Cursed Blood
Chapter Twenty-Five
I sat slumped into the unbelievably uncomfortable bar stool and made eye contact with my babysitter so kindly bestowed upon me before Reid, Pogue and Caleb took off after Chase. Tyler. He was the only person Reid trusted to watch over me in my helpless and fragile human condition I had now found myself in. I felt utterly useless. Max had took off to find a quick meal to help speed up his recovery and then who knows, he wasn't exactly known for letting anyone know of his plans or his thoughts for that matter.
God the music they were playing was horrendous at Nicky's tonight and the crowd was even more so. I tried to smile as I felt Tyler's eyes upon me; he had been searching for what to even say to me since we had arrived. What was to say? Sorry your boyfriend ran off and left you behind to chase after someone that could very well take his life? Sorry you're the weak one now? Sorry we literally have no idea how to help you or how long you actually have before you succumb to your injuries from the past? Not exactly bar talk.
So in the silence I began to do the only thing I had ever seen help lighten such a mood…drinks. Lots of drinks.
"You know, when Reid asked me to look after you…he didn't mean to allow you to get hammered. You don't even know when you might-" His words came to an abrupt stop.
"Pity doesn't become you Tyler." I muttered as I allowed my fingertips to trace designs into the condensation adorning my chilled glass of wine.
"It isn't pity." He whispered while looking away. Could have fooled me. He looked as if he were about to cry or something.
"Oh lighten up would you, we all gotta go sometime right? I'm no different than anyone else."
"But you are different." He quickly replied. His features were being illuminated y the various neon signs flickering about the space.
"Oh, I know what this is…you're feeling bad for Reid, trust me whenever my time comes I'm sure he will find a girl with less…baggage than me. He will have a wonderful life…I'm sure of it." I said in a tone that I wasn't expecting. Even with alcohol within my system I couldn't exactly find comfort in the idea of Reid finding another…but I suppose it was time to start considering the inevitable.
"I don't feel bad for Reid. Not at all." He said in an angered tone.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I don't feel bad for him at all. In a way…I blame him for…what you're facing. He's always been a hot head, acting impulsively and thinking only of himself. He may love you…but he should have never told you to leave. He should have never let you walk out that door. You are the greatest thing to have ever happened to me-" He quickly fumbled into a silence before correcting his statement but not before I realized what was happening here.
"I mean to him. You're the greatest thing to have happened to him."
"Tyler…" I started but he shook his head. We had never really spoken…not like this at least. Could he really be harboring feelings for me? Why…how?
I knew he was prepared to delve further into the situation as he too began to down beer after beer.
"To messy…unpredictable situations we find ourselves in." I said while raising my glass to him, hoping to ease the tension filling the smoky air. His hardened expressions suddenly softened as a smile appeared.
"I can drink to that."
Hours passed and somehow we found ourselves sprawled out in the parking lot of Nicky's. I'm sure we had been asked to leave, we were a wreck. I was tanked as the younger generations now call it. The worst part of this feeling of complete intoxication was the fact I knew exactly what drove me to it. I was absolutely terrified of what was to come for me…for all of us.
My body was already feeling the strain of the rapid aging; I didn't show signs of gray hair or any wrinkles, but I was beginning to feel it in my bones. I was growing tired, pain was subtly settling in. Injuries and wounds would soon remind me of my past encounters with danger; would I be able to endure such pain as a human? There was no fast pace healing to rely on now, no way to even know if I would survive those wounds.
And on top of that, still weighing heavily on my mind, was Reid and the dark cloud hovering over us was ever present in my thoughts even now. He was…amazing, a true hero to my life but I knew deep within me, that I couldn't be his. Not truly, not when our relationship will be obliterated by my passing or worst yet, if Reid never returns from his conflict with Chase alive. It was all too much to bear, but at least I had been given a night. This one, insignificant night that gave me a babysitter that was bringing me to tears with laughter despite it all.
"I thought vampires had a higher tolerance to alcohol…wh-hat the fuck gives?" I hear Tyler slurring behind me. I couldn't help but laugh as I turned back to look at him.
"It's true but Tyler you've drank the contents of a small liquor store tonight…the fact that you are even still talking is testament to your alcohol tolerance." I giggled as I watched my surroundings begin to spin. It was becoming quite a task to know the difference between the ground and sky; I felt as if I was being tossed about a carnival ride without the slightest clue on how to make it stop.
I soon realized I had fallen, allowing my blurred vision to dance about the stars above until Tyler's face appeared abruptly before me.
"Crashed and burned." Tyler announced to me. I shook my head; the feeling of the asphalt rubbing my scalp was an unnatural yet intriguing sensation to experience. Yes…I was certainly tanked.
I watched as Tyler allowed his body to sit next to me upon the ground, he then began examining me in such a way I couldn't quite explain.
"What?" I spat in aggravation.
"It's just…it's intimidating…beautiful you are." He whispered.
"Okay…no more drinks for you sir." I laughed as I closed my eyes in the hopes of regaining some sense of reality to the sensation of movement I was experiencing as I lay still.
"No, it's not the alcohol, I mean I guess it caused me to say it…but I've always thought it. You're…b-breathtaking." He spoke once again. The chill of the night was only adding to the awkwardness that was escaping his lips.
I opened my eyes to meet his gaze, his cheeks were flushed from embarrassment and yet still he kept his eyes upon me.
"Are you trying to seduce me Tyler? You do know I am spoken for right?" I smirked.
"No, I wouldn't do that to Reid or to you. I respect you both; but I just felt like you should know that…I admire you…and I often finding myself wishing…I could be Reid." He confessed. My eyes widened before he shook his head.
"I can't believe I said that." He laughed before standing to his feet, wavering slightly before extending a hand to me to help me stand. I placed my hand in his before allowing his support to help walk me towards the motel room that appeared to become further and further away.
As we approached the door I heard him speak once again. I think perhaps we both knew he had already said quite a lot just now. I was still trying to contemplate his words…and his feelings towards me.
"I don't expect you to keep this a secret; honestly I think Reid knows my feelings towards you…so don't add this to your worries…everything is fine. But know this…I will do everything in my power to keep you alive…for you, for Reid…and for me. I don't want to ever lose you…even if you're not truly mine to lose." My mouth opened slightly to speak, I honestly didn't know what words would have been said but they were quickly interrupted by an intense and unexpected sensation of pain.
I quickly stammered to the ground, crashing hard upon the asphalt before reaching my hands up to my face only to feel gashes slowly beginning to freely bleed down my features.
"Madison!" Tyler yelled before kneeling before me and pushing aside my locks of hair plastered to my face from the red liquid adorning my skin. This feeling, this sharp yet throbbing pain, I knew exactly what it was from. I can remember this sensation clearly, despite my current state; this wound was from…my brother. That night he shoved my face into that bathroom mirror. I could feel the shards of glass slicing through my skin.
"What can I do…Madison?" He asked, yet his words were becoming muffled. The air was growing too thick to breathe as my emotions were starting to take over. I was struggling to take in a single breath which only fueled my panic as I watched Tyler peel off his t-shirt and begin gently wiping the blood from my features before I noticed the blood was already beginning to ensnare his senses.
"Get out of here…while you can…" I choked out as I gave him a slight shove away. I was not prepared to deal with this and a vampire's inability to control themselves around blood.
"I can h-handle it." He muttered through his clenched teeth. I glared at him as I saw his fangs beginning to reveal themselves.
"I SAID GO!" I cried as tears began to travel down my cheeks, stinging every laceration it met.
"I can control it Madison…I'm not leaving you right now!" He roared.
"MADISON!" Suddenly I realized that it was Reid screaming my name before falling beside me and gingerly lifting my chin to examine my wounds.
"DID YOU DO THIS?" Reid's voice was booming with rage as he stood and faced Tyler.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now!" Tyler yelled as his fists began to clench.
"You're the one with some awfully sharp pearly whites showing! I thought I could trust you! But you are not Tyler anymore! Madison is not a piece of meat for you to make a meal of whenever you fucking please!" I could feel the tension escalating to new heights between the two men. The condition of their once unbreakable friendship had become unpredictable and unstable…since Tyler's change. It was hard not to think that this was another aspect of Reid's life I had tainted. I had ruined so much for him, and although he would never admit it, I knew that deep down he wondered if his life would have been different without me in it. He had to; I mean how could he not…especially now as he stands in opposition to the only person he has ever considered a brother.
"DON'T YOU DARE…You know I don't look at her like that!"
"Oh yes, how could I have forgotten, I see the way you look at her when you think I'm not looking…I bet you're just waiting for the chance to take her from me!" Reid was growing furious with every word spoken. I noticed under the light of the moon, his eyes shifting to pools of black. I reached out my hand in opposition to the two but my actions were unnoticed as I tried to gather myself together from the pain and the grip of the alcohol I had consumed.
"NO! Want to know the truth? I'll tell you…I'm waiting for the chance for you to fuck up…AGAIN! It's going to happen…you treated her like shit! You sent her away and you caused ALL OF THIS! She deserves better…she always has! You haven't changed one bit Reid…what's going to happen when things get complicated, get too much for you to handle? You're going to run away…like a coward! Guess you'll try and get back with the red head in biology right? Something easier for you to handle?" Tyler snarled. My eyes began to blink frantically as I realized the fight had reached a point of no return.
I thought about stepping in, I even thought about running away, but I remained a crumbled ruin upon the asphalt below; watching and listening to a fight that I ultimately caused between them. I wiped the last of the blood trails from my features and brushed my hair aside.
Before I could even utter a word Reid had began to use against Tyler. Trashcans and nearby objects were being hurled towards the dark haired man. Tyler quickly dodged every attack before lunging towards Reid. His fangs shinning bright under the moon, his eyes now mirroring Reid's; Tyler clenched his hands around Reid's neck before slamming his head into the asphalt multiple times as he tightened his grip.
"I ought to rip your throat out!" Tyler growled. Reid then allowed an energy burst erupt from his hands, sending Tyler flying backwards into a mini-van nearby. Glass shattered and fell like rain upon him as he tried to scramble to his feet. Energy blasts illuminated the entire parking lot as the two warlocks exchanged attack after attack. Their attacks echoed through the area, trees swayed from the sheer force between them, and I knew there were now peeking eyes through the curtains of motel rooms.
Minutes passed like hours as the fight raged on. The two had resorted to grabbing found objects to fight in the most brutish of ways. The use of magic just wasn't inflicting the intimate damage they were now craving. Reid was now wielding a broken shard of metal that once lined the back support of a metal bench upon the curb. Tyler was tightly clutching a lead pipe from some tossed rusty pipe work in an overturned dumpster.
They were truly out for blood; I suppose Max and I weren't the only ones that had it within us to truly inflict pain on each other. I didn't understand why we did it, why we hurt one another to such extent…and I certainly didn't understand how it was so between Reid and Tyler but I knew they would do something they would regret if they were allowed to continue this prolonged dispute.
Of course Caleb and Pogue would arrive here soon but not soon enough.
I stood and approached the two young men, they were bloody and bruised yet still attacking with a force that I had never seen before. Every step I took caused my lacerated face to throb but I quickly forced my exhausted feet to run towards them when I saw Reid had Tyler pinned against the brick wall. Reid's sharpened metal weapon was ready to inflict the final blow. Screaming of taunts and words of hatred were being spilled into the air with every passing second as I continued to race towards them.
"DO IT! YOU FUCKING COWARD DO IT!" Tyler screamed. I finally reached the two and quickly grabbed hold of Reid's arm that was hovering in the air with his weapon tightly grasped in hand.
"GET OFF OF ME!" He roared; he sounded nothing like the Reid I knew. He had lost himself here tonight; he lost his sense of reality in this fight. I refused to let go of his arm, I couldn't let him kill his best friend, I couldn't let him make that decision that he could never take back.
Author's Note: I AM SUCH A BAD AUTHOR! I haven't updated in so long due to ungodly holiday work hours and of course I leave you on a cliffhanger, not on purpose though. You see the rest of this story I'm having to write all over since I changed the course of the story so much so I do apologize and I hate to end this chapter in such a way but the next update will be come soon I promise please don't be too mad! Hope everyone enjoyed the escalated tension, who saw Tyler's feelings coming? I tried my best to hide them maybe too good but if you think about it…it was bound to happen. Poor Tyler has a jealousy of Reid and I think his new vampire state may have given him the voice to speak up and obviously he spoke quite a lot didn't he? And don't worry you will all find out what will become of Madison next chapter too, any thoughts if she can be saved and how? Well stay around and see the final chapters of this story and please review!
AliH1: So glad you enjoyed the last update, hope you enjoyed this one too. Of course I added some more drama to the story *evil laugh* but don't worry all of your questions on how she will be saved or not is coming next update! Thanks for your support and reviews!
HapaDoll: My friend, I do apologize for not being around on the site for awhile, holiday work hours are unbelievable these days, I work practically everyday so it's been rough but I have a few days off and I will be responding to your PM too! I hope you have been doing good and not too busy but I bet you're just as busy as me, tis the season haha! But what did you think of this update? I tried to throw one last twist and tension moment as a climax before I bring things to an end. And I'm notorious for having love triangles haha I can't help but adding to the drama. But I think we both know Tyler doesn't have a chance but in a way it was good to see him speak up and stand his grand for a change. You were so right in your last review about Max, he is a lot like Daemon, dark side but a side you can't help but love and find attraction for. I love his character I too am glad I found a way to keep him in the story! Well I hope these next chapters redeem Reid and get him off your ****list haha, I hope to hear from you soon in the reviews, I'll be touch with you ASAP via PM! Hope you are well, look forward to talking to you again!