Chapter 3
Erin's P.O.V.
Slowly I felt myself arch into Vlad as he kissed me gripping my hips firmly but gently. He's always terrified of hurting me careful not to hold too tightly or touch me too roughly. Even a knock in the corridor from him could break one of my bones and he would never be able to forgive himself if that happened. My sleeves were rolled up, scars and cuts open to the air, my coat long since thrown into the room. Suddenly I pulled away from Vlad. Vlad looked down at me brow furrowed in a mixture of confusion and concern. "Vlad… I haven't told you everything" I spoke quietly looking down and fiddling with my hands. "What haven't you told me?" he asked softly cupping my head with both hands and lifting my chin to look up at him smiling kindly. Slowly I removed his hands from my cheeks and stood from my kneeling position. "Close your eyes" I murmured turning away from him and taking a few paces into the room. "But Er…" Vlad started standing. "Just do it" I interrupted him quietly playing with the hem of my school skirt. "Ok" Vlad answered, "Ok they're closed"
Quickly I got to work pulling my black tights down and discarding them next to my coat and untucking my white school blouse. Slowly I turned around pulling my skirt up so he would see what I was showing him. "You can open them" I said staring at the floor. Slowly I looked up at Vlad, tears threatening to overflow. Vlad only stared at my legs, my thighs covered in more cuts and scars than my wrists. "Erin…" Vlad finally spoke walking up to me and placing his hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eye, his full of pain. It made my stomach clench. "Please tell me there's no more" he begged. Gradually I felt my face crumple and I shook my head, pulling up my blouse to reveal my hips and stomach. Quickly Vlad squeezed his eyes shut, turning his head away looking down at the corner of the room. "I think I owe you an explanation" I whispered letting my blouse float back down gracefully.
xXx
Vlad's P.O.V.
"It started when I was thirteen. I was diagnosed with anxiety and clinical depression." Erin breathed "Me and my brother were living with our parents, well… Not living so much as surviving. They abused me in every way possible. Emotional, verbal, physical. They got into your head, saying the same horrid things over and over. That I was a disappointment, an embarrassment and if you heard it enough you started to believe it. They used to chain me up in the basement whenever I did something wrong" she confessed digging her finger nails into her palm, some of them drawing blood "Sometimes for days. No light. No food. They never punished my brother. He wanted to be a slayer. Was top in every class, never disappointed, never failed, never embarrassed. But I did. And it wasn't acceptable. Then I failed my first slayers exam. My parents were livid" Slowly Erin's eyes became more and more blurry as tears welled in her eyes "That night was the worst beating I had ever had. My dad kicked me and punched me. He threw things at me and I had never been so scared in my life. I was scared for my life. I screamed and I cried and I slapped the windows but nobody heard me" Erin let the tears fall choking on that imaginary lump that forms in your throat when you cry. "At some point my dad managed to get his hands around my neck and he started squeezing my throat closed. I was just about to close my eyes when the phone rang. My dad let go of me and went to answer it" Erin clutched one of the cushions on my sofa close to her chest "When he was finished on the phone he threw it onto the sofa and yanked me to my feet. He squeezed my face so hard I was afraid he might break something. He said I had one last chance to prove my worth. He told me my brother had been bitten and there was a way to reverse the effects. I had to wipe out the bloodline of the vampire who bit him." It didn't take long for me to connect the dots "And then you met me" I finished. Erin nodded tears dropping off her jaw and running down her neck. "You went through all that in three years?" I asked placing a hand on Erin's shoulder. Suddenly Erin threw away the cushion and buried her face in my chest, clutching my shirt and gripping my shoulder. "Oh Erin" I whispered wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close to me "What sort of parents do that to their daughter?" Erin just shook her head. "Erin, listen to me" I said lifting her chin gently to look up at me "You are never going to go through that again, you hear me? I promised you I would protect you and I'm not going to go back on that" Slowly Erin nodded resting her cheek on my shoulder. "I believe you" she breathed "But sometimes promises can't be kept"
xXx
Dictionary: Promise
pro/mise;noun
Something you wish you could keep.
To Be Continued
A/N Cue apology for disappearing. I'm so sorry. I'm really trying to get chapters up more often but I have been cursed with this horrid enchantment called writers block. Wretched thing anyway I've just realized something in chapter one that I could possibly extend into a plot. Cue applause! YAY! no more writers block for a while now (I hope). Thanks for reading! Please don't for get to leave a review! I always love reading them and if you would like any particular scenes/characters/plots/other included in this fanfic I would gladly find a way to squeeze them in somewhere. Just review or pm me. I'm nice. I swear.
