AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is rated M. …For multiple reasons... Heads up...TRIGGER WARNING.
SPRING BREAK
THE STORM
The room was dim from the approaching storm clouds outside and thunder could be heard in the distance.
"God I've missed you."
"Hmmm...missed you too, Handsome," Addison whispered without opening her eyes, she smiled feeling his weight on top of her as she started to wake up from her vivid dream of plumeria flowers and sugar cane fields.
"Wakey, wakey, Addie-Caddie."
Her eyes flashed open only to find Graham hovering over her. Startled awake, she jumped back, her muscles tensing in panic. "What the hell are you doing in here?!"
"That's not the greeting I was looking for..." He stuck his bottom lip out at her in a pout, as he tried to stroke her hair. Addison ducked and freed her legs from underneath him, standing up.
"Awww, don't be like that. Don't worry, I'm sure you can dye it back to that beautiful blonde."
"Beautiful blonde? What the...it was a wig! This is my natural hair color!"
"Huh...well...whatever." He stood up from the bed and started to walk towards her. "I still really like you."
Addison rolled her eyes. "This...this has got to stop, Graham. I'm not interested."
"Is this about your 'boyfriend'?" he asked in a mocking tone.
Addison wanted to punch the condescending grin off his face for talking about Zed like that, but her cousin's disappointment in her from the other day was still fresh in her mind. She clenched her fists and took a deep centering breath. "He has a name and it's Zed. You'd be wise to remember that."
"Oh, please, Addie-Caddie. I know it's just a phase. He doesn't have a place in our world. Can't you see that?" he pleaded wiping at his nose as he sniffled.
She froze, taking a good look at him for the first time. "Your eyes...You're high right now, aren't you?" Addison tensed, suddenly feeling a wave of fear.
"I'm on vacation. There's nothing wrong with a little recreational use."
"But Bucky said you went to rehab..."
Graham laughed. "Easy enough to get out of if you know the right people."
"Graham...I need you to leave," she said slowly backing towards the bedroom door.
He smiled and walked forward. "No, you don't. Just admit it, we're supposed to be together. Not you and that zombie."
"There is no WE, and there never will be. I love Zed. Now and always."
Graham reached out and brushed a strand of her hair back, oblivious to her cringing away from him. "No. You love me. You just need to admit it to yourself."
"I will never love you. I hate you with every inch of my body."
"That's not a lot of inches."
"Get away from me..." she started walking backward again.
He stalked after her. "No."
"Graham…."
"Admit it..."
"I'm warning you…" She pulled her fist back and swung, only to have it caught mid-swing.
"I don't think so, princess. You got away with it once. Don't think for a second I'll let you do it again. That goes for the kick I know you're about to try too," he sneered taking a step back from her, his eyes running down her bare legs.
Her body took action before her brain could. Quickly she ran for the door into the main room. Graham sprinted after her, grabbing her roughly by the back of the hair. She let out a strangled sob as he pulled her roughly too him.
"Why can't you just play nice!"
The next thing she heard was a loud smack and she found herself lying flat on the floor, her head pounding, the whole left side of her face numb. He'd laid her out by slapping the hell out of her. She looked up at him in shock as her palm went to her cheek. No one had ever hit her before. She blinked back the tears that were threatening to escape.
Graham turned from her and punched the wall, leaving a fist-sized hole. He let out a frustrated scream and came stalking towards her, seething. "Look what YOU did! Now I'm bleeding," he shouted, pulling her up roughly by her shoulders. He crushed his lips to hers. Addison's eyes widened as a wave of intense fear coursed through her veins. She kept very still, unsure of what to do. Her mouth closed. He took his injured hand and squeezed her jaw so tightly her lips parted. Graham's tongue invaded her mouth, assaulting her. His kiss was angry. There was nothing passionate about it.
"Tell me you didn't feel that..." he whispered, breathing in her ear. She started hyperventilating as a shiver ran down her spine.
"Graham...please," she squeaked out.
He smiled and trailed his hand through her hair. "See, I knew you could see reason. We can do it slowly..." he crooned.
She could feel his hand, raggedly ghosting along the side of her body, stopping to cup her backside and pulling her flush against him.
"But that's not the way you like it….Is it?"
She felt his erection on her stomach. She swallowed back the bile rising in her throat.
"I've seen the way you like it. You like being held up against walls and taken hard and fast." Tears streamed down her face, as his hands moved under her shirt. "You should be glad I still want you at all after seeing the things you let that filthy zombie do to you."
A commotion coming from outside caught his attention. He turned towards the door just as Zed, Bucky, and Eliza ran into the house to escape the thunderstorm outside.
Zed froze the moment he crossed the doorway, his eyes taking in the scene before him. He growled deep in his chest. "I'm going to fucking kill him."
Bucky turned to Eliza, "Go get my Uncle Dale, NOW!"
Graham shoved Addison to the side, making Zed growl even louder.
When he saw her already bruised and swollen face he just about came unglued. "You hit her?" he snarled, the fury in his eyes tipping the needle just past this side of sanity.
"Yeah, I hit her. What are you going to do about it?"
The sheer look of rage on Zed's face made everyone stop. Without a second thought, he ripped off his Z-Ring and threw it across the room. Instantly his eyes darkened, as he let his zombie side take over. He stalked towards Graham, his breaths coming out in ragged pants.
Addison ran to him, throwing her arms around his waist. "Zed! He's not worth it!"
He took her in his arms and kissed her gently, making sure she was okay. "Addie...I need you...to back away..."
"Zed..." she said cautiously, her gaze shifting to Graham and then back to him.
He kept his voice low, "I don't...want you...getting hurt. Please..."
Addison placed a soft kiss on his cheek before slowly moving back.
Zed turned ready to attack.
Out of nowhere, Bucky swung, taking Graham down with one hard punch to the face. "I should have listened to her sooner!" he screamed just as Eliza and Dale ran into the house.
"What the..."
"Graham was trying to...I don't even want to think about it," Bucky said, his body starting to shake as he dropped down to his knees.
Zed was holding Addison back, still not moving his gaze from Graham's slumped figure on the floor.
"Oh my God, Addison! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Daddy….Zed, got here before anything could really happen. And Bucky knocked him out," she choked out through sobs.
"Eliza, find Zed's Z-Ring! The police are already on their way. If he's not back online he's going to end up in containment. I don't have as much pull down here."
"I'm on it!" Eliza said before setting off to find it.
"Zed..." Dale whispered softly. "It's just me."
His head popped up from watching Graham. "….Chief…." he breathed out slowly.
"FOUND IT!" Eliza exclaimed, running over to Zed. "Z, listen to me," she pleaded. "You need to put this back on or things are going to get really bad when the police show up."
Zed looked down and saw her holding his Z-Ring. He nodded his head and flipped her off.
"I swear you picked that finger just so you could do that," she smiled, glad to find some humor in an otherwise dismal scenario. She slid the ring onto his finger, breathing a sigh of relief as his features returned to normal.
He took a deep steadying breath, before turning around and pulling Addison into a tight hug. She cried into his chest. When he pulled back slightly, to dry her eyes, he gasped. "Oh my God, Addison...you're bleeding!"
"It's not mine," she cried. "Graham punched the wall over there. The blood is from his hand."
Zed growled low again. "It's everywhere."
"Addison, I need you to tell me what happened," her father said, his tone equally as murderous as Zeds.
Missy came running into the house. "What is going on? There's a police car pulling up?!" When she saw Addison, she flew across the room, pulling her out of Zed's arms and into her own. "Oh my God, what happened, why is there blood?"
Graham began to groan as he came to. Zed snarled and picked him up by the front of the shirt. He slammed him against the wall holding him off the ground by his neck, just as two police officers stormed into the house, with Kitty and Trevor on their heels.
"ZOMBIE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"
Zed closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he dropped Graham onto the floor and held both of his hands in the air.
One of the officers rushed forward and grabbed Zed's wrists, placing a set of metal handcuffs on them. "You have the right to remain silent..."
"NO!" Addison cried out. "He didn't do anything!"
"Officer's there's been a mistake!" Dale said walking up to them.
"Sir, I'm going to need you to back up!"
Dale held his hands in front of him. "This young man is my daughter's boyfriend. He's not the one we called you about." He motioned over to Graham, who was sitting on the floor watching the scene unfold with a smug look on his face. "That's the one that was attacking my daughter. Zed was just protecting her."
"It's true, officer," Bucky said, finally standing up.
The officer looked over to Addison. "Ma'am, is this true?"
"Yes!" she cried. Missy hugged her closer.
"He went offline! He tried to kill me!" Graham screamed as the officer picked him off of the floor and placed a set of cold handcuffs on his wrists.
"Officer, he's high. He doesn't know what he's saying," Bucky said right before he cringed when Eliza placed an ice pack on his hand.
"There's no way he could have been offline without my knowledge," Dale said, pulling his badge out from his pocket. "I would have been alerted immediately. His Z-Ring is linked to my phone."
"May I see your phone….Chief?" The officer asked, inspecting Dale's badge more closely.
"Absolutely, Officer." Dale pulled out his phone and showed him that there were no notifications of any offline Zombies.
"Very well, Thank you, Chief."
"You're welcome, now can you please un-handcuff him?"
"Absolutely, Sir." The officer motioned over to his partner who was currently standing next to Zed. He nodded and unlocked Zed's cuffs.
Zed rubbed at his wrists for only a second before Addison ran across the room into his arms.
"I'm so sorry, Gorgeous," he whispered, tears falling from his eyes.
"You have nothing to apologize for, do you hear me."
"I should never have left your side."
"I'm sorry to interrupt. But I'm going to need a statement," the officer said as his fellow officer pulled Graham out the door still kicking and screaming. "We can do this here, or down at the station. Whichever you're more comfortable with."
"My daughter is not going down to the station," Dale said firmly.
"Understood. Would you like me to clear the room so it's more private?"
Addison shook her head no. "I'm fine right here. So is everyone else."
"Don't say a word yet, Addison!" Trevor said as he walked back into the house. "I'm on the phone with my legal team now. They'll all be down tomorrow."
"Sir, I just need a statement so I can book the young man we just placed in the back of our squad car."
"I still want my lawyers present. I've known that family for a long time. We're going to need everything just right before his parents get their legal team involved."
"Trevor, just put the lawyers on speaker," Missy said.
"Can I do that?" He asked the person he was talking to on the phone. He nodded his head and put the call on speaker. "Can you hear us?"
"Loud and clear, Sir."
"Good." Trevor nodded towards the police officer.
"Okay, ma'am I'm going to ask you a few questions. Okay?"
Addison shook her head.
"Dear, you're going to have to say yes or no, the lawyers can't see you," Missy said quietly.
"Oh, sorry...Yes, that's okay….Would it be okay if I sat down?"
"Of course."
Addison pulled Zed with her over to the couch in the center of the main room. Everyone else followed them over.
"Can you please state your full name?"
"Addison Megan Elizabeth Donnelly."
"Age?"
"Eighteen."
"Are you local or are you here on vacation?"
"I'm on vacation."
"And where are you from?"
"Seabrook."
"Do you know the name of the owner of the house? We're going to have to contact them as well."
"I own the house. Well, it's technically in a trust currently, but it is mine."
"I see...Well, that makes my job a little bit easier… Do you know the man who assaulted you?"
"Yes."
"Name and age?"
"Graham Lightwood, 20."
"And is he local or on vacation?"
"On vacation, his family owns the house next door."
"And how do you know him?"
"He was my cousin's best friend growing up."
"Is there a history of this sort of behavior in the past?"
"Nothing like this. But a few summers ago he cornered me and forced a kiss on me, I low kicked him and got away then. And then earlier this week he showed up in my bedroom when no one else was around."
"Did anything happen on that occasion?"
"I punched him in the face."
"Was it provoked?"
"He startled me. I didn't know who it was originally. It was an instinct."
"I see…." the officer wrote a few more things down. "Now I need to talk about today. I understand that this might be hard for you, but I need you to be as forthcoming as possible."
"Okay," she grabbed Zed's hand and squeezed. Zed wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
"Just start whenever you're ready, Ms. Donnelly."
"I wasn't feeling well after lunch, so I took a nap in my bedroom while everyone went surfing. The next thing I know, I hear someone talking to me. When I opened my eyes, Graham was over-top of me on the bed."
Zed couldn't help the low growl that escaped from his mouth.
"I asked him what he was doing and he started saying stuff like that we were meant to be together. I started to get nervous and I somehow managed to get myself out from underneath him and out of the bed. Then when I was trying to get to the door I noticed that his eyes were really dilated and he was sniffing and brushing at his nose. He has a history of drug use so I asked if he was high. He said he was. That's when I started to get scared. I tried to escape, but he pulled me back by my hair. The next thing I knew I was on the ground...the whole side of my face was sore." She rubbed at her cheek, wincing at the pain. "He yelled at me and then punched the wall, hurting his hand. Then he pulled me up and kissed me. He was squeezing my jaw so hard," she started to silently cry.
Eliza grabbed for a box of tissues, offering her one before taking one for herself and one for Missy and Kitty.
"He was starting to pull up my shirt when Zed, Bucky, and Eliza walked in."
"And who are Zed, Bucky, and Eliza. Full names, ages, and association, please."
Addison sniffled and dried her eyes. "Zed Milo Necrodopolus, 19, he's my boyfriend. Bartholomew Trevor Flanigan Tordjman, but we call him Bucky, 19, he's my cousin. Eliza Kylee Ruzzell, 19, one of our best friends and Bucky's girlfriend."
"Thank you, please continue."
"Things get a little fuzzy from there, everything just kind of happened so quickly. I knew I was with Zed and safe. Bucky punched Graham, knocking him out before a fight could start. Eliza ran to get my Dad...and here we are." Addison finally looked up from her hands in her lap. Everyone was silently crying, including her father, uncle, and Zed.
"Thank you very much. I'm sure that wasn't easy for you."
"You're welcome," she said politely.
Dale stood up and walked the officer to the door.
"Did you get all that?" Trevor asked the lawyers on the phone.
"Yes, Sir. The legal team will be arriving first thing in the morning."
"They better be." He hung up the phone without another word.
"Addison, I..." Bucky started.
She shook her head no. "Don't... Thank you for punching him."
"It's the least I could do. If Zed went after him, he would be in containment… I should have listened to you. You were right all along."
"I usually am."
He let out a small laugh.
"How's the hand?"
He lifted the icepack off and cringed. "Not great."
Kitty stood up and looked at her son. "We should get you to the hospital. Make sure it's not broken. You must have put some force behind it if you knocked him out." She turned and looked at her niece. "Addison...do you need to go to the hospital?"
She shook her head no again. "I'll be fine, Aunt Kitty. I'm sure it looks worse than it is."
Kitty nodded sadly, before walking out with Bucky.
Eliza stood up and hugged Addison, not knowing what else to say. "I'm going to go with Bucky. Please, call if you need anything. Even if it's Twizzlers."
Addison tried to smile but winced. "Thanks, E."
Eliza rubbed the top of Zed's hair and followed Bucky out.
Her uncle walked in front of the couch, kneeling to look her in the eyes. "Listen to me...I swear you will have the entire Tordjman Inc legal team at your disposal throughout this whole ordeal. No one messes with my family and gets away with it."
"Thanks, Uncle Trevor."
He placed a tender kiss on top of her head. "I'm going to go drive them. Lord knows Kitty can't drive on a good day, much less after a day of sipping Mai Tai's." He stood up shaking his head, mumbling something about being proud of Bucky and him finally earning a new car.
With just Zed, her mother, and father left in the room, Addison finally broke down, burying her face in Zed's chest. Her whole body shaking as she cried.
Zed wiped his own eyes, before wrapping his other arm around her. "Shhhh….I've got you, Gorgeous."
"Addison…." Missy kneeled down next to them, rubbing a comforting hand down her back. "I'm so sorry I tried to force you to spend time with that horrible boy," her voice cracking as she spoke. "I had no idea that he'd done something before. I'm so sorry, sweetie."
Dale knelt down beside them, placing an arm around his wife to comfort her. "He's not going to get away with this."
"No...he won't," Zed said quietly.
Addison looked up to him in a sudden panic. "Zed Milo Necrodopolus, you promise me right now that you will not go after him."
"Addie, I..."
"NO! Promise me! I can't lose you!"
He took a deep breath and looked in her eyes. "I promise." Addison nodded and hugged him again. Zed met Dale's eyes over her head, a silent conversation passing between the two of them.
"I need to go make some calls. Make sure the police have everything they need, call Dr. Anderson and tell them that Z-Rings can be removed in highly intense situations and that we should probably have some sort of plan in place for that."
Addison looked up. "You mean there's not an alert? But you said..."
Dale gave her a soft smile. "Do you really think I'd let them haul Zed off to containment? Everyone knows that's my job."
"Thanks, Chief," Zed whispered.
"Thank you for protecting my daughter." He placed his hand on Zed's shoulder appreciatively before leaning down to kiss his daughter's head. "Take care of her."
"I will, Sir."
"Missy, dear...I think you should maybe call Gloria, get her up to speed in case any of this gets out."
"I will tomorrow."
"Missy...the sooner you do the better."
Missy looked up to him, "I don't care about the campaign right now. My little girl was just attacked."
"I know. But Graham's family has a lot of connections and I'm sure his lawyers have already been contacted. I know Trevor has his legal team on this, but as the Mayor of Seabrook, and a candidate for Governor, we need to get our team on this as well...Plus I'm sure Zevon would like to know."
Missy shook her head. "You're right….Addison, sweetie...are you going to be okay?"
She turned her head away from Zed's chest enough to look at her mother. "I just want to take a shower and go to sleep."
Missy hugged her, "I understand...I'll be in the study if you need me for anything….Zed, thank you."
"Please don't thank me," he said quietly. "It should have never happened."
Missy didn't have a response, so she hugged him instead before walking out with her husband.
As they walked into the main house, Missy grabbed Dale by the shoulder, turning him around. "Is there a reason you were trying to convince me to leave our daughter?"
Dale was practically shaking with anger. "Just because Zed promised not to go after Graham, doesn't mean we can't."
"What are you saying?"
"Before I call in any favors with the local Z-Patrol, I need you to call Gloria and see what she can dig up on that family. We also need to get ahead of this story and have our side of events on the record before anything else happens to him."
Missy's jaw dropped open. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm just making a call. What happens after that...well, I don't really need to know that, do I?"
"Hand me my cell phone."
"Hey, Gorgeous," Zed whispered as he brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Let's go get you cleaned up, okay."
"Please, just hold me for a minute first."
"Anything for you," he kissed her forehead, ignoring the dried blood across her face. They sat there silently for a few minutes. Neither of them speaking.
Addison felt helpless and she hated it. She needed to gain some kind of control of the situation to keep her sanity. "I need you, Zed."
"You have me. Always. You know that, Beautiful."
She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him as hard as she could without hurting her face, both of them tasting the salt from her tears.
"Addie..." Zed whispered, pulling back slightly. He took her face in his hands carefully and looked her in the eyes. He hated seeing the fear and hurt reflected in them. "Come on, Gorgeous." He scooped her up and carried her into the bathroom, setting her down on the counter so he could turn on the shower. When the water was warm he walked back over to her. He gently lifted the oversized t-shirt up over her head. She seemed so small and frail. He picked her back up and brought her into the shower, carefully setting her down on her feet. He slowly walked them back until she was under the warm spray of the water.
She hugged her body to his, as he stroked her slickened hair. "Don't let me go," she whispered.
He strained to look down, lowering his head so he could see her hidden face. "Never."
"Zed…." she looked up and sniffled as her eyes filled with tears once again. "Please...kiss me and make the world go away just for a little while...Can you do that for me?"
He moved slowly down and kissed her forehead, her nose, her eyelids, her cheeks, and her chin before he kissed her lips. It was soft and gentle, not rushed, but full of love.
"I need you to make love to me," she whispered against his lips, reaching down to untie his boardshorts.
"Addie…."
"I need to feel you, Zed. Please." she was practically begging. "Please, Zed. I need you."
God, she owned him, heart and soul. All she had to do was touch him and he was hard for her. But if this helped her feel better, even for just a moment, he'd do whatever it took.
She kissed him desperately, hungrily, reaching for his boardshorts again. "Please," she whispered as she pushed his boardshorts down.
With a light touch, Zed chased a trail of droplets down the length of her body. He kneeled in front of her, resting his cheek against her stomach then placing soft, sweet kisses on her inner thigh.
When he stood up, he pushed her wet hair away from her face and kissed her gently, afraid of hurting her. He moved her back against the wall, his lips trailing down her neck. One of his fingers tracing across her chest while his other hand held her head in place.
Addison whimpered, at the feel. "Please, Zed…" she pleaded.
His hand skimmed over her skin, stopping between her legs. "Are you sure," he murmured against her neck. "I don't want to hurt you."
"You're the only thing I want to feel right now."
He slowly slid two fingers inside her, making her sigh contently.
"Just you, always you," she whispered against his shoulder, her head swimming in an ocean of overwhelming emotion. "I only want you."
His fingers left her body. Before she could protest, he lifted her up and pushed inside, filling her as his chest pressed against hers, pinning her against the tiled walls.
"I love you, so much, Gorgeous. I'd be lost without you," he said, his voice heavy with emotion.
"I love you, too. I was so scared," she whispered as her nails scratched down his back.
He pulled back, looking at her, he knew he'd do whatever it took to keep her safe. "Me too...Can you ever forgive me?" He continued moving up and down her body, in and out, turning her world right-side up again.
"This was not your fault," she panted looking into his eyes.
Through whispered breaths, they uttered words of love and ownership, someday and forever, kissing each other's tears away as they found their release. They stayed there together catching their breaths until the water turned cold.
"Did I hurt you?" he asked, the concern showing on his face.
She shook her head 'no' and gave him a small smile.
Zed reached behind her and turned off the water. Grabbing a towel from the hook, he wrapped it around her and then wrapped another around himself. He leaned down and kissed her softly before picking her up. As he stepped into the bedroom, Addison stopped him.
"Not the bed...please...I can't sleep in here tonight," she whispered.
"Then we won't," he said, running a gentle hand down the side of her swollen cheek. He walked them over to the chair and lowered her down. He grabbed one of his t-shirts for her from the dresser and a pair of boxers for himself. He kneeled next to her and pulled the shirt on her over her head. "I'll be right back."
As he started to stand, she grabbed his hand holding him back. The apprehension clear on her face.
"It's okay, I'm just grabbing the throw blanket off the couch. He bent down and brushed his lips to hers before running into the main room. As soon as he was back, Addison let out a relieved sigh. He held his hand out, helping her up out the chair.
"Where are we going?" she asked quietly.
"Now that the storm has passed, I thought maybe we could sleep under the stars." He opened up the sliding glass door and led her to the hammock. They carefully laid down together, her head resting on his chest with his arms wrapped protectively around her, falling asleep to the sounds of the ocean crashing against the shore.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: ****Runs and hides in a corner….. I'M SORRY! I try to avoid conflict and angst, but sometimes you just have to go there. I really hope this chapter didn't emotionally scar anyone (other than me). I'd really love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. Leave me a review and let me know!
Guest Review Response: KK I don't know how many chapters I'm going to write. Maybe 100? I'm also planning on continuing it with a sequel. Hope that helps!