Friends?
As we make it back to the house, the first thing Eric does is reunite the four vampires. "An old friend of mine - I don't know who - has sent minions to spy on us. To spy on me. This calls for a move. We'll have to leave no tracks and disappear quickly to prevent them from following us. I've gotten rid of one but there most probably are more."
"It's Jacob, Eric," Noah speaks. "It has to be."
Isaac bursts out laughing. "Jacob? Be serious Noah. Who would ally with Jacob? If anything it'll be Chase. He even warned you he'd keep tags on you Eric."
"Friends, let us not accuse so easily," Eric says as the voice of reason. "Even though, Isaac, I too thought it was Chase."
The room quietens quickly, but Eric is the first to resume speaking. "This will be our last night here. Tomorrow night, Ronnie's family will come for her and we will leave."
I move towards the sofa and I crack open the box of strawberries. Eric's right - my father will come for me and so this conversation should not interest or bother me. However, the minute I've left Eric's side and sat down, Isaac steps forward to speak with him privately.
"You're letting her go Eric? Are you not aware of what she is?"
"Yes. I am letting her go. She'll be safer. I don't know who this vampire after me could be."
"Eric, but she's a H-"
"I know what she is. She's mine and I will always watch over her, but I won't use her the way other's have used their mates."
The conversation ends, but both of them turn to look at me as I chew on a strawberry on the sofa. Eric moves towards me and I pretend to not have heard any of his conversation.
"You know, they're my favorite fruit," I say.
Eric chuckles, but then his face drops to a more serious tone. "I've decided to let you go tomorrow night."
"You're just going to let me go, after all the pleading?" I ask, and I try to hide the discontent and the sadness within my voice but the minute my voice cracks I fail.
"Ronnie, I don't understand you," he says as he touches my face with one of his hands. "I mean, one minute you tell me you want to go home, you think I'm a monster for what happened with the human boy and now you don't want me to let you go? What do you feel for me?"
"I don't know Eric. Right now..." I look down in embarrassment. "Right now I wish we could stay like this forever. I know my time with you is up tomorrow night and I wish you could kidnap me for a bit longer."
He doesn't respond - instead he stands up and offers me his hand. I take it and as I do he pulls me up so that I stand against his body opposite him. With my eyes intent on his face I see him nodding towards the others and as I move to see what's happening behind me, I see the last of them, Noah leaving the room through a small door I had not noticed before.
Eric's cool fingers wrap around my cheek and pull my head back up towards his. He leans down over me and kisses me deeply, repeating the acts of yesterday. He kisses my crescent-moon mark below my earlobe so that his eyes flash golden again. Before they dim back to red, I wrap my arms around his neck intent on kissing this beautiful golden-eyed God. His reaction excites me as he picks me up from the floor. I bring my hips up towards him and wrap my legs around his.
Eric starts moving, flying through the space around us and making his way down the small corridor and into his room. He deposits me and I wriggle out of his jacket. He mirrors me, and rips his shirt off and then moves to the small window in the room to shut it closed and pull the dark shutters over it. The room is almost pitch black, the only color standing out being the piercing red from his eyes, but even when he straddles me on the bed, his eyes return to their beautiful golden state and descend on me as his mouth finds mine.
"Once... I know... who pursues me... I will come for you," he says and hope of a future with him flood within me. I move my arms onto his shoulder and then begin to feel his muscular back and he dips his lips over my neck. His arms find my hips and begin to undo my black trousers, whilst I grip his jeans and begin to do the same. He kneels on the bed, pulling my jeans off. They wrap my ankles and I quickly quick them out and onto the floor.
His hands then quickly move on to my top and pulling it over my head, he leaves me with nothing but my underwear. He begins to kiss me all over, going to places he hasn't been before but his lips always return to mine letting me taste every part of me, but also letting me taste him. His hands knot themselves in my hair, and as his lips move towards my cheeks and eyes I am given the chance to touch his neck.
My lips kiss him there, and my teeth toy around, pecking and biting every inch of his neck. I feel him chuckle, but when he pulls away, there's only one emotion in his eyes. Hunger. I don't know what his hunger is for - whether it is for me or for blood, but when he mirrors me and toys with my neck, I want it to be real.
"Eric, I want you to."
My commands are clear. I want him to bite me, for his fangs to tear into my throat, for him to enjoy the taste of my blood and for me to enjoy the taste of his. However, mostly I just want him to shine golden again and I want to shine with him.
"Are you sure?" He asks me.
"Yes."
As I wake - and this time I wake with freed hands and before Eric - I notice that my time is ticking with this man. We're lying, facing the same direction and my first instinct is to turn around to see him. Instead, I grab the hand he has over me and begin caressing it, as images from the early morning flash through my mind.
I smile, because I'd lost it to him, because his feeding hadn't hurt and because we'd glowed golden. I smile for seconds, minutes maybe, until Eric wakes and begins nibbling on my ear. He kisses my mark over and over again and I picture his eyes glowing golden again.
I turn around and let him embrace me and kiss me, sad and deep kisses of goodbye. Soon, he breaks it off.
"Ronnie, it's 11. Your father will be here in an hour - we have to go," he mutters, but he holds me even tighter, as if his body is trying to fight the words.
He sits up, quickly dressing in the same pair of jeans, white vest and black leather jacket. He inhales quickly and smiling down at me, he says: "I can smell your scent on it. You'll always be with me this way."
Back in the main room, the four vampires are gathered around the sofa and awaiting orders. They have packed up every trace of their life and the room looks uninhabitable. I make my way towards the sofa and sit as far from the others as possible.
"We'll await Ronnie's father. He should be here around midnight. Then we'll leave."
"Eat," Eric encourages, sitting down beside me on the sofa, ignoring Isaac next to him.
"I'm not hungry. As I remind you, your blood is filling," I say.
"You still look weak," he says.
"I feel it, but I'm not. I'm just... sad." I glance up at him because that's the only way I can explain it. My words fail me but my eyes... they look into his - a mutual understanding only Eric and I could understand.
"I know baby," he says. "You can't feel weak. You need to stay strong - strong like you were before you met me," he speaks, not letting any emotions come through his face. Deep down I know that the girl I was before is still in here somewhere and I know that he's thinking the same thing - that I kill others like him.
I give him another apologetic smile; "You're right. I've only felt weak a couple of times," I pause, wondering whether I should tell him the rest. He doesn't speak, so I continue.
"The worst time was when my father and I went in search of an old vampire; we found him, but killing him was… hard," I pause, watching his face expressions. "He was real old; he wasn't affected by silver much, which is how I knew you were strong too," I pause again as his face darkens. "We finally killed him, but I'd never been so afraid for my life. I nearly vowed to quit the job…" I stop.
"What was his name?" Eric asks, blankly.
"Antoinne, well at least that's what I think the others called him" I mutter blindly.
Shit. Everything happens so quickly. Before I can blink, I feel him shift, no longer occupying the place next to me, but instead standing up in front of me, glaring down at me. His eyes choke me. They're furious. The others have also changed positions; now they crowd around Eric, their eyes exploding with fury, hissing down at me.
"Eric? What's wrong?" I ask, petrified as a new found emotion leaks inside me. He forces a hand through his hair, and then brings both his hands to either side, stopping the four vampires at his side. What's going on? I look up at him, my eyes pleading for his safety. He doesn't look at me, his eyes closed.
"Antoinne," his voice quivers, as if he's about to cry. Shit! He knows him!
"Antoinne," he begins again, "was my maker." He opens his eyes, where anger has been replaced with sadness, loss and disappointment. The disappointment pierces my heart, and my face drops.
"Eric, I'm sorry," I say, my voice not more than a whisper. I don't know what to say. I just know I want him beside me again, caressing me and embracing me, because right now it looks like he's picking them over me. "I really-" his hand stops me. I swallow.
His face drops, a million emotions running through it. He glances back at me one last time and then turns, as if heading out of the room. The other four don't relax, but still stare at me, hatred filling their eyes. Eric must need some time, I think. I'm about to breathe out when...
One toxic word escapes Eric's mouth. "Feed."
The four vampires smile down at me, stepping forward.
"NO!" I jump up, shouting; "Eric, please. I'm sorry. Please. You said you'd protect me. You said, I will protect you." I say, mirroring his words.
He flinches and stops at my words, uncomfortable that I've repeated his. They're weapons against him, but they're not strong enough. He turns around and the four vampires above me stop. "Feed on her," he yells, his voice low, dark and unknown.
And with that last command, the four vampires crouch down over me so that the last thing I see is Eric, leaving the room as I cry at the pain.