Chapter Twenty-Six
The Call
If I thought being stuck in Evanen's presence was boring, being stuck in an unactive state within the Cat Room was ten times worse. Dylan had basically abandoned any hope with me. Or she hated me now. Either way, now the other girls were the ones who dragged me to the bathroom, tried to feed me, bathe me, get liquids down my throat, and pamper me the best as they could without Dylan's help. Eventually I knew that they would give up, and I would finally be left to die in peace. If they had just left me alone in the first place, I would've been dead by now. Then Mikel's absence wouldn't bother me anymore. Unless it did. I wouldn't know seeing as I've never died. Not completely.
Trenton's little friend, Jove, liked to sneak his way into the Cat Room and do whatever it is that entertains him when it came to my mind. Everytime he pressed his fingers over my skin, I felt bare and the boiling feeling in my stomach that made things sharper and more alive ached as loud as ever. I had a theory that by his having access to my innermost thoughts, he was also allowing me access to his mind. Just not as sharp and clear as an access as he had with me. He didn't seem to have the ability to communicate with me through thoughts like Mikel, though, but Mikel didn't have such an ability of "mind-reading" as he did. I didn't much like this intrusion, but I wasn't going to do much about it.
Jove was holding my limp hand within his, smirking about something he was seeing/hearing/reading when I saw Dylan bound into the room, obviously in a more cheerful mood than ever. Normally, I would've ignored that, but when she walked clearly across my view as though to show something off, I saw a flash of something extremely familiar around her neck. I blinked sharply, ignoring Jove who had noticed my sudden shock, to clear my sight as I followed Dylan's neck with my eyes. At once I recognized the silver rose, probably so cold against her skin that no matter how much she'd try to warm it, it wouldn't change; like the skin of a vampire. That was the necklace Evanen had given me. His protection over me at all times. One call to him and he'd be there.
By impulse, I shifted myself so that I was straighter, moving my head to follow Dylan as she moved towards the girls who had noticed the necklace around her as well. It was the first time I moved actively in what felt like forever, and my muscles seemed shocked, but I ignored it. I had my eyes glued to the necklace; my escape. Dylan sat among the girls and smiled self-consciously.
"Where did you get that gorgeous necklace," a girl asked, and I recognized the voice but just now realized she had red hair. All the girls were beautiful in fact, but were dressed so promiscuously that one would overlook the innocent beauty and notice the harlots within them. I shifted furthermore, drawing my legs towards me, no longer even aware of Jove still gripping my now clenched fist.
"Sir Trenton gave it as a gift for being such a good servant to him," Dylan stated in a sing-song voice, obviously proud of her prize. She looked down and touched it, "It's like his skin. It never gets warm. But he said if I was to wear it that I was never to say... well, one of the Draele's name. Not Mikel or Drewdon, but you know who." She ducked her head delicately as though the necklace was too much of an honor for her to handle. I felt a flutter of excitement within me, and was contemplating on how to attack Dylan whilst she chatted away with the other girls. Then I felt a slight tug on my hand and a small clearing of a throat for attention that wouldn't attract the other girls' curiousity.
I nearly started, but held it in. Then I turned to look at Jove, who was clearly happy about something. "Well, look who's acting just fine right now," Jove said quietly, with a slight amusement in his voice. Now I was brought back to Earth in one fatal crash, aware that he had been holding my hand the whole time I had been jogged out of my death state and would now be planning on telling Trenton that I was just fine and dandy and planning to escape. I had failed due to my excitement. I suck. Jove chuckled a bit, looking towards Dylan. I thought about what would be the perfect way to beg him not to give me up, but he continued to talk quietly. "Now, I believe you have a perfect chance to get the Hell out of here, and I think you should take it. But I wouldn't dive on or attack her in any way. I think the shock of your living actively will be enough for just a glimsp of her prize, which I think she has no idea who it originally belonged to. Go on, now." He let go of my hand, and waited for me to get up. I felt so nervous at the prospect of escape that I had trouble thinking about it.
I hesitated, and then croaked, "Thanks." He nodded in acceptance, and turned to leave the room. I looked towards Dylan, rubbing my legs, and feeling as though I needed the best stretch a person can give. I started to get up then, but felt a wave of dizziness. I almost felt sick, probably from starvation, but I had to get up. I had to. This would be my ownly chance. I shoved myself forward, landing on all fours, and decided that would be the best I could do. I started crawling towards Dylan and the girls. It took a moment, but when one saw me, there was a screech of amazement.
"Oh. My. God," the redhead yelled in excitement, "She lives!!" I crawled next to Dylan, who had an expression of shock and confusion upon her face. I sat next to her, and smiled as bright as I could. Everyone was throwing questions at me like bullets, but I ignored them, trying to concentrate on how exactly to get my hand on that necklace without Dylan freaking out. No doubt she was majorly stronger than me at the moment, so one flick would probably drop me. I decided to take a more subtle approach.
"I just wanted to say sorry, Dylan," I said sincerely, "I don't like Jove, nor do I like it when vampires seem to be intrigued by me. It's not very lovely attention, actually. So if I could, I would totally throw Jove at you and end all this now. Please don't hate me for such a silly thing that isn't even my fault." I widened my eyes, which are probably scary due to my lack of fat in between my skin and bones. She physically hesitated, while the other girls said 'awww' and I was suddenly reminded of that same 'awww' coming from a car of friends the night of the Soundstage concert. 'Shut up, you dorks,' I had responded. I wondered what they were doing; besides Kyler. Though, I did wonder what she was doing as well.
"What made you jump up now," Dylan asked curiously, obviously deciding to forgive me without actually saying so.
"I figured enough was enough," I responded shortly, and looked at her necklace. "Ooooh, that's beautiful! Where'd you get it?!" Automatically Dylan was once again in her state of honor and pride as she restated what I had overheard. I smiled brightly, pretending to be happy with her. "It feels like Trenton's skin? Wow, can I see?" There was a pause of tension within the group, and I wondered if that was too blunt. But I continued to look at it with what looked like wonder but it was actually the fear that was pumping through me as I expected her to say no and for me to be doomed forever.
But then she said, "Sure." And she pulled it from around her neck before holding it out. I held my hand out, palm up, and waited for it. It was like time had stopped for a moment as she started to lower it onto my palm. I didn't notice the door opening behind me as the familiar, cool metal rested against the palm of my hand. The moment this happened, I clasped my hand shut around the metal and opened my mouth before anyone could react.
"EVANE-," I screamed, and was interupted by a strong hand slamming against the side of my face. I dropped the necklace, crashing completely to the floor in weakness, but didn't black out this time. I pushed myself up a bit, moving my jaw around to test if it was ripped from my face (it was still there), and coughed out blood onto the carpet. Then before I could do anything else, the same strong hands tightened furiously around a mass of my hair and started to pull me out of the room. I screamed in pain, reaching up to grab those hands in fear that my hair was being pulled from my scalp. The girls were pulling away from me in the distance as I was dragged, screaming, down the hall.
"You stupid bitch," Trenton snarled as he opened his bedroom door and threw me into the room. I gasped in pain, gripping my head, and backing up on the ground. I tried to remember if I'd finished calling for Evanen or not. That was the only thing that mattered; that he had heard and would be here to at least destroy Trenton after I died. I was absolutely sure I was dead now. But now I wasn't sure if I had finished calling his name. I started to, so does that count? Does it count if you don't finish it? Does it? I was panicking, and I tried to crawl my way away from Trenton as fast as I could. "You stupid bitch," Trenton repeated. Oddly, I wondered what happened to 'love'. This was knocked out of my head as he grabbed my hair from behind, swung me around, and threw me into the frame of his bed.
I gasped in pain, reaching up to hold my face which was now bleeding just above my left eyebrow. "You think you could get away after all this time," he growled, and I whimpered in anticipation and he hauled me to my knees. Then in one swift move, he smashed the back of his hand against the side of my face, and I fell to the ground once again. This time, darkness did wash over, but was tortuous enough to release its grip as I was conscious four seconds later. I groaned, completely afraid that I couldn't really feel my face anymore. What if my face was sunken in and I was still alive? It felt like it was sunken in, but when I touched it, my face was still intact... just more bloody than usually. Not to mention a new gash. Before I could further check my own vitals, Trenton kicked me in the stomach and onto my back. Now I would drown in my blood, which is better than being beaten to death.
He strattled me, ripped the collar from my neck furiously, and lifted his fist above him in preparation for a blow I was sure would smash my brain into the floor. And then he was being dragged off of me. I started to shove myself up, but the world spun and I fell back to the floor. I blinked and looked over to see what could be either the most horrible or the most wonderful thing I could possibly see at the moment. Evanen had one arm holding Trenton with amazing strength, and was using his other hand to rip Trenton's head to the side. With his neck bare, Evanen bit down furiously, and was now draining every drop of life within him as though he weren't another vampire but a human. And with that none-too-pleasant but relieving sight, darkness decided to drown me completely.
~...~
I figured when I would finally merge back into consciousness, I would be greeted with a slightly happy sight of Evanen, who would be so happy to see me but so worried about what I'd been through, and I would be delighted by mountains of treats and happy-making objects. That's what you would expect when a man who wished to be an appendage of yourself finally has you back in his life after a good length of absence, right? Well, apparently I was severely wrong, for when I woke up, there was no such greeting.
I opened my eyes, repressing the urge to groan and moan about the severe pressure on my head, and trying not to think how dangerous it was that I had lost consciousness after a massive head trauma induced by Trenton's fist. For a moment, I was completely confused of my whereabouts, but after a good minute of staring around, I realized I was in the back seat of a small car. If I wasn't much mistaken, this could have been the same car I had first been in when being taken into the Draele family household so many months ago. I touched my face, which was now caked with dry blood, but still there. Then I pushed myself to sitting upright before having to hold onto the car door in order to stop the world from swirling dangerously. It was really hard to focus, and I wanted to go back to sleep. I forced myself to stay seated before leaning on the car door, with the passenger seat in front of me.
For a moment, I stayed like this. Then I realized that if the car was moving, someone was driving it. I looked in the direction of the drivers seat to see the bleach blonde hair of Evanen. I smiled in relief, and said, "Evanen, I'm so glad you heard my call. I was--" Evanen flashed a glance my way, but instead of that happy, concerned expression I was expecting, he seemed to send a message that practically screamed 'Die, bitch'. It was indeed very creepy, and I didn't like it at all.
He turned back to look at the road before saying, "I hope you had a great vacation, Hailence, but you should know it's over now." I hesitated, a feeling in my gut of nervousness and dread. I opened my mouth to respond questioningly, but paused before closing my mouth. I frowned, looking down at my body as though it was saying or knowing something I wasn't. Then I started thinking to myself what that comment could possibly mean. The only thing I could think was that Katha said something that was probably the opposite of the truth, and it struck Evanen somewhere it hurt. That or Evanen already did the Rising thing and I was no longer an interest to him. Wouldn't I have heard from someone that the oh-so-wonderful Rising event had occured during my slavery? I wasn't too sure.
We pulled into the driveway of the familiar Draele house, and stopped. Evanen opened his door and exited the car before slamming it shut behind him with such rage that I jumped. My heart was pounding in my throat and head, making my whole cranial area from shoulders up feel like a pulsing appendage no longer necessary for survival. Almost like an abnormally large pimple. I watched Evanen stand outside his door for a moment, thinking of ways I could explain to him how none of this was my fault. Except for the part when I trusted Katha. Maybe that's why he was angry... I ran off with Katha. Plus, he probably pieced together that Mikel and I were a thing. I figured he would have gotten over that over my absence, but now I had to think of ways to convince him that my so-called 'vacation' didn't actually have to be over because I've done worse than being a bit too trusting. Besides, Katha's a vampire.. vampires are gooood at deceiving.
One moment, I was watching Evanen cautiously standing outside his door. The next moment, my door was wrench open so quickly that I could barely gasp in startlement before Evanen had ahold of my upper arm to pull me out of the car. He didn't look at me, but continued to drag me along towards the house. This was really hard for me to do, seeing as the world was spinning, my feet seemed to be everywhere, and I couldn't keep up with him at all. Not to mention that this was the most effort in movement I'd made in a good length of time. I felt like the tinman combined with the scarecrow from The Wizard Of Oz. Someone get me oil for Christ sake.
When we entered the house, Katha and Cecilian seemed to have been in a middle of a conversation near the entrance, and looked at us with a bit of curiousity. Katha seemed pleased, and Cecilian seemed a bit distasteful. Probably because I looked horrible... to both of their emotions. Evanen continued past them without pausing, dragging me up the stairs (it was like those stairs in that upside-down painting, where they were on the wall, ceiling, and everywhere), and finally moving into his room, where he slung me to the floor before shutting the door behind him. I landed with a sickening thud, and groaned. Everything hurt at this moment.
There was a moment of silence, so I thought maybe Evanen had finally calmed down or something. I pushed myself up, holding my head, and turned to look up at Evanen, who was glaring at me so angrily that it was almost as if I had killed his mother. If she were alive... and he loved her. I was now having trouble breathing, completely blank of what to say to this expression. I settled with an innocent, shaky, "What's wrong?"
Before I barely got the words out, he snarled, "You know what you've done. I've looked everywhere for you!" I felt as though he was going to hit me, and already in pain enough, I raised my hands to block my face with a whimper. When nothing came, I carefully opened my eyes to look and found Evanen bent down directly in front of me, seething. "I should just kill you after all. You obviously don't want to be here anyways and you never will." He bit out at me like an animal, showing his sharp fangs that were now directed at my blood, and I fell back in fear. I scrambled to back as far away as I could from him until a wall was blocking me from moving further. He continued to follow me, a growl of rage deep in his throat. When I couldn't move further, I moved my head away, pressing it as close to wall as was possible. I was no longer breathing, sure this was it for me.
Evanen grabbed my jaw roughly, yanking my head towards him before trailing his tongue over the caked blood on the side of my face hungrily. The moment he lifted his tongue from my face, I didn't feel so much scared as sickened. I could've used a wet rag, seriously. He laughed evily at the expression on my face before letting go just as roughly as before. I automatically wiped gently at my face, trying to mind the bruises while trying to rid my face skin of Evanen's saliva. When I looked up, Evanen was sitting on the bed, no longer facing me, but looking down at his hands with his back to me. I figured this must be an odd way to scare someone before killing them. It actually confused me, but I stayed right in my spot. Time crawled by slowly, tick by tock, and I waited for Evanen to pop off the bed and rid of my life already. I'd hope for a quick death, but knowing Evanen, he'd pick opening my stomach to reveal my insides or decapitation before a fast snap or something.
It didn't seem like he was going to do anything but sit there, staring at his hands. Apparently he had expressed his rage, and he was finished. Once I convinced myself I wasn't going to die, I made my way towards the bed. I had to find out just why he was so angry at me to turn to such anger. I pulled myself onto the bed, feeling more in my body since my consciousness, and crawled slowly towards the unmoving Evanen. When I reached him, I hesitated, holding my hand out just an inch from his body. "Evanen," I moved closer cautiously, "Evanen, why are you so mad at me?" The moment I rested my hand on the back of his neck carefully, he turned around slowly so as to not startle me, and lightly grabbed my wrist to kiss the back of my hand. I wondered for a moment if this was a trick or forgiveness, and hesitated.
"You left me without a trace, except for your bracelet in front of the door. I looked everywhere, but you hadn't gone back to your dad's house or anything. Katha said she heard that you were off with some other vampire, in love with him instead. I hated losing you," Evanen admitted sadly, obviously believing all this was still true, and I frowned. He moved closer to me, a glint in his eyes, "But it's okay, Hailence. You called for me... you wanted me to take you back after all. I hoped you would, and now I know a way you can stay with me forever."
I saw where this was going, and started to pull away. Evanen had a sudden grip around my waist, his hand on my lower back, to hold me close to him. "Evanen, I don't--," I started, and he interupted me by pressing his lips over mine lightly, just long enough to erase any word from my lips.
"Stay with me," Evanen insisted, but not with the attaching order that would bind me to obey, "Let me turn you, and you can stay with me forever." It amazed me how different of an opinion Evanen had than Mikel. He moved to my neck, kissing it in anticipation. My heart jumped to my throat, and it was getting harder to think properly. It was like becoming drunk, and all my thoughts were buzzing, slowly getting dimmer and dimmer. Then I felt the tip of his fangs on my skin and freaked.
"NO," I yelled in fear, struggling furiously, and Evanen removed his mouth from my neck, leaning his forehead against the bare skin instead as though he himself was having trouble thinking as well. He moaned, breathing deeply, and I wondered for a moment if vampires had the same instinct as preditor animals. The one that urged them all the more to attack their prey when they were afraid, ran, or struggled. Automatically, I froze, and pleaded with what God that wasn't listening to my begging to not have this happen to me. After a moment, Evanen lifted his head to glare at me once again, but this time it was more like a kid who didn't get what he wanted rather than the rage itself.
"You would rather stay with Mikel or run away to Sir Trenton that be with me," Evanen stated rather than asked. I suddenly realized what lie Katha had stuck in his mind. The bracelet in front of the door was no doubt the one she had taken from me before letting Trenton have me. 'I'll be needing this,' she had said. Yeah, to plant it as evidence that I ran away on my own accord without her help. Then when Evanen saw the bracelet, he assumed I ran off, no doubt because Mikel was dead and there was no longer a reason to be here. And then Katha told him that I probably ran off with another vampire, and what other vampire could I have met than those at his party. So he probably was looking for me that way, and then when I called him and he found me at Trenton's place, he assumed I was there. But wouldn't let my poor physical state show how I didn't actually want to be there? Apparently not to Evanen. But now that I knew what he thought, I put my hands on both sides of his head, trailing my fingers over his facial skin -- over his eyes and temples -- as though trying to rub sense into his brain.
"Evanen, you know that Katha was the one who convinced me to leave, right? That she tricked me by saying she'd help me escape, and ended up handing me over to Trenton spitefully? You know that, right," I asked, continuing to pet his face almost lovingly, and putting my forehead against his. I was getting extremely tired of all this conflict. I felt Evanen's jaw tighten angrily under the palms of my hands.
"What do you mean," Evanen asked through his gritted teeth.
"Katha said she'd take me back home; that I didn't need to be here anymore. And I believed her, so I went with her. Then before we reached town, she stopped and Trenton was there with his own car. And Katha handed me over to him, taking my bracelet for a reason that I now know was to make you think I had left on my own accord. And I was stuck at Trenton's place, his own slave, this whole time. They had taken away the necklace you gave me so that I wouldn't call you, but I got ahold of it," I responded tearfully.
He reached up to grab my hands, and I felt as though I swayed within my own body. I closed my eyes sleepily, and Evanen now gripped my face in his hands carefully. "Are you feeling okay," He asked, and I now heard the concern I had been expecting in the first place. I think I nodded, but I probably didn't.
"I'm just a bit tired," I admitted, and he laid me down on the bed carefully.
"We're going to get Katha, all right," Evanen stated bitterly, "We're going to show her that this was the last straw." I didn't respond, and just allowed myself to fall into the melatonin supply that was easing me to sleep. I went into the darkness with a song in my head. Mr. Sandman, won't you bring me a dream... I didn't even notice as Evanen pulled the silver necklace from his pocket, and put the cold rose back around my neck. He had already started to plan his revenge against Katha.