Thirst (27 page)
Authors: Ilia Bera
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Women's Fiction, #Contemporary Women, #Romance, #New Adult & College, #Paranormal, #Vampires, #Contemporary Fiction, #Short Stories, #Werewolves & Shifters
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Exhausted, Connor collapsed into the chair in his mother’s new hospital room. The room was on the top floor of the hospital, with its own door, and its own set of walls—no curtains.
Charlotte was hooked up to an IV, as well as a blood pressure and heart monitor. She looked peaceful as she slept, which was a great relief for Connor.
Within moments of sitting down, the tired Connor began to doze off. His eyes were heavy and his muscles were all sore. Finally, after a long, hectic day, he could rest.
“Connor?” his mother’s voice said softly, pulling him from his near-slumber.
Connor looked up at his mother. She was looking over at him with a smile on her face.
“Hey. What are you doing awake?” Connor asked.
“Why don’t you sleep at the house, where it’s comfortable?” Charlotte asked.
“This is fine mom. I’m comfortable here.”
“Are you sure?” Charlotte asked.
“I’m sure. Go back to sleep. You need the rest.”
“Okay...”
Charlotte let her head roll back and she began again to doze off. Then, she suddenly turned her head back to Connor. The smile dissipated from her face.
“Connor?” she said again.
Connor looked back over at his mother. “Yeah, mom?”
“That girl—be careful with that girl.”
“What girl?”
“The girl who drove me that night. She’s not right, that girl.”
“What do you mean? Why not?”
Charlotte froze for a moment, thinking of the best way to formulate her next sentence.
“What is it, mom?”
“She’s—She’s not human.”
Connor stared at his mother, unsure of how to respond. If it were not for that night, where he watched Constable Hendricks as he was thrown into the wall by some supernatural entity, he would not have believed the claim. But unfortunately, given all he had been through in the past twenty-four hours, he believed it.
“I know it sounds crazy—but for me, please be careful,” Charlotte begged.
“I’ll be careful,” Connor said.
“Just stay away from her. Please.”
“I will mom... I will,” Connor said.
He loved Hanna, but his mother was right. Hanna was not human. He did not know anything about her. As far as he knew, she was the town murderer. As far as he knew, she was the “demon child” that the vandals accused her of being.
Connor watched as his mother dozed back off to sleep. His poor mother had sacrificed too much of her life for Connor for him to go risking it all on some girl he only knew for a week.
He was going to have to cut her loose, and keep his distance.
As Connor dozed off, he felt something lingering deep in his bones—that same sensation of dread that he’d felt just hours earlier, except this time it was less specific. This feeling had nothing to do with Hanna, or anyone. This was something different.
Something strange.
And Connor was not the only person to feel it on that cold winter night.
As Tarun lay in bed, dreaming about the beautiful Megan Gold, he was awakened swiftly. A loud gust of wind whistled against his bedroom window.
He felt it too.
It was a cold and cruel feeling. It filled his body with a peculiar anxiety that he had never felt before.
In that same building, Brittany felt it too. She sprung awake on Kane’s bed.
“What is it?” Kane asked, waking up.
“I—I’m not sure. I think I just had a nightmare,” she said.
“What about?”
“I—I don’t know. I can’t remember.”
“It’s alright. It was just a nightmare,” Kane assured. “Go back to sleep.
Normally, Kane would have just gone back to sleep, but he felt it too. As that Arctic wind whistled against his apartment window, that gripping dread clutched his gut.
Something was coming.
Everyone could feel it.
Every single person in Snowbrooke.
It was something
big
.
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ILIA BERA
Ilia Bera is a young writer from the golden prairies of Alberta, Canada. Ilia’s schooling years were spent absorbed in a fantastic imagination land, writing everything from screenplays and comic books to short stories and novels.
Ilia spent years working in the film and television industry as a screenwriter as well as on the sets of big budget films across various departments. While not writing, Ilia enjoys relaxing on the beach with her adorable Ridgeback pup.
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