A/N: I received so many encouraging reviews for the last chapter. I am glad that I didn't insult/offend anyone and that you are all fine with the way I wrote the last scene out. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, my lovelies! Your kindness and support mean the world to me.
On with the story now…
OOOOOOOOO
Faith cried out in alarm as Brett was ripped away from her, his knife drawing a thin line of blood at her throat. Her grey eyes sought the person who had saved her, but she couldn't see through the flood of tears blurring her vision. A flurry of activity and demonic growls sounded out around her, forcing her back against the wall of the alley. A sudden rush of wind blew through the alleyway, stirring her hair around her face and causing the fragments of her ruined poet's shirt to flutter against her skin.
A hand reached out and touched her arm, causing her to flinch away from them with ragged sobs coming from deep within her chest. It hurt to breathe. Could she still breathe? The scars across her stomach burned with cold fire and the hand reached out towards her again.
"Faith," a voice broke through the chaos.
The redhead turned her face in the direction of the voice, though she couldn't see him in the darkness. She recognized the voice of the dark haired man, not mistaking his soft, rhythmic voice of his native roots. "Dwayne!"
The girl lurched forward into his arms, sobbing against his chest in a mixture of relief and utter fear. Strong arms enveloped her and held her close, almost as tightly as she thought an older brother would. She could feel the chill of his hands on the bare flesh of her back where her shirt had fallen away, causing her to shiver involuntarily.
"Dammit!" Paul's voice came from somewhere beyond Dwayne. "The bastard – Here, Faith, take this…" Something smooth touched her skin and slipped around her shoulders. A soft nervous laugh came from Paul. "Look at ya…You look better in that jacket than I do, Sis."
Faith couldn't even smile and she doubted that Paul was smiling either. Dwayne's hands moved to help put the jacket on correctly, though he never once let her go.
"He – he…!" Faith choked out, trying to say what had happened because they had to know.
"We know what he did," Paul said, a hint of a growl in his voice. "He'll pay for it…trust me, Sis."
Her chest felt tight as she tried to breathe, the action causing her scars to sear with pain. Dwayne slid his arm around her and guided her out into the light of the boardwalk. The redhead clutched blindly at the front of the jacket Paul had given her, not wanting anyone to see her body. No one looked in their direction. No one ever did in the face of trouble.
"Where is David?" the redhead asked, her grey eyes searching the crowd him though her tears still blurred her vision. "I heard him…like that night...Where is David?"
"Don't worry about that, Sis…" Dwayne's soothing voice said, gently ushering her towards the motorcycles. "He'll be fine."
The redhead shook her head, gasping as it aggravated the small wound on her throat. "There was a knife! That boy had a knife and he – he will kill David!" She let out another choked sob. "Go away Adalyn! David needs me!"
Faith tried to suppress Adalyn's personality as she moved next to Dwayne with Paul on her other side. The Southern Belle seemed to be forcing her way out more and more over this night because of the trauma that was going on. And the sound of the demonic growling, the rush of wind had stirred up memories of the night she'd encountered one of the undead, and a vague memory of another attack a long time ago.
The girl reached up to her throat where the cool, salty wind had created a burning sensation. Something warm and sticky covered her fingers at the slightest touch and she gasped in pain, quickly withdrawing her fingers. Thick, dark liquid glistened dully on her fingers and her trembling grew worse.
"I think she's going to faint…" was the last thing the redhead heard before the world went black.
OOOOOOOOO
The redhead came to the present in what felt like a moment later, but her surroundings made no sense. The flickering of a fire cast shadows around the cave and she looked around in fear. She could feel her heart start racing again, the cold sweat of fear beading across her skin.
"Oh God!" Faith cried out, shuddering violently.
Strong arms wrapped around her from behind, causing her to scream. The scream echoed around the cave-hotel, earning a gentle curse from someone in the room.
"Easy Faith," Dwayne said from behind her. "We're not going to hurt you…you're safe here."
Faith turned her head slightly at the feeling of his chest against the thin cloth of the jacket she wore. Her breathing was still labored and her body continued to shudder. She clawed at the naked flesh where her scars burned. Dwayne's hand snaked around her waist and flattened her hand against her stomach so that she couldn't harm herself.
"Breathe…" Dwayne said gently, holding her against his chest as if she were a child that he was used to comforting in this way. "Breathe…"
Faith's eyes had adjusted to the dim light enough to see that Paul was standing off to the side, looking unsure about what he should do. He was rolling a joint between his thumb and forefinger, but didn't seem to have any interest in lighting it. Noticing that her eyes were on him, he offered the ghost of his usual smile.
"Everything is going to be fine, Sis," Paul said softly. "You just listen to the D-man."
D-man….Demon!
The redhead whimpered and started hyperventilating again, sobs tearing out from deep in her chest. Paul held up his hands in surrender, making the redhead believe that Dwayne had sent him a warning look.
"Faith," Dwayne whispered, resting his chin on the girl's shoulder very lightly. "Breathe slowly…breathe in…Good…breathe out…"
OOOOOOOOO
David didn't say a word to Marko as he washed his face clean of the blood of the Emo bastard. There was a rapidly healing gash on his chest where the punk had thrust his puny knife in, but it didn't bother David. The alcohol saturated blood of the bastard had done enough to speed up his healing powers, but it was not as enjoyable as the vampire thought it would be.
Marko was playing with the boy's head, using it like a gruesome hacky-sack. A look of fear was going to forever remain on that boy's face and David knew there was a special kind of Hell waiting for that bloody bastard after all that he had done.
The sight of blood glistening darkly at the throat of Faith had driven him mad. The smell of it mixed with the fear of the girl had driven him over the edge. It had been a close call for the secret of the vampires in his gang to be revealed when he'd seen what the Emo was doing to the girl that David loved. Faith had come so close to seeing the truth and yet, he felt the secret was safe because she had been so upset in that dark alley.
David…she's asking for you…
The platinum blonde recognized the voice of Dwayne and got a few glimpses of what had happened when he'd taken care of the Emo. Faith was having an anxiety attack mixed with the intrusion of Adalyn's personality at times. He turned his eyes toward Marko, not a trace of blood on either of their faces.
"Let's go…" David said.
Marko smiled and spun around, impaling the head of Brett on a piece of driftwood on the beach. "Boy, is someone going to have a rude awakening when the sun comes up," Marko sang, though his voice held little of its normal cheer. "I don't think we did enough though…almost like he's getting off easy."
"He did," David agreed, heading up the beach towards their bikes. "But we were under a strict time limit." The hint of a sneer turned up the corner of his lips. "He's not going to be much trouble anymore…We'll just leave the rest to nature."
Marko nodded, following him. "Here's hoping some bird pecks his bloody eyeballs out…They ain't ever gonna find the bastard's balls – I didn't even think he had any."
The older vampire shook his head and mounted his bike, casting a look out at the horizon which was already lightening with the pale pink fingers of the sun. "We won't have time for her to go back to the motel."
"Guess she's staying the day with us," Marko commented, starting his bike.
David gave a curt nod and sped off in the direction of the cave-hotel. The normal ride that usually made him relax now made his undead heart ache. The woman he loved then and now was suffering and he hadn't been able to prevent it from happening. If he could have, he would go back in time and destroy that Emo bastard the moment he saw him. No one should have been able to touch Faith like that. No one.
The images of Faith kept coming, though it was obvious to David that Dwayne was trying to keep him from seeing it all. He couldn't stop Paul from sending the images mixed with the feeling of helplessness and anger. By the time that he and Marko had pulled up to the spot where they hid their bikes, David's teeth were grinding together and his eyes were a feral yellow.
Marko stepped in front of the leader, placing his hands on the man's shoulders and looking him evenly in the eye. "David, you can't let her see you like this," the blonde said, though there was also a glint of yellow in his eyes. "She'll be so freaked and…" The blonde shook his head. "Don't you think she's been through enough Hell tonight?"
The platinum blonde sighed and closed his eyes, forcing his normal human guise to smooth out the demonic lines and erase the feral yellow of his eyes. He could hear Faith sobbing quietly as he started down the stairs, glad that the hyperventilating had passed before he'd come. The redhead's eyes were staring at the fountain, tears still streaming in rivers down her face. A piece of cotton gauze was sticking to her neck, a pinpoint of blood staining through the material.
If I hadn't come sooner…
David took an inaudible step into the cave-hotel, not wanting to startle her with loud footsteps. The grey eyes that he loved looking into turned in his direction and he felt his heart break at the fear and sadness so heavily laced in them.
"David…" she breathed, clutching at the front of Paul's jacket that enveloped her.
"Hey, Princess," David said, stepping further into the "lobby" of the cave-hotel.
Without warning, Faith launched herself into David's arms. She tangled her fingers in his dark shirt and rested her forehead against his chest as her tears fell in renewed waves. David instinctively wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
"I thought -" Faith cried, her voice muffled against his chest. "I thought that he was -"
"Shh…" David said quietly, stroking her fiery hair. "He isn't going to hurt you anymore…I swear it."
The redhead lifted her gaze to his and her eyes seemed softer than the ones he was used to seeing on Faith. "David, he could have killed you…He had a knife and –"
"Don't worry about it," David ordered, watching her search his face as he had hers many times before. "It'd take more than a knife in the hands of a drunk to knock me off."
A sigh issued from the girl's lips and she turned away, walking a few steps before stopping with her eyes lowered to the ground. David recognized the gait of the Southern Belle as it shifted to the one of the modern girl.
"She really needs to get lost," Faith muttered almost as if she'd forgotten that she wasn't alone. "Always popping in at the worst moments…"
The Boys shared a look that went unnoticed by the redhead. She swiped at her face with the sleeve of the jacket she wore. Stiffening her spine, Faith glanced down at the jacket she was wearing. David could see the color flooding her face as she turned to look at the other Boys.
"Whose jacket am I wearing?" she asked, plucking at it.
Paul let out a low whistle and gave a wave to attract her attention. "That'd be mine, Sis."
Faith folded her arms over her chest protectively. "Oh…"
"You'll stink like him for weeks," Marko commented, walking past her. "A pleasant mixture of pot and heavily doused woman's perfume." The Cupid-faced vampire smiled slightly. "Nobody is gonna want to be around you until you shower ten times."
"Hey!" Paul exclaimed, moving to punch the younger vampire.
Faith watched the two of the blondes start wrestling and glanced down at the jacket again. David came closer to her and touched her shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise. A frown tugged at her lips as she looked at him.
"I don't like you wearing his jacket," David said, flicking his gaze in Paul's direction briefly.
"I'm not going without some covering," Faith shot back, her voice quivering. "No one is going to see my bra tonight…again." She held her head up a little higher. "Not even you."
The vampire smirked at her. "I'm sure there will be other opportunities." He brushed past her, bumping his shoulder lightly against hers. "I'll go find something for you to wear tonight."
"Not any of Star's clothes!" Faith called after him.
"Of course not; she was fatter than you," Paul said, a light hyena laugh in his voice.
David could feel Faith's eyes on his back as he disappeared down one of the "halls" in the cave-hotel.
OOOOOOOOO
Faith turned to the Boys when she lost sight of David. Dwayne was watching her with brotherly concern in his dark eyes, almost as if he expected her to have another anxiety attack. Paul and Marko, assured that she wasn't going to freak out again were smoking Giggleweed and laughing at each other. The smell of the marijuana smoke was calming, settling her nerves just as her anxiety pill would.
With a sigh, Faith reached up and brushed her thumbs under her eyes, feeling the sticky trails of long shed tears. She knew her makeup was probably a disaster, maybe even made her look clownish. Or like a well-used and abused prostitute.
"I'm sorry," Faith said, turning her eyes back towards the Boys. "For freaking out and causing so much trouble…You shouldn't have to deal with this bullshit."
"Sis," Paul said, shaking his head as he jumped from the rim of the fountain. "You aren't the troublemaking sort."
"Yeah, 'cause we are." Marko agreed, looking at her with that Cheshire cat smile. "You ain't got anything on us…"
"But-" Faith began.
"You're our sister, Faith. Adopted as good as blood…We don't have to look after you, but we want to," Dwayne said, his voice low. "Nobody gets to mess with you without us putting a stop to it. Nothing like tonight is going to happen ever again."
"Yeah." Marko and Paul agreed, their voices echoing around the cave.
The redhead sighed once more and ran a hand through her hair. Her eyes took in the dimly lit lobby and noticed something.
"Where's Laddie?" she asked.
"Probably sleeping by now," Paul said, glancing at Dwayne who nodded.
"Sleeping Beauty needs his rest," Marko added. "A good ten hours of it."
Faith turned and sat down on the arm of one of the abused couches, watching the entrance to the "hall" that David had disappeared into. "I guess you guys won't take me back to the motel?"
"Not a chance," Marko answered.
"It is best for you to relax a little before being ambushed by your friends," Dwayne commented wisely. "Let yourself rest and collect your thoughts…we will take you back to the motel when we wake up."
Faith nodded. "Hopefully the girls won't mind…"
The shadow of a man appeared in the entrance of the hall and Faith stiffened slightly, holding her breath unconsciously. David appeared at the entrance of it and beckoned for her to come with him. Almost as if she was a puppet on a string, the girl moved towards him. His ice blue eyes were warm as he took hold of her right hand and guided her away.
"Night Faith!" Paul called after her, his voice echoing through the cave with his hyena-like laughter.
The redhead held onto David's hand a little tighter as the passage became darker and the torches fewer and far between. She didn't have to see his face to know that there was a smirk stretching across his lips. He squeezed her hand once, almost reassuringly and pushed open a door. Pausing, he motioned for her to enter the room first.
"Such a gentleman…" the girl commented, slipping past him. "Whoa…"
A large wooden bed sat in the middle of the room, gently draped in semi-opaque curtains of red and white. The blankets on the bed and the pillowcases were deep blood red and seemed to have a light sheen to them. All of it looked so warm, so comfortable…so romantic.
Faith pushed aside the thoughts of David's naked flesh moving against hers in a rhythm that had been around since the dawn of creation. The feeling of his lips, leaving fiery trails across her body…
Ugh! Stop thinking like that, Faith thought as the chill of the night's memories sank its fangs into her heart.
"Are you all right, Faith?" David asked, coming up behind her.
The redhead nodded and moved further into the room. "I just…I didn't expect this. Not a room like this in a cave." She placed her hand on one of the wooden posts that supported the canopy. "It reminds me of Uncle's manor."
"Your uncle must have good taste then," David commented, lifting something black off the foot of the bed. "Here."
He passed the black fabric over to her and she unfolded it to realize that it was a muscle shirt. Just by looking at it, she knew it was going to be a few sizes too large on her. David seemed to notice her doubting glance.
"I don't want you to wake up smelling like one of the Boys," David said, a strange glint in his eyes. "I don't want my girl to smell like any other boy…"
One of Faith's eyebrows lifted. "Your girl? Who are you talking about? And do I need to beat her up?"
"Ha-ha, very funny." David came so close to her that she could feel his chest rise with each breath he took. "You are mine, just as I am yours. And I do not want you to smell like the Boys…"
"Fine," Faith sighed dramatically. "I guess I'll find some way to make this shirt work."
David nodded and turned, heading for the door as she turned away from him and slid off Paul's jacket. Hearing his hand touch the doorknob, Faith turned her head and hugged the dark tank top against her chest.
"David…" she said, stopping him. "Please, don't leave me tonight. Not alone…I can't…I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep, alone…"
A light lit up David's eyes, one she recognized vaguely as love. The hint of a charming smile turned up the corner of his lips and she felt her heart flutter at the sight of it.
"I'll do whatever you want me to," David promised, holding his hand out for Paul's jacket which she promptly tossed to him. "I'll be back in a few."
Faith watched him leave with a soft smile. Turning her back on the door, she slipped the tank top on and looked down at herself. Remembering the style of some of the girls she'd seen on television, she tied a sideways knot so that the thin dark fabric tightened enough to keep her from revealing too much. Satisfied, Faith smiled at her creativity and glanced at the bed once more.
It looked too perfect for her to climb onto it. Sure, she'd climbed easily on the beds at her uncle's manor and had even jumped on them like she never had a care for the finer things in life. But this bed was different. She wasn't familiar with this bed, this location. She'd never been around so many boys in a small confined spot by herself and it was kind of scary…but also exciting.
They are my brothers, Faith thought, hugging herself. Adopted just as good as blood…That's what Dwayne said and I haven't known him to lie.
"You know, you can sleep in the bed," David's voice penetrated her musing. "It's not going to bite."
The redhead turned to look at him and her breath caught in her chest. His jacket and usual shirt were gone, leaving his upper half bare. Her eyes took in all the chiseled planes of his torso, white and flawless as porcelain. She took in the solidness, the strength of his body with just her eyes and she felt her mouth go dry.
The platinum blonde Biker Sex God moved closer to her, his breath mingling with hers as he leaned towards her. "You see something you like, Faith?"
Faith lifted her chin and stared at his lips. Oh yes I do! "Maybe."
His lips brushed over hers with the lightest touch and more tenderness than she ever felt from any guy. Before she realized what had happened, she was off her feet and in his arms, bridal style. David didn't try anything funny as he set her down under the sheets on one side of the bed and then climbed into the spot next to hers. Faith let him hold her against himself with a small sigh of contentment, her eyes closing just a little bit.
"You promise you won't leave me?" she asked, feeling his chest rise and fall against her back.
"I promise," David murmured, his voice soft and laced with exhaustion. "I'm not going to let you go until I have to."
"Thank you," Faith whispered, snuggling closer to him. "Goodnight David."
"Uh-hmm…" David said in agreement.
The redhead closed her eyes completely and found herself relaxing so easily in his arms. Sleep came to greet the girl halfway as she found herself feeling safe for the first time in a very long time.
OOOOOOOOO
A/N: Truth be told, I actually have lost the direction of where I want to go with this story, but I can always find another. This is one of the longer chapters of this tale and I am kind of pleased that I am getting better at creating longer chapters. And I couldn't have done this without all of your encouragement and support! I hope you all read and review because I could definitely use some feedback! Read & Review please! -Scarlet