Chapter 28
"Feeling better?" Rebeca asked Mitch, looking up at him smiling.
"Yeah. Thank you," Mitch replied also smiling. Rebeca always brought out the happiness in him, no matter his mood.
"You going to stay up?" Rebeca asked Mitch. He wasn't feeling tired at all. His sleep cycle messed up from his Change.
"Yeah... I wouldn't go back to bed." Mitch replied.
"Awww... Can I sleep in your bed? I think I'll fall right to sleep with your scent around me." She asked.
"Of course. I think i'm going to go to the gym," Mitch told her.
"ok. It's been awhile since you've done that. At least a month." She informed him, she was right but now Mitch had plenty of active time where no one else was up and he told her so.
"True. ok, have fun," She said and got into Mitch's bed. Snuggling under the covers rather cutely and Mitch walked over and gave her a good night kiss. She smiled and settled herself into bed and Mitch sat on the bed next to her until she fell asleep.
After she did, Mitch got up, got dressed quietly and left the room just as quietly so he didn't wake a freshly sleeping Rebeca. Mitch turned to leave and saw the Fist, Rebeca's guard, leaning against the wall in the hallway of Mitch's room. She tall, a few inches taller than Mitch. with a narrow, angular face, shoulder length silver hair and silver eyes. She was wearing a bright red T-shirt that read "Did Anyone Ask You?" with black skinny jeans, her skin a tanned color.
"Do you ever sleep?" Mitch asked, genuinely curious.
"No," She replied. Her eyes studying him in a not so casual sense. Her voice measured, sounding older than she looked which was between 25 and 30 if Mitch had to guess.
"How do you manage that?" Mitch asked, surprised.
"Family secret," She stated, flatly.
"Oh... Ok. Anyways, what's your name? It occurred to me that I never asked and I apologize." Mitch asked.
"You don't need to apologize, and it's Rosa." She said.
"Rosa..." Mitch said, nodding.
'I'm gonna go to the gym," Rosa nodded and Mitch walked past her and to the door outside, and from there out to the car and drove to the gym.
New Falls was a small city, relatively speaking. Only a few miles in diameter were the extent of it's city 's parent's house and Rebeca's mansion were both outside the city limits. The gym Mitch was going to was open 24/7 and was fairly large. Holding a great deal of exercise equipment. Mitch pulled into the parking lot, their was not many vehicles which was to be expected. He walked up to the front door and opened it up to a half circle room. The center of the room holding a large desk similar in shape to the room where a single receptionist sat, reading a magazine until she noticed Mitch.
"Oh My!" She exclaimed getting out of her chair, blue eyes widening.
"Are you ok? Do you need me to call an ambulance?" She asked hurriedly.
"No Lucy i'm fine. It's Mitch. I was sick, I am all better now but the sickness changed the color of my skin," Mitch lied.
Her mouth was still agape for a second before recovering her composure.
"Oh Mitch. I didn't recognize you, it's been over a month since we las seen you. Are you sure your ok?" She asked.
"I'm sure i'm ok Lucky, Thank you for asking though. May I use the facilities?" Mitch asked.
"Of course Mitch, your account is still active, and she pressed a button under her desk and Mitch heard the latches on the doors on the far side of the room unlock.
"Thanks Lucy. Is anyone else in?" Mitch asked.
"Um... Oh right! There is a newish girl. Thick black hair, red gym wear, nicest person you could ever meet," She explained. Mitch farrowed his brow and nodded before walking into the gym and there she was, just as Lucy described, Jene.
Mitch tensed up for a moment and heard his other voice.
Ahh... There she is... Maybe we should go over an show her what fear really is... Mitch felt his canines start to extend and willed them back to normal, Mitch was not like that, he would not give into the petty revenge his alter ego was wanting to indulge in.
Revenge yes... but not petty, if you need a reminder... and Mitch started to feel a burning sensation on his neck like the first time Jene had bit him and winced. How could his alter ego gain such power over him
You starve yourself Michel! The harder you fight, the harder and more painful it will be... Mitch close his eyes and with will. Forced his alter ego to the back of his mind again.
It had been some time since Mitch had last saw Jene. She had straighten out her black hair and it was cut shorter than before. She had a red tank top and shorts on. She was running the treadmill that faced opposite the entrance doors. M?itch took a deep breath and walked into the locker rooms and changed into his gym wear. Black tank top and black knee length cargo shorts. Mitch went back out and started stretching on the warm-up mat.
After Mitch was done warming up he noticed Jene was still on the treadmill. He walked over to one of the bike machines. He started it up at it's highest setting. The small console on the front of the machine beeped and Mitch got on and started. It wasn't terribly difficult but it was exercise and he started up. A few minutes into his regime he heard footsteps approaching and he stopped and turned to see Jene standing a dozen feet away.
"Hey Mitch," She said. When he heard her voice. The last time he saw her sprung to the forefront of his mind.
Mitch gasped and held back his alter ego who rushed back to the surface of his thoughts. Jene smiled and walked a little closer, getting exactly the wrong impression about his gasp.
"What cha thinking about?" She said, smiling, her voice low and heavy. Mitch stayed perfectly still. Mentally grappling with the alter-Mitch. He felt Jene brush her hand against his arm. And his alter ego pushed through, for just a moment. Mitch turned his face to Jene. His eyes bright red and wild, his facial features slightly bestial.
"Run," Mitch said. Or was it not him? It sounded like him but not quite, too... primal to be Mitch completely. Jene had a look of pure terror and she ran. Every instinct Mitch had screamed at him to pursue his prey, to run her to ground and drink her life's blood utterly. He could almost taste it, hot, running down his throat. But he was perfectly still, slowly regaining control of himself.
"Mitch?" he heard and saw Lucy peaking her head from the entrance room doors. And like a light switch, he regained control completely, his eyes and face returning to normal in an instant and his alter ego retreated back into his mind.
*Human blood does nothing to slake our thirst. You have won... for now..*
"Yes Lucy?" Mitch asked remembering Lucy was in the room partially.
"You ok? I saw the new girl run out of here..." She trailed.
"I heard an alarm go off. Maybe she was late for something?" Mitch said without a moment's hesitation.
"Oh ok... Everything going ok?" she asked seeming to accept Mitch's explanation.
"Everything is going great, thanks Lucy." Mitch replied and Lucy left back to her desk.
Mitch started breathing heavy, it was getting harder to keep himself under control. He decided to try and work it out using the exercise equipment but after half an hour Mitch knew it wasn't going to work. If he had cut loose he would break the gym's equipment. With a sigh, Mitch went back to the locker room, changed back into his street clothes. He thanked Lucy on his way out, who smiled politely as he left.
"You've got some control, I'll give you that," Mitch heard a velvety woman's voice from his dream coming behind him. Mitch turned and saw Melissa, one of the new-to-town vampires that was like Mitch. She was a couple inches shorter than Mitch, dirty blonde hair in a pony tail, she was wearing a black T-shirt and black jeans. Seemingly unfazed by the cold night. Mitch found himself observing her for longer than he had intended and Melissa smirked at him.
"Like what you see?" She asked and stood straight and walked over to Mitch, stopping closer than Mitch wanted. Mitch shook himself from his fixation and addressed Melissa.
"No. Just wondering what your doing here? Spying on me?" Mitch asked her.
"Your such a terrible lyer!" She said, laughing softly.
"I bet your still a little flustered from your dreams..." She trailed with a wink. Mitch tried to keep a straight face but failed.
"How... how do you know about that?" Mitch asked.
"Because I crafted that dream just for you..." She trailed. smiling. Mitch clenched his teeth.
"Your lying, how is that possible?" Mitch asked frowning.
"Oh please!" She exclaimed.
"It's magic! Or close enough," She said chuckling.
"Magic?" Mitch said incredulously. Melissa gave him a weird look.
"How do you explain what you can do? What Rebeca can do?" she asked, and she made a good point.
"Anyway, you never answered my question," Mitch said, switching subjective.
"No I did not..." She trailed and started to walk slowly like to walk around Mitch but he unconsciously move to mirror opposite her moves, always squarely facing her and she smiled.
"You... You need a drink... OR at the very least an outlet..." She trailed.
"I don't know what your talking about," Mitch lied.
"Come on Mitch, you can be honest with me. Anyone of Us could see your beast straining against it's cage, chopping at the bit," She explained and stopped moving and Mitch did the same.
"I'm in control," Mitch stated.
"For now yes. But your gonna be thirsty when you get home you might fight it but you'll drink from your pretty traitor girlfriend and the beast will raise his head and if you thought fighting the urge to pursue that woman was strong... You haven't felt anything yet. You need to feed," Melissa said, Mitch could feel it, feel his alter ego just below the surface. He knew Melissa was right but didn't want to admit it.
"Tell you what... I can see trying to convince you to feed would be difficult. What if I gave you an outlet for some of that... aggression. A chance to cut loose, to let the Beast out?" Melissa asked Mitch. The idea was tempting but Mitch was immediately suspicious.
"Why would you want to help me. If that dream was any indication. Your prerogative is to torment, tease and tempt me against myself," Mitch said,the suspicion he felt evident in his voice.
"That is a fair point... My 'Brother' has a plan for you but me... I want you to be whole. Right now you are fractured, split in two." She explained.
"How is you helping me work my alter ego out helping your goal?" Mitch asked, less suspicious but not understanding the connections.
"It will go to show you that you, The Man, and you, The Beast, are two sides of the same coin. Which is a step in the right direction," She explained further. Mitch took the information and processed it carefully.
"What did you have in mind..." Mitch trailed, thinking.
"Simple. A chase. Just catch me, if you can. You won't be able to unless you let yourself go," She explained.
"Ok. A chase," Mitch agreed. Melissa smiled and started sprinting. Mitch ran after her, unlike last time though, she was faster. Mitch took a deep breath... And let go.
It almost felt like an out of body experience, except he didn't feel like he was out of his body per-say, but it did feel like he was watching himself move. The chase let out of the parking lot and into the woods near the gym. As liberating as it felt, it was also terrifying, like a roller coaster you don't know about and don't know when it will end, you just hold on tight.
But other than the exhilarating feeling, Mitch felt incredible, invincible. Like nothing could stop him. He concentrated on pursing Melissa. The gap between them closing slowly. He would hear everything, even in the stillness of the night. The crunch of his foot falls on broken foliage on the ground. The wind whistling through the trees, and surprisingly. Melissa's wild laughter cutting through the night. Her Beast at the forefront as well.
Mitch was catching up with Melissa, dodging tree trunks, branches and roots. Mitch could see even better in the dark with the Beast in control, almost like it was daylight. Mitch launched himself at Melissa's back when he would outstretch his hand and almost touch her back. He his squarely and wrapped his arms around her and they rolled across the ground from the speed of how fast they were moving. Mitch ended up on top of her, his hands holding down Melissa's arms by the wrist. She arched her back and exposed her neck to Mitch, her porcine white skin had a slight sheen to it now, her Beast submitting to his and Mitch saw red and felt his fangs extend and he leaned down to her neck...
And the Man took control of his body from the Beast. It was quick, almost instantaneous, suddenly Mitch was back in control, his eyes changing back to their 'original' emerald green and his face normal. He lifted himself away from Melissa's neck and got off her, sitting on the ground. His breathing heavy, almost gasping for breath.
"Caught you," Mitch said, out of breath.
"Yes you did..." Melissa trailed standing up and winking at him.
"Your strong... Much stronger than any new one of Us should be. She said.
"Thanks," Mitch said, unable to think of anything else to say, still regaining his faculties.
"That was an... Experience," Mitch trailed and Melissa smiled.
"I bet. Cutting loose always is," She said.
"Well..." Mitch trailed standing up.
"Thank you," he finished.
"No problem, maybe next time could be with less clothes?" She asked, winking. Mitch shivered.
"I think not," He said seriously. Melissa pouted but pulled out a piece and paper and pen before writing something down.
"Here," She said, handing Mitch the paper.
"If you need to contact me," She explained. Mitch looked down and saw it was a phone number.
"I'll walk you back to town," She said and started heading in the direction of town.
"Thanks," Mitch said and they walked in silence back to the gym. Melissa got into a silver Valvo and drove off. Mitch got into his car and drove back to Rebeca's house.
Author's Note: Hello readers, I hope your enjoying the story so far. If you have any questions, critiques or comments, please leave a Review and if you have an account I'll pm you and respond. If you enjoy the story and want to get updates when the newest chapter is out. Please fallow the story. If you enjoy this story, try checking out my other stories. I haven't updated them recently but I may if I know their is still some interest. Also I'll be posting semi regular updates on my profile if you want to know what i'm working since the update. Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope you continue to read and enjoy this story.