Bitten (The Vampire Legends #3)(8)
Author: Emma Knight

“Me?” Sarah said, looking down at her phone. “I haven’t gotten a text from her?”

“Well, maybe it was someone else. We are not positive, but the signal was sent in this location.”

“Do you know anything, darling?” Betsy said, looking at Sarah.

“Mom, I already told you. She was going to meet that guy, Benji. That’s all I know.”

John grumbled. “I wish she’d never laid eyes on that kid. He’s caused us nothing but trouble and aggravation.”

“There’s one thing we may be able to do, to bring us closer to finding your daughter,” the police said, looking at the family.

“What? Anything?” cried John.

“Please,” said Betsy. “Anything to have our daughter back in our arms.”

“We can ride out to Lyndvia Castle. The place where we traced her calls from. Do you think you would want to do that?”

“Yes! When?” John asked back quickly.

“We can head over there now. There are troops over there, assessing the grounds for safety.”

“John, go thrown on some clothes, I’ll start the car,” Betsy said.

“Why don’t you follow us? We will meet you outside as soon as you’re ready, Sir,” the police said.

John shut the door and ran upstairs. “Get ready, you two, I’ll meet you in the car in one minute.”

He scurried to get his clothes on and then came running back downstairs and into the garage. He hopped in the driver seat as Betsy and Sarah sat there anxiously waiting. The mood was tense and silent. John backed the car up and almost drove right through the closed garage door before he realized he had forgot to open it.

The two cars followed each other down the street and onto the highway. John had never been to Lyndvia Castle or ever heard of it, for that matter. He was not one to go exploring in ancient old homes or castles. He was much more content sitting on his sofa, watching sports, or having a BBQ in his backyard.

The drive felt like it was taking forever. Turn after turn and then, down a gravel dirt road, the dust flying high into the sky as the two cars drove quickly through. Out of his windshield, he saw the police put their right blinker on, signaling that they were pulling over. He followed them, and pulled his car behind theirs on the bumpy shoulder of the street.

Looking out the window he saw nothing but an overgrown gate and large stone wall. He wondered how they were going to get through, then saw an opening, where the police were squeezing through. Inside, was a large castle, with yellow police tape surrounding the perimeter, which read CAUTION.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. He felt like he was walking into a major crime scene. All around him were police men, FBI agents, HAZMAT workers in gas masks and protective gear scrubbing what looked to him to be blood off the façade of the castle as well as the castle grounds. He heard the sound of scrubbing which rang loudly in his ears. He also heard the voices of the police yelling from one end of the property to the other with various clues, artifacts and information. He couldn’t make sense of what they were saying because it sounded like they were speaking some foreign language, or speaking in “police codes.”

“Stay close,” John whispered, as he summoned Betsy and Sarah closer to him. “This is no place to wander off. We need to stick together. Keep your eyes peeled for anything that could possibly lead us to Rachel.”

“Sir, this is the location at which your daughter was last traced through her cell phone,” the police stated again, looking back at John. “I’m sorry to bring you and your family here, to see all this, but you may be able to help us identify some clues. We will walk the grounds and the inside together.”

All of a sudden he heard Betsy break out into tears and then start screaming, “How did this happen? How could we let our little girl get into this mess?”

“We didn’t know,” John replied, trying to clam her down, but she was inconsolable.

“This is all our fault. We are terrible parents!” Betsy cried.

“Guys, come on, pull it together, this is not the time to freak out. We don’t have much time here and we need to focus on finding clues,” Sarah said, trying to be the voice of reason. “None of this is your fault. If anything, it’s mine. I knew she was going to meet Benji that day, but I had no idea she was coming here, to this place. None of us could have stopped her.”

The police continued walking and John knew this was no time to debate what had already happened. He knew he had to put his emotions aside, and get to the bottom of this.

“Betsy, Sarah, both of you, pull it together. We can discuss these details later,” John said. He watched as they both stopped bickering back and forth and quieted down.

“Excuse me, but what exactly went down here?” John asked the police officer.

“We are in the process of figuring that out now. It is a scary scene, we know. It is unlike anything we have seen before. We can’t divulge anything at this time, but hopefully we will have more concrete answers soon for you and for the community. Everyone is waiting to find out. This is one of the biggest tragedies Westchester has seen in a very long time. More of our men were lost here last night than in the last century.”

“Stop! Don’t say that. Do you think our daughter is…”

“BETSY! Don’t even utter those words. Don’t you have faith?” John retorted. “I can’t believe you would even think that way.”

“I can’t believe you wouldn’t think that way. I mean, just look at this place. It’s a wonder the grass is still living,” Betsy shouted back.

“This is ridiculous,” John said. “If you don’t have faith, then why did we decide to come here in the first place? Your bad attitude isn’t helping us get any closer to Rachel.”

“Ugh,” Betsy sighed. “Turn a blind eye, like you always do. That’s what got us into this situation in the first place.”

“Oh, so now you’re saying this is all MY fault? You know, you’re really something,” John said. “You always have a way of pinning everything on me. Did you ever stop to think that maybe this is YOUR fault? You’re the mother here. You should have been watching her more carefully. You’re the one that’s home all day and you are the one that should know what she’s up to at every moment.”

“John, I can’t even believe you are saying this to me. I am the last person to be called a bad mother. Judge yourself, not me. I had nothing to do with this.”