"So we meet again, love," he said menacingly. I snarled at him, showing my fangs.
"You're not even a real vampire! Plus, you couldn't hurt me in your life," he said. He was taunting me, toying to see if I would get angry, to see if I would harm a Guarded. I used my long, untrimmed fingernail and scratched a bloody line across his cheek.
"How's that for not hurting you?" I asked. He snarled at my and pressed my pressure point. I groaned and buckled under his unmerciful grip. He grinned powerfully, and threw me to the ground like a broken toy. "Why are you doing this to me? Before I tried to leave, you said you loved me. Why would you do this if you loved me, Gabriel?" I asked. Gabriel has many sides, one that is drowned in guilt. If I targeted on of those sides, maybe I could get him to go away.
"Because this will stop you from leaving," he said. I shook my head and I tried to break his grip. It only made him squeeze harder. "You can't leave me. You love me, and you and I are going to get married and we will live forever, together," Gabriel said.
"Gabriel, this is my work. I have to do this!" I yelled at him. He got angry.
"What is so important about this? What do you have to prove?" he yelled louder. My anger was white hot and my blood pressure was boiling. I spat the words that had held me anchored to the past.
"Because I killed someone for this!" I yelled at him. There was a long pause. It was tense, and he didn't know what to say. "I killed someone for this! Do you know who I killed? I killed my human brother!" I yelled at him. Tears were streaming down my face. Gabriel made the motion to wipe them away with his hand by I was too far gone for that. "Don't touch me! I have to pay for my crime by helping others. This is what I wanted. I didn't know that it would be him. I thought it would be someone that I didn't know," I said. I collapsed to the ground and started shaking. I shook all the tears out.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know," he said, trailing off.
"That's because I didn't want anyone to know. This is the first time I've told anyone," I lied. There was one person I had told, but that was different.
"I think I understand," he said.
"You don't! You try killing your closest friend, your confident, and then you try to tell me if you can understand!" I yelled at him. I tried to yank away again, but his steady arms wouldn't budge.
"Calm down, it's okay," he whispered. This was going exactly how I wanted it to go. I could see him relaxing and his muscles untensing.
"I remember everything about him. He was tall, with dark features. He didn't look anything like me. He was shy, too. I was his eyes and ears, even before I turned into a vampire," he was melting in my hands just as planned.
"What can I do to help you?" he asked. Tears brimmed his eyes, and I knew I had to make it real for him. This was going to be the only way how.
"I need to be alone. I always have been. That's what keeps me sane. Please, I need to be alone," I said. This made it real for him. He backed away, letting his hands drop from my shoulders.
"It'll help if I just leave you alone?" he asked uncertainly. I nodded and slowly stepped back. He didn't reach out for me. He didn't walk towards me, he stood there.
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