"Heeey!" I smiled at him. It didn't fully occur to me that he was livid. His nostrils flared wildly before slowly leaning away. What was his problem?
"What're ya doin' Cace?" He asked with accusation in his tone. I looked around to the party that still danced around me. At least there wasn't some sort of scene.
"Daaancing." I sung and spun myself quickly as if it would prove some sort of alibi. I placed my hands on his shoulders while I moved the rest of my body. His hands rested gently on my hips as I swayed them.
"You smell like sex and drugs." His words resonated deep in my ear and sunk to my heart. Had I really forgotten that he would be able to smell every last event that I had partaken in? Yes. I had fully forgotten of his existence until now.
"Yeah.." I mumbled. Even attempting to lie to him would be a huge mistake. I was pretty sure that I was already in a good amount of trouble.
"Let's go. This ain't the place to talk about it." Who said anything about wanting to talk about it at all? I was having the time of my life. I didn't need him here ruining it or taking me from it. I felt a few pairs of eyes on us now that we stood in the middle of the dancing, unmoving. I just stared at him and he rolled his eyes before gripping my wrist tightly.
"I don't want to go!" I exclaimed angrily and yanked my arm away. He looked over me for a second with an eerie calmness. I just stared at him trying to find out what kind of emotion he was masking. That was a mistake. I should have walked away while I still could. His hand came out of no where and a loud crack filled the room as it came in contact with my cheek. My bottom found the ground quickly and my palm reached up to attempt to sooth the burning half of my face.
"What the fuck, man?" Ben came over to me and tried to help me up.
"No. Don't." I tried to keep him away. The music was gone and for a second everything went in slow motion. People were coming towards Avery with profanities, but his eyes wouldn't tear from Ben. I could see his nostrils flatten so slightly as he took in a breath of the air around him. In a moment his eyes went from a furious, glowing blue to the white of a forever snowy mountain cap. He lunged at Ben and I scrambled up from the ground. I could hear the sound of his fangs tearing viciously into the drug addict's neck.
"Avery!" I screamed and his neck twisted sharply and quickly like an animal that just heard it's prey move. His mouth was covered in blood and in his hand was Ben's head. A devilish smirk raised on his lips before he disappeared from my sight.
The room echoed in screams and Everything moved so fast I didn't know what to do. I was shaking. My hands couldn't get a good grip of anything much like my mind. Blood was being splattered in every which direction and I didn't know what I was doing. I watched heads be torn off, jugulars torn out and body parts be bent in ways they shouldn't. My heart was pounding harder and faster than it ever had.
I saw the little red head running for the door and as soon as her hand was on the knob her spine was torn from her little body. Blood gushed from her back, staining the floor with a pool of the thick red liquid. I couldn't keep eyes on Avery, I just saw bodies fall to the floor. I was frozen. Why hadn't he gotten me yet. Did he really need me to see him murder every single one of these people before he ended me? Let me know that I angered him so much that he did this?
I stood surrounded by bodies, by horrific amounts of blood and by guilt. I didn't need him to tell me this was my fault to know it. The numbers were down. At least twenty bodies were scrambled and twisted on the floor and a small huddle of three people were screaming and crying in a corner. Soon everyone around me was dead and Avery was still unseen. With the way I stood, eyes glued to one spot in a petrified stare I wouldn't doubt they thought it was me that did all this. Like the movie, Carrie. But I wasn't the one behind the mass amount of people at my feet.
Avery appeared in front of me and tears fell over the brim of my eyes before I fell to the floor in a heap of uselessness. His white irises followed me to the floor with a glare. I sat in the middle of a blood drenched graveyard waiting for him to make his next move. I had no idea what it would be I had no idea if he was going to kill me or the group of three, which I noticed contained of Rhys and two little blonde girls whose cries pierced my ears in the worst possible way. My knees were at my chest and my elbows rested on the crooked top of them. My hands gripped my hair tightly as I anxiously watched the blood covered shoes make their way over to the trio.
"You own this place?" Avery asked. I looked and saw Rhys nod very slowly as tears made their way down his thin cheeks. One of the girls went into a frenzy and tried to run past Avery screaming, but his arm shot out quickly and she fell to the ground with a large indent on the side of her head. Blood and something else ran out of her nose and mouth, I believed it was her brain. I was going to vomit. I did vomit. My body thrashed violently to the side as the bile exited my frail body. My hands had splashed in the blood which made me ever more sick. I didn't have much in me though and I was left dry heaving over the spot.
"You like this Cace? Do you like what you did? I think it looks pretty good. A nice little piece of work. Much like you. Both reek of betrayal." Avery's hand gripped my hair and pulled me up like I was nothing more than a rag doll. Blood dripped from my finger tips back onto the floor. I couldn't answer. I opened and closed my mouth a thousand time but the only sound that escaped was shaking sobs.
"Your betrayal of me.. My betrayal of fucking emotion and faith in the human fucking race! Ain't it pretty?!" I screamed when he shook me by the hairs on my head. "Huh, Cace?" He shouted. I blubbed out a lot of nothing and he tossed me into the corner where the other two sat staring in horror. My body crashed into the little blonde who couldn't be older than eighteen. She whined before I rolled off from her. Neither of the two tried to help me up. They got as far away from me as possible. I was a plague on their lives much like Avery was one in mine now.
"Even your friends don't want to be around you." He grabbed the bicep of the young girl who squealed as she was pulled up. "What is your opinion of her?" He looked deep into the girl's eyes and I knew that he was forcing her to answer.
"I don't know her."
"Then why are you scared of her."
"She brought a monster to a party." Honesty, in this case, was not the best policy. Avery's nostrils flared and the two of them disappeared, or at least that's what it seemed like. They just went to the other side of the room, but human eyes couldn't catch the movement.
"Please!" She screeched just before his teeth sunk into her neck. He didn't kill her instantly like the others. He slowly sucked the life from her until she was just on the brink.
"I, darling, am not the monster here." He clarified before snapping her spine with the flick of his hand. Rhys cried out in an agonizing howl and I covered my screaming mouth with bloody hands.
He stood there, staring at the bloody mess in awe. His eyes looked from body to body with a horrifying smile. Neither I nor Rhys dared move. Well, his petrification may have been induced by the horror of the scene. I was quiet because I knew that one wrong move could kill both of us.
"Your sister was quite a treat." He flashed bloody teeth in our direction. "I bet you'll be just as delicious." He was not even half a step away from us when he spoke again. I didn't know what ran through me, maybe it was adrenaline or a fear the induced stupidity that made me shoot up in front of him.
"Don't touch him." I glared at him. His eyes seeped deep into my soul and I wonder if he was the one making my heart beat ten million times faster than it should.
"Okay." The word hit my ear just before his fingers gripped my jaw with a bruising force. "I won't touch him." the words seeped from his long plump lips. He slammed me against the wall head first and I swore that I could hear a crack. A hand instinctively went to cradle the spot. His free hand grabbed my forearm and squeezed it tightly. This time I was positive when I heard the snapping of both the bones in his fist. I heard my scream before I felt it burn my dry throat.
Tears fell down my cheeks. In pain, in sadness, everything I felt in that moment was condensed to tears and loud wails that I couldn't exactly calm down. He let go of my arm and it fell to dangle in an extremely uncomfortable, unnatural and, most of all, painful manner. I didn't dare touch the limp limb that swayed slightly at my side. He loosened his grip on my jaw only slightly and brought his newly free hand to my blood dipped strands of hair. He tucked it behind my ear as I cried, wishing that he would let me go. Or kill me. I decided two minutes ago that death might be a fine alternative than living with a conscious covered in blood.
"You're such a waste." His bearded cheek rubbed against mine as he whispered the words right into my ear. All I could so was sob uselessly, limp behind his strong fingers. He slid them from my jaw to my neck and took my breath in a single squeeze.
"There is nothing more that I want to do right now than take your miserable fucking life." I could feel the anger and betrayal in the words. "Listen to your final gasps as you choke out." His grip tightened considerably around my neck and a euphoric feeling flooded through me, taking away the fear. My body was quite literally taking in death, welcoming it to take over my broken body. A very faint smile crossed my lips as black dots began to cloud my vision.
"But that's just too easy." With the flick of his wrist he threw my near lifeless body to the door. I was numb. My body refused to respond to the commands I gave it and soon enough I gave up trying. I looked up to see why things had seemed to stop and, aside from being littered with dead bodies, the room was empty. I set a palm on a drenched rug and tried to lift myself, but without the use of my other arm it was impossible to lift the dead weight that I had become.
It felt like I laid there forever before the door creaked open. I didn't even have the strength to turn my head and see who was picking me up, but with how little trouble they had I assumed it was Byron. I groaned as my broken arm swayed around.
"Shhhh.." The voice soothed me slightly and he grabbed my good arm and wrapped it around his neck. I could see now who was holding me. I caught a pair of icy blue eyes with my own and tears filled my eyes to the brim before spilling over. Gabriel's face was soft as he took me away from the horror filled room. My good hand clenched the hood of his jacket and I buried my head in his shoulder before I began sobbing. His cold breath chilled my arm as he sighed.
Me face never left his shoulder. Even when the sobs had subsided I didn't want to show my face. It wasn't until I heard the click of a lock did I peek out at the world again. A large black door opened to darkness that never turned light. I could barely see the outline of furniture in the room, but it was there. He rushed through the house and two sets of stairs before opening another door that revealed a bedroom that glowed with candle light. A bed large enough for a party sat in the middle of the room. A very small collection of books was in a corner by a chair and a window, but that was all I was able to see before I was in a bathroom.
He gently set me in a large clawfoot tub that sat diagonally in a corner. He lifted my limp arm to the side of the tub and ripped my shirt down that side of my body. He lifted the now red piece of clothing over my head and off my other arm. He looked me over for a moment before leaving the room. I leaned my head against the back of the tub. Maybe this was where I had to sleep. It wasn't so bad, but I was tired and hurt, so I flat metal board would have felt good at this point.
"Hey!" He exclaimed the word and my eyes snapped right back open. He had gauze and wooden boards in a hand and scissors in the other. He set them in a pile by where he knelt. "You can't sleep yet." He mumbled as he grabbed the scissors in his left hand and cut my bra from my body. I was too traumatized and tired to care at that point if he saw me naked. From what I could see he was going to help me and I refused to be a pain in the ass. The scissors snipped up each side of my pants quickly and he tossed aside the broken jeans quickly before starting the water.
"I'll be right back. Do not fall asleep." He was so demanding. I just needed a little nap. Just a few seconds to close my eyes and let dreams take over. It would be so easy, but I didn't. I watched the water envelop my legs with warmth. I really could sleep now. It was hard to fight off sleep, but I had. The door creaked open again and he had a few towels. Too many towels. My eyes widened as he took his jacket off and I brought my water covered legs to a bend so I could try to stand. His hand put just enough pressure on my shoulder to keep me down.
"If you become trouble I'm going to kick you right back out to Avery." He growled in my ear. I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. He set some shampoos and soaps on a table that ran across the side of the tub. It must have been custom made because it fit right along the tub while the corner was perfectly against the corner of the room. He set the boards and gauze on the table as well before taking off his shirt that was as white as mine had been. I couldn't help but look at the body beneath it. A ripple of muscles went up his lithe body that made him look stronger than usual. His arms bulged slightly with muscle and I bet anything that if he flexed the arm would define every curve of muscle in his upper arm. I looked away with a blush when he caught me admiring.
"It's not nice to stare." He stated the phrase I had heard my entire life.
"Sorry.." I muttered as my free hand glided across the top of the pink water. He slipped off his jeans and stepped in the tub opposite of me. I tried not to look at him. I was embarrassed that I had even looked the first time and now he wasn't wearing any pants.
He turned the tub off that had made it just under my breast. He grabbed the boards and set one in his mouth and the other slid under my arm. I winced from the pain, but I knew he wasn't trying to make it hurt. When he had it positioned he set the other one on top of it arm and told me to hold it there. I gingerly put my fingers on the board to keep it from moving. He wrapped the white cloth around the boards and my arm gently until he reached the middle. The wrap got tighter and the board held together right in the place of the break. I was crying again, but not loudly. It was just the reaction to pain without screaming. I had my whole bottom lip in my mouth to make sure I didn't scream.
"That's not going to hold very well." I observed the wrapping job.
"It doesn't need to for long." He shot back and I wondered if he planned on killing me again. I doubted it. He didn't seem like the type to waste his time like this. It was probably just for the bath. He grabbed a rough sponge looking loofa and began scrubbing my blood stained body. It didn't look comfortable, but I couldn't deny how good it felt to be scrubbed of all the DNA.
He had covered every inch of my body except for the back. He got up and moved to sit behind me. his legs slid in around mine as he started to scrub my back.
"So what happened?" He asked now that I was really awake. I wasn't sure if he actually wanted to know or if he wanted the silence gone. I didn't want to answer though.
"Can I tell you tomorrow?" I asked him and leaned my head back, forgetting that I would land on his chest.
"I just thought you might want to talk about it now. I have to drain the tub and rewash you with actual soap. I haven't even touched your hair yet and I need to fix your arm. Didn't know if you liked silence or not. You've seemed quite boisterous in the past week or so." He set the slightly red tinted loofa on the table and squeezed just a bit of shampoo into his hand. He rubbed it through the ends of my hair to get the blood out before draining the tub.
"I don't. My head is still fuzzy and I'm still not sure if this is a dream or not. I really hope it is." I grumbled. What a nightmare to have.
"Suit yourself." He shrugged and stood again to be in front of me before starting a clean stream of water. He washed my body quickly and without stopping. He dumped a small bucket of water over my head to get my hair wet before getting behind me again. I was really growing tired and I was glad that we were in the final steps of cleaning. He finished my back before his fingers massaged my skull.
"Ow!" I cringed away from him as he touched the sensitive part of my skull. I had forgotten about the crack I had heard before my arm. Maybe that was the cause of the massive headache I had.
"Just hold still for a minute. You're almost done." He grumbled with annoyance present in his voice. I doubted he had taken care of many humans in his life. He dumped two more buckets of the soapy water over my head. Finally.
I felt good enough to stand, but his right arm snaked around my chest and held me close to him.
"Hey!" I yelled at him as I struggled mindlessly to get away from him. He covered my mouth with his wrist that was wet with what I thought was water, but when I looked into the soapy stuff I saw a drip of blood in it. I opened my mouth to protest again, but he only shoved more of the broken skinned arm into my mouth and blood filled it.
"It will fix you." He said between clenched teeth as he tried to keep me still. I didn't believe him, but I had no other choice. The first swallow was the worst. It tasted just as vile and metallic as human blood, but when I actually drew it from his arm it tasted sweeter. He groaned deep in my ear as I sucked the stuff from him. The pain in my head slowly subsided and I could feel something happening to my arm, though that was more uncomfortable than pleasant. It felt like it was.. mending. He pulled his arm when the wound had healed. He cupped some water in his hand and brought it up to clean my mouth of his blood.
"See." He mumbled before standing up. I just sat in the tub and thought about what just happened. I just drank his blood. Did he even produce blood or was the other human's blood? He took a lot from me. Was that my blood? That thought made me a little nauseous. He came back over with a towel wrapped around him and cut the gauze from the boards. I understood now why it had been wrapped the way it was. I moved the arm and smiled when my fingers moved and there was no pain when I extended and retracted my elbow.
"The bruises don't go away unfortunately. It won't hurt where there are some, but it will take a day or two for the color to subside." He said as he reached over to unplug the drain. He stood above me as I inspected the dark purple bruise that covered at least half of my forearm. He cleared his throat and I looked over to see his hand waiting to help me up. I grabbed it and he pulled me up before leaving the room. Now that I was well and didn't have a death wish I felt uncomfortable here. I dried my hair and body before walking back into the bedroom. The first thing I noticed was the giant clock above the bed. It was a little excessive, but it helped pull off the Victorian feeling of the room. Now that I thought about it the bathroom had the same sort of setting.
"Here." Gabriel was now dressed in another white tank top and a pair of boxers. He threw a red nightgown onto the bed before exiting the room. I pulled it down over my towel covered hair and let it fall to the middle of my thigh. It was a size too big, but that would only make it more comfortable to sleep in. I flipped my head and caught the towel as it unraveled from the top. I scrubbed my hands together with the towel and hair between them to dry the damp locks as best I could. I hated sleeping with wet hair and I doubted he had a hair tie, or more, I refused to ask for one. I climbed into the bed as soon as I was satisfied and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I wasn't sure if it was how comfortable the bed was or how tired I was, but nothing could have woken me from the darkness I had just been pulled into.