Part Eighteen:

"Well,"Daviel growled furiously,"Are you going to say anything?!" 'Fraid not. I turned and ran. I reached the front door and started to open it. Daviel's hand slammed it shut and he shoved me against the door. "I DIDN'T DO NOTHING,"I yelled. You see, when I'm scared out of my wits, I can't say proper grammar. It happens. Daviel's eyes were still swimming in red; the blood lust. He's going to kill me. He's absolutely going to kill me just like that monster killed Oak.

Just like DAVIEL killed that girl.

He suddenly grabbed my jaw with one hand, his large fingers digging into my cheeks. Then Daviel moved my head from side to side, looking at my face carefully. "Breathe,"he ordered firmly. What? He glared at me,"Breathe, Iveria." I suddenly let out a gasp of air, realizing that I'd been holding my breath since I saw the blood...that girl...Daviel. "You spied on me,"he asked dangerously. I looked away and he tightened his grip on my jaw.

"Ahhh, I didn't mean to,"I cried out when my teeth dug into the inside of my mouth. Daviel looked extremely pissed. He tightened his grip before letting go of me. "I'm not a monster, Ivy,"He yelled furiously,"Quit looking at me like that." I winced and closed my eyes. I didn't move away from the door. Daviel was standing close in front of me in seconds. "She wanted to die,"Daviel growled,"That was a blood giver. She knew what I was and she was willing to give her life up."

I let out a disgusted cry. "So what,"I said in disgust,"That's what you thought of me and you didn't kill ME." Daviel laughed dryly,"Don't you remember what you said to change my mind?" I thought for a moment. I told him that there wasn't a thing as vampires... "You said you didn't want to die, that Ruth sent you to prove vampires didn't exist,"Daviel said dully,"It didn't sound like you just changed your mind about being suicidal."

"Then WHY did you bring me HERE,"I yelled furiously. Daviel glared at me,"I wonder why I was so stupid to do that EVERYDAY." I winced in anticipation, but nothing happened. I opened my eyes to see Daviel disappeared. Without checking to see if he went to go get something...say a gun or a knife or some sort of weapon...I turned, opened the door, and jumped the porch to the ground. Suddenly, I wondered how long I've been here. The reason being:

There was no more snow.

Sure, the ground was wet, probaly from rain, but the air was even warmer. Not so much, though. The wind still sent chills through my skin. What greated me so happily was the sun. Oh my God, the sun. So bright in the sky, warming on my skin. Before I could think much, I remembered I was running away. YES, I wouldn't freeze! I ran into the woods, tripping crazily, and yet I was smiling. It didn't matter if I got away. It was so bright here. So awesome.

I know, I know, being gothic means you like darkness. But when you go for months---give or take a few days---without sun, it's like...remembering. With this thought, I jumped over a rather large log with more athletic power than usual. I burst into a meadow and skidded to a stop. I bent over, gasping for air, but smiling. After a moment, I stood up and cautiously walked through the meadow. Then I sat on the ground. Oh well, so I'll get dirty.

I stared at the ground for a moment, completely out of it. I mean, I give up. Just kill me now. I'm tired of this world, already. I'm tired of seeing things. I'm tired of being afraid to go to sleep at night. I'm tired of remembering things. I'm sick and tired of being alive. Suddenly, something sharp was pressed against my throat, just under my choker, and another sharp object was pressed against my lower back. I guess this is the moment when you say "be careful of what you wish for".

"Stand up, EXTREMELY slowly,"a voice growled into my ear. Not a familiar voice what-so-ever. I slowly stood up. Then I started to turned my head to look at who was threatening me. The knives were dug sharply into my flesh. "Don't move,"he growled dangerously. Great. JUST perfect. It's ALWAYS me. I mean, COME ON! What the son of a ballerina on drugs. This is NOT fair. I'm pissed beyond reasoning. NO, not this time, not fair!

"That's it,"I yelled,"Just kill me. No threatening. Come on, you can do it." If you were wondering if I was suicidal in the beginning, I guess now you know. Instead of having my throat slashed, I was dragged across the meadow and slammed face first into a tree. The knives disappeared and instead two hands started feeling me up. "What the fu-,"I started and I was slammed into the tree again. The wind was knocked out of me and stars now sprinkled into my eyes.

What silver jewelry I had was ripped off of me painfully. When the guy moved my hair from my neck and grabbed the clasp to my choker, I said,"Who ARE you?!" I was cut from air when he tightened my choker painfully, but he then took it off. No answer, though. This stranger grabbed my arms and turned me around to face him. Wow.

Now, there are plenty of reasons why I say wow. Let's see, it's amazing how big this man was. I mean, Daviel was large enough, but this guy was over a head taller than me. Plus his hands were extremely wide and large, he probaly could crush my head without thinking twice about it. Not to mention the muscles on him. I mean, that was wow enough. Then you can count the fact that he was shirtless. Probaly couldn't find a shirt big enough.

His skin was brown, very darkly tanned. As if he'd been baking in the sun his whole life. Then you have his short black hair, not cared for at all. It was cut short enough to where you wouldn't have to mess with it anyways. But what was the most wow was his eyes. The way he looked around, his eyes were as green as the grass in spring. His pupils were odd, too, almost...animal like or something. He looked at me suspiciously before lifting the choker carefully, as if afraid to touch it.

"I'm guessing you're not a vampire,"he snarled the last word as if it was a disease. I snorted,"That's why I wear crosses. Dur dur." He growled suspiciously and dropped the choker with the rest of my silver jewelry. "Then what are you,"he asked suspiciously,"You smell disgusting." I was insulted,"Excuse me, but I smell perfectly fine." He bent forwards and I winced, but he only sniffed my cheek. "You smell like a vampire,"he said just as suspicious as before.

I suddenly was suspicious of HIM. I mean, who can smell out a vampire? "I'M human,"I snapped,"what are YOU?" After a moment of staring at me, I scoffed,"You want me to...to make myself bleed or something? Will THAT convince you?" He didn't answer, but instead thought about that. "Oh, for crying out loud,"I sighed and started to stomp away. The man grabbed my wrist and slammed it above my head, against the tree.

"What are you doing,"I said, suddenly afraid. The hand that he didn't use to pin me to the tree was suddenly shaping oddly. The nails grew into claws. "No, no, no, don't,"I pleaded, realizing he was going to use them against me. He shrugged,"I'm not going to hurt you...unless you ARE a vampire." He reached up and pressed one claw against my wrist. It didn't take but a second, but I still winced at the sting. I closed my eyes, waiting for what he was going to do next.

"Human, then,"he said, suddenly sounding more than happy. I opened my eyes and he let go of me. Then he suddenly looked suspiciously,"Then why do you smell vampire? Are you a blood giver?" He looked disgusted at the thought. I shook my head furiously,"I was kidnapped by-" "IVY,"I heard Daviel yell furiously. I looked towards the noise slowly, almost boredly, before looking back at the man. "Well, I'm going to go...die or almost die. Depends,"I said with a shrug.

The guy was growling at the sound of Daviel. He turned to me and shook his head. Then he grabbed my arm and twisted me around. "What are you do--,"I started, but the wind was knocked out of me when he shoved my arms into my stomach. "Sorry bout this,"he muttered. "Sorry about what,"I started, but then the world went black. Just...perfect.

It was hot. I haven't waken up, yet, but I know it is hot. I can feel the heat pulsing around my sleeping body. The presperation itching my usually cool skin. It felt like the sun was up close and personal with me. My eyes were throbbing and the heat waves were bothering even my sleep. I don't know what I'm dreaming, but it must be bad for me to feel this way.

"You shouldn't have brought her here, Logan. She isn't use to this weather,"I heard from God knows where. I started to say something, but my throat is far past dry. It's a desert, for crying out loud. I can't even open my eyes. "It's that wound you gave her,"another voice said,"You know the poison in our claws can kill someone." I know I'm insane, now. That or delirious from illness. "I thought she was a vampire,"a familiar voice snapped defensively.

Everything went black again.

A couple of times, I almost woke up, but each time I didn't completely. At times, I heard conversation, but sometimes I could just feel someone pressing something cool to my head and neck. That was a relief to wake up to. The last dream that came to me was of Oak. His eyes were gone, blood leaking from his sockets. "Not a word, Ivy, or you'll be just like me,"he snarled. I screamed.

This was worse than a regular scream I usually had. Not a startled scream, not even a cry of fear, but a scream of death. As if I were dying by torture. The same scream that my father heard when he found me holding Oak's head in my arms. I felt hands pressing me down by my shoulders. I saw Oak with his bloody sockets, threatening me with the words of that monster. So I screamed louder and struggled against the force trying to kill me.

And then it was over. The dream was dissolving in front of my eyes. I opened my eyes to see a massive form just above me, saying something in another language. Wait, not another language, my language. "It's okay, nothing is going to hurt you,"he said, trying to comfort me. I felt sick waves pulsing through me and I closed my eyes with a groan. Then the cool cloth was being pressed carefully on my neck, cheek, forehead. I felt so very tired, but I forced myself awake.

"What did you do to me,"I croaked with much difficulty. My wrist was killing me; it was pulsing with a burning sensation. Very unpleasant. "I forgot about the poison,"he said, moving the hair out of my face. His touch was even hotter than my skin and I slightly winced. "Just sleep it off, I think you'll be okay,"he told me. I started drifting into sleep, but not before muttering,"Who are you?" "Logan,"he said,"I'm Logan. The guy at the meadow."

And then I was asleep. Again.