displaying the dark space behind it. The infrared kicked in and exposed something that made my heart shudder to a stop.

Crouched in the corner of my closet was a figure. The infrared outline the form. In normal conditions, the figure would present a red glow, indicating the presence of a human being. But to my horror, this form was highlighted in bright blue, signifying the walking dead.

For a long moment, I stared in shock.

How the hell is this possible? A vampire shouldn’t have made it past the first layer of defense. Furthermore, the alarms should be ringing out of control.

My first thought was to alert Sanjay and Steve of a security breach and request their assistance. But I thought better of it. This vampire broke into my pad, which meant he was my responsibility, and my prey.

He was about to be one dead vampire.

My building was on the outskirts of the barracks, miles from the entrance. If he got past the effects of UV dome and still made it this far, then he had to be pretty damn strong.

First order of business; get the vampire out of my closet. To do that, I needed more than a stake-shooter.

I rushed to my cache. The second I stepped in front of the retina scanner, I knew it would deny me access. But I tried anyway. When the panel refused to open, I kicked the bottom of it in anger, and then I hurried to the kitchen. I dropped to my knees and pulled the box of backup weapons from the bottom of the pantry.

Thankfully, I wasn’t one of those knights who kept all of their weapons in the same place.

After I strapped my stake-shooter over my shoulder, I grabbed a UV bomb. I marched back into my bedroom on kill mode. I knew if I put in my code, the closet wouldn’t open, but if I penned in Sanjay’s code…

The keypad next to the door beeped, signifying access. As soon as the door slid to the right and I had an inch of an opening, I tossed in the live UV bomb. A burst of ultraviolent light emerged from the dark space.

A throaty howl followed.

Gotcha, demon! Once the door had completely disappeared into the wall, I stepped into the entrance and launched two stakes.

Pop, pop.

Both strikes hit him. Couldn’t mistake the sound of the pointed tips piercing flesh. Where they struck him was a mystery to me.

Even though he was wounded, he kept moving. He was but a mere blur, whipping around my closet like a hurricane. The bomb continued to release bursts of light in rapid sequences. His skin sizzled under the deadly rays, leaving wisps of smoke trailing behind him.

My closest soon became a vapor filled space.

Stake shooter leveled, I tracked him with my eyes, waiting for a clear shot to his heart, or his head.

He seemed to be keeping his distance from me. Clearly, he wasn’t really trying to flee. Though fleeing was out of the question, considering I was blocking his path out. Sure, he could shove me out of the way and make a run for it, but not without suffering a stake to the heart.

When his movement slowed, I popped off another shot. Moving supernaturally fast, he caught the stake in midair, and then just as swiftly, he kicked the UV device out of the closet.

I ducked, allowing the bomb to fly over my head, then launched a fourth stake at him.

The strike pierced his shoulder as he barreled toward me head on.

I fell back.

He lunged on top of me and knocked the shooter from my hands.

I brought my elbow up and clipped him in the jaw. While swinging at him, I reached for my weapon with my free hand. The shooter was inches from my fingers.

He leapt back, grabbed my ankles and dragged me into the closet before I could slip my hand around the grip of the shooter.

The door slid shut, blocking out the bomb’s flashing UV light. All too soon, darkness consumed the space.

Even though I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, I knew where everything was located. I scrambled over to the box hidden under my shoe rack and extracted my short blade. The metal cried out with a sharp ching when I snatched it from its sheath. I got in position to attack with one knee to the ground, prepared to take his head. Patiently, I waited for the smallest sound from the creature I was trapped in the closet with.

My heavy panting, along with the rapid pounding beneath my chest, mingled with the stillness around me.

The vampire was smart to remain silent, since sound was my only way to locate him. Tricky bastard. He could be right next to me and I wouldn’t know until he attacked, but that wouldn’t hinder my resolve. I would kill him, or die trying.

A pair of glowing blue eyes emerged from the darkness. A chesty chuckle followed. “Lexi…”

I sprung forward toward the voice. My wrist was caught in mid-swung, but my blade tasted vampire flesh. I was shoved onto my back.

A weight fell on top of me. Strong thighs straddled my hips.

I punched him in his jaw with my free hand.

He grabbed my other wrist as I struck him and then pinned both my hands above my head. “Whooo girl, I knew you were a fighter back in the day…” His familiar husky timbre drifted over me, chilling my face. “But I had no idea you were a bonafide badass.”

That voice… Oh my God! Tears welled in my eyes as I began to sob. I knew it! I knew it was him earlier on site when he said my name, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I silently prayed that I was delusional, that the man of my past dreams was not contacting me like a master vampire would.

“Roy!” I cried out. “God, no. Nooo…”

“You missed me that badly, ay?” His fangy smile gleamed through the darkness. “Yeah, well, I missed you too, Lexi.”

Copyright © 2014 by Yvonne Nicolas

All rights reserved. 

Stay tuned for the next chapter in Crimson Days!

What was I listening to while writing this chapter?

The Neighbourhood ~ Afraid