Too late

The darkest of days

Jack's point of view

"Well, he looks sad." One of Alishia's college friends said as they were drinking coffee. I was sitting with a fellow guardian a few tables away to not wake suspicion.

"It is his break-up anniversary, be nice," Alishia tried to defend. I sent them a look to let them know I had heard them and they hastily looked away but kept gossiping.

"Break up anniversary? Must have been some girl," one girl stated with a little whistle and I could see Alishia's mood drop. The day we had come back with no Haley, all hope of ever getting her friend back slipped. She locked herself up in her room for a week, wouldn't even let Kian in. but little by little she had come around. She had taken up her studies again, and it occurred to me that maybe she was trying to move on. Maybe she was trying to forget. It was what we all should be doing but I could never forget her, my Leah.

"She was," Alishia simply stated and they sensed it was a touchy suspect and started to talk about next week's big test. It was moments like this that hurt the most, cause I knew if I hadn't given her up she would be there with them and she would be shining like a diamond. Only god knows where she was now or if she was even alive. I knew chances were slim that she was, and though it was painful to admit, I kinda hoped she wasn't, for her own sake.

"One, Two, Three." *Bang!* I kicked the door into yet another room in the house. We had tracked down another nest, in the past two years the council had decided we should start hunting them down. So we did.

"It is another girl." A guard, a new one straight out of school, said behind me, sounding disappointed we hadn't found a vampire yet. But he was wrong it wasn't just another girl. In the other rooms, frightened, half-naked, girls had scrambled to the corners. This room only held one, unclothed girl and she wasn't even moving.

"I'll get her out, you continue," I barked at the rest of the group, and they quickly continued down the hall.

I kneeled beside her. She was covered in blood and bruises, her chocolate brown hair was a mess, she was lying on her stomach, tied by her hands with chains to the floor. I was worried that she wasn't moving, but her pulse was clear under my fingers. I used a special tool to remove the chains, then quickly wrapped her with my leather jacket and took her in my arms before hurrying to the exit. I jumped into the car with freed captives before it took off towards the court's infirmary. I noticed the other girl stared at the girl in my arms. Most looked away when they saw me returning their stares but one brown-haired girl was too busy studying the girl to be bothered.

"You know her?" I asked her curious to find out why she wasn't with the other girls.

The brown-haired girl didn't jump but kept looking at the leather-wrapped nest of hair in my arms while she shook her head. "No, but I heard of her."

"Heard of her?"

She nodded. "And heard her. We never saw her but we could hear her scream. Rumors say she was there for years, most of the girls don't stand a month but for some reason, they kept her alive for years," she muttered and furrowed her brows as if trying to figure out why.

"Why?" She shook her head.

"I don't know, it is probably not even true just a rumor going around. I've only been there for a week." There wasn't exchanged another word for the rest of the ride. When we arrived back, the girl in my arms was quickly taken to a doctor and it wasn't before I was standing in my apartment that I noticed I hadn't gotten my jacket back. I decided I would get it tomorrow and try to see her while I was there, but now I really needed some sleep.

That night I dreamed of her. Of Leah. She was beautiful like an angel but her eyes were empty. Empty and sad. Every time I tried to reached out for her, she vanished between my fingers only to reappear further down. I woke up drenched in sweat gasping for my breath. I knew what to do, this nightmare wasn't the first. A cold shower and then get going, it was the only way to forget.

The infirmary was summing like a colony of bees. Nurses and doctors running around to care for all the injured. I went to the front desk where the nurse smiled kindly at me.

"Hi, Jack, what can I do for you?" She asked sweetly, seemingly unaffected by the chaos.

"I came in with a girl yesterday and well she was wrapped in my jacket."

The nurse smiled kindly. "She is in room 14. Your jacket is in there too."

I gave a half-smile. "Thank you." I walked casually down and stepped aside for nurses in a hurry. Finally, in front of room 14, I stopped dead in my tracks at the door. A nurse had taken the time to clean her up a bit. The blood was washed off and her hair was brushed so her face was visible.

A doctor stepped in beside me. "Oh Mr. Donnovick, here to pick up your coat, I assume?"

I just nodded still looking at the beautiful girl in the hospital bed. "She hasn't gained consciousness since she was brought in, but it shouldn't be long before she wakes up. Hopefully, she can tell us who she is, so we can put an identity on her, get her back to her family, and, well, find a place to send the bill. She is dhampire, so it shouldn't be as hard to find her as with the human girls," he mussed and clicked away on his chart.

"There is no need to wait till she is awake, I know her."

The doctor looked at me curiously and eager. "Well?"

I looked him dead in the eye to watch his reaction. "That is Haley Wright."