Chapter Twenty-Four
"Can I go to the bathroom?" I asked Jareth as my fork clattered down onto my plate.
"Of course. Are you okay?" he asked, startled by my sudden outburst.
"Yeah, I just need to use the bathroom," I replied nervously. Was Blake going to recognize me? If he did, would he take me back, or would he leave me with Jareth? I snuck another glance over at Blake's table, and saw that he was alone.
"Go on ahead. It's right over there." Jareth pointed to one of the enclosed structures, which happened to be only a few feet away from Blake's table.
"I'll be back in a moment," I told him. By a moment, I meant never (hopefully).
Jareth nodded. I got up from our table and approached Blake's. I was overwhelmed with anxiety. It felt like a thousand butterflies were floating around in my stomach.
When I passed Blake's table, I brushed my hand up against his spoon and knocked it to the floor.
"I'm so sorry, sir!" I exclaimed as I knelt down to pick it up.
Blake looked down at me and a look of great surprise and relief washed over his face and flooded into his eyes. I flicked my eyes over to Jareth, who was watching us, and mouthed 'Jareth'. I picked up the spoon and handed it back to Blake.
"Sorry about that again, sir," I said while I stood.
He nodded, and Jareth stopped watching us. I walked away, and beckoned him to follow me. I didn't look back, so I could only hope that Blake understood my gesture.
I walked into the Ladies' Room, and stood against the wall, hoping to God that Blake would walk in behind me. I waited for two agonizing minutes before the door opened and I was enveloped in Blake's strong arms. I immediately began crying in relief. Blake stroked my back and whispered, "It's okay. I'm here."
I flinched when he touched my back. Blake pulled away.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"Jareth carved into my back and it still hurts," I explained quietly, the last of the tears still streaming down my face.
"That bastard! Did he do anything else to you?" he asked, a burning rage filling his eyes.
I nodded. "But we can talk about it later. Jareth's going to come in here if I've been gone for too long."
"You're right. I'll walk out and cause a distraction. Count to forty, then come out, okay?" he asked.
I nodded and Blake left. I counted to forty, my nerves standing on end the entire time. Once I reached forty, I walked out of the bathroom and my eyes fell on Blake. He grabbed my hand and started quickly walking out of the restaurant. I looked back at Jareth, and saw he was dabbing his pants with a napkin while a man holding an empty coffee cup kept apologizing. I turned back around and walked past the hostess to stand in the parking lot.
"Come on, get on my back," Blake commanded, releasing my hand.
"Wait, like a piggy-back ride?" I asked.
"Exactly. Now hurry please," Blake said urgently. "I wish to avoid a confrontation with Jareth."
Blake crouched, and I jumped on his back, as well as I could with a dress on. Not a moment after I was on Blake's back, he bolted into the forest. I gasped at the unexpected burst of speed, and watched as hypnotic blurs of browns and greens rushed past us.
As we were running, thoughts drifted in and out of my head. Why was Blake so happy to see me? He always acted like he hated me before, so why did he seem so joyous? And what was Jareth going to do when he realized I was gone? Hopefully he'll just get a new pet, but Karigan had said that him getting a new pet if I was gone wouldn't happen.
I was still pondering these questions when Blake slowed to a stop. I looked over his shoulder and saw his house.
"Home sweet home," I heard him mutter. He gently set me on my feet and walked up the steps to the front door, me trailing behind him. He opened the front and ushered me inside, leading me into the living room. He sat down on the couch, urging me to join him. I complied, and Blake took my cold hands in his slightly colder ones.
"Tell me everything that happened," he demanded.
"Everything?" I asked.
"Everything," he confirmed.
I took a deep breath, and began quietly. "Well, on the night of the ball, I crashed into Jareth, and food went everywhere. I went to go throw it away, and he came with me. He told me to follow him upstairs, so I did. That's where he tried to rape me, but~" Blake cut me off.
"What!?" he roared.
"Please, no interruptions. Anyway, I told him I was a virgin, so he stopped. He made me fall asleep, and I woke up in his bedroom. The next day, he got mad because I was yelling and cussing, so he tied me to a chair in the basement, which he converted into a torture chamber. I got the ropes undone, and escaped into a forest. He found me and carved my back up. A few days passed, and I hung out with his sister while Jareth was at work. To pass the time, she taught me how to use throwing knives. I convinced Karigan to help me escape, and while we were in the training room, discussing it, Jareth barged in on us. I panicked, and threw a knife in his neck so we could escape."
Blake's mouth dropped open.
"We stole one of his cars and tried to leave, but Jareth stopped us. He snapped Karigan's neck, and compelled me to fall asleep. I woke up with my hands tied to his bed. That' when he forced me to~" I paused, trying to hold back a sob as well as the tears that were beginning to form in my eyes.
"What? What did he force you to do?" Blake asked, squeezing my hands gently.
"He forced me to relive my mother's death." The tears spilled out.
Blake's face fell. "Oh. Oh, I am so sorry," he whispered.
I rubbed the tears off my cheeks. "At that point I was broken. We took a shower, and then ate dinner with his siblings. After dinner, he~" I faltered again, nervous about Blake's reaction.
He nodded his head encouragingly. "Go on."
"He…he raped me," I said.
Blake immediately went into a rage. "That bastard! I'm going to kill him! How could he do something like that?! That stupid-ass fucker! He just signed his own death certificate!"
One corner of my mouth turned up in a microscopic smile. His reaction turned out to be slightly funny. I waited for Blake to calm down before I asked the question that has been bothering me since we talked in the bathroom at Rene's. "Why have you been so kind to me when you hated me before Jareth came along?"
Blake's face, which was red with red, now turned red with embarrassment. But why?
"Well, umm… do you really want the answer to that question?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Okay, but you have to promise that whatever I tell you, you won't get mad at me," he requested.
"I promise."
He took a deep breath like I did before I started to tell my story. "So about four months ago, I was out on business in California, and I saw you and your friends celebrating your 16thbirthday at a restaurant. When I saw your face, I just couldn't look away. It was then that I decided to start…umm…watching you."
"Wait, like stalking?" I interrupted, slightly disgusted.
"Uh, yeah, like stalking," he admitted bashfully. "So when I heard from some other vampires they got a sixteen year-old blonde girl from your town in California to be sold, I had to see if it was you. I know there is a ton of blonde sixteen year-olds from Lake Tahoe, but I had to check, just in case. And it turned out, it was you. I just had to have you, so I made the bid for ten million. But at that point, I realized that my obsession with you was ridiculous, and I squashed it down immediately. I was a dick because I was trying to fall out of love with you. When you disappeared on the night of the ball, I finally admitted it to myself: I am in love with you and there is nothing I can do to change that," Blake finished.
I was stunned into silence. How could Blake love me when we've never even spoken before the auction? Who is he, Romeo Montague? Honestly, I was revolted. He stalked me for four months. How could I not be?
"Say something. Anything," Blake pleaded.
"There's nothing for me to say," I replied, if not a little harshly.
"At least tell me you're not mad," he said.
"I'm not mad," I finally spoke truthfully.
He let out a sigh of relief.
"But that does not mean I love you back, so please don't get any ideas or something," I finished.
"Fair enough, I guess. So let's just act like I didn't confess my love to you right now."
"Okay," I agreed.