Hello everyone, and welcome to "Bad Blood;" a sequel to my story "The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions." So if you haven't read that story yet, please do. Otherwise this won't make any sense to you at all. Seriously, stop reading this and go read the other first. Cause if you don't there are serious spoilers here and nobody likes spoilers, right?
For those of you who have read The Road to Hell, I'm sure you know I left the story on a cliff hanger and gave you, the readers, the option to decide how you wanted the story to end. However, the story did have a true ending in my mind and I decided to write it out. Once I got it all finished I decided to share it. Thus, you have this short story. It's told from Tawny's point of view this time. I hope any questions you had are answered and I hope you enjoy!
His eyes were burrowing into mine, cold despite the smile on his face and everything I had learned to distrust when dealing with the undead. They were somehow bluer than they'd ever been and piercing through me as though they could see every ounce of weakness that I had always had for them. Those eyes...
There was a bottle in his hand, decorated in a garish fashion as though it was some sort of ceremonial trinket and I had an inkling of what it contained before I could even catch a whiff. There was a part of me still clinging to my naïvety, however, and I wanted to believe that he wouldn't do that to me. Not after all we'd been through. Surely he wouldn't. He was still my friend, my David. He was still the boy that had protected me and looked after me and that was something that would never change.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
"What is it?" I asked, stepping further back into the cavern. There were only five feet between us, close enough that he could have rushed me if he wanted, but he didn't, further lulling me into a sense of comfort and trust.
"It's wine." He lied, smile never faltering. Not even for a second. He moved away from me then, digging through an antique cedar chest in search of the two wine glasses he produced. He handed one to me and I accepted it hesitantly. I had become smart enough to know that nobody should ever drink anything a vampire offers them, but I wanted to believe he was still the old David from all those years before. I looked into those eyes and I saw the good and caring boy that was truly no longer there and I trusted him.
He poured from the bottle into my glass and then poured into his own. The bottle was quickly discarded, almost as though it was trash and then he raised his glass high in my direction. "A toast?" I asked. "To what?"
"To Marko, Paul and Dwayne." David replied. "May their deaths not be in vain."
"To Marko." I said with a nod, raising my own glass. I had no issue with drinking to honor my old friend. Paul and Dwayne, however, I could never honor. I had blamed them for David's corruption, unaware at the time that David had done what he had done to himself and that nobody else was to blame. I brought the glass to my lips and I could feel his gaze burning through me. His intensity was palpable and I had to turn my eyes downward to avoid his stare. I sipped the contents of my glass slowly, surprised at how sweet the fluid was. It was certainly not wine but I swallowed it anyway.
David's smile spread further across his face as he too sipped and then raised his glass once more. "And a toast to us. Long may we live."
And I raised my glass to toast to this declaration of his, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach but I had no idea why. I took another sip, another and another until the glass was empty. I watched him as he watched me, his eyes never leaving mine, not even for an instant. My hand shot out and I passed the wine glass back into his hands. "I should be going, David. Thank you for the wine."
"Thank you for drinking with me." His reply came as he sat the glasses aside and stepped closer to me. "You know you don't have to leave, Tawny."
I didn't want to leave. Really, I didn't. I'd always wanted to stay with David but I was constantly at war with myself. Despite that he wasn't the one to kill my mother, he had lured us in and he had left her vulnerable and alone with the monster who did. He knew Max was dangerous and he gave my mother to him anyway. It was something I found hard to forgive. But on the other side of the coin, if it hadn't been for David, Max would have killed me too. David saved me and for that, I would always be grateful. That boy, that part of him that protected me was all I wanted him to be and a part of me still believed that boy was in there. That part of me wanted to stay but the rational part of me was stronger.
"David, you know I can't." I said with a shake of my head. "It's not like when we were kids. We're not sitting on the couch eating cereal and watching MTV anymore."
"So I'll get a TV down here and find a way to run electricity and cable." He responded with a laugh and a shrug as though it would fix everything; all the bad blood. I knew it wouldn't.
"It's not that simple, David." I said with a shake of my head. "I'm sorry. I'm leaving." I turned away from him and started out of the cavern once more but I could hear his footsteps behind me before he voiced the question I somehow knew was coming.
"Where will you go?" He asked. There was a hint of concern in his voice but to this day, I have no idea if it was genuine or not.
I paused but I didn't look back at him. I knew very well where I was going to go but that was not information David needed. I shrugged and smiled to myself before continuing my trek out of the cavern. "Don't worry about me. I'll be around."