Page 91 of House of Crimson Kisses
Suddenly, I’m not Red the hunter, I am Red the child. I am Verity.
The air is warm and still and stale. Like no one has breathed it for weeks. I don’t understand. Where’s my mummy?
“Mummy?” I cry out.
A baby cries in the other room. “Amelia?” I race out of the room, searching for my little sister.
I cry out for her over and over again. Finally, I find her in a cot. But when I tiptoe and peer over the cot in the living room, the blood drains out of me. I stumble back and hit my head on a chair.
My little heart stutters and pounds against my ribs.
“No. No. No.” I am sobbing. “MUMMY,” I scream.
But no matter how many times I cry out for her, my mother doesn’t come. I crawl back to Amelia’s cot and dare to snatch one more glance. But it doesn’t change what I see in there.
The image of her lifeless body, her skin greyed and swollen. Patches of purple and grey all over her chubby cheeks.
I run around the rest of the house screaming for my mummy. I skid back into the kitchen and that is where I find her. Still as death, perched on a chair.
“Mummy?” I say and slide my hand into her stiff fingers.
Her skin is ghost white; puncture marks pierce her neck.
She jerks forward, sitting up, her lifeless eyes staring me down. “It’s your fault I’m dead, Verity. You should have been better. You should have trained harder, taken more power.”
“No, Mummy. I didn’t do it.”
“Weakling. Pathetic. Too scared to protect your family. You were meant to be there that night. You should have brought a carriage to collect me. And now your baby sister is dead too, and it’s all your fault.”
“No. Please.” I’m sobbing, my pudgy hands claw at my mother’s chest. But with each successive swipe, more of her body flakes away, until even her bones have disintegrated, and I am left all alone.
The room shifts. I am an adult again as mist swirls in and curls around my legs and up my body, smothering me, the table, the ashes of my mother. Everything disappears.
When the fog falls away, I am in a vampire mansion.
In a ballroom, to be specific. People in sequined gowns and rich fabrics are dancing and twirling to music. Drinking, singing and playing cards. Everything plays out rapidly as if someone sped up time.
The room empties, until only a few remain. They crowd one vampire in particular, and it makes my toes prickle. This is Dahlia’s house.
This is the night Amelia was turned.
My gut swims. The room moves. I’m dragged into a grand living room. There’s a small group of vampires, Dahlia leading them.
They drink, and fuck, and drag humans into their game in order to drain them half to death before discarding them and throwing money in their laps.
I’m frozen to the spot, staring in horror as their party plays out.
Their bodies move as if sped up, swirling around me as I stay the only constant. The room dims and everything grinds back to normal speed.
Dahlia is furious. Her eyes darken as she storms towards me. She passes right through me and wrenches open the cupboard door behind me.
She drags Amelia out by the scruff of her neck. Dahlia beats my sister, shreds her clothes and makes her crawl through the blood of her friends. I’m hauled from corner to corner, forced to watch the horror unfold.
Finally, Octavia appears, holding Dahlia’s friend. This has already happened. I know what comes next. The scene skitters forward, and Dahlia has gone.
I scream, desperately trying to reach Amelia. But it’s futile. Octavia sinks her teeth into Amelia’s neck.
Over.
