3:00 am. Uggh!
A clap of thunder had awakened her and the rain had now started to fall heavily. Schuyler attempted to sit up but was held down by Jack, who had his arms wrapped around her. She shifted slightly and looked up at him. He was still asleep. He still wore his graduation outfit. Schuyler still had on her white tea dress and party shoes.
Jack looked peaceful and at ease when he was asleep. When he was awake he was always on edge and waiting; waiting for an attack. Jack's face was smooth as marble. Any hint of worry he held upon his face disappeared in sleep. Sleep was the only time he felt at ease.
Schuyler settled back into the pillows. She felt safe in Jack's arms. Walking around in New York was like walking around with a big target on your back. Everywhere she went there was always a silver blood attack. It was almost as though they were targeting her. She knew Jack would never let anything happen to her though. She knew she was safe.
Schuyler wriggled her arm out of Jack's grip and rested her hand upon the side of his face and looked at his peaceful face. She was grateful to have him back in her life even though it would only be short lived. When he was bonded, she could just go away. She could decide on a university and start her life; maybe see the world. The bonding wouldn't be for a while though. She still had time.
Jack stirred and rolled over releasing Schuyler from his grip and now rested on his back. She felt cold when she the comfort of his arms left her. She inched closer to him, burying her head into his arm. A loud clap of thunder echoed in the room from outside causing her to jump. She heard Jack groan and looked up to see his green eyes fluttering open.
He looked around confused for a minute, not realizing where he was until he saw Schuyler. A smile crept across his lips.
"Did we fall asleep?" He asked groggily, scratching his head.
"Uh huh."
"What time is it?"
"Three or so."
"Mhm."
Jack gazed down into her bright blue eyes. Schuyler could see his eyes smouldering. He slowly leaned down towards her and took her face in his hands. Schuyler felt her heart beat accelerate. Jack's lips collided with hers.
The kiss was soft and feathery, simple and sweet. Her lips parted and he immediately slipped his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues both battled for the upper hand in the kiss. Jack's hands began to wander from her face down to her hips. He rolled over pulling her on top of him and pressed her tightly against him. Schuyler felt her throat burning for air and broke the kiss, resting her forehead against his. Jack wasn't ready to stop yet though.
His lips crushed down upon hers once again. This time Jack kissed her harder and with more intensity than he had before. He had his hand on her lower back and still held pressed her closer to him. It didn't seem close enough for either of them. When he became tried of her lips, he began a trail of kisses down her neck. They had started off soft but had progressed into harder and more urgent ones. Schuyler let a moan escape her lips. She felt a slight shift and Jack was hovering over her. He planted hard kisses and the base of her throat and his hands began to slide past her hips and down to her thighs. Schuyler moaned again. Jack grasped the bottom hem of her dress.
She suddenly realized what going on she was pulled Jack's hands away from the bottom of the dress which was rising above her knees.
"I think you're getting a bit carried away." Schuyler said breathlessly.
"Me? Carried away?" Jack looked at her innocently but the fire that was still in his eyes gave him away.
Schuyler laughed and pushed him off of her. "You're much too experienced for your own good."
Jack sighed. "Thanks for killing the party."
Schuyler rolled her eyes.
Jack turned and looked at her, inclining his head slightly.
"I can hear you."
"What?"
"I can hear your thoughts again."
What does that mean?
"There is still a connection between us – I still love you." He said answering her thoughts.
Schuyler laughed. "I never thought you stopped."
"When you left I became shut out. I couldn't hear you for the longest time. I missed that. You don't close your mind. You're very interesting to listen to."
"Hey! Stay out of my head!"
Jack laughed and leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"It does have some benefits." He smiled and pulled back.
Schuyler blushed. Jack wrapped his arms around her and they both listened to the steady rainfall outside.
Bliss was in the elevator now. She only had a few minutes and she had to be quick. She began to feel nervous. This whole operation was depending upon her. If she failed, she'd be gone.
Charles sat at his desk reading. He was looking for answers but getting more questions. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He needed Allegra more than ever now. He could not give a seventeen year old girl an entire country to run. What a graduation gift that would be.
Charles had many reasons why he did not want Schuyler running Senovia. For one thing, she was a minor. How could a child run a country? Another reason was that she wasn't strong enough to run a country. She barely knew anything about being a blue blood. How could she harness her power if she needed to during an attack upon her country? She couldn't. She was much too soft. There was also the issue of Jack, his son. If Schuyler were to leave New York, Jack would undoubtedly follow her and leave Mimi behind. He needed Abbadon and Azrel to stay in New York. The blue bloods needed them.
Charles knew very well that Jack would leave Mimi. He didn't think it was possible up until a few months ago. He had gone into Schuyler's room earlier that night and found Jack sleeping by her side. He had heard moans coming from the room just a few moments ago. It had shocked him a little but he knew it was coming. After the same thing had happened to him when he was young.
Charles had also made a promise. A promise to Gabrielle that he couldn't bear to break. Gabrielle had long known about this royalty business and did not want to put Schuyler through it. Gabrielle had been through it in many of her lives and hated it. She had wanted Schuyler to have a noraml childhood. Little did she know, Schuyler hadn't had a normal life at all. Allegra had made Charles promise to keep Schuyler out of it for as long as he possibly could. So far Charles had stuck to his promise. He kept almost every promise he had ever made to her even though she had broken most of hers.
There was a blood curling screech from her mother's hospital room as the hospital elevator doors opened in front of Schuyler. Her heart began to race as she dashed down the hall. As she threw open the door, she saw Bliss standing by the window covered with blue blood. What struck Schuyler the most was her silver pupils. Bliss bared her fangs and jumped out the window. Schuyler sank down to the floor.
There was blood, so much blood. It was all over the floor and all over Schuyler. The heart monitor behind her slowly beeped, and then came to a stop. A long continuous beeeeeeeep echoed through the room. The clock on the monitor read 4:55 am.
Schuyler was down on her knees, cradling the deceased's head in her hands. If only she had gotten here a split second earlier. She could have saved her life. She had run as fast as she could, she thought she'd made it in time. But no. She was too late.
A sob escaped her. Why was nobody coming? She'd screamed just before Schuyler had arrived. Schuyler heard her from the elevator. Schuyler brushed the hair out of the corpse's eyes. Her tears were falling steadily now. Her mother lay there dead in her arms and there was nothing Schuyler could do. She was really alone now.
Schuyler's eyes flew open. She was breathing heavily and shuddering. She looked over at Jack who was unconscious in sleep. She focused on him and only him to try and calm herself down. She settled back down and closed her eyes.
A scream echoed throughout the hall and someone laughed manically. Schuyler was on the floor in the dark room. Her head felt like it was about to split from the high pitched beeping of the monitor.
"Schuyler..." Her mother called out weakly. "Go. Go now. Run."
Schuyler shot up out of bed. The clock beside her read 4:35 am. She wriggled out of Jack's grip and looked back at him as she stood in the door. He was in such a deep sleep that he didn't notice she wasn't there anymore. She ran down the hallway and out the front door. She was now running down the dark, rainy streets of New York.
So many thoughts were rushing through her head and she felt a million different things at once. Her legs felt like they were about to give out but she kept running harder. Her hair was drenched and her white tea dress was soaked right through, so that the petticoat under it was visible.
Once she reached the hospital, she tore down the main entrance hall to the elevators. She rapidly pushed the button to get up to the floor where her mother was. When the doors finally opened she hopped into the elevator and the doors slid shut and it began to rise. Schuyler was shivering and dripping water all over the floor. Her fists clenched at her sides. The elevator seemed to be moving slow; too slow. Schuyler heard a blood curling screech and a pang of fear. The doors slid open and she ran down the hall. When she reached her mother's room, she saw that all the lights were off.
She saw a figure standing by the window and knew instantly who it was. She saw Bliss standing by the window covered with blue blood. She saw the silver pupils. Bliss bared her fangs and jumped out the window. Schuyler sank down to the floor when she saw her mother's body sprawled out on the floor in front of the door. There were two puncture marks by on her neck. She had been drained of all life. The dream was now a reality.
Schuyler was down on her knees, cradling her mother's head in her hands. If only she had gotten here a split second earlier. She could have saved her life. She had run as fast as she could, she thought she'd made it in time. If only she had paid attention to the dreams! But no. She was too late.
The blue blood was making puddles on the floor and the rising sun was reflecting off of it. The heart monitor behind her slowly beeped, and then came to a stop. A long continuous beeeeeeeep echoed throughout the room. The clock on the monitor read 4:55 am.
A sob escaped her. Why was nobody coming? She'd screamed just before Schuyler had arrived. Schuyler heard her from the elevator. Schuyler brushed the hair out of the corpse's eyes. Her tears were falling steadily now. Her mother lay there dead in her arms and there was nothing Schuyler could do.
"Help," Schuyler choked out hoarsely.
She began to sob uncontrollably and the tears fell steadily down her cheeks. She was frozen with shock and fear. A shadow cast over her from behind. The shadow dropped beside her and Schuyler tore her gaze from her mother and looked beside her at the shadow.
"Oh my god," Jack whispered beside her, running his hands through his soaked hair.
Schuyler buried her head in his chest.
"Jack I don't know what to do," She managed to choke out as she gasped for air.
"Calm down. You're going into shock," He said soothingly. "I'll go get help."
Schuyler nodded and took deep breaths. At least now she knew what had happened to Bliss.
"Benjamin," Charles motioned for Jack to come out into the hospital hallway.
"I'll be right back," Jack said quietly to Schuyler who was sitting in on the bed of the hospital room they were given.
Schuyler nodded and looked up at the TV that was playing some talk show. Jack shut the door behind him. He looked at Charles with a questioning look.
"I have to talk to you about something," Charles led Jack over to the waiting area and sat down in one of the uncomfortable chairs. Jack sat beside him.
"The first thing is one you should already know. Just because Allegra is no longer with us and cannot take the throne in Senovia, does not mean Schuyler will get it. You are not under any circumstances to tell her about Senovia. You are also not to question me about my reasoning behind that," Charles cleared his throat. "The second thing is, since the Silver Bloods are running amuck, our community needs people to look up to. They need a strong leader." Charles looked at Jack who wasn't following. "They need you. You are a symbol of hope for them in these dark times. Therefore, you and Mimi are set to be bonded not this Friday coming, but the next."
Jack sat there in shock. All thoughts seemed to have disappeared from his head. He was probably sitting there with his mouth wide open and eyes popping out of his head. It took him a minute for his mind to come back to him.
"Dad," He said in a hushed tone. "I can't do this to her, not now. Look what has happened to her! I can't. It will kill her. I can't do this to her again. I can't hurt her. Please, don't make me destroy her."
"I assume you are talking about Schuyler?"
Jack nodded his head.
"I'm giving you time. The bonding really should be this Friday but I am giving you till the Friday next."
Jack was furious. "I refuse." It took all his will not to shout. His voice was shaking with anger. "I refuse to bond with Mimi."
"You have no choice. You either do it or suffer the consequence of death."
"You'd kill me?" Jack spat out.
"No, but your sister might. Especially if I tell her what you were doing last night."
"What do you mean?" Jack said clenching his fists and shaking with anger.
"I heard some noises coming from Schuyler's room last night and this morning. A little frisky were you?" Charles smirked.
"NOTHING HAPPENED! NOTHING! SHE WOULD NOT LET IT GO THAT FAR! SHE STOPPED ME." Jack's temper erupted. He was standing up now, his chest heaving.
"Benjamin," Charles warned. "Sit down, people are staring."
"Go ahead and tell Mimi what you want. I don't give a fuck." Jack hissed.
"I'm sure you would if I took Schuyler away from you during those last two weeks. I have the power to do a lot of things. I will forbid you to see her. What would break her more? You all of a sudden ignoring her?" Charles taunted him. "You can't break the bond. If you do not go through with it on the day I have set, she is gone. I will put her somewhere where you cannot reach her. Your death is imminent if you do not go through with the bond in the next four years."
"Why can't I wait four years?"
"We need the power and force now. We need to stop this."
"An easy way would be to give Schuyler the throne."
"She would be powerless to the power of the Silver Bloods there. They are all conniving and very sneaky. The other Blue Blood family that is in line for the throne has a family member that is prime minister. That prime minister would be able to walk all over her as she will have no idea what she is doing."
"I could help her."
"No. You are getting bonded. End of discussion." Charles said standing up.
Jack stood up as well and pushed past Charles. He looked through the window into the hospital room where Schuyler was. She had fallen asleep on the bed. As he was watching her, Charles came up beside him.
"Remember. I can take her away," He warned and then walked over to the nurses' station to fill out some paper work.
Jack looked back at Schuyler's sleeping form. As he watched her, he began to formulate a plan – and it was one that Charles was not going to like.
Whoa. I think I wrote too much? Let me know if you think the chapters are too long. Next time I will try and make it shorter. What do you think Jack is gonna do? Reviews would be lovely. =)
