Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell
Chapter 104 The Real Danger
“Yeah…I’m fine, Lexi. Some f*uc*king idiot in the road, that’s all. I’m downtown anyway… it’s probably just one of the addicts…” Ann answered shakily.
“Ann, don’t hang up, don’t open the door…” Lexi warned, her tone slightly panicked.
“Lexi, it’s fine, honestly, he looks completely out of it. I could probably move him myself and just get him out of the road. I can’t just leave him there.” Ann reasoned as she sighed loudly.
Was she ever going to get a quiet day? Just a couple of hours, that was all she wanted.
“Ann, are you f*uc*king insane? Do you not watch horror movies at all?! Don’t be a future victim for god’s sake. Just… wait there, drive off or whatever, but DO NOT get out of the f*uc*king car, do you understand me?” Lexi’s voice yelled angrily out of the speaker.
Ann chuckled lightly.
“I’m not a child, Lexi, I can take care of myself, besides, you know that Maeve won’t tolerate any bullS*hi*t and it’s the middle of the goddamn afternoon. It’ll be fine.”
“Ann, I’m telling you now… psychopaths don’t wait for a particular time of day to strike. They just appear and then BOOM you’re in a body bag.”
“Maybe they’re the ones in a bodybag by the time that I’m done with them though. Lexi this is real life okay, it’s not a horror movie Relax. The guy looks injured anyway…perhaps…”
“BUT THAT’S HOW THEY GET YOU!”
“Lexi stop. It’s fine. I’ll call you back when I’ve got him somewhere safe okay? He genuinely looks like he’s hurt… who knows if he’s already been hit by a car or whatever…”
“ANN WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”
“I’ll call you back as soon as I’m done and on the way to the cafe again, okay?” Ann sighed, tired of the discussion already, and hung up abruptly.
Lexi was worrying over nothing. She appreciated her concern of course, but she wasn’t a child anymore. She could fight her own battles, it wasn’t anything like when they were kids.
Pursing her lips together in a grimace, she tucked her phone into her pocket and opened the door, keeping her eyes trained on the eerie figure of the man in front of her as the angry horns blared from behind her and irate drivers cut around them on the road.
The man stared at her blankly, the hollowed-out cheeks of his face quite shocking to see and his sunken eyes concerning, to say the least. He looked as though he had been starved, or fed on excessively and Ann’s stomach turned at the thought.
If he wasn’t an addict then he probably needed medical help. He didn’t look well at all.
“Hey, are you okay, sir? Can I help you at all?” She called out gently, trying desperately not to scare him.
If he was an addict, then the chances were that he would respond unpredictably if he was startled too badly.
There were so many synthetic drugs available to those that wanted to forget their p@in, and far too many people willing to take advantage of their misery.
She couldn’t leave him here in this state, no matter what Lexi said.
The man didn’t respond to her in any discernible way, the only sign of movement from him was the slow trickle of blood oozing downwards in a slow and steady stream from a nasty-looking gash on his forehead.
“Were you in an accident already? Listen, perhaps I can help you… let me take you to a hospital so they can look you over, okay?” Ann tried again but still got no response.
She sighed internally and reached for his arm, trying to guide him gently around to the passenger side of the truck, and reluctantly, he allowed himself to be led.
The man’s feet shuffled forwards hesitantly and the movements of his body seemed to be incredibly stiff almost as if he wasn’t used to walking at all.
‘I don’t like this, Ann. He smells… odd…’ Maeve growled warningly, the hackles on the back of her neck standing on end as she reacted to the strange scent emanating from him.
Ann had to agree, the smell was quite nauseating but she couldn’t quite put her finger on where she had smelled it before.
Shaking her thoughts aside, she encouraged the man to get into her car on the passenger side and shut the door with a sigh of relief once he was safely inside.
She pulled her phone out and sent a quick text to Lexi so that she wouldn’t worry as she made her way around to the driver’s side.
‘See? Still alive… you can’t get rid of me that easily! Gonna drop this random dude at the hospital and then head to the cafe. He’s not in great shape. See you in 30 minutes or so, love you! xoxo ‘
Ann snorted to herself as she shoved her phone back in her pocket and opened the door carefully, holding her hand up apologetically to the impatient drivers behind her.
She slid into her seat with a sigh and turned to look at the mannequin-like figure of the man sitting bolt upright in the chair and staring unfalteringly ahead. There really was something unnatural about him…
As Ann pulled the door closed behind her, the man’s head snapped to the side to stare at her, his lips peeling back from his gums in an eerie smile to reveal a toothless void that seemed to scream at her in terror.
Before she could react, two sets of arms appeared from behind her, one set holding her in place firmly against her seat, whilst the other pressed a filthy bloodstained rag over her mouth and nose.
Ann screamed silently as she felt her resistance dissolve, and the last thing she saw before the darkness took her was the eerie glow of the mannequin-man’s eyes and his mouth torn wide in a terrifying imitation of a smile.