If I could visualize what her hypnosis looked like, it’d be like blowing smoke into a tiny jar and watching the air slowly turn black until you could no longer see through the glass. Because it was just like that. That was my skull. The control was gradual as it encompassed my brain, and suddenly, the concept of speaking, or even words, felt foreign. My mouth wouldn’t and couldn’t open.
It was probably the most helpless feeling I had ever felt, more than when Melanie had done it to me. Because Molly could snap me in two right then and there, and I wouldn’t make a sound.
The sliding glass door to the hotel living room suddenly popped open, and Veronica sashayed in. Her black dress was damp from the snowfall and her cleavage glistened. Molly shoved the desk clerk into Veronica’s arms and said, “Don’t make too much of a mess.” Veronica smiled.
I thought he was going to be spared. I thought she was using him as a way for me to go with her willingly. I was wrong. He wasn’t hurting anyone and he wasn’t at all in the way of her plan, yet she tossed him to Veronica like he was leftovers to be put in the trash. I was so confused.
Molly took a quick bite out of his arm, and before she pushed me out the door, I could see Veronica throw the man on the ground, straddle him, and then dig into him like he was a feast.
I sleepwalked my way out of the hotel and into the freezing cold temperatures and deep snow. My body guided me while my brain was unaware of everything that was happening. I turned my head ever so slightly at the second floor of the building and spotted a light through one of the windows. It was where Melanie was being kept. I internally screamed, knowing help was close yet so far.
“I think they’re onto us,” she said and grabbed my arm, yanking me further through the snow. I didn’t understand why she said this at first until I remembered how strong her hearing was and that she most likely caught wind of their conversation. I felt a swell of relief build in my chest. Even if they didn’t make it outside in time, at least they knew something had happened and would come looking for me.
But then Molly knelt down slightly and forced my body against her back like she was giving me a piggyback ride. “Hold on tight. If you fall, I will fucking end you.” My confusion didn’t even have time to fester before the two of us dashed forward so fast I thought my neck was going to snap. She used her vampire speed with me on her back, but the problem was I was still human and felt every aching pain of a speed my body was incapable of. The pressure of the frigid air pounding against my face felt like blocks of ice smacking me around, and I had to close my eyes to stop the burning sensation from gouging out my eyes.
I’m not sure how long we were like this. On the one hand, it felt like seconds, and on the other, it felt like a century. All I knew was that by the time we stopped and she dropped me to the ground, I was shaking, my skin was stinging, and I fell to my knees and threw up. I was so sick that I couldn’t even tell where we were.
Molly stood in front of me, her own porcelain skin unbothered by the cold breeze, and placed both hands on her hips. “You’re truly pathetic, you know that?”
I sat on the snowy forest floor when a black blur whizzed by and then suddenly transformed into Veronica. “Why have we stopped?” she asked. She must have been following us, but was too quick for me to see.
“This one was about to hurl all over my back,” Molly explained. “Did you leave them a message?”
“Yep.”
“Where did you put it?”
“Trust me, they’ll see it,” she said proudly.
If they were leaving some kind of ransom note for Max to find, then at least I knew I was safe for the time being. They weren’t going to kill me. Or, at least, not yet.
I folded my arms at my chest to try to stay warm, but my body was a level of cold that felt deeper than any quick warm-up. I felt it in my bones. My teeth chattered and I was refraining from throwing up again when Veronica noted, “She really is a pitiful thing.”
“She always was.”
“You say that like I’m supposed to remember her. There’s nothing remotely memorable about this chick at all.” Veronica cocked her head to the side and snickered. “You really lost a boyfriend to this?”
Molly’s face twisted angrily. “Veronica, shut the hell up.”
“Don’t get pissy at me, all right? It’s not my fault he’s into red… brown, or whatever the hell her hair color is.”
“I didn’t lose him to her. We ended things long before…this showed up.” I was a literal disgusting object to her now.
“Yeah, but he didn’t exactly come crawling back to you, did he?”
“Veronica, do humanity a favor and shut the entire fuck up. I don’t need any of this.”
“You act like you’re the only one with problems. I died the same night as you. Remember? All the shit that I’ll never get to do again…lie out in the sun and get a tan, blow Jimmy Roberts on
