Chapter 2
(Phoenix's POV)
It's been a week since I got raped.
I've been functioning like a zombie, going through the daily routine without feeling or emotion. I wait all day for the others to wake up, then when I go to sleep, David watches over me. In the few hours where our internal clocks overlap, I sit by the fireplace in David's protective arms. Ever since the incident, he's never let me out of his sight. As for the others.. they keep their distance. Even Michael hasn't said ten words to him since it happened, at least not while I was around. We eat our meals in silence, and when the others go out to hunt, David stays home with me. He hasn't been drinking what they bring back: he's weaker than I've ever seen him.
"David, you have to go with them tonight, you need to eat. Please go, I'm okay. Really."
He looks at me with those haunted, tired eyes. He sighs, and stands.
"Alright. Promise me you'll stay in the house. I'm locking all the doors and windows. Understand?"
"Of course."
He crosses to my chair, eyes still locked with mine. He places a hand on my cheek, leans down slowly, and kisses my forehead.
"See you later, sweetheart."
The next morning, taped to one of the posts of my bed, was a sheet of paper that read:
MISSING:
JOHN GALAGER
The face there made me cringe, and light up with joy at the same time.
My attacker.
David got his revenge after all.
6 MONTHS LATER
(Michael's POV)
It's February 19th, Phoenix's fifteenth birthday. Only 365 more days until David lets her become one of us, until she's old enough to handle it.
She's staying up with us tonight for her celebration. We decorated the mansion with thousands of candles and blood-red lace. When she walked in after school, she almost screamed she was so excited.
After cake it was time for presents. Cary got her a dirt bike, hoping she would share his need for adrenaline. Soren, who usually avoids Phoenix, got her a new drawing set, to fuel her favorite pastime. I got her a journal, along with an old-fashioned writing quill and a pot of ink.
Then of course, there's David. David who is never without her, David who looks at her like she's the only thing that matters. The way he used to look at me.
David decides to take Phoenix out on the balcony to give her his gift. He has no idea I'm watching them, and I intend on keeping it that way.
David takes out a small, velvet box, and hands it to her.
A necklace. It has a glass pendant on the end, and at the center is a drop of crimson.
"What is it?" Phoenix asks excitedly, in a tone that makes it clear that she already loves it regardless to the answer.
" In the center, there? That's a drop of my blood. Not enough to do any damage, don't you worry."Her eyes widen, and she beams, holding the pendant in her palm.
"Remember when Cary gave you a nasty paper cut last week, and I cleaned it up for you? Well, it wasn't an accident."
He reaches beneath the collar of his shirt, and pulls out an identical necklace, holding it up in the moonlight so it glistens.
"Now I have piece of you, and you have a piece of me. Always."
I'm just as speechless as Phoenix appears to be. Her big, brown eyes are shining with tears, as she throws her arms around his neck, whispering,
"David.."
He holds her tight, and keeps her there, her petite form lost in his silhouette. I turn away, wiping an unwanted tear from my cheek.
At this rate, he'll be in love with her by summertime...