Nico paced
back and forth by the double doors as Evie and Caius got reacquainted. She sat
in the space between the glass and the silver bars. Caius sat before her, as
close to the bars as he could without being burned.
When he had
seen her walking towards him, his pale face had brightened but then darkened,
probably at the memory of their last encounter. She had offered him a half
smile and sat by his cell in silence. That’s when he shifted from the back wall
and planted himself in front of her. He looked a mess, she thought dismally.
His hair had frizzed out in every direction after drying naturally and heavy
grey rings made it look like his eyes were sinking into his skull. Caius had
never had much meat on his bones but what was left of his shirt looked almost
two sizes too big for him now.
His eyes
raked over the bandage on her neck and his eyebrows knitted together, his lips
trembling. “I’m so sorry, Evie. I don’t know what came over me.” His voice was
hoarse as if his throat was made of sand paper. He didn’t sound like himself.
His voice had always been so heart-meltingly smooth and delicate.
She shook
her head at the guilt in his voice. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”
“So…you’re
really human now?”
She nodded,
dropping her eyes to the white tiled floor. “I really am.”
“How does it
feel?”
“Different.”
“Different…in a good way?” he asked. She couldn’t figure out his tone.
She shrugged
and dared to look back at him. “I don’t know.”
His mouth twisted
at the answer as if unsure how to respond. “Will you let me heal you?”
“What about
the bars?”
He offered
her a half smile. “I don’t care.”
She pulled
off the square bandage with a wince and pressed the side of her face to the bars,
exposing the wound to him. His nostrils flared and she jerked back at the sound
of his fangs slipping from their sheaths.
“It’s
okay,” he assured her and when she noticed that the veins hadn’t coiled under
his eyes, the tell-tale sign that a vampire was about to bite, she settled back
into position. He pricked his fingertip with his fang and placed it to her
neck. When their skin touched, he shuddered and his wrist touched the silver.
He sucked in a hiss of pain and Evie was ready to recoil. “No, it’s okay.” He
pushed through the pain, the smell of burning flesh consuming her as he healed
her wounds with his blood.
She leaned back
when he withdrew his fingertip and watched as the sizzling slice on his wrist
sealed up. He popped his fangs back in without looking at her.
“What are
you still doing here, anyway?” he asked and shifted his eyes to look at Nico
through his hair. “He cured you.”
“He’s using
my blood to try and create a universal cure. Apparently the serum he used on me
didn’t work on others. And plus-” She looked warily to Nico who was still
striding back and forth, allowing her privacy, and then to the camera on
ceiling. Of course there were cameras.
Great. She cleared her throat, leaned into him and said in a whisper only
Caius could pick up with his vampire hearing, “-I’m going to get you out of
here.”
His
eyebrows rose. “When?”
“Shh,” she hissed and he sealed his lips
shut. “Tonight, hopefully.”
“But how?”
he asked, remembering to drop his voice, which was hard for him because of how
scratchy his throat had become.
She
slipped her hand through the bars and stroked his cheek. Caius closed his eyes
and leaned into her palm, letting her thumb caress his prominent cheekbone.
“Leave that to me. Just be ready.”
He twisted
his face and pressed his chapped lips to her palm. “I love you.”
Her chest
contracted and the backs of her eyes burned. “I love you, too.”
A loud huff
made them break apart. Nico scrubbed his hand down his face and pointed to the
double doors. “I’m going upstairs. Mark has a key. He’ll lock the door behind
you.” A flurry of happiness seared through Evie as Nico left through the doors.
He’d left her. Alone.
He trusted
her.
And that was
what she so desperately needed. His trust and…those keys.
Evie slipped
her hand from Caius’ cheek and flipped her wrist so the smooth side was facing
him. He furrowed his brows and looked up at her.
She shuffled
closer to the bars, wrapping her hand around one for stability. “You need to
drink. To get your strength up.”
He gulped
hard and his eyes glowed with stark horror when he glanced down at her inviting
wrist. He shuddered and leaned away. “No. I can’t. Not after…”
“Caius.”
Evie’s voice was so hard and unyielding that it made Caius freeze. “You have
to,” she lowered her voice, “or you won’t get out of here.”
He licked
the top row as his teeth, thinking. Then those purple marks surfaced and the
whites of his eyes clouded with the darkest, emptiest black. Evie’s heart beat
quickened and she resisted the urge to pull her arm back.
“Are you
sure?” he asked, taking hold of her wrist. She flinched again when his fangs
unsheathed. Why was she so jumpy around him? Was it because the memory of him
attacking her was so fresh in her mind? But she knew he hadn’t meant it. He had
been at the brink of hibernation. He had done it to survive. Caius would never
hurt her if he had a choice.
With that in
mind, she guided her wrist to his mouth. He angled his head down and pressed
his lips against her pulse point, making her suck in a gasp. Her muscles stiffened,
she tried to relax but she couldn’t. She was scared. There was no denying that.
Then he
parted his lips and sank his fangs into her. The sound of her flesh breaking
knocked her sick. But then, as his lips sealed around the open wound and he
began to drink, she was hit by a fleeting sense of euphoria. She felt light as
if her mind had separated from her body. And the way he was flicking his tongue
over her skin, guiding the blood flow directly down his throat sent a chilling
warmth up her spine.
It was like
being on a morphine drip. Her muscles melted like butter and all she could do
was gaze at him, opened mouthed, in awe.
No wonder some humans enjoyed being drank
from, she thought dreamily.
But then
something changed. It was as if everything had suddenly shifted. The dream-like
state she was caught in no longer felt safe, she felt like she was
drifting…drifting away. Losing
herself. Losing too much blood.
She panicked
and grabbed Caius’ shoulder with her other hand. She shook him but he didn’t
budge. His grip on his wrist tightened and he grunted as his tongue lapped up
more of her blood.
“Caius.
Stop,” she begged, her voice hitching. She pounded her fist against him. Once.
Twice. Then he drew back with a gasp. Black eyes merging back into blue. Veins
disappearing under his skin. Blood dripping from his parted lips and painting
his chin.
She could
see her reflection in his pupils. Could see the look on her face. It was same
look Michael had given her when she almost failed to stop.
Was she
Caius’ blood whore now?
When Evie
tried to free her wrist from his grip, Caius pulled her back and made her let
out a fearful whimper. He just looked and her for a moment then lowered his
head. He pressed his mouth back over her pulsing wound and she bit down on her
bottom lip, reading for the stinging sensation of his fangs. But instead of
piercing her skin, Caius’ tongue swirled around her two entry wounds. She
watched the top of his head with a mixture of confusion and relief. He then
pressed his lips softly against her and he lifted his head, smiling down at her
now unmarred skin. She gazed down in wonder and he rubbed his thumb over where
her two puncture wounds had been. He must have healed her with his blood, maybe
bitten his own tongue.
“Do you feel
better?” she asked, finally pulling her arm back through the bars.
“Yes.” He
frowned. “But I’m not going to make a habit of that.”
“It was
necessary,” she replied, rubbing her healed wrist as if double checking for
scarring. She flicked her eyes to the double doors. “I’d better go. But I’ll be
back for you.”
He watched her through the strands of
hair that had fallen over his eyes. “Be careful. Don’t put yourself in danger
because of me.”
She laughed.
“You’re my Maker.”
He lifted
his chin so she could get a better look of his eyes. The white light struck his
face and made the shadows under his cheekbones look like hollow pits. “But
you’re human now.”
She smiled
softly to mask the pain of her heartstrings being yanked. He’s nothing to you. “You’ll always be my Maker.”
He smiled back
but his also looked ill-fitting.
She pushed
herself up to her feet and gave him a slight wave before shutting the glass
door behind her. Caius watched her leave, like a puppy left in the pound.
When she
closed the door behind her, the guard was quick to swoop behind her and lock
it. So fast that Evie actually had to jump out of his way.
“Thank you, Mark.”
He didn’t
look at her and just returned to his position, slipping the key into his
pocket.
The guards
still stood in their positions at the front doors and watched her as she made
her way up the stairs unsupervised. It was hard to look unsuspicious when that was
all she could think about. What do I do
with my hands? Do I run up the stairs? Walk? Do I look back at the guards? But
finally she made it to her room successfully avoiding any unwanted attention. A
set of pyjamas were folded on her bed when she entered and she dressed into
them. They were plain grey; a button up, long-sleeved shirt and pants. There
were no slippers so she just left her socks on.
She paced
back and forth, her bottom lip pinched between her fingers as she mulled over
what she was going to do. Everything had to be perfect. If she roused
suspicion, it would be over. What would happen exactly? Would Nico throw her
out of the mansion so she couldn’t get to Caius or worse..? Would he lock her
up down there with him…and all those other starving vampires?
She shuddered,
screwed her hands into fists and went into her bathroom. Her heart pounded when
she caught her reflection. She had been crying. The clear tears were still new
to her. When she took a look at herself in the mirror, she was expecting red
smudges across her cheeks. She liked that her face wasn’t marred by the ugly
stains but at the same time, she missed them. It was just another change she’d
have to deal with.
A razor sat
in the cup in the cabinet, along with a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste.
She stood up on her tiptoes and delved further into the cabinet. A pair of nail
clippers. Sharp but not exactly ideal. She
snatched up the pair of nail scissors and closed the mirror. Aha!
She sat down
on her bed and rolled up her pyjama sleeve. Her hand shook as she opened up the
scissors and pressed the tip to her forearm. Before she had a chance to
envision the pain she was about to inflict onto herself, she sank her teeth
into her bottom lip and sliced the scissor tip diagonally across her skin
creating a cut about three inches long. Tears beaded in her eyes but she stayed
silent, holding back a cry. Her bottom lip started to tremble as she watched
her blood pulse out of her and trickle in rivulets down her arm and drip onto
the cream carpet. She ran back to the bathroom and wiped the new cut with
tissues, folded the sleeve back down to capture some of the left over blood and
create a brown-red stain, then lift it back up to clean until the blood clotted
enough to stop dripping.
She watched
the red line for a moment, as if expecting it to seal itself shut and leave her
skin perfectly pale. But of course that wasn’t going to happen. Not anymore.
But there was
no time to dwell on that, Caius was waiting for her. She rolled her sleeve back
down and left her bedroom. She was in the west wing, Nico’s room was in the
east wing. She knew this because he had told her in her slightly rattled state
when he first brought her to her bedroom. All the rooms had a number like it
was some sort of hotel. Maybe it was supposed to be a hotel, a hotel for all
his cured vampires. Her bedroom was 6B. His bedroom was 14A on the same
floor.
There was no
one about as she made her way through the corridors which were dimly lit by
energy saving bulbs dotted here and there on the walls. She winced every time
her feet made the floorboards creak. But she was supposed to be acting
nonchalant. No, not nonchalant. Afraid. Worried.
She willed
herself to cry when she reached his door. It wasn’t hard. Just letting all her
thoughts surface made her throat close up. She allowed everything to fall on
top of her, everything she had been trying her best to hold back. Her fear for
Caius. Her fear for her future. Her fear for everybody’s future. Her fear. Period.
She sucked
in a sudden shaky gasp that caught her off guard -forgot to breathe again- and knocked on the door.
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