So... we're only one chapter away from THE CHAPTER and I am so excited. This gives a bit more background to Alexander, to Roxanne, and to you Eric fans solidifies their relationship. Please keep reading/commenting/following/'favouriting' (haha). Enjoy. Patricia x
PS: To those of you that want a full summary of the story and want to know what the outline for the end is, then read the full summary (that does not give much away) on my Profile page.
Preparations
"Alexander, Roxanne," I speak out, only a hesitate left in my voice. "It has been a long night. I appreciate what you will both do for me," I say, referring back to the 'situation'. Roxanne quickly glances at Alexander, but he nods at her in assurance.
"She knows, Roxanne," he says.
"Daytime is almost upon us and I would like to go to bed, if you'll excuse us," I say, grabbing hold of Eric's hands. I smile at both of them and then begin to walk towards the staircase, hoping that they will understand I wish to be shown to mine and Eric's room.
"Ronnie, wait," Alexander says, catching up to us and stilling me with his touch. He lets my hand drop instantly. "You will stay with Roxanne whilst you are here."
"Why can't I stay with Eric?" I beg. "I'd feel more comfortable with him."
"No," he says, giving me no further explanation.
"She is my Healer, Alexander!" Eric shouts. "You have just told us there's a suicidal group of hunters and vampires out there, hunting us. I need to know she is safe; let her stay with me."
Alexander looks guiltily at Eric's pleading expression but does not give in. It's clear he will try to split us apart; he doesn't want me near Eric – but still he wants me to trust him. He doesn't understand that trusting vampires has come new to me.
"You may accompany her to Roxanne's room," he says. Eric's face drops but my reassuring squeeze as I hold his hand forces a smile out of him.
"Lead the way, Roxanne," Alexander adds and at once, Roxanne begins to walk.
This time it is Eric that makes me move because as he starts, my legs decide to function and move me forward. My heart however and my mind are both trying to convince me to fight back as with some sense, these two organs are afraid of what will happen behind locked doors, where Eric's protection will be far away.
I turn back around to see Alexander one last time. He smiles warmly at me, winking with a wide smile.
"Sweet dreams, sweet Ronnie," Alexander sings, his voice a thousand tones softer than seconds before.
I hear Eric snarl beside me, but as we take to the first steps of the staircase I hug him tightly around the waist and snuggle by his chest trying to calm down his anger. It works – his chest falls, his heart resumes its steady pace and he responds by putting his hand round my waist and glaring back one last time at Alexander.
Once we're up the stairs, we stop instantly by Roxanne's room which is straight above the entrance hall. Though I remember not seeing her before she had come down, she had been within hearing space of our rather loud conversation. She walks in to her room, giving us some privacy as she closes the door behind her.
Eric pushes me against the wall and I gulp with fear as I feel Alexander's eyes on both of us. I look down, past the balcony of the first floor and there they are; they are bright red with anger and thirst looming up at us. The minute Eric turns round to glance at him, he is gone.
Eric returns his eyes to mine and cradles my face with one hand whilst holding my waist with his other.
"I love you," I speak up to him.
"I love you too. Be careful," he says. He has never spoken to me like this ever before, and for the first time I hear fear not only on my voice but on his too. We've never been in a situation like this before; our lives and fates in the hands of others. "First thing I'll do when I wake up is come looking for you. Be here please."
I nod and he kisses me quickly… too quickly and I wish it could last forever. I want it to; because deep down I am afraid of when his touch, his lips, his warmth and his eyes will no longer be near me. I can't tell him though - of my darkest fears - because Eric would fight for me to be with him and if Alexander were to find out…
He holds on to me, looking deeply into my eyes and with one last peck on my lips he's left me. He walks away, turning down a corridor and disappearing from my sight.
"Roxanne?" I ask, once I'm inside the door. "Where's Eric sleeping?" I say, needing to know. I make my question sound as curious as possible, and I succeed because when she turns to answer me, every detail spills.
"He's in one of the guest rooms – Room 20, I think," she says. I smile at the easiness of getting that out of her. She looks at me, and though I expect her to return my smile, she doesn't.
"Is something wrong?" I ask wanting whatever's bothering her out so that I may sleep safe and well.
"You love Eric?" she says, her question knocking me off balance.
"Yes," I whisper, feeling myself go bright red.
"I feel the same way for Alexander," she begins and I relax. He's all yours, I think. I take back all my first impressions of him – I don't trust him and I don't wish to be anywhere near him. "Since he made me, I've loved him, but he's never felt that way about me."
I sympathize with her, because after all, with Alexander's pride, everything must be one sided, even love. He is cold and I can't imagine him returning any warm feelings towards anybody. I step forward, moving towards her to console her but her hand in mid-air stops me. She glares at me, and as she does I realize I'm more involved in this than I expected. She's made at me specifically for her problems, but I don't want to ask her why or how I'm involved. I can see her going red, though it is impossible since she's dead.
"Erm…" I say, backing towards the door again, wanting nothing more than to run back to Eric. My heart beats strongly in my chest and this time I want him to be alerted by it. "Roxanne, please. You know Alexander, much better than I do and even though I've only known him for less than an hour I can already see he is incapable of love."
Her head twitches and she glances instantly up at me. She jumps onto her feet, hissing at me through her lips.
"Of course he is. Alexander is in love with you! He's fascinated with you," she shouts.
"Roxanne, please," I beg, stepping back closer to the door, afraid more than ever of what she might do. "I love Eric. I don't care about Alexander. I'm only here because I was asked to come with Eric." I say, hoping this will take the conversation down a different path.
It works and she calms down, falling to the ground on her knees and clutching her face as bloody tears begin to run down it. I ever hear her mutter, "Sorry."
I run to her, once again trying to put my arm around her and this time she doesn't refuse me. I smile at her. I pick her up, sitting her on the bed again and giving her a pack of tissues from my pocket.
"Roxanne," I say. "I just remembered I left my bag downstairs. Is it okay if I leave you for one minute whilst I go and get it?"
"Do you want me to go get it?" She volunteers.
"No!" I mutter, a bit too loudly and fiercely and she glances at me warily. "I mean, don't worry. I can get it."
"Sure," she says, getting up and walking me to the door. She opens it and I walk out, waiting for her to close the door behind her. The minute she does I embark on another journey – to find Eric's room. I put everything I know together: he turned right, walked down the corridor and is in Room 20. Oh yes, and I have around five minutes before it will get suspicious. I must find him, quick.
When I get to the end of the corridor he had gone down, I see that the door numbers have only reached 15. I turn right, hoping that this next corridor will lead me to Room 20 and I am surprised and relieved when it actually does. I wonder how long I'll have before Roxanne starts panicking that she's lost the King's most special possession.
I knock on Eric's door three times, both trying to keep it quiet so that no-one else will hear but loud enough so that he will hear it inside.
"It's open," I hear Eric's sad voice say.
I push the handle down, over and over again and I find it impossible to open. I don't want to speak, afraid Alexander will hear me and so I knock again. Almost straight away, Eric opens the door, smiling brightly down at me the second he sees me. He glances quickly over me and then pulls me into his room.
"I knew it was you," he whispers and as I frown, he decides to explain it further. "The doors only open at a vampire's touch. What are you doing here?"
"I needed to see you," I whisper back.
He sits on the bed pulling my hands along with him and I walk into his arms. He puts his arms around me and pushes me forwards so that he rests his head on my chest. He kisses me below my breasts and I decide to move next to him, sitting beside him on the bed and cuddling up beside him.
"I'm scared," I say. He kisses my hair, soothing me. As I look up at him, I see that his eyes have turned sad; even when I kiss his lips they don't shift.
"We'll go home soon. I promise," he says. "How did you escape from Roxanne anyway?" he asks.
"I said I needed to get my bag; we left it downstairs," I say. I can't help but smile, because my lame excuse has allowed me to see Eric again. "She told me your Room number, so I came to find you instead. I'll have to go back but I'm scared. She shouted at me."
"What?" Eric shouts, no longer keeping to whispering. "Damn it. These walls must be soundproof!" He says, banging his hand against the frame of the bed. "Why?"
There's fury in his eyes and though he tries not to show any emotions I can see that he's angry. He kisses my neck, burying his head and staying there. I move my hands, placing them in his hair and he moans, hugging me tighter.
"She's jealous. She's in love with Alexander and jealous of his interest in me," I mutter, not believe my own words but also not telling him about everything Roxanne said.
"That makes two of us then," he mutters.
"What?" I almost shout. "Don't you –"
"Shhh," Eric hushes me. "I know that you love me, and that's all that matters to me. Soon we'll go home and it'll just be the two of us together." I smile, because that sounds like heaven.
Eric moves his head so that he is looking at me once again and I can see that he is still furious. "About Roxanne; don't let her get to you. I wish you could stay here so that I could watch over you but I can't. You know I can't," he says and I nod. This isn't like his nest where he had the authority and where they all listened to him.
He looks at me, as if waiting for me to talk but then he blinks, sighing and begins to talk again. "I'm going to feed from you quickly, to strengthen my connection to you. That way I will be able to hear your heartbeat better, and if anything happens, I'll feel it and I'll be there. Okay?" I nod in response.
He rests my body on the bed and climbs over me, extending his fangs and bringing them closer and closer to my neck. My hand, acting on behalf of my brain stops him midway.
"Wait," I ask. "Won't the others –"
"No. I'll seal it up. I won't let any of them taste you. I won't even let them touch you," he says, reassuring me in so many ways. The 'them' however is specifically aimed at Alexander and I can see it in Eric's eyes that he is who he is worried about.
His fangs pierce my skin and as in every other time, when Eric retrieves them and bends over to kiss my wound close, his eyes shine golden. This is the first time I really understand why. I am a Healer.
"I need to go, don't I?" I ask him, looking down at the floor and wanting nothing more than to hear his voice pleading me to stay.
"Yes. I'll walk you back," he says.
He grabs my hand, pulling his door shut behind us and walks me back the way I had come. When we are back before Roxanne's room, he surprises me when he lets go of my hand and jumps down from the balcony on to the main entrance's hall. He lands gracefully and quietly, the loudest noise in the room being my breathing. He grabs my bag which had been left by the entrance door and jumps back up.
"You know you could have used the stairs," I whisper and his finger comes to my lips, retracing them. He smiles and kisses me one last time.
"I love you," he says.