Strength in Darkness

Chapter 2

“Hey, you reached the end of the rings. You know what to do,” beep. 

“Max,” he held the phone to his face again. “Please pick up. I’m on my way.” Hanging up, he looked out the windows of the small sedan he grabbed just outside of Diamond Sky. It was either the dented sedan with a ‘cattitude’ sticker on the back, or the minivan with ‘baby on board’ stickers all around. Well, he wouldn’t steal from a baby so ‘cattitude’ it was.

The city was in view, he made it there driving overnight, knowing she would be holed up in a hotel somewhere. He just couldn’t be late. Again. He was a minute too late the first time, but not since then. Deep breaths. In and out. 

Max needed to feed constantly at first. Once she got the hang of things, she was good eating once per week. Ethan made sure to keep stock of blood for her, but he hadn’t been able to take care of it for a few days since he was in Switzerland and then helping fight off a wolf. Then, there was the three-day nap.

No doubt she has called him every name in the book. She had every right. No one else was dependable in her life, and he made a point to be that one person for her. He’s been doing it for two years, but after a lifetime of f****d up adults treating her the way they did, two years meant nothing for her. 

There were three possible hotels she would be at. They had to face the bridge she always admired the look of it at night. It had to be at a certain angle. His choices were: The San Francisco Bay Historic Hotel, The Grandview, and Monroe. Two of them had fire escapes, so that leaves out the historic one. Now, which one was higher? He stood back trying to assess which hotel would give her more of a view than the other.

He walked up to The Grandview hotel’s check-in desk. The style was formerly a Victorian era hotel, like much of the city, but the foyer suggested they were going for a modern look with brighter white lights, purples, and a lot of contemporary art. Normally, she went for the higher-class places, since he said he would pay for the hotels so he never found her in a rat-infested motel ever again. It was only once, and she claimed it was all she could do on short notice, but he begged to differ. She wouldn’t be doing that again.

The clerk at the desk was a small woman with white hair, a face full of wrinkles, and had definitely been smoking for well over fifty years. If the smell of her wasn’t enough, the cough and the raspy voice sure announced her habit. 

“Welcome,” she said with a large smile, showcasing the fact that she was missing a tooth on the side. How exactly does she hold a job like this? “Are you checking in?”

“Um, no, actually,” he scanned the room. “My friend checked in here, I believe, and she’s waiting for me.”

“Name,” she said while going onto the computer in front of her.

“Swan,” he cleared his throat, “Kat Swan.” He hated the damn name she chose. When she was getting used to her new life, he stayed with her most nights and she forced him to watch all those stupid movies. Vampires, werewolves, kids running around an arena killing one another. She knew the life, it wasn’t new to her, but like all other teenage girls she liked watching the drama of it all. Katniss was sorta cool, and now that he thought about it, her strength and independence was what really helped Max identify with her. The Swan part, well, that was a jab at her own misfortune. Her twisted sense of humor was a coping mechanism. That and her ability to make people think she doesn’t care.

“Hmm…” an ant could have typed the name out faster than her. He was losing his patience. “Okay, yes, I have it,” she looked up at him. “Would you like me to call her room phone?”

“If you could just give me the room number I’ll go knock on her door.”

The old woman, Evelyn, from her name tag, rolled her eyes and spouted off the number. 1632. Top floor, of course.

Ethan headed for the old elevator in the room and pressed the button. Like Evelyn, the elevator seemed to be in no rush at all. The hotel didn’t seem to care that a young woman was suffering within the building. A long suffering that could result in her tearing the entire place apart any minute now.

He considered finding stairs, but needed what little energy he had to get to her. He was so low, and he forgot to grab any supplies for her. He could probably create some of her fix for her, but that would be all. She was probably going to be mad. No, she’s starving, she will be pissed. Like always, she’ll say whatever smartass remarks she has, then kick him out until next time. 

Ding! Finally

He punched in the sixteenth floor and waited for the elevator to slowly lift itself up. He could feel her nearby. She was suffering. He had no idea what he was walking into, but prepared himself for the worst. It would take a lot for it to actually kill her. She would lose her mind before she actually died.

If anything, she needed a more permanent safe house. He was working on securing something for her and for Loraina until his plans were derailed. Loraina had to get pulled out early, because of the new deals with the demons. Hernandez had his eyes on Loraina for weeks and was about two hours from getting her. His next focus would more than likely include a certain Beta he now knew he would need to shield from Hernandez.

The safe house was nearly finished, until he visited it the day before Switzerland. Someone found out and trashed it. The security he set up was torn apart. The guards he paid for were killed on the spot. The house, itself, was burned down. He needed a new plan. Max and Loraina, and possibly now Kai, would have to wait for him to figure something else out. Until then, Max was left driving around in her old Mustang just doing what she does best…hide.

The doors opened to the sixteenth floor and he wandered down the hall quickly looking for the room. 

1630…

1631…

1632.

Ethan held his ear against the door trying to listen for her. It was silent. He knocked while keeping his ear steady. Still, nothing.

“Max,” je called, “I know you’re here.” He rested his forehead on the smooth, white wood. “Please, just open the door.”

Nothing.

His heart rate was picking up. Even when she was mad at him, she wouldn’t give him the silent treatment. He didn’t get a key from Evelyn the ancient smoker, but he wouldn’t need it. His hand ran over the electronic lock of the door, and the red light turned green. He opened the door slowly, watching his surroundings for any condition. 

“Max?” he called out.

There was one queen-sized bed in the room with her backpack on it. The bed was made, the curtains were drawn, and there was no sign of her. The room was just dark.

Had he moved in slower, he would have noticed the light under the door to the bathroom much quicker. He raced to the door, yanking it open to find Max lying back in the bathtub. Her eyes were open and glazed over, her mouth hung open, and skin more pale than the last time he saw her in such a devastating state. The night she died and came back a vampire.

“s**t!” he raced over to her. “Max,” he held her head and patted her cheeks. “Max, can you hear me?”

She blinked her silver-speckled blue eyes before focusing on Ethan. “Ethan, you decided to come find me after all,” she choked out. 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was-“

Max cut him off with her coughing. Her hands and arms were shaking and she was visibly in pain. “Did you bring me anything?”

“I’m sorry I was in such a rush to get here. I didn’t get to grab anything.”

“You can just conjure some up, I’ll use that until you can get me something real.”

“I can’t. I’m a bit weak right now.”

She tried to focus on Ethan, but was distracted by the elderly man sitting on the other side of the room with disappointment. “Chuck’s been watching over me.”

Ethan grimaced. He knew who Chuck was. Aside from himself, Chuck was the only other person in this world to show her the slightest bit of humanity. Kindness. The only other person that didn’t use her for anything. Chuck was dead. Ethan never met the man, but from what Max told him about the guy, he was the closest thing to family she ever had from age eight up to eleven. “Is he saying anything to you, Maxi?”

She pondered a moment. At least her brain still seemed to be functioning. Index finger to her lip, “no, he just watches over me. He’s the guardian angel still. Always watching over me.”

“Max,” he pulled her up, steadying her against the edge of the tub. “I didn’t bring you any blood and I’m not strong enough right now to go get any.”

Her eyelids were drooping, her frame was unstable. “Then are you here to kill me?” She couldn’t even look at him when she asked. This day was always a possibility. Control her food supply, weaken her, kill her. 

“No, I just,” he reached for a towel to cover her. He’d seen it all before on her. Not on purpose, but he still wouldn’t make her uncomfortable. “I want to know if you think you’ll be able to stop yourself if I give it to you from a source.”

“I don’t know, E. I…” she started swaying.

“Max!” he slapped her across her face until she blinked back into consciousness. “You need to stay with me. Can you stop yourself or not?”

Weak smile, she raised her hand to his cheek, “E, you’re sweet. I just don’t think I should. I’m okay if this is the end. Really. Thank you for everything,” her hand fell and her head backward.

“f**k!” he picked her up and laid her down on the floor. It was tile, so hopefully the coolness of it would cool her overheating body temperature. He looked around the room for anything. She always carried weapons on her, she had to have something. 

Nothing in her clothes, not even her jacket. He walked out to the backpack she left on the bed in the room and pulled out a switchblade. Good enough. He walked back into the bathroom and considered his options. He could just hold it over her mouth, but risk her losing control. She was fed well enough that she could control herself most of the time. 

There was nothing else around he could use to give to her. She was unconscious now, but she’d be alive and well after the first taste. He watched her for a second, contemplating how to stop her if she lost control. 

Max started dry heaving and convulsing on the floor. He needed to do it now. He took the blade and ran it across his artery in his left arm. When the blood started spilling out from his skin, he held it up to her lips. Her body was still convulsing, but he held her head still until she started sucking on the blood. Eyes still closed, she lifted her hand to the back of his wrist, pressing the open wound further into her mouth. His blood was healing. It was…blissful. The shakes were slowing, the migraine slowly disappearing. She opened her eyes for that last glimpse of Chuck before he disappeared. The image of the elderly man slowly faded from her sight, as he did his own existence. 

Max wasn’t full, but she felt the symptoms dissipate. She pulled away from Ethan’s wrist and looked away to the wall. “Thanks,” she barely mumbled.

“Is that enough?”

“It’ll last for a day.”

“I’ll work on getting you some more, okay?”

She pulled her knees up to her chest, not caring if he saw whatever was under the towel he wrapped her in. “You should have let me just die,” she whispered.

“Max, I’m so sorry. I was…busy.” Great, he sounded like a Grade-A douchebag. She’s been his priority since he found her, and now it sounded like she didn’t matter anymore.

Max didn’t react. She knew someday he would get tired of taking care of her. He didn’t have to, she could find a way to get blood on her own, but Ethan would never let her. “I think that maybe it’s best we don’t do this anymore. I can find donations somewhere-“

“No. You’re my responsibility. I’m not leaving you.”

“How’s the house coming along? Your witch friend move in yet?” Master deflector, per usual. Turn the conversation away from herself and instead point it to his other ‘responsibilities.’

He swallowed the hard lump in his throat. “They found the house and torched it. Loraina is somewhere else safe for now.”

She rolled her eyes. Of course, the precious witch had somewhere safe. He only ever left Max out to fend for herself and sleep in her car until he’d show up with literal bags of food for her. “Glad she’s safe, Ethan.” She stood from her spot on the floor, balancing herself against the counter, Ethan attempted to help her until she swatted his hand away. 

“Max I…”

“Just save it. I’m fine on my own, Ethan. I don’t need to weigh you down and I don’t need you weighing me down.”