Frostbitten: The Complete Series (22 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
STARCROSSED LOVERS

In an abnormal sort of way, Kane was actually quite the gentleman with Brittany. Since they had left class together, Kane held open every door, pulled out every seat and he even kept his elbows off of the bar table.

The money he was using may have technically been stolen, but that didn’t make Kane any less charming that night. He treated Brittany to the finest drinks the bar offered, and he ordered every appetizer off of the menu for her when she struggled to make a decision.

For the first time in Brittany’s life, she didn’t feel like she was being used for sex. For once, she didn’t feel like every word that came out of her date’s mouth was to swoon her into bed.

She was painfully used to being showered with superficial compliments and strong drinks—All in the hopes of getting her into bed. Kane on the other hand never once insisted that Brittany have another drink.

As a matter of fact, he made sure she drank responsibly, ensuring that she was getting enough water between drinks. He had even insisted they switch to tea and coffee around midnight to sober up before walking home.

Like Connor and Hanna at the hospital, time slipped away from them. Before they knew it, the bar was closing, and it was nearly morning. Kane and Brittany finished their drinks and settled up.

Kane stepped away and worked his magic with the bar’s bank machine and then made sure to leave a generous tip.

Kane insisted on walking Brittany home.

“It’s a shame they didn’t have anything older than the ninety-two Merlot,” Brittany said jokingly. “I was really hoping for at least something from the eighties.”

“We should have complained! What kind of establishment are they running?” Kane agreed. “And only a single bottle of Dom Perignon? Ludicrous!”

Brittany and Kane both began to laugh, unable to hold their character.

“I don’t think I’ve ever spent a thousand dollars on anything before—never mind on Thursday night drinks at the college pub.”

“If you’re going to live large, you may as well do it at the Winter’s Den on a Thursday night,” Kane jokingly insisted.

Brittany stumbled slightly in her tall heeled leather boots, still buzzed from the liquor. Kane caught her from falling, wrapping his arm around her back and placing his hand on her side. Brittany recomposed herself and gathered her balance. The two continued to walk—Kane’s arm slyly remaining around Brittany’s waist.

“Why do you live here?” Kane asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Why here? Why Snowbrooke?”

“It’s where I was raised.”

“So?” Kane asked.

“Why would I leave?”

“I don’t know—no offense, but it’s kind of a dump. It’s always cold and dark, and there’s never anything to do for fun. Everyone always just seems so miserable.”

“I like the cold, and the dark, I find lots of things to do for fun, and I wouldn’t call myself miserable.”

“You like the cold and the dark?” Kane asked. “Don’t you ever just want to go somewhere warm and sunny? You know, on Maui, it’s almost the exact same temperature every single day—and it’s sunny from four in the morning, until eleven-thirty at night.”

Brittany forced a smile. “That sounds great,” she said with a hint of disdain behind her voice. “Have you been there?”

“No—But I want to go. It’s not easy for me to cross over the border—especially somewhere you can only get on a plane, like Hawaii.”

“Not easy to cross over the border? Are you a fugitive or something?”

“Something like that…”

“Did you rob a bank?”

Kane laughed. “No,” he said. “Well—not that anyone but you knows about.”

“What did you do? Are the police looking for you?”

Kane looked at Brittany and smiled. She could feel the hard muscles of his thick arm through the layers of warm jackets. “Not exactly. I stole something from my dad when I was a kid, and instead of sitting in juvy hall, I ran away. They were looking for me for a few years, but when I turned eighteen, my police record reset. I’m still a ‘missing person’.”

“What about your dad?” Brittany asked.

“What about him?”

“Have you seen him since you ran?”

“No.”

“Is he looking for you?”

Kane laughed. “Almost definitely not. He might be looking for that something I took from him, though—but I doubt it.”

“What brought you here?”

“Since juvy, I’ve been going from town to town.”

“You’re a drifter.”

“I prefer the term nomad.”

“So what—is Snowbrooke just another stop on your hobo tour?”

Kane thought about it for a moment. “I guess so—yeah,” he said.

Brittany looked down at the snowy ground. The air had become uncharacteristically warm—relative to its usual blood freezing temperature. “So you’re going to leave then?”

“At some point, I’ll have to.”

“I don’t understand.”

“What?”

“Why Snowbrooke? What are you trying to find here?”

Kane thought for a moment. “I guess it’s complicated.”

“Why enrol in school? Why rent an apartment?”

“How do you know that I rented an apartment?” Kane asked.

“You told me at the bank that rent was due—or was that a lie? What did you need the three grand for if you’re just a drifter with no expenses?”

“I do rent an apartment.”

“A three thousand dollar apartment?”

“I was just helping someone out.”

“So you’re an altruistic tramp.”

Kane laughed. “I guess I am… Kane Patrick, the altruistic tramp.”

“It’s got a good ring to it.”

“I agree.”

Brittany stopped walking. They’d reached her little cookie-cutter house.

“You live here?” Kane asked, looking across the street at Connor’s house.

“Yeah.”

“Nice place?”

“It does the trick.”

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Kane said as he turned to leave.

“Kane…” Brittany said, stopping the long haired misfit.

Kane turned around. “Yeah?” Kane asked.

Brittany awkwardly looked around.

“What is it?” Kane asked.

“I don’t want you to go,” Brittany said in a matter-of-fact voice. “I don’t.”

“I’m not going tonight—or tomorrow.”

“But when?”

“I don’t know yet. It’s hard to say.”

“This week? This month? This year? This decade? What?”

“Brittany—I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“What are you even looking for—in all of these small towns? What are you trying to find out here?”

Kane was silent as he stared at Brittany, afraid to tell her the truth. There was a burning desire in his gut to just tell her—tell her that he hunts and kills vampires.

But no matter how hard he tried to say it, he couldn’t. She wouldn’t believe him. She would think that he was crazy.

“Did you ever think that maybe you’ve already found it? That, whatever it is that you’re looking for is standing right in front of you?” Brittany asked.

“It’s complicated,” Kane said.

“Life is complicated. Sometimes we make bad decisions, and we have to live with the consequences—believe me, I know. But if you never make any decisions, then you’ll end up wandering around aimlessly for your whole life—like some sad lost soul.

“And then one day, you’ll die. And it doesn’t matter which afterlife you find yourself stuck in, you’ll end up the wandering nomad for eternity, and an eternity is a long time, Kane.”

Kane stepped towards Brittany and looked into her eyes. Brittany was obviously upset. Gently, he pushed a strand of fallen hair off of her face and placed it behind her ear. “You’re too good for me, Brittany. You deserve someone who won’t end up in prison.”

“You don’t have to end up in prison.”

“I’ll be lucky to end up in prison,” Kane said.

“Under that long hair and black coat, you’re a good person, Kane. You aren’t a criminal.”

Kane ran his fingers down the edge of Brittany’s cheeks, and under her chin. “I would just end up hurting you.” He let his hand fall down to his side.

“That’s up to you,” Brittany said. “That’s a decision you have to make.”

“I wish you were right.”

“I am right.”

Kane looked down at his feet. Suddenly, Brittany moved in. She inched forward and leaned her head in. Her soft lips pushed firmly against Kane’s as her gloved hands gently landed on his sides. Kane froze for a moment, surprised by the move, but he quickly relaxed.

His muscles released their tension, and he kissed Brittany back.

His muscular arms wrapped gently around Brittany and pulled her in tightly against his hard warm body.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
SECRETS NEVER REMAIN SO

Brittany knew that she was taking a risk—She knew that she was playing with fire—at least, she thought she knew.

But she couldn’t resist.

Her heart had made its decision, and her body was acting on impulse.

The two continued to kiss on the cold winter street, early on that dark snowy morning. Brittany’s fingers grasped tightly against Kane’s soft jacket, feeling the thick, hard muscles of his back flexing with her fingertips. A strong burst of energy buzzed through her body and lingered in the base of her spine. She felt light—weightless. Her whole body felt as though it was lifting off of the ground as the passionate kiss continued.

Kane leaned back slowly and looked down at Brittany’s soft lips as he took a deep, cool breath in. Brittany looked up into his mysterious dark brown eyes. A cool gust blew, making the hairs on the back of Brittany’s neck stand up straight, eliciting a shiver out of the pretty dark-skinned girl.

“Are you cold?” Kane asked.

“Yeah,” Brittany replied.

“Do you want to go inside?”

Brittany was about to turn towards her house when she realized that she couldn’t bring Kane inside. There were things that she couldn’t have Kane see inside—condemning things.

“We can’t,” Brittany said.

“Why not?” Kane asked.

“It’s—It’s messy.”

“So?”

Brittany wasn’t exactly lying. She hadn’t had time to clean her bloodied clothes up from the night with Thomas—not to mention all of the garbage bags covering the windows, or all of the charms and trinkets that helped to calm her thirst. Any sane person would assume that she was a psychopath.

“Your place. Let’s go to your place,” Brittany insisted.

“My place? It’s not close.”

“That’s fine.”

“What’s wrong?” Kane asked. “Are your parents home or something?”

A light went off in Brittany’s brain. She laughed, pretending like she had been too embarrassed to admit it. “Yeah—My mom would kill me if she heard a boy in the house,” Brittany lied.

Kane smiled. “I understand. Come on,” Kane said, taking Brittany by the hand.

The two began to playfully run down the icy streets of Snowbrooke. They held hands tightly as they ran across empty streets and through desolate parks.

Snowbrooke was their own personal playground—A town frozen in time.

There wasn’t another soul in the snowy town that morning—no passing tail light on the street—no glow in a distant window.

It was as if time stood still. The beautifully thick snowflakes floated seemingly motionlessly in the air around the carefree couple. The soft streetlights lit the town like a stage lights on an empty stage.

No impatient audience. No disparaging critics.

Brittany couldn’t contain her childish laughter. She stumbled as she hopped down from the sidewalk curb, and began to slide on the ice—nearly falling off her heeled feet. Kane was quick to place his hands on her soft sides, keeping her up.

There were no lights in any house windows, and no hums from distant cars. Even the little cafes were closed during that awkward hour between the morning and the night.

Finally, they reached Kane’s apartment building. Brittany and Kane stopped for a moment as they stared up at the crumbling building.

“I thought this building was abandoned,” Brittany said.

Kane laughed. “Come on,” he said, taking Brittany by the hand and guiding her down the shovelled walkway towards the decrepit building.

They playfully ran inside and began to make their through the lobby, and up the stairs.

“This is where you live?” Brittany asked. “It smells like… Indian food.”

“Shh,” Kane whispered. “You’ll wake up my landlord. These walls are kind of thin.” Kane stuck his key into his lock, and he opened the door to his barren apartment. “Home sweet home,” he said.

Suddenly, Kane felt a sense of insecurity wash over him. He too had things that he wanted to keep hidden—things that were suddenly far too close for comfort.

Kane looked towards his closed bedroom door at the end of the small apartment.

Brittany looked around the empty apartment curiously. It was almost painfully empty.

“It’s not a lot—but it’s mine,” Kane said. “Can’t complain. The heat works, the oven works—the in-suite laundry usually works.”

A strange wave of nausea temporarily crossed Brittany. She winced as the moment passed. There was something about the apartment that was off-putting—something was wrong. Brittany scanned the room trying to pinpoint the culprit.

Kane’s bedroom door curiously caught her attention.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh?” Brittany said, turning her head back to Kane. The strange sick feeling passed for the moment. “Yeah—I’m okay.”

“It looks worse than it is. I just haven’t had a chance to fill it with anything yet. I tried to find a furnished place.”

“It’s fine—Stuff is just stuff, you know? Sometimes I wish I had no stuff.”

“It’s liberating.”

Brittany turned to Kane and smiled. Kane leaned forward and the two finally resumed their kiss. Kane’s arms wrapped around Brittany as he kicked his apartment door shut with his foot.

Brittany slipped her hand under Kane’s shirt, feeling his hard abs with her soft fingertips. Her sensibilities were quickly being overrun by a strong passionate energy. Brittany’s warm hand continued its way up the stacked torso, onto Kane’s chest, which was as solid as a rock—thick and chiselled.

Then, Brittany’s fingers glistened across an abrasion—an imperfection. She stopped on the spot. Gently, she leaned back and looked down. She began to move her hand along Kane’s skin, feeling more and more of the protrusions.

Kane placed his hand on Brittany’s, pressing it against his chest. With his other hand, he tilted Brittany’s head back up.

Another jolt of powerful sensual energy elicited a grasp from Brittany’s hand. Her hand tightened against Kane’s hard chest, and she looked down at his torso. She was shocked and impressed by his toned physique. She took a deep breath, controlling her overwhelming hormones.

Kane started to guide Brittany towards the apartment couch. Over Kane’s shoulder, Brittany could still see the ostensibly hostile bedroom door, intimidatingly closed on the other side of the small apartment.

“Wait,” Brittany said.

“What?”

“Let’s go to the bedroom,” she suggested.

“The bedroom?” Kane asked as he stared into Brittany’s beautiful eyes for a moment while he tried to formulate an excuse. “Let’s just keep it out here for now.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Brittany’s again. Brittany began to melt into the mysterious boy.

But Brittany hadn’t fully lost sight of her sensibilities. She pulled back and took a breath. “Wait,” she said.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I mean—I think we would be more comfortable on the bed. Let’s just go to the bedroom. Please?”

Kane awkwardly forced a laugh. “Believe it or not, the couch is more comfortable than the bed.”

Brittany stared into Kane’s dark brown eyes. “What’s in there?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“You’re hiding something. What are you hiding? What’s in your bedroom, Kane?”

Kane stood still. He knew that he’d been caught. He knew the only way past this roadblock with Brittany was to come clean.

“What is it, Kane?” Brittany asked. “Just tell me.”