Cameron shrugged. “I’m not sure she’s even been allowed out of The Oasis ever since Borys turned her. She’s his best kept secret.”
“Any idea why she is kept under wraps?”
“Just rumors. Some say Ingrid is to The Oasis as Vivienne is to the The Shade.”
“She’s a seer?”
“Maybe… Why else would Borys be so obsessed with her? We both know how sick that man is – if we could even call him that. He wouldn’t turn a human like Ingrid and make her part of his clan unless there was something special about her.”
I couldn’t help but frown at the information, wondering to myself why it bothered me so much. Borys was no longer after my sister. I should’ve been happy. Still, thinking about Ingrid made me feel unnerved. Something wasn’t right. I had more urgent matters to concern myself with for the time being, but I knew that someday I would have to come face-to-face with Borys Maslen again and finally lay eyes on this mysterious woman of his.
A strange sense of premonition told me that I was going to rue that day.
Chapter 13: Sofia
Blood was all over the Sun Room. The LED lights mimicking the sun’s rays were busted. The only source of light was a flickering fluorescent lamp fighting to stay alight. I was pinned against one of its walls. I couldn’t move. I was frightened. I didn’t understand what was going on. I couldn’t hear anything. My sense of touch was gone. I sensed a dark presence enter the room. A shadow. I couldn’t make out who it was. I tried to talk, but my voice came out in an inaudible rasp. The shadow approached. Its presence was so strong, so powerful, so dark. It stopped in front of me. Blood began to pool on the ground where the shady figure stood. I was expecting to see Lucas, and found myself gasping when I saw it was Derek. Blue eyes void of life. Fangs bared. Ready to prey on me. He took a hold of me. His fangs were about to sink into my skin. Then nothing. Nothing but a large, empty void and a female voice whispering, “The darkness is coming.”
I woke up in the hotel room, sweating, tense and all out of breath. I was clutching the sheets for dear life, afraid that if I let go, I might get sucked back into the nightmare. I flinched when I heard the bathroom door open. I could smell Ben’s aftershave mixed with the fragrances of shampoo and soap. I stirred on the bed trying to shake off the effects the nightmare had on me. I was afraid for myself. I was afraid for Derek.
“Breakfast is ready on the veranda,” Ben called. He was rubbing his hair dry, oblivious of my still trembling form.
I dragged myself out of the bed. I can’t keep waking up this way. I might’ve left The Shade, but the island and all its horrors were still right with me.
I pulled my hair up in a messy bun as I made my way to the veranda. I needed the sunlight to draw the lurking shadows away. Breakfast consisted of muesli, coffee and fruit salad. I would’ve preferred some toast with jam and butter, but I wasn’t in a particularly picky mood.
Ben joined me not long after I settled down in my seat.
“Mom and Dad are on their way to pick us up. We might end up staying here a couple more days. Apparently, they made a whole fuss with the police when we disappeared…” He sat across me, looking bothered.
I cringed. “I was afraid of that. We’ll have to talk to the police, probably even a social worker…”
“So what’s our story going to be?” He leaned back in his seat, rolling a grape around on his plate. “We ran away? That’s it?”
“I guess we could just keep it simple by keeping our mouths shut. We ran away. Period. No need to give them any details.”
“Unless…” Ben began drumming his fingers over the top of the table.
“Unless what?” I pushed my bowl away. It seemed neither one of us had much of an appetite that morning.
“Unless we just tell them the truth. The whole truth.”
I knew it was an option, but for reasons I couldn’t fully understand, something inside me was violently screaming against it. “We can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“What are we going to tell them? We were abducted by vampires and taken to an invisible island to be their slaves? … We don’t even know where The Shade is. They’re going to think we’re insane.”
“So what? We met people there… I’m sure someone out there has reported them missing… How else would we have known about them?”
I shook my head. “We can’t. Derek trusted us by letting us escape. We can’t betray…”
“So there it is then! The truth. You don’t want to talk about The Shade because of him. What did he do to you, Sofia? It’s like you’re possessed by this inexplicable urge to please him.”