Chapter 26: Sweet Grip of Insanity

+ LUCY +

I hurled once more, for the third time in the time span of ten minutes. The pancakes were long gone, along with what felt like half the water in my body. By this rate, I was afraid that my liver was next. I got up and went to stand in front of the mirror. My tear streaked face looked as if someone had beaten me up with a shovel. I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand. Phil's blood which had previously coated my face was now everywhere... my face, my clothes, my hair. I opened the tap and let the clear water flow freely.

I put my hands under the flow and I swear nothing felt better than the icy water on my hands, washing away every last trace of vomit and blood. I splashed the water on my face and it felt so good on my skin that felt sticky with sweat that I kept splashing the cool liquid on my forearms and my neck. By then, my shirt was soaking wet, my hair was dripping but it was the best feeling I'd had since I entered the damned house.

I removed the thin tank top and my shorts looked back at my reflection that stared back at me in nothing but her underwear. She looked fragile, weak like the complete mess she was. I couldn't have that. There was no place in the world for her, a world where apparently it was kill or be killed, even if that meant killing off your own blood. Looking at myself in that weak state angered me beyond compare. Out of anger, I grabbed my mum's hairdryer and threw it at the mirror, making it splinter in a million different pieces.

At this, Nick burst through the door in the bathroom. I had threatened him to cut his throat in his sleep if he came in the bathroom while I looked like a disgusting hag from hell, but at the sound of the mirror breaking, he came in anyways. I saw how taken aback he was when he noticed that I stood before him in only my underwear.

I ignored him and his questions and exited the bathroom, knowing that he was hot on my trail. I went straight to my room and pulled out a black t-shirt and a pair of holey jeans which I put on straight away. I emptied the rest of my drawers on the bed and grabbed a large bag.

"Put the clothes in the bag." I ordered Nick, who stared at me as if I'd just resurrected from the dead. He nodded and complied silently, surprise written all over his face. In the meantime I put on my boots and started gathering the few possessions which I wanted to take with me. It turned out, that the only thing I wanted in the entire house was the scrap book Sol and I made when we were thirteen. It was filled with pictures of precious memories, memories which didn't involve my Josh or my parents.

My eyes fell on the small picture frame of my dad and me when I was ten. I was smiling, and so was my father. However this didn't stop me from forcing open the frame and pulling out the picture, only to tear it into tiny pieces.

"Um... Lucy, are you-" Nick started hesitantly but I cut him off.

"Alright? Oh Nicky, believe me, I'm fantastic. Better than I've been in a long time."

"Let's go." I said as he grabbed my bag. We made our way down the stairs. The sight of Phil's body stood before me and once again, my father's note floated in my mind. The man's fucking arrogance, the fact that he was so sure of himself made my blood boil underneath my thick skin. He never considered whether we wanted his beloved immortal life. He never even considered the fact that after four years thinking he was dead, we wouldn't have been exactly waiting for him.

I wanted to do something to show him that he couldn't own me. He might have turned my mother and Josh. But I'd be dead before any of his disgusting blood came anywhere near me, unless it was after I've beheaded his head.

My eyes fell on a bottle of detergent next to the sink. "Nick, I need you to go outside and wait for me in the car." I said in a blank voice, never leaving the bottle out of my sight.

"No way. Let's just go, please." he said as he put a hand on my arm, trying to make me go with him. I looked up at him with reassuring eyes and placed a small kiss on his lips. His eyes were wide open, disbelieving. He probably thought I had gone crazy.

He had no idea just how crazy I was.

"I'll be with you in just one moment. I just need a few moments to um... make peace with my past." I said, lying straight through my teeth. His grey eyes were tainted with suspicion, but he nodded slowly.

"Five minutes. Then I'm coming to get you whether you want it or not."

I nodded and smiled a knowing smirk. "That's all I need." He kissed softly me on my temple before he left through the window. Once I saw him go over to his brothers and Solange, probably trying to tell them what happened, I knew I had a few minutes to do the deed.

I ripped the curtains off the railing and put them in a bunch on the floor. I quickly made my way in the kitchen and pulled out every single oven cleaner cans and flammable liquids which I could find. I put a box of matches in my pocket and carried on with the plan. I put the cans next to Phil's head and started throwing the detergents all over the place. I finally made a trail leading to the curtains on the floor and used the remaining liquid on them. I went over to the window and pulled out the matches. I lit up two for good measure and threw them at the pile of curtains that instantly went in flames. I grinned at my makeshift bonfire before rushing quickly out of the house and making my way to Nick.

"We need to go. Now!" I barked at the bewildered bunch. I pulled Nick with me and told him to get in the car. He complied a bit robotically but after I snapped at him to hurry up, he did so.

We heard it then, a blood curdling explosion that echoed out of the house. Within seconds the house convulsed in flames. It was one of the most terrifyingly beautiful scenes I'd ever seen in my life.

"What the fuck did you do Lucy?" Nick said loudly as he floored the gas pedal and followed Logan's trail away from the burning house.

"That son of a bitch can take his 'perfect vampire family' and shove it up his ass." I said victoriously as the last orange flames disappeared out of my sight.

"For fuck's sake, Lucy, have you gone mad?" Nick bellowed at me.

"Yes, something along those lines. I need to send him a message." I said nonchalantly.

Nick's eyes managed to widen even more. "So you thought burning the house down was a good way to send a message?" He asked me incredulously.

"Why not? He did leave a decapitated body in my kitchen, so yes, that was the only way to get his attention. And I also saved us a lot of trouble. The police would start investigate about Phil's sudden disappearance. That way I've burned any proof that we were there." I told him.

"Look, I don't know what happened to you in the bathroom, but how the hell can you speak so calmly about this?" he asked me hoarsely.

"I'm trying to be practical, and curling up in a ball and crying my eyes out is not going to get me anywhere. There's no time for our silly bond when Solange's life... hell, every single vampire's life is threatened by Montmarte's existence. The single thought of hiding this from me shouldn't have even touched your mind in the slightest! You had no right to do that, Nick."

Nick groaned and hit the steering wheel in frustration. "Lucy, my day has turned from mildly irritating to downright hell. I've seen a disgusting beheaded body and let me tell you one thing. I'm hungry, I really am and seeing all that blood in front of me while trying to remind myself that you were in pain so I had to help you was too fucking much for one day. So, excuse me if I don't want to hear you bitch at me for one day." he roared at me, shutting me up instantly. I could feel how tired and hungry he was straight through the bond when I focused on it.

This short night had taken a very dark turn for both of us. Silence was better that anything we could have said, so we drove to the Drake's house in absolute, perfect silence.

We knew we'd have to answer a shit load of questions once we arrived.

"Oh my god." Solange said faintly after Nick and I painfully told her and the rest of the family what we found in my house. Helena's expression was murderous while Liam looked tired and worn out. None of the boys had uttered one word as Nick and I told them what happened.

"So what's the plan now?" Quinn spoke quietly. Every pair of eyes was trained carefully on me.

"Easy. We use the situation to our advantage. If my father thinks that he can play happy family we let him believe that till we can catch them and milk as much information as possible from them before killing them." The bluntness in my words surprised even me. I could see everybody looking at me, some almost as if I had sprouted another limb.

"They're your family, Lucy." Sol spoke softly. I snorted. "Family? They're not my family. You guys have been a better family for me than they ever were. Family isn't supposed to beat you up or stab you or leave you!" I said determinately. "They can rot in hell for all I care, as long as I'm the one to ice my old man. He did this to me, he wasn't there for Josh when he needed him and he ruined my mother's life."

"Well, dear you're certainly braver than most. Not many would find this much strength in them to carry on, let alone want revenge." Helena said as she came towards me to embrace me. "And I swear on my honour I'll help you get it, because you deserve it. You're like my own daughter to me."

"Well, it's getting late and I'm sure that you and Nick would rather be resting than answering questions so I suggest you go to bed. We'll continue working tomorrow when everybody's feeling better." Liam said as he put a hand on my shoulder and one on Nick's. He and Helena made their way to their room, probably to discuss in private. The boys started making their way to their bedrooms, of course after commenting about the part where I lit up my house. I wanted to smile at their attempt to cheer me up, but the corners f my mouth wouldn't even arch.

Nick left too. Not one word was uttered between us as he made his way upstairs, however the look he gave me before he disappeared showed me that we were thinking about the same thing. Solange and I went to our room. I did not have the energy to shower properly so I knew what the first thing I'd do in the morning would be.

I woke up trying to muffle the screams from the nightmare that had just awakened me. Sleep came to me with difficulty, because the damn image of the broken man kept me up, however this time I was sure that the feelings inside of me where not entirely my own. I had slipped in Nick's dream. The whole ordeal had messed up the poor guy more than he let on. I decided to screw the rules for one night, hell we deserved it. I tiptoed out of the room and made my way down the corridor where Nick was. I didn't knock, as I knew he was wide awake. I could feel it at the back of my mind.

"Nick," I said softly to his dark figure lying on the bed. He sat up on the bed and lit his bedside lamp for my benefit. "I... I wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I acted in the car... I was just..."

"I know, it's okay." he said in a reassuring tone. "Sorry I woke you up." he added later.

I shrugged. "It wouldn't have lasted long anyways. So, may I sit?" I asked him. He nodded and scooted over to make place for me.

Up close I could see dark violet bags under his eyes. His skin looked sickly white and I knew he was close to collapsing. He truly hid a lot of his feelings from me, even with the bond and everything it entitled. It just proved how strong his barriers were.

"That's it," I adjusted myself at the right angle so that the both of us could be comfortable. "You need to drink right now. You look like Dracula's freaking corpse bride." I said, which brought a small chuckle to his mouth.

"I can't Lucy, you know we shouldn't do this. It's risky." I scoffed. "Look, you need the blood, obviously that bottled shit you're taking is not enough. I don't mind you drinking from me till we find a better solution. And if you're talking about the whole sexual tension, I'm too tired to even try." I said as tried to lower gently his head towards my neck. He breathed in and uttered a small "Thank you," before I felt the delicate puncture of his teeth on my skin. The more he drank, the sleepier I got. He stopped after a few moments. We remained silent until we shifted into a more comfortable position. I buried my head in the crook of his neck and put my arm over his torso.

"Thanks for coming, Lucky." he said with a small smile as he pulled me closer to him.

I smiled, "What are blood bonded, crazy, girlfriends for?"

After a few minutes I felt him drift off in a dreamless slumber, and I followed suit.

Exams are over so I finally UPDATED! I'll try to update as much as I can but within a month I'll start my O levels -_-

Hope you liked this chapter! Did you expect that reaction from Lucy, cause I pictured it so clearly in my head. Hopefully the next chapter will be less action packed. If you did please review :D

Until the next time!