Outcast, page 22
He nearly tripped going up the stairs at such a high velocity, but he managed to keep himself steady, coming to an abrupt stop once he made it into the dimly lit cabin. He looked ahead and saw the cockpit door open. He half-expected to find Stewart there, jamming away to his headphones, but all he saw was the back of a husky man punching at buttons on the dash. The plane suddenly roared as the engines came to life.
In a panic, Leif looked about for a place to hide. He hadn’t really thought that important fact through, either.
Stowing away in the luggage section was one option, but it sounded terribly uncomfortable. There had to be a better place. The back of the plane caught his eye, and he saw a small bathroom. Of course, there were humans at Heritage Prep. Draven would keep restrooms in his jets for them — particularly because he had to use humans to pilot the planes. He could stow away there and hope against hope that the pilot stayed in his chair the entire flight.
Leif heard Delilah’s voice approaching the stairs and booked it for the bathroom. Pulling open the small door, he looked at the small space with disappointment. The luggage section would have probably been just as cramped.
“Oh well,” he said, pulling the door closed, taking care not to lock it. Doing so would be like raising a flag, letting everyone know something fishy was going on inside.
He sat on the closed toilet seat and strained his ears to hear any conversations going in the cabin, but all he heard were the loud engines preparing for take-off.
Minutes later, the plane began rolling, and Leif braced himself against the walls of the confined bathroom. He felt the speed of the jet in his gut, followed by the bizarre weightlessness of it lifting off the ground.
It was such an odd feeling — one he never really thought he’d get used to. At the same time, such a feat of huge, shaped chunks of metal flying in the sky like weightless birds seemed like something out of a storybook. If he ever got the time, maybe it would be worth looking into how airplanes actually worked.
The thought puffed out like a breath on a candle flame, being replaced with the idea of just how crazy he was for doing what he was doing. He had no real plan — he was improvising as he went along. How was he going to aid Oberon? What if the gryphon recognized him? Leif could very well end up dead.
Still, something within him urged him forward. He had to at least try.
It was purpose — something he’d lost for years. And maybe, just maybe it would be a fresh start.
Like the cuttings he’d planted earlier, this was a fresh start.
***
Time was all relative to vampires, but the wordless plane ride seemed to take an eternity. Leif had no watch — what use were they while dwelling at Heritage Prep all the time? His mind had gone over dozens of possible scenarios of what the near future might hold for him, and most of them didn’t end well.
Finally, he felt the jet decelerate, and not too long after — while holding himself steady — the jet angled downward until it landed.
The plane finally came to a stop, and — subconsciously — Leif counted seconds in a hushed whisper. When he caught himself, he wondered why he was doing it in the first place. He knew it was anxiety — he didn’t quite know when he should pop open the bathroom door and take a peek.
Minutes went by, then Leif heard a muted voice just beyond the door. “Good luck, you guys. I’ll just be waiting here until you return.
The door started to open, and Leif instinctually grabbed onto it and pulled it back shut.
“What the?” the pilot said on the other side, tugging at the door with more vigor.
And Leif pushed it open with his might, accidentally tearing the door from its hinges. The man crumpled to the ground with a groan, and Leif chucked the door aside. The pilot’s eyes were shut, and he had a gash on his head. The wound looked superficial, and Leif didn’t have time to bandage him up. Following Delilah and her gang was more important right now.
The cabin was illuminated by moonlight streaming in, and Leif ran straight for the door. Thankfully, the task force hadn’t started running yet. One of the vampires was holding a map up, pointing over to one side and saying something. Delilah nodded, and they began heading northwest. Leif followed as they cleared the landing strip of the small airport. He still had no idea what part of California he was in, but this was his home state. Although, he liked to think of Washington as his true home.
Leif followed from a distance, making sure they were within eyesight. There weren’t many options for pulling shadows to hide within — airports were clear and flat, without many tall objects to impede safe plane landings. But there were lamps lighting up the darkness to help pilots see the runway, and Leif managed to pull on a few of the shadows they made to give him at least some form of concealment.
Delilah and her team wound their way through a series of long buildings until they reached a tall fence with a road just beyond. A couple of vehicles drove by.
Pulling on more shadows from the structures, Leif felt confident it would be difficult to be seen should they turn around.
The four vampires swiftly climbed the fence like monkeys scaling a tree to evade a predator. In an instant, they were on the other side, tapping into their enhanced speed as they ran.
For Leif, the real chase was on.
Speeding to the fence, he clambered up as quickly as he could, then jumped from the top, propelling his legs as soon as they hit the dirt. The vampires were kicking up dust in their haste, so their trail was easy to follow.
They cut through patches of wild trees and bushes, crossing small roads while mostly keeping to the cover the vegetation provided. Nearby, Leif could hear sirens sounding, but they were heading away to the north. Within minutes, the land opened up into a city.
Spotlights shone on a concrete wall that curved, making a backward S shape from a birds-eye view. It sat on top of a stone foundation, and in all capital letters, the first curvature read REDDING. The second bend read Welcome.
Leif was unfamiliar with Redding, California. If it had been around during his early childhood when he lived in Santa Rosa, it had to have been a small and inconsequential place. Not that he paid much attention to what happened outside of his family’s orchard, anyway. Not until the Frosts had swooped in and saved him.
They came to a dirty stream that carved its way between greenery and followed it north. The residential area it cut through seemed nice enough. Nearly every other house had a swimming pool, and some people were even out splashing about in the late hours of the summer night.
Eventually, the four vampires came to a stop at a cul-de-sac. Three houses were in the process of being built, but one at the top had lights on. Delilah stopped in the street, gesturing for two of the other vampires to go around one way. They followed her orders while the third followed her around the other bend in the circle.
They believed Oberon was in the house. Was he spending the night with a family of shifters? Who was he recruiting? Was there another school? Or was this more like a military thing?
These vampires weren’t just going to attack the gryphon. Whoever was letting him stay inside was in extreme danger. And Leif’s newfound hope included saving as many innocents as possible.
He crept forward, shifting his eyes back and forth between the divided team. They were moving in like a pincer, ready to silently crush their target.
Leif tried to strategize how to best warn the people inside. Chances were Delilah’s team would first scout the windows to get a sense of what they were dealing with, which gave him a little time…
“The windows,” he whispered, casting his eyes down to the ground. The pavement was smooth, but off to the side in the construction zone of one of the houses, there were plenty of rocks and other objects that could be used for easy glass-breaking.
Finding a rock roughly the size of a baseball, he sprinted forward to the house the other vampires now had surrounded.
Winding up, he hurled the rock straight at one of the windows with lights on at the front of the house. The sound of the shattering glass was accompanied by numerous shouts and screams. Moments later, a man’s head came into view from one side, and another popped up from the other. Leif recognized him at once.
Delilah’s team ran toward the front, hugging the house closely. The leader of the group didn’t look happy.
Leif gazed back up at the broken window. “Oberon!” he yelled. “Four vampires are surrounding the house! They’re here to kill you!”
Oberon’s eyes narrowed, looking for who was talking. Leif quickly shoved his shadow shield aside, then pointed at both ends of the house.
Moments later, Oberon was in full gryphon form, his monstrous body leaping out the window.
His massive brown wings pushed him into the air and he let loose a shrill call that made Leif’s eardrums feel like they would burst asunder.
The four vampires rallied together, their eyes on the gryphon in the air. And then Leif spotted Delilah gazing at him with burning hatred. “Daywalker!” she screamed.
In a blink, she could have crossed the distance between them and attacked him, but the gryphon used the moment to dive, his sharp beak impaling the chest of one of her teammates.
Delilah jumped, superhuman muscles allowing her to land on the feathery back of Oberon, who gripped the vampire he’d just killed by the shoulders, flinging his limp body away like a rag doll. The great gryphon writhed and screamed as fistfuls of feathers were torn away from his skin. The scene reminded Leif so much of Beatrice trying to get a vice grip on Oberon’s throat five years ago at the convenience store in Pierre.
The two remaining vampires attacked, one risking everything and jumping on the gryphon’s head and neck, managing to clasp her hands around his beak, forcing them shut and keeping the weapon in place. The hind end of Oberon was mauled by the remaining vampire, and together, they brought the gryphon to the ground.
Leif stared in horror, then noticed a family looking out the broken window, also watching the inevitable end of the gryphon with terrified eyes.
The horror within him was replaced with fiery determination. He wasn’t a hopeless bystander. He could help.
Flexing his muscles, Leif charged.
For you, Gemma, he thought. I love you.
By the time he reached the gryphon and his attackers, they had him on his side, great fists slamming into his body, breaking ribs.
Not allowing enough time to second-guess himself, Leif tackled the vampire holding down Oberon’s head, instantly setting the gryphons neck free.
The woman he tackled looked at him, momentarily dazed. “Leif Villers… how did you—?”
Leif didn’t hesitate. Gripping her by the sides of her head, he pulled with all his vampire might, tearing her head off with a sickening pop.
Discarding the appendage, he took no time to consider what he’d just done, but kept his focus on protecting the gryphon. Oberon had successfully flung Delilah away, and storm clouds rumbled high overhead. Leif imagined a bolt of lightning as thick as an old tree trunk zig-zagging down and blasting a crater into the ground right where they were. Leif recalled the electric blow he sustained from the kitsune’s tail, and he really didn’t want to know what an unnatural lightning bolt from the sky would feel like.
Delilah was back on her feet, but before she could run back to Oberon — who was dealing with the last attacking vampire — Leif put himself between her and the gryphon.
A deep cut in her neck stitched itself back together. The gryphon had come close to severing her head from her shoulders.
“How does it feel to be a traitor to your own kind?” spat Delilah, coming to a stop while looking him up and down with disgust.
Leif pointed up toward the thundering clouds above, ignoring her question. “I’d get out of here as soon as possible if I were you.”
Delilah laughed. “So Draven can kill me for failing in dispatching the gryphon? I think not. Get out of my way.”
“You’d rather die at the hands of me or the gryphon than suffer Draven’s punishments?” Leif asked. “Your disregard for self-preservation is shocking.”
She swung a fist faster than human eyes could see, but Leif blocked it with his wrist. She followed with the other, and he easily blocked that throw, too.
“You do have some combat training,” she said, bringing her fists in front of her face while her feet danced.
“Beatrice Morton was my teacher,” he said, hoping that name-dropping the expert fighter would cause her to rethink fighting him.
Delilah snorted. “Mine too.” This time she tried sweeping Leif’s leg, but he expected it and leaped, striking out with one of his feet and connecting with her gut. He heard the air rush out of her as she went sprawling.
Throwing his shoulders back, new confidence poured into him. Delilah was definitely no Beatrice when it came to fighting. And he was already so out of practice, it shouldn’t have come so easily.
From the ground, Delilah grabbed a handful of loose dirt and threw it at Leif’s face. He was blinded as the foreign objects struck, and he flung his fingers to his eyes while crying out. It was a cheap shot — something he hadn’t practiced defending against in any combat situation. But who was to say vampires were fair?
A smashing blow struck his ribs, and he felt them crack before spinning out of control onto the blacktop of the cul-de-sac.
He heard a scream nearby that was cut short, but before he could try to wipe his eyes clear to check on what was happening with the gryphon, Delilah was on top of him.
She grabbed him by the head, and he struggled beneath her unbreakable hold.
“You could have been so much more, Daywalker,” she hissed. “I’ll be sure to bring your head before Draven. It’ll look good as one of his trophies, and will serve as a reminder to all vampires how traitorous actions are rewarded.”
Leif felt his neck begin to pop from the pressure, and knew his life was over. It was all over. But at least he’d tried. And maybe Oberon would be able to live on. Just maybe. That seemed like a fair trade. One life to save another…
And then a blinding illumination lit up everywhere, causing his hazy eyes to wince, and the pain at his neck disappeared as Delilah was blown away from him.
Whatever injuries his neck had sustained from the other vampire, they immediately healed, and he watched with fear as Oberon leaped through the air, over him and onto the lightning-struck form of Delilah. He couldn’t see it, but he heard the gryphon finish her off.
Turning over onto his stomach and pushing himself up to his hands and knees, Leif cringed as his ribs snapped back into place and mended themselves together. That’s when he saw the sharp, brown eyes of the gryphon staring at him. There was a coldness in them and for a moment, Leif wondered if Oberon was going to kill him, too.
Instead, the gryphon spoke. “I recognize you, vampire. From the convenience store in Pierre.”
Leif nodded, crossing an arm over his still-healing chest as he got to his knees.
Oberon’s thick, feather-covered claws clicked on the asphalt as he approached Leif.
“Back then, you were out to kill me,” he said. “Tonight, you have protected me and the lives of those within that house.”
“That day — the day The Island was destroyed…” Leif breathed a few moments, the pain slowly ebbing away. “It has haunted me ever since. Coming here, I wanted to at least try to fix the wrongs of my life — the wrongs I’ve committed against you and the shifter world.”
“I lost my pregnant wife and my parents in that battle,” Oberon said, shoving his beak just inches away from Leif’s nose. But Leif didn’t flinch. If Oberon believed his death was enough to satisfy the debt of the lost lives of his wife and parents, then so be it.
Leif sighed heavily. “I do not expect you to forgive me. I’m not deserving of such a gift. But I swear to you, right here and right now — I will do whatever I can to shield you from Draven and the vampire forces that seek your destruction.”
The large, feathery body of the gryphon shrunk, leaving Oberon in an odd bodysuit that didn’t look entirely comfortable. He held an arm across his own ribs, taking short, labored breaths. His brown eyes looked the same, albeit smaller. “You’re a vampire. No vampire has ever helped shifters before. Why are you doing this, and how can I trust you?”
Leif cast his eyes to the ground and recited the names of important people from his past. “Gemma. Camilla. Evandrus. Mr. Frost.” He stared back into Oberon’s eyes. “These were people who saw through the dark, devilish shell of the vampire I was. One was a selkie, two of them were shifters, and the other a human. When they looked at me, they didn’t see a death-bringing monster. They saw a friend — somebody they could love. I might be a vampire biologically, but I don’t belong with the rest of my kind.”
Oberon’s expression melted away to one of warm curiosity and he cocked his head to one side. “What’s your name?”
Leif extended a hand out to the gryphon shifter. “I am Leif Villers, the vampire outcast.”
The End
FRIGID ANNOUNCEMENT
CAN’T GET ENOUGH of Leif?
Jump back a century and
read about him
and Camilla Frost in
Joanna Reeder’s Frigid!
Over one hundred years in the past...
17-year-old Camilla Frost just wants safety her family, boarding establishment, and apple orchard, but when shifters arrive with the power of fire, she can't help but imagine everything going up in flames.
Emergency response is not the same in 1898, after all.
To make matters worse, the shifters are fleeing from a worse danger — vampires. But when Camilla finds herself drawn to them and forms a friendship with the royal dragon princess and the handsome phoenix protection guard, Evandrus Quinn, she finds the things she loves most slipping like ice from her fingertips.
