• Chapter VI: part 5



    I STOPPED in front of the second doorway. It looked promising enough, despite the fact that they all looked the same. I wondered why this hallway lacked any artwork unlike the rest of the house.

    When I put my hand on the doorknob, something deep in the pit of my stomach sunk, and I immediately felt that this was the wrong room. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew. Yet I went in anyways.

    That was a mistake.

    I opened the door slightly and saw why. My heart stopped cold. Vincent was sitting on a couch against the far wall, and a woman was lying in his arms. I had to stifle a gasp when I saw what he was doing.

    His lips were on her neck, and a noticeable trickle of blood trailed down her shoulder, leaving a prominent crimson line in its track. Her cheeks were incredibly flushed, and her eyes were open slightly. I thought for a moment that she might have been dead until her lips parted. She caught her breath and trembled.

    My body took over and immediately started making its way back to the staircase—or more like stumbling back. I had to brace myself on the wall in fear that I may pass out. I could taste the bile rising in my throat, and I was certain that I’d puke.

    My abdomen contracted, and right before the vomit could spill out of my mouth and onto the floor, the sickening feeling was gone. I looked up into the purple eyes of an ashen-haired elf.

    “Not on the carpet, please.” His tone was stern, but his expression was soft and apologetic. When he reached his hand down toward me, I didn’t think twice to grab it. “I thought I said the bathroom was on the left?”

    I swallowed, a trace of bile still lingering in my throat, and waited a second to catch my breath. “I forgot.”

    He sighed and placed a hand on the lower of my back, gently leading me into a room with a table. I was grateful when he pulled a chair out for me and had me sit down.

    He sat on the other side of the table, and when we made eye contact, I couldn’t help but look away. I always had trouble looking people in the eyes out of fear that they could see my thoughts through my stare. After all—the eyes are the window to the soul.

    “He’s a Vampire, you know.”
    My lips tightened. “I know that,” I said a bit terse.
    Seth chuckled slightly. “Then why the reaction?”
    I shrugged. “Just taken by surprise. That’s all.”
    “Hm,” he mumbled thoughtfully.

    “Will she die,” I asked suddenly. She wasn’t dead whenever I saw her. Actually, she looked like she was quite enjoying herself. The image of her face, full of such obvious pleasure, made my heart clench, and I once again could feel the bile building up.

    “Please don’t puke,” Seth said. I swallowed against the knot. “And no,” he continued. “He won’t kill her. Since he can erase memories, she’ll probably wake up in a couple of hours believing that she stayed out all night with a random guy.”

    I nodded, but couldn’t shake off the strange feeling in my gut. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I didn’t like it.

    “I think you should go with him, Kida.”

    I started at the suggestion. My eyes widened with bewilderment. “What?”

    He exhaled sharply. “I said that I want you to leave with him. Convince him to take you with him.”

    My hands started shaking for reasons I couldn’t explain. Secretly, this was what always wanted it—to leave. I’d always known that I didn’t belong in this town.

    “And how exactly do I do that,” I asked, shifting my gaze to the window.

    “I don’t know, but you have to try,” he replied. When I looked him in the eyes, I was surprised by the desperation in them. “For you both.”

    I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could utter any words, Vincent walked into the room, drawing both mine and Seth’s attention. Seth and I spared knowing expressions.

    “Did I miss something,” Vincent asked, sparing us both skeptical glances. My heart clenched when I saw him wipe a small bit of blood from the corner of his lips, his eyes locking knowingly with mine. He knew that I’d seen him. The image of him with that woman clouded my mind again, and I could feel my blood pressure rising.

    “No,” Seth replied with a smile.

    I chose not to reply, but instead turned my head to the opposite side. My heart leapt when I heard the chair stir next to me.

    “She’ll wake up before long,” I heard him say.

    I closed my eyes tightly, trying to shake that image from my mind.

    “Did you and Kida get plenty of hand-to-hand in?”

    “I think so,” Seth replied. “Don’t you, Kida?”

    My lips pursed, and I swallowed the knot in my throat. “Yeah,” I sighed, forcing myself to face Vincent. His eyes were full of conviction. He was trying to get a reaction out of me. “It went great, actually.”

    The corner of his lip turned up slightly, and his eyes glinted with arrogance. “That’s good,” he said with an abrupt laugh. His attitude was definitely aloof, and I slanted an irritated glance at Seth.

    Seth winced contritely and nodded for me to continue.

    “I learned a lot of new techniques.”

    “Hm,” Vincent mumbled. “Maybe you should try them out on me.”

    “I’d love to,” I said with more verve than I probably should have.

    Vincent smirked and shook his head. “I think you need some more practice before taking me on seriously.” He threw a book in my direction. “Why don’t you just start reading this instead?”

    I pursed my lips at the beginner’s guide to hand-to-hand combat.

    “I’ll leave you guys for a while,” Seth interrupted. “Jeff could probably use some checking up on.”

    I’d completely forgotten about Jeff, and I felt guilty suddenly. After Seth left the room, Vincent shot up from his seat and started rummaging through the book shelves. The last thing I wanted to do was read this book.

    “Do I seriously have to read this?” I asked with an almost sickened tone, and to be honest, that wasn’t far from the truth.

    “Yes.”

    My lips twisted with disgust as I turned the first page and began reading.



    AFTER GETTING through half of this boring book, I slipped a glance over at Vincent who was leaned against a wall skimming through another book. I knew that I needed to talk to him about taking me with him, but there was still this horrible anxious feeling lingering in my gut.

    I gulped. It was now or never.

    “Hey, Vincent?” I asked as casually as possible. Maybe if he saw how confident I was, somehow that confidence would transfer to him.

    However, he didn’t even spare me a glance. “Yeah?”

    I chewed on my bottom lip with apprehension. “You said you’d be leaving soon, right?” He rolled his eyes and shut his book audibly. I winced. For some reason, Vincent seemed far more irritable today than usual.

    “Yeah.” He turned around and placed the book back on the shelf, where he then proceeded to delve through more books.

    “Well I was thinking—”

    “That’s never a good thing.” He smirked at his own cleverness. I scowled at him before continuing.

    “Vincent, I’m being serious.”

    He stopped abruptly and inclined his head toward me, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “And neither is that. Go ahead. Spill.”

    I took a deep breath, preparing for the worst of reactions. “Well, I was just thinking that maybe you didn’t have to go—”

    I stopped at his sudden harrumph. “We’ve talked about this, Kida. There are no other options. I’m leaving and—”

    “You didn’t let me finish!” I shouted with frustration.
    Vincent’s eyes merged and he nodded. “Okay. Continue then.”

    I had to catch my breath as I watched him lean against the book shelf and cross his arms over his chest. The firm look in his eyes reminded me too much of a concerned older brother. “I was just thinking that you didn’t have to go—alone,” I said carefully.

    I tensed at Vincent’s immediate reaction, which was nothing like I’d expected. His jaw slacked open, and what color he did have drained from his face. But what disturbed me the most was the amount of realization—and fear—that was obvious in his eyes. It definitely wasn’t the most comforting of responses.

    “What—what do you mean,” he asked nervously. He began backing away from me almost defensively.

    Confused doesn’t even begin to cover how I felt at that moment. That and extremely restless. This was the most emotion I’d gotten out of Vincent since meeting him. “I-I just thought that it would be best if I went with you!”

    His eyes grew to an impossible size. His mouth began moving like he was trying to say something, but he turned away and ran his trembling hands through his hair.

    “Wh—” he shook his head and ran a hand over his face before taking a deep breath.
    I felt myself simultaneously taking a breath with him.
    He suddenly began shaking his head spastically. “No,” he said—I think more to himself than to me. “No,” he said more loudly. He turned around and gave me the most condescending look anyone has ever spared me.

    My face heated. “Why not?” I was surprised by how easily I’d raised my voice at him. A couple of days ago there would have been no way I would have so much as looked at Vincent wrong.

    His face hardened. “The answer is ‘no’ no matter what the reason. You are absolutely not coming with me.”

    I forced myself to lock eyes with him. He had to have seen the determination in my eyes because his jaw muscle worked. “I don’t belong here,” I said through my teeth.

    Vincent scoffed. “You don’t belong anywhere.”

    That hit about as hard as being slammed into a brick wall. He might as well have taken a knife and stabbed me right in the chest. A wall of tears collected behind my eyes, but I forced them away. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

    “Fine,” I said evenly. There was no missing the subtle wistfulness in his eyes.

    “Kida—” he began.

    “No. Really. It’s fine,” I said as I stood up. “Don’t worry about it.”

    “Kida, I worded that wrong,” he began as I started walking past him.

    “Well you got the message across, either way,” was all I said before walking past him into the other room. I didn’t even spare him a glance. My heart was hurting more than I could have ever imagined. And the worst part…

    Is that he was right.