The Hunter
Chapter 21: "Dear James."
A/N: Beth is played by Shannon Sossamon. Her singing voice is played by the singer from Flyleaf. James' voice is played by the singer from Nickelback. Also, tons of sex in this fic. If you don't like it, don't read it. It's definitely mature. Thank you. WARNING! MATURE CONTENT AHEAD!
James stopped crying eventually and they sat in silence for a long time, hours. It was only when Beth's stomach protested the lack of food that he finally moved. He felt like a selfish bastard, accepting comfort from Beth when she was probably starving.
He got up and got a washcloth from the bathroom and wet it with warm water. He dug through her backpack and found a nail file set that had a pair of tweezers, which was what he was hoping to find. He knelt in front of her and picked the shards of glass from her feet, his lips quivering as he tried not to cry at the sight of her blood drops hitting the carpet. For someone who didn't even know he could cry he had a hard time keeping the flow down.
He now noticed that she had left bloody footprints on her way out of the bathroom. He felt like a monster, was almost positive that she felt the same and had only been trying to torment him earlier with the possibility of forgiveness, but he couldn't quite believe her capable of doing anything so cruel and sadistic.
When all the shards were gone he cleaned up her feet. Some of the cuts were dangerously deep and he winced as he cleaned them because he knew they were extremely painful. He would have to watch them for infection, and she certainly couldn't wear shoes for the next few weeks or they'd be sure to fester. He would have to carry her everywhere which was hardly a sacrifice since it gave him a valid excuse to hold her.
He gathered their stuff, slung their few bags over his arms, picked her up and carried her out to the truck. He left her there hesitantly to check out of the motel. She had that dead look back on her face, the one that chilled him to his brutalized soul. He made sure he could see her from the receptionist's window. Left a seven hundred dollar tip, which he figured would cover at least most of the damages. Maybe not the replacement for the bloodstained carpet but for most of it at least. He didn't know why he bothered except that it seemed like something Beth would want him to do. He wouldn't tell her. No, that would be selfish, and he was through with selfishness. Life was about her now. Just knowing he'd done it would be enough.
They went through the McDonald's drive through and he ordered for her because she ignored him when he asked her what she wanted she'd ignored him. That or she'd left the building again, which scared the bejesus out of him.
She picked at her food while he drove. He'd finally had enough of her stomach growling loudly at her and said something.
"You need to eat, Beth," he said, trying not to be irritated. She needed to take care of herself, damn it.
"I don't feel like eating," she said picking at the egg on her sausage McMuffin. Her food was no doubt cold by now but he didn't care, she needed to eat or she'd get sick. The idea of her getting sick because of him and what he'd done to her made him angry, mostly at himself, but a little bit at her too, because he didn't particularly enjoy loathing himself and because she was Beth it was somehow her fault, even if she was a holy angel sent down to lead sinners to the light. It all made sense in his mind.
"Beth, you are going to eat," he said, gripping the steering wheel tightly, trying to reign in his irritation. "I won't have you getting sick because you've decided to be stubborn."
"No," she said childishly, folding up the wrapper.
He popped his jaw and cocked his head to the side, his eyes losing focus as he started to get angry. He could do anger. Despair? Not so much. But anger? Hell, yes.
He was grateful for the relief from the pain of his soul shattering but not enough to let Beth get away with telling him no. She didn't get to say no. She belonged to him. He made the decisions, and angel or not, she would toe his line or face the consequences.
"Beth," he said warningly. "Don't make me angry. You won't like the consequences."
She rolled down her window, and for a second he thought she was having the nerve to actually ignore him. Him!
And then she threw the McMuffin and the rest of the food out the window.
For a moment, he couldn't believe she'd done it. Then she turned to him with a cheeky smile, her eyebrow raised in challenge. For a moment his heart soared. This was his Beth, not the dead robot girl from this morning who'd walked on broken glass and was too numb to notice. He didn't dare to hope that she'd recovered that much, that she was that strong and resilient, and then the fact that she'd just challenged his authority, openly defied him, sank in, and he became furious.
He slammed on the brakes, the seatbelts' safety action keeping them from launching forward and hitting their heads on the dash, though it would have done far more damage to her than him. He ripped his seatbelt off, breaking it, and yanked his door open, barely restraining from breaking it too. He got out and flitted around to her side, opened her door, undid her seatbelt and yanked her out of the truck, her eyes wide with astonishment as he dragged her down the road the way they came, picking up tattered pieces of McMuffin until he had something that vaguely resembled the sandwich it once had been. He shoved it into her hand and shoved her hand under her nose.
"Now eat it," he said sharply.
She looked horrified at the idea and took a step back. She gained her bearings quickly though and gave him a hard glare.
"No," she said, getting ready to throw the sandwich at him.
He grabbed her wrist painfully tight and got in her face.
"Don't. You. Dare," he said dangerously.
She opened her mouth angrily, no doubt to snap at him, but then a look of remembrance crossed her, then fear, and it tore him to pieces, which just made him angrier.
"Alright, James," she said softly, not meeting his eyes and trembling with fear, no doubt terrified that he'd violate her again. It burned his heart out.
She moved to take a bite of the sandwich, not even looking repulsed in her effort to pacify him, but he slapped the sandwich out of her hands before her lips could touch it. He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her against his chest, kissing her soundly before pulling back to look at her angrily.
"Do you really think I would let you eat garbage, Beth? Is that what you think of me?" he demanded angrily, not even sure why he was angry anymore, just wanting to yell and be angry because it was better than crying and brooding over the ashes of his heart. "Well, let me tell you this, Beth Sanderson: I will always do what is best for you, whether you like it or not, and you'll do what I say whether you like it or not too, because right now I'm the only thing between you and your father, and you and Victoria! Let me clue you in, baby girl: I don't want to hurt you. You're mine, and I take care of what's mine, so stop sassing me and start listening. You've got to do what I say, you've got to trust me!"
"Trust you!" she suddenly shrieked in anger, shoving his hands off of her. "How dare you ask me to trust you after what you did to me!"
Yes, this was it, this was the Beth he wanted, all fire and fury. He ignored the hurt and betrayal in her eyes and focused on the anger instead.
"Oh, that bother you? Me fucking you, going down on you, touching you? Never has before, slut-"
CRACK! He couldn't believe she had slapped him. For several long moments he just stood there, staring at her, stunned while she silently seethed in fury, trembling violently with anger. And then all he could think about was how stunning she looked, even with Victoria's handprint on the side of her face and bruises and bites all over her from their lovemaking. She emanated a raw, feminine power, seductive and sensual even while volatile and dangerous. He wanted some.
Without thinking he grabbed a handful of her shirtfront and yanked her forward, kissing her with bruising, punishing force. He wasn't thinking straight. It hadn't occurred to him that sex and everything that went with that kind of intimacy had supposedly gone out the door when he'd raped her. All he thought about was the warmth of her lips on his and absorbing some of that power.
She clawed at him, but not to get away. Her scent sweetened, permeating the air, and reality hit him hard. She wanted him. He'd just raped her, and she fucking wanted him. He was so shocked that he stumbled back and fell on his ass in his attempt to get the hell away from her so he could sort this out like a reasonable adult. She moved forward, a concerned look on her face, but he got up and started pacing before she could touch him.
He tried to sort out the facts. He had raped her. They had been fighting. And now she wanted him. She wanted to have sex. With him. After he had raped her. It wasn't realistic. She was playing a trick on him. He looked at her to gauge her emotions. She wasn't paying attention to him anymore. The dead look was back. Just fucking great, James thought. Just what I need. The automaton is back. Just when I was actually getting somewhere with her I have to go and fuck it up by letting my hormones get the better of me… He continued to inwardly rant at himself while Beth stared off into space. He had no idea what was going on in her head but he'd give just about anything to know.
A car passed them on the highway, then pulled over on the side of the road. A man in his mid-thirties hopped out and started to walk toward them. He was a bit of a hulk, but James was unimpressed. He'd eaten bigger for lunch.
"Are you guys broken down?" the man called, still walking toward them at a leisurely pace.
"No, mister, now get back in your fucking car and drive away before I fucking kill you!" James shouted irritably.
The man froze and James saw his eyes dart to Beth with concern.
"Ma'am, are you alright?" the man asked, eyeing James suspiciously out of the corner of his eye.
Beth said nothing, just stared off into space.
"Ma'am?" the man said again, trying to get her attention, then recognition flashed in his eyes, and James knew this guy knew Beth was the missing Forks girl from the news.
James crouched to attack.
"I'm fine, just go away!" Beth said suddenly, tears in her eyes. She shook her head at James, pleading with him to let the man live. Was she out of her mind? The man would call the cops! That was the last thing he needed!
The man started walking forward but James lunged for him, tackling him to the ground. James bit the man in the neck, coming up with a plan. He would drain the man until he was at death's door and then pull away. It would be painfully hard to do but for Beth he could do anything.
"Stop!" Beth shrieked, hitting James on the back. "Stop!"
He drained the man until the man's blood tasted clean and then pulled away. It was very hard but he'd lived through worse in the last twenty-four hours than that.
"You monster, you monster!" Beth cried, sinking to the ground in front of the man. "You've killed him!" She didn't seem to notice the man was breathing faintly.
James picked her up but she fought him. It was no use though because he was stronger and she seemed very tired. Eventually she stopped fighting and went limp in his arms.