I bit my lip as Dwayne's voice filtered out into the air. It sounded so much different to me now, with my heightened hearing, and the power that was tying me to him made me feel much more than normal attraction. I turned around in his arms, peering into the darkness at his sculpted face. "Granted, you did attack my brother." I replied, and he sighed, "your brother was losing his temper and was getting a little more mouthy than I would have liked to witness."
I couldn't help but scoff, propping myself up to rest on my elbow. "He's my brother, Dwayne. Imagine if Laddie was in my shoes and you had no idea what had happened to him. Not a single clue in the world." I responded, and Dwayne sighed. "Alright, alright, I guess I can see where he was coming from." Dwayne said and I gulped at the reminder of the poor boy I shunned out of my life.
"How is he?" I asked tensely, looking down at him. I saw his eyes shift, glazing over a little bit and I knew his answer. I sighed, laying back down and curling up in a ball, my back to Dwayne. I felt horrible - think of the feeling you get when you accidentally kick a puppy. Now multiply that times a thousand. That was how I felt. Dwayne sighed, "Sophie-" he began, but I cut him off. "No, Dwayne, I feel awful. He couldn't help himself and I snapped on him."
Dwayne rubbed my back while I rode out my sobs, letting me cry into his chest and work through my emotions. I was angry about everything that had happened, about being played like a harp, about being turned against my will into something I used to think was just a creature your older brother would try to scare you with. I was sad because I let my mom down, I let my grandfather, my brothers, I let everyone down. I was happy to be alive, but all of the stress of what my life had started to cost was weighing me down like the Titanic.
Twenty minutes later, I was calm enough to carry on. "Can I ask you something?" I asked him, looking up from our adjusted position. I was laying with my head on his lap, while he sat up against the headboard. Dwayne nodded, "anything." He said, looking down at me as he wiped my dried tears away. I sniffed. "What was your life like before you were turned?" I asked and I could feel him tense up. Did I strike a nerve? I felt my heart beat increase in nervousness that I asked the wrong question, but all of it seemed to wash away as he ran a hand down my arm, curling it around my waist.
"Well," Dwayne sighed. "I was born around April, 1855. Into the Aska Tribe if I remember correctly," he added, running a hand through his hair. "My name was Dyami, meaning 'Eagle,' and I grew up just like any Native American boy, learning stories and legends, customs, and working on earning my place as a man in the tribe." He said, and I nodded, trying to picture him back then. "Of course, my hair was longer."
I giggled, shaking my head at him. "Keep going," I encouraged, lightly batting him on the shoulder. He chuckled, "well, our culture as far as marriage was a little like you would assume the English to be. Whoever was the best match for the Chief's daughter would be the one who would marry them and I was definitely at the top of the list. I didn't really love her, but I knew it would please my family and get us out of the poverty we were in at the bottom of the tribe. I was helping my mother, who was one of the apothecaries when he showed up." Dwayne said, his voice growing a little colder. "David slaughtered my entire tribe. Women, children, the warriors I stood by were now the ones I was going to have to bury."
I felt a gasp leave my lips. Why would David do such a thing? What quarrel did the two have that caused him to go on a major temper tantrum and kill so many innocent people. "Besides myself, he left my little brother Anaki alive only so he could translate back and forth. He had been playing with the English boys that would travel through our terrain." Dwayne's grip on my waist suddenly got a little harder, "he was Laddie's age. And once I had learned enough to understand, David killed him too."
That made my heart sink. I could feel the waves of upset crawling under his skin, only worsening the feeling that I got. I reached up and ran my thumb across his cheek, catching a small tear that had fallen. "Hey," I sat up, allowing him to pull me into his lap, and I shook my head. "The past can hurt, but everything that you have gone through makes you so much stronger for the future you have ahead." I told him, and he chuckled a little, pressing a kiss to my temple. "Now, what happened next?"
"David and I traveled for around two or three years, him continuously trying to persuade me to become like him. And it wasn't until I met his creator that I had conceded and said yes. His name was-" A loud banging on my door, followed by Sam's voice had interrupted him. "Soph! Come downstairs, mom wants to talk to you!" Groaning, I pushed myself off of Dwayne and moved to get up when he grabbed my wrist. "You don't have to go, Sophie." He said, speaking quickly as he stood up. I furrowed my brows, "what are you-?" I began to ask when he cut me off.
"Sophie, run away with me."
A/N: *Slowly emerges from the shadows after not updating for forever* Heyyyyy how you doing?
