"If we can't get out of here," she began desperately, "I might-"
"Don't worry, girl," he interrupted. "I know a way out."
Dani felt a moment's hope, even thinking for one moment that she too might escape and perhaps find a way to stop what was happening to her, or to at least get help from Decker and the others. There would be a better chance of their stopping Leo and ensuring he never did this to anyone else than she had by herself... and they would keep her from hurting anyone too, Dani thought, but then closed her eyes and shook her head. She couldn't risk going with them. There was no way to know how long she could control herself. Her gaze slid back to the farmer as he finished untying his wife's hands and she said, "Tie me up and you two go without me then."
The wife reached up to remove her gag now her hands were free and said firmly, "We're not leaving you here for him to abuse."
"You need to get away from me. If what he said is true, I could attack you."
"What? That blood and vampire business he kept going on about?" The husband snorted as he straightened and helped his wife to stand. "The man was high on something. It was all bunk."
"What did he give you, dear?" the wife asked with concern, moving toward her as her husband rushed off through the boiler room to the long narrow room with the pump and water softener.
"His blood," Dani said on a sigh. "Now I'm becoming a vampire too."
The woman stopped beside Dani, her mouth opening to speak, but she paused and glanced around as her husband reappeared and rushed to the workbench. They both watched him grab the claw hammer Dani had set there, and then he rushed away again. There was a squeal of nails being torn from wood, and then the wife said, "What's your name, dear?"
"Dani," she answered wearily.
"Well, Dani, my name is Hazel Parker and that is my husband, John." Hazel knelt beside her and added sensibly, "I have to tell you, dear, vampires aren't real. That man must have drugged you somehow before he brought you down here."
Dani closed her eyes. She wasn't terribly surprised they didn't believe it. She hadn't when Decker had told her, and he'd had fangs to flash. To Hazel and John, Leo must have just seemed your normal, everyday psychopath, she thought. Unless-
"Who tied you up?" Dani asked, suddenly.
Confusion flashed briefly on Hazel's face, but she said, "I tied John and then the young man tied me up."
"Why did you tie up John? Did Leo threaten you?"
"No," she admitted, her confusion deepening. "He didn't even tell me to do it, and I didn't want to... I just... did." Something like panic flickered in her eyes. "I tried to stop myself, but it was like someone else was controlling my body."
"Someone else was," Dani said firmly. "Leo. He's a vampire."
Hazel peered at her with uncertainty and then turned with relief as her husband hurried back into the room.
"I got it open," John announced, rushing to them. "I didn't think I would be able to. I nailed it shut a good twenty years ago, but the nails pulled out with a little elbow grease."
He paused to peer from his wife to Dani, and then set his mouth and bent to catch Dani's arm and lifted her. "Come on. He could be back any minute."
Dani resisted briefly, but her struggles were weak at best. She didn't seem to have any strength left in her body, and that was what made her give in and add what little strength she had to helping him get her to her feet. There was no way she could take Leo like this. If she stayed, he would simply bring her more innocents to feed on, and the way it was going, Dani feared she wouldn't be able to resist.
She would get out of the house with them and then send them next door to the enforcer house for help while she hid in the bushes or something. Then Decker and the others could come back and take care of her and Leo. It seemed like a good plan to Dani, and under John's urging, she took a faltering step forward, only to gasp and bend over as the movement made her pain increase again. Panting like a woman in labor, she stared at the floor and told herself she only had to get outside. Then they would drive off safely, leaving her-Dani stopped and glanced to John sharply, asking, "You don't drive a brown pickup, do you?"
"Yes," John answered, urging her forward another step. "Why?"
"Because that's what he was driving and is probably driving now," Dani told them miserably, ready to give up and find some way to force them to leave without her.
"Then we'll have to take his car," John said staunchly. "It's in the barn. I was out there putting away the new tractor when he drove it right in and-" John cut himself off abruptly, his mouth tightening at some unpleasant memory. "Come on, let's go, or we'll still all be standing here arguing when he gets back."
Dani bit her lip, but started to move again. She did her best to ignore the pain the activity sent shooting through her as they made their way to the cold room she'd examined earlier. She noticed the hammer and long nails lying abandoned on the concrete floor, and then raised her head to see that one of the boards of Styrofoam had been removed to reveal a stone wall with an old window in it.
The sight made her heart sink with despair. There was no way she was going to be able to get out through that in the shape she was in.
Chapter Fourteen
"You can do this, girl."
Dani turned her head toward the old farmer. Apparently her expression had given her away, but he wasn't giving up even if she was.