Threats

"Evelyn O'Gorman, ten o'clock."

It was now the weekend and another day for another treatment. Mitchell had insisted on tagging along this time; the last handful of appointments Evelyn had explained to him that she'd rather go alone because it was just a couple hours of her being injected with drugs and trying to make the best of it. Not only that, but the environment was one filled to the brim with the smell of blood. It would likely send Mitchell into overdrive, or so she feared.

But Mitchell convinced her this morning to allow him a chance. It was a constant battle, blood lust. If he deprived himself of being anywhere near a trace of it, it could potentially drive him mad, but it was the same if he were flooded in its presence. It was a never-ending battle.

After Evelyn was all checked in, Mitchell followed her up the elevator and through the double doors that led to her treatment room. This particular room looked like any other hospital room: bland, and full of intimidating equipment, but the walls were of a light mocha color which gave the atmosphere a more comforting feel. It was a fairly decent-sized room though so it didn't feel quite as stagnant as most hospitals.

In the middle of the farthest wall was a bed with its back propped up at an angle. Daylight was spilling through the windows to their left and beside the bed, where Evelyn was now making herself comfortable.

Mitchell continued to observe the room and its contents as a hefty woman, whom he presumed was Evelyn's nurse, walked in with a gentle smile on her thin lips. He stood off to the side, watching as the nurse reviewed 'the usual' schedule with Evelyn. The nurse exited briefly as she instructed Evelyn to fit herself in a hospital gown.

He didn't need to be told to avert his eyes; he turned his back to give her privacy and stared out the window at the landscape below. They had to be a hundred feet up in the air at least. In the midst of his distraction he heard his name being called. He turned his head just enough so that he could hear what Evelyn needed without having to look.

"I'm decent, but could you tie me up?" She asked, cinching together the back of the gown to cover her bum and avoid any other mishaps.

Mitchell gulped silently as he nodded and approached her from behind, first tying the gown loosely around the back of her neck and then trailing his hands down to her waist. Although he was doing his best in keeping his eyes focused on what he was doing, he couldn't help but notice a scar a few inches long just below the middle of her back. He frowned slightly, assuming that this was the location of her tumor and where they had performed the biopsy. He snapped himself back into concentration and finished the final tie.

He could feel the warmth of her body radiating off of her skin and the overwhelming sensation of the smell of her blood running below it. He had the utmost desire to completely rip off the gown from her, but before he could explore this inclination any further, she crawled into the bed just as the nurse walked back in. The nurse shot Mitchell a scathing look, as if she had just read his thoughts. He shot a look back at her, but had to remind himself where he was and who he was here for.

Mitchell sat in a single leather chair beside the bed, watching intently as Evelyn sat back into the bed while the nurse pulled down the fabric of her gown to reveal a plastic port embedded in her chest. He hadn't any idea that she had this; he'd assumed she was receiving her treatment through another method. He sat up a little in his chair as the nurse slowly but surely inserted the needle into the catheter.

Evelyn's face twisted while the needle was being inserted and Mitchell leaned forward in his chair and took hold of one of her hands. It only lasted a few seconds before the nurse fiddled with some switches and buttons on a machine and left the room again.

Evelyn's face relaxed now as she opened her eyes again. Mitchell stared idly at the tube connecting itself from her chest below her collar bone to the giant machine just a few feet from her. It just didn't look natural.

"Now we wait." She said, turning her head so she could see him. She followed his eyes to the port implanted under her skin. "Oh, this is normal. It could have been in my arm but it would have gotten in the way." She reassuringly squeezed his hand.

Mitchell flashed a smile at her. "It looks mighty painful."

She shrugged. "Only with the insertion. For the first couple days after they implanted it, it was quite sensitive." She sighed; the multitude of drugs transmitting throughout her body were already tiring her. Her eyes felt heavy.

Mitchell made a mental note of this and subconsciously rubbed her hand with his thumb. "Now we wait?" He had a sympathetic smile on his face; although the process of chemotherapy was at times harsh on her body, it was a wonderful trade-off to eventually be rid of her cancer.

She smiled just slightly and nodded, "now we wait."

Mitchell brought his chair up as close as he could to the bed and placed his other hand on Evelyn's hand and rested his chin on them. He hadn't meant for it, but soon he was overcome by drowsiness.

–

Mitchell didn't know how much time had passed, but he parted his eyes just slightly at the sound of movement about him. He could feel somebody's hand caressing his hair and the sound of equipment being tampered with. He slowly raised his head, his eyes still adjusting to the light of the room. The nurse from before was unplugging Evelyn from the various machines.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep, did I miss anything?" He asked groggily; again, another nasty look from the nurse. He was beginning to think she had it out for him simply because he was a man and was probably in her way. But he really didn't care.

Evelyn sat up further in her bed once she was free of all the tubes. "I wouldn't know, I passed out myself." She snickered, and this time the nurse threw her a dirty look. If Mitchell was in a more convenient environment, he would call her out on this.

As soon as Evelyn was dressed and checked out, she and Mitchell went for some coffee to pass the time while Evelyn's dizziness subsided. They sat in a small booth across from one another.

Mitchell had only then noticed, out of his peripheral vision, that there were a couple vampires sitting at the opposite end of the room from them and their eyes kept flicking in their direction. Mitchell had been waiting for the right moment to speak to Evelyn about his plans with the vampire group who they'd both encountered, and now he would need to keep his voice as low as possible.

He cradled the hot mug of delicious black coffee below him with his gloved hands and leaned forward. "Don't make any eye contact with those other people in here." He muttered, hoping she wouldn't have an instinctive reaction to look where said people were.

Evelyn's eyes widened just slightly, trying to keep her expression natural as if it were normal to be sitting in a cafe in the company of vampires.

"Are they...?" She made a slight gesture with her head and he nodded.

"Not only that..." he began. "I'm pretty sure they're affiliated with those ones. Which I wanted to talk to you about, but I might have to hold that thought for another time." His mouth was barely moving when he spoke. "Honestly, I don't know why they're exposing themselves in such a public area. I swear year by year they become much more bold, taking more risks."

Evelyn sipped her piping hot drink, wanting so much just to get a glimpse at them because she could feel their eyes burning through her skull. But instead, she focused on Mitchell. "What do you think they want?" She whispered, unknowing as to what sort of hearing abilities vampires had now that she thought about it.

Mitchell placed his hand on the table behind his mug so that only they could see, and gestured to her and himself. "But mainly me. They just know where I'm vulnerable. Even if they just heard me say that, there's no point in denying it...they've known for too long now."

Evelyn swallowed the small knot in her throat. Although she wasn't exactly threatened by Mitchell, it felt like a whole other anxiety being in the presence of extremely, highly dangerous predators. She assumed that if they were in any immediate danger, Mitchell would have had them leave by now, so she just tried to play it cool.

Just as Mitchell opened his mouth to talk, the two vampire men approached their table. Mitchell's body stiffened, and Evelyn slowly pulled her carved arm away and tucked it beneath the table.

Mitchell looked up at them beneath slightly furrowed brows. They were staring at the both of them with smug grins plastered on their faces.

"What do you want?" Mitchell asked with enough authority to give them the hint they weren't welcome in their company. Evelyn kept her eyes on her drink; suddenly the aroma didn't smell so sweet. Rather, she was feeling particularly nauseated. The man standing closest to her was staring daggers into her face, but she refused to make eye contact.

"Oh, now let's not jump to nasty conclusions, Mitchell!" The man grinned, exposing his unnaturally pointy teeth and howled. The next second, his face turned stone cold and he slammed his hand down on the table inches away from Mitchell's hand. Mitchell watched this unflinchingly, clenching his jaw so tightly the muscles at his jawbone protruded. If he weren't with Evelyn, or had this been even a year earlier...his reaction might have been much more severe. The man, who had straight and slicked back black hair, leaned in so close to Mitchell, he could feel the cold radiating from the man's skin.

"A war is brewin'." The man breathed scathingly; his mouth was struggling between an arrogant grin and a grimace. His breath smelled of mint and seafood, as if he'd tried disguising it from his previous meal. "And you're teetering on the edge of friend and foe. Oh, but you still have time to make the right decision." As he said this, his head slowly cocked toward Evelyn, who felt her stomach drop as she'd been watching this interaction. Now she was staring dead into this man's cold eyes. Mitchell's hands were nothing but barely-trembling fists now. He was doing all he could not to turn right then and there and be rid of this filth.

The second vampire had an elongated face and a pointy chin, which only lengthened further when he grinned the way he was now. His eyes hadn't peeled from Evelyn since he'd spotted her, and Mitchell certainly noticed this.

"My dear..." began the first vampire, directing this at Evelyn. "You best run while you've still got the chance. You have no idea who you're associating yourself with." If possible, his grin extended even wider and the creases at his eyes became ever more apparent. Evelyn glanced at his tainted yellow teeth before her eyes found Mitchell's.

The man straightened himself once more, gave Mitchell a pat on the shoulder, and summoned his partner as they left the cafe. Mitchell exhaled a long breath, closing his eyes as he did so. Evelyn kept silent, if only to allow Mitchell to regain himself. In any other circumstance, Mitchell would have defended himself. He wasn't the type to sit back and be harassed, but the things he wanted to do to those men not only would have frightened Evelyn half to death and gotten him arrested, but he could have killed anyone in his path. The way he spoke to Mitchell as if he were a defenseless, wounded dog and the other man who stared at Evelyn as if she were something edible...

"Do you know them?" Evelyn whispered, breaking Mitchell's trance.

"Only acquaintances. It's been years since I'd last heard from them; I figured they would've gotten themselves killed by now." He said bluntly, unable to free himself from the thought that he was being watched and stalked more than he thought.

"What was it that you wanted to tell me before they interrupted?" She asked apprehensively, subconsciously sipping on her now room-temperature coffee.

Mitchell opened his mouth to speak, but wavered. How could alternately explain to her how badly he wanted nothing less than to rip off the heads of these vampires and leave their bodies to rot?

"I'm going to put an end to this. I don't know when or...how, even. I still have to think things through and come up with a game plan." He stared blankly at the wooden table below him. He was almost afraid to look Evelyn in the eyes. As much as he wanted to protect her from his ravenous, monstrous side, nothing was going to stop him from intervening with this specific vampire clan. The problem was he would be in it alone.

Evelyn only stared at him, unsure of what to say. She was pretty sure she understood what he meant by 'ending this', but at the same time she didn't want to. "But...why are they doing this? And more than that, why are they taking their time?"

Mitchell shook his head, his eyebrows slightly raised. "They want me back. It's always been about that; ever since I went clean. They like the thrill of the chase. It's a slow burn, essentially..."

"But if you go after them, isn't that giving them what they want? You can't do it! They want to make a monster of you." But what did she know of it? Not nearly as much as Mitchell. She just didn't want to see him led into that lifestyle again, mostly for his safety but also because she knew she would lose him and then she'd have nobody. Selfish as that may be, that's how she felt, but she didn't intend to let Mitchell in on those feelings.

Mitchell's face screwed up a bit in distress. "You don't understand, this is almost becoming tradition. I go clean, I hold them off, then there's a new leader and they come looking for recruits. Even if that means innocent people. It's a vicious cycle and as long as I live, and they live, it's never-ending." He finally met her eyes, his face full of hope that would try to understand.

Evelyn had nothing to say. She just knew that her time with Mitchell now went from endless to limited. He would become a danger to her if he came out of his pursuit alive, because he would undoubtedly be uncontrollable by that point. She never wanted to witness that side of him so long as she could avoid it, though she understood it may be inevitable.

Mitchell sighed and leaned back in his seat. "We should probably go before it gets dark."

Without any exchange of words, they made their way home.

–

It was a bit of an awkward car ride, which was a first for either of them. Generally, they were quite comfortable in each others' presence, but now there seemed to be a stale feeling in the air.

After a few hours of separation, Mitchell couldn't take it any longer. He made his way to Evelyn's room where she'd hidden herself since they returned. Her door was just cracked open, but he knocked anyhow. At the sound of her summoning him to come in, he did so and saw she was buried beneath a heap of blankets over her head, reading a book of some sort. He walked over and perched himself on the edge of her bed, hanging his head some. She set her school book aside and leaned against the wall behind her.

"I know this – everything – is a lot to take in. And it's probably still unbelievable to you and it's hard to digest what's going on. Sometimes it's still that way even for me." He began fiddling with his thumbs as she listened intently. "But for me it's inescapable. I explained this to George once; there is no day off for me. It's a constant battle every single second of every single day, even when I seem to be doing perfectly fine. That can change at the snap of a finger. I'm going to have good days and I'm going to relapse here and there...it's just how the cards play for me. I still have a hard time accepting that, but it's been so long now that I've sort of become...comfortable with it. Yet it's so unbearable at the same time. So many times I've said I would never forgive myself for things I've done, and to this day I still feel that way. Maybe I just don't know when to give up or give in, and I should just let somebody take my head. I don't really know what keeps me from that, to be honest. I know I've earned death a hundred times over." He drew in a deep inhale and looked over his shoulder at Evelyn.

"What I'm trying to get at is, if you have any doubts about us, whether it's just our friendship or...or something more, don't think I won't understand if you ever choose to leave. Even at a moment's notice, you could walk out at any time and I would never hold that against you. I know what I'm like and you only know half of me; the better half. I just need you to understand hat no matter your decision, you have to take into account that I'm a ticking time bomb and it's not just a one-time incident. I don't necessarily want you to go, I don't wish that...in fact if I were human I would fight to keep you here. But if it's between having a proper, happy life and risking that life just to keep me company, then you would be better off." By now his eyes had returned down at his hands. As much as he truly believed in her moving on and getting away from him, deep down internally he hoped she would stay. It was a selfish wish but he couldn't lie to himself that he wouldn't be utterly miserable without any company, especially her. He would constantly worry about her condition or if she would go on to make friends, meet a nice man at school and start a family.

Evelyn's heart was beating a bit faster; indeed this was a lot to take in and it was quite unexpected. True, she was still digesting this whole supernatural world she'd only just been dunked into head first. But it wasn't quite as difficult to accept than she thought, or maybe she just hadn't truly taken the time to sit down and really think about it. Mitchell could about hear her heart accelerating and her blood pumping faster, serving as a reminder to himself just how fragile he could be.

"I do understand. Maybe not as much as I think I do...but I've already acknowledged what I might be bringing myself into." She began, her voice calm and just above a whisper. "The thing is that I feel it's worth the risk to stay. I promise though, as I did before, that if I felt I was in some serious risk, I would do what I needed to to remove myself from that risk. I don't think, however, you give yourself enough credit for how wonderful you are as a person. Who cares what you are; you could be a venus fly trap for all I care, but you'd still be the most compassionate venus fly trap I'd ever met, even if you do eat all those innocent flies." She knew it was a fairly poor analogy to vampirism, but nonetheless it made Mitchell smile. "It would be different if you were just human and, say, a serial killer. You can actually get help for that. But vampires? That's not even taboo, it just doesn't exist in my world; in what was your world.

I will never fully understand what it's like being in your position. And I believe you when you, and those vampires, say you've made poor choices in the past. The difference is, not only is it an uncontrollable complication, it's not something you can just check yourself into rehab for. There is no help for your kind of people. I get that; my father was an alcoholic for years until I turned ten. I know it's different but it's also similar; the struggle and the constant guilt that eats at you when you explore that addiction again. And all you want to do is just be free of that sickness and live freely and never worry about it again." She hadn't quite expected to make such a speech, but it moved Mitchell to no end. All he wanted from everyone is his life was to understand, not just what he was, but what he could be. He wanted them to take him seriously when he needed to keep them at an arms length.

Mitchell actually felt the threat of tears, but he refused to cry. Instead, he pushed himself backwards closer to Evelyn, who smiled sympathetically and lifted her blankets for him to join her.

"What's up with the blanket cave anyway?" He asked conspicuously, lifting the blanket over their heads so that they were now completely submerged under them.

Evelyn shrugged with a friendly smile. "It's a weird habit I have when I read, it kind of makes me feel like I'm actually in the story rather than this world. Not that this world is bad but you know what I mean."

"More than you realize." He smirked crookedly and rested his head against the wall behind him.

"You collapsed my cave by the way. Now it's a melted igloo and I can't see anything." She held up the blankets so that they rested atop their heads again.

"Thank you...for understanding. For trying to understand, anyway." He said quietly, bringing his knees up.

Evelyn frowned for a moment as if confused by him thanking her for something that came so naturally. "Of course. I'll always try my best. And if I don't, you have permission to give me a swift kick in the arse."

"Does that rule apply at any time?" He asked with mock sincerity, his face twisted in wonderment.

"Absolutely not, you have to deal with me otherwise." She lightly pulled on his hair with this statement.

Mitchell turned his face toward her with widened eyes as if she had truly hurt him. "You mean deal with your abusive ways?!" He teased as he turned, wrapped his legs around her waist so that she was trapped, and gently pinched both of her cheeks with his hands. He scrunched up his face.

Evelyn attempted to keep a straight face, but it was an impossible feat with someone like Mitchell in your company. He released her face and leaned back on his hands.

Evelyn then squawked with laughter, covering her eyes with her hand as she did so. Mitchell stared at her questioningly, not quite understanding what was funny. "This looks like a rather compromising position, does it not?" She asked as her cheeks flushed as she said it.

Mitchell's mouth fell open into a large grin, his brows raised. "Someone's got quite the dirty mind!" He noticed the pink filling her cheeks – though how could he not, he could even smell it, but he ignored the thought. He decided, instead, to play with this opportunity. "What are you insinuating?" He joked, only for the fun of watching her embarrassment continue to shine on her face. This whole time she couldn't help but smile bashfully, hiding her cheeks with her hands.

"Is that what you've been thinking about this whole time? Was this just a trap?" He pressed, trying ever so hard not to burst out into laughter.

"Stop it!" She laughed, leaning forward to shove him in the chest.

"Is it sexy?" He knew that this would do her in; now she shifted the blanket so that her head was wrapped in it and recoiled in shame. Mitchell finally howled with laughter.

"I hate you." She spoke through the fabric, refusing to ever expose her face to humanity again.

With a huge smile still pasted on his face, he mockingly rolled his eyes even though she couldn't see him. "You couldn't hate me no matter how hard you tried." He challenged, which Evelyn responded to by threatening hovering her fist over his man business. Mitchell flinched until he realized she hadn't done anything yet, placing his hand over his crotch in preparation.

"That's cheating!" He cried, as Evelyn's shoulders bounced as she laughed. Seeing that she wasn't giving up, he sat up so that he was a mere few centimeters away, grabbed her arm and removed the blanket from around her face. Without warning, he placed his hand behind her head and rather roughly brought it close so that he could kiss her.

Taken by surprise, she snickered before kissing him in return. It was moments like these, the most vulnerable ones, that made Mitchell so much more human. For Evelyn, it was pure bliss. Not only having the ability to kiss him, but that it meant he could be warmhearted and break his walls down even if he did have many untold secrets and potential instability about him.

Mitchell shifted so that he was on his knees, then leaned forward and positioned Evelyn onto her back. The pace of their embrace was increasing and it was becoming similar to the night Mitchell had revealed his 'alternate personality'. She ran her hand through his thick mass of curly hair, following his lead. His left elbow propped him up while his free hand found its way beneath her shirt. Evelyn drew in a sharp breath and they both shivered at the touch of polar opposite temperatures colliding. He lightly ran his hand along her rib cage, but with each touch it was becoming more and more unbearable to curb his intentions. Pretty soon, Mitchell's hand found the clasp of her bra, which made Evelyn freeze. Mitchell paused and opened his eyes, his chest heaving.

Evelyn looked down at his mouth, hesitant. "I...I don't think we should...right now. I want to, I do...I'm just-" She paused as Mitchell's hand freed itself from beneath her shirt and gently rested on her lips.

His brows arched with sincerity. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. We'll wait."

Evelyn stared at him a moment before giving a small nod. He kissed her forehead before shifting his weight onto his side beside her. If he was being honest with himself, he never had this much control with other women. Well, then again he wasn't exactly in the right state of mind he was now, but even so. He was also more patient than he was even five years ago.

"What now?" Evelyn asked, rotating to lay on her stomach.

"Sleep I hope! You have to be up early for school." He gently poked her in the ribs. She grumbled at the thought of an early morning lecture and lesson. He untangled himself from the bed sheets and when he went to get up, Evelyn grabbed his arm and yanked him back down. They shared a laugh before he pecked her on the lips once more.

"Sweet dreams." He muttered before leaving the room and crossing the hall into his own, closing the door behind him. He stripped off his button-down shirt and tanktop underneath, as well as his pants and slid into bed.

Evelyn did all her pre-bedtime routines before switching her light off and immediately fell into a slumber.

What felt like five minutes later, she was sitting upright in her bed. Sweat was masking her face, her eyes wide in fear, and her chest rising and falling as she frantically looked about her pitch black room. When she realized it was a few hours later, and that she was no longer trapped in a nightmare, she took deep breaths and closed her eyes to compose herself.

She had dreamt that Mitchell had been tied to a post in a darkened room and was being tortured and beaten by a clan of vampires. They were faceless, but in her dream she had acknowledged that it was the group that had sought her out and attacked her and the unknown faces she'd never met. During it, she had been trying to get to Mitchell, but no matter how fast she ran she wasn't making gains. She had reached the torture room, but it was as if she were running on air and could never reach past a certain point. Instead, she witnessed this abuse for what felt like days.

She hadn't realized that the sweat on her face was blended with a few tears as well. Swinging her feet over her bed, she fumbled around her dresser as she grabbed a fresh pile of clothes and took a quick, cool and refreshing shower to clean the clamminess all over her. Once dried, she quietly padded her way to Mitchell's door which she prodded open, trying to avoid any creaking that would wake him.

Something she loved about his room was that he always had the brilliant, radiant light of the moon gleaming in through his window. It made the room look unintentionally majestic, as if it knew a special creature slept here. For a moment she allowed herself to watch him sleep in peace. He lay on his back, his blanket just up to his abdominal area, and his right arm resting behind his head. His chest rose and fell harmoniously. Not having to worry about fighting his demons, making an error, a slip...a reassurance that her dream was only a dream and not reality.

After some time she crept over to his bed, lifted the blanket just enough for her to crawl under, and rested her cheek and arm against his bare chest. The movement made Mitchell stir, but only enough for him to move his arm so that it wrapped around her comfortably and he was making groggy, sleepy noises.

Evelyn tilted her head up just enough to look at his face; he was still asleep, but he started to spew unintelligible words which she couldn't understood. She wanted to laugh, but didn't want to wake him.

Then she made out that he was saying her name, or rather a shortened version "Evie". He muttered it only a couple times sparingly, but he was certainly still sleeping. She listened more closely.

"I love you," came the words directly from his unconscious mouth. Evelyn froze even more so than she was already, feeling a lump in her throat all of a sudden. Was she dreaming again? Did she misunderstand his jumbled sleep-language? But now he was silent. The words had come out almost as clear as day, as if he had said them knowingly.

So much for getting any sleep tonight.