My Beloved
Chapter 36
When the pain became too much, the sorrow too deep, the gates to her emotions simply shut down. Piper had always excelled at shutting out her emotions. It came to her like second nature. She had no problem faking fine ever since she was a child, growing up with her drinking mother, her unfaithful father, her abusive half-brother in the silent household. She smiled even when it hurt. She had to try in order to survive the lonely years. For years, she did succeed.
But it felt drastically different this time. The pillar of her life had vanished. Her father was gone forever, leaving unsolved mysteries behind. His past work. His allies and enemies. His death, and Alex's whereabouts. His passing had shaken her so deeply that faking a smile wouldn't be able to keep her mask intact. Her life had been turned upside down because of him. She might as well break down and cry now, because his love had cursed her, his death destroyed her. She was still stuck in the thick fog of tragedy, unsure how to feel, or what to do next. She was simply lost.
"We're so sorry that this happened, Piper. Please, be strong. He'll forever be in our hearts."
"Thank you." Piper was in her proper, black suit. She looked pale, but was still able to hold herself together.
"He was an highly accomplished, one of the most brilliant scientists I've ever met. He was always the best in his class. In everything he did. We'll find the murderer, Piper! Justice will be done!"
"Right. Thank you."
"He was such a fine, handsome gentleman. The salt of the earth. I still remembered him turning down my daughter for your mother. I could have been your grandmother. You have his blue eyes... Well, just like mine."
"… Lovely."
At the funeral, Piper was standing beside Carol. Helen was nowhere to be seen.
"I can't believe he's really gone," Carol said, her eyes teary. A white handkerchief in her hand, she was in a navy-colored skirt suit. "He was an unfaithful husband, but he provided for all of us… very well." She adjusted her blonde bob a little. "It was one of his few, great qualities."
Piper sighed. "Mom, please, my father has just died."
"Oh, Piper, but it's true. I endured a lot of his shenanigans because of his wealth, and him being your father. Now, with his passing, you should be very well-off, and wouldn't need to work a day for the rest of your life."
Piper shut her eyes. "Mom, stop."
"We're all mourning his death, but I'm just trying to prepare you for what is to come next."
Piper rolled her eyes.
Carol chuckled. "You wouldn't miss him all."
"Don't talk like that. We still need to find out who did this to dad." Anger seethed in Piper's calm voice.
"Considering his business, why are you surprised he ended up the way he did. Shot twice in his face." Carol shook her head.
Piper pinched the bridge of her nose. She couldn't hear it anymore. She felt nauseous all of a sudden. She really needed to think about something else. "Mom, do you… do you know about all of dad's properties? Like his other houses and places?"
"You know how your father was. So many secrets. I sometimes wondered if I knew who I was married to. I don't think I have the answer."
"This is very important to me. I need you to be serious."
Carol glanced at her daughter, while shaking hand with other guests. "You think he was hiding something from you?" she whispered the question.
"He did. He kidnapped my girlfriend. I don't know where he had been keeping her."
There was a blank look on Carol's face, and then shock. "My goodness. What are you suggesting?"
"We knew about his business partners. Don't act all shocked now, mom. I need help. I have to find Alex. It's been two weeks, and I—I don't even know... if she's still alive." Piper almost choked on her words. She had never been close to her mother growing up, but Carol had turned out to be the only available person she could talk to. Everyone else would call her crazy for accusing her own father like that.
"But why would your father want to kidnap her? Wasn't Ms. Vause working for him? Maybe, just maybe, he paid her off." Carol mildly shrugged.
Piper briefly closed her eyes. "No, Alex would never accept that. She quitted her job, but he didn't take it well. We had plans together, but then one day, she just disappeared. There was… I found blood inside her home, and… and there was more blood in the underground tunnel connecting her house to our mansion."
Carol turned to glance at her daughter, eyes widened.
"Yes, an underground tunnel." Piper let out a tired sigh. She had a lot to explain.
The next day wasn't any easier for Piper.
"I get what? One million, a Jaguar XK120 and a beach house in California?" Danny was red in the face, a glass of whiskey in his hand.
Thomas Krantz was in his expensive, gray suit. His bald head shiny, his glasses trendy for a lawyer. "A luxurious beach house," he added, hands calmly clasped on the desk.
Carol, Piper and Helen were all present. It was an early morning meeting at the Chapman Mansion. Piper was having a cup of black coffee. Her mother seemed nonchalant about the whole thing, while Helen appeared a nervous wreck after Bill's death, marveled and saddened at the same time as she got to visit the mansion for the first time.
"I can't fucking believe this! That's all he left me!?" Danny rose to his feet, pushing the chair away.
"Danny, please," Carol said.
"Please? You want me to calm my ass down!? You already got your share from divorcing him, so that's why you don't care!" Danny kicked the chair down, fuming. "I'm his son, but I just got some leftovers!"
Piper looked away, suppressing her sigh. Her father's will left her their family mansion along with seven other estates all over the country. Four cars and thirty-eight million dollars were left to her in the will as well. She had no idea how wealthy her father was, or how he made the money. She didn't even care if it was all truly belonged to him, considering his ugly business. She just couldn't care less about it now. The only answer she needed was where Bill had been keeping Alex. At least, the possibilities had been significantly narrowed down.
When the meeting was over, Piper headed right to the kitchen and grabbed a plate of French toasts, her childhood favorite. She needed to refuel herself before heading off to her first destination. She had seven of them to venture about. She had already got the keys to the estates from the family lawyer.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Danny asked as he entered the kitchen.
Piper took the huge bite of her food, chewing. "Yeah?" Her brother looked troubled, and Piper wasn't surprised. Danny was always in trouble.
Carol had come out of the study room, where the meeting took place, Helen close behind her. The lawyer had already headed out of the mansion. Carol briefly stopped by the kitchen's entrance.
"Let's have dinner tomorrow night, Piper. You, too, Danny," Carol said, a smirk on her lips. She didn't need to tell that it was for the celebration, but it was written all over her face.
Piper just rolled her eyes after her mother walked off. She turned to her brother. "What is it?"
"I'm in a little bit of a hurry. I—I need your help."
Piper looked at her brother. "What's going on?"
"Can I borrow you some money? I, uh, I mean, it shouldn't be a problem for you now, right? Dad gave you so much."
His tone was soft, and he was always smiling. But Piper had always detected a hint of bitterness and jealousy from her brother. Even now when he was pleading for her help. If there was one thing Danny had learned from Bill, it was the cold gaze hidden behind a smile. The kind of smile that would give chill to the bone.
"What happened? What did you do?" Piper asked. Last she had heard, Danny's biological father continued to lose his jobs and developed drinking problems. She had heard from Carol sometimes about Danny's gambling nights and his thug friends.
Danny cleared his throat. "I… I owed some people some money. It's kind of urgent. I got less than a week to get that money. I even lost more last night, trying to win back some—"
"Oh, my God, just stop. Stop. Last night? Really? You still went gambling after our father had just been brutally murdered? Are you serious?" Piper pinched the bridge of her nose.
Danny groaned. "Come on, I loved him, but life goes on. Not everybody got a rich daddy like you do."
Blood rushed to Piper's head. "He was your dad, too. He had done so much for you. More than your own father. He raised you. He financially supported you and paid for your college. He left you a house and a car in his will. For God's sake, Danny."
"It's not enough." Danny looked away, lighting up a cigarette. "Look, I owe them almost two millions in total. It means that I would have to sell the beach house by this Monday. The price would be cut considerably since I'm in such a hurry to sell it. I'd be left with almost nothing. I need your help, Piper. These people are thugs. You know what they're going to do to me."
Piper stared at her brother in disbelief. "I don't know you—No, I do. I actually fucking do. You're an irresponsible, ungrateful and cruel man. You have no conscience." She glared hard at him, and all those moments when her brother hurt her cougar came rushing back, fueling her anger. "You need to leave, and this mansion has always been non-smoking. Get out."
"What?" Danny blew a cloud of smoke at Piper's face. "I grew up in this house long before you were born. It's my house, too."
"Not anymore. Out."
Danny tossed the cigarette down to the floor and crushed it under his shoe. "You're going to come around. I know you."
The moment her brother strode off, Piper let out a exasperated sigh, sinking into the chair. She had completely lost her appetite. How did her brother continue to get into trouble all through his life? The worst part was that Bill wasn't here to fix the problems anymore. It was down to her now. She didn't want to think about the possible feuds between them in the future, which were sure to come.
"Are you all right, Ms. Piper?"
Piper looked up to see Claudette returning to the kitchen. She tiredly put a hand on her forehead, sighing. "I have to be. Alex needs me."
Claudette paused slightly. "The neighbor from your high school?"
Piper smiled at the old days. "You have good memories. I rarely mentioned her."
"Your father used to tell me to keep an eye on that girl, and report to him whenever you went to spend time at her house. Her eyes… they were strange." Claudette poured some more coffee for Piper. "We passed each other in the streets sometimes, and she always avoided eye contact. A peculiar girl."
Piper chortled at the old woman's recollection. If only Claudette knew that she had been preparing milk for the peculiar girl for years. "What else did dad tell you?"
"About the girl?"
Piper nodded as she sipped her coffee. But a moment of silence from the maid caused her to glance up curiously. "Claudette?"
Claudette cleared her throat. "I saw them in his study."
Piper stared at the old woman. "What? When?"
"Almost three weeks ago, I saw Alex. The girl was unconscious on the floor. Your father saw me, and he asked me to help move Alex into the van. He... he paid me ten thousands dollars to keep quiet. Well, he also warned me that… things would not end well, if I told anyone. I just assumed that, whatever he meant, it was going to be unpleasant. I am sorry, Ms. Piper, for being silent about it until now."
Piper felt her throat parched, her face paling and her body cold. Her hands shaken, she took a few deep breaths in. "Was she… was Alex—"
"She was still alive." Claudette nodded in reassurance. "She seemed to be bleeding somewhere, but was still alive."
Piper gulped. She wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. Only then that she could breathe easily again. "Do you know where they were headed?"
"He didn't tell me, of course not. But I overheard him speaking on the phone with a man by the name 'Brian'. There may have been others with the same name, but I remember one of his colleagues visiting him several years ago, Doctor Brian Holst from Nashville, Tennessee. I remember where he came from because my ex-husband used to work near there. I am not sure that it was him, but he was the only person I could think of," Claudette said. "I hope that helps you somehow, Ms. Piper."
Piper sat still, many thoughts whirling around in her head. "Oh... My... God." Then, Piper shot up from the chair, patting Claudette on the shoulder. "This helps a lot! Thank you so much, Claudette!"
"Where are you going, Ms. Piper?!" Claudette's eyes widened as she watched her young master running down the hallway towards the front doors of the mansion.
"Tennessee!"
Piper took the earliest flight she could get to Nashville. She had expected that Bill had kept Alex at the gated mansion she broke in, and had planned to revisit and search the place today. However, Claudette had unexpectedly given her a clue to Alex's possible whereabouts. Her father did own a piece of estate in Tennessee, and it had been passed to her in his will. She didn't want to imagine what trouble she had to go through if the house had been given to Danny instead.
3:58 P.M.
After renting a black SUV from the airport, it took her slightly over an hour to find her destination. She pulled over along the gravel driveway, which led to a two-story, vine-climbing, brick house. Its size was just half of the Chapman Mansion, but it was a modestly elegant house, nonetheless. Piper had read it in the will that it had been passed down from Bill's grandfather's side. Bill was his grandfather's favorite just as Piper was her father's.
Piper unlocked the front, black-painted door. She observed the living room, the kitchen and the guest bathroom. It appeared like a normal residence so far. The house was surprisingly clean and well-kept given how it had been reportedly unoccupied for several years. There were a stained coffee cup and a plate with some breadcrumbs in the sink.
"Hello… hello, is anyone here?" Piper walked up to the second floor. She checked on all four bedrooms and three bathrooms. "Anybody here…? Hello…" She continued the inspection, running her hand along the walls. The house was dead quiet. Her own footsteps echoed loudly in her ears. Consciously, she glanced over her shoulder every once in a while.
One of the bedrooms and the bathroom adjacent to it were recently used as she saw used towels hanging over the hooks and a disheveled blanket over the bed. She was positive that her father had visited here right up until his death, but there had been no other signs of life so far. Perhaps, Alex was gone. A hand on her forehead, she momentarily held her breath before sighing in defeat. She didn't want to give up, but she was just so exhausted emotionally and physically. Her father's death was a huge blow to her, and to make matters worse, the only link to Alex was gone with him.
After making sure that the second floor was empty, Piper headed downstairs for the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water, needing to quench her thirst. Tears were blurring her vision. She wanted to cry, but she knew that she shouldn't. She had to be strong. She had to keep searching for Alex however the slim the chance may be.
Oh, God... Alex, where are you?
Piper put the empty glass on the counter and pushed herself off the sink. It seemed to be another fruitless attempt today. She had to get back to the airport and catch the earliest flight home. After recent events and traumas, she needed a good rest right about now. Her body was giving in.
Picking up her purse and key from the table, Piper turned and took one last look around the house. Everything appeared normal. However, she had left the door to the study room open after the first search, and in the middle of the room was an old, crimson-colored rug. Her heart raced as she stalked across the hallway and entered the study room. Kneeling beside the rug, Piper hesitated a moment before she lifted it up. Dust fumed a little, and she covered her nose with her other hand. Her eyes widened in delight when she saw a trapdoor beneath the rug. She should have learned to expect things like this from William Chapman by now.
"Hello…" Piper climbed down the wooden ladder. A dark, narrow corridor led deeper into the hidden basement. The air was damp and thick. Foul odor. She used the flashlight from her cell phone to lend her some light. "Ah, there we go," she muttered as she found the set of switches on the dusty, concrete wall, and turned the lights on. She continued to trek down the path, which eventually led her to a metallic door.
Piper grabbed the knob, but it was locked. "Shit," she grumbled as she turned to see the access control. How was she supposed to know the pin numbers? It could be related or unrelated to anything at all. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she tried the date of Bill's birthday and some other random numbers, but no such luck. The door kept beeping repeatedly, denying her access. Then, an idea hit her. Piper ran up the stairs to get the cosmetic powder from her purse. She came down the basement again and brushed the powder on the padlock. 6, 7 and 0 were the only numbers dusted fingerprints showed.
You're my little princess.
Her father's words faintly echoed in her head. Tears began to warm her eyes as she punched in '0607'. The door beeped once and automatically pushed in. It was her birthdate. The realization was bittersweet to her. He was still her father—still the one who loved her the most, no matter what kind of a man he was.
Piper pushed the door open wider and slowly entered. "Hello... what the—" Strong odor hit her nose, causing her to pull up her collar to cover the lower half of her face. Blood. Scent of blood filled the air. The basement was a smaller version of the laboratory at the ranch. Dark, gray-colored room. Dimming lights. Equipment and machines. Cold. Isolation.
Walking further in, Piper pulled her collar closer. No heater. She began to shiver. "Hello... Anybody here—" As she passed a station, she suddenly halted in her tracks. There was a cage half the size of those at the ranch. Chill ran down her spine by just seeing it. She knew that she had come to the right place, but it made her feel sick at the same time. It was an appalling testament of what her father was capable of, what sufferings he had caused upon other lives. She wondered what went through his mind in his final moment, and she could only hope that he had found peace.
But there was nothing resembling peace in front of Piper at the moment. She stood between two stations, the cage about twenty feet in front of her. Blood smears on the floor and the bars of the cage. Fresh blood along the chains that were restraining the cougar's neck and legs. Piper's heart skipped as she watched for the rise and fall of the cougar's chest.
Alex was still breathing.
Thank God.
Piper felt her knees weak, but forced herself to walk towards the cage. "Al... Alex..." Muttering, Piper came to stop at the steely bars, tears streaming down her face. She had had dark thoughts of what could have happened to Alex, but it was much harder to witness it with her own eyes. Her father had chained Alex like a dog, leaving her in the basement. It had been two days since her father's death, which meant that Alex had been left in hunger for longer than that. Piper didn't want to imagine what had also been done to Alex during the twenty days of her incarceration.
The cougar's eyes were half-open, saliva foaming at her mouth. Her four ankles were bleeding, presumably the results from pulling against the chains as she tried to lose the restraints. She glanced up at the blonde, weakly whimpering.
"Alex... Al, you're going to be ok. I'll get you out of here." Piper brushed the tears from her face with the back of her hands as she looked around the room. She found the emergency axe by the doorway and brought it back to the cage. She aimed for the padlock. "Ok... I'm going to break it... Right..." She tightened her grip on the axe. She had never used it before.
The cougar cried as she twisted against the chains. It was as though she was urging Piper to work faster.
"We're going... home. I'll... take... you home. We'll go home together!" Piper said as she swung the axe. She had to hit the padlock several times before she could hack it off. She tossed the broken padlock to the floor and slid the door open. She entered the cage and cut the chains with the axe. When Alex was finally free, Piper slid to her knees, dropping the axe. "Alex!" She grinned.
The cougar took a moment to regain her composure. Then, she pushed herself up on her fours and leapt at Piper. Her fangs protruding, hunger flooded her fierce gaze.
"Al—" Piper was thrust onto her back, the feline on top of her, the fangs buried deep into her left shoulder. "Alex! Al, it's me—" Screaming, she tried to push the cougar away.
In her weak state, the cougar tumbled to the side, but quickly leapt at Piper again, capturing her right arm this time. The bone crunched between her fangs, warm blood flooding her mouth. She hissed at the taste of raw flesh.
"Alex, no!" Piper madly kicked the feline off her, panting, adrenaline pumping into her blood. Alex had never hurt her before. The cougar she had known all her life would never hurt her. "Al, it's me… Piper…" She pressed her good hand on the wounded arm, wincing. She hurriedly backed away, her back against the bars.
The green eyes widened as they stared at Piper, contemplating, calculating. The cougar hissed again as she edged closer.
Piper knew that the moment was now. She shut her eyes tightly as the feline leapt at her. "Alex!"
The cougar hooked her claws at Piper's left calf and bit down at her left thigh. The blonde tried to push the feline off, but to no avail. She couldn't fight the cougar's savage hunger. She screamed at the top of her lungs, twisting on the cold floor. Her own blood pooled beneath her. She was going to die tonight, and by the hands of the person she loved the most. It was an ironic, twisted way to go. She should have seen it coming. No, she did see it coming. From that crazy night at the ranch, she had some dark ideas how fate would have shaped her life. It wasn't easy to be in love with someone not human.
Not human…
The two ideas didn't seem to belong together, but the contradiction successfully interrupted Piper's mind from the pain, momentarily numbing her whole. She wasn't where she should be. She wasn't with someone she should be with. Her father had warned her. Her head had known, but her heart wouldn't listen. Here she was lying in a cage, hurt and dying.
Then, it suddenly stopped. The cuts of the fangs into her flesh had ceased. Piper was breathing hard, her fingers trembling as they hopelessly clawed along the floor. She needed to pull herself together. She needed to think—to focus. She was hurt, but still alive.
Blue eyes focused again. Piper began to glance around, and her gaze eventually found the naked body at her feet. She halted at the familiar sight of the pale, raven-haired woman.
"Alex…" Piper breathed. A small smile on her face. She had been waiting—praying for this moment. She had found Alex again.
Her claws shortened, and Alex growled in protest. Her body had reacted on its own. It frustrated her. It hurt even more when her fangs retracted. She could taste foreign blood in her mouth, and her senses heightened at its raw sweetness. Its taste was full of life. There were more blood on her arms and fingertips. On her face. Her skin healed instantly, and she watched her own body as if one of stranger.
This… is me… what I am…
Alex raised her hands up to her face, inspecting them. Those hands were human hands. It took her a few moments before her head gradually becoming lighter, her vision a little bit clearer. She breathed harder as the pain also became more palpable, her body shaken. "Ah... fuck," she muttered as she tried to get up on her feet.
Hugging herself with both arms, Alex stopped in her tracks when she looked ahead and saw a blonde-haired figure lying still on the floor. Fresh blood smeared the woman's face. There appeared to be quite a few nasty, bleeding wounds along her body. The whole room was filled with the smell of blood.
Alex sniffed as she glanced around. They were in a cage inside a dim room. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to recall how she had ended up here. Her body hurt all over, and her head was spinning. She massaged her temples with her thumbs, only to realize how aching her bones were. It felt as though a thick fog had blanketed over her whole, weighing down her weak, sluggish body, her head incredibly heavy.
A man's face appeared behind her closed eyelids. Alex winced at the sharp pain shooting through her skull. She knew him. She knew that face. A name. His name was stuck at the back of her tongue.
Bill…
Alex inwardly sighed as relief washed through her. She had no idea what was happening, but she somehow knew that forgetting his name meant bad news. Something had happened to her. Something had been done to her. The tunnel and— Alex slumped down to the floor, her hands clinging on the steely bars for support. Blood. Yelling and cursing. More blood. Pieces of memories scattered in her head, and she swayed in her pose, panting for air. She looked at the wounds around her wrists and ankles. She recalled now that Bill had captured and caged her like an animal.
Animal.
"Al."
At the sound of heavy breathing, Alex glanced up and saw the bluest eyes she had ever seen. "Pp... Piper...," she muttered. She received a small, tired smile in return, and it reminded her why they were here.
Blood.
Alex stiffened. She could still taste the blood in her mouth. It smelled so sweet, deepening her hunger. But the realization that it was Piper's blood made her want to vomit. She put her face against the bars, retching, choking and spitting at the same time. She needed to get it out. She needed to rid herself of the guilt. What had she done? How did she allow this to happen?
"Al... are you... ok?" Piper whispered.
After a moment, Alex eventually turned to the blonde. She crawled towards the wounded woman, and then held her up in her trembling arms. She could barely feel her limbs, but she tightened her embrace around Piper. They couldn't possibly be closer, but it still felt too far away for Alex. She began to rock softly. She was scared of what had just happened—what she had done to Piper. She wanted to punish herself, but the worst penalty wouldn't even suffice.
When a hand snaked up and feebly gripped her arm, Alex glanced down at the blonde's face and saw a weak smile.
"I... I've got you..." Piper muttered.
Tears filled the green eyes. Guilt flooded Alex's chest. She didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve any of it.
"You have a lot to explain, Vause," Natalie Figueroa groaned as she entered the front door. It was half past midnight when she arrived at the door.
Alex closed the door behind her. "Thanks for coming."
Natalie turned to study Alex. Her bloodshot, green eyes, her scrawny frame and pale, sick face. Alex looked nothing like the majestic cougar she had known. "You look awful," Natalie said, and then glanced around. "Where's Piper?"
"Upstairs." Alex began to lead Natalie up to the second floor. "I tried to stop the bleeding and cleaned her wounds, but that's all I could do. I really appreciate you coming."
"Of course, I have to come. This is probably the last thing I could do for Bill."
Alex paused, and then looked over her shoulder at the taller woman.
"Come on. Really? He was shot dead two days ago, and the shooter is still at large. I can't say that I didn't see this one coming. I'd definitely hire some bodyguards now, if I were her." Natalie looked at Alex up and down. "Where have you been? And what the hell happened to you?" When Alex didn't reply, Natalie took a step down the stairs, uncertainty filled her gaze. "What happened to Piper? You have to tell me the truth—"
"Please, don't leave—"
"Then tell me what the fuck is going on."
"She really needs your help. I can't take her to the hospital like this."
A tight smile on her face, Natalie took another careful step down. "You told me that she was attacked by our former members... Alex...?"
Alex sighed. "All right. I bit her. I—I was under the influence of some drug Bill injected me. I really didn't mean to hurt Piper."
Natalie halted. "Why would Bill do that to you?"
"He fucking kidnapped me."
Natalie's eyes narrowed. "What?"
"He was trying to sell me to some client, but then he just disappeared before they could close the deal. I was in and out of consciousness until Piper found me in the basement. I… I couldn't remember her at first, and I…"
"That sounds horrible. Have you eaten?" Natalie's frown deepened in suspicion.
"Yeah, I took some changes from Piper's wallet, and bought myself some PowerBar." Alex shrugged. "Do you want some?"
Natalie shot Alex a glare before walking up past the young woman. "Just don't feed on us."
"The room to your right," Alex said, following Natalie down the corridor. She halted when Natalie stopped at the doorway. The door was left slightly open, and they could see the sleeping blonde on the bed. The room was lit with just the table lamp.
Natalie turned to face Alex, her gaze studying the young woman. "Get some rest. I'll take it from here." Alex opened her mouth to protest, but Natalie beat her to it. "I mean it, Alex. You need to rest. Drink lots of water, too. I'll take care of Piper." Natalie entered, and shut the door in Alex's face.
Piper opened her heavy eyelids. She swore that someone was screaming Alex's name. Or perhaps, it was her dream. Another dream within dream. Even sleeping tired her.
Blue eyes glanced around the unfamiliar room. Her body was resting on an unfamiliar bed. Unfamiliar smell. She turned her head slightly to observe the surrounding. It took her a moment before she recalled being in Tennessee. She had flown in last night.
Last night... Piper looked at the soft morning light coming through the gap between the creamy curtains. She coughed as she tried to sit up. Her throat was painfully dry, and her body stung in places. She then began to notice the bandages around her arm, thigh and shoulder. The pain finally kicked in full force, and she gasped. Her mind instantly searched for clues of what happened last night.
Green, slit eyes. Angry, animalistic growls. Sharp, menacing fangs and powerful claws.
Alex.
Piper's head shot up. She did find Alex! "Al—ah... ah, fuck..." Piper bent forward, her hand pressing her thigh wound. The memory of the cougar's fangs tearing deep into her flesh came rushing back. For the first time, Alex had hurt her. She paused at the thought, letting the truth sink in. Alex had harmed her. Alex had almost killed her. This wasn't a nightmare. Her palms were sweaty, her throat constricted. For the first time, Piper questioned what could have truly existed between them.
Love.
But all Piper felt right now were pain and fear. Uncertainty suddenly surged within her. She glanced at the door, unwillingly anticipating a horrific entrance. She hated herself for feeling it, or even thinking it, but the pain on her body was a gruesome reminder of what her lover really was.
Or worse, what Alex had become.
Piper froze at the thought, a hand clutching the blanket. The door opened, and Piper involuntarily flinched.
"Rise and shine," Natalie said, walking in with a tray. A glass of water, six pills of different colors and sizes, and a pair of sandwiches on a plate. She came to stand by the bed and put the tray down on the table.
Piper took a brief look at the items on the tray. Those were for her. She then turned to Natalie, eyes widened. "What are you doing here? How did you know that I'm here? What happened? Alex… where is Alex? Did you—"
"I've got you some painkillers and antibiotics. You're welcome."
Piper paused at the woman's tired smirk. Natalie's hair was slightly unkempt, dark circles under her eyes. It appeared that she hadn't had much sleep last night. "You helped me?" Piper asked, glancing down at the bandages around her arm.
"Alex called me for help." Natalie sighed. "She did stop the bleeding first, and then I got here to check on the wounds and made sure that you'd be ok."
Piper blinked slowly, taking a moment to try to make sense of what was going on. "Alex called you? She… she was… acting strange. She—"
"She attacked you. Yes, she told me, and the evidences on your body do not lie. You were lucky that she came to her senses before making you her first meal in days. Bill had injected her with a substance, and it caused her memories to fail. I was amazed that she managed to not only kill you, but also gave me a fucking phone call. I had to fly in immediately last night, thanks to you both, violent lovebirds."
"Where is she now? Is she all right?"
"Seriously? That's what you're asking right now?"
Piper's heart pounded against her chest. "Umm, I mean, thank you… for flying in and for saving my life," she muttered.
Her eyes narrowed, Natalie took a moment to study the blonde. "I know that you've just lost your father, and this would be hard on you, but are you sure that you know what's really happening?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you sure that you know what you're doing?" Natalie sighed as she straightened up, arms across her chest. "Alex is not human. She's very capable of hurting and killing you. Your father wasn't so wrong about his concern, was he? Are you sure that you want to keep doing this—"
"Doing what? Loving her? Yes, of course, I have no intentions to stop."
"After all the shit that had just happened?" Natalie's smirk just made the blonde blush in anger.
"It wasn't her fault. You just told me that my dad did something to her—"
"Alex would have killed you. She could have. It was pure luck that she didn't. This is fucking serious, Piper. I don't know how much the drug had affected her. Bill was a brilliant scientist, and for very terrifying reasons."
Piper momentarily held her breath. "Can you help her? I mean, there must be a way. You knew my father. Please, Natalie."
"I was just his twenty-four seven vet. My involvement with his projects was limited. There's only so much I can do. My best advice is to keep distance for the time being and wait for the effects of the drug to wear off. We may observe her behaviors later for signs of permanent damages." Natalie took in a deep breath. "I wish you well, Piper. A long and healthy life. Don't end up like your father. I try not to either."
Piper stopped for a moment. Her father's death hadn't fully sunk in yet. It all still felt surreal to her, yet this had to happen to Alex and her. She felt as though she had been lost at sea with no shores insight.
"Good luck."
Piper closed her eyes. "Thank you so much, Natalie."
The door closed behind Natalie, and silence filled the room. Piper could hear the pain hammering inside her body, reminding her how dangerously close she was to death by the hand of Alex. Her father had warned her. She knew the risks were there, but she had never imagined Alex being capable of hurting her. But it finally happened. Her father had caused it, but he was no longer here to fix it. However frustrated and angry she was at her father, tears still brimmed her eyes at the thought that he was gone forever.
A shaky sigh escaped Piper's lips as she slowly pushed herself up. She took the pills as instructed, and drank up the whole glass. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was.
Water. More water.
Piper murmured, her throat burning. This house was still new to her. She needed to take the time to recall the rooms down the hallway. The bathrooms, the living room, the kitchen and the backyard. Her brains worked at the pace of inertia. She only wanted a glass of water, and she knew that she was on the second floor. A sink. She needed to find a sink.
Grabbing the empty glass, Piper climbed out of bed. Every step hurt. Every movement of her body hurt, her head dizzy. It was worse than she thought. She kept cursing as she made her way down the corridor. Her body slightly bent, her breathing uneven.
"Ah…" The soft, hitched cry was followed by a painful groan.
Piper looked up at the noise, confused. Where did it come from? She turned around, squinting. The cries continued, and Piper eventually located the source. She moved towards the room at the end of the corridor. It was of smaller size than the one she had been resting in. White walls. Blue ceiling. It looked like a boy's bedroom.
There, Alex was on the thin futon, lying on her side with her back facing the doorway. She was curling into a ball, a hand over her temple. Her body was rocking slightly, sobbing.
Piper took a step forward, but reluctantly stopped. "Alex… Are you all right?" Fear involuntarily gripped her. She knew that Alex could hear it in her voice, and she hated it.
After a moment, Alex looked over her shoulder. She then sat up, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms, looking lost like a child. "Yeah, I'm ok... You shouldn't be moving. Wanna sit down?" She gulped as she continued to look anywhere but Piper.
Alex was so pale and thin, her shoulders drooping. There were signs of injuries around her neck and wrists. Green gaze was dull, lacking the energy and confidence. She looked nothing like her usual self. The sight tore through Piper's heart. She almost choked out a cry as she refused to think of what her father had done to Alex.
Piper took her shaky steps towards the futon and carefully sat down, a small space between them. She wanted so much to touch Alex—to kiss her and hold her. She wanted to tell Alex that they would be all right, but that would be lying. The wounds on her body still hurt. Her mind a little clearer now, she recalled the horrid moments when the cougar mauled her. Every cut from the claws and fangs. The snarls and growls thundered in her head ceaselessly. Piper squeezed her eyes shut—
"What are you thinking about?"
Blue eyes slowly fluttered open. Piper stared out the small window to the view of green landscape outside. "Many things, but mainly you... You're always on my mind," Piper murmured, a tear sliding down her face. "I knew that he took you away, but I couldn't find you. I knew that he hurt you. I saw… blood on the floor. I knew, but I couldn't help. I couldn't do anything. If... if he were still alive, I'd never find you."
Alex rubbed her face with both hands. "It's not your fault, Pipes… I'm sorry about what happened to Bill. Natalie told me last night."
"You're sorry? After what he did to you, to us?" Piper's voice was shaken.
Alex stiffened. Her lips pressed together into a thin line. "What did you expect me to say?"
Piper let out a dry laugh. "The truth?"
"It doesn't help—"
"Fuck, Alex. I really don't need this right now."
A long moment of silence. "I... I hated him. I have, for a long time. But he was still your father."
Piper shook her head. "Stop. Just stop." Tears kept flowing. Everything was just so wrong. Alex should be very angry. Alex should leave her once and for all because of what Bill did. Alex's forgiveness wasn't doing her any favor. "I wanted to hate him, and I hate myself that I couldn't. Even when I knew that he was locking you up somewhere, hurting you, but... I..." She began to choke on her words. She couldn't stop sobbing now. It hurt even more when Alex wouldn't even touch her to console her. Alex just got up and put her clothes on. "Where are you going?" She wiped the tears from her face, panic rising.
Alex fidgeted over the hem of her jacket. The clothes weren't new, so Piper assumed that they belonged to Natalie. "I'll take you home. We shouldn't be here. I... I don't want to be here."
The thought of how Alex had been locked up and tortured in the basement for weeks hit Piper like a ton of bricks. She swallowed hard as she tried to get up. "Yes, of course. We should leave now. I'm so sorry. I haven't thought about—"
"I'll be downstairs." Alex strode out of the room before the blonde could even finish her sentence.
Piper could only look on, biting down her lip. Empty. Useless.
They packed up their few belongings fast. Piper didn't even have the time to inspect her new estate. She put on her coat and grabbed her sandwiches to eat in the car. Against Piper's will, Alex was driving them.
As the car pulled away from the driveway, Piper glanced out the window to look at the mansion one last time. Beautiful on the outside, but nothing alike on the inside. She still couldn't believe what happened last night. She couldn't believe what she saw—what her father had done. The horror that he had kept inside. The evil in his soul. He wasn't the man she had loved and worshipped. He never was.
It took them a total of sixteen hours to drive from Nashville to New York. They left Tennessee in the morning, and Alex only stopped for gas or quick drive-thru meals. They exchanged very few words as silence had become their best companion. Alex's knuckle whitened as she gripped the steering wheel. She didn't seem to lose the intensity even after hours of driving. She was angry and hurting. Piper could see it, but she didn't know how to help—to reach in.
The road was dark. It was midnight. They were just an hour away before getting back to New York. "I... I'm cold..." Piper stuttered.
"I'm sorry." Alex immediately dealt with the vehicle's temperature, turning up the heat. "Better now?"
Piper nodded. She could feel the warm air hitting her cheeks. She leaned in to rest her head against Alex's shoulder, gently grabbing her arm. "I am now."
"Don't." Alex's word came short and curt. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably.
"I am not angry with you—"
"It only makes me feel worse," Alex said, glancing away. "I... I fucking swallowed your flesh, Pipes... How could I ever forgive myself, or trust myself again?"
Piper wouldn't deny the immense fear that was a result from the traumatic experience last night. The pain was very real. The terror still hung heavily in her mind every time she closed her eyes. "What do you expect me to do? Stop seeing you? You need help, and I want to help... I want to be with you."
"I'll be fine." Alex looked away.
Piper looked at her lover. She could see the tiredness in the pale green eyes, the pink rings under. Alex was far from being fine, but she refused to even take a break from driving as if she couldn't wait to drop Piper off at home and went her separate way. "I tried so hard to find you. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep, not knowing how you were and where you were. Now that we're together again, please don't leave. What you are doesn't matter to me." But Piper paused, alarmed when she saw tears pouring down Alex's face. She tried to touch her arm, but Alex shrugged it off.
"I tried to kill Nathan Cole," Alex eventually said.
Piper paused. Nathan Cole. The man tried to rape her at a party years ago. She seemed to recall how Alex disappeared the night he died.
"I stalked him into the woods and attacked him in his car. I would have killed him with my own hands if it wasn't the accident that actually did it. I wasn't under any drugs influence, Piper. It was pure me. My instinct. My anger... And I liked it. I liked the taste of his flesh and blood in my mouth just like… like I did yours... I'm not the person you think I am."
At a loss for words, Piper tried to take in all the details of what she had just heard. The revelation of the death of her attacker. How Alex disappeared that night. How they made love the next day as if nothing had happened.
Blood.
Alex's animalistic thirst.
Piper still felt the horror that the cougar had left on her body, deep into the bones. Alex had turned out to be just like her father. They were not the persons they seemed to be.
They sat in silence for the rest of the ride, drowned into the night. In silence, they found feigned solace. Just for a while. They thought that they could hold on for a little while longer.
A/N: Thanks to those who still want to read and be supportive. This story has followed its outline from the very beginning. I have no plan to change it. No more than five chapters left after this.