Nyctophilia

chapter seven: broken doors and compulsions

Anastasia felt like her heart was going to break through her ribcage and jump out of her body. It was beating so loudly, she wondered why the man that was outside the penthouse door couldn't hear her and barge in the room she was hiding in. It's not like she wanted him to find her but she knew all too well that vampires had super-hearing and a keen sense of smell so he must have sniffed her somewhere in the living room.

What was Mason doing out there?

Her heart skipped another beat when a thought crossed her mind. What if that was all an act and he was about to complete it? What if he wanted to kill her himself? That would explain why he was preventing the other bloodsucker from coming in but it also makes things more confusing. Why would he want to stop conversing her then? He said that it was illegal to explain things like that to a human but he did and he said she should kill her. But why did he hesitate?

Mason Steele was a very confusing vampire and Anastasia Nava felt the need to solve the mysterious puzzle he was.

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She felt like she had been stuck there for hours. Maybe it had been hours. Heck, it could even be days, but she didn't move an inch from her spot on the floor. She couldn't find the courage to get up. She felt like her legs would give her out almost immediately but she was also afraid that the sound of her hitting the floor would attract more bloodsuckers.

She had placed her head on her arms as she lay down on the red velvet-soft carpet. She was trying to calm herself down but her thoughts kept drifting back to the creatures behind the door. She could hear their voices. Mason was trying to stop the unknown man from entering the room while he was accusing him of not being generous enough.

"Oh come on man, we shared lots of meals together. Why don't you want to share now?" She heard him ask the most important person in this building. She figured that if he owned the penthouse, this also had to be his.

"Because I'm already full. How about we --"

Mason was cut off again. "Well, I'm starving so..." There was a pause "Do you mind?"

Another pause. She quickly sat up on a sitting position and moved as far away from the door as she could get. She could hear footsteps nearing her but then there was silence. Hissing and growling filled the air and then, the sound of something breaking reached her ears.

She got up from the floor, moving towards the other door. Maybe if she closed herself in the bathroom, she would be safer. But then she remembered how Mason broke through her door and managed to get her trapped there until she hit him with her hairdryer.

Something hit the door forcefully and she jumped. Another loud hit shook the door and she did the only thing that crossed her mind. She jumped into the bathroom and locked herself in there. She looked around in desperate need to find anything and she found a small chair. She blocked the door with it and hoped - no, she prayed nothing would happen.

She prayed that Mason would save her but even she was starting to doubt he would be of any help.

The door hit the floor with a loud thud and she moved towards the glass windows. If anything happened and they got in, she wouldn't let them taste her. She'd jump even though she had no chance of survival.

"Where is it?" She felt utterly disgusted when she heard him call her it. Did vampires have no respect towards others? Then again, did humans have respect towards bloodsuckers? No, so why would they?

Anastasia closed her eyes, wanting her last moments to be spent remembering her family; her old parents, her sister and Caleb who are probably worried about her -she was sure Hayley had called the police already- and then, she remembered her dead older brother. He had been one of the best people on this earth and she now was going to be with him again after so long.

"Don't go anywhere near that door, Zak." Mason's inhuman growl made chills run down her spine and without her concept, a smile made its way on her lips.

"Why? Why protect a human? Is she your little release, Mason? Because we both know we aren't to interact with the same human more than once. Except..."

"Don't you dare!" Something got smashed on the door causing it to c***k a little bit. The sun was nowhere to be seen by now and she felt the cloak of darkness embrace her but this time, it didn't protect her. The only thing that could save her now, was Mason.

Something kept getting repeatedly smashed on the door and after a while, the upper part of it snapped and landed on the bathroom floor. Cold air filled the room and she rubbed her upper arms to warm her self up. Two pairs of eyes were watching her as she neared the windows, preparing herself to jump.

Mason was holding the unknown man by the head and she figured that he had slammed it so hard on the door, it gave away.

Mason gave her a warning look while Zak was looking at her with wide eyes. The deadly silence was broken by none other than Zak himself who whispered: "Damn Mason. You got yourself a good one."

"She is nothing to me." He pushed Zak away from the door and at the opposite side of the room. He took a protective stance in front of her while the other one laughed humorlessly.

"If she is nothing to you, then why are you protecting her? Why are you stopping me from sucking her dry? Huh, Mase? Why is she so damn important?" Mason's silence seemed to answer his questions as he approached him with inhuman speed and punched his jaw before getting punched in the stomach by the CEO. The fight continued with the men beating each other, letting a few groans of pain occasionally slip their lips. They kept pushing each other on the walls and Anastasia wondered how they haven't broken anything yet.

"Why is she important?"

Mason stopped abruptly, his back turned towards her. He was visibly shaking from the bottom to the top while Zak was leaning against the cracked wall, smirking as if he won the greatest trophy there is.

"She is important because she broke my compulsion."