I had managed to convince Dex and Stephanie to leave without worry but I knew I would be far from okay. I wandered out of my room to the ground floor. I sneaked around the yard fences, keeping my mind void of thoughts. It was a really dangerous path. It spread out across a hillside which was really steep and ragged. I was glad I had worn tennis shoes, jeans and a white shirt. I had been wise enough to grab a dark tan cardigan against the cold.
It was really misty and rainy which explained the limited vision and extreme caution I took to trek over the wet and slippery rocks. I went downwards to figure out where this institution exactly was. On the day I came here, I had been asleep the whole journey so I wouldn't have known if we were at the coast or if we were at a desert.
I was inwardly in shock; I was able to think again. The haze was gone. I was able to notice details of where I was and what I was doing. It felt good to see past the cloud and I was enjoying the greenery and ragged rocks on this freezing cold day. The sky was pretty dark; I had better go back once I figured out where Moon Heaven was. I kept walking downhill, savoring the freedom of being out of the gates of an Academy. But I was struggling to keep my thoughts away from the one place they generally strayed towards.
I kept up a steady pace until I reached the bottom of this huge hill. And then, turning back to look at it, I had to admit it was beautiful and somehow it looked fierce. Maybe because of the sharp rocks jutting out.
The whole area was wooded thickly like a tropical rain forest. But the trees were alpine evergreens, covered with a thin layer of icy sleet.
I was surprised that this wasn't the bottom of the hill but merely a sort of landing. I went on and on, trekking lower and lower till I wore myself out. Sitting down underneath a tree in the woods, I felt all the beginnings of a fairy tale. It hit all the clique notes; picturesque spot, tired girl, dark woods and nice shady trees for her to fall asleep under. Now all that was missing was Prince Charming.
I violently shook my head, forcing the thought to leave my mind but its little sparks had set the fire alight. Tears threatened to overflow as I jerked myself up and began walking down the mountain side.
In my haste and anxiety I ignored my logical mind and walked horizontally, across the mountain, not along it. I saw that there was a cliff a little farther to the other face of the mountain. I hurried along, nearly ran over to the cliff.
I peered over the edge and was awestruck by what I saw; the mighty mountain ranges gave away to the ferocious ocean. The coast was just as ragged as the ranges, the rocks lining the beaches were sharp and dragon teeth-like.
It was an overwhelming sense of power to stand over the cliff, feeling ocean bow at my feet and mountains rising protectively behind me. I stepped closer to the edge of the cliff and pretended to fall over. The very thought exhilarated me and I stepped away, gasping for breath.
I wheeled around to leave and it began to rain suddenly. The ocean seemed to come alive and scream with rage as it's waves crashed on the beaches and the rocks at the bottom of my cliff. I ran away from this gorgeous spot to get somewhere dry. I could barely see two feet in front of me but I still ran hard.
Running up a ragged mountain during a downpour; not such a good idea. I was basically feeling my way around. I had no idea if I was going the right way. Was I going in circles? Once I thought of this, I froze. I couldn't make myself move forward. I just stood alone in the rain, cold, scared, depressed. Unwanted thoughts about why I was even in this situation crept up and I squeezed my eyes shut, pushing them away. But like moths to a flame, they hounded me.
I gripped my hair, screaming into the rain. I had no control over myself as I began to run.
Which way was I going? Was I even awake? I had no clue. Just running and screaming. My heart was hammering in my chest; I knew their beats were numbered. I mean, there was no way I was going to get out of this little escapade alive, right?
Take one bad step and ….bang! You're dead!
My foot slipped as I clambered over the rocks. I steadied myself but it scared me and I began to move faster. It happened a lot and I was getting more and more agitated.
I may have been running for hours or minutes, I didn't know. Suddenly, I heard a noise like there was somebody with me in the rain. Standing close enough to sense. I shook it off but deciding it was better to go down again, I turned around.
"Uh", was all I could say as my foot slipped and I began to fall headlong down the extremely steep mountain. No doubt I would fall down the cliff within moments.
Dead.
In the dark, a hand shot out and grabbed mine. But I was convinced I was going to drag the person with me. The person's arms encircled me and held me up. I shrieked and cringed away; I was still against being touched by anyone.
But the person chuckled, relief was apparent in the voice. And the person began to move, not really taking much effort to get over the rocks. But I was preoccupied by how fast the rain was sweeping over me, like we were moving at a 100 mph. We probably were.
I cringed into the person, feeling his muscular and yet lean build. I was safe with him, I knew it. Looking up at his face, all I saw were blue rings like an ocean, grey in the moonlight. Then all was black.
When I woke up, there was a bandage around my head. I was in my room and I was being laid on my bed carefully. I jerked away from my savior and he let me drop onto the bed. I rolled away form him and stood up, ready to defend myself. I saw the moon-kissed blues and felt calm spread over me. But compulsion so weak that it didn't even work and the eyes closed in pain. It was obvious he hadn't fed in a few weeks.
Which was nearly always fatally dangerous.
"Why haven't you fed?", I couldn't believe I was speaking to him after all he did to me. I could hear no reply and I knew why.
"Why, Damien? How can you bear to talk to me after everything I did to you? I turned you into a zombie, Damien. And you almost died because of me and here you are, asking me why I haven't FED", he growled. He climbed over the bed and grabbed my shoulders. "Why?", from his voice I knew he was ravaged.
"You saved my life", I informed him. Talon, I reminded myself the name, a thrill going through me. He rolled his eyes and turned to leave, seeing me shaking in his grip. But as he wheeled around, he suddenly caught the bed posts and sank down dizzily. I rushed to help him. He flinched and got up, only to fall back down.
This time, Talon had no strength to get up and he just looked at me, helpless.
i silently held up my wrist and he shook his head. Talon managed to get up and walk to the door, needing the frame for support.
I rolled my eyes at his ego, pulling him against myself as I led him to his room. "Don't DO this, Damien", he begged, trying to get away. But his attempt was so weak that it was hard to believe he was trying.
I had never known vampires became this weak without blood. If I blew hard enough, he would easily topple over. I looked at Talon as we walked, deep in thought. He was wincing with pain, making me look over him to see if he was okay. I caught sight of it, a horrible cut on his wrist. It was so long, it nearly went up to his upper arm. It was extremely deep and wide too. Like a knife was dragged deep, through his arm.
Talon felt me looking at the cut and tugged his sleeve to hide it. "Why haven't you healed yet?", I stopped walking and let him lean against the wall.
"He shrugged, "I guess because I haven't fed in a little while, I can't heal. But I'll be fine", as he was speaking he seemed to swoon. I held Talon against the wall but he no longer stood on his own. He just dropped down underneath me. I held him up and managed to lead him to his room that was close by. I laid him on the bed and picked up a in that was on his bedside table and gently pressed it into the skin of my palm. Beads of blood oozed out. I held it his mouth and saw his eyes snap open. I saw one thing that was clear in them; hunger.
But Talon pursed his lips and stopped breathing. His eyes were tightly shut. "Get out", he whispered. I didn't move; stubbornly holding my hand there. He growled and opened his eyes to look into mine, "Please, go. I can't hurt you anymore. Please. Please", he begged. I pulled my hand away, hating myself for it.
"I am so sorry, I had no right to hurt you", he mumbled as consciousness slipped away from him. I jumped up and left the room, pain ripping me into pieces.
"I love you".
"What?" I spun around and looked into the dark room. Had I heard right? But he was out cold. Panic rolled down me as I rushed to find a teacher this late at night. Talon had to get help. He had gone too far with this. I found Mr. Gray in the teacher's hallway; "Mr. Gray! Hurry! Talon…...he's not had any blood for a few weeks, he's dying!", I was nearly sobbing. Mr. Gray and I went into the room to find Talon in a dangerous state; he had gone paler than he usually was, his face was moist and his skin was colder than ice. There were bruise-shadows under his eyes which meant he was really ill. But Mr. Gray knew what he was doing.
He had a bag of blood which he injected into Talon's wrist. He hadn't put in much but Talon woke up and shook his head weakly. "N-N-No I'll drink tomorrow, I promise", he shivered. Mr. Gray nodded and left.
I sat by his bed side, as his eyelids drooped with exhaustion. I had an idea.
I asked him, "Talon, why did you do it?", I was curious to see what he would assume I was asking him and answer.
"Damien, you would die if you'd fallen downhill. I had to save you", he said.
"That's not what I was asking", I told him, hoping to extract something else.
"I gave you my blood because I knew you would die without it. You're almost healed now. You didn't heal completely because I hadn't fed in 3 weeks", he mumbled.
"Still not what I asked", I added, hiding my shock.
"I couldn't stop thinking about you. I didn't deserve to drink blood and grow healthy", he sighed, drifting off.
I didn't know what had happened to me but I had forgotten how horrid I had felt. How his rejection had hurt me far more than not seeing Stephanie and Dex. How I had internally died when I found out. With him, I was complete. I was never dead in the first place; I became more alive than I had ever been. All I cared about was Talon's health.
And from what I knew about him, he wouldn't drink blood tomorrow either. He would put it off as long as he could. And his main objective was to die.
But I had other plans for him.
