“Edward, are you awake?” Kim asked. She shook him again and his head flopped from side to side like a rag doll.
Edward appeared confused and disoriented until he noticed Kim. She was still holding his shoulders.
Kim watched Edward’s pupils suddenly dilate similar to those of a cat about to spring. Then his eyes narrowed to mere slits while his upper lip curled back like a snarling beast’s. Edward’s previously flaccid face contorted into an expression of sheer rage.
Shocked by this horrid, unexpected metamorphosis, Kim released his shoulders and backed up. She was stunned he could be so angry at being awakened. Edward let out a throaty sound akin to a growl and sat up. He was staring at her unblinkingly.
Kim bolted for the door, aware that Edward had sprung after her. She heard him fall to the floor, presumably tangled in his partially removed trousers. Kim slammed Edward’s bedroom door behind her, and, using the skeleton key, locked it.
After dashing headlong down the stairs, Kim ran to the phone in the kitchen. She knew that something was terribly wrong with Edward. He wasn’t just angry about being awakened. Something had snapped in his mind.
Kim dialed 911, but as the connection went through she heard the door to Edward’s bedroom splinter and then bang open against the wall. An instant later she could hear Edward snarling at the top of the stairs, followed by the sound of his coming down.
Frightened out of her mind, Kim dropped the phone and headed for the back door. As she reached it she glanced over her shoulder. She caught a glimpse of Edward crashing into the dining room table and throwing it but of his way in his haste. He was totally berserk.
Kim yanked open the door and dashed out into the rain, which was coming down in sheets. Her only thought was to get help, and the closest source was the castle. She rounded the house and struck off across the field, running as fast as she could in the soggy darkness.
A fearful bolt of lightning crackled out of the sky and illuminated the drenched landscape, briefly silhouetting the castle. The thunder followed immediately, reverberating off its looming facade. Kim did not break stride. She was thankful to see lights in some of the windows of the servants’ wing.
Reaching the graveled area in front of the castle, Kim was forced to slow down. Although her panic had shielded her from most of the discomfort of running barefoot, the stones were too painful to disregard. Moving at a pace akin to a fast walk, she headed toward the side of the building, but as she neared the faux drawbridge she noticed that the main entrance was conveniently ajar.
Breathing heavily, Kim rushed inside. She ran straight through the dark front hall into the great room, where dim illumination spilled in from the huge two-story windows facing south. It was light from the surrounding towns reflected off the low cloud cover.
Kim had planned to head through the dining room to the kitchen and the servants’ quarters beyond, but she hadn’t gotten far when she all but collided with Eleanor. A wet, white lace nightgown clung to the woman like a second skin.
Kim stopped short, momentarily paralyzed. She now knew she’d been correct: it had been Eleanor she’d seen running in the field. Kim started to warn her about Edward, but her words died in her throat when she saw Eleanor’s face in the meager light. It had the same unspeakable feral quality that she’d seen in Edward’s when he awoke. To make things worse, Eleanor’s mouth was smeared with blood as if she’d been feeding on raw meat.
Running into Eleanor cost Kim her lead on Edward. Gasping for breath, he staggered into the room and hesitated, savagely eyeing Kim in the half-light. His hair was plastered against his wet head. He was dressed only in his T-shirt and boxer shorts, both of which were covered with mud.
Kim turned to face him. Once again she had to catch her breath at his changed appearance. It was not that his features had altered; it was just that his face reflected a beastly rage.