Pain Without Love
Chapter 12
((Here we go now. :] Don't forget! Anyone who wants to play along with that theme contest! You get a character in the story! Oh and did anyone else's heart break a little at the end of that last chapter? Mine diiid. Oh and something crazy is going to start in this chapter. A new character and species to the world!))
No sun woke Zoey up, but that was because it rarely did. The odd sleeping patterns of the people who lived in Daniel's home made black out curtains a necessity for all rooms. Zoey yawned and pushed her covers off of her body, glancing at the clock with a grumble. It was only five o'clock in the morning, which meant she hardly got any sleep at all. "Stupid vampire bullshit…" she grumbled angrily as she shuffled to the bathroom to get ready for the day. It was obvious that she wasn't going to get anymore rest. The bright lights of the bathroom were harsh on her eyes and she groaned angrily as she waited for her eyes to adjust. She needed some tea to calm her irritation, and she needed it before she came in contact with anyone.
It took Zoey about twenty minutes to make herself presentable in a pair of black yoga pants and a pink t-shirt that hugged her curves. She popped her medicine and brushed her teeth and hair then headed down for the kitchen. "I wonder if anyone is even awake.." she mumbled to herself as she descended the steps to see a very awake Matilda running around the house. "What are you doing up so early, Matilda?" asked Zoey softly.
"Oh MISS ZOEY! You startled me ," the woman gasped with a laugh, "We've got a guest coming to stay with us for awhile, and I'm getting everything nice and neat for him when he gets here…"
"Matilda…the house is already neat…I think you can chill…" Zoey teased softly as she headed into the kitchen. She grabbed a mug out of the cabinet only for Matilda to come flying past and snatching it out of her hand. "What the heck!"
"No no! Sit down…I'll get it….What kind would you like this morning?" she asked quickly, fumbling through the cabinets. Zoey looked at her with a frown and sighed.
"Uhmmm…Rooibos…" she replied before grabbing an apple and taking a small nibble out of it. Matilda rushed around to finish making the tea while Zoey thought back on the night before with Daniel. She really didn't understand what was going on between them. She had to assume that he didn't want anything to do with her romantically, but it hurt her to think so because part of her felt happy when he was around. Another part just felt annoyed. The doorbell rang and Matilda jumped, making Zoey laugh. Matilda slid Zoey's tea over to her and then rushed for the door. Zoey was still laughing to herself as she brought the hot mug to her lips and inhaled the herbal scent.
A few minutes passed in peaceful silence and then a voice sounded behind her that made her tense. It was a voice she wasn't familiar with and it was heavily accented. Zoey turned slowly and set eyes on a man several inches taller than herself with milky white skin and blonde hair. His eyes were a striking green hue and his lips were turned up in a pleasant smile. "Uhm….Hi?" Zoey said rather like a doofus.
"Good Morning, Miss Zoey…" the man replied softly, his voice much like honey. Zoey found herself drooling inwardly at this new stranger, her eyes dazed with admiration. "I'm your trainer, Niall…"
Zoey nodded slowly, still just staring at him like he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Which honestly, he seemed to be. He had a perfectly shaped body, manly, but not too bulky, and he wore a pair of kahki pants and a green sweater, which matched nicely with his eyes. "Oh…wa-…wait? My trainer?" she stumbled over her words for a moment and set her tea down.
"Is that Rooibos?" Niall asked gently, eying up the glass with a grin. Zoey got distracted by his grin and nodded. "It's a very nice brew…the smell is strong and that tea is known for being good for the body…"
"Oh…heh…Really? Wow….I like tea…." Zoey mumbled with a lopsided smile. As if on cue to ruin her good mood, Daniel came into the kitchen with a frown.
"Oh, Niall….I meant to be done here when you arrived…My apologies…" he said graciously, moving to shake the newbies hand. They did their manly hand shake and then Niall looked back at Zoey.
"I'm here to train you in defenses since you joined the organization…" he replied easily. Zoey nodded and smiled.
"Oh..are you a member too?" she asked to which Niall nodded. "Awesome…." She took a sip of her tea and continued to ignore Daniel because she just wasn't ready to talk to him yet. He seemed to notice how she ignored him and he softly cleared his throat.
"Niall…I'd like to show you to your room…You'll be able to talk to Zoey later…" he said in a gruff voice. Niall smiled and nodded, giving Zoey a nod before he followed Daniel out of the kitchen. Zoey growled softly to herself and finished her tea in silence, cursing Daniel in her head, but not uttering a word aloud. Once finished, Matilda took her cup and she wandered out of the kitchen and up the stairs to go to her room. "Zoey…" she heard behind her, and saw Daniel coming out of his own room. Zoey turned back around and kept walking to her bedroom, ignoring him. "Zoey, stop ignoring me!" he snapped. She shook her head and sped up, reaching out and grabbing her door. She opened the door and stepped in, but Daniel was just as quick and slipped in behind her, slamming the door shut and pinning her against it. "Stop it!" he growled.
"Here we go again…" Zoey grumbled. Daniel shook his head, and sighed, stepping away from her. There were small streams of sunlight flickering in through the curtains, just barely illuminating the room. "What do you want? I thought we cleared all this up last night?!"
"No we didn't- You kicked me out before we could clear anything up…"Daniel corrected with a roll of his eyes. Zoey opened her mouth to disagree but Daniel was already ahead of her, "No-You don't get to talk…you get to listen…." He said angrily. "I never said anything that should have pissed you off…I was trying to explain that I didn't want to upset you in the garden…I didn't want to hurt you…I don't want to ignore you… I just don't want to put you in danger…I am a danger, Zoey…this organization is a danger…something no human should ever be a part of…" he said in a frustrated, but desperate tone.
"You aren't respecting my decision to be a part of this…this is bigger than me…or you…it's a world issue, Daniel….something important…you need to respect the fact that I'm a part of it now…" Zoey whispered. Daniel shook his head.
"No…I can't…" he growled. Zoey groaned in irritation and pushed away from the door, walking to her bed and sitting down.
"Get out!" she snapped, "Just get out of my room, Daniel!"
Daniel looked confused and a little lost for a moment, but after a brief pause he turned and left the room, closing the door quietly on his way out. "Damn it!" Zoey cried as she fell onto her pillows, staring up at the ceiling in defeat, "Why won't he understand?" she whispered. "He just doesn't get it…"
Zoey laid there for several hours until a soft knock came at her door, "Miss Zoey?" called a gentle voice. It was Niall.
"Yea? Come in!"
Niall popped his head into the room and offered her a cheery smile, "I was wondering if you'd like to start your lessons now?" he asked, stepping into the room and watching her as she slid off the bed
"Sure…Just let me get on some sneakers…" she said as she moved to her closet and grabbed a pair, slipping them on over her socks and then standing back up. "Where to?"
Niall laughed softly and motioned for her to follow him as they headed through the house. She wasn't sure where they were going, but she followed anyway and remained patient and quiet while Niall led her through turns and doors until finally they were in an outdoor training field. "First thing first is that you need to know when to flee a fight…" Niall jumped right into the lesson and spent a good while teaching her stretches as he spoke about when to fight or when to flee. It seemed like a lot of her time in the organization would be collecting information, and being put in situations where she shouldn't have to fight anyone. She would have to play the victim, and if necessary get the heck out of dodge. But there were situations that Niall explained she might have to fight, but if not, she should hide.
"Now Zoey…I'm going to give you thirty seconds…you need to find a place to hide among this area…and hopefully one where I won't find you…" he said with a grin, "Now….go…" He closed his eyes and Zoey glanced around the area. There were trees and bushes everywhere, tall trees that were easy to climb, as well as heavily wooded and grassed areas that would be easy to camouflage herself in. She bolted off to her left, knowing she only had about twenty seconds left. Her legs carried her towards the heavily wooded area, figuring that it was the hardest to maneuver so it would give her more time if she needed to continue running, even a vampire would be slowed down by heavy brush and thorns.
As she was climbing over tree limbs however she got her knee caught in a thorn bush and managed to severely cut up her skin, causing a hiss to slip past her lips. She heard Niall call out that time was up so she quickly just dropped right beside the push, trying to keep quiet despite the pain flaring up in her knee. She was aware that blood was trickling down her leg, but she tried to keep down as the second ticked away. She knew she was hidden in thick grasses between several heavy limbed trees, so she hoped she would pass the rest.
It was close to a minute later that Niall appeared a few feet away from her and was frowning, "You did a wonderful job in finding a hiding spot, Zoey…but against any of your opponents with abilities you would be quickly found due to your injury…Blood is a strong scent for the supernatural…" he reached over and helped her to her feet, only to catch her as she couldn't stand on her one leg. Her knee had swollen up to the size of a softball and she cursed. "This is a terribly injury…what did you do?"
"I got it caught on that thorn bush…" she grumbled as she pointed at the bush beside them. Niall cursed softly and then swept her up into his arms to carry her back to the house. "What's wrong?" she questioned. He didn't answer right away but seemed to have his mind somewhere else entirely. "Niall?"
"My apologies, Zoey….that thorn bush is poisonous…I wasn't aware Daniel would even have any on this property…" Niall replied, switching her weight to one arm as he opened the door to the house. Then he pushed past it and into the halls. Zoey did begin to feel faint and her eyes became heavy with exhaustion. "Zoey…stay awake…" he urged gently, "I guess it's good I left that for last….we finished the lesson at least…" he teased lightly.
He pushed open another door and someone stood up, causing a screeching noise as their chair scooted back. "What happened?!"
The voices went in and out from there on, Zoey fought the exhaustion and the burning that consumed her body.
"I wasn't aware you had-"…."I didn't!"…."She did well-"…."I don't care!"…."She needs the antibiotic he develop-"…"Where is-"…."Mikal!"…."She'll be fine…"…."-ice…"
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"I still don't understand why you didn't just heal her…." Said an irritated Daniel. A sigh was heard from beside Zoey and it caused her to open her eyes.
"Heal me?" she croaked, looking over to see it was Niall beside her and Daniel a few feet away.
"Yes…Niall is a fallen angel, but he has the ability to heal people…" Daniel growled.
"I used to have the ability to heal people- you have not seen me in many years, Daniel…things are not as they once were…" said Niall sadly. Zoey frowned and sat up, looking down at her knee which had been propped up on a pillow. She smiled when she saw the swelling had gone down and all that remained were the cuts from the thorns.
"I wish I could have helped you more, Zoey…I apologize…"Niall said softly. Zoey shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You got me help didn't you? Beside I'm the one who decided to stick their knee where it didn't belong…" she said with a small laugh. Niall smiled, relieved that she did not blame him for her misfortune. Zoey looked around and noticed they were still in Daniel's office, and she had been lying on the couch in front of the fireplace, with Niall beside her and Daniel leaning against the mantle. Her eyes fell on the clock and she groaned, "It's already past midnight?! What the heck!"
"Yes the medicine knocked you out for while…" Daniel said with a sigh.
"I slept all that time…but I'm still exhausted…." She mumbled. Niall stood and offered her a hand.
"Allow me to escort you to your room so you may further rest…and tomorrow we will start on something else…." Zoey nodded and took his head, standing up and letting him lead her back to her room. She barely glanced at Daniel as she left his office, but she could see the disappointment clear in his eyes at her dismissal of his presence. Good, it was just how she wanted it.
